P»ge 2 • Portland Observer • January 24, 1W0
NATIONAL FORUM
__
*
T his W ay
for
The collapse of the Eastern European
regimes and the democratic reforms occur­
ring inside the Soviet Union has generated
a kind of ideological euphona within the
ranks of American conservatives. Gorbachev,
they argue, is the result of the $2 trillion
military build-up under Ronald Reagan in
the 1980s. The Russians are seeking peace
because the American system of free enter­
prises and political democracy is superior.
They point out that the Soviet economy is a
mess, while the U .S. gross national product
has reached $5.3 trillion by the end of the
decade.
B ut this is an illusion of prosperity. The
crisis which exists in the Soviet bloc is very
real. Decades of political authoritarianism,
inefficient, centralized planning, and the
terror generated by secret police and viola­
tions of human rights contributed to the
failure of the Communist model. Yet the
U.S. is not too far from its own economic
crisis.
In the decade of the nineties, mounting
political pressure will be targeted against
the Pentagon’s massive $300 billion annual
budget. With the Soviets making serious
reductions in armaments, the American
military budget is not only wasteful but
irrational. However, the Pentagon has a
vested interest in maintaining an ‘ ’external
enemy,” in order to justify spending bil­
lions of dollars for useless weaponry. Since
the Soviets no longer fit the label “ Evil
Em pire," American military planners will
probably target three new potential ’ ‘ene­
m ies’’—China, Japan, and/or Germany.
Japan's massive economic clout, plus
the existence of a hardline Communist
leadership in China, will be used to justify
continued American military installations
in the Far East. The spectre of a united,
militarized Germany, and threatening
memories of World War II, could be used to
promote a con tinued U.S. military presence
in Europe.
The m ost overlooked victims o f the
Cold War have been the American people.
For two generations, American politicians
of both parties have lied about the so-called
“ communist M enace," in order to sup­
press domestic progressive social protests,
and to justify American imperialism abroad.
But this kind of repression has a p rice-th e
billions of dollars taken away from dom es­
tic economic development and human needs.
Today, the U.S. national debt comes to
nearly $3 trillion, and the interest alone on
this debt exceeds $160 billion annually.
Most of the new jobs generated in the
1980s were in the lowest paying, service
sectors of the economy. More than one in
eight Americans-and one out of three Black
Americans—live below the poverty level.
The bottom one fifth of all American fami­
lies cam less than $8,900 annually. And
two to three million Americans are now
homeless, more than double the amount
when Reagan was first elected president.
There are other signs that the Cold War
and unchecked military spending contrib­
uted to the impending economic crisis within
the U.S. The Reagan and Bush administra­
tions have had an economic philosophy of
spend and borrow now, and worry about the
future tomorrow. But the bill has come due.
Recent estimates for the maintenance of all
American highways for the next ten years
exceed $300 billion. Just to repair all of the
bridges in the U.S. would cost another $72
billion. To remove the hazardous wastes
from toxic dumps comes to yet another $ 15
billion. W here’s the money going to come
from, since the majority of the white middle
and upper classes are adamantly opposed to
increased taxes for themselves?
Increasingly in the 1990s, American
society will become more stratified by class
and income. The upper classes, determined
to maintain their own high standard of
living, will look to the poor and working
people to pay the costs for restructuring the
collapsing economic system. Unfortunately,
the Democratic Party will continue to move
to the right, catering to the elite,, and ignor­
ing its Black, Latino and working class
constituencies.
[
Civii Rights tournai
h\- Dr. I.cintra I- tilani,
fry Manning Marablt
Trends in the 1990s: The
Economic Crisis Ahead”
B lack E mpowerment
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
Lest We Forget: Dr. King
Died To Make Us Free!
Along with Reverend A1 Sharpton, the
president of the United African Movement,
a multi-racial contingent of 100 New Alii
ance Party members observed the birthday
of Dr. Martin Luther King by marching for
justice through the streets of Bensonhurst
in Brooklyn, New York, w herea 16 year old
Black boy named Yusuf Hawkins was
murdered late last summer by a white mob.
We have good reason to fear that the prose­
cutors are dragging their feet in this c a se -
forone thing, some of the 30 perpetrators of
the lynch mob-style killing have managed
to avoid being indicted. Meanwhile, an­
other young Black man recently died in
police custody.
New York City has a brand new Afri­
can-American m ayor-D avid Dinkins, the
first Black mayor in the city’s history.
Were he here today. Dr. King would be
pleased at the progress that has been made,' ’
David told a bunch of reporters recently.
‘ ‘ and he would look down and be happy that
I have succeeded, that Doug Wilder (the
new Black governor of Virginia) has suc­
ceeded, that Ron Brown (the Black chair­
man of the Democratic Party) has suc­
ceeded . . . ”
The election of New York’s first Black
mayor was indeed a victory for our people,
a long fought for and hard-won victory. But
as Reverend Sharpton says, “ Dr. King didn’t
die to elect B lacks to office, he died to make
us free.' ’ As long as our children are being
slaughtered for the crime of being Black,
those of us who have been left behind must
continue to do the work that he began: “ We
who believe in freedom cannot rest until it
comes.”
Martin Luther King went to Chicago in
1966. He had been fighting raw Southern
racism for ten years, but Chicago shocked
him. In this northern industrial city, he
found a system of “ internal colonialism”
so inhumane that he compared it to the
“ exploitation of the Congo by Belgium.”
It was Chicago which showed Dr. King that
the demand for equality would require
challenging the very foundations of Ameri­
can society.
Boston:
Violence, M y th a n d R a c is m
He began forging alliances with pro­
To many persons in the United States,
gressive whites in the anti-war movement
Boston, Massachusetts represents the his­
and with labor unions of impoverished,
torical setting for the founding of American
mostly Black service workers--alliances
democracy. Yet, for the past several dec­
that had the potential to turn the country
ades, Boston continues to be a city polar­
upside down. He turned away from the
ized and rigidly divided by the forces of
Democratic Party and began contemplating
poverty and racism. In particular, the Afri­
a third party Presidential run. Then he was
can-American community of Boston con­
shot down.
tinues to be victimized by acts of racially
The Black Panthers rose up behind
motivated violence. Now the African-
him, a radical grassroots challenge to the
power structure. A short two years later - American community is confronted with
the stereotype of being the spawning ground
they too were destroyed.
of
vicious anti-white violence and crime.
In 1972 some of the survivors gathered
The recent bizarre episode of the m ur­
in Gary, Indiana. They mapped out a strat­
der of a white woman, Mrs. Carol Stuart,
egy for Black empowerment that entailed
allegedly by her husband Charles Stuart is
giving the Democrats “ one more chance.”
yet
another example of how quickly elected
Their plan was to win power through the
officials, the police and the established
ballot box, by electing large numbers of
media of Boston are prone to conclude that
Blacks to local, state and federal office.
the African-American community is the
They succeeded, but the power didn’t come
likely
culprit of hideous acts against the
for the masses o f Black people.
white community of Boston. The truth is,
The coming together of political forces
however, that the African-American com ­
as diverse as Reverend Sharpton’s United
munity during the last thirty years in Bos­
African Movement and the multi-racial,
ton overwhelmingly has been the victim of
pro-socialist and pro-gay New Alliance Party
racial violence in the city.
in Bensonhurst this past January 15 repre­
Charles Stuart had driven his seven-
sents the birth of the very kind of coalition
month pregnant wife to the predominantly
which so terrified the powers that be in Dr.
African-American and Hispanic Mission
K ing's last days, when it seemed clear that
Hill section of Boston where he shot her to
Black and white America stood ready to
death and shot himself but then proceeded
follow a Black leader.
to tell the police that an African-American
As Dr. Fred Newman, a Jewish leader
male had jumped into their car, robbed and
of the New Alliance Party who represented
shot them. Mrs. Stuart was shot in the head
me at the Bensonhurst march on Monday
and her baby did not survive the shooting.
pointed out, “ It is precisely bringing to­
The local as well as the national media once
gether such forces that makes a clear state­
again made it clear that another African-
ment on what must be done to advance the
American male was the subject of another
struggle of working people. Each force
highly publicized manhunt.
becomes more powerful and the powers
When Charles Stuart learned that the
that be are rightly concerned that this could-
Boston police had acquired evidence that
and hopefully will-change the face of poli­
he had lied about the incident and that the
tics in this city and in this country."
police were on the verge of charging him
Reverend Sharpton took a moment
with the murder of his wife, he leaped to his
during the march to say, “ The dream is still
death from a local bridge. Before Stuart
unfulfilled, but the dreamers are still in the
committed suicide, he went so far as to
streets. Happy Birthday, Dr. King. We still
falsely identify and accuse an African-
believe we shall overcome some day.”
American in a police lineup.
Yes, deep in my heart, I do believe that
together we shall overcome some day.
Although the truth o f the Stuart murder
eventually was revealed, the stigma and the
virulent cloud of suspicion that was un­
justly cast over the African-American
community in Boston, has left the commu­
nity vulnerable. In the wake of the increase
in urban crime throughout the nation, ra­
cially stereotyping entire communities is
becoming commonplace.
Democracy is not an abstract phenome­
non. It demands social and racial equality.
In this pluralistic society, justice demands
fairness and an end to racist discrimination
and subjugation. The Stuart case also has
exposed the vulnerability of our society as
a whole to the temptations of hatred and
violence based on race.
We realized that merely commenting
on th situation in Boston will dorlittle to
resolve the problem. It is important that
when incidents like the Stuart case occur,
there needs to be a multi-racial response
which attempts to draw lessons from the
incident For example, the media both local
and national really need to be severly criti­
cized for the undue sensationalization of
the crime. If more African-Americans and
other racial and ethnic persons had more
important upper management positions in
the media, the' tenor and the scope of the
coverage of these kinds of cases would
definitely change for the better. In addition,
the Boston Police Department as well as
other police departments throughout the
country must be more responsive to and
respect all communities and not dispropor­
tionately to just respect or protect the
dominant community.
The 1990s can offer more hope in the
area of race relations, if and only if more
people will boldly challenge the malig­
nancy of racism in our national midst by
discerning more effectively the subtleties
as well as the overt indications of racism.
One of the tragedies of today is not only the
myths and stereotypes of racism, but also
the growing tendency for the victims of
racism to accept it
„ X fll
4^7
CAR WAS
RM
THE HOPE FÖR THE HOPE LE« -
A N IDEA WMOEE T IM E MAE CeMEJ •
UAI Will Host Largest African-
American Cultural & Business
Expansion In U.S. History
LOS ANGELES,CA--United Africans
International, a cultural membership or­
ganization exclusively for the African race,
has just revealed a 5-year plan to dramati­
cally impact African-American culture and
substantially boost African-American owned
businesses nationwide. UAI, which does
not accept donations, only private financ­
ing, is slated to premier in the summer of
1990 and estimates that 150,000 men and
women enrolled in the special entrepre­
neurial membership plan will start new
local, national, and international business
ventures each year.
This ambitious plan has as one of its
main features, the publication of a full
color, monthly magazine. Outlined in it
will be the exciting day-to-day life and
business world of each of the 48 bustling
Black African countries. Revealed will be
these African nation’s many cities with
modem skyscrapers filled with Africans
doing billions o f dollars in business with
each other as well as supplying every coun­
try in the world with what they need to
survive. This exciting magazine will offer
opportunities to find out about African
manufactured products, delicious food,
fantastic entertainment, and stunning fash­
ions. Many African-Americans will choose
to become involved in thriving African
businesses around the world.
Included in this 5-year plan will be the
development of commercial and financial
centers in the heart of African-American
communities, special national retail store
chains, a special technology-based educa­
tion system, and the introduction of a multi­
channel national satellite network which
will supply members with satellite dishes,
all-new specially produced shows, and
unheard of, low cost advertising rates for
business members' products and services.
United Africans International will begin
approving men and women and families for
community distributorships who will make
up its national team of "M em ber Reps”
who will start offering the membership
plans to the 29 million African-Americans
in the U.S. Member Reps will each receive
a territory of 5,000 households in African-
Americans communities. Member Reps,
each required to be a resident of the 5,000
household territory they will cover, can
cam up to $71,000 each in commissions
and fees from selling the various member­
ship plans, personally delivering the monthly
magazines to members, picking up annual
dues, and answering member's questions.
State Member Reps can earn commissions
upwards of $350,000 to train and supervise
Member Reps. The one Country Member
Rep can earn commissions upwards of $ 1.7
million to supervise the national sales pro­
gram and manage a national advertising
campaign which can total up to $40 million
annually.
UAI is the first of Culture Interna­
tional’s many planned membership organi -
zations designed to protect each race's cultural
identify and ensure their economic power
in the world. Other planned membership
organizations are United Latinos Interna­
tional, United Anglos International, and
United Asians International. Members of
each membership organization will have
the exclusive right to become associate
members of all the others.
For information on becoming a part of
the UAI Management Group, UAI Member
Rep Group, or UAI Finance Group, inter­
ested parties can contact United Africans
International as soon as possible toll-free at
1(800) SEND-UAI.
' U56VL
I ’M MAUANO I T . I *
2 M oR = Y = A £ 6
T6AH
¿^5T r T f C W N tA^SC ¿A C '
SC Johnson
V
Wax Sponsors Interns
Summer interns Kristine Johnson, left, and Renee Smith look over materials
in the SC Johnson Wax Career Resource Center.
RACINE As a part of its continued commitment to minority programs, SC Johnson
Wax is sponsoring minority interns in the career development program, INROADS.
“ Our sponsorship includes a comprehensive, paid, four-year summer intern program
for two college students,” said Randolph W. Lengyel, Information Services Resources
Development Manager, who is coordinating the program.
During the four summers, the interns will leant concepts in Information Services, be
assigned to a team and learn to write computer programs, and work in technical support and
data base areas.
After successfully competing the College Intern Program and obtaining a four-year
college degree, interns will be considered for employment at SC Johnson Wax.
Say You Saw II In The
Portland Observer!
Articles and Essays by Ron Daniels
An Outraged Black Nation Needs
To Take To The Streets
On the eve of the Martin Luther King
Holiday celebration, the National Urban
League released its annual State of Black
America report. The report laid out what it
common knowledge within the Black N a­
tion. The masses of the Black poor, particu­
larly in the rural south and in America’s
inner cities are living in desperate straits.
More than two decades after the assassina­
tion of Martin Luther King, the condition of
the African-American poor in many ways
is worst than it was during King’s lifetime.
We have more Black elected officials. We
have more prominent, successful and
"influential” African-Americans in vari­
ous areas of American life than ever before.
Yet the sad fact is that the enormous wealth
of this nation is not being directed to finally
and permanently elevating the condition of
the masses of our people.
In the African-American community
we know that we are in trouble. But unlike
the sixties and seventies our community
seems incapable of mustering more than
polite anger and outrage in the face of this
crisis. Everyone from the Urban League to
the N.A.A.C.P., from fraternities and so­
rorities to Black colleges and universities
are “ urgently” conferencing on our plight.
There have even been some marches and
demonstrations. But even the marches are
commemorations o f some previous civil
rights march or orderly events devoid of
passion and the will to seriously confront a
callous system which is still victimizing
our people.
When John E. Jacobs, President o f the
National Urban League calls for a $50
billion dollar Domestic Marshall Plan to
tackle the massive problems plaguing the
inner cities he is very much on target. This
concept which was first proposed by W hit­
ney Young in 1963 has considerable merit.
However, the needs of African-Americans
will not be met simply because they are
righteous. Proposals which have merit must
be backed with the muscle to move them
from idea to policy. As we enter the nineties
and reflect on the victories which Martin
Luther King was able to achieve in the
sixties it is clear to me that there is a need
to translate the sense of urgency about the
crisis we face into a massive mobilization
for change.
African-Americans need to revive the
strategy and tactics of civil disobedience
and disruptive direct action as a means of
forcing America to deal with our plight.
Our most recent marches have been too
timid, too tame and almost predictably
ineffective. It is inconceivable that we can
watch peoples movements around the world
bring down unresponsive and oppressive
systems and not contemplate bringing
America to its knees for failing to deal with
the basic human rights - eg. housing, health
care, education, child care, JOBS, JUS­
TICE etc. of the masses of disadvantaged
African-Americans in this country.
In the sixties the freedom rides, sit-ins,
wade-inds, pray-ins, selective buying
campaigns etc. were utilized to confront
unjust laws and dramatize th contradictions
within th American system. John E. Jacobs
is reissuing the call for a Domestic Marshall
Plan. Just prior to his death Martin Luther
King was calling for a “ Economic Bill of
Rights.” The question is, are we prepared
to march on Washington and stay until
significant progress is forthcoming towards
the enactment of these ideas? Are we pre­
pared to tie up Congress, surround the
White House, disrupt the orderly proceed­
ings of things at the Pentagon and go to jail
in MASSIVE numbers, if necessary, to
dramatize the plight of our people to the
world.
Across this nation in city hall after city
hall and state capitol after state capitol,
African-Americans in memory of King and
in keeping with his legacy need to bring
business as usual to a halt. No more cere­
monial marches or ritualistic and routine
protest. Our people are dying right now. It
should either be freedom and prosperity for
everybody or turmoil and disruption for
everybody. In our outrage we must use ci vil
disobedience to struggle for basic human
rights for our people. The crisis in our
communities is so desperate that either the
government will respond or we must be­
come ungovernable!
PORTLAND OBSERVER
FAX #
503)288-0015