Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1987)
EDITORIAL/OPINION FREEDOM & SOCIAL JUSTICE BY ALEXANDER R JONES □•rector of M inority and Third World Affairs for The C hurch of S c ie n to lo g y * International Billions for Death Psychiatry has proven itself to be the biggest hoax of the 20th Cen tury, and is costing the American taxpayer billions of dollars for unworkable programs that create violence, crime, drug abuse, and death. An examination of psychiatric funding trends reveals that between I960 and 1985, government funding for psychiatric institutions increased 591%. For psychiatric research, it was 828%. In 1980 alone, the expen ditures for psychiatry were over $19.9 billion, more than the 1980 federal budget for education! In 1963, psychiatric drugs were introduced into our schools, marshal ling in an era of declining test scores and increased drug abuse among stu dents. And is it any wonder? What kind of message does a child get when his parents and psychiatrist tell him that taking a drug will solve his pro blems and make him a better student? Some psychiatrists and psycholo gists even went so far as to use well-respected publications to promote that the use of drugs like cocaine, saying they were safe and could produce beneficial results! Fortunately, the damage done by the resultant drug abuse can be un done by programs like the Purification Program developed by world renown philosopher L. Ron Hubbard or by programs like RAP, Inc. in Washington, D.C. Änd what of the effectiveness of psychiatric hospitals? From 1964 to 1967, more Americans died in U.S. psychiatric hospitals than were killed in the Revolutionary War, the Way of 1812, the Spanish American War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War COMBINED. Chances for death for a person in a psychiatric hospital from 1964 to 1973 were some 15 times greater than being killed in battle in Vietnam. A random sampling from 1964 to 1987 of violent crimes committed by 255 persons, who had received psychiatric treatment prior to the commis sion of their crimes, revealed some startling facts. There were 780 innocent victims of these violent crimes, including 410 murders, 106 of which also included sexual assault. Further, the overwhelming majority of those com mitting these crimes, some 76%, had no record of violent crime PRIOR to psychiatric treatment. There is hardly one infamous mass murderer or assassin in the past 20 years who hadn't undergone psychiatric treatment before his bloody assault on an unsuspecting public. Mark Chapman, John Lennon’s mur derer, and John Hinckley, Jr., would-be assassin of President Reagan, are prime examples of this trend. The damning evidence goes on and on. It is time we awakened and stopped funding our own demise. Along the Color Line by D i M , in n in g M a ra b le Dr. Manning Marable is Chairperson of the Black Studies Department, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. "Along the Color Line" appears in over 140 newspapers internationally. Bork and Bush: Two Opportunists Reaganites are in the dumps these days, for obvious reasons. The stock market is in chaos, and millions of Americans are convinced that a severe recession is just around the corner. Reagan's economic policies and the massive deficits created by wasteful and dangerous military spend ing are the root causes. Adding to the Reaganites' misery were the unanticipated difficulties of Robert Bork, the President's conservative nominee for membership on the Supreme Court. Three months ago, Bork's nomination seemed all but assured. Senator Ted Kennedy's early warning that Bork's appointment would lead to "back-alley abortions" and "segregated lunch counters" was generally interpreted as political over-kill, an indication that the liberals were on the defensive. But White House lieutenants made several major errors in political judgement. First, they underestimated the depths of opposition Bork s nomination would generate from civil rights groups. Bork had opposed the Supreme Court's agruments for striking down discriminatory poll taxes, and was hostile to the legislative achievements gained by Black Americans. Women's rights and civil liberties groups also were outraged by Bork s trun cated and narrow interpretation of Constitutional rights. The intensive national mobilization of such organizations caught the far Right unpre pared, as Americans began to turn against Bork’s pending appointment. Even in the conservative, law-and-order South, public opinion polls by early October showed that nearly two out of three voters were against Bork. ' Secondly, Bork and his White House managers tried to "repackage" his ultraright wing credentials. Outgoing Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell had been originally nominated by Richard Nixon, and he was no moderate-to-liberal jurist by any stretch of the imagination. But neither was Powell the ideological prisoner of conservative dogmas, as is Bork. Never theless, during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, Bork pretended to espouse moderate, centrist beliefs, placing himself as close to Powell as possible. Reserving his crude statements on a number of legal issues, from privacy rights to freedom of speech, Bork discouraged and disillu sioned his pals on the far Right. Bork's life-long ambition, to be a member of the Supreme Court, persuaded him to distort his real beliefs. Oppor tunism took charge, and Bork became its chief victim, rejected by a vote of 58 42 in the Senate. The Reaganites fussed and fumed over the Bork defeat, by the largest margin in U.S. history; President Reagan bitterly charged that his enemies were "politicizing our court system", and that Bork's opponents were "a lynch mob." Strange talk, indeed, from a man whose brutal social and economic policies are responsible for many "corpses" among Black, His panics and the poor. Bork isn't the only opportunist who's creating discomfort among con servatives. Vice President George Bush's recent announcement that he will seek the Republican Party's Presidential nomination was a "non-event" which managed to capture some media attention. On paper, Bush seems a most formidable challenger: former two-term Congressman, Ambassador to China, United Nations Ambassador, head of the Republican Party, direc tor of the C.I.A. and vice president. Bush should easily win the GOP nomi nation, given his massive lead in money, organization and endorsements. But many political observers sense something shaky about his prospects, even if he does manage to reach the general election. Bush is basically an opportunist. He has no political credo whatsoever, other than his own selfish political advancement. For all of Reagan's massive errors, at least he is driven by a clearcut if sterile ideology, which makes it relatively easy to predict what he will do. On the other hand, Bush goes along with the crowd, no matter where it is going. Back in 1964, for instance, Bush ran for Congress in Texas by denouncing the Civil Rights Act and the cause of racial desegregation. Four years later, when he began planning a national career and needed some credibility among Texas' Black voters, he supported the open housing act. Expediency, not political principle, dictated his behavior. Already, most voters are uneasy with Bush's transparent opportunism. In one recent Newsweek poll, 42 percent said that Bush does not have a well-defined p r o g r a m 51 percent said he had a serious image problem , and 44 percent stated "he is too comitted to Reagan's point of view." It is too soon to tell whether Bush's opportunism will follow the trail of Bork, but the odds are probable. X * C o m p in y Publishers C O M M IS S IO N FOR RACIA1 JUSTICE Beware of Children's Self-Denial In the 1940 s, Dr. Kenneth Clark and his wife, Mamie Clark, revealed some very disturbing findings. In landmark studies they found that most Black children, when asked to identify with a Black doll, would refuse to do so. The children would often become emotional, sometimes even running from the room, rather than identify with a doll they considered "bad". The results of the Clark studies helped bring about the 1954 Supreme Court school desegregation decision. Now, almost 50 years later, their tests have been replicated in two recent studies. The results of these new studies tell us that, unfortunately, African American chilldren still have a negative perception of themselves. But the test also tell us something even more significant — that we can re verse this negative self-image through concerted efforts in the home, in the schools, and in the churches. In studies done by Dr. Darlene Powell-Hopson and by Dr. Sharon McNicholl, Black dolls were still overwhelmingly rejected by both Black and White pre-school children. In other words, Black and White children, even as young as three and four years old, have already learned the lessons taught by this society that Black is "bad" and white is "good." In Dr. Powell-Hopson's study, when children were asked to choose the doll that "looks good” and that "you want to be w ith ," the majority of both Black children and White children chose the white doll. In a follow up study by Dr. McNicholl, children both in New York and Trinidad were tested. Amazingly, she found similar results. Even in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad, three-quarters of the Black children chose the white doll over the Black doll. Both studies point to the immense influence of the media on our child ren. As Dr.. Powell-Hopson said when we questioned her, "Society has a powerful impact on children's perception of themselves and others. In the media — and particularly on television — in books and in movies, the people our children perceive as beautiful and in positions of power are generally w hite." The same is true throughout the world. As Dr. McNicholl added, "The media in Trinidad is highly European and North American. The same TV programs shown in the United States are also shown in Trini dad. The White actors of "Dynasty" are better known and more accessible to the children of Trinidad than their own political leaders.' But, yet, there is also hope. For the studies show that when the doc tors intervened and validated the worth of the Black dolls, the attitudes of the children changed. Dr. Powell-Hopson's intervention strategy proved to be successful in increasing the percentage of children who then chose Black dolls. And this after a test which lasted only 40 minutes. Imagine what could be done over a more extended period of time! In our next commentary we will discuss more fully the kind of cultural reinforcement we should instill in our children. We must move to counter the denigration of African American culture and worth that our children see around them every day. And it can be done. African American children, particularly, must see — in their homes, in their schools, in their churches — people who look like them, people who are contributors to society. To do otherwise is to continue the psycholo gical destruction of our children. Portland Oregon 97208 Inc 5011 N E 28lh Aye Portland Oregon 97211 Second clase postage p««1 at Portland Oregon MEMBER The Portland Observai arai eateblnhed in 1970 Subscriptions » IS 00 per year m the Tri County area changea io iha Portland O to a ive , P O P o . r o ia . l a - Send add,am 288-0033 B o . 3137 Portland Oregon 97208 Alfred L. Henderson, Publisher Leon L. Harris, General Manager/Controller AMOCreffon - Founded FM5 Mr U N Q A National Advertising Representative A m alg am ated Publisher». Inc N a w York Voice My Concerns I have waited patiently to no avail. At this time, I feel it necessary to voice my concerns as a citizen and member of the Urban League of Port land. My concern is that of the secretive selection process for the permanent appointment of Executive Director of the Urban League of Portland. It is apparent that the Executive Board and Selection Committee have elected not to inform the community or Urban League members about the following: 1) Candidate, 2) Criteria, 3) Selection Process, 4) Qualifications of Selection Committee, 5) How were the Selection Committee Members chosen? To my knowledge, I am unaware nor is anyone else aware of the objec tivity and fairness of this process. Were any outside individuals with exper tise in the personnel field involved in this process? I am sure Mr. John Woods, City Personnel Director or Mr. Robert Phillips, Multnomah County Affirmative Action Officer would have been willing to provide assistance to the Selection Committee. Has the Selection Committee consulted with any community or religious leaders? I think not . . . Where is the oppor tunity for community involvement? Signed a Concerned Member of The Urban League of Portland cc: Executive Board, Urban League Selection Committee, Urban League $15 For one year $25 for tw o years Bo« 3137 Portland OR 97208 1 Street 1 1 C ity Apt state 1 Less cruel than Newgate, more antiseptic than Bedlam and not quite as dank as the Bastille, the country's prisons for juveniles and youthful offenders are nevertheless an accurate reflection of a harsh and unremit ting temper and mood now rampant in adult Amerika Isicl. English county names as Spofford and Callagy Hall, the dungeons for puberty in New York City, recall the cruelties of the sixties when Southern sheriffs herded Black children into makeshift corrals. Victims of incest, sometimes by the age of five; called criminals for truancy as they flee teachers who do not teach; pictured as riotous, fun loving and violently destructive in Black exploitation films such as Cooley High; the butt of such benign neglect (as Patrick Moynihan might put it) as murder at the hands of caucasoid police officers; targets of a lusting adult census to expose them to the same inhumane tortures and penalties as men of full age; reviled and viciously caricatured by such educational pro grams as the nationally-seen Sesame Street, where the Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School" is a chaos of "darky accents and racist stereotypes, abused and stoned in centers of culture and learning such as Boston; goaded to suicide while held in durance vile, because as children of the streets, they happen not to have $1,500 handy for bail; treated in a custo dial manner in schools which habitually abuse them with brutal corporal punishment; and suffering from the instant image-making of a bad press and the livingroom libel of garish television coverage, the Black youth of Amerika Isicl are as condemned, isolated and alienated as a leper colony. Examination of some of these insults to youthful humanity will demon strate that the only thing new is the constant flow of young victims to be swallowed up by a neanderthal society, avid in its theme and variations on a socio-legal cannibalism which devours so many of our young. The fact that Haywood Burns could brood on whether it was possible for a Black man to get a fair trial in Amerika Isicl and author a bitterly accu rate article entitled "Black People and the Tyranny of American Law," < shows the modern linkage with ancient and murderous Amerikan Isicl folk ways. The 1857 doctrine of the Dred Scott case, which added another official datum to Amerika's Isicl ceaseless racism, continues to hang over Amerikan Isicl jurisprudence like a dirty atomic fall-out, polluting both jus tice and those who administer it. All of this accumulated racist fury now seems directed, point blank, at the young Blacks. It seems as though so- called Christian caucasoid society trembles in fear at the though that these young "bucks" may grow up to haunt its fantasies and anxieties about the ultimate insurrection of the Blacks, seeking vengeance for the multi plicity of death and enslavement inflicted through the centuries. For the poor, the dilemma of poverty and Blackness was, perhaps, touched upon by Schiller in his essay, "On the Aesthetic Education of Man." There he said, with sad prophecy, that "The greater part of human ity is too much harassed and fatigued by the struggle with want, to rally itself for a new sterner struggle with error.” And hungry people, it has been said, know no law. With the built-in desperation and hopelessness among Black youth, it is amazing that they have not united under some latter-day Fagin of villainy to be tutored in the more subtle criminality of their elders of the caucasoid White Collar and those nationally practiced by White House conspirators. For years in Amerikan Isicl cities and elsewhere, it was believed with religious fervor that only Black youth were addicted to smoking marijuana. Penalties were severe. And then, the middle-class caucasoid suburbs were found to have thoudands of their young smoking "grass." Almost imme diately, the severe penalties for possession of marijuana were lessened, and now, committees all over the country are recommending that the pos session of this "dru g " should be decriminalized. I'm inclined to believe that greatest goad to Blacks to take up the law as a career is found in a Constitution which makes no promises to groups or classes, but only to individuals. The base acts of the law are distinct and different from the ideals of justice. Under slavery, we had law but no just ice. Under a police state which, like an edict from ancient Kings, says that our young must be wiped out, it becomes an honor to be a part of a strug gle for change. If there is justification for a Black Children's Crusade, there is even more justification for their parents to give them a noble precedent. Dr. Jamil Cherovee Mrs Ms Mass I f Our Youth Are Being Swallowed Up by a Neanderthal Society IS PORTLAND OBSERVER Port Ortica B o. 313? A sso cia tio n < t o r PsMiAin» ( o , l«r " * * by Benjam in F. Chavis, Jr.. Executive D irector A St WS SI R\ It I OF THE U N IT E D ( H U R Í H OF CHRIST Th« Portland Obaaryer IU S P S 989 8801 d pubM hed ava-y Thursday by E ne Publrth.np O regon N ew spaper uses i------- CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL Letters to the Editor Ì1 Ï ZIP H -i m < O C ö 0 IO CZÎ = S -1 xj ? > 3 * < z ° 5 * -O P's