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Page 2 Portland Observer April 20, 1989
EDITORIAL /
Perspectives
TOKENS HAVE NO VALUE TO THE
BLACK COMMUNITY!
The failure of Chicago Alderman Tim Evans, an African American, to
win last Tuesday’s mayoral election was indeed a step backward for the
city 's Black community; after six years City Hall has reverted to the
viciously racist white machine, personified by Richard Daley--whose lather
ruled Chicago with an iron fist for so many years. Evans, a Democrat,
undertook a courageous campaign; by running as an independent on the
newly formed Harold Washington Party line--named for the first Black
mayor of Chicago, who died a year and a half ago--he had attempted to
recreate the Black-led, multi-racial, labor/community coalition that put
Washington, a progressive, in office and reelected him two years later.
There is much to be learned from the Evans’ loss; 1 think it had a lot to
do with the fact that a temporary, one-time-only kind of coalition like the
one which backed his independent candidacy cannot be expected to demolish
a machine which operates day in, day out, 365 days a year. Nevertheless,
one-thirdof the vote went to Tim Evans’ insurgent, independent campaign-
a sign that the Black community, from which most of those votes came, is
receptive to independent, anti-machine politics. Sometimes failures can be
more useful to us than victories.
One example of this is in Los Angeles, where Mayor Tom Bradley, like
Tim Evans an African American and a Democrat, was re-elected to an
unprecedented fifth term. ButTom Bradley is no Harold Washington' And
his victory at the polls, in an election that drew a turnout of only 10%, is no
triumph for Los Angeles’ Black com m unity-which, like the city’s other
working class communities of color, is being devastated by poverty, police
brutality, homelessness and drugs. Bradley, who cultivates a ‘‘nice guy,”
“ low key” image, is in fact nothing more than a Black front man for the
wealthy white businessmen who maintain him in office to serve their
interests and only their interests.
By the same token. Black attorney William Lucas has been selected by
the Bush administration to head the Justice Department’s civil rights
division as Assistant Attorney General. He is a former Democrat who quit
the party to run for governor of Michigan as a Republican. Already the
Detroit chapter of the NAACP-M r. Lucas is the former county executive in
D etroit-has voted to condemn his nomination to one of the highest posts in
the federal government. The issue is not that Lucas is a renegade Democrat;
it’s that his loyalty is, first and foremost, to his political masters and not to
the people-in particular to the people of color, the lesbians and gays, the
women and the disabled it would be his job to protec t against discrimination.
George Bush is supposedly “ reaching out” to the Black community
w hich-as Republican National Committee chairperson Lee Atwater said a
few weeks ago in a guest editorial in the New York Times--has gotten
nothing from the Democrats for its half century of party loyally.
But the nomination of William Lucas to be the top civil rights advocate
in the country is not evidence of Bush’s concern for our rights-just the
opposite. It demonstrates that the white supremacist leaders of the Republican
Party, like their counterparts in the Democratic Party, will use Black people
when it serves their purposes-which are the purposes of white corporate
America. They are not our purposes. They do not serve our interests.
To the Editor
I would invite your reporters to call
me when writing articles about issues
such as the legislative response to the
Richmond v. Croson case (which struck
down minority business set asides). It
was reported in your March 23rd edition,
for example, that it is too late to introduce
new legislation in this session of the
Oregon legislature. Although the cut
off date for new bills has passed, every
legislator has priority bills which may
be filed after the expiration date. I fully
expect to use one of my priority bills to
address the problem raised by the Croson
case. Your reporter assumed that because
no legislation has yet been introduced,
no one is working on a resolution of the
problem in Oregon. Again, had contact
been made with my Salem office,
information about what is being done
could have been made available.
Im m ediately
follow ing
the
devastating decision of the Supreme
Court in the Croson case, I instructed
my staff to contact legislators in other
states as well as the legal counsel for
Multnomah County and the Attorney
General of Oregon to (1) determine
what the impact of the decision would
be on the existing Oregon statutory
scheme, of which I was the chief sponsor,
as well as to (2) outline possible
legislative remedies.
From the discussions my staff has
had with legal counsel, I understand the
impact of the Croson decision to be
that, although the federal government
can still set up mandatory requirements
for paruc i patron by m inority businesses
in public contracts, states and state
subdivisions may not, absent very specific
showings of actual discrimination against
minority sub-contractors. At this stage
it appears that there are three possible
ways of avoiding the Constitutional
prohibition against mandatory set asides
for minority businesses in state and
local contracts. (1) We can amend the
legislation to provide for “ goals” rather
than mandatory percentages. (2) We
can use mandatory percentages but define
the beneficiaries in race-neutral terms
(by economic or geographic definitions,
for example, rather than racial ones).
(3) We can undertake to establish a
sufficient basis, under the Croson
decision, » ju stify mandatory set asides
for minority businesses. This latter
course would initially require a study to
determine whether or not it would be
possible to make the kind of showing in
Oregon which Croson requires. The
cost of such a study has been estimated
at between $200,000 and $1,000,000.
If such a study is authorized in the
current legislature, the earliest session
of the legislature which could consider
the evidence uncovered by the study
would be the 1991 session.
The Governor and the MBE/WBE
advocate, Lina Garcia-Seabold, have
also undertaken to consider not only
how best to rewrite the statute, but also,
whether there are other obstacles to the
participation of minority businesses in
public contracts which could be addressed
- such as the difficulty of new and
small businesses, including minority
businesses, in obtaining bonds.
W hile I understand p eo p le’s
impatience with the seemingly slow
process of analyzing the impact of the
Croson case and deciding how to respond,
important decisions should be made
only after careful consideration and with
as much information as can be obtained.
Other states and localities are in the
same situation as Oregon and are also in
the process of deciding on the best
course of action.
While these things are still in process,
I can say this time that I expect to
propose legislation which would: (1)
Redefine the groups to be benefited by
madatory set asides, probably using a
term
such
as
"econom ically
disadvantaged" to describe geographic
areas to be benefited and/or "emerging
small business" to describe entities to
be benefited under the law. (2) Strengthen
and broaden existing anti-discrimination
statues. (3) Propose that a study be
initiated to determine the extent of racial
discrimination which has occurred in
various parts of the state in connection
with the use of sub-contractors in public
contracts, with a view »possible future
legislation.
I invite interested persons to contact
my Salem Office with questions,
suggestions and comments on this issue
or any others. (Tel: 378-8823; or toll
free No. 800-327-7389).
Respectfully yours,
Margaret Carter
PORTLAND OBSERVER
“ The Eyes and Ears of the Community
OPINION
b
Black Genius
White Cover
a
1
f e j
Well, let us see who else and what
else has been covered lest some of us
should wake up and discover who we
really are. The covers we shake here
are both ancient and modern. Before
we gel into literature, here is a musical
item I omitted last week.
In the early 1960’s,Fairmont High
School, located in Eugene Oregon,
graduated a talented group of white
teenagers,The F airm ont Singers.
Eventually, they became nationally
famousasTheNew Christy M instrels.
It never occurred to me that there was
any significance to the “ New” in the
groups name until, one day in 1973, I
saw an unfamiliar periodical in the
Portland State University library. The
latest issue of the Cambridge University
Journal (from England) featured an
article “ M usic o f the C hristy
MinstrclsiWhite Comedians in Black
Face.”
It was noted by the graduate students
who did the research that “ of all the
white minstrel shows that reaped fortunes
in Europe with their Black-face imitations
of Afro-American song and dance, none
were more successful than the C hristy
M instrels who came to Dublin, Ireland
in 1859. “ Blackartists who fled slavery
in America to find economic opportunity
in Europe soon found (like Ruth Brown)
that the master had them covered. This
happened despite the warning to the
Irish Theatre-going public by a prominent
newspaper, “ Freemans Journal” :
“ Wait and see a practical
company of real niggers with
genuine woolly heads and skins
of sable that cannot be washed
white.”
Sometimes the establishment cover takes
a more devious twist than the simple
substitution of a white person for the
original Black innovator (Like where
Granville Woods, the Black engineer
who invented the Automatic Air Brake,
is replaced in text and posterity by
George Westinghouse » whom he sold
it). But what else happens is that the
Black Presence is often obscured by
means of geographic or cultural
manipulation. If the pretense that
civilization began with the Greeks is
allowed to stand then all the proceeding
3000 years of African contribution can
be safely ignored and if the presence of
Africans in Europe can be ignored in
text or novel (except as entertainers or
exotics), then it can be pretended that
all of classical literature and music was
generated by whites.
Actually the evidence is very much
to the contrary. In Europe some of the
world’s most famous authors, composers
and University professors were Black.
Several immediately come to mind,
Alexander Pushkin, the great Russian
poet and novelist (1799-1837)-and
William Henry Amo, the talented
German philosopher and mathematician
of the 18th century. Amo was bom on
the West Coast of Africa, and as a chid
prodigy was brought to Germany by
Dutch missionaries. His education was
continued and at the age of 14 he was
introduced to the greatest of all
mathematicians,Leibnitz.
Amo went on to become full professor
at both the Universities of Halle and
Wittenberg, developing a famous theory
of codes and other treaties. In the early
1970’s he was honored by the West
G erm an R epublic with special
ceremonies and a commemorative stamp.
In early 19th century France there
lived the most remarkable Black family
of all; Alexandre Davydela Pailleterie
Dumas was the father (1802-70), and
Alexandre ‘Dumas’, theson(1824-95).
The grandfather, also named Alexander,
was N ap o leo n ’s fam ed calvary
commander. Both Father and son were
novelists and dramatists. The son was
the author of two of the greatest adventure
stories ever written, The Three
M usketeers and The Count of Monte
Cristo-and was called the “ Father ot
the Modem French Theatre.”
All three Black men were described
in the French tabloids and journals of
the time as the greatest of lovers,
adventurers and swordsmen, fighting
and winning a score of duels. So fantastic
and exciting were the lives of these
men, it is no wonder that the Hollywood
movie star Douglass Fairbanks Jr. was
able to make millions as the white
cover for the portrayal of lives the
Dumas Family actually lived and wrote.
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
YOUNG BLACK MEN IN
DANGER
W e’re now reaping the bitter harvest of decades of neglect of our young
people. National policies have failed to eradicate their poverty, failed to
equip them with education for an information society, and failed to end
discriminatory barriers.
The result is that African American men have become an endangered
species, with more of our young men added each year to the ranks of the
poor, the jobless, the homeless, The impact on the family, the economy and
on individuals has been devastating. A major reason for the deterioration of
family stability is the deterioration in economic opportunities for black
men.
You can track the rise of single-headed families with the decline in the
black male work force. It takes two to form a family, and when a young man
can’t get work or can’t earn enough to support a family, fewer families are
formed.
Back in 1973, the majority of young males earned enough to keep a three-
person family out of poverty. Now, less than half do. Young men aged 20
to 24 who esm enough to stay above the poverty line marry at rates three and
four times higher than young men with below-poverty line earnings.
Constricted opportunities for young African American men have cut their
marriage rates in half over the past 15 years.
Young African American men are trapped between the rock of poor
educational backgrounds and the hard place of a changing job structure that
demands higher educational levels.
Their dropout rates approach fifty percent or more in some cities. African
American students score lower than whites on SAT college entrance exams.
Although the black college-eligible population has increased over the past
decade, college entrance rales have fallen.
Once our young men do gel to college, they drop out at higher rates than
whites. Few major in math and the physical sciences, and fewer still go on
to earn doctorates in such crucial fields of the future as computer sciences,
physics, and engineering.
The more employers talk about the need to hire people with highly
developed technical and analytical skills, the less our kids appear to be
acquiring those skills. Despite some signs of improvement in test scores,
black educational deficiency places the economic future of all African
Americans in jeopardy.
The situation young African Americans find themselves in can be
ameliorated through broad programs that attack the causes of underachievement.
The majority of young blacks today grow up in poverty. Significant
numbers live in substandard conditions; many in chaotic, crime-tom
neighborhoods.
Community organizations such as the Urban League and others are
mounting important programs oriented to help young blacks overcome
these disadvantages. Such programs encourage better school performance,
male responsibility, reduced teen pregnancy, family stability, work readiness,
and others.
But we also need sweeping national policies designed to assure quality
education to all, elimination of poverty for children, decent housing, and
broader horizons for our beleaguered young people.
That's why the idea of a national service corps that puts young volunteers
to work and gives them training, job experiences, and college or vocational
training fees at the end of their service has won so much support.
Government can’t continue to stand by and allow another generation of
young people to be consigned to, at best, marginal status in our society.
EDITOR’S CONTACT; TO BE EQUAL, NUL, 500 EAST 62ND
STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021
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Drug Dealers Sell Genocide
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr
Today in nearly every small town and large city across the nation, drug
dealers and their financial investors and backers are making huge monetary
profits by selling killer-drugs. Genocide in this society is indeed profitable.
Recently, there has been considerable focus on the drug related murder
epidemic in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capitol. Now thispredominantly
African American city is not only besieged with continued political
disenfranchisement, but also the devastation consequences of having one of
the highest murder rates in the nation. The majority of these murders are
drug related. The majority of these murders are committed by African
Americans on African Americans. The majority of these murders serve to
sell the profit of drug barons who are not from the African American
community.
The newly-appointed Federal narcotics chief, William J. Bennett, is
attempting to lay the primary blame on the Government of the District of
Columbia led by Mayor Marion Barry. ONe of the classic political and racist
maneuvers of the powerful forces of this society is to blame the victims for
their victimization. Yes, the Mayor of Washington has had his own set of
problems on the issue of challenging the drug epidemic in this city. Yet, to
blame Mayor Barry for the genocide that is taking place in the nation’s
capitol is to camouflage the real culprits and profit barons.
In reference to Washington, Mr. Bennett stated, “ Here, where the
problem is so glaring so out of control serious questions of local politics and
governance can no longer be avoided or excused. ’ ’ The truth is that what is
happening in Washington is only a clear mirror image of what is now
happening in most of the large urban arcs of the United States. The situation
nationally is glaringly “ so out of control” .
Despite the rhetoric of the Reagan and now the Bush Administration,
there really is no present Federal priority on stopping drug dealers and in
particular their financial backers who have control over this multi-billion
dollar illegal industry. It appears that the Republican Party is rather
comfortable with the self destruction and self genocide that is being
encouraged by the politics of toleration.
There will be no effective solutions for this crisis until there is a greater
understanding by the majority of the people of this country as to the
profitable role that drugs play both financially and politically by the
powerful oppressive forces that really control the United States. Thus, the
immediate burden is on the African American community to take all
appropriate measures to educate all segments of the community about the
reality of this unfolding genocide and to be more committed than ever
before to challenge those in power to stop the madness and the drugs from
dealing death in the community
288-0033
Af- *• • %*** 4
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Only In America
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