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:< P aëe 2 Portland Observer March 30,1989
I
EDITORIAL
THE HOWARD STUDENT REVOLT:
A GENERATION DISCOVERING
ITS MISSION
For sometime now something has been stirring in the air: A new sense
o f urgency about the African-Am erican conditions; in the face o f drugs,
crime, violence, and even the good life , an expectation that life could be,
indeed must be better fo r a ll African-Am ericans; a new demand fo r self-
respect; a new awakening after countless racial attacks in cities across
America and racial flare-ups on college campuses, to the reality that racism
is alive and th riving in Am erica; W illie Horton being rubbed in our faces;
a ffirm ative action being set aside by the Supreme Court: D avid Duke, a
Klansman elected to public o ffice , Lee A tw ater was slipped onto the Board
o f Directors o f Howard U niversity. It was time, past time to acL Howard
U niversity students rose in rebellion. Hope had been reborn!
"E a ch generation must out o f relative obscurity discover its mission,
fu lfill it or betray i t ” . This was the challenge set forth by Frantz Fanon, the
Black Algerian revolutionary who became a prime theoretican o f anti-
colonial struggles and liberation movements in the 60s. The “ movement”
in Am erica fo r African-Am erican liberation took inspiration from Fanon’ s
w ritings as a young generation hammered at the w a lls o f racism, segregation,
racial oppression and domestic colonialism .
As the B lack Power movement exploded onto the stage in the m id-sixties
A frican-Am erican students at Cornell University, Jackson State, Duke
University, Columbia, Kent State, and a host o f other colleges and universities
seized buildings or staged strikes demanding that institutions o f higher
learning learn to be responsive to the needs o f African-Am ericans and T hird
W orld students. In launching these courageous protests these students
stepped into the path blazed by students who sparked the civil-rig h ts
revolution w ith set-in demonstrations in Greensboro, Oklahoma C ity, and a
m ultitude o f cities across the south. In L ittle Rock, Arkansas, nine high
school students braved hostile mob to desegregate Central H igh School.
Students in the fiftie s and sixties discovered their mission and fu lfille d i t
In the seventies a great lu ll seemed to overtake the “ movement” . Those o f
us who taught on college campuses use to lament the fact that students in the
seventies seemed oblivious to the movement, to purpose to a sense o f
mission as it related to the liberation o f A frican people in Am erica and the
w orld. M ore often than not parents had cautioned their sons and daughters
not to mess w ith that “ Black s t u f f ’ in college. That is not to say that Black
activism died com pletely, but as a dominant force Black consciousness,
Black Power, and Pan-Africanism receded in the fact o f assimilation, (the
wanabe syndrome), and individualism , (do your own thing). It was a big,
lu ll that seemed to be put African-Am ericans back to sleep.
In the latter h a lf o f the eighties, however, many observers began to detect
a new rising tide o f self-affirm ation and m ilitancy. In recent years a variety
o f influences seemed to be converging to fuel rising aspirations and
expectations among African-Am erican young people. The rhythm and
rhyme o f rap music turned from the meaningless to the m eaningful as groups
like Public Enemy, and the Stetasonics found the sharp cutting edge o f
message music. The protest lyrics o f Raggae have blew in from the
Carribean and w ith ita w h o le new fascination w ith our culture. In the sixties
we wore tikis around our necks. Today more and more the young bloods are
wearing leather medallions w ith the red, black and green o f A fric a and the
red, yellow and green o f the Carribean. Spike Lee calls himself a nationalist
w ith a camera and produces thought provoking movies. Jesse Jackson
challenged fo r the presidency tw o times. And tracy Chapman is “ T alkin
Bout a R evolution” M alcolm X is on the rise again!
O ut o f relative obscurity, a young generation is apparently discovering
its mission. The March 3 student revolt at Howard U niversity may w e ll be
a watershed event signaling a renewed determination o f young A frican-
Americans to jo in in the spirit o f their predecessors and their contemporaries
in south A frican. Nambia, and Carribean to build a new people, a new nation
and a new world.
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CONTINUING CRISIS IN MIAMI
by B e n ja m in F. C havis, J r.
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M ost o f the w orld has become aware o f the deep racial problems and
divisions that plague the city o f M ia m i, Florida. The recent documented
cases o f racially-m otivated police brutality against A frican Americans in
this city o nly serve as a backdrop fo r the growing racial tensions.
Aesthetically, M ia m i is a beautiful city w ith much promise fo r the future.
Yet, behind the gloss is a m ulti-racial com m unity that lacks the w ill to
fo rth rig h tly address fundamental social, political, and economic issues.
N ow that M ia m i is experiencing a large influ x o f Central Am erican
refugees, racial hostilities appear to be increasing to a crisis stage.
The New Y o rk Times recently revealed in a report that the educational
system o f Dade County where M ia m i is situated, also is not prepared to
handle the more than five hundred im m igrant children com ing to M ia m i per
month. M osto fth em speak Spanish. Iron ically, there are now renewed calls
fo r “ English O n ly” legislation that would require that English be the
mandatory language o f local school systems.
Dr. M ichael M . Krop, Chairman o f the Dade County School Board has
appealed to the President because “ Bush says he wants to be the Education
President” . Yet, the Federal Government is now in the process o f making
new budget cuts from programs designed to support local school systems
like the one in M iam i.
We are very concerned about the perceived tensions between the A frica n
Am erican and Hispanic Am erican communities in M ia m i as a result o f the
social and economic implications o f the rise in the local immigrant population.
Strategically the A frican Am erican and Hispanic Am erican communities
should unite in a common struggle fo r empowerm ent The future o f M ia m i
does not have to be a future o f d ivisive racial confrontations. But, the
handw riting is surely on the w all, and the necessity for unity and jo in ta c tio n
has never been more urgent
In fact, M iam i w ill serve as a national barometer on the future o f race
relations in the United States. The “ powers that be” in the Anglo-Am erican
com m unity should not w ait fo r the situation to explode. The extent to which
those in power are w illin g to share w ith those who are powerless is the extent
to which a basis fo r dialogue and corrective action can be initiated.
It appears that the Bush Adm inistration w ill not rush in and o ffe r solutions
fo r the acute problems facing this city. Thus, local leadership across the
lines o f race and class w ill have to emerge to ensure the kind o f social and
p olitical change necessary fo r empowerment and development o f all o f the
communities o f M iam i, particularly those communities that have historically
been oppressed and exploited.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
¡ ill
“ The Eyes and Ears of the Community"
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288-0033
SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
Another Day of Infamy in the City of Roses
by Stephen E. McPherson, Special Correspondent
Portland, the C ity o f Roses, is said to be the most livable place in the
United States, but fo r whom? Once more the vicious venom o f racism has
been vented on the embattled A frica n Am erican com m unity. The editor and
c h ie f architect o f a yellow journalistic rag is scheduled to be honored fo r her
dubious contribution to the low er Northeast sector o f the town. The added
insult to this affront is the fact that she was nominated to this questionable
honor by the parson o f St. Andrews Roman Catholic Church which is
located w ith in the heart o f the com m unity where the nominee casts
aspersions upon its citizens w ith im punity. The good pastor offered his
nomination w ith the complete knowledge o f the scurrilous piece o f rubbish
the nominee publishes every month. He ignored that fact w ith the observation
that one thing has nothing to do w ith the other. Such an attitude is
tantamount to saying that the villa ins who appended a taunting derision to
the cru cifix tw o m illcnia ago were o nly a mischievous bunch o f over
exuberant youths bent on displaying a little humor. One can only assume
that the progenitor o f this misguided nom ination has remained so cloistered
w ithin a monastery that he is out o f touch w ith reality or that even a man o f
the cloth can harbor a m alevolent second agenda. It is little wonder the
hierarchy o f his church precluded its ministers from engaging in political
a ctivity. One cannot escape the fact that such a nom ination has serious
political overtones.
The entireprocess denigrates the award to the extent that it no longer can
be taken as a serious representation o f an acceptable com m unity effort.
M ore distressing, however, is the fact that unmitigated racism now enjoys
a certain amount o f respectability, even from the august sanctuary o f the
church. It is, indeed, very curious to observe that tw o o f the honorees are
persons from the Northeast com m unity who have made a very serious
com m itm ent to resolving the m yriad problems that affect that sector. It also
is interesting to note that one o f the honorees is associated w ith the St.
Andrew Legal C lin ic located just across the street from the Roman Catholic
Parish but remains completely independent o f its administration.
Finally, the management o f station K O IN is not entirely devoid o f blame
in this matter. They do, indeed, have a moral and legal responsibility as set
forth under the rules o f the Federal Communications Commission in this
matter. It does not suffice to indicate that the awards resulted from the
decisions o f two misguided and anonymous miscreants. The decision
making process is always a d iffic u lt task which is an exercise in expressing
good judgement. It is certainly cowardly to blame a mistake o f this
magnitude on some faceless person when one is not endowed by example or
experience w ith the fortitude to speak out against any injustice. There is
little doubt that the publication the nominee authors and distributes has done
irreparable harm to a significant segment o f the African American Community.
G iving an award in that category to such a person only confirm s the ominous
message that has emanated recently from those persons who once were
friends. It is now abundantly clear that the decision makers no longer
consider the aspirations and concerns o f the A frica n Am erican com m unity
to be an im portant factor in their deliberations. The public urgently needs
to demand that persons in positions o f leadership know exactly what
position K O IN and public o ffic ia ls assume w ith regard to racism o f any
type. It would be in the best interest o f preserving public harmony and
| human understanding to suspend all Jefferson awards fo r the current year.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION’S FUTURE
by
John E. Jacob
Confusion s till reigns after the Supreme C ou rt’s decision knocking down
Richmond, V irg in ia ’s m inority setaside program. Opinions d iffe r about
whether that ruling k ills affirm ative action or whether it leaves room fo r the
continued existence o f such programs.
And everyone is w aiting for the Court to drop the other shoe - upcoming
cases w ill affect affirm ative action in local government hiring and in private
em ployer’ s promotions.
T o take the bright side first, the Richmond decision need not choke o ff
m in ority setaside programs o f local governments. M ost local programs are
based on goals, not the kind o f quotas Richmond wrote into its law.
The judges also struck down the Richmond law because the city d id not
prove setasides necessary to remedy past discrim ination. In most places,
such documentation is available arid state and local governments should be
com piling statistics and other evidence o f past discrim ination to defend
their present setaside programs.
A lo t w ill turn on what the C ourt ultim ately decides is adequate evidence
o f discrim ination and what appropriate remedies w ill be acceptable.
Some judges have the peculiar notion that only specific individuals who had
been discriminated against - and who can prove it - should be given
preference in a setaside or an affirm ative action program.
That tells us more about ju d icia l theories than about reality in our
Am erica. Discrim ination against A frican Americans is easily proven and
ric h ly documented. We were discriminated against, however, as a group
and on the basis o f group affiliation, not as individuals. Group discrimination
leading to group disadvantage requires group remedies.
Whether that logic can penetrate the ideologues on today’ s federal courts
is doubtful, and that means the future o f affirm ative action could be in peril.
Some upcoming cases before the Supreme Court w ill determine whether
its narrower interpretation o f the constitutionality o f racial preference
programs is tightened into a noose that murders affirm ative action, or
whether guidelines w ill be refined to the point where such programs w ill
continue.
One case involves a challenge to a court-ordered hiring quota fo r
firemen. Another w ill decide whether statistical evidence o f low m inority
h iring and prom otion practices.
Another big pending case w ill find the Justices review ing the 1976
Runyon decision that allowed damages in private discrim ination cases. And
the low er courts have numerous other cases challenging affirm ative action
and m inority setaside programs.
So the next several months w ill be crucial for the future o f A frica n
Am ericans’ efforts to close the economic gap and achieve opportunities
long denied them.
A ffirm a tiv e action is an essential mechanism to overcome discrim ination
and its effects. The Supreme C ou rt’ s new m ajority seems to be acting as i f
we are a color-blind society w ith no need to make special efforts to
overcome past denial o f constitutional rights.
As Justice Thurgood M arshall wrote in his dissent in the Richmond case,
the m ajority is ‘ ‘constitutionalizing its w ishful th inking .” It is applying the
same standards and tests to efforts to overcome discrim ination’ s effects as
it d id to state-imposed segregation.
It may be up to the Congress and the Adm inistration to frame a national
response to this runaway Court, with legislation that frames a constitutionally
acceptable affirm ative action standard and shelters local government and
private affirm ative action standard programs from the courts that are trying
to ro ll the clock back.
INDEPENDENT COALITION
POLITICS
A new, independent coalition is emerging in New Y o rk C ity , S till
embryonic, but grow ing every day, this com ing together o f key activists o f
organized labor, students and the Black and latino comm unities is out to
challenge not o nly the bi-partisan political establishment, its corporate
patrons and their flunkies in the unions and bureaucracies, but the phony
reformers and pseudo-profressi ves who have stood in the way o f the decade-
long movement to dump M ayor Ed Koch. The union-busting, anti-poor,
racist b ully and loudm outh, a Democrat who fo r 12 years has occupied the
m ayor’ s residence on Gracie Square at the pleasure o f the real estate
developers and the banking industry, is running fo r an unprecedented fourth
term.
The coalition that is now taking shape in New Y o rk is sim ilar to the one
w hich helped Harold Washington mount his successful electoral challenge
to the w hite supremacist Democratic Party machine in Chicago. B u t there
is one important difference between them: New Y o rk ’s emerging coalition
is independent to the very core!
That does not mean that we won’ t support progressive Democrats
running fo r political o ffice, when and where they deserve our support. It
does mean that we can' t rely on the Democratic Party fo r our empowerment.
That is why the leaders o f New Y o rk ’ s new ly emerging coalition -su ch
as Georgianna Johnson, the president o f Local 1199, w hich represents
80,000 health and hospital workers, most o f them Black and Puerto Rican
women, and A li al-Rah man, president o f the Guardians Association in the
Department o f Corrections, the organization o f Black police officers who
w ork in the c ity ’ s ja ils -h a v e endorsed m y “ T w o Roads Are Better Than
One’ ’ plan in New Y o rk C ity ’ s mayoral race. It means supporting Manhattan
Borough President David D inkins in his supporting Manhattan Borough
President David D inkins in his bid for the Democratic Party’ s nomination
and then, i f he does not w in the prim ary, backing m y independent candidacy
fo r mayor in the general election.
I am eager to build a coalitional slate o f real independents who between
now and November w ill use the “ inside-outside” tactic to get candidates
elected to public office. This means people candidate w ho w ill run in the
Democratic Party prim ary fo r cityw ide and local offices to beat back K och’s
cronies on their own tu rf and then-w hether they w in o r lose the p rim a ry -
w ill run on the independent New Alliance Party line in the general election.
That w ill give us tw o chances to elect some people’ s candidates who can go
to the borough halls and down to C ity H all and function on our behalf as
watchdogs on New Y ork’s scandalously corrupt and anti-people administration.
Georgianna Johnson, A li al-Rahman and I are among the voices o f the
emerging coalition that is com ing together in New Y o rk to take back the
unions, to take back the communities, to take back the c ity. An o nly an
independent political m ovem ent-a Black-led and m ulti-racial people’ s
movement can do it! Because what we’re taking back is p olitics, what w e’re
taking back is power, from those who took it from u s -th e Democratic Party,
disguised as the party o f the people, in cahoots w ith the Republican Party,
which doesn’ t even bother to disguise the fact that it is the enemy o f the
people.
Dr. Lenora Fulani is the national chairperson o f the New Alliance Party
and a practicing Social Therapist in Harlem. She can be contacted at the
New A lliance Party, 2032 F ifth Avenue, New Y o rk, N Y 10027 and at (212)
996-4700.
PORTLAND'OBSERVER
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