Page 2 Portland Observer AUGUST 3,1989
EDiTÖRlfiL 7 " OPINION
TO BE EQUAL
SAVE THE CHILDREN
By McKinley Burt
Apparently, I shook up some people
last week when I related the Black
experience/situation to that of the di-
n o sau r-a not too subtle reference to
the extinction o f a species. This is a
predictable event, a disaster that is
assured where there is neither learn­
ing, evaluation, or a sense o f history.
It happens when a people do not
perceive that they exist on a tim e
line, and when their concepts are not
experience based-w ith the conse­
quence that all their genius, ingenu­
ity and innovative institutions are at
naught. I rem arked that there was
“ no realistic literature on failures:
(are we to return to an o ra l cu l­
tu re?). An exception was a book by
a Black fem ale, “ W hat Ever H ap­
pened to Minority B usiness” (circa
1970). How else does one learn ex ­
cept to exam ine and assess experi­
ence. This book should have becom e
a prim er for reform atting the entire
approach to Minority Business and
the Local Economic D evelopm ent
Corporation.
The half-dozen exam ples cited in
the text recount the sam e old tired,
historical themes: No policy state­
ments, no clear cut goals, no linkage
I
to relevant activities in the real world,
a deficient data base (no materials
from related trade or professional as­
sociations), A staffing policy based
upon friendship, in-law s, and poli-
tics-as opposed to draw ing from a
cadre o f experienced practitioners
(often called ‘ ‘Capitalist D ogs” ), and
a general disregard o f any o f the
tim e-tested procedures that have
enabled Asians and other immigrants
to leap frog over Blacks.
I have before me what is regarded
as one o f the classic issues o f Black
E n te rp rise M agazine (July, 1972).
“ Blacks And O rganized L abor” is
the feature article, and equally im ­
portant is the second, “ Com m unity
D evelopm ent C orporations” . These
are tw o elem ents of Black economic
progress which have been insepa­
rable from the day o f so called em an­
cipation, though, unfortunately, the
many have not seen it that way. Not
that long after the publication date,I
attended a W estern Regional C on­
ference on Com m unity Development
C o rp o ratio n s-h eld at Portland State
University where I taught both Busi­
ness and Black History courses.
To fully understand the attitudes
expressed here, it is im portant to em ­
phasize that I cam e to the university
from a real w orld o f business and in­
dustry (through the ranks from la­
borer to skilled w orker, to account-
Its Time To Fight The Power
By Ron Daniels
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
Early in the morning recently in New York City hundreds of clergypersons
and other church and civic leaders gathered together for a political prayer
breakf ast. There was a lot o f praying and there was a lot o f politicking. The
focus o f the breakfast was the outstanding leadership o f David Dinkins as his
cam paign to be the M ayor o f the largest city in the United States moves into
high gear.
We have w itnessed many such events over the last two decades as many
large cities have grappled with the possibility and opportunity o f choosing
an African A merican politician to take the reins o f City Hall. David Dinkins
is not running because he is an African American, but is running because of
his many years o f experience as form er State Legislator, City Clerk and now
M anhattan Borough P resident
There was a difference, how ever, in the tone and content o f this early
morning gathering. The diversity o f the attendees was in itself a testimony
to the kind o f hope and outreach that David Dinkins embodies. The room
was full o f African A m ericans, Latino Am ericans, and others who had come
to hear a w ord from the frontrunner.
At a time when so many politicians and social com m entators are offering
little or no vision for the future, it was refreshing to hear Dinkins speak
enthusiastically about the possibilities and necessities for constructive
change. But change does not happen by osmosis. Positive change for New
York City as well as for the rest o f the nation will only be accom plished
when the right leadership em erges and when the majority o f people who
believe in justice for all becom e actively involved.
PORTLflHb-DBSERYER
OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PUBLICATION
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By Dr. Lenora Fulani
O nce again Black people are being told that if we w ant to receive even
a sign o f justice, w e need to m ake a deal. W hat’s the deal? We need to work
“ within the system ” and keep o u r m ouths shut except for saying “ Yes,
S ir,’ ’ “ No, S ir,” and * ‘Thank you kindly, S ir.” The political establishm ent,
w hite and Black, and their friends in the corporate media are telling us that
even when our children are m urdered, we c a n ’t make any noise.
Jimmy Lee Bruce was a 20 year old Black man who was choked to death
by an off-duty white police officer two and a half years a g o -a b o u t the same
time that T aw ana Brawley was raped and brutalized by a gang o f w hite men,
including cops. The m urder took place in Ellenville, New Y ork--about 35
miles away from where the crim e against Taw ana occurred. As in the
Brawley case, no charges were ever filed in Jim m y L ee’s murder; the officer
who killed him returned to w ork as if nothing had happened.
Jimmy L ee’s parents have finally succeeded in getting G overnor Mario
Cuom o to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate their son’s death. The
appointm ent was recom m ended by a State Investigations Com m ission,
which has said that the officer who killed this young Black man used
“ excessive force” and “ intended” to hurt him. The new prosecutor has
requested that a new grand jury be convened to hear new evidence in the
case.
The message is very clear: the only Black people who deserve justice are
those who are willing to * ‘cooperate” - t o trust the system enough to work
within it...even though it’s prosecutors from that very system who in both
cases participated in covering up the crimes. The only Black people who can
even get a hearing from the system (two and a half years after their son was
PERSPECTIVES
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
DINKINS LEADS NEW YORK CITY
Bv John E. Jacob
The United States is often called the most child-centered country on
earth, but the way we neglect our kids makes that very doubtful.
In virtually every other industrial nation, there is an array o f child-
centered income grants, health care and day care programs, and other family
support programs.
But in America, governm ent traditionally takes a hands -off policy.
Every body -rich or p o o r-is considered to have an equal opportunity to buy
the best o f everything for their kids, whether pre-school; nursery care or
medical services or decent housing.
So kids in affluent families get those indispensable aids to growing up
healthy, well-cared for, and w ell-educated, w hile children who are poor do
not.
And that apparent equal opportunity works out in the real word to
disproportionate numbers o f African American children being denied the
basics they need to grow to fulfilling adulthood.
Almost half o f all African A m erican children are poor, but child services
as a national issue transcends race. Two- thirds o f all poor children are
white.
Poor kids are more likely to have health problem s, to have learning
disabilities, to drop out o f school, among other problems.
That makes federal cuts in childrens’ services over the past years even
more tragic. Income support and jobs programs for their parents have been
cut; prenatal care program s for poor women and their infants was slashed;
aid to schools serving the poor was trimmed, and successful program s such
as Head Start barely reach a fifth o f eligible children.
In addition, while many fam ilies were forced o ff the M edicaid rolls by
tightened regulations, som e 37 m illion people, a third of them children, lack
health insurance and have limited access to health care.
Congress needs to act on the vital issue o f saving our kids. It’s taking a
small step toward that with a new child care bill that would subsidize day
care programs.
The Senate’s version, called the ABC bill--the Act for Better Child Care
Services-appropriates m oney to the states for child care subsidies for low
income families.
That will help many women take or keep jobs. Private child care services
are so costly that low -and m oderate income fam ilies just c a n ’t afford them.
Many parents who want to work can ’t because o f the unavailability o f child
care services.
Child care with an educational com ponent has been proved to improve
poor childrens’ school perform ance and to increase their life chances.
The ABC bill would m ake only $1.75 billion available for child care
subsidies, but it may be unrealistic to expect Congress to shake more money
loose from a deficit-ridden budget at this time. N ot because it c a n ’t- b u t
because it w ould be a politically difficult thing to pull off.
But even m odest federal grants could stimulate matching funds from
state and local governm ents, and help focus more attention on this crucial
issue. Political realities will have to shift to make child services an item on
the nation’s priority list.
The bill also expands the earned income tax credit, which supplements
the earnings o f low income w orking families. That would give them more
funds with which to buy child care or health se rv ic e s-fa r from the total
answ er to the problem , but certainly a long-overdue step that will help.
Passing an im proved child care services bill has to be seen as the first
step, not the last. O ur kids are our future, and the nation’s future depends on
how much a break it’s w illing to give its disadvantaged kids.
NO DEALS
Saving Black Youth And Black
Progress:
killed) are those who w o n 't “ contront” it by "attacking it as racist.” Yet
even after all this struggle the Bruces cannot be assured that their so n ’s
m urderer will be brought to justice. C uom o’s special prosecutor has already
said, “ I do n ’t know enough o f the facts to say a race issue is right at the
cen ter.”
In w hite A m erica race is alw ays at the center, especially when w e ’re
talking about the m urder o f Black children. T hat’s why we have to say NO
DEALS to the professional politicians-because in their w heeling and
dealing they are protecting the corrupt cops who are our children’s killers.
W e have now reached the point at w hich anyone w ho’s making any kind
o f deal is, by definition, com plicit with the Pow ers That B e -w h o have
already abandoned the broad m asses o f our people to the ram pant official
corruption, the police brutality, the drug trafficking, the collapse o f our
educational and health systems, and the epidem ic o f homelessness that are
all part o f “ norm al” life in A m erica in the 8 0 ’s.
I believe we are seeing a new political day daw ning in America, bringing
with it a new kind o f politics, a new dem ocracy. Like the labor-com m unity
coalition that made a Black insurgent, H arold W ashington, the m ayor of
Chicago, the Coalition for a Progressive New York, represents this new
political species. The new politics is independent It is producing new
leaders w ho are different from theold kind because they are not dealm ak ers-
they believe in and are com m itted to putting the needs o f the community
first. Because there can be no com prom ise with democracy.
ing and Federal Tax C ourt, to ad­
Returning to those “ Black Enter­
ministration and my own enterprises). prise’ ’ articles, let me com m ent first
I am unabashed in stating that it is on the one titled “ Blacks And O r­
necessary that people with similar ganized L abor” , cited is the failure
backgrounds need to be involved in (1972) o f the United Auto W orkers
either the pursuit o f labor ’ s econom ic Union, as a whole and specifically,.its
goals or those o f the com m unity. In 1 few Black officials, to deal adequately
the end it is all a b o u t m oney-how to with the problem s o f its Black m em ­
earn it, how to manage it, and how to bership-prom otions, training and ap­
keep it, Even for U rb an Leagues.
prenticeship, discrim ination in gen­
At the university it was alw ays re­
eral. Now, ju st last week, CBS T ele­
assuring to me at faculty m eetings in
vision did a short docum entary on
the School of Business to have Dean
“ The Plight o f D etroits’ Black Auto
Parker skip over several of the H ar­
W orkers!” Detailed were the large-
vard Business School M .B.A .’s and
scale layoffs o f a disproportionate
question me on the design and valid­
num ber o f Black workers; “ w reck­
ity o f new course offerings. The rea­
ing havoc in the com m unity, thou­
sands o f hom es being lost, families
son for my delight was that I had just
are splintering, kids arc being pulled
designed and offered a three-term
out of college, the folks are com m it­
course. Black Economic Experience
ting suicide, and there is a pronounced
in the Black Studies Department. The
escalation
in alcohol and drug abuse.
third term o f this course-accredited
Now
what
in the world happened
in social sciences and business ad­
during
the
tw
enty-year
span, begin­
m inistration-consisted o f a rigorous
ning
with
a
time
when
a hundred
exam ination o f the N on-P rofit C o r­
thousand
Blacks
were
employed
in
p o ra tio n in social and econom ic de­
the
G
reater
D
etroit
industrial
area
in
velopm ent in the com m unity. Be­
the auto and related industrics-and at
cause I successfully demonstrated that
higher than the national average wage
standard, real-time business practices
for either Black or white? W e are
were necessary to com m unity devel­
talking about a 30 billion dollar a
opm ent programs (O.E.O,M odel
year
gross income, but today Asian
C ities,etc.) I was inundated by scores
immigrants arc buying up and oper­
o f white students sent over by their
ating the retail outlets in the Black
instructors in the Business D epart­
neighborhoods-and moving to the
m ent and by Public Agencies.
wholesale and distribution levels.
Though African-Americans must muster the energy and resources within
our com m unities to tackle the crisis of Black you, ultimately we m ust fight
the pow er” o f the American political and economic system to achieve a
change in the condition o f African-American youth. The crisis o f Black
youth is tied to the crisis facing the National African-A m erican Community
in general. And thecrisis facing the National African-A m erican Community
is the direct result o f racism, economic exploitation, a w oefully inadequate
political-econom ic system and misplaced priorities within that system. The
crisis o f A frican-A m ericans is the crisis of America.
We live in a nation and under a system that has produced unacceptable
extrem es in terms o f the distribution o f wealth and power. 1/2 o f 1 % of the
people in A m erica control 26.9% o f All o f the wealth o f this nation. 10%
o f the people control 72% of the wealth in the United States. O ne author has
dubbed A m erica’s system o f institutionalized inequality “ Dem ocracy for
the few ” .
Then there is the question o f values and priorities. A m erica is fabulously
wealthy but what does it do with the wealth? There are 3-6 million homeless
people in the United States. Thirty-seven m illion people subsist with no
health insurance. There are 30 million Americans who are com pletely
illiterate and another 30 million who are functionally illiterate. Thats 60
m illion people who are plagued by illiteracy in America. And yet America
spends .55 cent o f every tax dollar on defense while allocating only. 02 cent
o f every tax dollar on education.
M ore than 1/3 o f all African-Americans live in poverty, and the majority
o f those who are impoverished are women and children. U nem ploym ent in
the A frican-A m erican community remains at what would be defined as
“ depression” levels in the overall economy. D espite these persistent
problem s in the african-American community, governm ent program s in
such areas as jo b training, health, social services and housing w ere reduced
by more than 50% in the 1980’s under the Reagan Budget cuts. The
problems facing A frican-Americans lie in A m erica’s system , its values, and
its priorities, and our youth and we as a people are suffering because o f it.
The shaping o f a compassionate political-economic system with human
centered goals and priorities must be the goal for A frican-A m ericans. The
kind o f greed oriented, profit above people ethic which enslaved African-
A m ericans in the first place m ust be rejected. O ur fight for change must
pose the vital alternative.
National DEFENSE must be redefined to mean defense against
hom elessness, illiteracy, ignorance and disease, and defense against
unem ploym ent and poverty. If we are to save our youth and our people then
we m ust have a public policy agenda that calls for deep cuts in an insane and
run-aw ay “ defense” budget. Monies saved from the m adness o f creating
exotic w eapons o f destruction m ust be used to fund our new HUMAN
DEFEN SE PRIORITIES o f education, housing, health care and full
employmenL
Program s like the JOBS CORPS which worked effeetvely to train youth
and prepare them for em ploym ent in the sixties and seventies need to be
resurrected and fully funded. Rev. Jesse Jackson’s innovative proposal to
use a portion o f the billions o f dollars in PUBLIC PENSION FUNDS for job
generating program s in housing, highway construction and infra-structure
developm ent should be strongly supported.
Last, but not least, African-Am ericans need and m ust demand
A FFIRM A TIV E ACTION and REPARATIONS. The recent battery of
Suprem eC ourt decisions which dramatically weakened this nation’srcsolve
and com m itm ent to affirm ative action are intolerable acts which m ust be
« resisted and overturned in Congress or in the streets if necessary. Hie sons
and daughters o f A frica who have suffered in America, and whose free labor
and suppressed surplus labor built this nation cannot and m ust not accept a
retreat on basic remedies for the crippling effects of past and present racism
and discrim ination.
Indeed, if the legitim ate dem ands of Japanese-A m ericans for restitution
for their unjust im prisonm ent during W orld W orld II can be met, then
certainly the call for reparations by African-Americans for our enslavem ent,
and the systematic exploitation of our labor warrants even greater consideration.
The physical and cultural destruction of African peoples - genocide -
constitutes the greatest holocaust in human history. Since “ em ancipation”
w e have been asked to “ integrate” into a capitalist society without
com pensation for the crimes com m itted against us, and no endow m ent to
give us a stake and start, not even forty acres and a mule.
As Frederick Douglas put it more than a century age ‘ ‘pow er concedes
nothing w ithout a dem and” . African-Americans are faced with a massive
crisis in term s o f the plight o f Black youth. That crisis is an integral part of
the stagnation in progress o f the National A frican-A m erican Community.
Its time to m ake some demands. W e will either choose to struggle or lose our
future.
To The Editor:
I
T h a n k you for the great commentary in your July 27th issue o f the
Portland O bserver, regarding the lack o f action to return M s. F reddye
VVebb-Petette to her position, as Administrator o f A dult and Family
Services Division. She should not have been placed on leave for the
investigation to be com pleted. The time is up. The very idea that the man
who is seeking to replace her was the head o f the investigating team. It is
very difficult to expect justice to prevail when this same person has to look
at the preform ance of his supervisor who is really the pow er o f the whole
operation. The D irector o f Human Resources Departm ent...according to
the 7-31-89 issue o f the Oregonian the chair o f the com m ittee says, “ The
D irector is doing a great jo b .”
The African American population must wake up. This is a REAL
exam ple o f the forces that are designed to discredit our qualified leaders.
W e m ust use our professional skills, knowledge o f the system and our
com m itm ent to justice as the tools to keep doors open. No one is pcrfecL
Let s give African A merican leaders the same support that we give other
leaders.
Let s investigate the budgets o f other Divisions. Take a look at their
goals, personnel practices, evaluations and training o f em ployees.
Elected officials where are you? We need you!
Yours truly,
Carmen P. WAIker N.E. P o rtla n d
P.S. I am enclosing a copy o f the letter I wrote to G overnor Neil
G oldschm idt
C ouldn’t Black leadership read those
early articles in the Wall Street Jour­
nal and The New York Tim es;thosc
that forecast the coming turndown
and retrenchm ent in the auto indus­
try? I do rem em ber Ebony Magazine
describing how great the D etroit area
was for Blacks, picturing the six-
figure homes, Lincolns,Cadillacs, and
the flamboyant good life o f hourlv
autoworkers. I didn’t see any Ark
Maybe that was the tim e for Con
munity Development; B efore th
flood.
N ext w eek, ” 11 didn ’ t have to haj
pen in D etroit " a n d ” will it happe
in Portland?” The S potted O w l an
the W ilderness Preservation will nt
just layoff w hite loggers by the ten
of thousands.