Page 2 Portland Observer AUGUST 31, 1989
IBITÖRTfir 7 "ÖPIRIÖH
GUESS WHO’S NOT COMING TO
DINNER
Vantage point
C IV IL RIGHTS AG ENDA FOR THE
1990s
FOCUS OF N A T IO N A L SYM PO ­
SIU M
Some o f the most prom inent ac­
tivists, religious leaders, politicians,
journalists and academicians in the
nation w ill come to New Orleans
Nov. 10-13 to take part in a confer­
ence designed to forge a national
c iv il rights agenda for the 1990s and
beyond.
Democratic party chairman Ron
Brown, Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young
and journalist Juan W illiam s w ill be
among the featured speakers at * ‘The
C o n tin u in g
A m e rica n
D ilem m a,” which is hosted by the
Amistad Research Center at Tulane
University..
The conference is inspired by the
anniversaries o f several events. It
marks the 150th anniversary o f the
rebellion by A frican captives aboard
the schooner La Am istad, fo r which
the Amistad Research Center is named.
The symposium w ill also observe the
45th anniversary o f “ :A n Am erican
D ilem m a,” Gunnar M y d ra l’ s land­
mark study o f Am erican race rela­
tions, which laid the groundw ork for
an assault on segregation and dis­
franchisement in Am erica.
“ The Continuing Am erican D i­
lemma” w ill focus on problems that
remain, including those o f the under­
class and the w orking poor.
Conference papers include “ The
Balance Sheet o f Change,” “ School
Desegregation in the 1990s” “ Does
Intervention W ork?” “ Educating for
Future O pportunity,” “ A Political
Agenda for the 1990s,” and “ The
W ar on Poverty.”
Programs, which are open to the
public w ithout charge, w ill be held
on the Tulane and X avier U niversity
campuses. The form at includes fea­
tured speakers follow ed by panel
discussions.
Conference speakers include Judge
Leon Higginbotham o f the 3rd U.S.
C ircu it Court o f Appeals; Ray
Marshallo, professor o f economics
and public affairs at the U niversity o f
Texas and form er Secretary o f L a ­
bor; C h ie f Judge Constance Baker
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
M otley o f the U.S. D is tric t C ourt in
New York; author Lisbeth Schorr
who lectures on social medicine at
Harvard U niversity; Juan W illiam s,
staff w riter fo r The W ashington Post;
Charles W illie , professor o f educa­
tion and urban studies at Harvard
U niversity; Judge John M in o r W is­
dom o f the 5th U.S. C irc u it Court o f
Appeals; and Andrew Young, mayor
o f Adanta and a form er U.S. ambas­
sador.
Program participants are jo u rn a l­
ists Hodding Carter III and Nicholas
Lemann; U.S. Rep. W alter Fauntroy
(D -D is tric t o f Colum bia); Joseph
Low ery, national president o f the
Southern Christian Leadership Con­
ference (SCLC); Thomas Pettigrew,
professor o f social psychology at the
U niversity o f C alifornia, Santa Cruz;
Althea Simmons, director o f the
Washington bureau o f the National
Association fo r the Advancement o f
Colored People (N A A C P ); and Niara
Sudarkasa, president o f Lincoln
University.
Conference sponsors include u ni­
versities and colleges o f New O r­
leans-Tulane, Delgado, D illard,
Loyola, SUNO, U NO and X a vie r-a s
w ell as the Amistad Educational
Consortium, the Georges Lurcy Chari­
table and Educational Consortium,
the Georges Lurcy Charitable and
Educational Trust, the Hazen Foun­
dation, the Southern Education Foun­
dation, Warner Communications, and
the Xerox Foundation. The confer­
ence has also received a grant from
the Louisiana Endowment for the
Humanities.
Pre-registration is encouraged fo r
those who desire reserved seating. A
$15 reservation fee w ill include re­
served seating for the sessions and
two luncheons. Housing information,
including reserved blocks o f rooms
at local hotels, is available fo r those
attending from out-of-tow n.
To register,or for more inform a­
tion, call (504) 865-5535 or (504)
865-5162.
HOWARD PLANS MAJOR
CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL
ISSUES
A m ajor conference entitled ‘ ‘One-Third o f a Nation: A frican American
Perspectives” w ill bring together hundreds o f scholars and policymakers on
the Howard U niversity campus November 8-12, 1989, to discuss various
solutions to a range o f problems affecting the nation and m inority populations
in the United States.
“ O ur approach w ill be to analyze conditions in order to make
recommendations fo r improvements that can be carried into the 21st
century,” said Howard professors Dr. Lorenzo M orris and Dr. Ura Jean
Oyemade, who are cochairs o f the u niversity’ s Task Force on O ne-Third o f
a Nation, a group o f more than 100 faculty members formed to oversee
development o f this meeting.
The conference is an outgrow th o f various recent studies detailing the
declining status o f U.S. m inorities. In particular, the Task Force has focused
on a special Congressional Report, “ The Future o f African-Am ericans to
the Year 2000,” and the report “ One-Third o f a N ation” done by the
Commission on M in o rity Participation in Education and American L ife .
Thirteen specific areas o f study w ill be covered at the conference, w hich
w ill consist o f 52 sessions in the form o f roundtable and panel discussions
as w ell as several keynote addresses by national leaders.
The main areas to be addressed are: V o ting and Political Participation,
Substance Abuse, Im m igrants and Im m igration, Em ploym ent and Labor,
Education, The Role o f Religious Institutions, Economic Development,
Science and Technology, Health, Black F am ily L ife , Housing, M edia, and
H istorically Black Colleges and Universities.
For more inform ation, contact the conference headquarters at (202) 686-
2265.
It w ill come as no surprise to those o f us who are from the A frican
Am erican C om m unity that all the experts are in agreement that a “ great
g u l f ’ separates A frica n Americans from white Americans. O ver the past
few weeks no less than four m ajor studies have shown that A frican
Americans “ lag sign ifican tly behind whites,” that racial segregation in
Am erica is far deeper than previously thought by social scientists, that the
w idening health gap between A frican Americans and whites is due in part
to racism and low self-esteem among A frican Americans, and that gaps
between A frican Americans and whites in employm ent, income, and
education arc so broad that parity between the tw o races is u nlikely to occur
in this century.
In the recently released report o f the National Research C ouncil, it was
found that despite social and economic gains made by A frica n Americans
over the past 50 years that, “ I f all racial discrim ination were abolished
today, the life prospects facing many poor blacks w ould s till constitute
m ajor challenges fo r public p o lic y .” It also found that many o f the myths
about w hy A frica n Americans have not progressed are indeed false includ­
ing the b e lie f that female-headed households, high birth rates to unmarried
women, low labor force participation by males or poor academic perform ­
ance are due solely to government support programs or the existence o f a
“ culture o f poverty” among A frica n Am erican poor.
Another study o f racial segregation in 10 o f the nation’s largest cities
found that segregation is much more prevalent than social scientists had
previously thought. This study, done by Professor Douglas S. Massey and
Dr. Nancy A. Denton at the U niversity o f Chicago, concluded that A frican
Americans and whites in racially segregated cities rarely interact outside the
workplace and that A frican Americans isolated in central cities have even
less contact w ith whites. The effect o f such deep-seeded segregation is
higher poverty, crim e and unemployment, according to Dr. Massey.In a
recent New Y o rk Times article. Dr. Massey pointed out the significance o f
this study, saying, “ Where you live determines the chances you get in this
w orld. It determines the school yo ur children go to, the crim e you’ re
exposed to, the peer influences on your children. I f you’re isolated from the
mainstream, i t ’ s not a fair w orld, i t ’ s not a fa ir contest. Segregation is
structural underpinning o f the underclass.” :
A t the recent meeting o f the N ational Medical Association, the profes­
sional organization o f A frican Am erican doctors nationwide, a symposium
on race, racism and health was held. I t found that the w idening health gap
between A frican Americans and whites is due in part to racism and the
reaction o f A frican Americans to it as w e ll as the low self-esteem on the part
o f many members o f the A frican Am erican com m unity. According to the
out-going president o f the National M edical Association, Dr. Frank E.
Staggers, cancer, diabetes, liv e r disease, substance abuse, infant m ortality
and now A ID S are the leading causes o f death among A frica n Americans
that can be “ d irectly attributed to racial and economic factors.”
Likew ise, the National Urban League has found that because o f the wide
gaps between A frica n Americans and whites in employm ent, income and
education, parity is unlikely “ u n til after the year 2000.”
W hat all o f these studies should say to A frica n Americans and white
Americans alike is that solving this country’ s problems o f racism must
remain on this nation’ s front burner.W hat these studies should say to the
Bush adm inistration is that we must focus our nation’ s attention on making
this a country o f equal opportunity fo r a ll Americans. We can not afford to
turn back now.
LETTER TO THE
EDITOR
Denial of Straight-Talk Program
With Pastor Mary H . Smith:
W e are w ritin g this letter to in ­
form our C om m unity o f the actions
taken by the Department o f Correc­
tions O ffic ia ls at the Oregon State
Penitentiary on August 9, 1989, and
after receiving additional inform a­
tion on August 16, 1989, the prison
Officials denied Pastor Mary H. Smith
from bringing in A t R isk Youth to
the Straight-Talk Program.
Uhuru Sa-Sa, began a program
entitled Straight-Talk on May 5,1989,
which was designed to address the
problems facing At-Risk Youth. Self-
Enhancement was the outside group
to bring in a group o f Kids. A fte r an
overwhelm ing amount o f opposition
from the prison administrators, such
as the A c tiv itie s Manager stating that
working with the youth was the TURF
o f the L ife r ’ s Club? We strongly
objected and stated that was the type
o f m entality that we wanted to get
our youth out of, and here you prison
o fficials are trying to enforce it. N ext
we had to show the prison o fficials
that when we started this organiza­
tion some 21 years ago, we had a Cry
O f Love program dealing w ith under
privileged youth. Therefore, we arc
the ones in this prison who started
w orking w ith kids before any other
prison in the C ountry as w ell as being
the first w ith this institution. Whereas
we were allowed to have our second
edition o f straight-Talk, again Self-
Enhancement, was allowed to bring
in a group o f good kids, the reason
was the Adm inistration d id n ’t want
any A t-R isk Youth inside the prison
walls. It is real clear that these people
are looking at our program as a solu­
tion they don’t want right now! Under­
standing dial they are building a brand
new prison that w ill hold 3,000 people.
It can’ t be fo r us because we are al­
ready here. Therefore, it must be for
the ones we are trying to deter and
save w ith our Straight-Talk program.
W ell, due to scheduling, Self-En­
hancement cannot bring any youth
down until some-time in October,
1989. However, one o f our Com m u­
nity Preachers, Pastor Mary H. Smith,
Harvest T im e M inistries T .V . Serv­
ices, seen the good the program can
I
I
AN
APARTHEID!
do and offered to bring in A t- Risk
Youth to the Straight-Talk Program
and was denied. Now the pastor, has
a prison ministries that comes in every
other month at OSP and she also has
a counseling program at O.W.C.C.
She has a masters, B.S. several A A
degrees, a nurses position and on and
on. But these people denied her twice.
It is our position w ith the program
to try and help save our youth and put
something back into the Com m u­
n ity. I t seems to be our C om m unity’ s
position to try and save our youth and
Community. However, it appears very
clear that the powers to be are only
interested in capitalizing on the p ro f­
its o f our youths inevitable incar­
ceration at the pace they are going.
A re the good people at the Power-
House Temple Church the only people
in the Com m unity who want to help
save the youth.
I f you w ant to help and get in ­
volved w rite to Fred B. Pearce, D i­
rector o f Corrections 2575 Center
Street N.E., Salem, Oregon 97310,
or C all Pastor M ary H. Sm ith, and
ask what you can do personally to
help save the youth.
John Dudley Leftridge III
PERSPECTIVES
By McKinley Burt
One o f our readers has asked that
I cite the tremendous contribution o f
a ll those grass-roots P overty P ro ­
gra m workers who labored so tire ­
lessly to make many operations work-
even those which shouldn’t have (in ­
cluding thousands o f hours o f unpaid
nights and weekends). Consider it
done, and beyond that, let me com ­
mend those who developed and honed
skills which led them into better-
than-average jobs in the conventional
w ork-force.
Having said that, let us look at
some earlier Portland Econom ic De­
velopm ent pioneered by grass-roots
Blacks in the Northeast Community-
Business institutions o f the kind th a t
Although the court said that the
League could hold separate debates
for the Democrats and fo r the Repub­
As many o f you know, my inde­ licans during the prim ary season, it
pendent Presidential campaign last also ruled that neither the govern­
year—when I became the first Black ment nor lax exem pt organizations
woman ever to receive federal p ri­ can favor some parties over others.
mary matching funds and then the And it indicated that prim ary season
firs t woman and the first African voter education programs have to in­
American ever to have on the ballot clude significant independent cam­
in all 50 states-was a crusade for fair paigns.
We w ill now be able to use Judge
elections. That struggle did not end
Pierce’s
ruling as a wedge to force
on election day, because the fight to
open
the
national p o litic a l dialogue
open up the electoral process-to make
it more inclusive, more democratic to independent and th ird party candi­
and more fa ir—is far from over. dates, who provide an alternative to
Recently we won a major victory in the bi-partisan p o litica l monopoly
that fight, one which w ill have im ­ that refuses to address the life and
portant ram ifications for the 1992 death issues that are o f profound con­
cern to the people o f this co u n try -
Presidential election.
Early in August a U.S. Court o f issues such as the rig h t o f every
Appeals ruled that educational and Am erican to a decent home, health
other organizations which enjoy tax care, and a q uality education; issues
exempt status on the basis o f being such as the U.S. government’ s subsi­
non-partisan can be challenged in dizing o f repression against poor
court fo r acting in a partisan manner people o f color from H atiti to Zaire;
and may have their tax exempt status issues such as the right o f every woman
revoked. Judge Lawrence W . Pierce to choose a safe abortion.
In 1988 tw o m ajor “ m in or” par­
o f the U.S. C ourt o f Appeals o f the
Second C ircu it, w riting the m ajority ties emerged on the Am erican p o liti­
opinion o f a three judge panel, ruled cal scene. One was the right-of-cen-
in Lenora B. Fulani vs the League o f ter Libertarian Party. The other was
Women voters that an injured candi­ the independent, Black-led and multi­
date or party may mount such a legal racial, “ people instead o f profits”
challenge without first having to apply New Alliance Party which I am proud
to c h a ir-A m e ric a ’s fourth largest
to the Internal revenue Service. U ntil
now, the IRS has been the sole arbi­ party. The c o u rt’ s ruling in my suit
against the League o f W om en Voters
ter in such conflicts. The ruling w ill
affect all not fo r p ro fit organizations,
was a response to that momentous
such as the League, planning to hold
political development For many years
Presidential debates in 1992. In other
the m ajor parties and the entire array
words, they w ill face big financial
o f social institutions that support
trouble i f they continue to act as
them-state legislatures and Congress;
the news media; public relations firms;
private debating societies fo r the
p
ollin g companies; and federal agen­
Democrats and Republicans.
cies
such as the IRS--have coasted
Judge Pierce’ s ruling was made in
along
on the smug assumption that
a suit I brought against the League o f
_
they
could
get away forever with
Women Voters, which had excluded
pretending
to
the American voter that
me from its Presidential prim ary de­
_
bi-partisanship
is the same as non-
bates last year on the grounds that I
partisanship-that
the p o litica l mo­
was neither a Democrat nor a Repub­
nopoly
o
f
the
tw
o
m ajor parties is
lican; the League argued that since I
what
democracy
is
a
ll about and that
was an independent 1 had not con­
ducted a prim ary campaign. H ow ­ everyone who wasn’ t a Republican
ever, the Federal Elections Com m is­ or a Democrat was “ fring e,’ ’ a kook,
sion, in awarding me federal prim ary
or a crank.
matching funds, had determined that
But my independent Presidential
as an independent candidate I went campaign was significant enough to
through the equivalent o f a prim ary
force this issue into a court o f law.
campaign to establish the via b ility
And the C onstitution (w hich doesn’t
and c re d ib ility o f my candidacy-
even mention p o litic a l parties, let
collecting over 1.5 m illio n signa­ alone equate them w ith the demo­
tures ju s t to get on the ballot in every
cratic process) has been upheld.
state (by contrast. Democrats and
But a new p o litic a l day is dawn­
Republicans only need to collect
ing. Black-led, m ulti-racial independ­
50,000 signatures).
ent politics is here to stay.
By Dr. Lenora Fulani
should be (could be) o perating to-
day! 1 w ill preface my description
w ith the comment that Am erica’ s
economy functions around the con­
cept o f C om m on Interest Groups,
whether credit unions, trade associa­
tions, labor unions, manufacturing
groups, professional associations,
farmers, Greek-Letter societies, or
whatever.
The case I bring before you is that
in the late 1930’ s, several Black
“ Common Interest Groups” launched
successful economic development
programs in the com m unity. Among
these were the Pullman Porters, the
D ining Car W aiters, the Red Caps,
and other Railroad Employees. S im i­
larly involved were the Fraternal O r­
ganizations and Ladies Auxiliaries.
Tw o o f the principal commercial sites
developed were the Acme Business
C lu b and T he F ra te rn a l H a ll: They
were located on North W illiam s Ave­
nue, just south o f Broadway, and im ­
mediately across the street from to­
day’ s Coliseum Complex.
It was here in the heart o f yester­
day’ s Black com m unity that these
corporations owned (or leased out to
residents) restaurants, professional
offices (M edical/Dental), ballrooms,
night clubs, barber/bcauty shops,
service companies and other enter­
prises. A d ditio na lly, these groups
bought and developed considerable
real estate to house the com m unity,
apartment houses, duplexes, and
single-fam ily dwellings. A ll o f this
was financed by m on thly assess­
m ents o f the m em bers, i.e. from
their salaries.Remembcr my descrip­
tion o f Reverend S u lliv a n ’ s Z ion
O perations.
It is to be noted that a ll o f this was
done w ith o u t a single federal d o lla r
(o r control). These Black grass-roots
entrepreneurs developed a m u lti­
m illio n dollar base in the heart o f the
c ity ’ s second most valuable sector. It
is conceded that the very same area is
w orth over a q u a rte r-b illio n d ollars
today. When I relumed from a twelve-
year sojourn in C alifo rn ia during the
1950’ sand 196O’ s ,I found that all o f
the Black developments were gonc-
N ow , there was the Coliseum com-
p le x , the 1-5 and B a n fie ld
Interchanges .and mynad white-owned
commercial enterprises.
The answer, o f course, was not so
much Urban Renewal, but U rban
Rem oval (o f Blacks). It was (is) a
nationwide phenomena, a device to
separate m inorities from ownership
o f prime real estate in the central
cities, using such techniques as em i­
nent dom ain, and massive federal
grants. The Blacks are paid o ff in
residential dollars for property worth
a hundred times that in com m ercial
value(The Emanual Hospital com­
plex is an example). One may ask, in
such instances, where are our com­
m u n ity leaders and attorneys-
or,indeed, where are the children for
whom we broke our backs to send to
college o f get sm a rt? Some actually
are w orking as brokers to expedite
the process o f species extinction (di­
nosaurs).
I f we subscribe to the premise that
experience increases w isdom , then
certainly we should take a long look
at the “ Common Interest Groups”
we have in the Portland Black com­
m unity today: Post o ffice workers,
longshoremen, ship repair, bank
employees, phone company staff,
Black elected o ffic ia ls , fraternal
organization members, state clubs,
fraternity and sorority members,
women’s clubs, you name them. Why
should we be less fin an cia lly astute
decades later than were our grandfa­
thers and grandmothers? W hy can’t
these groups-each collectively in some
pattern-finance and operate m inority
businesses in our com m unity?
Today, there is available a larger
and more sophisticated data base o f
inform ation, greatly expanded busi­
ness libraries and trade association
materials, special start-up and turn­
key techniques developed by manu­
facturers and distributors, and much
more that was not available to the
pioneers. When I v is it the business
section o f the p ublic lib ra ry, I find it
fixed with Asians! Our future is scary-
Can we be less prepared than others?