Page 2
„rilanci Observer. April 22. 1987
Along the Color Line
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
by I)« M a n ning Mardbfe*
A
NI WS
Of
fill
SI K \ K I
U N H ID
( HURÍ H Of
( U R IS I
0*
COMMISSION FOR RACIAI JUSTICE
A lc e e L. H a s tin g s
W e have been taught to believe that if you'-e tried
and found not guilty by a jury of your peers, you can
not be tried again They call it double jeopardy Well,
it seems this only applies if you are not an African Arne
rican federal |udge who consistently speaks out against
the inequities of the legal system, as they are applied
against the poor and the powerless
This is the q u an da ry is w h ich J u d g e A lcee L Has
lin g s fin d s him self Ju d g e Hastings, a p p o in te d by Pre
sident C arter, w as th e firs t A fric a n A m e rica n ju d g e
nam ed to the federal be nch in Florida He is n o w being
re co m m e n d e d for im p ea chm en t by the U S Jud icia l
C onference ttie jio lir.y m aking arm of the federal |udi
Clary
The im p ea chm en t a tte m p t is supposedly based on
brib e ry charges o f w h ich Ju d g e H astings was a cq u itte d
in 1983
Rem em ber that w o rd "a c q u itte d
Jud ge
H astings was fo u n d not g u ilty after a fu ll trial, yet the
Ju d icia l C onference has decided Io try him again That
panel is headed by Chief Ju stice o f the Suprem e C ourt
W illia m H R ehnquist
W e fin d it p a rticu la rly in te restin g th a t R ehnquist is
leading the attack against Ju d g e Hastings, given the
dam ag ing evidence presented d u rin g his c o n firm a tio n
hearings, b e fore fie was a p p o in te d Chief Justice W it
nesses te stifie d th a t w hen R ehnquist was a lawyer back
in Phoenix. and w o rk in g a ctive ly for the R epublican
Party, the y had seen him harrassing A frica n A m erican
and Hispanic vote rs in Phoenix
He w as seen m illin g
around the (»oils, qu e stio n in g vote rs ab ou t their q u a lifi
i ations, and u n jily in g tha t tfie y m ig h t be do in g som e
th in g illegal by vo tin g
But no one trie d to im peach
R ehnquist fo i th is clear v io la tio n o f vo tin g rig hts
In
fa ct, fie was p ro m o te d to Chief Justice
A lso revealed d u rin g the Senate c o n firm a tio n hear
mgs w as w h a t c o u ld on ly be lalteled ju dicial m iscon
du ct
As a S uprem e C ourt Justice, R ehnquist heard
a i ase in w h ich he had been a< liv e ly in volve d before In s
a p p o in tm e n t to th e C ourt
The case in volve d a la w
soil filed to challenge the A rm y 's survill.im .e of anti
H e re
a p o p quiz
1 W h o is P ortland s No 3 em p lo yer, be hind Tektro
nix and Fred M eyer? (It's the 5.300 em ployee O re g o n
Health S i irtni es U n iversity, w h ic h n o t on ly edur ates
dental, m edical and nursing stu d e n ts tin t also operates
U n iversity H o spita l, C rippled C h ild re n 's D ivision and
de ntal clin ics I
2 W h a t higher e d u ca tio n in s titu te a ttra cts up to a
half m illio n dollars annu ally to tho Coos Bay area? (It's
the O regon In s titu te o f M arine B io lo gy at C harleston
w h o s e rece nt S3 75 m illio n in n e w c o n s tru c tio n adds
even gre ater p o te n tia l for a ttra ctin g professional < on
ferences to O re g o n 's sou th coast .)
3 W h o h e ljie d the C ity o f S u m p te r (p o p u la tio n 1451
d ra ft an a p p lica tio n for sewer fina ncing? (It was the
Regional Services In s titu te a, Eastern O regon S tate
College, La G rande I
war activists d u rin g the N ixon A d m in istra tio n
W h ile at th e J u s tic e D e p a rtm e n t. R ehnquist he lp ed
the N ixon A d m in is tra tio n de ve lo p the p o lic y on w h ic h
the surveillance w as based In 1971 he presented tha t
a d m in istra tio n s defense o , the surveillance d u rin g Sen
Sam Erw in's S enate c o m m itte e hearings in to d o m e stic
spying
In fa ct, a cco rd in g to Professor C h ristop her
Pyle, then on the Erw in C om m ission s ta ff. R ehnquist
b ro u g h t the A rm y 's records to the Ju stice D e pa rtm e nt
ju st so ttie E iw m c o m m itte e c o u ld not subpoena them
Then, one year later R ehnquist became a S uprem e
C ourt Ju stice
He the n cast the de cid in g vo te w h ich
dism issed ttie la w suit file d against ttie surveillance he
helped engineer
For th is legal legerderm ain J u stice R ehnquist was not
im peached fie was n o t even cha rge d
H ow ever, as a
friend o f the Reagan A d m in is tra tio n fie tias strong allies
Justice H astings has no such frien ds
In fact, he has
been .1 stro n g critic o f the cu rre n t ad m in istra tio n on just
about every judicial p o in t tfi.it has com e before his
bench
For exam ple, he tilo c k e d the d e p o rta tio n of
Haitian im m ig ra n ts, in d ire ct c o n flic t w ith Reagan Ad
m in istra tio n po licy
Reagan has added 3(X) fudges to the federal judiciary
Of those five are A frica n A m erican
T h o u g h Jud ge
H astings has already been fo u n d in no cent in a c o u rt of
law it is this federal |udir lary w in ch n o w star.ds in
lo dgem ent o f him
This is clearly a test case The Reagan A d m in istra
tio n as it a tte m p ts to sha jie the federal ju d icia ry in its
im age, un de rsta nd s the threat o f Blur k federal ju dg es
For. .ill federal fudges are a p p o in te d for life supposedly
so tfiey w ill n o t he susi ep tlbfe to po lite al m an ip ula tion
If this A d m in is tra tio n is able to fell p o litica l dissidents,
like J u d g e H astings th ro u g h im p e a ch m e n t, it w ill be
only the b e ginning
• N ew port H atfield Marine St tern e Center is nut
only a w o rld i enter fo i m arine research but also a m.i|or
tou rist dra w that welt om e i) m ore than 336.(XX) visitors
in 1986 alone
• Salem
Western Oregon St
offered 161 o ff arnpus. Salem area i redit courses
durin g ,985 86 w as re< en tly au thorized to offer a
bachelor's degree in jiu b lic p o lii y and a d m in istra tio n
designed for 14.000 state em ployees in M arion C o un ty
T echn ology E ducation au th o rize d by the 1985 Legi
slature delivers high te c h n o lo g y ( lasses and w ork
shops to corp ora te si le ntists and w o rk in g engineers in
tlie Sunset C orndoe w e st o f P ortland
M e a nw hile O regon H ealth Sciences U n iversity Hos
jn t.il tias i ared for p a tie n ts fro m every O regon co u n ty
O H S U 's C rippled C h ild re n 's D ivision operates clinics in
M e d fo rd and Eugene and p u ts travelin g clinics in Bend.
Coos Bay. Corvallis P endleton and R oseburg
The 11 m em bers of th e O regon S tate Board o f H igher
and Portland
O regon S tate U n iversity alone figu res it has 69 lor a
lio n s across the state, in clu d in g Extension Services
o ffic e s in each o f O regon s 36 c o u n tie s
O SU s A g ri
cu ltu ra l Experim ent S ta tio n has scie ntists stu d yin g
g ro w in g o f fru its, vegetables, grains and livestock at
A u ro ra Burns. H e rm iston, H ood River, K lam ath Falls
M e d fo rd , M o ro , O ntario. Pendleton, Redm ond and
U n io n a research s ta tio n at H arbor, sou th of Brook
mgs. w o rk s w ith Easter lily gro w e rs, and a fisheries
c u ltu re sta tio n on N etarts Bay. near Tillam ook pet
fo rm s salm on research.
• A sto ria
O SU s S eafoods Laboratory a ttra ctin g
sea food scie ntists fro m ,5 20 co u n trie s annually, per
fo rm s research on ne w p ro d u cts (such as using Pacific
w h itin g , or hake, for im ita tio n cra b p ro d u cts! and im
p ro vin g e xistin g processing techniques
• Bend
U n iversity o f O rego n's Pine M o u n ta in Ob
e d ito rs , p h a rm a c is ts
v e te rin a ria n s , nurses, s to re
m anagers and in o th e r trades and professions
W it,to u t qu estio n, pu blic higher e d u ca tio n is serving
the entire state in si ores o f w ays
For higher ed uca tion , the real test is h o w w ell w e are
serving Oregon s citizens
serva to ry is the Pacific N o rth w e s t's only year rou nd
research ob se rva to ry
Equipped w ith the re g io n ’s lar
gest telescope it is k n o w n for discoveries such as those
on black hole, bina ry and m ag ne tic stars Located 35
W ill,am F D<«v,s i t chancellor o f the O re g o n Slat»* S ystem o f H igher
f i l m at »on
Portland Observer
lU S P S
MDt
(MihMhed
avary
Thursday by fa»a Pobfc\h«ng C om pany k x
1483 N I tfrfknqs
M ^ lb P - x HU k w I Oregon
M l o » f . « fen a 313? Portland
O e q n n 977GR S e c o n d , lavs postage pa«d at Pndlarxl Oregon
Tha M v r /tta r /Í J fh rrtrr
U S 00 pet
MfMBER
PER
founded IM S
The racial in cid e n ts at Purdue are o n ly one m in o r
exam ple o f a g ro w in g na tio n a l crisis the e s c a la tio n of
racial vig ila n tism and violence against Blacks at pre
d o m in a te ly w h ite universities A sho rt list o f dozens o f
cam puses in cid e n ts includes the fo llo w in g cases
A t the U n ive rsity o f Alabam a in Tuscaloosa, a cross
was to rc h e d in fro n t o f a ne w Black so ro rity house
At the U n iversity o f Texas A u stin , w h ite rea ction ary
stu d e n ts have fo rm e d the A ryan Collegiates, w ith the
specific goal o f elim in a tin g all Blacks and o th e r " o u t
spoken m in o ritie s fro m their cam pus At M in n e so ta 's
Pillsbury B aptist Bible College, a Black form er stu d e n t
filed disc rim m a tio n charges, asserting tha t the in s titu
lio n d isciplin ed 3 la c k s m ore severely than w h ite s, and
that he w as also fo rb id d e n by colleg e a d m in istra to rs to
date a w h ite w o m a n A t the U n ive rsity o f C olorado, a
w h ite fra te rn ity circu la te d posters on Dr M a rtin Luther
King Jr s. B irth d a y o f a revealing p o rtra it o f a Black
the poster was cap tion ed .
"Come Play W ith
Me
At W ellesley College last Jan ua ry, a w h ite college
trustee w h o also o w n e d a Los A ngeles based m an ufac
turm g firm dei lared th a t she had tro u b le keeping Black
w o rkers fro m g o in g "b a c k to the streets to earn m ore
m oney selling drugs The trustee, H e nrie tta H olsm an,
was jire ssu ie d to resign from th e board by o u tra g e d
Blai k stud ents Bu, a num ber o f w h ite ad m in istra to rs
and professors w ere still prepared to ove rlo ok Hols
man g a ffe
W ellesley e co n o m ics professor M arshal
G oldm an insisted th a t people s s e n s itiv itie s " w ere up
set tier ause ttie form er trustee had b lu n tly described
tier real life experience on the fa c to ry flo o r
In aca
de m ii life there com es a tim e w h e n you d o n 't tell the
tru th
a p ftra rt
o ve r 140
C o lle g e C a m p u s e s
A t tne university o f M ichigan, an outbreak of racist
violence culminated in an 18 hour occupation of an
adm inistration building by 400 progressive w hite and
Black students on March 19 In the wake o f the demon
stration. 35 neo Nazis displaying swastikas rallied for
w hite supremacy in Ann Arbor subsequently a Black
student was threatened by "ly n c h in g " in an anonymous
note
On March 26. more than one thousand people rallied
at Columbia University to protest a racist assault against
A fro American students by a gang of w hites And at
Northern Illinois University, about 2000 students held an
antiracist dem onstration, in the afterm ath o f the distri
bution of Nazi like, racist flyers circulated across cam
pus When Jesse Jackson was invited to speak at this
university this February, a group of w hite thugs yelled
racist epithets at people attending the lecture
H ow can we explain this upsurgence o f racist vio
lence against Blacks on w hite campuses? There are
several interrelated factors w hich reinforce the campus
clim ate of prejudice and race hatred First, w hite uni
versities are rapidly cutting back programs to increase
the size of Black students, faculty and staff Most insti
tutions make only half hearted e fforts to implement
affirm ative action and m inority recruitm ent A t Welles
ley, for instance, there are only tw o Blacks out of 124
tenured professors, and in the past 8 years only one
m inority person has been granted tenure. A t the Uni
versity of Michigan, Black enrollm ent was 7.7 percent in
1976, and has dropped to 5 3 percent today
Purdue
University has only 15 Black professors, below one half
of one percent o, all instructors
S tatistics from the
American Council on Education indicate that the num
ber of A fro Americans enrolled in undergraduate school
declined by one fifth between 1980 and 1985
Black
Studies and other academic programs w hich reinforce
cultural diversity are being destroyed or reduced Not
surprisingly, w hite students receive the unam biguous
message that it is "o k a y " to exhibit racist tendencies
Similarly, given the Reagan adm inistration's overt hosti
lity tow ards civil rights, many w hite youth logically con
elude that their bigotry is sanctioned even by their
"com m ander in c h ie f."
Campus racism ca n 't be uprooted unless there is a
firm com m itm ent to social justice, racial equality and
affirm ative action in our governm ent, courts, the eco
nomic system and society as a whole Universities only
m irror the racist realities o f American life
The R o o ts o f O u r T ro u b le s
by A lexander R Jon es
The fp< ent indie en ts o f racial violent
in N ew York
and G eorgia, w h e re Blacks are harassed beaten and
killed fu n d a m e n ta lly have n o th in g to do w ith race al all
Tlie n x it of this in sa n ity goes m u ch deeper than a m ere
layer of skin It is co u ch e d in the insane .m il c o n tin u o u s
co m p u lsio n to suppress other people; any people
Take aw ay the easy identifier o f rat e and these anti
socials w o u ld fin d other people to atta ck
It w o u ld n 't
m atter as long as tfiey had som e decent g ro u p u p on
w h ich to spew their ven om
There are tw elve specific ch a racteristics and m en ta l
a ttitu d e s whi< h cause afrout 20% o , a race to c o m p u l
sively seek to harm o th e rs
Just a fe w o , these a ttn
(nites give im m e d ia te in sigh t in to the type o , th in k in g
th a t led to the b ru ta l racial events w e have re ce n tly
w itn esse d
• i f " ' anti -
c personality habitual .
w ro n g targe t I, a tire is flat fro m d rivin g over nails, he
or she curses a com panion.
• I ins typ,
I pa
i •,
■ .
• ■ ■
ai tion s and fig h ts against co n s tru c tiv e or h e lp fu l actio n
or a ctivities
• Hatping others is at ai tivrty iMw h d-
The 11 m em bers of the O regon S tate Board o f Higher
E ducation, w h o s e t sta te w id e p o licy for pu blic higher
ed uca tion , are residents o f Coos Bay. Corvallis. Elmira.
La Grande, M e d fo rd . P ortland and Veneta
In a d dition, it w o u ld tie hard to im agine any O regon
co m m u n ity ttia t does n o t be ne fit fro m graduates o f the
sta te 's colleg es and u n ive rsitie s w h o are w o rk in g as
architects, d o cto rs law yers, a cco u n ta n ts, teachers,
Consider some other examples
Tha
During this spring semester at Purdue University, a
series o f racist incidents has polarized the entire com
rnunity
This January 25, a Ku Klux Kian style cross
burning occurred on the lawn o f the university's Black
Cultural Center The next m onth, a racist threat was
carved on the office door of a Black administrator Uni
versity officials responded w ith "benign n e g le ct," at
best W hen asked w hat actions should be taken to deal
with campus racism and specifically the cross burning,
Purdue President Steven Beermg advised Blacks to
forget it ' Outraged, over 150 students, faculty and
staff protested the adm inistration's at best casual and
indeed callous approach to race relations
w om an
A u »» hj f he Cufcx L<*c
• M e Hi >"f Mary Phipps Medford < an pus 1 i ■
tiy S ou thern O regon S t.ite College, served 5 (XX) citi
zens last year w ith cred it and non i redit ( lasses .in
Other ?00 jie o jile were served by the college s R egional
Serve es In stitu te
• Washing« in Ci >unty Oreg
Yes the reach o f O regon jiu b lic higher ed u ca tio n
exte n d s far b e yo n d the eight cam puses in La Grande.
A sh la n d . M o n m o u th . K lam ath Falls, C orvallis, Eugene
rfrfe 1% ( x o f e t w * o f w x io fo g y a n d p o M < a* M t e n r e
•»»»••« »».»lonaBy
R a cism on W h ite
S u p p o rt J u d g e
m iles sou thw e st of Bend o ff H ighw ay 20. it is open to
ttie public e ve iy evening
you ve done w ell
• MM-
n e w x n t»
A ll A fric a n A m e rica n judges are at risk w ith these
p ro i eedings
W e m ust n o t let Ju d g e H astings stand
alone In fat t w e need m ore federal ,ridges like Jud ge
Hastings w tio are not afraid to speak ttie tru th
If you get even ono a n s w e r right,
M ennm q M.
« I Pu»fK *r U m v t f M t y
eve t*% h ed m 1^M>
yea- r , tha Tn (
area
m a tta » Sand arktreea , ha» »get to tha Avrfcr»«/
Roa 313? Portland O r e g o n i n
A lfn it I H e n iirm o i !
A ! M illitim i, ( ir n r r u l Alanagrr
P o at
PO
r
288 0033
N a tio n a l A d v a t lix m q A a p ia x a m a iiv «
A tn a lq a n ta la d P u b h x h a i«
N a w V o i*
In .
social personality nearly berserk
tht
A ctivitie s, ho w e ver,
w hich destroy in the name o, help are closely sup
ported
Such attitu d e s can be seen in the psychiatrist w h o
prom otes lobotom ies for Blacks as a "cure for ghetto
rioting, or in the IRS agent w ho shuts dow n a m ulti
m illion dollar concern because of $10,000 in back taxes,
or in the Klansman w ho blames Blacks for everything
from unem ploym ent to poor garbage removal
W hen the anti social moves on a relatively small
scale, we can have things like murders, rapes and
senseless racial violence W hen he moves on a large
scale, we can have a Hitler blitzkrieging his way through
Europe
The way to stop such people is to expose and label
them for wha, they are whenever they surface Truth
be know n, they are the enemy of all decent people,
and once identified, will be shunned liy most
M ost im portantly, however, we have to realize that
am, social characteristics have nothing to do w ith race
Black or white, male or female, the anti social person
ality is hard at work, denying freedom, causing terror,
and dragging good character through the mud
A lexa n d er K Jonea i t the D»rm lo r o f M in o rity and Third W o rld A ffa irs
for th e C hu rch o f St te n to io y y iR ) In te rn a tio n a l
EDITORIAL/OPINION
C a m p a n is Id e o lo g y S h a re d B y M a n y
The racist remarks made by former Los Angeles Dod
ger executive Al Campams about Blacks during an inter
view w ith ABC TV host Ted Koppel on Nightline several
days ago is shared by many in society
Koppel asked Campams why, after 40 years since
Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league
baseball, there are no African American field managers
and few Blacks in baseball management positions
Campams responded w ith this statem ent, " I d o n ’t be
lieve it s prejudice. I truly believe tfiey I Blacksl may no,
have some of the necessities to be, let's say. a field
manager I don , say all of them, bu, how many quar
terbacks, how many pitchers, do you have that are
Black?"
Campams believes that the m ajority of African Amen
cans are inferior to whites in ability, and, therefore,
should no, be given positions of leadership or respon
sibility His racist ideology is shared no, only by base
ball owners and executives, bu, by football and basket
ball owners, as well.
Racism is still a serious problem in our society Under
the Reagan adm inistration racism has become more
over,
People are exhibiting their bigotry openly be
cause the president and other public leaders are sending
ou, the message tha, " it's o ka y" to do so This explains
w hy Campams gleefully made his racist remarks before
a national audience on Nightline.
African Americans are jus, as capable as w hites in
becoming baseball managers, and football and basket
ball coaches Racism, and racism only, prevents them
from achieving this goal This explains w hy w hites like
Billy Martin can be fired as a baseball manager over and
over again, while Blacks like Joe Morgan and Ernie
Banks are never given an opportunity to manage in the
major leagues
Professional sports isn't the only institution w hich
discriminates against African Americans.
Corporate
America, police departments, institutions of higher lear
ning, e tc ., are also guilty
The remarks by Campams; the Howard Beach, New
York and the Cummings, GA, incidents are all remin
ders tha, racial bigotry is still a cancer in the United
States and tha, some individuals are denied equal op
portum ties here because o f their skin pigm entation
Such biases must be eradicated if this nation as a whole
is to survive