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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
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