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STATE SYSTEM OF H/GHER E D U C A T IO N
O FFIC E OF P U B L IC A FF A IR S
P O BOX 3175
EUGENE, OREGON 97403
(503) 686-5714
Racial Conflict in Europe
Part II of a Three Part Series
The greatest contemporary racial crisis in Western
Europe is unquestionably the Black struggle in Britian.
I was invited to London to deliver a major speech to
honor Guyanese historian-political leader Walter Rod­
ney, marking the seventh anniversary since his assassi­
nation by the dictatorial regime of Forbes Burnham in
Guyana. While in London, I had the opportunity to
meet dozens of prominent Black trade unionists, politi­
cians, educators and other leaders who are struggling
against the British version of the color line.
The history of Blacks in the United Kingdom is in
certain respects fundamentally different from the Afro-
American experience. Although a small number of
Blacks have been in Britian for several centuries, the
vast majority have come since the Second World War.
Roughly half of all emigrants came from the British
Caribbean, expecially Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and
Guyana; the remainder were ethnically Asians, which
departed from the Indian subcontinent and East Africa.
At one point in the 1950s, about three thousand West
Indians arrived monthly. They accepted the very worst,
lowly-paid jobs in the unskilled and semiskilled positions
which whites refused to take. And by the end of the
1960s, the nearly two million members of the new West
Indian and Asian neighborhoods were commonly term­
ed "Black people" —a sociopolitical rather than biologi­
cal category.
As the British economy faltered in the 1960s, the
conditions for a racist reaction against Blacks began to
be created. White workers, fearful of unemployment,
began to advocate a whites-first principle in the labor
market. As in the U.S., a crude "dual labor market"
took shape, with whites of most levels receiving higher
wages and superior working conditions. Currently the
Black jobless rate is 25 percent, more than the 11 per­
cent for whites. Black youth unemployment in most
major cities exceeds 60 percent. In one recent public
opinion poll, 7 percent of Blacks stated that white em­
ployers overtly discriminate by race.
In the field of education, Blacks' rights were increas­
ingly restricted. A hugh percentage of Black children
were indiscriminately placed in special education class­
es for the "abnorm al." London boroughs began a prac­
tice of "banding" —what we would term "busing" —
Black school-children far from their homes to majority
white schools. In protest, Black parents in the North
London West Indian Association and other organiza­
tions coalesced to call for an abolition of racist educa­
tional practices.
Blacks were also harshly controlled by the British
police, who had few restrictions on their utilization of
violence against nonwhite "suspects." A pattern of
police brutality and unlawful or unjustified homicides
against Blacks led to a wave of street demonstrations
and uprisings in the ghettoes in Brixton, Liverpool,
Toxteth, Manchester and elsewhere. But to date, the
police have done little to promote racial integration in
hiring policies: there are only about 700 nonwhites out
of a total national policeforce of 125,000. Police con­
tinue to stop and search Blacks indiscriminately and
without cause.
Probably the sharpest parallel between the racial cri­
sis inside the U.S. and the U.K. is the accelleration of
both electoral political and vigilante racism since the
1970s. As both societies have lurched to the right under
the sterile sway of Reaganism and Thatcherism, respec­
tively, white racism has been given a type of political
respectability.
This authoritarian process unfolded a little earlier
abroad than here. Back in the late 1960s, racist politi­
cian Enoch Powell campaigned for the total expulsion of
all Blacks from the U.K. Powell gave the mainstream
politicians the justification to enact the Immigration Act
of 1971, which effectively shut off all nonwhite entry
into the U.K. The dismal failure of both the Conserva­
tive and Labour Parties to combat institutional racism
logically culminated in vigilante acts of terror and vio­
lence committed by whites. In the mid-1970s, for in­
stance, dozens of Asians were bea'ten or stabbed, while
the police did virtually nothing to check the viplence.
In 1984 alone, 1,300 racist attacks were recorded.
Asians are 50 times more likely to be the victims of ver­
bal and/or physical assaults than whites. Racist graf-
fitti and other forms of intimidations are becoming the
norm on public property, buses and walls throughout
the nation.
Blacks in Britian have drawn renewed strength from
their intense struggles, and in many ways illustrate for
Black Americans the kind of political resolve which we
need to manifest against Reaganism and the new
racism at home. This political courage is summed up in
the Black British Slogan: "Come What May, We are
Here to Stay."
Legal Journal
•I
•• •
by William E. Davis
Chancellor of the Oregon
State System of Higher Education
A Historic Decision for Oregon Higher Education
The Key to Liberty Can be Found in the U.S. Constitution
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A NEWS SERVICE
by Omari Kenyatta, J.D.
OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
It is absolutely intrinsic that you should read the U.S.
Constitution. This should be done with the intent to
understand the contents of this unique document.
What you will find is that we have a form of govern­
ment that is three dimensional by Constitutional design:
The Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. This form is
the best that a country can have, and, once you under­
stand how this government operates, it will mystify and
delight you.
The following is a paragon as to why you should read
the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. went to the gold stan­
dard in 1933, and, in 1968, money backed by silver cer­
tificates was withdrawn from the market. What hap­
pened in this case is that Congress violated the U.S.
Constitution by turning over money coinage to the
Federal Reserve Banks and not having it backed by
silver and gold. (See the Coinage Act of 1792 which
declares that gold and silver are to be the money of
account of the United States.)
Take the case of Lewis vs. United States, 680 F. 2D
1239 (1982), The United States Court of Appeals, the
Ninth Circuit. This court made the following ruling:
"W e conclude after examinating the facts that the
Federal Reserve Banks are not a part of the United
States government. They are privately owned, locally
controlled corporations. The General Accounting Of­
fice of the United States does not have jurisdication
over the Federal Reserve Banks. Therefore, this writer
is of the opinion that your federal government should be
in charge of the coinage of money and not some pri­
vate coporation which the American tax payers have no
control over."
It should be understood by the readers of this journal
that private corporations are in business to make
money. However, if profit is the motive, you can be
assured that their interests come first, and they have to
keep their stockholders happy.
I am not against profit-making, because that's the
American way, and I believe in the free enterprise sys­
tem; it's the best, bar none; but do not turn over the
tax payers' constitutional rights to private corporations.
Are you aware that inflation could be brought to an
abrupt halt in America overnight if this country went
back to the gold standard. Take a look at what has
happened since 1968. When the money that was
backed by silver certificates was withdrawn from the
market, inflation has continued to aggrandize year by
year.
If we don't go back to the silver and gold certificates
standard in this country, by the year 2001, according to
the projections of the U.S. Government figures, a
pound of hamburger will sell for $10.50 per pound, a
simple dress that sells for $60.00 in 1980 will sell for
$275.00 by the year 2001, and a house that costs
$75,000 in 1980 will have a price tag on it that will be
literally astounding at $600,000.
In general, we should be able to cope quite well in
such as economic climate. Salaries are expected to
keep pace with th,e cost of living, easing the press of
inflation. For example, the secretarial job that paid
$11,000 per year in 1980 is expected to command a
whopping salary of $45,000 in 2001. A factory worker
who made about $25,000 in 1980 might expect to hold a
similar job paying about $98,000. A high school
teacher, whose salary is around $15,000 now, will be
paid $58,000. Of course, there will be others who will
do better or worse, depending on how much foresight
they show in the choice of their careers.
You might ask what is the point the author is trying to
make? It's as simple as this: There will be more poverty
and jobs lost in the future if we don't go back to a
monetary system that is backed up by silver and gold
whereby we can compete in the world markets. This
should be kept in mind. If the U.S. currency went back
on gold standards, your standard of living would not
decrease; it would increase.
The moral of this story is that the next time you think
of voting for a politician, try to find out whether he or
she understands the U.S. Constitution and particularly
the Coinage Act of 1792, which declares gold and silver
to be the money of account of the United States. Also
find out if this person understands how Article 1, Sec­
tion 10 of the U.S. Constitution affects the citizens of
the state he or she represents.
If the elected officials do not properly understand
this document, how are they going to properly repre­
sent your interests?
For further information, please write to or call this
newspaper, or write to me: Omari Kenyatta, J.D., c/o
The Portland Observer, P.O. Box 3137, Portland, OR
97208.
COMMISSION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
Running a Shell Game in South Africa
It's like the proverbial shell game with the Ford Motor
Company as the con man. Ford claims to have divested
itself of all its financial holdings in South Africa. Yet,
the reality is that the Ford Motor Company, like General
Motors, continues to indirectly support the racist holo­
caust in South Africa.
Over the last several years the point-counterpoint
debate over U.S. corporations divesting from South
Africa has revealed one simple truth: these corpora­
tions continue to make a profit in that country at the
expense of millions of Black South Africans. Black
South Africans have been brutally murdered, raped,
and tortured by an oppressive regime that is fueled by
outside economic and military support. This1 support
has come exclusively from so-called Western demo­
cracies. The hands of the United States, Great Britian
and Israel are drenched with the blood of South A fri­
cans.
This new round of mythical divestment by major U.S.
corporations attempts to fool the public. Ford and Gen­
eral Motors have entered into agreement^ that have ac­
tually transferred their major holdings to South African-
owned companies. This sleight of hand does not weak­
en apartheid, but, instead, strengthens it.
Then there is the guise of Black South Africans sup­
posedly being empowered by the benevolence of these
companies as they pretend to depart. For example,
Ford Motor Company is boasting that under its method
of divestment 24% of its holdings will be donated to a
Black workers’ trust. What Ford does not emphasize is
that the Anglo American Corporation, a major South
African company will wind up with a 76% controlling
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interest in the company after Ford sells its shares.
Thus, the result of Ford's actions is to increase the
stranglehold of companies like the South African-based
Anglo American Corporation.
The truth is, however, that it really doesn't make a
difference what percentage of these companies' shares
would be set aside for a Black workers' trust. These
trust funds, under the apartheid system, are ultimately
not controlled by Black workers. The rights of Black
workers, like the rights of all Black South Africans, are
subject to the whims of their white racist rulers.
The labor movement in the United States should be
challenged to speak out against this type of subterfuge.
As a veteran of the civil rights movement, I now find it
hard to understand how the U.S. labor movement can
sit idly by and not take Ford and General Motors to
task for their support of apartheid.
But there is larger question. When will African
Americans withdraw financial support from all U.S.
corporations that continue to suck the blood of African
people? How can anyone in good conscience buy a car
from a company which remains in an unholy alliance
with South Africa?
The holocaust in South Africa must be stopped. In­
creased economic sanctions by the government of the
United States and by U.S. corporations are long over­
due. Yet history teaches us that this will not happen
until literally millions'of people inside the United States
stand up and speak out against this unprecedented
racism.
This is Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. of the United Church of Christ for
Civil Rights Journal.
Portland Observer
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• An addition to OHSU's basic science building;
• Utility improvements at OHSU and Oregon Tech;
• Construction of OSU Agriculture Experiment Sta­
tion research facilities, and expansion of OSU's North
Willamette Research Station at Aurora.
This will serve as further evidence to prospective
businesses and industries that Oregon is serious about
excellence in education.
The Governor's legislatively approved plan will not
only advance higher education, but also finance $8
million in community college construction, free up $30
million for basic school support (which, in turn, will
reduce local property taxes), and make money available
for prison construction.
Once again, Oregon will be able to show how much
good higher-education construction can do for the state
— in promoting construction jobs, in attracting top
faculty and students, in attracting outside gifts and
grants, and in serving as a magnet for new business
and industry.
As I told a Ways and Means subcommittee when
Governor Goldschmidt proposed this plan, this indeed
may be one of the most historic moments in the history
of Oregon higher education.
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
1
*
Oregon State College, OSE and the U of O, as required .
by federal and state laws;
• Renovation of the UO Architecture and Allied Arts
building, whose programs and classes now are scatter­
ed in 27 locations, plus money to plan an addition to the
UO Library.
• An addition to PSU's Branford P. Millar (cq) Lib­
rary; about 10 percent of the crowded library's collec­
tion now is stored in a downtown parking garage;
• Construction of a classroom/lab building at Eastern
for office, lab, studio, performance and support space
for math, art, theater, music and possibly computer
services;
• Work on Churchill Hall and the computer center at
Southern Oregon State College;
• Construction of OSU's Agricultural Sciences II
building to consolidate programs and replace ineffi­
cient, expensive-to-maintain space while also providing
expanded research capabilities for one of Oregon's lead­
ing industries;
The last time the Oregon Legislature voted general-fund
dollars for constructing higher-education buildings,
Jimmy Carter was in the White House, U.S. hostages
were being held in Iran and Three Mile Island was in the
news.
,
It was 1979.
Nevertheless, we have not stood still. Private and
federal dollars have built the Vollum Institute of Advan­
ced Biomedical Research at the Oregon Health Scien­
ces University in Portland, the Earle A. Chiles Business
Center at the University of Oregon, the Schneider art
museum at Southern Oregon State College, and other
buildings.
In addition, Oregon Lottery dollars are framing new
engineering, business and science buildings at Oregon
State University, Portland State University, Oregon In­
stitute of Technology and the U of 0.
Now, the Oregon Legislature has approved Gov. Neil
Goldschmidt's plan to invest $64.9 million in general-
fund dollars in higher-education capital construction.
This bold move will not only accelerate the develop­
ment of our eight state campuses for the remainder of
this century, but also boost the Oregon economy.
That investment is part of a total package of $141
million approved by the legislature that will financed
other projects such as parking garages, student unions,
dormitories and recreational facilities.
These self-
supporting projects, amounting to $76.5 million, are
paid for by user fees, federal funds and Oregon lottery
dollars, and therefore require no tax support.
As far as we know, this is the largest capital-
construction plan in the history of Oregon higher educa­
tion.
In outlining the Governor's plan, phrases such as
"sound business decision" and "good investments"
were used.
In fact, the $30.5 million in lottery revenues that law­
makers voted for higher education in 1985 has been
instrumental in leveraging more than $99 million in fede­
ral and private gifts and grants for Oregon.
Not only that, but that construction alone also is pro­
ducing the equivalent of a year's work for 1,200 Ore­
gonians.
These are among the projects that the 1987 general-
fund construction package will finance:
• Removal of barriers to the handicapped at Eastern
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