Page 2. Portland Observer, August 7, 1986
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Apartheid Costing Americans Their Jobs
There are two main reasons why Americans
should be concerned about the system of
Apartheid in South Africa.
First, the system is repugnant and immoral
to millions of Blacks, mixed races, and
Indians. Apartheid comes in tw o sizes, grand
and petty. Grand Apartheid provides a frame
work for the separate development of Whites
and non-Whites from birth to death. Petty
Apartheid consists of the rules - over 2,000
laws and regulations - that create or sanction
racial discrimination in restrooms, theatres,
buses, etc.
Secondly, the racist system of Apartheid is
costing Americans thousands of jobs in the
U.S. Everyday we hear of plants closing and
layoffs of American workers. Part of the rea
son for this phenomena is the number of U.S.
businesses operating in racist South Africa.
There are more than 300 U.S. companies
operating in South Africa. U.S. corporate in
vestment in South Africa has increased nearly
10 times during the past two and a half de
cades. At the same time, these companies
(5|
have failed to develop and update operation in
the U.S.
American companies doing business with
the Pretoria government are there for one rea
son — to exploit the system of Apartheid
Apartheid provides a cheap pool of labor.
Just last week, the Reagan administration
signed an agreement with South Africa to in
crease textile imports from that country. The
agreement would allow a 4 percent increase in
textile imports into the U.S. This will result in
more American textile workers losing their
jobs.
Furthermore, while U.S. steel workers are
facing severe economic problems, U.S. bank
loans have helped South Africa's steel imports
to this country grow 50 times greater since
1975.
By supporting Apartheid, America's com
munities will continue to decline. The loss of
U.S. jobs in the private sector will mean a
smaller funding base for public service. This
hurts public workers and all Americans.
Healthw atch
by Steven Bailey. N O.
COCAINE IN AMERICA
Part III
I began thia series discussing the present use of co
came in America, the new forms of street cocaine called
"Rock" or "Crack", and in Part II some of the less com
monly discussed reasons that athletes fall into the trap
of drug abuse Today's article will deal with some of
the programs and services available for the dependent
user in Portland.
There are a number of programs for drug abusers in
the Portland area Cocaine Ananymous provides free
evening group counseling sessions 7 nights a week in
conjunction with a number of private facilities Many of
these well publicized private treatment programs, such
as St Vincent Hospital. Bess Kaiser, and Laurelhurst
Treatment Center, involve fee schedules that range
from $1,000 to $5,000 With one half of cocaine abu
sers being inner-city minorities, it is clear that these
programs are financially prohibitive to most addicts
The Protect for Community Recovery 1281 2804
A
combined effort of the Center for Community Mental
Health and the De Paul Center, Inc I provides alcohol
and drug abuse services on a sliding fee scale Their
literature states that "Persons will not be denied needed
services because of inability to pay ."
Even with the Project for Community Health, there
are great numbers of people who are not receiving the
care they need. As a result of the limited services
available to Portland's indigent, poor, and under
insured residents in all health areas, there has arisen an
inner city resource center called the Northeast Health
Resource Center This center is headed by Aleem Sha
bazz, a PSU graduate in Health and Education, as well
as in Black Studies. The Center, at 828 N. Killings
worth, serves as a referral service to help those in need
to contact the appropriate agencies for their individual
concerns While the Center acts as a referral base for a
wide range of concerns. Mr Shabazz has a particular
interest in the prevention and treatment of cocaine
abuse in the North-Northeast communities
Aleem Shabazz has recently been lecturing around
the North/Northeast community on the subject of co
caine abuse His lectures include the NBA video "The
Cocaine Dram in the N B A ." Most recently he lectured
at the King Neighborhood Facility, under the sponsor
ship of the Department of Urban Ministries and Sharon
SDA Christian Church He hopes to lecture within local
sehools this faH. as he feels education and prevention
are the key to our growing drug problems. His program
is available for a sliding fee to interested civic and com
mumty groups
Call 285 9621 for more information
The answers and solutions to cocaine abuse are not
clear cut. In fact, there are a tremendous number of
factors involved in our current drug problem. It is my
belief that the beginning solution is not negative rein
forcement, such as more jail space, stiffer sentences
and wide spread drug screening, but a realization of
addiction as a disease with clear psycho social compon
ants Minority employment, adequate education, social
health access and community support are critical to a
curative solution. Lectures such as Mr Shabazz's pro
gram are a beginning step, but we need to rise to the
challenge and provide compassionate support to our
citizens in need.
Cocaine abuse in the poor only highlights the made
quacy of our "safety net" for the underprivileged
Similarly, when we create an adequate "net” for our
citizenry, the problems of drug abuse should wane.
Letters to the Editor
To The Com m unity
Message of the Utm ost Concern
People, with recent release of persons involved in
low priority crimes!burglary, theft, forgery, first time
offeners, driving while suspended, etc.) from the
Justice Center, as well as the upcoming "kick out" of
our youths sent to McLaren It is not a secret that the
youths mostly affected will be the minority youths who
might benefit from programs offered at McLaren and
are from the N E Community. These youths and men
accused of violations will be back in our community,
just as they left, with no viable support system and no
consistant concern that would help enhance their net
worth to become productive, responsible and account
able for their actions. Inside Outside People, located at
5003 N.E 13th, is a self help program that has a half
way house. Inside Outside People is also a diversion
program and accepts referrals from intense street super
vision Inside Outside People recently were donated a
fairly new house located at 13th and Prescott to utilize
as either a half way house for men or a youth home for
At M«f »
children who need this valuable service.
Inside Outside People is a program that does not pro
vide services for violent offenders or sexual offenders
The people who are referred to the program are screen
ed at the Justice Center by the courts and then by our
own specialized intake and assessment process for
acceptance into the program. Inside Outside People is
composed of ex-offenders who recognize the situation
in our adult and youth corrections facilities It is a fact
that $300 million to $96 million for prisons was defeated
in the failure of Ballot Measure No. 5, and recent pub
licity regarding our jail crisis asks for alternatives which
are community oriented
Needless to say, we often
hear W e don’t want criminals or youths in our neigh
borhoods." W e say, "People, they are already there."
Unless we deal with the alternatives, how shall we iden
tify them or their activities? In establishing our altema
tive homes, we shall be able to identify them and help
them to constructively become responsible and
Portland Observer
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N a w Voiii
accountable to their neighbors and community by de
developing training, counseling, positive role models
and skill building programs, as well as monitoring their
activities W e say this is a project for the entire commu
nity to address, or shall we allow the rich man living in
West Lmn who often times is the source behind illegal
drugs, buy hugh low cost dwellings and transform them
into their own personal prisons W e say if we could re
ceive any percentage of the proposed $300 million or
$96 million, we could impact crime to a standstill We
could provide pay checks for the needy in the commu
nity, creating a positive work force that could also in
volve welfare recipients' yearly subsistence instead of
depriving a family of the father image for the children,
for six months as implemented
People, we must come together, address our pro
blems together and develop a means to implement
these houses together for the satisfaction of the entire
community.
The community needs the jobs, the
esteem that comes from working, and the trust that
develops when everyone is working for the same goals
Think about it, the pros and cons
Inside Outside
People exists through community support and, as
stated, now has two diverse homes in the same com
mumty to set an example of a concerned community
thai deals with its problems We are aligned with peo
pie who have the same concerns, community churches,
politicians and congregations W e are a people s pro
gram, a universal program, and our sole director is God
Please help us to implement crime diversion and good
will The prisoner, whether adult or juvenile, shall re
turn to the community anyway Shall we stand idly by
or be part of a new concept in community mvolvment.
in corrections, that surely is of worth to all concerned
If you have any further questions, please contact us
Inside Outside People
5003 N E 13th
Portland. OR 97211
282 6056
ON SOUTH AFRICA
Call For Action
The situation in South Africa is more critical
than ever.
— The p o t has sta rte d to b o il o v e r.—
Unless the South African government is re
moved soon, it will try to continue its m urder
ous grip on the population and violent aggres
sion against its neighbors, the cycle of vio
lence will then become truly appalling. Com
prehensive sanctions by the Untied States
would remove a major part of the support it
now enjoys.
POSAF is an umbrella organization of sever
al anti-apartheid elements in the Portland area.
Some of our activities: We organized protests
that forced the resignation of Calvin Van Pelt,
South Africa's Honorary Consul in Portland;
temporarily prevented the unloading of South
African cargo in front of prominent sellers of
the Kruggerand la South African gold coin).
This le tte r is a call fo r you to p a rtic ip a te
in th e noon d e m o n s tra tio n on Friday,
A u g u s t 8 at the Pioneer C o u rth o u s e /P o s t
O ffice . The Washington "lawm akers” will
soon be debating the "m e rits" of imposing
sanctions on South Africa and the Oregon
Senators have offices d o w n to w n — they need
to be reminded of our feelings on this issue.
Please bring your own signs, noisemakers
(drums, pots and pans would be good) and
slogans to be chanted. (BE SURE TO FOCUS
ON IMMEDIATE SANCTIONS WITH NO
COMPROMISES.)
POSAF organizational meetings are held
every Tuesday evening at 7:30 in the King
Center, 4906 N.E. 6th. Please plan to attend,
inform us of your ideas and plans, and help us
organize effectively.
W e u rg e n tly need yo u r p a rtic ip a tio n —
be sure to in fo rm all m em bers o f groups
to w h ic h you belong.
Why Not a Helsinki Accord for Black South Africans?
Anatoly Shcharansky is free
The Western World
celebrates, especially Americans and Jews in Israel and
around the world Internal protest and resistance in the
Soviet Union as well as President Reagan's personal
appeal to Gorbachev at Geneva some months ago
fttelped turn the key of Shcharansky'« jail cell to let him
out. But more importantly, Soviet Jews have the full
weight of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment of 1974 be
hind Soviet Jewry that grants trade concessions for
the release of Soviet Jews (what about other dissidents
of non Jewish extraction?) and the Helsinki Accords of
1975 that insists on human rights, including the right to
immigration from the Soviet bloc
These are powerful instruments at the disposal of
Soviet Jews The United States is the prime sponsor
and mover of these powerful tools
One might well
ask Why have not such tools been put in place by the
United States to aid black South Africans in their four
freedoms, the freedom of movement, and to choose a
government of the people, by the people and for the
people?
The answer to this question is both simple and com
plex American and Israeli Jews are very powerful and
have tremendous influence in American life and politics
Jews are part and parcel of Western civilization Black
South Africans and American blacks are not very
powerful and have very little influence in American life
and politics. They are not a Western civilization people
despite the fact they have absorbed a large measure of
Western civilization and culture Blacks in South Africa
and America historically are a conquered and captive
people They have not mastered Western culture and
its techniques like the Jews as a group have Blacks are
still a poor minority and not a merchant or business
civilization cultured minority And the West distinctly
does not value the personality and human rights of
African descent peoples. These factors blend and have
resulted in a limited commitment, if any, to the human
rights of black South Africans by the American
government.
This is a tragedy on a grand scale because the Amen
can policy toward the Soviets and Jews is based upon
the black American civil rights movement and program
It has been exported to the Soviet Union and enshrined
in the Jackson-Vanik Amendment and the Helsinki
Accords But one must ask Was this primarily a re
suit of power politics or a real sense of social justice
which this nation claims to be committed to in the East
West struggle?
There are some very distinct advantages the United
States can gain by supporting a human rights program
in South Africa for blacks. First, Nelson Mandela and
Winnie Mandela are just as worthy human beings as
Anatoly Shcharansky and his wife Secondly, they are
not fighting to immigrate from South Africa but to
transform it into an oasis of freedom and democracy,
and they have the confidence and the will to sacrifice
for this vision and goal. They are taking a noble and
risky stand for human rights and democracy which the
Helsinki Accords and the Jackson Vanik Amemdment
claim to be for Then why not for black South Africans?
Is preserving white supremacy, a group of whites
with high technical skills but low or non existant morals
or democratic inclinations, more im|3ortant than a low
skilled people with high democratic inclinations? Does
a racist Nazi people and state with high power offer
more security to American interests than the black
South Africans who possess little if any power? Power
is more important than human rights and social justice
in the present American foreign policy in regards to
black South Africans, and sooner or later we will pay a
dear price for this position. It's clear that in the twen
tieth century a determined people can not be long sup
pressed by armed and oppressive minorities No longer
can a distinct advantage in skills and arms rescue
oppressors from a people's aspirations for freedom and
human dignity This is true also for black people despite
the fact they don't possess the high culture and skills of
European Jews, they are determined to be free of racist
dictatorship.
The black South Africans have taken a noble stand
for freedom, human dignity and democracy.
The
United States stands for these principles in theory
Why not implement a practical and forceful policy in
South Africa for blacks comparable to one in the Soviet
Bloc for Jews? If we can free Soviet Jews, why not
black South Africans? If we can free Anatoly Shcharan
sky and his wife to go to Israel and come to the United
States to campaign for freedom, why not help free
Nelson and Winnie Mandela to campaign for freedom
for themselves and their people in South Africa and in
America? If freedom fighters in South Africa and
Nelson and Winnie Mandela's human rights, personal
dignity and human worth are equal to Anatoly and
Avital Shcharansky's, then why not?
Dr Bruce M Tyler
Assistant Professor History
University of Louisville