• ; • • • I , II • • ui .__ • ___ • . . • 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 -- B H b *«''•' . n Asso .thon 4P Puhi.shers * er.«» Anociar.on A lfre d i Henderson, Editor/Publisher A! Williams, lim e ra i Manager IM S JpO R TW N D OBSERVER . / 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 • 15 to» ona y w t ’ •?*> fo r tw o ynars Bo ■ 113 7 Portland OP 9 7TOR »*1 $ 2 2 o 5 m < Q ?-• O I ¿ < z 5 Sh art • : •..‘ • c î ' • ' • » Tb» P w b n d (H n r rr r r I US PS W W I / i tn pobfcVwd e v»y ThuruUv by h * Pubtahoy C(xrp»ny Inc 1463 N E K i 4« kj « »Rortb Portland Oregon 97711 Po«t O tfk » Box 3137 Portlar»d O a y o n 9770B Second claw (*a*1 at Portland O»g<*> PER NÊWAL founded • 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 P o ti 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 B“ » 3137 Ptkrtlarwl Oagon97?OB 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 •*//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 S ■ ■ 'O r e .? . g ... • • V ." - r. •; • T ....' ÿ r • 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 r* r ' .......... a . . . ' 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 • • * • * . ► , • - Mm • •• 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 . ' . • « •• •’ - I • • • I •* 4, . ♦ • -r t , • >.* * * • .. -* f 3 P Î5 E . • A « ** * .# • *• Î * ?• « w . - -r- t r * -