Page 2, Portland Observer, October 22, 1986
Healthwatch
EDITORIAL/OPINION
by Steven Bailey. N D
Dickerson Will Be Missed, But Not Forgotten
Since Blacks entered Jamestown, Virgi
nia, in 1619 as indentured servants, there have
been many Black leaders who have dedicated
their life to the struggle for racial equality Mr
Earl B Dickerson was such an individual.
Some may ask, who was Earl B Dickerson
In order to know who he was, one must have
lived in Chicago for a period of time, be a fol
lower of the civil rights movement, or a stu
dent of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Dickerson, who died in Chicago earlier
this year at the age of 95, was an attorney,
businessman, politician, and civil rights acti
vist. Not only was he the driving force behind
the evolution of African American history in
Chicago, his work in the area of civil rights has
benefited Blacks and other ethnic minorities.
In 1939, Dickerson successfully argued a case
before the United States Supreme Court
which struck down racially restrictive real
estate covenants. The practice was used by
real estate firms to keep communities through
out the nation segregated. The case. Hans
berry vs. Lee, was just one example of Mr.
Dickerson's contribution to the betterment of
the Black race.
Dickerson was born in Canton, Mississippi,
in 1891; he moved to Chicago in 1906. After
earning a bachelor's degree from the Univer
sity of Illinois in 1814, he later became the first
African American to receive a law degree from
the prestigious University of Chicago. He was
admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1920
In 1921, Dickerson was one of the founders
of the Supreme Life Insurance Company. He
became chief counsel of Supreme Life in 1921,
a position he held for 31 years. Later he was
named president and board chairman Today
Supreme Life Insurance Company is one of
the nation's largest and successful Black
owned insurance companies
Forever a warrior in the civil rights army for
racial equality, in 1939, Dickerson helped or
ganize the NAACP Legal Defense Fund That
same year he represented the father of the late
playwnte Lorraine Hansberry
He also served as president of the National
Urban League, NAACP, the National and
Cook County Bar Associations, and the Chi
cago Urban League.
Not only will Mr Dickerson be missed for
his leadership, knowledge, and commitment
to the Black movement, he will be missed for
his courage and integrity Unlike some Black
leaders who have used organizations that pro
mote the causes of African Americans for
their own personal and financial gains, Mr
Dickerson's dedication to the advancement of
the Black race was beyond question.
Mr Dickerson will be missed by those of us
who are committed to the concept of racial
equality for all His inspiration will be with us
’
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Along the Color Line
by Dr M a n n in g M arable
Dr
In ttie tw o years since Ronald Reagan re d a c tio n , it
,s clear tha t ttie vast m a jo rity o f w h ite D e m o cra tic lead
ers have learned n o th in g o t the sig n ifica n ce o f Jesse
th e m a n a g e m e n t o l K P T V
I am asking all pa re n ts to consider this issue and boy
c o lt ttie Ram blin Rod sho w m their hom es u n til sucti
tim e as tins issue is resolved in d ie w ay assurance that
this w ill never ha ppen again, as w e ll as a puhlir appo
lo g y fro m b o th Rod A nd ers and the m anagem ent of
K P T V C hannel ,2
T h e C iv il R ig h ts A t t is b a re ly 20 y e ,n s o ld a m t s till a
It w ill tie ttie i h ild re n o f ttie < h ild rn n w h o
w a ll h th e H 13 s h o w th a t h a v e
i h o p e o f se e in g tru e
e q u a lity c o m e to f r u itio n in o m c o u n tr y
p ro v id e d th a t
th e ir m in d s are n o t p o llu te d b y a p u h lii fig u re llie y k n o w
a n d l< ive
V h Ion a H o lm a n
1831 S W Park
No 30/
P o rtla n d OR 9 /2 0 1
Freedom Now!
7.35%
Susan M n u m /a n a , A frica n N ational Congress, and S tate R epresentative
M argaret Carter w ill speak ab ou t the anti aparthe id strugg le in S o u th A tm a
at 7 30 p .m , T hursday. O ctober 30. at M o u n t O livet B aptist C h urch . 1,6
NE S chu yle r. P ortland. O regon
This event is spo nso red by P ortla nd D e m ocratic S ocialists o f A m erica
A m erican Friends S ervice C o m m itte e S o u th e rn A fric a P roject. P ortlanders
O rganized for S o u th e rn A frica n Freedom , O regon R a inb ow C o alition , and
A to n y th e C olor Line
appears in over 140
"B lack Republican Renaissance?"
apparent la r k o f c o n c e rn a n d re s p o n s ib ility s tio w n tiy*
I w ro te M a rtin B rantley, General M anager o t KPTV
req ue sting that im m e d ia te actio n be taken regarding
th is m atter To date. I tiave not heard fro m him There
fore, m y in itial c o n ce rn has been co m p o u n d e d by the
M a n n in g MaraMr* » p rofe ssor o f s ix w>loqy and p o litx al st fence
al P urdue U m v e rx ty
-------------
Ramblin' Rod Show Host
Rod Anders Made
Racist Remark
fra g ile th in g
are for the m ed ica lly in dig en t
n ew spapers in te rn a tio n a lly
Letters to the Editor
On 8 13 86, I w as w a tc h in g the Ram blin Rod show
w ith m y son Rod A nd ers was ta lkin g ab ou t the Native
A m erican show at the M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty Fair w h e n he
to ld a little boy that there was som e th in g th a t had al
w ays b o there d him ab ou t Indians
they are alw ays
try in g to learn because w henever you try to talk to an
Indian, all they can say is. h o w
As a Caucasian try in g to raise m y son w ith o u t pre
ludice, I w as incensed at such a b la ta n tly racist remark
It M r A nders had not yet figu red o u t w fia l an im p ai l tie
has had on our yo u th (or ttie past tw e n ty od d years he
has been on the an. th e n I felt it was h ig ti turn! this was
p o in te d o u t to him
victim s o f this c o n d itio n
The final part o f the elderly health care task fo rc e 's
p re se n ta tio n in vo lve d ideas to help ease th e fin a n cia l
burden o f health care to the elderly
E« Represents
live B oti S m ith presented a te w im p o rta n t co n c e p ts to
.ud in this area First there w ere sug g e stio n s to p ro vid e
ta« breaks fo r those w h o care tor them selves in an in
house e n viro n m e n t
M r S m ith and o th e rs felt that
there should I»' an in cen tive tor those w h o keep them
selves o u t of state subsidized pro g ra m s
Finally Mr
S m ith ie i .om m e n d e d that O ie g o n look in to e q u ity con
version as a m eans for seniors to help cover then o w n
expenses T his type n t p ro gra m a llo w s Hie hom e o w n e r
to use som e o t then hom e e q u ity tor oth er con cern s
sin h as he alth c are He < ited M aine Arkansas. Penn
Sylvania and C o nn ei tn ut as states th a t already have
e ffe i live eq u ity con version pro gra m s These pro gra m s
a llo w seniors to take a m ore self s u ffic ie n t role in their
later life and also helps to lessen the s ta te 's su p p o rt
role in long term care pro gra m s
There is a m ore co m p le te coverage o f these issues in
ttie w ritte n re p o rt of this task fo rce w h ic h sh o u ld be
available th ro u g h Brie e B ishop C o m m itte e A dm m istra
tor O regon S tate Senate
Next week I w ill cover the report of the Task force on
co m m e n d a tio n s One o f the greatest con cern s in elder
ly health care is ttie fa ct tha t m ost pe op le w h o enter
n u rsin g hom es q u ic k ly becom e de pendent on Medic aid
and or oth er su p p o rt dollars
O nly 200,000 A m erican s are fu lly co ve re d for long
term care, yet 85% o f our elderly believe th a t ttie y are
covered fo r this by M e d ii aid was one dram atic state
m erit m ade by M s S hepherd For th e m a jo rity o , our
elderly, there is inad equ ate lo n g term cove rag e and
their personal w o rth is o n ly s u ffic ie n t to cove r the first
6 m o n th s o f n u rsin g ho m e < are At the end o f 6 m o n th s
m ost nu rsin g ho m e clients are to ta lly degiendent n il
federal and stale m onies Ttie task to n e feels tha t there
is a m aior need tor ttie state to help pre ven t th e fina ncial
rum th a t n o w greets m ost nu rsin g hom e e n tra n ts
A n o th e r major co n ce rn o f the c o m m itte e was the
q u a lity o f care th a t is fo u n d in n u rsin g hom es
Their
sta tistics Cite th a t 25% o f nu rsin g ho m e residents tiave
fun) sores by the er.d o t 6 m o n th s Better < are and bet
ter tra in in g for th e sta ffs is a clear need in our fu tu re
for years to come
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As 20% o f the elderly w ill enter a n u rsin g ho m e at least
once, these are issues th a t w a rra n t bro ad p u b lic su p p o rt
A n o th e r co n ce rn o f the c o m m itte e w as th e cu rre n t
status o f A lzheim ers disease
This disease w h ic h af
fe cts a s ig n ifica n t p o rtio n o f nu rsin g ho m e residents
falls th ro u g fi the in sura nt e n e ttin g and is n o t cove red as
a m edical co n ce rn in m ost policies A ne w state d e fin i
turn o f th is disease is needed to co rre ct th is m a|or fa u lt
o f our he alth insurance coverage W o rk is on g o in g to
redefine this < o n d itio n so that he alth plans w ill cover
W h ile m any o f ou r state le gislators are busy ru n n in g
for re electron, o th e rs are still hard at w o rk in Salem
M em bers o f in te rim c o m m itte e s are p re sen tly fina lizing
their reseracb in to a variety o f areas and se ttin g p rio ri
ties for the 198/ legislative session Tuesday. O ctober
14th, the J o in t In te rim C o m m itte e on H ealth Care m et
w ith its three citize n task forces (elderly care, rural
health and in d ig e n t health caret to hear their recom
m endatrons for the u p co m in g session In N o vem b er the
J o in t C o m m itte e w ill use these re c o m m e n d a tio n s to set
its u p co m in g p rioritie s
The first o f ttie task forces to present their w o rk was
the c o m m itte e on elderly he alth care C hairperson R uth
S he ph erd presented the fin d in g s verbally as w ell as
p re sen ting an in d e p th w ritte n rep ort
Her oral re|M)rt
to u c h e d on the hig h (Minns o f the c o m m itte e •. 19 re
VLD
F S L IC IN S U R E D
O N I VFAR CD
C A I I FOR O IH F H H ATFS b TERM S
W. WILSON FINANCIAL
«71 SW Sili
77T 3144
Red Rose S cho ol
Jackson and the R a inb ow cam p aign for the presidency
Ttie hulk o l the D e m ocratic hiera rch y n o w co n cu rs w ith
m any o f tfie cen tra l ten ets o t Reaganism . m ajor redoc
lio n s in social w e lfare pro gra m s m assive tin leases in
m ilita ry exp en ditu re s, an aggressively anti C o m m unist
fo re ig n po licy and so fo rth Jar kson has received vu
tu a lly no t onr essions fro m the D em ocrats and pa rty
regulars have sc ap eg oa te d him and oth er black leaders
for their o w n abysm al s h o w in g in 1984
The Democ rain P a rty ’s re|ei tio n o f th e R ainbow
C o a litio n and its a cc o m m o d a tio n w ith Reaganism for
ced som e bfac k leaders to rethink then e n tire appro ach
to p o litir s For a qu arter o f a century
blac k p o litics
exclusively m eant D em ocratic p o litics
But w tia l (ire
cisely had blacks gained from then fa ith fu l a llirq a iii »•>
A lth o u g h the num ber of blac k Democ rats in Congress
tiad risen fro m five n t 1964 to 20 in 1984 black legisla
to rs as a g ro u p had very little po w e r Sint e th e fo u n d
m g in 19/1 ttie C ongressional Blai k Congress was
virtu a lly ig no red o il m ost pu blic (Kiln y issues by w h ite
D em ocratic leaders The1 o n ly blac k p o litic ia n elec ted tn
ttie Senate d u rin g tins pe rio d Edw ard B rooke o f M . i s s . i
ch u se tts. w as a liberal R epublican
f e w til.u k D em o
(ra ts w ere elec ted to sta te w id e p o sitio n s and those
w h o so u g h t higher p u blic o ffic e were fre q u e n tly dis
co u rag ed try then pa rty s h ie ia n hy By ttie 1980s blac k
vo te s a m o u n te d to 20 percent o l the na tion al Democ r a
tic bloc in p re sid e n tia l elec twins yet blac ks w e re still
treate d as
e co n d class citizens in then o w n party
Jac kso n 's in a b ility to so lid ify ttie K a in tm w at local
levels, co m b in e d w ith ttie stampede1 to the rig ht tiy
m ost w hile1 Democ ratic leaders has d ire c tly c o n trib u te d
to a rcmaissani e o f black R epublicanism in som e guar
tens This con serva tive cu rre n t is still sm all tin t is tic1
g in n in g tn expand sig n ific a n tly This year alone lilac ks
can as R epublican congressional can didate s in A rkan
sas M assachusetts. M ich ig a n , G eorgia Illinois and
o th e r states In M aryland , a tto rn e y G eorge Haley tiro
ttier o f " R o o ts ” a u th o r Alex Haley w as an unsuccess
In
fu l ca n d id a te m the R epublican S en a to n .il prim a ry
Atlantic C ity. N e w Jersey til.n k Republic an m ayor
Jam es Usry w as reelected in a no n p a rtisa n rac e The
black ele cto ra te w ill tre g u e n tly vo te tor m o d e ra te Re­
pu blican s. black or w h ite , if they are pe rceived as
frie n d ly to blacks' tra d itio n a l p o litic a l in te rests and it
ttie y are ru n n in g against D e m ocrats w tio have little1 or
no c re d ib ility a m o ng m in o ritie s
The best exam ple o f th is cam e in N ew Jersey last
year w h en 60 pe rcen t o f the black vo te w as cast tor
R epublican G overnor Thom as Kean
This sum m er
Kean received a stan din g o va tio n w h ile speaking be fore
ttie N a tion al Urban League c o n ve n tio n in San Fran
cisco
His pra g m a tic m essage to blacks w as to break
fro m their fifty year alliegance w ith the D em ocrats:
You tiave one pa rty that ttie black c o m m u n ity has
given 85 to 90 percent o f the ir votes to, and h o w m uch
blac k leadership do you see in that party? I can tell you
whar s gom g on in m y state. I don t see any black c o u n ty
i hairm en I d o n 't see biack state chairm en for tha t 90
pen ent I d o n 't see as m any black legislators or m ayors
outside* the black c o m m u n ity
I d o n 't see any gams
A lth o u g h Kean analysis begs m any qu estio ns and ob
scores the d is tin c tio n be tw ee n the resp ective social
class liases and pro g ra m m a tic o rie n ta tio n s o , the tw o
m aior parties Ins general p o in t is indeed co rre ct
Blacks as a social g ro u p have n o t received p o litica l
tie n e fits fro m tin 1 D em ocratic leadership co m m e n su ra te
w itti then high levels of electora l su p p o rt since 1940
A m b itio u s til,i k p o liticia n s n o w recognize th a t they can
go only so tar in the1 Democ ratic pa rty s hiera rch y, and
no fu rth e r
This politic al reality was behind M ich ig a n p o liticia n
W illia m Lin as w ell pu blicize d dec ision to s w itc h fro m
the1 D e m ocratic to Republican Party m M ay 1985
Lucas
b a c k g ro u n d a form er N ew York C ity po lice
ottic in I BI agent and she riff appeals to the law and
order c o n s titu e n c y
His fisc al co n se rva tism and anti
a b o rtio n stain e t in eived praises fro m rig h tw in g p o p u
lists and m ainstream R epublicans even w h en tie was
serving as W ayne C o un ty (D e tro itI Executive1 But as a
blac k politic an Lucas was astu te en o u g h never to iso
late him self lim n D e tro it s lil.n k m id d le class In w in
m ug (tie state . GOP gu b e rn a to ria l prim ary. Lucas con
vim ed tho usan ds nt black D e m ocrats to cross over to
vo le tor turn
It he defeats co n se rva tive D e m ocratic
in cu m b e n t Gov J a m e s J BI.tin hard Lucas w ill he
( iim e1 the N o rth
fust lilac k govern or and a stro n g
c andrdate as t in 1 Reputiln an s vice1 pre sid entia l nom tna
tro ll m 1988
1 he so lu tio n to ttie til.n k c o m m u n ity s p ro b le m s can
nut tie1 resolved by leaping fro m the1 politic al fry in g pan
in to ttie tire Despite ttie existence o t a very tew iso
lated exi ephoos the- ranks ot the R epublican p a rty con
tain no frien ds o t a ffirm a tiv e a ctio n exp an de d jo b s and
he alth care p ro gra m s P oliticia ns like Lucas are seeking
In advam e their o w n n a rrow personal in te re sts at the
expense o f the larger m aterial in te rests o l ttie na tion al
lilac k co m m u n ity
I tie real . hallenge is ou r in a b ility to
devise an alternative1 politic al stra te g y w h ic h can move1
us beyond the im passe nt ttie1 Reaganized. tw o party
system
As C o ngressm an Ronald V
D e llu m s has oh
Served
M aybe w e ve arrived al a p o in t w h e re this
system does n o t serve os w ell
I d o n ’t see a n y th in g
sacrosanr t ab ou t the1 tw o p a rty system
Portland Observer
IS PORTLAND OBSERNER
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