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.”
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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.
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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
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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.