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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 1988)
Strange Silence From Black Elected Officials The proposed closing of the adm inistrative section at the Al bina Human Resource Center on N.E. Union Avenue has provoked protest and outrage from com munity leaders and city officials, including Portland Mayor Bud Clark. The State Department of Hum an Resources claims it can contract out the services now being provided by the administrative staff at the center to non-profit groups at cost savings. What the departm ent fails to by Dr. Marinina Marable ices by the agencies housed in the center. The elimination of their section could possibly mean poor people will once again fall through the "cracks" and find themselves at the "m ercy" of those less car ing. The D.H.S. proposal would add to the welfare and unemployment plight which would be inclusive of the staff of the administrative staff. This seems hardly consistent with C Governor Goldschmidt's economic 1 developm ent plan for N.E. Port fi land. c c D B Stranger than fiction has been i the apparent lack of interest by Oregon's Black Elected Officials. To date, none has com e forth B with a word of protest. A com m u I nity’s voice, backed by its elected 8 8 officials lend credence during a crisis. And, this is truly a crisis. Now is the time to act. COM M ENTARY point out is “their cost savings will com e about as a result of elim i nating seven positions," includ ing some with at least 17 years of service with the state. Most of the community non-profit groups have rejected the offer, claim ing (and rightfully so) that it is impossible to provide the services currently being met by the seven, soon to be jobless employees, at a frac tion of the cost. The departm ent also failed to consider, that after 19 years, the adm inistrative staff of the center provide emergency services for clients that are rejected for serv- The com m unity is looking for an elected official (Black or white) to step forth and join Mayor Bud Clark in helping to save a much needed resource. Whom shall be the first to speak out? QUEST EDITORIAL: Jackson Action: Black Against Black Violence I 88 8 8 8 E 8 E 8 8 8E CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL hv Benjam in F. Chavis. Jr, Freezing To Death In America To depend primarily on the police The different kinds of mortality of a and other law enforcem ent agencies ociety give an indication of the social to treat the homeless, as if their des riorities of that society. Across the titute state is a criminal offense, is inited States during this winter sea- neither a compassionate nor humane on there is an alarming increase in approach. In surveying how some of ie number of homeless persons who the m ajor cities in the United States re freezing to death on the streets. handle the homeless, particularly Recently in the city of New York 5 during the winter months, we were lomeless persons died on the streets alarmed to find the proclivity to use luring one week-end. The frequency police action rather than social serv if these deaths has not aroused a ice support systems. For example, in ireat public outcry. In fact, there seems Atlanta, Georgia: Portland, Oregon o be a growing social acceptance and in Phoenix, Arizona the police hat a fair number of homeless people routinely cite homeless persons with ¡hall die during the winter. Many of violations of city ordinances as a means hese victims of hom elessness are of moving them off the streets. Yet, acial and ethnic persons whose names this does nothing to solve the prob will never be known, not even to the lem of the state of homelessness in ;ity morticians. W hether the names these cities. It just adds to the misery of these victims will ever be known to of the homeless. ocal or national politicians is a matter Douglas Lasdon, the director of of how well concerned citizens of this the Legal Action Center for the oation make this issue a priority. Homeless, stated, "this system is by W hen we hear of the great suffer- definition inhum ane." ngs of people throughout the world, W e believe that there is only one some caused by natural disasters solution for the homeless and that is and others caused by the sins of to provide adequate, affordable hous greed and avarice, we should re ing for all persons living in this nation. m ember the daily sufferings of the people living on the streets of Amer W e should no longer tolerate persons ica this winter. There needs to be a freezing to death. We should no longer comprehensive and effective response tolerate the homeless being home The urban ghettoes of America increasingly are becoming armed, military zones. Millions of people live in fear of being raped, robbed or mugged. Thousands of homes are burglarized every week in Black neigh borhoods. Hundreds of our young people are being slaughtered in the streets and back alleys. And many of our high schools are now battlegrounds for drug pushers. Between January and August, 1988, only eight months, 143 people were murdered in Miami, a figure which was higher than the city’s total number of murders in 1987. Crime statistics from other cities are equally grim. During the same period in 1988, New Orleans recorded 216 murders; Houston, 411 murders; Washington, D.C., 323 murders; and New York City, 1,231 murders. The vast m ajor ity of the victims are nonwhite males. In the United States, a white male has a one-in-186 chance of becom ing a m urder victim. For all Black men, the odds are one chance in twenty nine. And for those living in W ashington, D.C., the South Bronx, C hicago’s South Side, or other urban centers, the m urder rate odds for Black males probably decline to less than one out of twenty. Urban violence frequently takes its casualties from the innocent bystand ers, those who have no role in drugs, crim e or murder. Two weeks before this Christmas, a nine year old boy died in a Chicago public housing project because paramedics refused to enter the apartment building at night. The paramedics later claimed that their ambulance was being hit by rocks and eggs hurled by local residents. The family of the dead boy disputed these charges, and filed a $60 million suit against the Chicago Fire Depart ment. W hether the param edics were attacked or not, is secondary to the larger issue of the pervasiveness of urban violence. W hen postal work ers, delivery workers, medics and other healthcare professionals are afraid to enter neighborhoods without police protection, then the quality of life for the population in that area must deteriorate. Police argue that most of the re cent violence is directly attributable to the proliferation of crack. The street trade in crack cocaine is so profitable that many gangs are now as heavily armed as police SWAT team s. W it nesses of drug-related crimes often disappear; the arrests of thousands of young people who are low-level dealers has done little to keep thou r \ __ bv Ron Daniels Jesse Jackson has becom e a for midable fact of life inside the Demo cratic Party. The liberal progressive Rainbow electoral coalition which he forged in 1988 demonstrated that with the right m essage, and the strategy the Democratic Party can expand its base and rem ain a viable force in presidential politics. For the record Jesse Jackson polled nearly 7 million votes in his prim ary presidential elec tion bid. T hat’s more votes than any runner-up in the history of the Demo cratic Party. W alter Mondale won the nomination in 1984 with 6.7 million votes. Jesse Jackson won 13 states, 100 congressional districts, and cap tured more than 1,200 delegates at the Democratic National Convention. Of equal im portance Jesse Jackson kept critical issues on the table. These are issues of importance to Black and Third World people -d rugs, housing, health care, education, jobs, peace, justice. These historic accom plish ments have propelled Jackson into the leadership of the liberal-progres sive wing of the Democratic Party. Never one to rest on his laurels, Jesse Jackson realizes that given the panic which the conservative tide has created am ong Democrats, the lib eral-progressive forces will have to fight hard to keep the Party from stam peding to the right and self-de structing. He has issued a major chal lenge to his supporters to PARTICI PATE in and TRANSFORM the Demo cratic Party from the precinct to the presidency. The fact is Black people have yet to really master and fully exploit the benefits of “traditional" electoral politics. African-Americans need to press the two traditional par ties to produce every gain and benefit possible in the interest of the masses of Black people, other minorities, poor working people, and the struggling reached. Black leaders must begin to ad dress, squarely and forthrightly, this crisis of human values within our communities. Many social Institutions such as churches and schools no longer exert the moral and social in fluence among younger Blacks. The economic crisis of poverty and unem ployment directly contributes to the violence as well. W hen people can not eat or clothe their children, they will steal to survive. When crack dealers pay unem ployed teens hundreds of dollars per day, why should they aspire to hold subm inim um wage jobs? A person without a job and who has been influenced by the rampant materialism of the dom inant culture can be recruited into criminal activity. The only long term, fundamental solution to the violence between Black people is found within the strategy of community and group empowerment. People who are involved in political change, economic development and community-based reform movements do not destroy each other. They channel their energies into the con structive acts of socio-econom ic and political change, and their outlook on their friends, peers and neighbors also changes. They seek to build local institutions and to equip others in the tools for political and social involvement, and in doing so, their understanding of interpersonal rela tions deepens. If a person hates himself or her self, and has no appreciation for the culture and sacrifices of Black people of previous generations, he or she will act in a crim inal manner against other Blacks. To end the violence, we must organize ourselves from within. Letter To The Editor: If the truth be told African-Am ericans have never really systematically fought to make the Democratic Party re sponsive and accountable to Black people at all levels. The tim e has come to take our vote and participa tion seriously or to stop com plaining about others taking advantage of us. The Black vote must be used around a progressive agenda for change and benef it for the masses of Black people, minorities, poor and working people. In that regard we must fearlessly reward our friends and punish our enemies (elect and de-elect). Under standing this Jesse Jackson contin ues to place a premium on voter reg istration. Of the 7 million votes which Jackson won in 1988, about 4-1/2 million were Black votes. But guess what, there were 14 million Black registered voters eligible and avail able to vote in 1988 and another 7 - 8 million Blacks unregistered. Remem ber Mondale won the Democratic nomination in 1984 with 6.7 million votes and Dukakis won in 1988 with about 9 million votes. THE BLACK VOTE POTENTIAL IS 22 MILLION middle class. Though the vast majority of Black people vote Democratic, we are re ally not in the Democratic Party. Black people seldom seek positions on the policy making bodies within the Party at the state, local and national levels. And when we have gained access to these policy-m aking bodies we have often been guilty of not knowing the rules, or w orse yet, falling to attend the meetings on a regular basis. Black people vote Democratic and then leave the business of setting rules, and establishing the policies by which the Party will function to someone else. No one else will project and defend your interest like you. Jesse Jackson therefore is challenging Black people and progressives who vote Demo cratic to fight for full representation and a equitable share of EVERY THING within the Democratic Party. J Dear Mr. Henderson, . . . . o 1/Q.. Thank you very much for putting your editorial opinion in 2-1/8 Columns. It makes everything more readable and faster. I read your paper regularly and find it helpful and interesting I m white. I was elected to the Oregon State Legislature 1963-1975. Howard D. Willits VOTES! The Jackson Action Agenda inside the Democratic party calls for a major effort to liberalize voter registration laws to make it easier for potential voters to register and remain on the books. The Conyer's Bill which pro motes same day, same site election day registration is the center piece of the Jackson registration program. Other components of the Jackson agenda include D.C. Statehood, minority and women set aside pro grams for business and support for the Dellums’ Bill for tougher sanc tions against South Africa. Needless to say expanded aid for housing, health care, education, jobs, and a sane foreign policy will continue to be inte gral to Jackson's efforts to restore sanity to the Democratic Party. That’s essentially the strategy which Jesse Jackson will be harnessing his supporters to fight for inside the Democratic party. The next four years with critical mayoral and gubenatorial elections in 1989, the census in 1990, re-apportionment in 1991 and presi dential elections again in 1992 will provide ample tim e to test the possi bilities of the inside strategy. M ean while, those who would seek to deny Jesse Jackson his just do as the leader of the liberal progressive wing of the Party need to re-think their position. Another debacle like 1988 and even Jesse Jackson will not be able to stem the flood of disaffection and defections from the Democratic Party. INDEED W HAT AFRICAN- AMERICANS A N D TH E PROGRES SIVE M OVEM ENT REALLY NEED IS AN INSIDE-OUTSIDE STRATEGY. less. to this growing problem. 1988 Year Of Drift: PORTLfiMb OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PUBLICATION Established m 1970 Alfred L. Henderson /Publisher Leon H arrls/General Manager Gary Ann Garnett Nyewusi 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 Sales Representative B. Gayle Jackson Comptroller Photographer Richard Medina Photo-Composition Lonnie Wells Circulation Manager PORTLAND OBSERVER is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company Inc 525 N E Killm gsworlh SI • Portland Oregon 972,1 P O Bow 3137 • Portland Oregon 97208 (503) 288*0033 (Office) Deadlines for all submitted materials Articles Monday, 5 p m . Ads Tuesday. 5 p.m The PORTLAND OBSERVER welcomes freelance submissions Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled end will be relum ed ,1 accompanied by a sell-addressed en.elope *11 creeled designed display ads become the sole property ol this newspaper end can not be used In other publications or personal usage w.lhout the written consent ol the general manager unless the client has purchased the composition ol such ad Subscriptions $20 00 per y»ar in the Tri-County area TKe PORTLAND OBSERVER — Oregon s oldest African-American Publication — is a member ol The National Newspaper Associelion — Founded in 1885. The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, end The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers Inc . New York The Inside Strategy sands more from taking their places. The flood of violence, however, can only be understood by going beyond the single issue of drugs. Why does violence become the sole method for resolving conflict between so many young Black men? W hat is the long-term political and economic impact of violence within the national Black com m unity? People resort to violence in their relations with each other when they devalue the human ity and dignity of those individuals with whom they are in conflict. Dis agreements are inevitable within all societies. But when people are rou tinely shot for less than ten dollars, or a young Black man in Detroit can be murdered on a city bus for no reason, a very disturbing level of human al ienation and social decay has been 1988 was a year was a year domi nated by politics. It saw the rise of a serious black presidential candidate, and the elec tion of a new president who appears capable of breaking with at least some of the m istaken directions of the past eight years. Conventional wisdom says the 1988 election proved the political power lessness of blacks. But, as is often the case, conventional wisdom is wrong. The black vote makes its maxi mum impact in close elections, but the 1988 presidential campaign wasn’t close. Blacks gave over 86 percent of their votes to the loser--not out of enthusiasm for him, but against a candidate who served the current Administration. On the state and focal level how ever, the black vote did have an impact on several important races. Black votes, tor example, provided the margin of victory for Senator Lautenberg ot New Jersey over his popular Repub lican rival And the number of blacks in Con gress increased to 23. with the addi tion of Donald Payne, who earned Dodges And Little Change New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District. The justified pride in his election as the state’s first black congressm an should, however, be joined by heart felt gratitude for his retiring predeces sor, Peter Rodino, who was a stal wart cham pion of civil rights and who did so much to assure passage of key civil rights laws. Conventional wisdom also says whites w on’t vote for black candi dates, but Jesse Jackson garnered white votes in his primary campaigns, and Mississippi Congressm an Mike Espy won re-election with 40 percent of the white vote. But politics wasn't all there was to 1988. A sm all step forward was made by passage of the Civil Rights Resto ration Act, which closes a glaring loophole that allowed discrimination. And another loophole was plugged when Congress passed amendments to the Fair Housing Act that for the first time, endows authorities with enforcem ent powers. That such action was needed is dem onstrated by a University ot C hi cago study released in November, wfiich concluded blacks remain highly segregated no matter where they live with typical black income frozen at in metropolitan areas.” The study about 56 percent of white income. highlighted continued segregation in And for all the publicity about school reforms, most experts agreed that suburban housing. reform was bypassing the inner-city The one m ajor change in social schools that need it most. So 1988 was a year of business as p o licie s-a new welfare la w -fe ll far short of the necessary overhaul of the usual, a year that started with high welfare system. The income gap hopes and finished with little real between blacks and whites rem ains- change. 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