Page 6 Portland Observer AUGUST 17, 1989
BLACK FOUR- STAR GENERAL
BELIEVES BLACK PEOPLE
WERE kM AD’ TO HAVE SERVED IN
WORLD WAR II
“ I f you're wrong, you’ re a headline,” declared General C olin Powell,
form er national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan, who is now a
four-star general in charge o f defending the United States against land
invasion.
In an interview to be published in P A R A D E magazine, Powell, the son
o f black im m igrant laborers from Jamaica, described his 30-minutc daily
briefing o f the President as “ a heck o f a homework q u iz.”
“ I w ould get reports o ve rn ig h t,"P o w e ll recalled. “ Ifa n yth in g was going
on in the w o rld , 1 would get a call about it. 1 would come into the o ffice about
6:30 in the m orning. Between 6:30 and 7, I would receive intelligence
updates.
“ Then, at 9:30,1 w ould go in and plop down on that sofa directly across
from the President. 1 w ould give him warning o f w hat was coming our way,
or sometimes just philosophize.”
Pow ell, who served Regan for 14 months, said, “ To be a West W ing
o ffic ia l, you are forever on point. You always have to be ready to say
something that could have international implications. Y o u ’d better have a
helluva lot o f inform ation. You cannot be w rong.”
Emphasizing that blacks have served in the U.S. m ilita ry fo r more than
300 years, Powell said i ;ey were “ mad” to have served in W orld W ar 11 and
return to see what they faced in the South. Powell, him self, the recipient o f
a Purple Heart, was refused service in a restaurant in Columbus, Georgia, in
1963.
“ I wasn’ t even trying to do a sit-in ,” remarked Powell. “ A ll that I
wanted was a hamburger.” He said he waited u ntil the C iv il rights A c t o f
1964 was passed. “ Then 1 went back to the restaurant and got my ham­
burger.”
Praising black Americans for never losing their love o f country, Powell
said, “ As much as I have been disappointed in my lifetim e that we d id n ’ t
move as fast as we m ight have, or that we st 11 have form s o f institutional
racism, we have an abiding faith in this co un try.”
“ For over 300 years o f this country’ s history, going back to the early
colonies, blacks have w illin g ly served in the m ilita ry in times o f foreign and
domestic danger. During most o f that history, they w ould only be allowed
to serve when there was dying to be done. It was only after the C iv il W ar that
black units were allowed to remain on active duty in the absence o f a war.
And only in the last 30 years, in m y generation, did we achieve fu ll
integration and fu ll o pportunity.”
BERNICE JOHNSON REAGON
AWARDED MACARTHUR
FELLOWSHIP
Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, cultural historian and curator at the
Sm ithsonian’ s National Museum o f Am erican H istory, has been named a
POLICE CHIEFS BACK DEATH
PENALTY, SHUN GUN CONTROL
SUPPORT IN PUSH
Large m ajorities o f the nation’ s Chiefs o f Police support the death
penally, and want to c u to ff federal anti-crim e funds to states w ithout a death
penally. A t the same time, Chiefs doubt the value o f federal gun bans or
w aiting periods, according to a new poll by the National Association o f
Chiefs o f Police.
The p oll was based on a confidential questionnaire sent to 16,259 Chiefs
o f Police and Sheriffs nationwide.
93% o f the Police Chiefs and Sheriffs fe lt the death penalty deters crime.
91% supported proposed legislation by Rep. Jim Traficant (D -O h io) to
elim inate federal anti-crim e aid to states that do not execute crim inals who
k ill a police o ffic e r in the line o f duty.
Rep. T raficant, a form er Sheriff, argues “ We w orry too much about
crim inal rights in this country. A bout 50% o f people who shoot cops are out
on the street again in six years.” Traficant added that his b ill would apply
to any firs t degree murder, not just murder o f police officers.
On the other hand, U niversity o f Illin o is C rim inology Professor David
Bordua maintains that academic research has failed to show evidence that
the death penalty is a deterrent fo r murder in general. “ No significant
research has been done on whether a death penalty m ight deter murders o f
police o ffic e rs ” , Borda said.
Although some Police Chiefs have led the battle fo r strict gun control, the
m ajority o f Chiefs expressed doubts about more federal laws. Banning
“ m ilita ry type” long guns w ould not stop crim inals from obtaining them,
said 87%. A somewhat smaller m ajority, 69% , fe lt that citizens should have
the rig ht to purchase any type o f firearm for sport o r se lf defense.
Although 96% o f Chiefs fe lt their department was undermanned, they
placed the prim ary blame fo r high crime rates on the court system. 87%
stated that the in a b ility o f the crim inal justice system to convict and
im prison people caught by the police was the major cause o f crim e in
Am erica. 97% thought the courts were too soft on crim inals.
M ark A .R . K lcim an thought that the Chiefs were “ rig h t to believe that
the people their guys catch don’ t get punished enough,” but wrong to blame
the courts. Klcim an stated that lack o f prison space and other correctional
capacity was the main problem.
M edia coverage o f shootings by police officers was also critizcd. 90%
thought media coverage o f such shootings encouraged riots or disturbances,
and 96% wanted the media to voluntarily lim it coverage until police
investigators could secure the scene and take statements from witnesses.
Rev. W illie T. Barrow, center, National executive D irector & CEO,
Operation PUSH, accepts a check from M ichale Green,left, Manager, Black
Consumer M arketing, Pepsi-Cola Company fo r the International W omen’ s
Luncheon at PU S H ’ S 18th Annual Convention in Chicago recently. Look­
ing on is Donald Davis, M arketing Account Executive, Pepsi-Cola General
bottlers, Chicago. Pepsi’s co-sponsorship o f this luncheon was part o f the
soft drink com pany’ s overall support o f the activities at the PUSH Conven­
tion that included exhibitin g and dispensing free refreshments to the
delegates.
TEXAS SOUTHERN OPENS CANCER CENTER FOR MINORITIES
Dr. W illia m H.Harns, president o f Texas Southern U niversity, has
announced the o ffic ia l opening o f the TSU Cancer Awareness and Preven­
tion Center whose prim ary objective is to use the best and most appropriate
strategies fo r cancer control and prevention to reduce m orbidity and
m orta lity in the m in o rity population.
The cancer awareness project was one o f three new Centers o f Outreach
whose establishment at TSU-the nation’ s third largest historically Black
university-was announced by Harris during a recent press conference.He
said, T S U ’ s location in the heart o f the inner c ity and its designation as a
“ special purpose institution fo r urban program m ing” make it imperative
that the 42-year-old institution address the problems o f the inner city in a
special and direct way. W h ile the aim o f each o f the Centers is to extend the
U n ive rsity’ s educational o r research activities into the com m unity, each has
a distinct and separate function, and each addresses a d ifferent com m unity
concern.
The Cancer Center w ill bring together educators, medical personnel,
volunteers and college students in an e ffo rt to lower the high incidence o f
cancer and the high m orta lity rate from that disease among m inorities,
especially among Blacks. The prim ary aim o f the Center w ill be to bring
cancer education to those fam ilies below the poverty line. To that end, the
program plans to interact w ith other agencies, institutions, churches and
social and com m unity organizations in developing effective strategies fo r
the dissemination o f cancer inform ation.
recipient o f a M acA rthur Foundation Fellowship.
The $275,000 award, announced recently by the John D. and Catherine
T. M acA rthur Foundation, is given periodically to individuals in support o f
their w ork in the arts, sciences, education and com m unity affairs.
Reagon, founder and form er director o f the museum’s Program in
A frican Am ei ican Culture, also founded and directs the w om en’ s a cappclla
singing group Sweet Honey in the Rock. As an oral historian, she has
conducted research and w ritten on topics related to African-Am erican
culture. As a specialist in African-Am erican protest traditions, she has
published a Smithsonian C ollection o f Recordings, titled “ Voices o f the
C iv il Rights Movement, Black Am erican Freedom Songs, 1960-1966.”
“ Dr. Reagon is a splendid choice fo r this award, “ Robert M cC. Adams,
secretary o f the Smithsonian Institution, said. “ Her career illustrates the
harmonious intertw ining that is possible, but rarely achieved, between
scholarly pursuits, social concerns and a direct, hig hly successful engage­
ment w ith a broad public. The balance and distinction she has achieved in
all these respects may w ell be unique. W e share her pleasure and pride in the
ric h ly deserved freedom o f action that the award w ill make possible for
her.”
“ Bernice is wondrous, a great sp irit and the award is an enormous
m anifestation o f her skills and determ ination,” said Roger G. Kennedy,
director o f the Museum o f American History. “ It is also a recognition ol her
courage over some 10 years.”
In acknowledging the award, Reagon said’ ’ "T h e Smithsonian has been
a catalyst and a nurturing ground fo r me as a scholar. A t the Sm ithsonian I ’ ve
had the chance to do innovative program m ing in the area o f black American
culture. I ’ m not sure there is another institution that w ould have afforded me
the opportunities I ’ ve had to experiment w ith research, to report and share
that research w ith larger audiences and to communicate w ith my colleagues
in the fie ld .”
Reagon, who received her doctorate from Howard U niversity and her
undergraduate degree from Spelman College, has been w ith the S m ith­
sonian Institution since M ay 1974. As a curator in the museum’ s D ivision
o f C om m unity L ife , her research interests focus on African-Am erican
worship traditions, w ith an emphasis on contemporary congregations that
use 19th-century hymns.
Through the museum’ s Department o f Public Programs, Reagon pro­
duced a continuing s cricso f performances and colloquia aimed at increasing
public awareness o f A frican-A m erican culture and history.
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