Employers around the country and in Oregon are beginning to provide
Page 2 P •rtland O o s e rv e r^ c to b e M 4 ^ 9 8 7
olor Line
A lo n g
bv IV
child care assistance of various types to their working parent
At least 3 000 employers nationwide offer such assistance,
P
around ¿ o T s t five years ago Those firms are not just good corporate
Maubfv
Reaganism's Not the Problem
For the past six and-one-half years, virtually every Black poht.uan n
America has denounced "Reaganism " Superficially, the termi ,stak^r, to
mean the specific policy decisions of the current occupant of the Wh te
House of the actions of his underlings. More broadly, Reaganism has
been Interpreted as a reactionary legislative and socioeconomic agenda
which has sought to reverse the historic gains of the civil rights movement
Bu whe.he7one refers ro an individual - Reagan himself - or ,o a genera
r e o r X e b od , of policies on health care, welfare. ,obs and hoes,ng lor
p ~ P fêendP«,e poor. Ihe lerm "Reaganism" remarns Ihe generic
citizens They are finding that child care makes good business sens6a^
plovers report that child care related employee programs have '^portan
payoffs - including fewer missed days, higher employee morate, lower
turnover and an easier time recruiting good people to work for the .
As Child Care Coordinator, Mary Louise will help employers around the
state develop child care-related programs. She also will assist employee
Xups X
«re interested in encouraging their employers to consider such
Pr° 9XhaSt types of programs can employers sponsor? Establishment of a
childcare center on or near the workplace is one of the most obvious steps,
and several Oregon employers have or are developing such a facility. Ho
: e, a ch d Z c e n , e , is no, a praclca, opr,on in ever, wor steranom
rateaorv for nearly everything that's gone wrong in the 1980s.
h is precisely this terminology, and the strategic political assumptions
which form its foundations, which must be overturned. The P ^ n t and
his administration have done many things which border close to cr m.na I y
at least in the minds of the majority of Black Americans. But an ad
horn mem ' attack on Reaganism per se sheds little light of thefactors
gave the original impetus to the rebirth of conservatism in the 1970s and
19808 Reaganism'' represented one conservative responsei by a wing of
America's power elite in corporate and financial sectors to a grow ng errs s
within the economy and society during the previous decade. Butthis po
heal conservatism was not confined to the Republican Party. We fa, to
r e X b e r atom es that Jimmy Carter was perhaps the most conservative
Democratic president since Grover Cleveland. It was Carter, not Reag ,
who sponsored decisive cuts in social welfare and human services; ,t was
Carter who initiated "Cold War II” by his revival of sterile, anticommun s
rhetoric and Pentagon expenditures. Carter's utter failure to carry ou
moderate liberal agenda, which was responsible for h.s narrow ^ t i o
office in 1976 led directly to the more destructive programs of Reaga*
B ack Democratic leaders who want to focus all of their attention on the
social havoc spawned by the GOP should be cautioned to turn around and
examine their own party's responsibility for the Black community s current
•sii Knarc the scar where he was cut by police
detention and whose leg still bears
with a broken soft drink bottle,
f abuse has emerged in town-
The book no.es, A lernfyrng pane,no, a b u » *
phikkan
ships with a heavv milt,aw prese
streets, load them into
S d a Z 'Z 'a s X h e d
.
before being turned ou, to make thei, w e,
h° m Then there are the man, i n n o c a n , w h o I.nguish in p n ^ f o ,
months at a trme, d®, i ind visitsr from' t^ ' nPaccuJed of throwing stones at
child, 11-year-old F a m e o u
eventuallv acquitted of the charges,
two unoccupied vehicles.
remained in jail for
However, before the
f7 amd t he U-year-old would inter-
57 days because, the police said, they feared t
y
fere with witnesses in the case.
....
hac been well-
The torture
district surgeon, was
documented. In late 1985, Dr.
V
regarding the phy-
responsible fo, examining d e ra .n e ^ She filed
Qf age
sical condition o, the detainees,
iweltsl bruising, blisters over
According to her affidavit the prisoners had Iwehsl. bm
9.
X
nity groups in developing and supporting community-wide child care so u
t ,nc Rome of these options involve little or no cost to the employer.
Moreover the state is offering a financial incentive in the form of a new
business income tax ce d i, fo, part of fh . cos, o , child ca,e ass,stance ,o
n
X
Z
Z
Several had had thei,
a N ^ r k X
able for their parents.
s
people anymore, we feel
“
~
emP^ “ SdeQuac, p, on, child care system a,fees the future o, ou, chip
dren the strength of our families, and the health of our economy,
n o issue more deserving of our attention and commitment. Andthroug
effective public-private sector partnership, we can improve and expan
chi'd care s e
r v i c e
crack-down is so outrageous tha
no
the brutality we are not allowed to see. Let us keep up the pressure o
dismantle the horror fha. is apartheid. For the suffering children o, South
Africa are the children of God . . . they are also our ch.ldrem
BY
Director of Minority and T hird W orld Affairs tor
, «
___X
-nl.Chn-ll
Find Ways to Tell the Truth
The Iran-Iraqi war in the Persian Gulf ,s a ma or in’ ernat,° ,1a' . ' ° nr“
which threatens the peace and security of the enure world You ve read
Tbou, it in the papers, seen it on TV. or heard about „ on the radio. YW
despite all the outpouring of information on this war, we are only be g
Shown a facade. The basic cause o, this wa, has been complete!,, and
danZ e " m
, h
about the Persian Gul, fighting is >ha< ™
u » d
bv an unsuspected Third Party; a PERSON who purposefully started the
conflict Exactly WHO this person is remains to be discovered, ow
.
such a person is the root cause of not only the Gulf war, but any con bet
whether it is between nations, groups or marriage partners. Incredible.
transcend the defensive nature and character of our own politics. Its no
good enough for us simply to oppose someone else s agenda, while
Of course it is. That is the reason it is usually overlooked
Hubbard
According to best-selling writer and philosopher L. Ron Hubbard
there is actually a natural law: "A third party must be present and unknown
n every quarrel for a conflict to exist." This does not mean, M r Hubbard
explains "that there are no bad conditions that cause conflict. There are.
But these are usually remedial by conference unless a third party is promo-
renresentina a fundamental alternative.
u
There's also a failure, among most Black leaders to distinguish tactics
from strategy A tactic is a specific, short-term action designed to increase
any group's Power; a strategy is a long-term set of tactics which constitute
a complex social program: nonviolent demonstrations, economic boycotts,
and X
registration drives, are necessary tactics in the freedom struggle^
1109 He gives an intriguing historical example of this law at work. "The
revolutionary forces and the Russian government were in conflict in 191 .
However, "only when Germany's official state papers were captured .n
World War II was it revealed that Germany had promoted the ^ ° l t and
financed Lenin (the Third Party) to spark it off, even sending him into Rus-
But they're no substitution for the devising a general political strategy
813 ' H T h X X ^ n y examples of the "Third Party Law" in action. You pro
Wh CMosat oVthe White candidates for the Democratic Presidential n o rm a
tion X
backed away from both the traditional liberalism of Walter Mon-
X e as w e l,v i the neoliberalism of Gary Hart. They're promoting a thin.y-
bably have seen some yourself. A marriage blows up in heatedlargumenv.
The wife moves out. Meanwhile, the hidden, unsuspecte
. '
an in-law chuckles quietly. Another example is the FBI which utilized Thi
Parties to destroy the Black Panther Party by promoting conflicts between
veiled echo of Reaganism, without the harsh edges. They re also argu g
a g X r r e a . reductions in the military budget, and no major increases in
redistributive social welfare programs. And on these terms^there s no fun
damental distinction between most of the Republican and Democratic can
d id a t T except the Reverend Jesse Jackson. So Reaganism ,sn t the
problem - the problem is a failure of policy inside both major parties^ We
need a bold strategy which challenges the conservatism and nonrespo -
the Panthers and other organizations.
Given this information, the so'ution to any conflict is for both partiesto
sit down and isolate the Third Party by honestly comparing notes. Only
then can peace be obtained.
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
by Benjam in F. Chavis, J r., Executive D irector
«sive character of the two party system as a w hole.----------------------------------
A N f'VS S IR ' K f
□ 7 ” M anning Marable
at Ohl° S,a,e Un,Ver'
S v . ■'Along the Color Line ' appears ,n over 140 newspa p ^ n w r n a h o n a lh r
OF THF UNITED CHURCH OF CURISI
+
COM M ISSION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
Stop the Torture of Children
in South Africa
by Gov. Neil Goldschmidt
Govt**o"
The photos in the newspaper are familiar - unarmed South African
youth running away from armed police who fire upon them with, teargas
and bullets We have almost become conditioned to these images, to this
brutality What we cannot see on the front pages of our newspapers,
however is the overwhelming numbers of young people who are presently
being detained without trial in South African's jails. It is thise' ^ ormat;° "
which the South Africa regime foolishly hopes to hide from the eyes of the
On September 10, I announced the appointment of Mary Louise
McCtefock “ Portland ,o .he new position o, Child Care Coordrnafor ,n
Z s t a t e Department of Homan Resources. She will work wrfh the busn
world with its new repressive measures.
There are now approximately 8,000 Black South Africans ,n detention
Of that number, perhaps 3,000 are children, some even as young as 9 years
of age Hoping to extinguish the growing rage which the detentions have
incurred the government has recently forbidden any act which would pub
licize or seek the release of those now detained. This includes s'gn.ngi petn
tions, wearing T-shirts with sympathetic slogans, or even praying for those
„ X s communify end with « h e r sfare agencies ,0 .denr.fv ways in which we
can meet the needs of Oregon's working parents.
society be-
The need for child care cuts across all segments of our society* be
cause a growing number of Oregonians rely upon child care in order to
wo“
It is no longer rrue tha. mos, families fl, the "fredmonal modek
r r e a lifv he mothers o, more than half o, Oregon children under the age
0, ™x work ou«ide fhei. homes: and more rhen hel, of Oregon famrkes have
Permit me to respond to the article in your September 30 issue: "Dr.
ProPZ
“ b b r n X H: X
N.O
b=, controversial issues be covered in a
balanced manner. On the question of whether our schools are doing the
"o b fo r te African American students, yog did a good ¡ob o, preserving tba,
“ Z
is regrettable, however, that this front page story servedI only to
exacerbate a situation rather than draw us nearer a solutron. I
Ron Herndon s courage in biting the hand that feeds part o, hrs earl, ch to-
hood e d u c a Z " P™9ram. and Marthew Prophets def, hendlrng o. sensmve
issues However I hasten to point out that no other paper carried that story
X h causte me ,o wonder where i. originated. Was .here a press con-
ference a board meeting, or was this investigative journalism?
I ha’ e m , own concerns about fhe demographics o, u n d e ro c h ^ n g
students, too. However, depending on what statistics you 'nvest.gate a
considerable range of stories can be told. Given what it at stake and the
nrv of headlines in 72 point bold (very big) type, and the relative
„"’ importance o, minor differences In perspective and priorities between
or. Prophet and Ron Herndon , caufmn y o g , ™
truth which have more meaning. GPA represents on.y
student performance, and is highly correlated to the subject matter. A C
grade in algebra may be of more value than an "A ' in Physical Educ^ ' ° " f
A more ex^ct focus would be investigating the trend on the number o
Black students completing math and sciences courses.
Ultimately, it is the community, not the schools, that ca"
about changing the circumstances of African American children* The
Observer's listing of exemplary Black students on the opposite page in the
SameBeSreminded°thaSt criticism is easy, but creative solutions is where the
action is
Please don't let your newspaper stoop to competing with rags
whose headlines exploit people's emotions and forego
ment Dr Prophet, Ron Herndon, and the Oregon Alliance of Black School
Educators have much in common that would be beneficial to African
American students in Portland's schools. I urge you to investigate that.
Michael Grice
President
OREGON ALLIANCE OF
BLACK SCHOOL EDUCATORS
Portland, OR
His Future is
Being Determined
mous with beatings, with torture . . . with death. The book The War
Against Children: South Africa’s Youngest Victims," published by the Law
yers Committee for Human Rights, related the stories of these
The information was provided to them by South African human rights
groups such as the Detainees’ Parents Support Comm.tte and Black Sash*
The book speaks of Joseph, a child of 14 years, whose fmgerna.b a e
twisted and blackened from electric shock treatments performed while in
child care - no, only because there aren't enough government
to solve all of our child care problems, but also because employers have
Z e in ,he<adeguac, o, ou, child care programs and in fhe strength o, ou,
--2
n r-
$25 for two years
-v m v
ThurvUv by E«» PfiWtsbtng ComP*'V
nj2 C ’* ^ , 3 /
uur,rTh Pf,rtl.nd Okfaqon 972”
Bo" 3’ ’ 7 P > *
9ZÎ0B second class POM»»» b««1 • ' Portl* ' ld
Tb«
was «stairlisbed
'" q ” '
'3 X )
S M b a r^ r-xrs ” 5 00 ,w. yea. - lb« Tn ( ...,.ty —
Sand e g re s s , banges in tha
« trtr
MEMBER
288 0033
P °
B o . 3137 Portland Oregon 972TB
I
”
t is o c itt on - Founded
I '
PUBLIC S C H O O LS
$15 for one year
IU S PS 963 S8T„ ,s
N a tio n a l A d v e rtis in g R e p rä s e n ta tiv «
\ 11 reil I H ender^'» I ibtnr/P ublehi ■'
/il W dlutms, General Manager
A m a lg a m a te d P ublishers Ini
N o w Y o rk
N ew Von.
J/
W O R K FOR BETTER
working families.
Portland Observer
/
Today
bChl Ddeteantion in South Africa has frightening connotations. It is_synony-
two or more wage-earners.
. ctmnnlp for
Yet, as important as child care is to us as a society it s a struggle
manv families to find care which is both affordable and of good quality.
I am seeking .he revolvement o, our state's business communrfv m
N ew .(i.ippf
P u l,Hst,ers
Asso, .tlion
Chu,ches have
,n9 t Lee X ’ remember the images of the fleeing South
ALEXANDER R. JONES
wnrkino Deople the poor, and other oppressed groups.
Black politician's efforts to check Reaganism have faltered because
they are too frequently defensive and reactive. The Reagan administrât
initiates a policy and Black Democrats denounce it; the Reagan,tes nom
nate someone like Bork, and the Black leadership mobilizes troops to hal
his confirmation. We need to be on the front lines in halting B o ris appoint
a n t ïo the Supreme Court, that's true. But we also should do mo e to
I O'pf|< ■"
V
shock an
s . ______________________________
&
SOCIAL JUSTICE
imolv that the resolution to the crisis of Reaganism will come about through
thèSelectionof good people" to public office. "G ood" in this political lexi
con means liberal-to-progressive positions on most public policies. The dif-
" political logic is rha, fhe U S. P O ' ^ - s f e m = e n « a v
doesn't create "good politicians" vs. "bad" ones. Some of the best
politicians can be reactionary on certain issues: and in rare instances an
ideological conservative can be fairly enlightened on evil rights °r civiU be -
ties issues The strategy to replace bad politicians with good ones will al
ways fail, unless elected officials are made to be organizationally, acc
table to their primary constituencies. We need to transcend the politics of
personality and charisma, in favor or emphasizing a coherent progressive
policy agenda which advances the political objectives of racal minorities,
hide with its recent, stepped up repression. And .del w « d o
outrage" from the Reagan Admin,srrafron are ,t o t ^ f ,
freedom
diffiCc'vHSrights spokespersons and Black public officials too frequently
T h . Mrrf/unrf
vehicles, and hold them fo,
^ t X m n are threatened.