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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 1986)
• . 1 ' , . . f- ^■lg8HBi|aCieAeMMW<tbMd*M4W4 Page 2. Portland Observer. June 11. 1986 Minister Describes Life On EDITORI AL/COMMENTARY Harrington’s Resignation from the Bureau Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast /n Hub h ith ia n Makes Entire City a Loser fry Jerry Gamer When Penny E. Harrington resigned as Chief o f the Portland Police Bureau on June I the entire city o f Portland became a loser. For Chief Harrington was a new breed among police leaders Unlike her predecessors, Harrington was try ing to bring the Port land Police Bureau into an era o f professionalism (something the Bureau has lacked for years) She was attempting to make the Bureau and individual officers accountable to the public in which they served. Her goals while serving as Chief were to implement new programs in the Bureau in an effort to reduce crime in the City and bring more input from police personnel and citizens alike Harrington’ s resignation as Chief w ill be a greater loss to Black Portlanders. Unlike former Chief Ron Still (whose administration had terrible relations with the Black community) her administration was sensitive to the legitimate issues of the Black community On several occasions the Chief came into the Black community (some times before hostile crowds) to address issues regarding the concerns o f the Black community about the actions of some officers in their neighborhoods or about the mistreatment of Blacks by individual officers Something her predecessor wouldn't have thought of doing. Equally important. Harrington was committed to bringing more minorities into the Bureau When she was in charge of the Bureau s personnel unit from July of 1980 to May o f 1982, 10 o f the only 20 One o f the most frequently asked questions that I en ounter is "W hat is Naturopathic Medicine Fewer than 10 rears ago, I had not heard o f Naturopathy , though had .tudied many o f its 'modalities While I had spent years .ludying nutrition, herbal medicine, physical science and ncdic'inc, and psychology I had not realized that there lis te d a distinct branch o f medicine that enjoined these lisc'iphncs w ithin one philosophy Naluroputhic medicine has its roots in western medicine, ind Hippocrates the "la th e r of modem medicine" would vithout question fit most completely within the held ot Maturopalhy His use ol herbal medicine, avoidance of lUrgcry, and prohibitions o f "poisons in treatment are lallmarks ol Ihe Naturopathic practice Current practice of illopathic medicine (M I) '») required the rewriting of the Hippucmlk oath in the 194<)'s to delete the prohibitions ol ihe use ol poisons in treatment and Ihe prohibitions ol abor :ions Ihe current practice ol Naturopathic Medicine as it is licensed in Oregon isa broad "fa m ily oriented" or "general practice" field ol medicine Naturopathic doctors are edu cated at Naturopathic Medical colleges such as America s oldest, the National College ot Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, or the John Bastyr College in Seattle Ihe cir nculum ol Naturopathic colleges is similar in the first two years to most major medical colleges in America, with a strong emphasis on basis sciences, human anatomy . phs siol ogy. lab diagnosis. physical diagnosis, radiology, phar macology. and other "hard sciences" It is the clinical years ot studs that distinguish Naturopathy from other systems ol medicine To my knowledge there are no other doctoral/ physician programs that provide equal levels ol study in nutrition, herbal medicines, preventive medicine and homeopathy Naturopathic medic ine is a system ol treatments based on the philosophy " v is Medicatrn Naturae" which translates to, " le t the forces ol nature be your medicine" Ihe Naturopathic doctor w ill utilize substances found in nature (nutntion. herbs, heat, massage,electricity, tasting, counsel mg etc lloencouragc the body'» natural ability Io heal ilsell Naturopathic Medicine, like oilier healing arts, continually grows with the advancements o l science, integrating new knowledge with proven therapies that have u ilhsitxxl the tests o f time Black officers presently on the Bureau were hired Before her resig nation. she was planning on increasing this number. The Lezak Commission failed to consider Harrington's ac complishments during her (enure as Chief or the political motives behind (hose who criticized her before the Commission It also appeared that her constitutional rights were violated by the Lezak Commission when (he Commission allowed witnesses to testify against her in private without her being able to rcbuttle their tes timony. This is not surprising, considering that this is the same Sidney I lxzak who in 1981, when he was U S Attorney, gave some Portland police officers, who were guilty o f violating (he constitutional and c iv il rights o f citizens by planting drugs on them and lying to obtain search warrants during the Bureau's Special Investigation Division , SID) drug scandals, federal immunity from criminal prosecution The city o f Portland missed (he opportunity to move it's police Bureau from the “ dark ages” info present reality This is the twen tieth century and police departments must be managed in a manner reflecting this period Police Departments must be accountable to elected officials and the public. Penny Harrington tried to instill these concepts into the Portland Police Bureau, unfortunately a group of right w ing officers in the Bureau and a bias Commission prevented her from doing so. What has historically separated Naturopathic Medicine from the other medical professions has been the concept o f wellness, and the practice ol preventive medicine "W e ll ness" or "health” may be defined as freedom from " d is ease". a freedom to live, grow, and create without undue attention to lim iting symptoms in ihe physical.emotion.il and mental areas o f life Symptoms represent the body’s vital expression ot dis ease". Naturopathic physicians seek to identify and elunate the factor» that cause the symptoms, and by doing so. a healthier state w ill return, and Ihe symptoms themselves w ill disappear Therefore, rather than just treating the symptoms, tlx- Naturopathic physician w ill attempt to understand the "w h o le ” person, to remove the illness through its root causes, with a slate ol wellness and prevention o f future "d is ease as tlx- final objective " Above all. do no harm" remains a foundation ol Naturopathy, and the recognition ol sale ellective treatments outside the Naturopathic field is an important adiunct to complete care there may be occasion» when a Naturopath chooses to rcler Io an allied tick! for a more appropriate treatment program, yet thousands of Americans die each year trom high risk intervention which might have safer Naturopathic alternatives Unfortunately most allopathic doctors are uneducated in most alternative therapies and cannot provide the patient with an educated base o f choice Wheal services do Naturopathic Ik x lo rs o ile r" While some Naturopathic physicians specialize in a particular area ol practice, most are in "general" practice I he services they are prepared to o ile r include general health, nutritional counseling, laboratory testing and diagnosis, lasting prog rams, womens health care, pre natal nutrition and manage ment. home birthing, childrens health care, physio therapy (physical therapy). Homeopathy, Chinese medicine, stress management, work and auto injuries, weight reduction and herbal medicine The conditions that naturopathic physicians work with include, arthritis, allergies, hypoglycemia, pre menstrual syndrome, diabetes, digestive problems, viral and bacterial infections, depression, heart disease and high bkxxl pressure, immune deficiency syndromes Consider Naturopathic Medicine as tlx- natural alternative to the drug and surgical predominance ol American medicine in the '80's You may live to appreciate your choice “Are Blacks Becoming Reagan Conservatives” Along the Color I.me by Dr. Manning Marable In recent months, some commentators have ar gued that Blacks are becoming more politically conservative There is some evidence which suggests that the presence of a Black Democrat on (he ballot w ill no longer guarantee a strong voter turnout ot Blacks In 1985, Herman Farrell ran a largely symbolic campaign against incumbent, neocon sen alive mayor Ed Ktx’ h in New York C ity, and only 18 percent ol all Black registered Voters cast ballots In the election o f Douglas W il der as lieutenant governor in Virginia, Black turn out was climated at 12 percent o f (he total turnout — .3 percent less than in the previous gubernatorial election Several conservative political scientists have in sisted that the reason for this is narrow ly ideologi cal: that Black elected officials hold generally a “ liberal” political orientation, while the majority o f Blacks are much more "conservative." Ihe Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonprofit organization randomly surveyed the opinions of 600 Blacks and collected the responses o f 105 leaders from the Congressional Black Caucus, Op eration PUSH, and NAACP, Urban League, Na tional Conference o f Black Mayors, and the South ern Christian leadership Conference The 1986 surveys revealed, according to the Center, " a sur prising divergence between Black leaders and the average Black American on a broad spectrum o f concerns, including some at the very heart o f race relations." The study claimed that 77 percent tit the Black leaders "fa v o r minority preferences in hiring and college placement, while 77 percent ot all Blacks oppose them.” Sixty eight percent ot the leaders reportedly favored busing to promote schtxil de segregation. while 53 percent o f all Blacks sur veyed opposed busing. Forty percent ot the Black leaders support religious prayer in public schools, while schtxil prayer was endorsed by 83 percent ol all Blacks Only 14 percent o f the Black leaders supported a legal ban on all abortions, while 43 percent ot all Blacks supported outlawing abor tions Sixty percent o f the Blacks "oppose letting homosexuals teach in public schools, three in five leaders favor it.” Politically, 68 percent ot Black leaders refer to themselves as “ liberals," com pared to but 27 percent ot all Blacks. Most sig nificantly. the surveys note, " a bare majority — 52 percent o f all Blacks say that the Black leaders they see on T V newscasts and read about speak for a majority o f Black people." the curious thesis that Afro-Americans were moving to the ideological right was also reinforced by several gubernatorial and municipal elections in 1985, and by several public opinion polls. In Cleveland's recent mayoral election. 85 percent of the Black precincts supported incumbent Republi can Mayor George Voinovtch Three out ot five New Jersey Black voters endorsed incumbent Re publican Governor Thomas Kean. Throughout 1982-83. only about 10 percent o f all Blacks ques During a break in his bus) schedule in Portland Iasi week. Nicaraguan C o u n s e llo r-M in is te r Francisco Campbell Uxik a lew minutes to de scribe tile on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast, and to talk about his success ful career in government Campbell, a native English speaker, received a master's degree in political science from the University of Hawaii He was Director of Agrarian Reform in the town ol Rluelields on the Atlantic Coast, and Minister ot the Atlantic Coast In Puerto Cabe/as, a town north o f Rluefields. before he was chosen for his present position in 1982 "W e don’t have many people in Nicaragua with my background." Camphell said "They said. ‘ That's a co a l, th a t's a lie , now go to Washington ' His job as Minister-Counsellor in volves communicating with Con gressmen and the U S p u b lic. Camphell said He feels some animos ity from government types, but average Americans have been Incndly to him. he said Campbell said he had more o f a chance to succeed because o f the spe cial circumstances o f Nicaragua's black population on the Atlantic Coast 1 he area’s 43,000 black people are the descendants u l slaves brought by the British, and runaways from other colonies, he said The Atlantic t oast is cut o ff from the West Coast ot Nicaragua English is the predominate language on the Atlantic side, w hilc Spanish predominates in the rest ot the country. he said Atlantic coast blacks were educated at mission sclxxils, and many became office workers, teachers, nurses and shipbuilders, according to Campbell While illiteracy among Nicaraguans was 32rr helore the revolution, it was less than one per cent among Atlantic Coast blacks, he said "Invariably, they saw themselves achieving much more in l if e . " Camphell said about Atlantic Coast blacks Growing up in Bluefields was " f u n , " Campbell said " I can only think o f myself playing ball, fishing and sailing all day I was very rarely in the house, but spent most o f my time outside with large groups o f my friends " Ihe Sandinista revolution ot 1979 created a "greater sense ot belonging" for residents of the Atlantic Coast, ac cording to Campbell "F o r the first time in the history ot Nicaragua, this is a government really trying to address the problems ol the Atlantic Coast " I 'm a Sandinista." Campbell said ¡he Observer welcomes letters to the editor. Letter.': should be typed or neatly printed and signed with the author ‘s name and address (addresses are not usually published). We reserve the right to edit fo r length. Mail to: Portland Observer. P O . Box J137. Portland. OB 97708 their middle class leaders But (Ins gap represents in part (he presence o f conservative c u ltu ra l values among most working class and low income Blacks. Profoundly religious in their outlook, the majority o f Afro-American working people have no d if fi culty in accepting legislation to permit prayer in public schools This cultural conservatism extends to social relations and. to some degree, crim inal law-enforcement. Undoubtedly, many Blacks out side o f the middle class probably oppose abortion rights, legislation to protect the civ il rights o f homosexuals, and would not support federally- mandated school desegregation A majority ot Afro-Americans support the death penalty, despite its systemic, racist application against Black pris oners. However conservative Black workers are in social or cultural terms, this does not translate into ideological or p olitical conservatism Most Black voters still have little identification with GGP. share distinctly left leaning ideas on foreign policy matters, and have a healthy dislike for (he struc tural inequities in America's economic system. As W illiam s observes, " in 1972. when 68 per cent ot the Black population was affiliated w ith the Democrats, 37 percent o f all Blacks considered themselves strong Democrats while another 31 percent considered themselves weak Democrats By 1984, the percent ot Blacks identifying them selves as Democrats climbed to 76 percent, with 55 percent viewing themselves as strong Democrats and 21 percent as weak Democrats " According to the January. 1986 Wushini>ton Post poll, 87 per cent of all Afro-Americans interviewed viewed Jesse Jackson favorably. More importantly. 66 percent o f all Blacks supported a second Jackson presidential campaign in 1988, and 53 percent thought that Jackson could run as an independent. Black Americans w ill continue to represent the most progressive political constituency in A m eri can politics, despite their "conservatism " on some cultural and social issues tioned in opinion polls gave their "a p prova l” for President Reagan's job "perform ance.” In late December. 1985. the Vew York Times conducted a controversial polI which asserted that 56 percent of all Blacks endorsed Reagan! Skeptics questioned the results, especially when the limes admitted that only 103 Blacks were interviewed In January . 1986, the limes interviewed 1,022 Blacks, and produced a slightly lower approval rating for Reagan o f 37 percent A more accurate Black opin ion poll commissioned by the Washiniiton Post in January. 1986. gave the President a 23 percent approval rating Is Black political culture becoming more aligned with Reagamte policies? Since Afro-Americans are the principal victims o f the Reagan agenda, that seems highly unlikely. As Black political scientist Linda F W illiams has observed, the "im p ro v e ment in Black ratings o f Reagan has more to do with the president’ s personal style and political success than with his political philosophy. When Blacks were asked about Reagan's handling o f particular economic and race-specific policies and about their own political philosophies, they dis tanced themselves from the president by excep tionally wide margins " In the Wtishinutoti Post poll, for example. 49 percent o f the Blacks stated that Reagan s policies "held them back", 33 percent stated Reagan's policies "made no difference", and only 11 per cent said that Ihe policies "helped " Only 14 per cent o f all Blacks endorsed Reagan's "handling (of) unemploy ment” ; and 56 percent affirmed that "Ronald Reagan was a ra c is t." Ihe Wushitiaioti Post poll directly contradicts some o f the findings o f the less scientific. Center for Media and Public Affairs survey . Forty one percent o f all Blacks called themselves "lib e ra l” , and only 23 percent were "conservatives." A clear majority ot Blacks also supported affirmative action programs A more accurate reading o f the 1985-86 Black political opinion surveys would suggest that there is indeed adegree o f alienation between Blacks and _____ •• MW s s . a n ) Oregon H U I Nt-rs .(’.([>»■' f l H a Publishers Asso. ..itiön iH l h Hunnina H u ru b lr m i l l b t f in iru t hma p o litic a l »< irn t r u n ii v«»< ul I* u til n r I n i\ t iM i\ ih n J u l\ Ilo n a ih r ( o lo t I oie u p p ru t* in «»ver 1411 n r * \p a p rr\ in irm u iu n tu lh Portland Observer •» *> »(< The Portland O b a r n r r IU S P S 9 » « 0 l • pubAshed every Thuredey by Erne PubXshmg Compeny Inc.. 1483 N E K *n g s worth. Portend. Oregon #7211. Poe« CZrttce Bor 3137. Portend Oregon # 7 2 « Second dees poetege perd el Portend Oregon W *» 0 A ' ™ The P i n lend O turrvrv wee estsdkshed n 1970 Sudecnpnore »16 00 per veer ei the T n C o unty eree Poet m eeter Send addrees changes io the Portland O to m v r. P 0 Boa 3137. Portend. Oregon 9 7 2 « . N a tio n a l A d v e rtis in g R e p re s e n ta tiv e A m a lg a m a te d P ub lis h e rs Inc N e w Y ork Alfred !.. Henderson, Editor/Publisher A l Williams, General Manager jPORTMND OBSERVER 288 0033 115 one y*«' fof two years Boa 3137 P ortend OP 97208 I I — rn m * Street Cl TV Apt state ZIP < 2 ft * — try z XJ Cl T is Ph > CZ) > 33
