I
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Page 2, P
jnd Observer, July 8, 1987
A lo n g th e C olor Line
by I >' M.inmng M anille
Dr
M anning M, • »HI»» »s professor o f sociology and polttu .«I s. >»
at Purdue
Univ» is iiv
A lo n g th«
C olor Line
a p p e a rs m o v e i
*
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140
n e w s p a p e rs -in te r nuti< m olly
Racial Conflict in Europe
Part I of a Three Part Series
I was invited to travel to Europe for several weeks by
the University of Amsterdam's newly-established Cen
ter for Racial and Ethnic Studies. My original purpose
was to lecture on the state of Black American politics
and U.S. race relations. Although my audience has
been highly receptive and remarkably well-informed
about current conditions inside the U.S. for Black peo
ple, the dialogue has been a two-way affair. Because
throughout the past several days, in my travels both in
France and the Netherlands, it has become strikingly
apparent that the ugly spectre of racism and ethnic
intolerance is being cultivated and revived all over West
ern Europe.
In Amsterdam, there are numerous signposts of the
devastating effects of intolerance and ethnic bigotry
from previous generations. There is a large Holocaust
museum in the city, marking the fact that at least
107,000 Dutch Jews fell victim to Nazi terrorism during
World War II. Only one block away from the Center
for Racial and Ethnic Studies is the famous Anne Frank
House, a tall and narrow, typically Dutch residence
where the Jewish family, the Franks, hid in silence for
two years under the Nazi occupation. Anne Frank's
diary, saved by accident from the Holocaust, remains a
stiring testimony of a teenaged girl's resolute commit
ment to humanism and to the struggle for freedom.
Today's racism in Holland is far more subtle, but it
has an explosive potential for tearing the entire fabric of
society apart. About one in ten residents of the country
are ethnically non-Dutch. These people of color can be
subdivided into two, ecclectic groupings. The first were
the emigrants from Holland's former overseas colonies
in Curacao, the South American nation of Surinam, and
Indonesia. Some of these Black and brown emigrants
were refugees from their colonies' middle classes, who
could not accept political independence and the social
instability which it caused. Others came from the work
ing classes, drawn by the potential promise of higher
wages and a superior social welfare system established
by the government. The second group, which generally
doesn't hold legal citizenship rights, are the "guest-
workers” from Turkey and northern Africa, whom the
bulk of the Dutch treat even more harshly than the
Blacks and browns.
The Dutch pride themselves on "liberal" racial atti
tudes, and the government assumes a public posture of
ethnic tolerance. There is little overt school or housing
discrimination against nonwhites. However, nonwhites
suffer much higher unemployment rates, and have cir-
tually no representation in the nation's political, econo
mic or cultural elites. Increasingly in Amsterdam, Suri
namese and Indonesians comprise a very high percen
tage of the menially-paid, marginal labor force in hotels
and businesses. Moreover, in the past national elec
tion, a small rightwing political party was formed which
campaigned under the racist slogan "Holland for the
Dutch" and called for the forced expulsion of nonwhites
from the country.
In France, the tensions of racial conflict and crisis
are even more readily visible. The "problem", accord
ing to French conservatives, is the rapid influx of emi
grants from the dismantled "em pire." From former
colonies in Indochina come Laotians, Vietnamese, and
ethnic Chinese; from north Africa arrived Algerians,
Tuisians and Moroccans; from subsaharan Africa came
workers, students and others from such countries as
the French Congo, Mail, Senegal, Guine, and the Ivory
Coast; from the Caribbean came settlers from Guade
loupe, Martinique, and French Guiana. In the post-
World War II period, France required a pool of lowly
paid, semiskilled and unskilled laborers, a subgroup
which could be easily discarded when economic or
political conditions changed. But as Malcolm X might
have put it, the "Chickens came home to roost." For
a century and more, the French overseas empire com
mitted mass acts of brutality, rape and economic ex
ploitation against millions. Now the unwanted sons and
daughters of the bloody process of imperialism have
come to the metropole.
The most overt manifestation of racism in France
today is the neo-fascist movement of the National
Front, led by demogogue Jean-Marie Le Pen, which
has captured the support of about 10 to 13 percent of
the electorate. To date, French Prime Minister Jacques
Chirac has cynically accommodated the rise of racism,
calling for a pragmatic "union of the right" between his
own conservative political party and Le Pen's National
Front. When Michel Noir, Minister of Foreign Trade
under Chirac, denounced Le Pen's group as Nazi-like
and racist, members of his own party called for his re
signation. Even the liberal opposition party, the Social
ists, have not taken the racist threat of Le Pen seriously,
and have done next to nothing to recruit or to elevate
nonwhite leaders inside their own party.
On my last day in Paris, I encountered a particularly
vicious grafitti slogan scrawled on a subway wall in the
city's fashionable center: "The Blacks are dangerous!
The Blacks must be forced out of France! National
Front, Le Pen.”
Such slogans may soon become
national policy.
Legal Journal
Are You Being Given Proper Legal Representation?
by William E. Davis
Chancellor of the Oregon
Extension:
Like Having A University At Your Fingertips
by Omari Kenyatta, J.D.
How much do you know about the Constitution of
the United States and the way that your rights are ef
fected by this document?
What is a Constitution?
A constitution is a body of existing rules made for
the purpose of controlling the states' or the federal
government's actions. "Constitution" also means a
document in which these rules are written.
How and Why Was the
Federal Constitution Adopted?
The federal constitution that we now have was adop
ted in order to form a stable national government.
Under these Articles of Confederation, the Congress
was without power to enforce its own laws; and this
could not be remedied, for the consent of all the states
could never be obtained to any amendment.
What does Article 1, Section 10
of the U.S. Constitution State?
This is the important part of what is stated in this
article: "N o state shall make anything but gold and sil
ver coin a tender in payment of debts."
Do You Know How Article 1, Section 10 of the
U.S. Constitution Was Applied If It Was Applied
In This Case?
Lane County vs. Oregon, 7 Wall 71, 74 US 71 (18691:
It’s stated in the case as: "Thus any citizen can volun
tarily give anything to the state he or she wants to, and
the state can accept all the citizen wants to give without
technically violating the law. If the citizen does not ob
ject to assessment, levy fines, etc., in anything but gold
and silver coin, regulated in value by Congress, then the
citizen has waived his or her rights under Article 1, Sec
tion 10, Clause 1 for that particular transaction, and no
constitutional questions arise.
Do You Know How Article 1, Section 10 of the
U.S. Constitution Was Applied in the Case of
People of Ypsilanti vs. Franklin Cit,
Case No. TY-19676
This is a case that deals with a traffic ticket where
there would be a fine to be paid by Dave Franklin. See
the MSJ Volume 1, No. 12, Page 9.
What happens in this case is that on the 22nd of
November, 1982, Dave Franklin was to appear in court
to answer the charge that he had been traveling 55 MPH
in a 45 MPH zone. Franklin pleaded no contest to the
★
charges. However, he asked the court to allow him to
explain to the court how Article 1, Section 10 of the
U.S. Constitution should be applied to his case. The
court gave him permission to do so and listened to his
explanation about how this Article in the constitution
should be applied to his case. After he finished explain
ing to the court, the case was dismissed by the presi
ding judge.
Within five days after the case had been tried, this
court's Judge Fink signed this order: "It is hereby or
dered that citation No. TY-19676 is hereby dismissed
with prejudice due to the fact that the plaintiff has failed
to state claim upon which this court can grant relief."
This is Another Case that Happened in Kansas
In October, 1981
However, Judge Larry E. Moritz, a municipal judge in
Spearville, Kansas, believed in the U.S. Constitution as
well as the Constitution of Kansas. He has said that he
will continue to read to people their money rights when
they appear in his court if there is a fine involved. What
this judge is talking about is Article 1, Section 10 and
Article 1, Section 8, Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution.
This information goes right over the heads of most peo
ple in this country. The reason being is that they have
not read the U.S. Constitution, nor have they read the
book called "Miracles on Main Street" by Frederick
Tupper Saussy, plus they have not tried to find out the
three following things:
1) Is Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution
still binding on the State of Oregon or on their own
state?
2) If Article 1, Section 10 is still binding, can a citizen
be forced to pay his or her debts in present federal
reserve notes if they are objected to?
3) What is the money of account of the United States
that the court must conform to at Title 31, Section 371
of the United States Code?
When you finish reading this article, you should put
your thinking cap on, because what you have read is
very important.
Take the case of Marbury vs. Madison: Chief Justice
Marshall based his opinion on the grounds that the
court was bound by its oath to support the Constitution
of the U.S.A., and, therefore, as the Constitution was
superior to any set by Congress, the court must follow
it and not the inferior law.
_____
NOTICE
★
The Portland Observer has moved to our modern, spacious facility.
new address is 5011 N.E. 26th Ave., Portland, OR 97211.
have gone on to college.
• Sherman County farmers are taking Extension-
led stress classes aimed at helping them cope with long .
hours, machinery costs, trade policies and other un- ;
predictables that can contribute to heavy smoking,
alcoholism, insomnia, family problems and accidents.
One farmer told an Extension agent the class gave his
family what it needed to ride out a tough year, and that •
a subsequent bumper crop put the farm in the black for
the first time in a decade.
• Hundreds of parents enrolled in Master Parenting
classes in 14 counties are learning skills in discipline
and other child-rearing issues. One teen-age mother in •
Portland, for example, told a volunteer that in the future
she will try not to hit her child.
• Fishermen's wives groups organized by Extension
trained supermarket meat workers in how to buy, han
dle, display and promote bottomfish, increasing retail
demand for the seafood. A wives' group in Newport
successfully promoted serving locally caught bottom-
fish in the Lincoln County schools' cafeterias.
Clearly, these are programs in which Oregonians are
helping themselves.
First, Extension's financing comes from a combina
tion of county, state and federal dollars.
Second, more than 22,000 Oregonians volunteer an
nually (including 8,000 in 4-H alone) to help their neigh
bors learn about gardening, home economics, energy
conservation and woodland management. All those
volunteers add up to more people than the combined
populations of Pendleton and Redmond.
Third, Extension's philosophy is to educate citizens to
undertake projects for themselves rather than doing
tasks for them. By teaching citizens, Extension pro
vides lifelong skills they can put to use to improve their
lives.
Extension offices offer hundreds of free and low-cost
publications on subjects ranging from pruning and
potato storage to controlling carpenter ants and raising
chickens.
Whether Extension agents and volunteers are making
house calls, answering phone calls or calling on farm
ers, it's clear why Extension has been called the most
successful adult-education movement in history.
I urge you to support Extension, to volunteer your
skills, and to learn what it can offer to you, your family
and community.
A frantic mother who called the county Extension
Service office in Portland told agent David Adams her
20-month-old son had become sick after eating a plpnt.
The agent calmed the woman on the phone, then
drove to her home, identified the plant as a calla lily
and called the Poison Control Center.
The Oregon State University Extension Service, with
offices in all 36 counties, does more than help people
with questions about gardening, food preservation,
cooking and sewing.
Some agents, like Adams, even make house calls.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, Extension
offices are prepared to teach citizens in areas ranging
from spraying home orchards to preparing venison.
For Oregonians, it's like having the resources of a
major research university at their fingertips.
Oregon's Extension agents deliver useful education to
farmers, homemakers, 4-H youth, foresters, fisherman
and seafood processors, home- and business owners
(weatherization information), and communities (for
issues of land, economics and leadership).
These are only a handful of Extension projects impro
ving the state's livability and Oregonians' livelihoods:
• Oregon sheepraisers are saving an estimated
$100,000 annually as a result of Extension helping to
introduce "livestock guarding dogs" into 23 counties.
The guarding dogs, which have lived among livestock in
the Old World for centuries, protect the sheep from
coyotes and other predators while reducing the need for
traps and poisons.
• A shrimp-peeling technique that significantly in
creases yields, developed at OSU and taught by Exten
sion, is saving West Coast shrimp processors an esti
mated $50 million a year in meat that was previously
lost.
• In northeastern Oregon's Umatilla County, a cbm-
puter-assisted project helps farmers efficiently schedule
irrigation. Farmers can phone or call up a "computer
bulletin board" for satellite-transmitted weather infor
mation. One grower says this is saving him $18 an acre
in yearly water costs, which would amount to close to
a million dollars when spread across 50,000 acres.
Incidentally, as a result of this project about 50 far
mers in the area now own computers.
• Programs in Douglas, Linn and other counties are
helping at-risk youth, including those who abuse alco
hol and drugs, stay in school, get jobs and join youth
organizations (such as 4-H, Scouts and Camp Fire).
Parents have told of successful children who otherwise
would have dropped out of school, including some who
Oh, and that 20-month-old lad who ate the poisonous
calla lily? He survived.
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
A NEWS SERVICE
OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
COMMISSION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
A Salute to Justice Thurgood Marshall
perfections of the Constitution, Reagan would also
have to admit that a strict interpretation of the Con
stitution would put African Americans back in chains.
As Justice Marshall reminds us, "Moral principles
against slavery, for those who had them, were compro
mised."
One of the reasons this country has never been fully
exorcised of its racism is that it never truly admitted the
racist underpinning upon which this country was built.
You cannot repair a wrong until you have admitted it.
By revealing the flaws in the lofty, yet imperfect, Con
stitution, Justice Marshall has validated the continuing
struggle for change that will make that document truly
democratic. As he himself notes, the credit for pro
gressive change in this country " , . . does not belong
to the Framers. It belongs to those who refused to
acquiesce in outdated notions of 'liberty,' 'justice,' and
'equality,' and who strived to better them . . . [Tlhe
true miracle was not the birth of the Constitution, but
its life, a life nurtured through two turbulent centuries
of our own making."
Justice Marshall has reminded us that the rights of
the oppressed should never be sacrificed for the so-
called greater good of maintaining order or political
cohesion. This country has yet to repent for slavery
and until it does, we will continue to reap harvest after
harvest of racial turmoil.
We salute Thurgood Marshall for his valiant contin
ued efforts towards the cause of justice for all people.
He is like the old soldier who has fought many a war
and is now coming back for one more, necessary battle.
Such is the image of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood
Marshall, a man, who, in the sunset of his years, has
shown that plain, outspoken courage is not just the pur
view of the young.
The Reagan Administration had hoped to use the
Constitution's bicentennial to enshrine and therefore to
stagnate that document.
The Constitution, thus
diefied, was to become yet another tool in Reagan's
attempt to ¡(legitimize the progressive gains made be
fore Reagan took office. But this was not to be. Jus
tice Marshall, the lone African American on the highest
bench in the land, saw to that. While President Reagan
and his cohort, former Chief Justice Warren Burger,
praised the Constitution as a perfect document and its
framers as "giants,” Thurgood Marshall brought a little
reality to the situation.
In a recent speech Justice Marshall noted that he did
not, "find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice
exhibited by the Framers particularly profound. To the
contrary," he added, "the government they devised
was defective from the start . . . When contemporary
Americans cite 'The Constitution,' they invoke a con
cept that is vastly different from what the Framers bare
ly began to construct two centuries ago." One of the
defects to which Marshall was referring was the matter
of slavery, a> subject which Reagan carefully omits in his
speeches. And so he must. For by discussing the im-
• • VHI
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