Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 1988)
Page 2 • Portland Observer • December 15, 1988 EDITORIAL / Crime Against Humanity by Dr. J a m il C herovee Every sincere person in this country should read, BAD BLOOD: TH E T U S K E G E E S Y P H IL IS EXPERIMENT. By James Jones. Stopping W orld W ar III, By Michael Myerson and Mark Solomon. A poor Caucasian wom an offered me the books, with tears in her eyes, if I would just buy her a meal in San Francisco. Having read the books, I thought this would be a good opportunity to help another human being. I told the girl to order dinner for herself. She had a problem, understanding how her government could have allowed such a crime to be p e rp e tra te d a g a in s t U.S. citizens. Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed that for 30 years the U.S. g o v e rn m e n t had been experim enting with the fungus “ Aspergillus Fumigatus Mutant C- 2," said the simulate coccidioides or Valley Fever. According to the documents, "Negroes are more susceptible” to this affliction than Caucasians. If you are shocked by th e s e e x p e rim e n ts in e th n ic warfare, you would no doubt be horrified by the tale unfolded in James Jones’ “ Bad Blood” ... From 1932 until 1972, when a massive public outcry arise, the United States Public H ealth Service (USPHS) conducted a “ study" of the effects of syphilis on more than 400 Black men in Macon County, Alabama. In actuality, the so-called study was a dastardly conspiracy involving USPHS physicians, the all-Black Tuskeegee Institute and its hospital, county and state health departments, draft boards and, ultimately, the U.S. government. T re a tm e n t w as d e lib e ra te ly withheld from these victim s of syphilis in an alleged effort to ascertain the natural course of the disease, without regard for the cost to the Black men or their spouses. Auschwitz is the closest parallel to what the author has termed “the on human beings in medical history. Why? W hat prom pted this awful crim e against hum anity? A landmark study of untreated syphilis had been com pleted years earlier in Oslo, Norway. Yet, a battery of U.S. “ scientists" were intent on proving that syphilis was “ different in Blacks.” The author has “ no fire in his belly,” and his bland prose Does not convey the outrage that this tragic episode so richly deserves. Indeed, Jones goes so far as to reprimand a fellow historian for being “ more concerned with proving charges of ra c is m th a n a tte m p tin g to understand what happened.” I -• I- ■i • ; • V- « a • .7 ► / « •*/ r,\Z Ultimately, the Associated Press broke the story in 1972, and a lawsuit was filed that led, reportedly, to a cash payment by the U.S. governm ent of ten million dollars. Providing a cruel epitaph, a Black Alabama lawyer who processed the survivors' claim s observed, “ The sad thing is that it could happen all over again.” Michael Myerson, Executive Director of the U.S. Peace Council, and Professor Mark Solomon, a co- ch a iro fth e same organization, have provided an important document in a small package on how Cold W ar II can lead to W orld W ar III. In their o p e n in g c h a p te r, e n title d “ Apocalyptic Nonsense” - The First S trike D octrine,” we get the following gory s ta tis tic s :... a single one-megaton bomb dropped on New York C ity w ould cause 5,906,000 casualties - a 20- megaton bomb would kill 9,487,000 o u trig h t and s e rio u s ly in ju re 4,898,000 for a total of 14,385,000 casualties. I’m inclined to believe, the manner in which all of these millions would die would dwarf the war crimes comm itted in W orld War II, including our government's b o m b in g o f H iro s h im a and N a g a s a k i. C o n s e q u e n tly , W ashington current regression to Cold W ar behavior, its substitution of military power for diplomacy and its g e n e ra l h e ig h te n in g of international treasons to the degree that nuclear war seems increasingly inevitable, suggest that one of the most criminal conspiracies In the annals of human history may be afoot. In the words of Italy's Defence Minister Lelio Lagorio, "The W hite House is behaving like a madm an about to light a cigarette in a dynam ite dum p.” So Stopping W orld W ar III is both a tim ely and necessary statement which sets forth the prem ises of U.S. foreign policy while, at the same time, reviewing the history of the Cold War, including who started it and why. Myerson and Solomon reject the “ equal” theory, believing rather that the num ber one threat to world peace is the U.S. governm ent. In this regard, they echo Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s view that our governm ent is the major purveyor of violence in the world today. Documentation for this position is abundantly provided in Stopping W orld W ar III. In o rd e rto stop W orld W ar III ,k said the author, Am ericans must counter the "W ashington Treat," the chief obstacle to world peace. PORTLAND OBSERVER “ The Eyes and Ears of the Community" 288-0033 ERVER PO RTL OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PUBLICATION Established in 1970 Alfred L. Henderson/Publisher Leon Harris /General Manager Gary Ann Garnett Nvewusi Askari Business Manager News Editor Joyce Washington Mattie Ann Callier-Spears Sales/Marketing Director Religion Editor Ruby Reuben Marie Decuir Sales Representative Rose Marie Davis ¿2 Sales Representative ftf.r B. Gayle Jackson Comptroller Photographer Richard Medina Photo-Composition Lonnie Wells Circulation Manager PORTLAND OBSERVER i?.?« ' r is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company. Inc 525 N E Killmgsworth St • Portland. Oregon 97211 PO Box 3137 • Portland, Oregon 9720« liti 'Ä ^ r * M •'•••« • (503) 288-0033 (Office) »Hi Deadline« for all submitted material« Articles Monday. 5 p m.; Ads Tuesday, 5 p m The PORTLAND OBSERVER welcomes freelance submissions Manuscripts end photographs should be clearly labeled end will be returned H accompanied by a self-eddreesed envelope All created designed display ads become the sole property ot this newspaper end can not be used In other publications or personal usage, without the written content of the general manager, unless the client hee purchased the composition ot such ed. _ Subscription, »20 00 per year m the Tr»County area ;# T 0 PORTLAND OBSERVER — Oregon'» oldest Afrlcsn-Americsn Publication — is a member of The National Newspaper Association — Founded in 1885. The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, snd The Netionei Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc New Vorfc OPINION GUEST EDITORIAL: John Jacob Calls On President- Elect Bush To Convene A Meeting With National Black Leadership Black and white Americans in the key indicators of family and individual well being - indicators such as educa tional achievement, employment, income, life expectancy and infant mortality," he concluded. Honored at the dinner, which is the League’s major fundraising event were Roberto C. Goizueta, Chairman and chief Executive Officer of The Coca- Cola Company, and John H. Johnson, Publisher, Chairman and Chief Ex ecutive Officer of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. The Equal Opportunity Day Dinner is held each year on or nearthe actual date of the Gettysburg Address deliv ered by President Abraham Lincoln. The dinner provides an opportunity for the League to honor citizens who not only are “dedicated to the propo sition that all men are created equal” but also have devoted their lives toward making equal opportunity a reality. Opera star Isola Jones was the featured guest artist at the Dinner. Ms. Jones, a native of Chicago, has distinguished herself in many roles, including the lead in “Carmen" opposite Plácido Domingo and Jose Carreras. Hamish Maxwell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer or Philip Morris Companies, Inc. was chairman of the dinner. John J. Jacob, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban League, speaking at the 32nd Annual Equal Opportunity Day Dinner Tues day, November 15 at New York C ity’s Hilton Hotel called on President-elect George bush to convene a meeting with the national Black leadership. “ President-elect Bush has a his toric opportunity to reshape policies that have widened the gap between the races, and by doing so, reshape Am erica’s politics," said Jacob. “ First, I call on the president-elect to convene an informal, off-the-rec ord meeting with national Black lead ership.” “ He needs to exchange ideas with Black leaders ... get suggestions from them on personnel and policies ... give the Black com m unity what it hasn’t had in eight years -- access to our national leadership,” Jacob told his audience. Jacob continued by adding, “we need the opportunity to help Mr. bush be what he says he wants to be - president of all Am eri cans.” “ I also call on the president-elect to adopt the Urban League’s priority goal - black-white parity by the year 2000. “ I propose that Mr. bush declare that his administration will implement policies that advance parity between Don't Let Them Put You Down Part Like many of our ancestors, the tine, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia ar d culture-bearing Moors leave us no the United Arab Emirates. excuse for allowing any Johnny-come- The May-June, 1982 issue of the lately to civilizatrion to put Black people Aram co World Magazine (Arabian- down. Here, I follow on last week's American Oil Company) is devoted to introduction to the African-inspired a full description of these wonders Renaissance in Europe. The Moorish brought to Europe by the Moors. conquests began in the 7th and 8th Equally as wondrous is the a d they centuries A.D.; Their culture was in created. The Muslim religion forbids full flower by the 12th ce n tu ry -in It the reproduction of the human figure aly, Spain and southern France, far so they concentrated on developing beyond the "Middle East'. the beautiful and sophisticated spa Years ago I discovered a remark tial patterns found in their architec able book, The History of Playing ture and textiles throughout their Cards. A new vista for research opened dominions. If you look through N a before my eyes as I perceived the tional Geographic Magazine you will figures, costumes and images with find many examples yet in Italy, Spain which the thousand-year-old cards and southern F rance-A nd in North were decorated to be African in ori Africa and west coast nations like gin: this was a affirmed in the text. I Nigeria, and of course in the Middle ordered a number of related books by East. Interested in using related pat European authors. It all stood re terns and embroidery? See T e xtile s vealed: Tarot Cards: the Gypsv with & Needlework, Dover Publishing Co., his fortune telling and metal working; 1978. the Jongleurs (Jugglers and tumblers), One of the most important advances those peripatetic, talented actors who in chemistry cam e as a result of this gave plays on the street corners of structured development of an art form. Italian cities (founders of the Comme- Late last century, a Russian "scientist dia dell’arte which evolved into the discovered that what the Moors had Opera as we know it today)—All cf really done was to develop a completely these were among the immigrations new discipline and format for displaying and imports from Africa that brought and defining the position of objects or light to the Dark Ages of Europe. points in space. In their art they had Many of the Moors who cam e to discovered and diagrammed all 237 Europe overland by way of Syria, possible space arrangements or lattice Palestine and M esopotam ia-the lat patterns, and had identified the 17 ter being today's Iran and Iraq lying major spatial groups. athwart the 'Ethiopian Sea' (now The Put another way, the Moors de Persian G ulft-w e re as Black and woolly-headed as the Muslim oil min vised a system which permitted isters you see on television today. modern scientists to specify accu These are the people who preserved rately all of the possible arrangements the great works in science, m athe of atoms and molecules. Chemists matics and medicine developed in becam e artists as they were enabled Alexandria in Africa, much of it falsely to identify elements and compounds attributed to the Greeks who traveled by the Moorish techniques of m anipu there to learn. It was a great opportu lating images in space by rotation, nity to learn true history, having among translation and reflection X-rav C rys my students at Portland State Univer tallography was born! (See College sity hundreds from Iran, Iraq, Pales Chem istry by Linus Pauling). Creed O f The Black Press The 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 person, the Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back. -It, K-T * Keysville, GA: Good News Continues by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. Earlier in the year we reported the victory of the African-Am erican com munity in gaining political control of the town of Keysville, Georgia. Mrs. Emma Gresham who was elected Mayor of Keysville has been strug gling to insure that this political victory will now lead to the socioeconomic development of th African-American community. Prior to G resham ’s elec tion the majority African-Am erican population of Keysville had been subjected to a kind of American apart heid where all aspects of social and institutional life of thetow n was exclu sively controlled by the minority white community. It’s good to hear that progress is still being made in Keysville toward the development and improvement of all the citizens in Keysville, without restriction to race social status. Too often in some places where an Afri can-American or another racial and ethnic person has acquired the politi cal reigns of a municipality, the socio economic state of the African-Am eri can com m unity has not always changed for the better. Keysville, Georgia, w ith its suc cess, becomes a model movement for empowerment where the energy of the people who want justice and a better way of life did not stop after election day. It is a real tribute to the leadership of M ayor Gresham and to all of the people of Keysville, who continue to work for economic jus tice; that recently the town opened its first Day Care Center and hosted its first Health Fair. In addition, a new Fire Station has been opened. In less than one year’s tim e the town of Keysville has literally been transformed from a city of racial hatred and exploitation to a com m unity of racial progress and empowerment, of course, none of this would have been possible without the sacrifices neces sitated in the political struggle against the local forces of racism. To challenge and fight against racism successfully requires deter mination, forebearance and the cour age to take risks. In the case of Keysville, Georgia this successful struggle has also required the leader ship of a very capable African-Am eri can woman who dared not only to say no to racism in her com m unity, but who also stood up in a m anner that gave Inspiration to hundreds of oth ers. When the rest of the nation cele brates Martin Luther King's birthday in the next several weeks, Keysville, Georgia will be renaming its major "Martin Luther King Road.” Dr. King would certainly be proud of the ac complishm ents of this co m m u n ity. At a time when there appears to be a lull in the “ Freedom M ovem ent" in the United States, it is indeed refreshing to hear that M ayor Gresham and the A frican-A m erican com m unity of Keysville, Georgia are still victoriously on the road to freedom. Along the Color Line Dr. Manning Marable Professor McKinley Burt ». λ > V t TVJL R IG H TS JO U R N A L •V • The Demise Of Liberalism (Part 2) Dukakis’s defeat last month was characterized as a failure of the political philosophy of liberalism. O ne of the reasons for the in c re a s in g ly c o n s e rv a tiv e perspective ot both major parties is the subtle element of racism. Ever since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, broad sections of the w h ite p u b lic h ave b e c o m e c o n v in c e d th a t th e n a tio n a l leadership of the Democratic Party has gone too far in guaranteeing Blacks’ opportunities and rights, at the expense of the social mobility and material welfare of the white majority. Perhaps a generation ago, there existed a reservoir of racial guilt toward the status of the Afro- American, the product of several centuries of slavery, Jim Crow and s o c io e c o n o m ic d is c rim in a tio n . M a n y w h ite s g e n u in e ly fe lt uncomfortable when confronted with the brutal realities of the ghetto, and earnestly favored policies which would reduce overt racial prejudice. Legislation was passed to extend basic constitutional rights to those who had been unjustly denied them. But by the 1970s, as the power of the Black electorate increased, and as white males slipped to a minority within the overall national labor force, a sharp m e ta m o rp h o s is in p u b lic psychology occurred. Suddenly, there was the uneasy perception that "too m uch” had been given the Negro. W ithout resorting to the racist vulgarities of a George Wallace, conservative politicians like Ronald Reagan cleverly tapped the new mood of racial antipathy. The recent rejection of liberalism at the polls is therefore a reaction against people of color, an attempt to check the advances of affirmative action and the broader freedom stru g g le . T he c o n c e p ts of compensatory justice and political com passion for the oppressed no longer have mass support among the white middle class. The c o n se q u e n ce s o f th e collapse of liberalism as a dominant p o litic a l p h ilo s o p h y w ith in government will be most painfully apparent w ithin the econom y. President-elect Bush was never an advocate of Reaganomics prior to 1980; indeed, he denigrated the supply-side, lower tax dogm as as “ v o o d o o e c o n o m ic s ” . Y et throughout the 1988 campaign, Bush proclaimed: “ Read my lips, no new taxes.” It was good political rhetoric, but very poor economic policy, considering the multi-billion dollar deficits which the federal government hemorrhages annually. Despite the appointment of non ideologues to important economic policy positions, notably Richard G. Darman as director of the O ffice of Management and Budget, the markets doubt that Bush will be able to extricate him self from his irrational campaign promises. The Federal Reserve Board will move toward tighter monetary policies to defend the value of the dollar abroad. This will contribute to higher interest and inflation rates. Cutbacks in production could trigger a chain reaction, culminating into a severe recession within twelve to fifteen months. The scenario above points to the necessity to reduce federal expenditures, such as cutting the bloated Pentagon budget. But the logic of political conservatism will mean balancing the budget on the backs of those who can least afford austerity. That means even deeper cuts in social welfare, public housing, education and social programs which address the needs of minorities, working people and the poor. Despite Bush's declaration that he wants to become known as the “ Education President", his economic agenda threatens to erode any possibility of advances in public education. The prospects for job training programs targeting the hardcore unemployed will become even bleaker in the 1990s.