WP Page 2 Portland Observer March 2, 1989 EDITORIAL / OPINION ABORTION ISSUE HEATS UP COMMENTARY; AFRICAN AM ERICANS!! BOGGLING THE FEATHERS IN THE WINGS OF LOVE By John E. Jacob The Supreme Court will soon decide whether to revise its 1973 decision in Roe v. W ade, which provided constitutional protection for abortion. The abortion issue has also surfaced in the highly publicized raids on family planning clinics by anti­ abortion zealots. If the C ourt overturns Roe v. W ade, abortion would not stop. The issue would simply be turned over to the states, and there would be fifty different state abortion ^1 \ ÜJiWr ■' A i I hws Abortion would then be a privilege o f the wealthy who could travel to other states or even foreign countries to have abortions, w hile the poor would do what they did before 1973 - go to illegal back-alley abortionists. W hatever one’s personal beliefs regarding the propriety o f abortion, it would be a disastrous mistake to rescind constitutional protection tor it, especially since the energies of the anti-abortionists are directed at restricting the rights of women, and especially poor women. The anti-abortionists’ Operation Rescue demonstrations employ civil disobedience to try to close down family planning clinics, but at tim es the anti-abortionists have turned violent, bombing clinics and assaulting people. I find it offensive that they com pare their efforts to the civil rights m ovem ent ot the 1960s. T hat movement sought to extend constitutional rights ol all Americans, not to deny women their constitutional right to freedom ol choice. 1 he civil rights m ovem ent was non-violent, but the right-to-life zealots harrass doctors, nurses and patients, and threaten women who have decided to term inate unwanted V J ■ Recently Com m issioner Dick Bogle made one o f his rare official visits I io the lower Northeast Sector when he created a media event by marching in with j ¡television cameras, new spaper reporters and chief building inspectors to witness ¡th e padlocking of T he W ines of L ove, a shelter for the hom eless located at 100 ¡N o rth Killingsworth here in Portland. The reason given for this action was based I on the allegation that the edifice was unsuitable for human habitation. Complaints I of that nature had been alleged by form er residents. That evening and the next day, ¡th e usual tw o minute television excerpts informed the com m unity along with ¡graphic displays of w hat had occurred. For several days, the local daily newspaper I also described the events in great detail along with accom panying pictures. On Tuesday of this week, the good com m issioner made a return trip to the I W ings of Love followed by the same retinue of the press corp and building I inspectors. This time, he had come to remove the padlock, em brace Mrs. Alezine ¡M ayes, Director of the house and to pledge her the full support o f his office. I W hy the sudden change o f heart? None o f the m ajor violations had been ¡corrected. On closer inspection, it was found that the W in e s v f was a ¡paradise com pared with T h e O p e n H e a r t or BalftneY .I w ’S- Even the chief ¡housing inspector adm its that these two shelters would have a difficult tim e ' ¡passing a rigorous inspection. Then why give so much attention to this ¡establishm ent that has been in business for more than seven years, operating just ¡aseffectively as the others without help from any governm ental agency? Only Mr. I Bogle can answ er that question. I O n the other hand, it would appear that he made several blunders with regard I to due process of the law, sensitivity to the needs of the low er Northeast Sector and ¡exercising good judgm ent as an elected official of all the people of Portland. Even ¡ if he thought he was acting in an official capacity, Mr. Bogle certainly did not have pregnancies. Their actions resemble those o f the segregationists who taunted African American children trying to enter public schoolroom s, not the dignified civil rights marchers who fought to enlarge people’s opportunities and rights. Another big difference: the civil rights marchers o f the 1960s reflected a national consensus that segregation was wrong; the anti-abortion lorccs ot today are opposed to the general American consensus that women have the right to choose to have an abortion. And the right-to-lifers are suspiciously absent when it com es to what happens to children after they are bom. T h ey ’re not out in the streets dem onstrating to assure that poor children and teenage mothers get skills, education, decent health care, and housing opportunities. 1 have yet to see right-to-lifers exhibit concern about the quality o f life lor poor children, for pregnant women who want to end their pregnancies lor health, econom ic, or other reasons, or for the consequences for A m erica’s poor people ol banning abortions. And they’ve been silent about the kids who are abused, m istreated, warehoused in inadequate institutional settings, and subjected to neglect. Political leaders ought to recognize the consequences ot playing up to the rignt- to-lifers, too. They need to understand that banning abortion means shitting decisions about a w om an’s body from the woman herself to politicians and by Benjamin F, Chavis. J l For the more than 30 million descendants of African slaves who are citizens o f the United States, an interesting debate is now unfolding on how we choose to define ourselves. This self-definition and re definition has been a struggle in and o f itself. The system o f racism and oppression in this nation has been very effective in attempting to deny the fundamental right to self-determination. Through the years we have been called and we have called ourselves “ colored,” “ N egro,” “ A fro-A m erican,” and “ Black A m erican.” Since the days of slavery there have been attem pts to unify descendants of Africa around a com m on nomenclature. Yet the forces o f racial oppression have always been opposed to any name that would exude dignity and self-respect to the people of African d escen t Now, in 1989, twenty years after the Black Pow er and Black consciousness- raising era, there is a movement afloat to once again achieve a consensus on one terminology. Recently Reverend Jesse Jackson and other civil rights leaders posited that the appropriate term should be African-American. “ This is deeper than just name recognition,” said Rev. Jackson, adding, “ Black tells you about skin color and what side of town you live on. African-American evokes discussion o f the w orld.” There are many African American newspapers and radio stations throughout the nation that have already been using this term for more than 10 years. W e encourage the use o f the term African American as an appropriate self-affirm ation and definition o f the descendants o f African slaves who are struggling to have citizenship with dignity in this nation. W hile there are some who disagree with this usage, we believe the current debate is a healthy one because it focuses on history, culture and the responsibility of human self-definition. W e join, however, with the com m ent o f Mary Frances Berry, professor o f history at the University o f Pennsylvania, that “ thisdoesn’tm ean that everything will be wonderful and all the poor people will be taken care of.” It is our hope that this new consensus will translate to the vast majority o f African Americans in the U nited States doing more collectively toward elim inating some of the real problems that confront our communities. Finally, it is our belief that to call ourselves African Americans will send a m essage to our African sisters and brothers on the continent and throughout the D iaspora that we intend to be a part of the global com m unity, placing a priority on our common African heritage. The future also holds a mutual responsibility for us to be less tolerant of racial injustice in the United States and in Africa, particularly in southern Africa. If the name change does not affect our actions in the struggle for justice and freedom, then it will be another hollow intellectual exercise. PORTLAND OBSERVER bureaucrats. And they need to understand that banning abortions will only drive them underground, increase public health problems, and result in countless personal ‘‘T he E y e s a n d E ars of th e C o m m u n ity ” tragedies. Opponents of abortion are perfectly free to air their views and to try to convince the rest of us. But they shouldn’t bully us into giving up constitutionally protected Perspectives I the right to breach the peace and tranquility of a private institution with an invasion ¡o f television cameras and new spaper reporters. He is quite fortunate that Mrs. ¡M ayes is not a vengeful person. She certainly has every right to seek legal redress. ¡Such an action would probably cost the city so much in damages that the W ings lo f Love never again would be faced with impecuniousness . There is a lesson to Ib e learned from this shameful usurpation of authority. J: S’ CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL 288-0033 rights to satisfy their personal beliefs. JOIN T H E S M A R T CROVW ! REAP THE NEW SPAPER EVERV PA9 The Cultural Background For Black History •* by M cKinley Burt, Historian iTM PARIS' U S.ACRES Chareclers: 5 ’ 985 United Feature Syndicate, me , Celebrate Newspaper in Education Week, March 6-10, 1989 i\< s • .i THE OTHER SIDE -• * . * . *4 "The Black Press Our Voice In The Labor Movement. A Fact r, # ; 3 of History" ■■nam /%v¿r is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company, Inc. 525 N.E Killingsworth St. Portland, Oregon 97211 P .0 Box 3137 - L iv & • ■•■■ Portland, Oregon 97208 r (5 0 3 ) 2 8 8 -0 0 3 3 (Office) Deadlines for all submitted materials Articles: Monday, 5 p.m.; Ads: Tuesday, 5 p.m. .:■ ■ « :r \7 ix Th« PORTLAND OBSERVER wptocKTip» Imelanc» submissions. Manuscripts tnd photograph» should ba dearly -’S a . •• • *■ PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. Subscriptions $20.00 per year m the Tri-County area. The PORTLAND OBSERVER - Oregon'» oldest African American Publlcation-is a member ol The National Newspaper Aa.ocetion - Founded m 1M 5. The Oregon Newspaper Publisher» Association, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Pubtishera. Inc , NewYortr__________________________ ___________ By Harold W illiams On Sept. 16,1872 A colored labor convention assembled in Richard, Virginia, with delegates from several districts in the state. The object o f this meeting was to secure for Black workers better and more uniform pay. W hile the national labor orgaizations had passed into the hands o f the politicians, the local unions were still regarded as effective organizations and their efforts were often successful. There were Black newspapers which were interested in labor questions, and discussions and advices to laborers. The manes o f several of these papers which were active in labor discussions were: The Elevator, San Francisco, California, “ edited by a Black m an,” circulation 2,300 The Pacific appeal, published by Blacks, The New Orleans Tribune - A daily and weekly, each issue 10,000 copies, managed and edited by Blacks, The South Carolina Leader, circulation mearly 1,000 copies, primed and partly edited by Blacks, The True com m unicator - Baltimore, edited by G eorge T. Cook. Several o f these papers were pre­ eminently labor organs. As the prospectus of The Colored Citizen published by J.P. Sampson and P.H. M urray, there were these words concerning the mission of the paper. It shall advocate labor reform, both in the adjustm ent o f the relations between capital and labor, and in that the colored citizen shall have a lair chance in the mechanical industry ol the country. Editorials frequently appeared in The New National Era concerning labor. This paper was the organ of the National Labor Union and its special interest was the laborqueslion. According to its point of view, labor was to the nation the foundation of wealth , prosperity and greatness. As one o f its editorials it was stated that the first step in the solution of the labor question was the abolition of slavery, but that the question would not bee settled until ignorance, passion, am bitions, selfishness and demagoguery were destroyed. A national com m ittee for the investigation of wages, hours of labor, division of profits, and condition o f labor, was advocated. O ther editorials on la b o r in c lu d e d “ In d u stria l Partnership,” True Labor Reform,” ‘‘The Eight Hour m ovem ent,” Labor in Iron M anufactories,” Labor and T ariff,” “ Labor Unions and W orkingm en” . These papers were fa'quendy the teachers of those who were reader, concerning the measure of usefulness which Blacks should exert in their com m unities. They were told dial their usefulness depended upon the character o f their labor and that the road to com fort was to be found only through constant and patient toil. That is the usage to Black com m unity from the Black Press today. Lor the b a " 'c to plain our fair share is still an important issue o f concern today. Last week this w riter presented services. So it can be seen that this type “ The African Presence in Classical of modem infrastructure did not originate C ivilization - G reece and R om e’ ’ in the in either G reece or Rome but in Black Reed College Auditorium. The material Africa. It also is found that the tax included many of the facts cited in this c o lle c to rs u sed very a d v a n c e d colum n during the past months. The m athematics to determ ine the quantity audience was very receptive and of grain stored in such odd-shaped following the lecture there was a very structures such as tetrahedrons and informative exchange o f ideas with the pyramids as indicated in the Rhind group. They were made up o f students, papyrus. professors, staff and visitors. Many of In contradition to the horror stories them insisted that the material needed of slave labor in Egypt and the Sudan, to be published which always has been recent excavations reveal extensive, my intention. quality urban housing next to the vast An interesting facet in the technique building projects o f pyram id, tem ple or o f presenting new dim ensions of Black canal. W orkers’ quarters w ere m ulti­ or African-American history is the fact room with kitchen and bathroom. The the one m ust fist light the stage. You form an’s residence would even have a cannot, I repeat cannot just present the patio and garden. Com pare with the facts and the documentation as white facilities given A m erica’s Black slaves historians do. If such is attem pted, the 4000 years later (or compare with some presenter will be m et with absolute of the urban squalor-or homelessness- disbelief. He will be assailed from found in this country’s innercities). every quarter from media to academia. Such a reaction is observed despite the Adm inistrative records on stone or fact that so much of the w ritten record papyri show that the workers had unions had been and that they called strikes to protest pay issues (including bonuses due for chisled in stone or etched in papyri. A offerings to be made to the gods). Graffiti case in point is a “ They Came Before colum bus,’’ written by the African found on quarry slabs show that the workers had a lively sense o f hum or and American professor, Ivan van Serlima of Rutgers University . t was not accepted that a great deal o f goodnatured kidding by the American establishm ent until it went on between different work gangs had been hailed by the Europeans. and between shifts. G angs m ight be One of the techniques used in my named “ the high-risers,” or “ the lazy lectures and also in more detailed articles ones,” and some graffiti might complain which cannot be accom m odated by a that the swing shift did not clean up new spaper column is to establish that after their work. there exists within our society a general cultural and intellectual capacity for N EXT W EEK : More about Culture making significant contributions. This and Administration type o f approach makes it much easier Erratum: The last article published in to introduce specific African American this scries slated incorrectly that Howard innovations, the kind that otherwise Latim er, inventor o f the incandescent would provoke shock and misbelief. light bulb filam ent died in 1976. The For an example, 4,000 years ago we article should have stated that David find that many important schools and Crosthwait, the world’s foremost heating libraries existed in Egypt, the Sudan and air conditioning engineer died on and Ethiopia. They were supported by that date. Both o f these African endowment funds and elaborate income Americans made great contributions to lax structures. Each year a certain the advancem ent of the w orld’s percentage of the farm ers’ harvest was technology. It is very fitting that they taxed for the support of these institutions be rem em bered and honored by all as well as to finance other governmental mankind. ' £ t ù • •- <- . ,3 *& i * t •'-* k, f 1’.- * * 1 » .• f t # * 1 • e * $ > e f * * lf l/» M ” » » « A ♦ A k •V a ’ * ■ •V-9MÉI iiMq 1 : •