Page 2, Portland Observer, December 9. 1987
EDITORIAL /
We urge the Oregon State Legi
slature to guarantee Black Oregon
ians and other racial communities
Constitutional protection against
racial harassment, racial intimida
tion, racial discrimination and acts
of racial violence.
We urge all local government and
law-enforcement agencies through
out the State of Oregon to improve
their ability to respond to acts of
racial harassment, racial intimida
tion, racial discimination and acts
of racial violence. We urge that
this improved ability be expanded
to Blacks and other persons of color
as they travel throughout the state
as citizens of Oregon.
We urge all local communities,
Black, white, Native American,
Asian American, and Hispanic Ame
ricans to establish effective grie
vance response mechanisms.
We urge increased accountability
of public officials in all areas of race
relations.
We urge the conviction and pro
secution of any person found guilty
of racial harassment, racial intimi
dation, and racial violence.
We urge that these recommen
dations be considered without
delay.
Luther King, Jr., birthday bill, and
the Civil Rights Act of 1984.
Simon called Washington "a gen
uine reformer," who expanded poli
tical involvement and empower
ment for America's minorities.
Simon extended an Alexander
Pope poem in to the Congressional
Record, saying it "sums up Harold
Washington, the man and politi
cian:
"Statesman, yet friend to truth!
of soul sincere,
"In action faithful, and in honour
clear:
"W ho broke no promise, served no
private end,
"W ho gained no title, and who lost
no friend. "
Moral Essay
Epistle V.
Sen Simon Pays
Tribute to Late
Harold
Washington on
Senate Floor
Sen. Paul Simon (D-lll.) paid tri
bute to Mayor Harold Washington
of Chicago today, urging the Senate
to recognize that "on Wednesday,
Nov. 25, 1987, the City (of Chicago)
lost a great Mayor, the State of Illi
nois lost a great legislator and the
nation lost a great American."
The Illinois Senator reminisced
about a variety of Simon/Wash-
ington efforts including fair employ
ment practices legislation in the Illi
nois General Assembly, the Martin
Along the Color Line
Civil Rights Journal
EDITORIAL
When Black pioneer George W.
Bush and his family arrived in Ore
gon in 1844, they were greated
by a law that prohibited Black peo
pie from living in the state for more
than six months. Mr. Bush finally
settled in the State of Washington,
several miles from Tumwater near
Olympia. Consequently, the Bush
family became the first African-
American family to reside in Wash
ington, as well as one of Washing
ton's first five farming families.
Because it did not welcome
Blacks, Oregon has gained an un
healthy racial reputation that still
haunts it today. There is the wide
spread belief that Blacks do not
belong in Oregon, and it is causing
concern among members of Ore
gon's Black population.
More and more, Blacks are exper
iencing the poisonous bite of racism
and, in an environment conducive
to racial hostility between Blacks
and whites and other racial com
munities, racial harmony between
all communities cannot flourish.
The Portland Observer news
paper, thus urges the State of Ore
gon to increase its efforts to elimi
nate all forms of racial harassment,
racial intimidation, racial discrimi
nation and acts of racial violence.
OPINION
Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
Win, Jesse, Win
The Rev Jesse L. Jackson's decision to once again seek the Democratic
nomination for President of the United States has implications far beyond
next year's Democratic convention. While listening to Jackson make his
announcement speech at the Raleigh. N.C. Civic Center, I realized that the
future of this nation is contingent upon how well our national political pro
cess is able to respond to both the challenge and the opportunity.
Jackson is now considered by the established media and professional
pollsters to be not only a serious candidate but the leading candidate and,
as a result, presidential politics will never be the same. But what is more
important than the fact that Jackson is running is the way he is running and
the issues he is raising.
Why would an African American in 1987 risk one's life to seek the high
est political office in the nation when it is so obvious that the course is
fraught with landmines and sharks out for the kill? And why are the hopes
and dreams of the millions of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian
Americans, Native Americans and white Americans who make up the
National Rainbow Coalition lifted to new heights by this candidacy?
In Jackson's own words, he wants "to serve America." Of course, his
serving the nation also means changing the nation. With new and bold
leadership in the White House, Jackson affirms that it is possible to make the
nation and the world more just and more humane. It was interesting to listen
to white farmers from the mid West who had come to Raleigh to declare
their support for Rev. Jackson. They stated that Jackson is the only candi
date who offers them hope and a way out of their economic crisis.
Jackson is also the only candidate to challenge the economic injustice
created by U S. multi-national corporations in order to exploit the workers of
third world countries. Self-determination, human rights and economic just
ice are the basic principles of Jackson's foreign policy.
The day after Jackson's speech I travelled by plane from Raleigh to Chi
cago. While waiting to get my boarding pass I looked around and noticed
a long multi-racial line of people of different ages waiting to board the plane.
I soon discovered they were among the more than 6,000 persons who had
attended the National Rainbow Coalition Convention. There was a sense of
joy and excitement as those in line began to embrace and congratulate each
other on their mutual sense of accomplishment. Many of them now realize
that the diversity of the Rainbow was more than just theory; it was a living
reality. The hope is that this kind of political organizing and mobilizing,
across racial and economic lines, will become the basis of a progressive
transformation of this society.
Puerto Rico and Black America
Within less than two decades, the lar«pst nonwhite population in the
United States will be Hispanic, not Afro-American. The poht.ca! implications
for Blacks are already profound. The majority of Cuban Amencans
supports conservative foreign and domestic polices wh.ch are> funda-
mentally at odds with Blacks' interests. However, most Chicanos and uerto
Ricans overwhelmingly support progressive-to-l.beral politic», and e> pos b
bilities of developing a mutually advantageous relationship seem very pos-
S,bl8Last month, I was invited to deliver a series of lecture at the. Social
Science Research Center at the University of Puerto Rico.
®n^
faculty alike were extremely receptive, expressing interest particularly
Jesse Jackson, the Rainbow Coalition, and the current state of the c.vH
rights movement. Most revealing were the private discussions I had with
progressive political leaders and activists who advocate Puerto Rico s in e
pendence from the United States.
Puerto Rico is an island of the most profound social contradictions and
economic contrasts. In the major city of San Juan, one appears to see an
environment of affluence, luxurious hotels and casinos. But most white
American tourists do not see how the majority of Puerto Ricans actually
live and struggle. They do not visit the overcrowded public housing facilities
or the poverty and misery in the rural districts. They have little knowledge of
the unrest felt by thousands of young people on campuses, or the massive
discontent of wage laborers who work for marginal amounts.
Most Afro-Americans know surprisingly little about Puerto Rico, except
perhaps that the island is a colony of this country and that at least one-third
of the population has African ancestry. Some Puerto Ricans with European
features and ancestry like to pretend that racial discrimination doesn t exist
on the island. That's incorrect on at least two counts. When the Americans
seized this island back in 1898, they quickly reestablished their odious sys
tem of Jim Crow in San Juan. Secondly, Black Puerto Ricans still appear
to be disproportionately represented among the lowest paid workers and
the unemployed. Racial prejudice is d iffe re n t, partially because of the cul
tural heritage of the Spanish, but it is still a major problem.
The Reagan Administration likes to point to Puerto Rico as a dynamic,
economic success story which should be imitated across the Caribbean basin
and in Latin America. When compared to much of the Third World, or to
neighboring Haiti, the economic situation in Puerto Rico appears at first
robust. With a per capita income of $3,900 a year in 1983, the island of 3 mil
lion people produces more for external trade than Columbia s 26 million
population. Even a casual visitor can notice the large number of automobiles
all over San Juan. Puerto Rico has four times the number of jobs in manu
facturing than in agriculture, an inversion of the classical Third World eco
nomic model. Three fourths of all people own their homes, and over one
For me, there are moral and theological implications of the Jackson
candidacy that go beyond politics. In the Black church tradition we affirm
that "the Lord sure moves in mysterious ways." At a time when there has
been a dramatic increase in racially motivated violence and other acts of
overt racism across the nation, an African American emerges as a major
leadership figure for the whole nation. At a time when President Reagan
and conservative political forces seem determined to continue leading the
nation toward greater racial and economic divisiveness, Jackson emerges as
a viable alternative who provides a moral vision and a commitment to all
people.
OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established m 1970
Alfred L. Henderson/Publisher
Leon L. Harris/Editor
PORTLAND OBSERVER
is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company, Inc.
5011 N.E. 26th Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97211
P.O. Box 3137
Portland, Oregon 97208
Phone Number: I5O3I 288-0033
When Jackson left Raleigh, he left without the protection of the Secret
Service. A major canidadate for the highest office in the land deserves this
federal protection. The officials in Washington who are responsible for
making the decision about who receives Secret Service protection should
expedite this matter as soon as possible. We must not allow Jesse Jackson
to take this risk by himself. We must embrace him with our prayers and our
support. I am personally committed to the National Rainbow Coalition and
to the Jackson campaign.
What's at stake is not just winning an election. It is also winning the
commitment and energy of millions of people with the new sense of deter
mination to change this nation for the better. Win, Jesse, win!
Letters to the
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million attend schools.
But these statistics mark the profound degree of exploitation and
dependency imposed by North Americans upon the Puerto Rican nation.
More than half of the population is forced to live on food stamps, which were
introduced thirteen years ago. The official jobless rate stands at 20 percent,
but the real figure is closer to 30 percent. More serious is a labor force parti
cipation rate of approximately 40 percent. This means that about six out of
every ten Puerto Rican adults are not working, or survive by means of the
"subterranean economy." Wages are low, and the crime rate is growing.
The entire economy is organized to benefit U.S. corporations at the
expense of the people. American businesses made $8.1 billion in profits in
1981, but little of this money was ever reinvested back into the economy.
The social and economic distance between the local upper classes and the
poor is tremendous. But the U.S. has too much at stake there to sacrifice
its illusion of widespread prosperity. For military as well as corporate inter
ests, the American government has no desire to give up its Third World
colony. Advocates of independence have been victimized, harassed, im
prisoned and even murdered.
Black Americans must support the goal of self determination for the
Puerto Rican nation. I personally favor the unqualified independence of the
island, but that choice must be freely made by Puerto Ricans themselves,
not by the U.S. Puerto Rican rights must be merged with our own political
agenda for social justice.
Scientific
Enchanters
Concerning "Racism at its Best”
by Brother John Dudley Leftridge
III, member of Uhuru Sasa, 9/9/87:
I still believe dialogue is needed in
the community.
Many people
around this nation are aware of a
systematic movement to destroy
the meager advances of the last two
decades and to freeze power in the
hands of those who have historically
held it by virtue of their race and
class. I'm aware it is in the area
of criminal justice and penology
that the systematic and systema
tized oppression and racism of this
society is most blantently visible.
We have but to examine who is
arrested, who is indicted, who suf
fers pre-trial detention, who is con
victed, who is sentenced, and who
is eligible for parole. It is clear that
certain groups bear the weight of
selective law enforcement and the
apportionment of punitive sanc
tions.
I'm inclined to believe the most
superficial examination of the "co r
rectional institutions" of the United
States reveals the race and class
biases which consistently operate
against the interests of Black, Third
World people and the poor cauca-
The need for pervasive
sian.
changes in the administration of cri
minal justice and penal practices as
a step toward the liberation of
Blacks and other oppressed peoples
of this country has been amply and
clearly documented.
Brother John, if the oppression is
systematic, then our response to it
must become equally systematic.
Two Black laywers and a few com
munity groups cannot be pitted
against the well-organized forces of
the State of Oregon. An effective
new instrumentality must be forged
to deal with the synchronized and
highly effective methods of injustice
which are presently wasting our
ranks.
I would like to deal with lingui
stics for a moment. By language,
I am referring to more than oral or
written expressions, phrases, sen
tences and words. Our people are
being tricked every day around this
nation by Scientific Enchanters,
who master the English language.
To speak means to be in a position
to use a certain syntax, to grasp
the morphology of this or that lan
guage. but it means, above all, to
assume a culture, to suppport the
weight of a civilization, for a man
who has a language consequently
possesses the world expressed and
implied by the language.
Having given a brief synopsis of
Many so-called scholars would
probably say that it was imperative
for Afrikans Isicl to accept the lan
guage in order to survive in their
new environment. However, Afri
kans Isicl were not taught the Eng
lish language as a means of sur
vival and self-actualization. Rather,
they learned the language in the
process of trying to obey the primi
tive commands of their so-called
Christian caucasoid captors.
I'm inclined to believe it is pos
sible that the survival of an Afrikan
Isicl language would have resulted
in the liberation of Afrikans Isicl.
Efforts to alleviate that possibility
manifested itself in the captors se
In my travels around this nation.
I've defined "racism" as the con parating Afrikans Isicl who spoke
the same language. The Afrikans
scious and/or unconscious desire
Isicl language gave Afrikans Isicl
manifesting itself in the collective
the protection of speaking with
Caucasian to destroy, castrate and
each other without the captors'
exploit Black people, both psycho
logically and physically, due to in knowledge of their communication;
herent feelings of caucasoid super the language was symbolic of a peo-
plehood and brotherhood which ex
iority.
All other ethnic or racial
groups of people are referred to by ceeded the commonality of bon
geographical origin, religion, culture dage and assured the maintenance
of Afrikan Isicl identity, personality
or language, and the term "Negro"
and culture. The commonality of
meets none of these categories.
language strengthened the com
In essence, the figment of the cau
monality of color, bondage and cul-.
casoid Amerikan's Isicl imagination
ture, and finally there would have
become a reality when Afrikans Isicl
been little room for "Uncle Tom-
accepted the category "Negro"
with all of the inherent values, sym ism” with communication being a
bols and definitions implicit in the barrier between captor and captive.
Dr. Jamil Cherovee
term.
the literature supporting the inter
relationship between culture and
language, I would like to summarize
by saying that so-called Christian
caucasoid Amerikan Isicl culture is
racist
(pro-caucasian/anti-Black).
Documentation of racism in this
paranoid, schizophrenic society's
culture has been covered by too
many federal documents, sociologi
cal and social scientists' research
and through popular literature to at
tempt to cover that now. Since
language is a primary transmitter of
culture, the English language is,
therefore, racist.