Page 2 Portland Observer JULY 13,1989
OPHOR
Along the Color Line "no Glory For
Old Glory”
the Supreme C ourt’s insistence that
the First A m endm ent rights of those
O ne o f the m ost controversial who reject the governm ent and its
Supreme Court decisions in years flag had to be preserved. N everthe
was the recent ruling which protected less, the high court’s ruling was cor
the protest act o f burning the A m eri rect, although I would advance dif
can flag as a protected form o f free ferent reasons to preserve the right of
speech. By a narrow five-to-four those who choose to destroy the flag
majority, the high court declared that as a form of political protest.
The flag is not symbolic of the
flag burning may be a detestable act,
but it is nevertheless an expressive heritage of the entire people, but
conduct protected by the First Amend rather a civil icon o f the federal
ment to the C onstitution. “ W e do government. Should any state punish
not consecrate the flag by punishing dissenters for attacking symbols of
its desecration,” declared the court, the governm ent as an act o f protest?
“ for in doing so we dilute the free Suppose Soviet dissidents gathered
dom that this cherished em blem rep in M oscow ’s red square and burned
resents.” Significantly, the ruling was the governm ent’s red flag? If Soviet
supported by two conservative Jus authorities imprisoned the protectors,
tices appointed by form er President the same American politicians in both
Reagan.
parties would dem agogically insist
The politicians scaled the heights upon the release of the prisoners,.
of political demagoguery in denounc
If pro-Contra demonstrators burned
ing the Supreme C o u rt’s decision. In the Sandinista flag in M anagua,
last year’s presidential election, Nicaragua, Buchanan would be prais
G eorge Bush utilize the phony issue ing them. W hy is the A merican flag
o f mandating the pledge of allegiance any different? No government should
in schools to smear Democratic chal have the right to imprison or punish
lenger Michael Dukakis as “ unpatri those who reject its banners or sym
o tic.” Bush was quick to declare his bols, whether the icons are stars and
criticism o f the recent ruling, stating stripes, or ham m ers and sickles.
W here do you draw the line in
his “ personal, em otional ” belief that
prohibiting legitimate protest? A con
“ flag burning is dead w rong.”
In a rare display of bipartisan unity, stitutional amendment could be passed
Republicans and Democrats clam to outlaw the burning of the flag.
ored to display their patriotism. House W ould artists’ paintings which used
Speaker Tom Foley declared that the flag in a critical m anner also be
“ A m ericans look on the burning of forbidden? Perhaps there w ould be a
the A merican flag with abhorrence, dem and to outlaw any political
and it is deeply offensive to virtually dem onstrations which burned m od
all A m ericans, and it will be a diffi els o f the statue of liberty, or photo
cult m atter for them to understand graphs o f the president. W ¡thin a few
how it can be justified under any years, we might be jailed for writing
circum stances.” Republican C on letters to newspapers which criticized
gressm an Ron M arlenee o f Montana U.S. policies.
W hat does Old G lory really repre
rem inded his colleagues o f the flag-
bearing soldiers depicted at the M a sent to millions o f Americans who
rine Corps mem orial and declared have experienced racism , unem ploy
that “ those six brave soldiers were m ent, poverty, and homelessness?
symbolically shot in the back.” Demo The stars and stripes flew over slave
cratic Congressm an Doug applegate m arkets where Black fam ilies were
fum m ed that the justices had “ hu perm anently divided. It was unfurled
m iliated” the flag, and wondered at the m assacre of W ounded Knee in
aloud, ‘ ‘Are they going to allow for 1890, when hundreds o f Native
nication in T im es Square at high Americans w ere slaughtered. It flew
from public buildings which were
noon?
Even m ore irrational and jin g o is segregated by law for decades. The
tic were conservative ideologues, who flag was carried into illegal and
immoral military operations from Vi
felt betrayed by the Reaganites on
etnam
to G renada. T here’s no glory
the Suprem e C ourt who inexplicably
in
Old
Glory
for those who have been
voted with the few rem aining liberal
deliberately
denied the American
justices. Form er Nixon speechwriter
Dream.
And
as
long as equality and
and conservative journalist Patrick
justice
are
illusions
for m illions of
Buchanan w as livid. “ The Supreme
people,
the
flag
will
be an ironic
Court has turned a hate crim e into a
rem
inder
o
f
absence
o
f
real dem oc
constitutional argum ent,” Buchanan
racy
in
this
country.
stated. “ They d o n ’t understand the
Protectors who bi m the flag,
meaning o f the flag.” In Buchanan’s
however,
do not advance the struggle
opinion, the ruling “ is an invitation
for
dem
ocracy,
because they create
to civil war, when you underm ine the
easy
and
em
otional
targets for public
sym bolism ” o f the American flag.
outrage.
Instead
of
burning the flag,
Should the public burning of “ :Old
we
need
to
challenge
the political
G lory” , the stars and stripes, m erit a
system
it
represents
in
order
to achieve
prison sentence? More than tw o out
econom
ic
opportunity
and
social
o f three A m ericans polled oppose
justice for all.
by D r. M an n in g M arab le
Z /
a ?.
. *
’ ■‘•»'’A.
— k..
/< •
*'*:V
■>-.v
- • I
•r *.c
5
k J <
A #«
fc»?*
LETTER TO THE
EDITOR:
R ecently, a considerable am ount
o f discussion has been made about
MS. Joyce Boles regarding her pub
lication called the N.E. Reformer.
The latest edition which is num ber 5,
has May crossed out with June in
serted , and has added my name to the
list o f neighborhood representatives
who are supposedly responsible for
the decline of the Inner N ortheast
area o f Portland. Ms. Boles is con
stantly writing about persons not being
truthful, w hile at the same time is
printing untruthful statem ents. She
has printed an article specifying that
I am a do nothing m em ber o f the
Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods
who has been a mem ber for decades,
pluralized. H ow ever, ten years ago, I
was a student leader at Portland U ni
versity, with no prior experience with
the N ortheast Coalition. She adds
that I have done a work project on
something obscure relating with cable
access, but fail to mention that the
Portland Cable Access headquarters
is located w ithin the N ortheast area
for com m unity, or church organiza
tions to use.She does not speak on
any o f the large num ber o f subjects
or tasks, that I have perform ed in the
N ortheast C oalition, which are all
beneficial to the Inner Northeast area.
But let’s talk about Ms.Boles, who
at one tim e was a m em ber o f the
Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods.
First, she was a m em ber o f H um
boldt Neighborhood Association until
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
it was realized that while going to
Bureaus, Businesses, and O rganiza
tions for inform ation, she was not
there on behalf o f H um boldt N eigh
borhood Association. Second, Ms.
Boles was a member of Vernon Neigh
borhood A ssociation, because at the
time she supposedly had a business
within the area, yet no business even
existed. Third, she was a nominee for
secretary o f Concordia Com m unity
A ssociation, but was rem oved when
it was discovered that she did not
reside within the neighborhood
boundaries. To me, that’s three strikes
and you’re OUT.
Her publication is printed som e
w here, but w here? W ho is helping
her insult the M ayor and his staff?
W here is the needed revenue
com ing from that assists in degrad
ing the Northeast C oalition of N eigh
borhoods, its Coordinator, staff and
elected officers, I repeat elected o f
ficers? Is there really racism or bias
involved, because she could not re
main a m em ber o f the Northeast
C oalition in good standing?
If at all possible, I plan to file suit
against Ms. Boles, the location where
she has the tabloid printed and sources
o f revenue received for this publica
tion on slander and defam ation of
character.
ADAM ABDUL-HAKEEM (LARRY
DAVIS) WINS RIGHT TO SEE
ATTORNEYS
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
AN AFRICAN PEACE IN ANGOLA
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
A fter fourteen years o f w ar in and on the P eople's Republic o f A ngola.
Judge David R o sso f the A p e lla te D l,,M on of^ 2 ^ e n T o f C o ^ u ^
itn o w a p p e a rslh a tp ea c e w illh a v e a c h a n c eo fb e c o in in g a re a lity .P re sid e n i Slale o f New York issued an order requiring the D ° P ^ d " ' ° 5 ° ^ ' ° ;
o“ E d i d o dos Santos is io be congratulated for working wilh the io make Adam Abdul-Hakeem (form erly known as Lrury Davis) available
fte sid e n ls o t other A fncan nations to fm d a peace p - o p o s . iba, would be
accepted in the interest o f the people o f A ngola and the peoples o f southern M tA b d H d a k ^
Africa.
u 1,1
At a recent sum m it m eeting ol A fncan presidents which was e 1
G badolite, Zaire, Jonas Savim bi, the leader o f the Angolan rebel group,
UNITA, agreed to the peace proposal that was a product o f African
diplom acy
acy and
and peacem
peacem aking.
aking. UNITA,
UNIT A, with
with the
the backing
o f so
South
Africa
and
diplom
backing ot
utn A
inca anu
the United States, had unsuccessfully waged w ar against the govem m en ol
Angola during the last fourteen years. Now that President dos Santos has
taken another initiative to bring a lasting peace to Angola and inore stability
to the southern African region, it will be interesting to see w hether or not the
Bush Adm inistration will change its current policy o f supplying weapons o f
0, R jte „
p n son guards, has been
nrf»vpnif»d from seeing his attorneys by Correction authorities who had
“ m alingenng” and therefore did not require assistance
insisted that he was m annge g
in gaining access to them.
“ I f sa v e ry important victory,” noted the internationally prom inent civil
/
K u n stk r who appeared on behalf o f Mr. Abdul-
Hakecm
. <They.re
tokiU him! Larry Davis did som ething that
^ man
V
his(ory Qf
Uniled Slates He was
twiceg firsl on murder charges, and then for the attem pted m urder
9 *
He
se lf defense 7 ^ som ething that
copsPcannot stand -
Kunstler said it is urgent that Mr. Abdul-
mass death and destruction to UNITA.
Hakeem
to federal custody. “ It was proven in court that
We should rem em ber that last year A ngola defeated South A frica a d
Island
him
an inmate was ,e( loose on him
UNITA at the battle of Kuito Kunevale in southern Angola. This victory by
a
custody dangerous. -
the governm ent o f Angola set the stage for the Peace accords that were
Abdul-Hakeem has been the target o f a murderous police vendetta
signed near die end o f 1988 betw een Angola, C uba and Soul A fnca.T hcse ^ ^ " X n r s ^ g e d that cotrup. officers r e c X poor young
Peace Accords set the stage for the process that is now unfolding regarding
operate Qut Qf
independence o f N am ibia under United Nations Resolution M 35 which
Soulh
Haflem Judge Ross>
calls for South A frica to stop its illegal occupation and exploitation
^ der was a response to an emergency appiicalion m ed by attorneys Harry
Nam ibia.
...
..
. r
..
f
Kreskv and Michael Hardy, acting o f counsel to the International People’s
The peoples o f A ngola, N am ibia M ozam bique and from other frontlmc
¿ titution
Mr K unsder, who feared that Mr. A bdul-H akeem ’s life
states have suffered much from the destabilization and war^-making b ^ b a r-
’
,f he wefe nQt allow ed access to
over the Juiy 4
ity o f the racist apartheid regim e o f South Africa. Angola has sulfered one
J P j
o f the highest am putee rates per capita of any nation in the world as a result °
end
weeRend last month) M r Abdul-Hakeem
o f these brutal acts o f war N o w that a n o th er sten has been taken to ensure
oeace in the region it is im portant that the international cam paign against
aDartheid be increased.
O ne o f the most rem arkable issues concerning the peace proposal and
agreem ents between the governm ent o f A ngola and the UNITA group is the
fact that the basis for peace is the future o f A ngola and the future o f all of
southern Africa in the context o f African unity. W hat was displayed in Zaire
.
Anfnrra/t
was severely beaten by Rikers Island guards and then secretly transferred to
the Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill. New York w ithout the
know ledge o f his family or attorneys after having been threatened that he
would be killed if he did not keep silent. Ricardo Burgos, Mr. Abdul-
H akeem ’s close friend who has stepped forward to corroborate his story of
drug trafficking by corrupt police officers, was also badly beaten by pnson
at the sum m it o f African presidents was the best o f African unity. The fact
that soldiers from UNITA and from the governm ent o f A ngola will no
longer shoot at each other will be good new s to all people.
It is our hope that the governm ent o f the United States will no longer
support and encourage UNITA to attack Angola. The United States should
send m edical aid for the victim s o f the war rather than more land mines and
bom bs which will do nothing more than increase the num ber o f victims,
An African proavv
peace 10
is u a p/uvv
peace with justice -----
and with
ZYimiltLOll
--- respect for the right
— of
ination
o i f the
peoples
o t f * southern
Africa. O nce
again
if this
s self-determ
e ii- a e ie r m in
auou u
u ic p
v u p iv a u
j u u iv u .
—
o —
— —
peace holds, the future for A ngola is very bright. The United States should
officially and diplom atically recognize this A frican nation because in the
world com m unity the struggle o f the A ngolan people is respected and
saluted. A LUTA CO NTINUA
guards that weekend.
“ M ore than 100 years ago Fredenck Douglas, the bnlliant Black leader
o f the abolitionist m ovement, raised the question o f w hat Independence
D ay, the Fourth ofJu ly , m eant for the N egro,” noted Dr. Lenora Fulam, the
independent candidate for m ayor o f New York City who chairs the Adam
Abdul-H akeem /Ricardo Burgos Coalition to Save Our Youth. The Coali-
tion staged a vociferous demonstration outside the courthouse on behalf of
Mr. ------------
Abdul-Hakeem
and Mr. Burgos. “ African Americans and all “ Ne-
----
—
groes’ -p e o p le o f color, lesbians
and gays, wom en, and other disenfran-
-------------------- - - - - - , -
c hised g ro u p s-a re still trying to answer that question today, when justice is
being systematically undermined at every level of the sy stem -starting with
the Supreme C ourt of the United States.
“ I ’m glad that justice was carried out today,” continued Dr. Fulani, who
was at the courthouse when Judge Ross announced his decision. “ The
C oalition is inspired and moralized by it, and we will be out there for
Ricardo and for Adam. Because it takes hand to hand com bat to get even
a little bit o f justice.”
A ttorneys for Mr. Burgos will go before Judge Vincent Vitale o f the
quired to realign the districts o f state
Suprem e C ourt o f Bronx County to dem and that their client be given
legislatures. He also charged six of
m edical treatm ent for injuries resulting from the beating he received last
his colleagues, including his boy
month. Mr. Burgos, who is currently aw aiting trial for a quadruple hom i
hood friend W arren E. Burger, with
cide, is charged with having acted in concert with Mr. Abdul-Hakeem and
displaying “ a preternatural solici
another person, both o f whom were acauitted of the murders.
tousness for corporate well-being and
Mr. Abdul-Hakeem is scheduled to go before State Suprem e Court
a seem ing callousness toward the Justice Richard B. Lowe III as part of the proceedings involved in his trial
investing public,.” in restricting for the m urder of a reputed drug dealer.
law suits by victims o f stock fraud.
B ut no previous decision by Jus
tice Blackmun produced more ripples
in the judicial w orld than his January
1973 ruling in Roe v. W ade. For this,
Justice Blackmun reportedly received
a barrage o f hate letters objecting to
his decision, which struck down anti
Acting for the first time under the authority o f the Fair Housing
m
AUTHOR OF ROE vs. WADE
SPEAKS OUT
“ I fear for the f uture. I fear for the
liberty and equality o f the millions of
women who have lived and com e of
age in the 16 years since Roe was
decided. I fear for the integrity o f and
public esteem for this court,” said
U .S . Suprem e Court Justice Harry A.
Blackm un, a United M ethodist lay
m an, after w itnessing the chipping
aw ay at his m ost famous opinion.
Justice Blackm un, author o f the
landm ark 1973 Roe v. W ade opinion
establishing a w om an’s right to ter
m in a te
an
u n w a n te d
p re
gnancy,sharply dissented from the
July 3 decision on the M issouri law
barring abortions by public em ploy
ees including physicians, the use of
public facilities for non-life threat
ening abortions and the testing o f fe
tuses 20 weeks or older to see if they
can survive outside the womb.
“ For today, at least,” he said, a
constitutional right to abortion re
mains. “ But the signs are evident
and ominous and a chill wind blows,”
he concluded.
Lashing out at other justices for
eroding the fram ew ork o f Roe v.
W ade, Justice Blackm un charged it
with * ‘discarding a landmark case of
the last generation and cast(ing) into
darkness the hopes and visions of
c v c ij women in this country who
had com e to believe that the
C onstitution guaranteed her the right
to exercise some control over her
unique ability to bear children. The
plurality opinion is filled with winks
and nods and knowing glances to
those who would do away with Roe
explicitly.”
Justice Blackmun, often described
as a quiet, hum ble man, has inter
rupted the stillness of the Supreme
C ourt on other instances as well.
He delivered a unanim ous opin
ion on reapportionm ent that could
becom e a model for courts when re-
KEMP TAKES ACTION IN FAIR
HOUSING ENFORCEMENT
abortion laws in m ost states.
A ccording to the 81 -year-old ju s
tice, a m em ber o f M etropolitan
M em orial United M ethodist Church
here, his majority opinion favoring
abortion did not mean that he is “ pro
abortionist.”
Early in his 1973 decision, Justice
Blackm un introduced the issue of
when life begins, one that was skirted
by the high court in its three-month
debate of W ebster v. Reproductive
H ealth Services.
H
said .1.
in » 1973,
“ the
court ma-
n c e &oiu
jf ,
—---------------
jority agrees that it cannot resolve
the difficult issue” and states that
those trained in m edicine, philoso-
phy and theology “ are unable to arrive
atan y consensus.” W hen life begins
¡s j u sto n e key ruling state legislators
w ip declde in the future.
W hile the 5-4 vote July 3 stopped
short o f overturning Roe V. W ade,
states now have pow er to impose
sharp control over w ho gets an abor
Am endm ents Act o f 1988, Secretary o f Housing and Urban Developm ent
Jack Kemp issued a charge o f racial discrimination this week in housing
against a real estate agent and a landlord who refused to rent a house to a
black man in Little Rock, Arkansas.
‘ ‘President Bush and I believe that fair housing is a fundam ental right of
all Americans and I will not hesitate to bring the full w eight o f the Federal
G overnm ent to bare in the fight for equal opportunity in housing,’ ’ said
Secretary Kemp. “ Melvin W hite represents the thousands o f Americans
who feel the sting o f bigotry every day. This is a landm ark in civil rights
enforcem ent because he is the first American to have his governm ent stand
up for him in court under the new fair housing law .”
In a com plaint filed with HUD, Melvin W hite, a black man, alleged that
he was
denied
the - opportunity
to rent - - a house .W
located
at B 211 Linw
ood
--
-- ----
-----—
----------y -------
'W'MWW'M M
»» W
VW Court,
W
-XW
ZM
-
Little Rock, Arkansas. Named as respondents in the com plaint are Natalee
Schay, a real estate agent, and B. Jeffrey Pence, ow ner o f the house,
A ccording to Mr. W hite, upon his arrival at the house, he was informed
by Ms. Schay that the house had been rented - despite the fact that other
individuals were told the house was available and that the house was not
actually rented until alm ost five weeks after Mr. W hite’s visit. Based on the
evidence gathered by HUD investigators, HUD determ ined that reasonable
cause
cause exists
exists to
to believe
believe that
that the
the alleged
alleged discrim
discrim ination
ination has
has occurred.
occurred.
‘ ‘O ur goal at HUD is fair housing for all. W e hope to use conciliation, but
when necessary we will not hesitate to file cases such as this one to ensure
that rights are protected,” Kemp said.
The Fair Housing Amendments Act o f 1988 authorizes HUD to investi
tion.
gate com plaints of discrim inatory housing practices and, if such a com plaint
Justice Blackmun is the first United , cannot be resolved through conciliation, to determ ine whether reasonable
M ethodist to serve on the Supreme cause exists to charge illegal discrim ination. Because the parties in this case
C ourt since the retirem ent o f Charles refused to conciliate, HUD com m enced an enforcem ent action by issuing
E. W hittaker in 1962. He has been a the charge. This is the first com plaint to reach this stage o f the process.
member o f the denomination’s Board
Now that HUD has issued a charge
*-» o f discrim
--- -MW.BX ination,
.., MIV the com plaint will
o f Publication and as a trustee o f the be
heard by
a HUD A A dministrative
dministrative Law
Law Judge
Judge or or a a Federal
F ed er a l D D istrict
istr ic t Court.
C ou rt.
-------------
, ---------
M ethodist-related Hamline U niver In either proceeding, the com plaint will be prosecuted by governm ent
sity in S l Paul, Minn.
attorneys.
Civil penalties, under the new Fair Housing Law, can be as high as
$ 10,000 for a first offense. The Fair Housing Act also provides that any party
may, w ithin twenty days of the issuance o f the charge, elect to have the
com plaint heard in federal district c o u rt
Com plaints of housing discrimination can be filed at a local HUD office
A FR IC A N -A M E R IC A N PUB LICATIO N
1-800-424-8590.
P O R T L ñ W b ’O BSERVER
OREG O N S OLDEST
Established in 1070
A lfre d L. Hendereon/Pubiishof
Gary Ann Garnett
Business Manager
PORTLAND OBSERVER
Is published weekly by
Exie Publishing Company. Inc.
525 N.E Killlngsworth St.
Portland, Oregon 07211
Charles C. Flake
N £ . Com m unity Volunteer
L e o n H arrla/O en eral Manager
Joyce Waahlngton
Sales/Marketing Director
Support O ur Advertisers!
Say You Saw It In The
PortlandObserver!
a
‘4 ’
- 7 »