Page 2, P.
und Observer, December 23, 1987
EDITORIAL /
OPINION
EDITORIAL
Let's Stop Senseless Crime
At the beginning of 1987, most Portland citizens expressed hope and
faith in the city's ability to curb the rising crime rate. A few months later, it
was announced that Portland was losing the battle, especially in the areas of
drug use and abuse and homicides. Months later, citizens were informed
that Portland's homicide rate had exceeded previous records, and that an
estimated 1,000 drug houses were in operation throughout the Portland
Civil Rights Journal
Beniamin F. Chavis Jr.
James Baldwin:
The Living Legacy of
Harold Washington
Metropolitan area.
Jarred by these realities, many citizens, churches, social organizations
and law enforcement agencies are desperately trying to get a grip on the
magnitude of the problem. But, their efforts are being hampered by a reali­
zation that was identified at the Joe Holcomb Memorial by David Hupp. Mr.
Hupp proclaimed that "Our city is under seige from a variety of sociopaths
and psychopaths, some of them our own sons and daughters.
Mr. Hupp has hit the nail on the head, especially in the Black community.
In the Black community, a large population of our sons and daughters
are committing the very crimes we want to erase from our neighborhoods. It
is a reality we must face and address immediately.
It is no longer sufficient for Black parents, community leaders, Black
churches, and Black organizations to sit back and wait for someone else to
address the problem. The NAACP, the Urban League of Portland, the Black
United Front, Black churches, and other able organizations in the community
must now commit themselves to immediate public action. Capable Black or­
ganizations must now step into the spotlight with program designs, research
information, recommendations, proposals and a willingness to get their hands
dirty. And, they must remain in the trenches until some evidence of progress
You may recall that back in Feb­
ruary of this year we took over 100
"Freedom Riders" to Chicago from
12 southern states to help get out
the vote in the mayoral primary
election. Harold Washington won
a major victory in that election.
Then in April we witnessed another
impressive victory when Washing­
ton was re-elected to his second
term as Mayor of the City of Chi­
cago.
We knew then, as we know now,
that the political and racial progress
that Chicago made under the dyna­
mic and outstanding leadership of
Harld Washington continues to
have national and international im­
is forthcoming.
plications.
In more ways than one, the Portland Observer commends the work
Washington's untimely death on
Black organizations have done to keep the community enriched, enlight­
November 25, 1987, sent shock
ened, inspired, educated and on top of its problems.
waves of grief across Chicago and
But, times are changing fast. Our children are settling many of their
the nation. Over a million citizens
disputes through the use of violence. Many have developed a contempt for
filed by the Mayor's casket at City
'. our Black elderly. Many of our young Black males are committing rape and
hall as an expression of their love
sodomy as a means of empowerment. Many of our Black females are fall­
and respect. They also came to
ing victim to prostitution, drugs and death. The problem has reached crisis
show their devotion to continue the
proportions.
ideals and principles of the move­
The Black community must take charge of its destiny now.
ment and coalition that Washington
In the tradition of our African ancestors, we must teach our children
had successfully led. Tens of thou­
honor. We must teach them how to regard the lives of others with honor.
sands of people lines the streets to
We must teach them the value of respect — for themselves, for their neigh­
salute him as the funeral procession
bors and for their community.
passed by.
Many in the crowd
But, before that can take place, we must strive to regain their trust,
shouted out:
'We won t forget
their confidence, their honor and their respect. If there is dishonor in our
you, Harold," "Thank You, Harold,
own house, then we can expect our children to carry that dishonor into the
for showing us the way," and
streets and into the lives of persons who don’t deserve such madness. No
"D on't worry, Harold, we aren t
one deserves the madness of crime.
going to let anybody turn us around
It is fast approaching the point where non-involved Black organizations
now!”
should be mandated to do all they can to help solve this serious problem.
As I sat inside Christ Universal
Involved Black organizations should be called upon to do more. No Black
Temple during Mayor Washington's
organization should be allowed to remain untouched. Black leadership,
funeral service, it became clear that
especially Black elected officials, should gather at the conference table and
Washington's legacy lives on in the
hammer out specific recommendations and proposals that reflect the social
hearts and lives of millions of people
and cultural diversity of the community. These recommendations and pro­
.*• • i
in Chicago and throughout the
posals should call for immediate action by local governments and by state
world. What is Washington's le­
legislatures.
gacy? It is the legacy of progres­
The Portland Observer is not advocating a separation of the issues. The
sive struggle for the political and
Portland Observer is advocating a focus on specific issues that are of imme­
economic empowerment of all peo­
•' A
diate importance to Black communities across the State of Oregon.
ple. It is the legacy of fighting
Anything less is to invite suicide.
for freedom.
j; $ .
Mr. Ramon Price, Mayor Wash­
ington’s brother and the curator of
the DeSable Museum of African-
American History in Chicago, stres­
sed in his tribute: "IHarold Wash­
ington! shall live on as men, women
«
and children step forward to claim
■. V
the promise which God intends for
5*7 •
all of us: for all of us to be free
and seek justice; to share in the task
OREGON'S
OLDEST
AFRICAN
AMERICAN
PUBLICATION
V-
*» •.
Established m 1970
of liberating others." Rev. B. Her­
u • z Y . e f
bert Martin, pastor of Progressive
A lfre d L. Henderson/Publisher Richard J. B row n/Editor
Community Church, who delivered
PORTLAND OBSERVER
the
eulogy, affirmed, "Harold
is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company, Inc.
■
/ V»
Washington
is the compendium of
5011 N.E. 26th Ave.
Portland,
Oregon
97211
all
our
historical
struggle as Black
■ *ï
P.O. Box 3137
people in America. He is the epi­
tome of all of our present achieve­
ments and a symbol of all of our
future aspirations and yearnings and
promise."
In his prayer, the Rev. Dr. W.
Sterling Cary, Chairperson of the
Council of Religious Leaders of
Metropolitan Chicago, emphasized
that, "We must continue Harold's
redemptive work.” That redemp­
tive work was the building of a
multi-racial coalition that sought to
empower all the people of the city
and to transform the municipal
government into a structure ac­
countable "to the people, for the
people, and by the people.
On
the issues of neighborhood renewal,
full employment, the national prio­
rity of the urban agenda, education,
homelessness, fiscal stability, youth
development, and governmental
ethics. Mayor Washington's leader­
ship was unparalleled.
Another important component of
the living legacy of Mayor Washing­
ton is the question of unity. Un­
fortunately, in the wake of Wash­
ington's death, the evil forces of
racism and disunity are gathering in
Chicago to challenge everything
that Harold lived and worked for.
Chicago activist Lu Palmer warned,
"Even as we grieve, the wolves are
at the door." The Rev. Jesse Jack-
son astutely cautioned, "W e who
live must keep the team together.
Harold's latest slate is the monu­
ment to his vision of the city and ur­
ban America." Jackson was refer­
ring to the coalition of 26 city aider-
men who were a part of Washing­
ton's team of reform. It was clear
that the unity or disunity of these
aldermen would determine the fu­
ture of the city.
A painful lesson has once again
emerged out of the depth of the
freedom movement. Washington s
great contribution to the movement
will never be forgotten. However,
African American leaders, in parti­
cular, must give more serious atten­
tion to the issue of who will succeed
them after they are gone. Too
many of our leaders have died with­
out adequately preparing for leader­
ship succession. The enemies of
freedom have often capitalized on
this predicament.
Yet, the living legacy of Harold
Washington demands struggle. We
join with Jesse Jackson and with
the people of Chicago in their fare­
well expression to Washington:
"W e will not let you down, we will
not let you dow n." The struggle
will continue.
Teacher. Friend. Freedom Fighter
At the funeral services in New
York City for noted author James
Baldwin — a service which was tru­
ly a celebration of his life — novelist
Toni Morrison spoke to Baldwin as
if he were still alive. She comment­
ed on "the astonishing gift of your
art and your friendship . . . a tender­
ness so delicate I thought it could
not last, but last it did and envelop
me it did . . . The season was al­
ways Christmas with you there."
Playwright
and
poet
Amiri
Baraka, in his eulogy, recalled Bald­
win as "m y friend, my older bro­
ther," and added, "He was close, as
man, as human relative; we could
make it some cold seasons merely
warmed by his handshake, smile or
eyes." Author Maya Angelou also
spoke of the warmth of his support,
saying, "He is my brother."
Though the recollections of this
great friend and teacher were in­
tensely personal, they were also in­
tensely political.
Baraka called
Baldwin "this glorious, elegant griot
of our oppressed African American
nation. . ." who, he said, "made us
feel, for one thing, that we could
defend ourselves or define our­
selves, that we were in the world,
not merely as animate slaves, but as
terrifying sensitive measures of
what is good or evil, beautiful or
ugly. . . "
Baraka also noted, "Jim m y was a
'civil rights leader,' too . . . at the
hot peak of the movement Jimmy
was one of its truest voices." And
so he was. From the earliest days
of the Civil Rights Movement,
James Baldwin was there to give
active and visible support to the
struggle, even though it made him
unpopular in some circles.
I personally remember, while in
prison in North Carolina as a mem­
ber of the Wilmington 10, that Bald­
win's powerful, life-affirming w rit­
ing helped us continue the struggle,
even from behind prison bars. Then
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Phone Number: 1503! 288-0033
Opinions on Crime
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by Nyewusi Askari
According to a recent Portland Police Bureau statistical report, the Inner
Northeast community ranks as the most crime infested area of the city.
The report, for 1987 through October of this year, states that a total ot
10,168 crimes were committed in the Inner Northeast community.
The Bureau's breakdow n of Inner Northeast crimes:
•
M urder, 12
•
M ole statio n . 54
•
A ggravated assault, 1,062
•
Non-residential burglary, 647
T h eft, excluding auto, 1,638
O ther larceny. 1,885
Vandalism ,
Rape and sodom y, 117
Robbery, 874
Residential burglary, 1,927
A rs o n ,109
Bike th e ft, 205
A u to th e ft, 607
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fifth
At the same time Baldwin also
understood and championed the
plight of all oppressed peoples. As
he noted in his letter to President
Carter, the situation of U.S. political
prisoners was "but a very small indi­
cation of the situation of the
wretched in this country: the non­
white, the Indian, the Puerto Rican,
the Mexican, the Oriental."
We have seen three great African
Americans leave us in recent days:
John Oliver Killens, Harold Wash­
ington and, now, James Baldwin.
Yet, their legacy lives on.
Maya Angelou asked, "Where are
the Black writers who will confront
this racist nation?"
This is the
legacy for us all — writer and non­
writer alike. As Baldwin, himself,
said: "For while the tale of how
we suffer, and how we are delight­
ed, and how we may triumph is
never new, it always must be
heard."
Freedom Et* Social Justice
by Alexander R. Jones
Peace on Earth Starts With You
How many times have you been
told "Never trust anybody" as if the
extending of confidence to another
human being was guaranteed sui­
cide?
But what would have
Mahatma Ghandi achieved without
trust?
What if the late Martin
Luther King, Jr. held no confidence
in his fellow man?
Each had to depend on their lieu­
tenants and followers in life-
threatening situations. Futher they
had to have tremendous trust in the
inner humanity and compassion of
even their oppressors. Without this
bond with others, they would have
achieved little.
Trust becomes even more impor­
tant during the Christmas season as
it is a time when we traditionally
contemplate and pray for world
peace. But as nations drive them­
selves into bankruptcy stockpiling
arms and military hardware to pro­
tect themselves from each other, it
becomes clear that trust is a quality
sorely missing from international
affairs.
But without trust, it is
clear we will never have peace.
So what can you do about this?
Unless one can have confidence in
the reliability of those about one,
he himself, is at risk. When those
he counts upon let him down, his
own life can become disordered and
even his own survival can be put at
risk.
Mutual trust is the firmest build­
ing block in human relationships.
Without it, the whole structure
comes down. Trustworthiness is a
highly esteemed commodity. When
one has it, one is considered valu­
able. When one has lost it, one may
be considered worthless.
One should get others around one
to demonstrate it and earn it. They
will become much more valuable to
themselves and others thereby.
So peace on earth starts with
you.
It begins by first ensuring
you yourself are worthy of trust,
and then by demanding that others
be trustworthy as well.
If you think that you can have no
effect on the world, believe me, that
is not true. If you help one small
child become trustworthy you have
done something for the world.
New York
sSL M I
□
in January of 1977, Baldwin wrote a
lengthy public letter to President
Carter, decrying the continued per­
secution of political prisoners. The
letter, written from Paris, appeared
in the New York Times and was
instrumental in galvanizing the inter­
national public pressure which
would eventually help lead to the
Wilmington 10 case being over­
turned in Federal Court.
After being freed from prison,
Baldwin and I had long conversa­
tions — conversations in which we
sifted through the politics and
events of the day and strategized
about the on-going liberation of
African American people. He al­
ways understood and validated the
strength of our people, constantly
prodding us to take the risks neces­
sary to struggle for freedom. Or, as
Baraka noted, "He always made us
know we were dangerously intelli­
gent and as courageous as the will
to be free."
97208
The statistics indicate that the types of crimes committed, on an overall
scale, varies from neighborhood to neighborhood. For example, the Outer
S.E. community outranked Inner Northeast Portland in vandalism (1,105),
auto theft (827), bike theft (310) and residential burglary (666).
Of the total reported crimes, Inner Northeast ranked at the top with
10,168; North, 6,516; Outer Northeast, 5,638; Inner S.E., 7,892; Outer S.E.,
9 860; S.W., 3,634; N.W., 2,986; and downtown Portland, 6,860
According to recent FBI Uniform Crime Reports, Portland experienced a
78 percent rise in serious crime from 1977 to 1986. Portland s Police Chief
Dick Walker estimates that 80 to 90 percent of the reported crimes are linked
to drugs. There are an estimated 1,000 drug houses in operation in the Port­
land Metropolitan area. Chief Walker also pointed to the continuing lack of
jail sapce as another major contributor. However, according to a recent poll
conducted by the Oregonian newspaper, thrity eight percent of the partici­
pants said that drugs were the main cause for the rise in crime, while 22 per
cent said the lack of jail space was to blame.
See "O p in io n s ", page 7
EDITORIAL CORRECTION: In last week's editorial concerning "The Case
of Robert Parker," it was stated that former Senate Presidents Jason Boe
and John Burns had alleged that Robert Parker (1) used a credit car belong­
ing to a lobbyist who represented the Oregon Gasoline Dealers, (2) that Par­
ker negotiated favorable treatment of City of Salem-supported legislation in
exchange for the City's favorable disposition of his overdue parking tickets,
and (3) that Parker offered favorable treatment of legislation in exchange
for money from other members of the lobby.
The last sentence of paragraph two of the editorial should have read:
"The foregoing allegations were made by Senator Jim Hill (D-Salem) in his
complaint to the Ethics Commission."
, We are making a public correction because the misprint gives the im­
pression that Boe and Burns made the allegations.
We are also making the public correction because the Observer believes
in the doctrine of fairness and equal treatment before the media and the law