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Page 2 Portland Observer NOVEMBER 29, 1989
rPÎTORiAL 7
QPINIQN
Jackson’s Presidential
We Ve Got to Keep
Bids Pave The Way For
V ir g in ia T h a n k s g iv in g , T h e
On Keepin ’ On
Victories On Nov. 7th
Im p a c t O f W ild e r ’s V ic t o r y
Articles and Essays by Ron Daniels
by Professor McKinley Hurt
We will use the next several articles to
tie up a few loose ends, and then w e'll raise
the curtain on an exciting and hard hitting
New Year. 1 will continue to push that his
toric adage that “ Eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty--and education.
I have assailed Oregon’s high tech in
dustry for coming up with that nefarious plan
to "shutdow n Portland State U niversity," a
process which would wreak further havoc on
the higher education aspirations of Port
land’s minorities and poorer whites. The
self-imposed problems lying behind the
machinations of these firms are further
understood when one reads last Thursday’s
article by Valerie Rice of the Knight-Ridder
News Service: ‘ ‘Time is running out on U.S.
Memories Inc., the fledgling memory chip
consortium that raised hopes for a return to
competitiveness by the U.s. electronics in
dustry” —Intel, IBM, etc. “ Hope” is about
all that was raised.
Like the nation’s auto industry, these
rather inept entrepreneurs snowed us with
their grandoise and arrogant ads promising
the good life for both the public and employ -
ees-and, like the Savings and Loan Indus
try, would have the very same victims bail
them out. Il is understandable that high-tech
would now look to state funds or any other
source to bail them out o f their debacle-
even the lotteries. The consortium above has
not nearly reached its goal of half a billion
dollars so the poor and disadvantaged had
better practice that admonition, “ Eternal
Vigilance.”
Last week’s article was titled "E duca
tion Needs Structure—Not Lotteries. ’ ’ I went
on to describe these gambling schemes as
free wheeling bonanzas for bureaucrats and
hustlers, and a regressive tax on the poor. But
there are other economic implications that
can affect us all. I particularly appreciate the
comments of National Basketball Associa
tion Commissioner, David Stem; “ I find it a
peculiar irony that today the athletic director
of a great institution like Oregon State Uni
versity would be sitting here, explaining why
the people of the state of Oregon should
encourage gambling by their population.”
This, of course, is the same university whose
attitudes I have described to be as regressive
as the lottery—especially in the area of race
relations.
It is equally ironic that in its planning
stages the Oregon State Lottery was extolled
as the key element in advancing “ Economic
Development, capable of restoring the state’s
economic vitality in the face of a disastrous
decline in Oregon’s lumber industry. This
process seems as flawed as that of the afore
mentioned “ U.S. Memories, Inc.,” the be
lated and failing effort of the hi-tech industry
to reverse two decades of hindsight and gross
underestimation of the Japanese. The enter
prises funded by the lottery have a poor track
record if balanced against the loudly her
alded massive increases in payrolls and
workplace incrementations that were to be
gained; nothing at all like that North Caro
lina success model we described last w eek -
employing the people, educating the kids for
the 21st century. We are still waiting for our
establishment media to conduct a thorough,
indepth analysis of this unique foray into a
terra incognito. Who got what and why?
There is another media-highlighted situ
ation that does not bode well for Blacks in the
workplace. At the top of the news are the
historic political upheavals in Eastern Eu-
rope-the end of the Cold War is forecast.
Already, the defense department is project
ing the closing of scores of military bases,
the mothballing of scores of naval vessels,
and the discharge of hundreds of thousands
of military personnel. Now, the question is
will the Trillion dollars saved over the next
decade be used to rebuild America’s infra
structure of decaying highways, bridges,
industrial plants (which cannot compete with
the Japanese), and deteriorating school sys-
tems--or will this money be expended to re
vitalize Eastern European Kinfolk in a m es
sianic campaign similar to the Marshall Plan
that followed World War II?
In either case the country will be facing
massive unemployment and economic dislo
cations. We may ask how energetically Black
leadership and social agencies are preparing
for the onslaught? As Dr. Manning Marable
told us last week, this is a nation where
already “ drugs are destroying our neighbor
hoods, nearly 2000 teenagers drop out of
high school each day, two million sleep in
alleys and abandoned automobiles, and 37
million have no type of health insurance.”
All this in a nation where lovemaking has
become more dangerous than fighting.
As the election returns rolled in on
Tues., Nov. 7, it became clear that African-
American politicians were posting unprece
dented victories in cities like New York,
New Haven, Durham, Seattle and in the
state o f Virginia. David Dinkins would be
elected the first African-American mayor
of the nation's largestcity and Doug Wilder
would become the first elected Black
Governor in American history.
But while the air was filled with eupho
ria, particularly among African-Americans,
a curious phenomenon was unfolding.
Numerous journalists, analysts, opinion
moulders and party pundits were having as
different celebration. They were hailing
what they preceived to be the demise of
Jesse L. Jackson as the preeminent Black
political leader on the national scene. Jesse
Jackson was declared the “ big loser” on
Nov. 7.
Commentators virtually rejoiced in the
victories of Norman Rice of Seattle, John
Daniels of New H aven and of course Dink
ins and Wilder. The were annointed the
“ new breed” of "m oderate” and respon
sible "m ainstream ” Black politicians who
could appeal to and gain substantial white
votes. Their elevation to public office, so
some analysts reasoned, meant the inevi
table decline of the liberal-progressive style
and substance o f the Jackson factor in
American politics. What this gleeful exer
cise in wishful thinking ignored, however,
was the fact that the Jackson factor contrib
uted mightily to the impressive results on
Nov. 7. Far from diminishing Jackson’s
stature, the election results enhanced Jesse
Jackson's standing as a pioneer who paved
the way and opened the door to broader
dimensions of political power and influ
ence.
In both the 1984 and 1988 campaigns,
Jesse Jackson repeatedly stated that one of
the goals of his presidential bids was to
increase voter registration and to inspire
increasing numbers of African-Americans
to seek public office at all levels. Jackson
put forth the vision of a Rainbow Coalition
and projected a platform based on “ com
mon ground” issues as the vehicles to
victory for black and progressive politi
cians. And though Jesse’s Rainbow was
derived in '84 as a rainbow with one stripe,
by 1988 there was no question but that
rainbow politics had arrived.
T his W ay F or B lac k E mpowermen
I
hv Dr. I.e tu n a I tila n i
The Non-Aligned Movement
For their own economic and political
reasons the international “ big guns” —the
United States, the Soviet Union, and China-
have made a deal with one another. These
“ superpowers” are dealing not from posi
tions of strength, but of wealtness.
As surely as the Berlin Wall has come
tumbling down, the socialist world is clearly
collapsing. At the same time the capitalist
world is sinking under a stagnating econ
omy; not surprisingly, it is poor and work
ing people -and most particularly poor people
o f co lo r-w ho are the first to go under. The
social problems for which we are blamed
andpunished-drugs, crime, abuse, AIDS--
are all symptoms of the profound social
decay that is part of the economic crisis.
While the Soviet Union must divert its
attention, and its resources, away from
liberation struggles and progressive gov
ernments to the demands of its own people
for democracy and economic growth, the
United States has been forced into a recon
ciliation (a “ rapprochement” ) with the
socialist world by the urgent need to open
up markets: China, for example, represents
one billion new customers for American
products. Likewise, American investors stand
to gain many economic advantages from
the "cooling o ut” of conflicts in Black
Africa; this is why the US was so anxious to
broker the peace accords between the gov
ernment of Angola and South Africa.
Meanwhile, the masses of the world's
people have been excluded from the new
arrangements . . . in just the same way as
poor and working in this country are being
left out of the ‘ ‘rapprochement” which has
PORTLfifibtf^ERVER
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The PORTLANO OBSERVER •• Oregon's otdesl Alrican American Pubt.celion-n a m u rtisi el The National
Newspaper Aasooation - Founded In IM S . The Oregon Newspaper Publisher, Association, and The N alorul
Aduerbseig Representative Amalgamated Pubiahan. Ins.. New Y art.
brought the Democrat and Republican Parties
closer and closer together and further and
further to the political right.
The Black-led, multi-racial independ
ent political movement which I have been
building over the last ten years is a move
ment of those who have been locked out of
the political process. This independent
political movement is a natural ally of our
sisters and brothers in the people of color-
led international non-aligned movement
who have been left out of the new rap
prochement between Washington, Moscow
and Beijing.
In 1988 the independent New Alliance
Parly chair emerged from the Presidential
election-in which I received 2% of the
national Black vole—as America’s fourth
largest party. Last week an insurgent
Democrat, a grassroots Puerto Rican leader
running on the NAP line for a City Council
scat from New York’s impoverished South
Bronx, received 42% of the vote. The fact
that nearly half the electorate-B lack and
Puerto Rican working class people--de
fected from the Democrats to vote for the
candidate of a pro-socialist, pro-gay, anti-
imperialist parly was a thrilling and highly
significant step forward for independent
politics... a sign that this ‘ ‘pcoplc-instead-
of-profits” party, joining forces with a
progressive grassroots leader, can ex ei.
political influence (including winning elec
tions) in jurisdictions throughout the United
Stales on behalf of the disempowered m a
jority.
I believe that the new rapprochement
has created the same opportunity for members
of the non-aligned movement who have
been "left out in the cold" to exert leverage
as an independent political force at the
international bargaining table.
The no longer all-powerful “ super
powers,” like the Democratic Party and the
Republican Party are now vulnerable to
such pressure from within their borders as
well as from outside. We have the opportu
nity, and the responsibility, to make the
most of their weakness by building alli
ances between the non-aligned here and
around the world.
The '88 Campaign set the tone, staked
out the issues, and helped to create a mind
set that is possible for African-American
candidate to receive substantial support
among white voters. It is useful to recall
that of the nearly 7 million votes which
Jesse Jackson won in 1988 nearly 3 million
were white votes. Jackson did extremely
well in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wash
ington State, Oregon and Idaho. He scored
victories in Michigan and Vermont, the
whitest state in the nation. Jesse Jackson
clearly demonstrated that it was possible
for a black candidate to receive sizeable
support in areas with miniscule Black and
minority populations.
Jesse Jackson also won the state of
Virginia and the city of New York thereby
strengthening the prospects for Dinkins
and Wilder in 1989. Especially New York
city, it was Jesse Jackson’s '88 campaign
which provided the cement which bound
together the coalition which would eventu
ally carry David Dinkins to victory. After a
demoralizing failure in 1985 it was Jesse
Jackson who urged blacks and Latinos to
forget their past differences and join with
labor, the Irish and other ethnic groups to
forge a formidable coalition for change.
When Jackson carried New York City dur
ing the ’88 Democratic Primary he made
believers out of disbelievers. Il was on that
night that the coalition was convinced that
it was possible to dump Koch and win the
office of Mayor.
These reminders are important, not
because it is necessary to glorify the ac
complishments of Jesse Jackson, but be
cause there are always forces within the
media, the party establishment and the power
structure which seek to separate us from
our history. Much of the media is hostile to
Jesse Jackson because he won big in 1988
despite their presistent negative predic
tions to the contrary. And there are forces
within the Democratic party, particularly
the southern based
Democratic Leadership Conference
(D.L.C.) who fear Jackson’s brand of lib
eral-progressive politics, these forces would
like a more moderate and mild mannered
type of mainstream Black leadership to
emerge. Jesse Jackson refused to be suffi
ciently accommodating.
so whilc African-Americans can legiti
mately applaud tire outcome of the Nov. 7
election, we need to guard against the dan
gers of media manipulation, divide and
conquer and the old game of w e’ll pick your
leaders for you. When we decide to demote
Jesse Jackson w e’ll let America know. For
now lets give him his propers. Jesse Jackson’s
campaigns paved the way for the successes
on Nov. 7.
c
of past histoiy or in isolation o f the present
moment. Remembering the struggle o f his
grandparents who were slaves on Virginia
plantations. W ilderstated, “ W ehavecom e
this distance because people who have come
before us believed and kept the faith ." At
the wilder victory celebration there was a
spirit of giving thanks because o f the suc
cess of the campaign in bringing all Vir
ginians together despite racial divisions.
W ilder affirmed, “ I believe in coali
tion politics and we have shown that coali
tion politics works.” Another significant
aspect of W ilder's election is that the path
has now been made for others in other states
to more readily consider running for Gov
ernor and other statewide elected offices.
For one, Andrew Young is now strongly
considering running next year for Governor
of Georgia.
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
dreamed of this day. The election of Douglas
Wilder to be governor o f a state that once
was one of the leading states of the Confed
eracy during the Civil W ar is in itself a
significant turn of history. Thus, we all
should join in the spirit of giving thanks
that this kind o f victory can be won in the
wake of the Reagan years and amidst what
many have concluded is a more conserva
tive America.
when families gather for Thanksgiving
this year throughout the nation we do have
much to be thankful for and we all should be
grateful for the gift that Douglas wilder and
the voters of Virginia have given to the
nation.
The United States of America will never
be the same now that for the first time in
history an African-American has been elected
Governor of a state. The myth that this was
an impossibility has now been broken. L.
Douglas Wilder, the grandson of African
slaves in Virginia, has now been elected
Governor of Virginia.
While much of the national media has
concentrated on the narrow number of votes
that enabled Wilder to win the election, the
national significance and impact of Wilder’s
election in Virginia should not be underes
timated. In a slate where the electorate is
approximately fifteen percent African-
American, it took a large number of Anglo-
American voters to cast their vote for Wilder
which caused hit election.
At a time when there has been a resur
gence of overt acts of racial violence through
out the nation, W ilder's election is indeed
a welcomed step forward for the improve
ment of race relations in the United States.
Although Wilder correctly did not base his
campaign on the issue of race, there were
racial overtones in the manner in which his
opponent tried to infer to the voters of
Virginia that the state was not ready for an
African-American to be Governor. Of course,
Mr. Marshall Coleman, the Republican
conservative candidate for Governor, was
unsuccessful in making that argument to
the voters of Virginia.
Douglas Wilder expressed his grati
tude for all of the hundreds of thousands of
his supporters. Wilder also realized that his
election should not be viewed in isolation
, 1 9 6 . PM E ato n « Seoncm
C ommentary
Election Year 1990: Goldschmidt or Frohnmayer?
The forth coming election for 1990
promises to be the most interesting in recent
memory.
Governor Neil Goldschmidt is being
challenged by Attorney General Dave
Frohnmayer. While the Governor has yet to
announce his candidacy, his bid for re-elec
tion (if he decides to run) faces a serious
challenge from the Attorney General.
Some Oregonians are miffed at the
Governor's alleged lack of leadership in areas
such as education, prison overcrowding, crime
and youth gangs.
of Pelett was considered by many to be
"lukewarm" at the most.
Meanwhile, Frohnmayer has launched a
formidable campaign which appears to be
well organized and well financed. Given this
states problems with drugs and crime he has
made a creditable impact as the number one
law enforcement officer in the state.
The race for Governor should be inter
csting?
It « fw'sl twUs
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African-Americans are miffed at the
treatment given Frcddye Webb-Pelett. It
appears that the only real criticism of the
Governor that is jusified is the manner in
which Ms. Pelett was forced to resign as
Administrator of Adult and Family Services
Division. Unqucstionally, Ms. Petett'sresig
nation was forced as a result of power poli
tics manifested by the Republican bloc in an
apparent attempt to embarass the Demo
cratic Administration. Goldschmidt's defense
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