• *--**»«*«* »V* Page 2, Portland Observer, August 10, 1988 EDITORIAL P O R T L A N D 'OBSERVER OREGON S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION Gary Ann Garnett Nyewusi Askari News Editor/Staft Writer Joyce Washington Mattie Ann Callier-Spears Sales/Marketing Director Danny Bell Sales Representative Ruby Reuben Religion Editor Richard Medina P hotocom position Lonnie Wells Sales Representative Circulation Manager Rosemarie Davis B. Gayle Jackson Sales Representative Comptroller PORTLAND OBSERVER is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company In c 525 N E Killingsw orth St • Portland. Oregon 97211 P O Box 3137 • Portland Oregon 97208 Phone Numbers: (5 03 ) 288 0 03 3 (Office) • ••» • ,Q* (5 0 3 ) 288 1756 (Classified/ Display) Deadlines tor all submitted materials: Articles: Monday. 5 p.m.: Ads Tuesday, 5 p.m. The Portlend Observer welcomes freelance submissions Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self-addressed envelope Subscriptions $20 00 pat year in the TnCounty araa The PORTLANP OBSERVER — Oregon's oldest African-American Publication — is a member of The National Newspaper Association — Founded in 1885. The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, and Tha National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc . New York. Low-Income People Victimized Again! - Vote NO On Measure #5 - nce again, the lower income people in Oregon have been singled out as easy tax targets. Once again, those who can least afford it are asked to pay the bill for those who could afford it. This time, the jab is more cynical and arrogant than ever - and it’s called Measure #5 on the Oregon November Ballot. Measure #5 -remember it and vote against it. What Measure #5 pretends to accomplish is to save Oregon intercollegiate sports. It even infers that Rose Bowl winners and big time PAC-10 success will be made possible it this sales tax measure passes. None of these promises can be accomplished with this unfair and misguided excise sales tax bill on beer and cigarettes. What it will accomplish is higher profits for some retailers and wholesalers : and an economic benefit for a handful of State System of Higher Education campus towns (Corvallis, Eugene, etc.) Here are the facts: Measure #5 would more than double the state tax on beer, jumping it from $2.60 per barrel to $5.70 per barrel - an increase of 120%! A companion increase on cigarettes of one-cent per pack would raise Oregonian cigarette smokers' tax to 28-cents per pack. The huge beer increase would make Oregon the highest taxed of all neighboring states and in the top third nationally. This punitive tax - aimed squarely at one small segment of Oregonians - would raise about $8.5-million to underwrite varsity, big league sports on the seven state campuses. But consumers would pay more than $18-million per year in order to reach that tax goal - and the $18-million-plus would come from big mark-ups in beer and cigarette retail prices. Every statistical study proves that beer drinkers represent the middle and lower income segment of the population - working people - the usual targets when the rich want someone else to bankroll their fun and games. Notice this: those who propose soaking the beer drinkers are not asking anything of martini drinkers, pipe & cigar smokers, or wine drinkers. Only the beer people will foot the bill for the entire state. Only one part of the Oregon population will be forced to pay for the Big Games - games they can’t afford to attend. Measure #5 is flying under false pretenses. It won’t buy big winning teams. In the PAC-10 now, five schools receive state tax sup port for sports and five do not. In the past 30 years, the five teams with no tax support have been to the Rose Bowl 23 times; the five teams with tax support have gone only seven times. And another thing: remember that this new tax money would not help student sports programs, intramural activities, or community | colleges. The whole $8.5 million would go to the Big Show sports -the varsity action - for the benefit of athletes who are mostly pre professionals already on sports scholarships - and to the fans of the Big Game, who will not be asked to pay anything additional to support their enthusiasms. It is amazing that a bill so ill-conceived, so lop-sided could ever have reached the ballot. And it wouldn’t have, except for the huge | amount of money its backers spent to hire professional initiative petition peddlers to come up with the required signatures. This bill is unfair to all Oregonians because it punishes the few | for the benefit of the many. Measure #5 is punitive, regressive, discriminatory, unfair - and it won't accomplish what it promises! Vote NO ON MEASURE #5! O L-. ♦y l\$-' •- • •*4 ’ ?► •*» \ ?<> 'î V4 L3« ■ix *- <7 * Æt «V ?>> •-< *. /M i ’V •-■ fi , t.* 'î PORTLAND OBSERVER OREGON'S AWARD WINNING BLACK NEWSPAPER r.o- 'X * <X • ». '<£ " j-T tl 1 *- s ï$ Creed Of The Black Press he Black Press believes that America can best lead the world away from social and national antagonisms when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color, or creed, full human and legal | ¡rights. Hating no person, fearing no per son, the Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief that all are hurt as' | long as anyone is held back. rp 1 committee probe into the case and recommended impeachment. The special investigation took three-and-one-half years to com plete, utilized 151 FBI agents and cost $1.5 million dollars Leon Harris/Gen Mgr Business Manager O P IN IO N Judge Alcee Hasting: A Man Of Principle E s ta b lis h e d in 1970 Alfred L. Henderson/Pubhsher / Hastings and his supporters contend that impeachment would constitute “ double jeopardy,” try ing him again on a case that he was found innocent of. I'm inclin ed to believe, this case shows you how far Institutional RACISM will go. He feels that he’s legally and morally correct. Principle dictates that he preserve what he perceive as his integrity and fight this bat tle and win. I believe, Brother Hastings is being targeted be oncering: Justice For Judge cause of his outspokenness on is Hastings? 8/27/88. When I sues affecting the poor. In 1981, was in Chicago last week — for a example he stopped an effort fight was going on to resist the by immigration officials to deport impeachment of a Black federal Haitians. The Commission on judge on the Miami district court. Racial Justice of the United There is a national steering com Church of Christ, headed by Rev. mittee of lawyers and civil rights Ben Chavis, is also coming to activists. The committee is rais Brother Hastings' aid. The UCC ing money and the awareness of has made the judge’s case a third world people for Judge priority issue on its agenda Hastings, whose case is being because it believes: Brother reviewed by the Congressional Hastings was singled out; the House Committee of the Judici case is a continuation of the at ary. They have initiate a lobbying tack on Black leadership; and a campaign to talk about the real victory for Brother Hastings can RACIST points of the case. Con be a positive shot in the arm for gress realizes the case is really the ongoing struggle to clear shaky. It involves a constitutional Blacks of unwarranted attacks by issue. Double jeopardy is a very the federal government. They real issue here. can’t afford for a Black man in Judge Hastings, the first Black person ever appointed to the fed Amerika to stand up and tell the truth. Brother Hastings refuses to eral district bench in Florida, was compromise. He could be out of it acquitted in 1983 of conspiring to easily by making a deal. But that’s accept a $150,000 bribe from an not in his nature. I'm inclined to undercover FBI agent, a charge believe, although the Judiciary brought against him in 1981. Committee is reviewing the case, Another attorney, W illiam A. the Congress is not likely to han Borders, a friend of Hastings, was dle the case until after the 1988 convicted and sentenced to five elections for fear of a reprisal by years in prison. Black voters if the decision One month after returning to the bench, two caucasoid south against Brother Hastings is ern judges initiated a 14-judge negative. As quiet as it’s k$pt, there is an ill wind blowing across Amerika and it smells a lot like fascism. But make no mistake about it, this fascism that shocked the world a half century ago, today's fascism may come to power through dem ocratic channels with a friendly, popular, patriotic and irresistable appeal. Because fascism is an ever evolving phenomenon, it does not necessarily have an exact or com plete definition suitable for all oc Introducing A New Column: ‘The Other Side” if C A by Harold Williams ortheast Portland is the heartbeat of the Portland Metropolitan area. You can easily reach any place in the City of Portland within fifte e n m in u te s — s h o p p in g centers, the airport, recreational facilities, the river and downtown Portland. So, it is natural that a lot N I by Professor McKinley Burt n one sense I was delighted — _ that in Monday’s Oregonian (Black Males, page 2) William Raspberry is quoted in para phrase of what I have been say ing for years: “ WE DON'T TALK TO OUR CHILDREN ABOUT OWNING BUSINESSES ... Only about getting a job." For the past few months many of my ar ticles have emphasized just this point. I was ‘not’ delighted when, in retrospect, I thought of the years I spent at the university teaching an Urban Economics Class, us ing successful enterprises as models — firms of my own or of others. In ad d itio n to text material, students were taught to set-up fu n c tio n in g busi nesses as real-time exercises in e n tre p re n e u rs h ip . C e rta in ly, many of my students 'went South', where a number are do ing quite well in their own enter prise. But, today, I am very dis appointed in the level of re sponse from either 'l-want-to-do- it' types, or from urban agencies w h ich should be in volving experienced-based elem ents rather than textbook theorists who never operated even a lem onade stand Track records are needed. Last week's article detailed a business in which I serviced of attention is placed on N.E. Portland, better known in some circles as the Black Community. In the past, a lot of negatives have been said and written about our community. Particularly about our youth. A very negative picture has been painted about our youth and it is important that we change the focus of that picture, for they are our future. My weekly articles, “ The Other Side’’ will try and cast a positive side on our youth and other areas of interest in our community. I will deal with the interests and con cerns of Black men as they relate to our most precious asset — The Black women and the Black family. “ The Other Side” means just that - whatever is said about us — there is another side. I look forward to telling the story of the other side. We are the heartbeat and the soul of the Portland Metropolitan area. Peace and Love to you all until next week. PORTLAND OBSERVER "The Eyes and Ears of the Com m unity” 288-0033 CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL Perspectives Do It Or Perish casions. Fascist systems differ from each other in exact detail because the principles of fascism are randomly chosen to solve specific problems as they arise. One cla ssica l d e fin itio n of fascism in power is the “ open ter roristic dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic elements of finance capital. In foreign policy, fascism is jingo ism in its most brutal form, fomenting bestial hatred of other nations. Jesse Jackson: auto dealers, loggers, farmers, supermarkets and others. You will note that most of my models are businesses with an immed iate CASH FLOW, an an easily perceived NEED. These are two timeless success modes, appli cable any place and at any time. In illustration let me describe a very early on personal service I developed im m ediately after World War II. Long before H&R Block came up with their m ultiple-site opera tion, my innovation was going strong on N. W illiams Avenue ... in 1946. I had established an Ac counting and Income Tax Office whose first client was the Neigh borhood Grocery. The operating mode was that of a trained group of ‘Tax Interviewers' who, fo l lowing up on telephone re sponses to ads, fanned out over the city, equipped with forms to collect relevant information and W-2 forms. These commission- paid a g e n ts b ro u g h t th is 'p a c k a g e ' to the W illia m s Avenue headquarters for pro cessing. The finished tax forms were returned to the clients within 48 hours. In nearby Vanport City, soon to be destroyed by flood, branch offices were set up for im m e d ia te s e rv ic e . PA C IFIC BUSINESS SERVICE did very well until a flood destroyed the city and until many larger firms adopted my techniques. I would again point out that this type of low-capital, quick cashflow en terprise is successfully launch ed almost every week by local whites and Asians and in a number of different fields. Another consideration — for our social sector oriented M id dle Class — their positions are just as AT-RISK as those of the ‘Underclass’ in this era of fast TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE. Next week, ‘a technology in novation in Los Angeles'. Where Do We Go From Here? by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. I listened intently to the great _ oratory of the Rev. Jesse Jackson as he made his speech to the Democratic National Con vention recently in Atlanta, Georgia. Inside of the hall of the Omni Convention Center the at mosphere was electrified with Jackson’s speech and passion. Millions of people around the world sat on the edge of their chairs listening carefully to every phrase. This was the speech of the decade and it provided a challenge to the Democratic Par ty, to all African-Americans, and to millions of others who will be effected by the outcome of the upcoming presidential election. Presidential politics in the United States is more than a question of primary elections and a national convention. It is in addi tion, a question of clarifying the political vision and future of the nation. This is important to the entire global community because of the role the United States con tinues to play in world affairs, par ticularly in the affairs of the Third World. Will there be a greater degree of justice and peace in the world as a result of the November elections in the United States? Or will the poor and oppressed masses of the world's population continue to have their destinies determined by a conservative, right-wing Republican administra tion? Jackson’s challenge to the Democratic Party set the stage for these and other questions to be answered. Jesse Jackson’s call for the Democratic Party to find a "com mon ground" and a new political commitment to transform the United States into a nation that stands for justice and freedom for all of the people of the world, was a laudible challenge. The problem is whether or not Michael Dukakis and the leadership of the Demo cratic Party will be responsive to Jackson’s invitation. Jackson stated “Tonight there is a sense of celebration because we have moved, fundamentally, from racial battlegrounds by law, to econom ic common ground, with the challenge to move to moral higher ground.” After witnessing the au dience burst into applause in response to Jackson’s plea, I wondered if the euphoria of that moment will later translate into a real new direction by the Demo cratic Party. Now that the dust has settled in the aftermath of the Democra tic National Convention, millions of African-Am ericans, Latino- Americans, Asian-Americans, Na tive Americans, and progressive white Americans are looking for specific marching orders. Among the Rainbow Coalition, it is a given that there is very little if any sentiment of support for George Bush to be the next president. Yet, it will be a gross over statement for anyone to conclude th a t m illio n s o f A fric a n - Americans and others will auto m a tic a lly s u p p o rt M ic h a e l Dukakis. The truth is Jesse Jackson still has the support of the millions of voters who cast their votes for him. While there is a general ap preciation for the role that Jack- son played at the convention, there is still in the minds of many a feeling of disgust and dismay at the way Jackson was finally treat ed. Where do we go from here? We must go to the polls in record numbers if not just to vote for Dukakis, but just as importantly to vote against George Bush and to vote against the devastating legacy of the Reagan years. t, ' ' ‘ A* », x ♦ r ■ • * x * ■ T * > * » r i .