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Page 2, Portland Observer, September 10, 1986
Letters to the Editor
EDITORIAL/OPIIMION
African-American Organizations Should Support Programs The Need for Focus in Oregon Black Community
that Benefit Community
Recent incidents in Portland reflect that there is a
saddening when we find that members
Every African American should be aware of
the serious economic and social problems
facing a substantial proportion of African
Americans
Two programs. "Project for Community
Recovery." which is operated by the DePaul
Center, and the "Com m unity Mental Health
Center’ are not being utilized by the African
American community.
One of the most serious social problems
facing the African American is the high rate of
drug and alcohol abuse within their commu
nity
Project for Community Recovery provides
help to co dependents and treatment services
to alcohol and drug abusers. The Community
Mental Health Center provides assessment
and outpatient services
Indeed, residents through Northeast Port
land have voiced their position to drug traffic
ing and abuse in the area in which they live.
However, the persons to whom they are di
recting their anger are African Americans who
operate drug houses and sell illicit drugs open
ly on the streets in the community
Drug abuse, drug trafficing and alcohol
abuse are serious problems in Northeast Port
land. The price the community is paying as a
result of these ills are enormous in terms of
crime rates in the community, lack of commu
nity development, prostitution, families break
mg up, and destruction of lives.
W ith so much at stake due to drug and aleo
hoi abuse, one would think that the entire
community would support programs which
address the problem of drug and alcohol abuse
among African Americans. Sadly, this is not
the case.
Despite the valuable services the two pro
grams offer African Americans, few have
taken advantage of this service. Equally dis
turbing is the fact that institutions in the Black
community haven't been as cooperative as
they should be with the managers o, these
programs in an effort to inform the community
about their value
Furthermore, both programs are in jeopardy
of facing cutbacks due to lack of utilization.
African American institutional and organize
tional leaders should work together with or
ganizations which attempt to improve the con
ditions of both African Americans and the en
tire community Failure to do so would be a
tragedy
Of
MAfiniitq MuiAtibi ts protestor ot Bocioloyy end political science
at Purdue Uruverwty
Along the Color Im e
nem speperi internationally
eppeert in over IO
The P o litica l P o verty of Black C o n se rva tive s"
A recent newspaper colum n by Black conservative
economist W alter E Williams criticized what he termed
the use of "racial quotas for the purposes of redressing
historical grievances." W illiams also urged unemployed
Blacks to accept dead e n d " |obs as a means o f upward
m obility His right w ing argum ents symbolized the poll
ticaf poverty of Black Reaganism. the NeoUncle
Tomism of the 1980s
In the May issue of "C hristian Century magazine.
Harvard Professor Glenn Loury, another prominent
Black conservative, argued " It is time for the Negro
middle class to rise up from its stool of indifference, to
retreat from its flight into unreality and to bring its full
resources its heart, its mind and its checkbook to
the aid of the less fortunate brother
Our w ork today
is not to change the minds o f w hite people, but to in
volve ourselves in the lives of Black people "
One must adm it that Loury is p a rtia lly correct The
paradox of desegregation since the 1960s has been that
the integration o f w hite universities, businesses and
suburbs has frequently meant the loss of thousands of
Black professionals from organizations w hich prom ote
Black interests The Black middle class as a w hole tias
failed to establish strong, ra tio n a l institutions w hich
rest upon its ow n fiscal resources w hich deal effectively
or seriously w ith the problems o f Black unemployment,
hunger and Black on Black crime There are o f course
exceptions to this rule, but all too often, individual
success has meant the abandonment of our collective
problems
But the essential com m on sense of Loury's appeal
comes from the fact ttiat we have also heard this kind of
appeal before Loury's recent popularity among some
Blacks comes from his rhetoric Black self help, racial
pride, self sufficiency
A small part of this political
legacy can be traced to the ideas of Black nationalism,
as expressed historically by M artin Delany. Marcus
Garvey, and Malcolm X However, when this language
o f self assertion is com bined w ith a political alliance
w ith conservative Republicans, and a blind faith in the
tw w er of American capitalism, it becomes essentially
,h® anat hromstic program of Booker T W ashington
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A lfre d i Henderson, Editor/Publisher
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288 0033
N a tio n a l A d v ertis in g R e p re s e n ta tiv e
A m a lg a m a te d P u b in h a n Inc
N a w York
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PER
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founded
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W hen welfare and education benefits are reduced to
provide more funds for tfie Pentaijon budget, flow .ire
tfie basic interests of the Black com m unity served’
H ow can a poor Black fam ily pull itself up by its own
proverbial bootstraps, according to tfie Black conser
vatives' prescriptions, when it has no boots at all?
By the false |uxti|>osition of Black self initiative vs
progressive social and political protest the Lourys and
others repeat the mistake of Booker T W ashington,
and reinforce the chains of racism and economic
oppression
Loury and W illiams have forgotten the
warning of Frederick Douglass "P ow er concedes
nothing w ith o u t Demand
Subetnptxxn 1 15 00
yaai n iba Tn County
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m a tta r Sand a d « *» « t h i n g « to iba f a lla n t i O b a im r . P O
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member
.
W hen Loury and other Black conservatives today de
dare that "o u r work is not to change the minds of
whites
ttiey contribute directly to the destruction of
civil rights, affirm ative action programs, and ultimately
they accellerate ttie economic and social crisis w hich
affects Black people as a w hole
Black self help by
itself, is not substitute for an aggressive continuation of
the civil rights agenda, w hich seeks ultim ately to uproot
racism, and not accomodate? it
The oppression of
Black com m unities deepens everytime housing, healtti
care, anti jobs programs are reduced or eliminated by
the Reag.mites of both political parties W hen Black
women and men are forced into jobs at subminim um
wage rates, how can they sustain healthy fam ilies’
O m » M •*//</mi O B v rtr r was mtetiHxrwrl m 1970
UM11
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W ashington s political and educational achieve
merits, including the establishment of Tuskegee Insti
tute and the National Negro Business League, cannot
f>e minimized
Yet W ashington's political strategy of
alliances w ith conservative w hite capitalists and Repub
lic.ms was fundam entally flawed He retreated from the
political arena, tacitly accepted political disfranchise
men! of Black folk, and acknowledged the unequal
status quo Black families w ould simply have to learn to
survive on their ow n. w ith o u t governm ent support
W ashington never understood that the road of acco
m odation and Black self help, w ithout a concom m itant
m ovem ent for equal rights and a struggle for social
justice led to a dead end
Portland Observer
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Letter to Head of Corrections
Mr. Toombs,
On A ugust 18, 1986, I had to go over a Sergant
Hatley's head to get a sheet that was not torn, and since
that incident 2 or 3 inmates have come up to me and
told me that I better w atch out and everytim e that I go
back to my cell I better search it real good cause the
guard that you did that to is a dog and he will plant
som ething in your cell and have you set up
I w ant it to be know n that I have no need for a shank,
and I do not use drugs I have not been in so much as
a fight since m y 4 years in this place, so I do not have
any enemies in here that I w ould need a shank for, and
I do not use drugs
So please be on notice
Leonard L Patrick
2605 State St.
P 0 Box 45230
Salem, Oregon 97310
O
CO
H
Paul M cCoy should take his ow n advice regarding
cheap shots and back stabbing in the press His trashy
com m ents, ill advised use of innuendo and his dow n
right disrespectful treatm ent of Pastor Jackson is an
affront to this com m unity
M cCoy described Pastor Jackson as running amuck
and being a large liability to the Black com m unity This
certainly doesn't seem to be a perception shared by
anyone we can identify
This year the City Council
awarded the Spirit o f Portland Award to Pastor Jack
son and the Black United Front (HUFI for outstanding
service Portland C om m unity College named Jackson
. Hall at the Cascade Campus after Pastor Albina Mini
‘ Steuat Alliance found him to be an asset and elected
him president of A M A
Regarding the B U T
credibility as an organization,
McCoy suggests that the Front should be on the line
in com bating prostitution, drugs and other crime pro
bfems Had McCoy himself been involved personally in
addressing these issues, he would know that the B U F
has been involved in com m unity organizing activities to
fight crime
A few examples bear out this point
For the biq prostitution protest march held in 1982,
the security for citizens was provided by the B U T .
along w ith the American Muslim Mission The Master
of Ceremonies at the rally was Ron Herndon. The
B.U F co sponsored the march and recruited p a rtici
pants Pastor Jackson was one o f the lead marchers
and speakers w ho urged church people and citizens to
get involved
The keynote speaker for the anti drug march on Al
berta and Grand in 1985 was Ron Herndon, w ho spoke
strongly on the need for all parents and com m unity
groups to w ork together w ith our youth in building
positive and drug free lives
A m ong the key organizers and speakers at a Colum
bia Villa rally to encourage residents to fig h t back
against crime were Ron Herndon and Herb Cawthorne
This is no time for division and name calling in the
com m unity
Rather than try to discredit leaders who
have been on the line, w hy not help w ork on the issues
facing the com m unity As the saying goes Now is the
Time1
Sharon McCormack
Edna M Robertson
Gail L. Diggs
A C. Green Family Gives Thanks to Community
a
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The A C Green fam ily wishes to thank everyone on
behalf of our son. Steve F Green, who was critically
injured in an autom obile accident on August 1st at the
intersection of 15th and Dekum Streets, for your pray
ers. I>eautiful cards, phone calls, lovely flowers, »man
Cial help and best wishes that you expressed in so many
other ways, all of w hich helped to bring Steve and our
family through this very d ifficu lt time
Steve is now in rehabilitation and is making tremen
dous progress I am so grateful to God for allowing him
more days in this w orld
Once again, please accept
our. and my, thanks to everyone for your concern and
well wishes for Steve
God bless you all,
Mrs Leola Green
O.B.L. Hosts 1st Annual
Development Dinner
Oregon Chapter
tional Business I eague w ill host its
1st Annual African American Eco
nom ic Development Dinner Sep
tember 16 1986 Shenanigan's at
Ports of Call. 4575 N Channel. Wil
lamette East Room
There w ill be a no host cocktail
at 6 00 p m and dinner at 7 00 p m
A rthur Teele. Jr., President of the
National Business League, w ill give
the keynote address entitled "A fri
can American Prospect for Pro
gress, Free Enterprise or Depen
d e n cy."
Mr Teele is a partner in Sparber,
Shevin, Shapo, and Heilbronner,
P A ,, a Miami based law firm.
Teele is a recognized public policy
expert in tax regulatory and labor
management
relations
matters.
Formerly, he served as Admimstra
tor of the U.S. Department of
Transportation s Urban Mass Trans
portation
A dm inistration.
This
agency provided funding for Tri Met
Light Rail System. Currently, he is
one of the principal shareholders
and officers of Silver Star Commu
mcations o f Florida w hich owns
W JA X A M FM o f Jacksonville
The National Business League
was founded in 1900 by Booker T
W ashington. The purpose of the
League is to provide new initiatives
A rth u r Teele
J r .,
P re s id e n t o f th e N ational
that m ight help eliminate the isola
tion o f the m inority business co m
m unity from the nation's aggregate
business com m unity
The League’s objective is to build
Business
League
a stronger econom ic infrastructure
in the m inority com m unity, through
business developm ent
For more
inform ation, contact Chad Debnam
at 249 0711
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Calvin O.L. Henry
President
Oregon Assembly
for Black Affairs
Cheap Shots and Back Stabbing
Along the Color
by Dr M anning Marable
o f the Black
Com m unity can o n ly express something positive about
the com m unity by holding a march.
These events, incidents and conditions need be put
into perspective for the Black Com m unity. They need
to be focused so that the Black Com m unity can see
how they help or hurt the aspirations and goals o f the
Black C om m unity The intentions of those individuals
w ho purport to speak on behalf of the Black Com m unity
should be examined
These recent incidents make it imperative that greater
focus m ust come to the Oregon Black Com m unity If
this focus does not come soon, it appears that our com
m um ty is heading tow ard self destruction
You are the representatives o f the Black Press in
Oregon Your newspapers can serve the Black Commu
nity by helping to bring and build this focus w hich is so
urgently needed
W ill you use your newspapers to
help the Black C om m unity to build a future through a
better understanding o f the events, people, and activi
ties that shape their lives 1
great need for focus in the Black Com m unity. There
are some Black individuals purporting to speak for the
Portland Black Com m unity, yet they do not feel that
they have to be accountable to it. The actions of these
individuals seem to sell out or undermine the aspirations
of the Black C om m unity
Also these individuals are
unwilling to cooperate, coordinate and com m unicate
w ith other individuals and organizations w ho are work
mg to better the conditions for Blacks in Oregon These
individuals w ant to be the Black gatekeepers for the
Black Com m unity
The com m itm ent to develop com petent, com m itted
and accountable leadership is one of the biggest tasks
facing the Black C om m unity
Identification w ith the
Black C om m unity is still a major problem Many people
in the power structure have expressed that outspoken
Blacks in Portland are satisfied if they can hold a press
conference or a march.
The recent endorsement of a W hite candidate for
Portland City Council and the castigation of a Black
candidate for Chairman of M ultnom ah County Board of
Commissioners reflect that these individuals are not
truly w orking for the interest of the Black Com m unity.
They appear to be only interested in self interests at the
expense of the Black Com m unity
Also it is equally
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