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Page 2 Portland Observer JUNE 29, 1989
EDITORIAL /
Vantage Point
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
Bv Ron Daniels
Institutions For Black Empowerment;
Independent Black Political
Organizations
“ No perm anent friends, no perm anent enem ies, just perm anent interest’.
This compelling phrase should serve as a basic axiom o f African-A m erican
political party, interest group, agency, institution or personality. African-
Americans should;d be in dependent That is to say free to chose what we
believe and what and who we support free o f control or decisive influence
from forces outside o f the A frican-A m erican Com m unity.
We should mobilize our support on behalf o f those who support our
interest and agenda, and mobilize opposition to those who are antagonistic
to our agenda and interests. In electoral political term s, this may mean
supporting Democrats, it may mean supporting independents, or persons not
associated with the two major parties. The bottom line is to advance
African-American interest and the A frican-A m erican Agenda. It is to be
understood that the A frican-A m erican Agenda should be a human agenda
and therefore not at odds with other groups who also seek to prom ote human
liberation and human d ev elo p m en t.
Every African-American com m unity in A m erica ought to have an
Independent Black Political O rganization o f som e form in order to harness
and enhance our political power. W hatever your political persuasion or
party affiliation our participation in politics should be governed by our
agenda and interest. An independent Black political organization can
function to enable the com m unity to set goals, define our interest in relation
to those goals, and assist in devising strategies to achieve our goals and to
promote and defend our interests. An independent Black political organi
zation (I.B.P.O.) should work to establish a Process and System to facilitate
our exercise o f political power.
One o f the most critical roles which an I.B.P.O. can play is to institution
alize the Black convention concept within local A frican-A m erican com m u
nities. Black Conventions can be the foundation o f our independent
political process and system evin our com m unities. Black conventions can
formulate major pronouncem ents on issues affecting the Black com m unity,
serve as the vehicle for the forging o f a Black agenda, and the vehicle to
create consensus around candidates for public office.
This latter function can include screening Black candidates for public
office to avoid the political fratricide which often occurs when more than
one and/or too many A frican-A m ericans attem pt to run for the same office.
This self destructive tendency needs to be avoided at all cost. Hence the
I.B.P.O. can be extraordinarily useful by building an effective process for
interviewing, screening, and endorsing candidates for public office based on
the Black agenda. The same applies for endorsing various ossies such as
school levies, bond issues, tax measures etc.
The key to structuring a viable I.B.P.O. is LEGITIM ACY and C R E D I
BILITY. People within the com m unity m ust com e to believe in the
I.B.P.O> and be w illing to follow its recommendations. The key to this kind
o f organizational legitimacy is INCLUSIVENESS and INTEGRITY. Ann
effort m ust be made to include the broadest possible spectrum o f interests
within the com m unity which are willing to accept the goals, objectives, and
principles o f the I.B.P.O. Then the I.B.P.O. m ust be true to its calling and
operate in keeping with the Black agenda as adopted by the com m unity. It
must function in the best interest o f the entire Black com m unity and not in
the narrow self-interest o f any group or individual exclusively. The people
must believe that the I.B.P.O. is HONESTLY functioning in the interest o f
the community.
Imagine what it would mean if A frican-A m ericans could build independ
ent Black political organizations, com m unity by com m unity, all across
A merica to harness our political pow er based on collective/com m unity
goals and interests. W e would not be taken for granted and w e would be
much more highly respected as a group. The net result would be forward
progress at an accelerated pace for A frican-A m ericans. W e need to build
Independent Black Political O rganizations based on the axiom “ no perm a
nent friends, no perm anent enem ies, ju st perm anent interest’’.
Perspectives
McKinley Burt
BLACK
INTERACTION
IN
EUROPE III
Several weeks ago I was abso
lutely fascinated by a special shown
on Channel 10 .’’Unauthorized Bi
ography o f the British Royal Fam
ily ” . Several references were made
to a policy o f “ keeping the royal
blood pure” . If ever there was a
C om edy of E rro rs , this program
surpassed Shakespeare’s effort.
And if ever there was a thoroughly
docum ented record of African par
ticipation in European affairs o f state
it lies in the images on the C o ats of
A rm s (family insignias) of the roy
alty and other nobility of the conti
nent. This pictorial evidence seen
today in E urope’s homes, castles and
museums shows that the family trees
were resplendent with woolly haired,
full-lipped A fricans. The source for
this mode of dem onstrating a boast
ful consaguinity with Africa was a
5000 year-old tradition that began in
Ethiopia, Egypt and Nubia (The
Sudan).
The A frican fam ily m em b ers are
shown as Knights, Bishops, Nobles,
and Priests and A cademics - Pieces
on an eth n ic chess set, if you will.
J.A. Rogers, the noted Black histo
rian provides us with the largest con
temporary display; "N atu re knows
no color line, N.Y., 1975” : Page
after page o f scores o f photographs
,4.
ÛPIMÔN
of the Coats o f Arms o f fam ilies from
England, Holland, Beligium , G er
many, France, Spain, Italy, Scandi
navia, and the Slavic nations o f cen
tral Europe.
All o f the insignias bear the fam
ily surnames which arc verified as to
African ancestry in Berry, “ E ncy
clopedia of Heraldry” : Morel, Morcll,
Moor, W aldt, M aurelivs,M oreau
Negre, N igrin, M ohr, and m any oth
ers.
But, to return to the “ pure blood”
o f the British Royal fam ily, Rogers
tells us, “ M oorish blood cam e into
the family: Elizabeth, daughter o f
Edward IV and mother of Henry VIII,
had several A fricans in her family,
among these Count’ ’ M ore and Count
M o n e n n e .” M ost intriguing is the
famous portrait o f a beautiful young
black woman by Thom as Frye (1719-
1762). It is o f ’Q ueen C h a rlo tte So
phia, consort of George IB, and grand
m o th e r o f Q ueen V ictoria, In m od
em times she would have been di
rected to the back o f the bus right
along with Rosa Parks.
In the m iddle 1970’s The O rego
nian new spaper (with tongue-in-
cheek) carried an article on dusky
Sophia, and accom panied it with a
photograph o f the royal snuff box
graced by a copy o f that Thom as
Frye painting. But, Africans also came
another way. On the opposite side of
the throne we find that the noble
family of M ilford-H aven, cousins of
K ing G eorge V, arc descended
through the C ountess Torby from
A lexander P u sh k in , R ussia's great
est poet. So there is m ore to early
England than Chauncer, the D om es
day Book, Robin Hood, and Charles
AFFIRMATIVE RACISM
by Benjam in E. Chavis
The attacks on affirm ative action continue to be sustained by the
Suprem e C ourt of United States. These attacks were first forecast ten years
ago when it was evident that right wing political forces were not only
preparing to seize the W hite House, but also were preparing to fundam en
tally reshape the character o f the highest court in the nation.
A ffirm ative action had developed historically as a systemic remedy to
generations o f past discrim ination. In particular, African Americans and
Hispanic A m ericans have benefited in the job m arket from effective
affirm ative action program s and litigation. In addition, white women,
recognized as another group which has suffered from discrim ination in the
job m arket, have been able to achieve rem arkable advancem ent because of
affirm ative action. Yet, at a tim e when the vast m ajority of racial and ethnic
persons, both male and fem ale, arc still facing high unem ploym ent rates and
racist em ploym ent practices, to legally dism antle the basis for affirm ative
action is m orally reprehensible.
The recent 5-to-4 decision by the Suprem e C ourt giving sanction to legal
challenges by w hite male w orkers against affirm ative action was a devastat
ing blow to the cause o f justice. This decision cam e only a week after
another ruling by the Suprem e C ourt that made it easier for em ployers to
im plem ent discrim inatory prom otion practices. Linda G reenhouse, writing
in the New York Tim es, stated, “ The actions show that form er President
Ronald Reagan has largely accom plished his goal o f creating a conservative
Suprem e C ourt m ajority w illing to reverse the C ourt’s direction on civil
rights.”
Specifically, the Suprem e Court ruled that w hite firefighters in Birm ing
ham, A labam a are perm itted to challenge a previously court-approved
affirm ative action agreem ent w hich was intended to increase the num ber of
African A m ericans hired and prom oted in the local fire departm ent. This
now opens the door for all prior affirm ative action “ consent decrees”
betw een courts and em ployers to be challenged and overturned.
W e are clear that the attacks on affirm ative action are attacks on the
progress o f the Civil R ights movem ent. The rights o f African A m ericans and
other racial and ethnic com m unities have been hard fought. W e m ust not
allow these gains to be decim ated by the continuing racist backlash that is
subtly blow ing throughout the nation.
Some legal strategists are now saying that the only alternative now is to
go back to Congress and to clarify m ore explicitly legislative intentions
concerning affirm ative action. The problem is that the present Congress
itself is in disarray on issues o f race and em pow erm ent. For exam ple, the
Congress is now very nervous about legislating com prehensive economic
sanctions against South A frica at a time when the whole w orld knows
apartheid is getting its strength from U nited States and other overseas
investm ents. T herefore, it is unlikely that the Congress has the present will
to enact legislation re-establishing the grounds for affirm ative action.
W e believe that progress on affirm ative action can only be made if there
is a mass outcry in opposition to these Suprem e C ourt rulings. Yet, our
outcry m ust be coupled with grassroots organizing throughout the nation.
History teaches us that in the absence of the M ovem ent, i.e. the m obilizing
and organizing o f millions o f justice-seeking persons around this and other
civil rights issues, even in the 1990’s, there will be no progress. Thus, the
rulings o f the Suprem e C ourt serve as a challenge and as an opportunity to
stand up and get involved once again in a m anner that can m ake a difference.
ERYER
P O R T L fi
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Dickens - -And asking sleepy stu
dents for the date o f the Battle of
Hastings.
No wonder, then, that an O xford
Dictionary tells us that “ the term
B lack am o o r, now a nicknam e, was
formerly without deprecatory force” .
Certainly not, since in its various
forms it so proudly appeared on half
the Coats o f Arms o f European fam i
lies. And it is no more w onder that
England’s most popular rythmic frolic
is the M orris-D an ce brought there
by the A fricans who cam e with the
Roman legions. Have you paid any a
attention largely to the Irish Jig s - or
to the heraldry o f the Scottish C lans?
O r to the fact that earlier on the Sco-
tish marching bands were noted not
as m uch for their bagpipes and sw irl
ing skirts as for their seven-foot African
drummers who syncopated each unit?
It has occurred to me how unfor-
tunatc it is that the sam e A fricans did
not also bring to the British lies their
very sophisticated astronom y. Then,
England would not be em barrassed
by that rather primitive eyesore, Stone
henge. N ext week, N apoleon’s in
teraction with Africa, or France, the
New A frica.
Footnote: Have you notice lately
how the establishm ent m edia in
A m erica has been deploring the atti
tude o f their C hinese counterparts?
T hey m ust learn the “ open and fear
less” dissem ination o f information
is the foundation o f a free society.
Perhaps the A m ericans should begin
speaking to each o th e r and to the
publishers o f textbooks and histo
ries, And perhaps B loom , in his * ‘The
C losing o f the American M ind”
m issed the door c losed tig htest o f al 1 :
T h e A frican Presence.
“ALONG THE COLOR LINE”
D r. M anning M arab le
“C.L.R. James: A Black Political Giant”
Earlier this month, in London, C.L.R. Jam es died at the age o f eighty
eight. Not widely known in the United States, Jam es nevertheless is one of
the m ost important Black political theorists and scholars o f the twentieth
century.
Born in Trinidad, James travelled to England in the early 1930s and
quickly became involved in radical politics. C ollaborating with fellow
Trinidadian George Padmore and arrist/activisl Paul Robeson, Jam es helped
to spark a growing movement for Pan-Africanism and the independence of
A frica and the Caribbean. He agitated for relief efforts to assist Ethiopia
against the invasion o f fascist Italy.
In the 1940s and early 1950s James lived and worked in the United States,
involving him self in socialist political organizations and learning about the
Black movement in this country. He recruited a young A frican university
student named Kwamc Nkrumah to join the Pan-A fricanist struggle,and via
his association with Padmore, helped to initiate the independence move
ment in the Gold Coast, today’s Ghana. In the late 1950s Jam es returned
briefly to his native W est Indies, leading the unsuccessful struggle to
achieve political federation among the former British colonies. W hile in
Trindidad, James brilliantly edited the independence m ovem ent’s journal,
and was chief adviser to leader Eric W illiams, his form er student.
Jam es was a master o f literature, history, political analysis, and social
criticism . During his seven years in England in the thirties, he produced
som e o f the most profound works on Black liberation yet available: A
History of Negro Revolt. W orld R evolution, and T he B lack Ja c o b in s, The
Black Jacobins is arguably the best single historical study by a scholar of
African descent in this century. The book charts the only successful slave
revolution in world history, the saga o f slave rebel T oussaint L ’Ouverture
and the revolt in Haiti.
In a sense, history was cruel to James, as it frequently is to all political
prophets. Jam es’s Black Jacobins was ignored at the tim e o f its initial
printing, and for two decades it was out of print entirely. Jam es’s astute
political analysis went largely unread and unrecognized am ong Black po
litical leaders during his years in the United States. Back in Trinidad, when
Jam es raised the necessity to break with an econom ic and political depend
ency upon American imperialism, W illiams broke sharply with his radical
mentor, Jam es’s books were banned, and for a time he was placed under
house arrest.
>
Jam es will be rem em bered by scholars for his eloquent narrative of
cultural and racial life in the Caribbean in the early 1900s, entitled Beyond
A Boundary. His book Nkrumah and the Ghana Revolution is a detailed
account o f the triumph of African nationalist Kwmae Nkrumah over British
colonialism . Jam es’s Notes on D ialectics, w ritten at the beginning of the
Cold W ar, is a critique of Soviet Communism and the philosophy which
leads to authoritarian social control.
W hy is Jam es im portant to us? His intellectual legacy includes several
fundam ental insights. Unlike m ost socialists five decades ago, Jam es argued
that the Black American working class had its own vitality and unique
political history. He believed that the Black m ovem ent was potentially the
m ost radical of all American social movements. Second, Jam es em phasized
the central role o f culture including sports as well as literature, to our
understanding of political change. And most im portantly, Jam es was a
radical dem ocrat. He opposed all forms of censorship, and advocated full
dem ocratic rights for all, whether in capitalist or C om m unist countries. I
was fortunate to have met James, and to have spent a day with him two years
ago, discussing politics.
Jam es would stand side by side with the Chinese students in Beijing who
struggled for democracy. He would be with us in our struggle against racism
and econom ic inequality here in the U.S. James will be rem em bered as a
fighter for Black freedom and democracy.
OVERRIDE THE MINIMUM WAGE
VETO
By John E. Jacob
O n the same day that President Bush vetoed a minimum wage bill passed
by Congress, the newspapers reported that Congressional and Administra
tion experts were studying a proposal to cut the capital gains tax.
T hat puts the spotlight on the minimum wage as a fairness issue, at least
as much as it is an economic issue. And if fairness is any test, Congress
should override the veto. The President was ill-advised in vetoing the bill.
A higher minimum wage advances his vision o f a “ kinder, gentler nation,”
and the Adm inistration should have been pushing for a higher wage. The
President did support a raise in the minimum and only 30 cents an hour
separates his proposal from that passed by Congress — hardly enough o f a
difference to go to the mat over.
The bill would have raised the current minimum o f $3.35 per hour to
$4.55 in three years. Even that would have left the legal minimum wage
below family poverty levels.
The argum ents against a higher minimum are long fam iliar -- it would
curtail jo b growth, it would benefit teenagers who d o n ’t need the extra
m oney, it would impose burdens on employers and make them less com peti
tive. None o f those arguments are persuasive.
No one disputes the fact that increasing em ployer payroll expenses
w ould mean some lost jobs at the margin, but few econom ists think the toll
w ould be more than 100,000 and many believe it would be less.
The teen worker argument is also flawed. Teenagers make up only about
a fourth o f minimum wage workers., T wo-thirds are women and alm ost four
m illion are heads of households. About 4.5 million men, women and
children live in families in poverty where the head works at the minimum
wage. The minimum is so low that a full-time w orker can work all year
round and still be below the poverty line.
As for the com petitive argum ent, if the minimum applies to all employers
they d still be competing on level ground, so that one w o n ’t wash either.
Balanced against the marginal negative effects o f a higher minimum are
m ajor positives. Poor families with workers would have higher incomes.
Teenagers from low income families would be better able to help their
fam ilies out o f poverty.
And the biggest plus of all would be that the drift to greater inequality in
incomes would be slowed. O ur system would be more fair, and fairness is
the bedrock o f any system. Anyone who doubts that need only look at the
way the com m unist countries' leaders arc being challenged because of the
unfairness o f their system.
Yet another flaw in the opposition to the higher minimum is the belief
that it would ratchet wages up throughout the economy and fuel inflation.
In fact, the minimum wage — even the higher one passed by Congress —
is too low to have a perceptible effect on inflation. And so m any employers
are exem pted from the bill s requirements that most small businesses and
non-profits would not have to pay i t
The market dictates higher wages anyway. The slow dow n in the growth
of the labor force has led many low-wage em ployers to boost their wages
beyond even the new higher minimum. So opponents o f the higher mini
mum arc driven by ideology, not reality.
It is unconscionalbc to tel, low-wage workers in poverty that their work
shouldn t pay enough to let them climb above the poverty line, w hile at the
same time pushing a measure that would let affluent taxpayers cash in on
low er rates for capital gains.