Hage 2—1 he Portland Observer—October 31, 1990
F Ja
Now We
Know What It
Aint!
Last week we posed the query,
“ What is a good faith e ffo rt? ” ,
and went on to review the reflections o f
Tony Brown, the w ell known black tele­
vision comnientor. His quotations from
the colum n o f W illia m Reed, a respected
black journalist lent considerable cre­
dence to his [Browns] position that Blacks
have failed miserably in u tilizing their
tremendous buying power to advance
their economic welfare.
Now, irony o f ironies, though M r.
B ro w n ’ s article severely took to task
black leadership and organizations for
holding an increasing number o f na­
tional meetings where billions are spent
yearly to the litany, “ how bad o ff we
a rc” -the money going to “ w hite mer­
chants rushing to bank w ith the money
from hotel rentals, scotch and chicken” -
Brown was selected as the K E Y N O T E
SPEAKER for the August ‘ super meet­
in g ’ o f 100 black organizations con­
vened by the N A A C P in Washington
D.C.
Over a m illio n dollars was spent
(blown?) by the conferees at this exuber­
ant binge on facilities and amenities while
reaching the momentous conclusion that
things are indeed bad-and calling for
another “ Domestic Sum m it o f A frican
Am erican leaders w ith President Bush to
discuss ‘critical issues’ facing Blacks”
(remember the old ghetto folktale about
the animals meeting in the jungle to
decide who would hang the bell on the
lion?).
We are indebted to a black newspa­
per, The M ilw aukee Com m unity Jour­
'
nal for a viv id and detailed description o f
the entire “ iro n ic” a ffa ir (August 29,
1990). Feature writer Larry A. Still pretty
well kept tongue-in-cheek but we think
it occasionally escaped. Let us further
examine their “ good faith e ffo rt” .
* ‘ Hooks also told the televised press
conference that T V comm unicator-edu­
cator Tony B ro w n ’s keynote speech,
urging all A frican Am erican organiza­
tions to cancel their 1992 conventions-
costing approximately $3 billion-and to
put the money into proposed ‘ ‘ self-help’ ’
programs, came as a bombshell.
However, the N AACP executive said
the plan was too complicated since con­
vention funds are not spent by the or­
ganizations but by individual delegates
who would have to decide whether to
donate funds they would not spend in
1992.”
“ Individuals could s till donate to
such a fund, Hooks said, in disclosing
that form er New Y o rk Congresswoman
Shirley Chisholm offered to contribute
S25,000 and said that she knew o f at least
20 other supporters who would donate
S I,000 to $10,000.
Such comments by the leadership
we have come to expect and are, o f
course, quite beside the point. The “ point”
is [is] there ever to be found at these
gatherings a structured methodology for
‘ inform ation retrieval’ and fo llo w up on
important proposals requiring detailed
input and collation? consider now, that
in this highly technical age o f “ inform a­
tion explosions” and data processing,
there are w idely advertised tools, equip­
ment and procedures available to such
‘ h ig h -ro llin g ’ organizations fo r im plem ­
entation o f their objectives. Also there
are inumberable courses, workshops and
seminars available. And yet we have it-
you are witness-that it always seems to
be “ loo com plicated” or to o u n w c ild y a
process to fo llo w upon important mat­
ters. W hat is the ‘real’ problem?
Civil Rights Journal
Keeping in m ind the hundreds o f
m illion s o f dollars these organizations
have been cited to spend on “ ameni­
ties” , I cannot help but reflect upon the
scope o f my own 1969 S.E. Belm ont
Street operation. True, the scope proved
to be too far ahead o f its time, but it was
a Good Faith E ffo rt to deli ver in the most
effective manner possible my educational
product o f curriculum , lesson plans and
audio-visual instruction from a then state-
of-the-art electronic data base-including
the latest in-house equipment and this
financed prim arily w ith m y personal
savings.
Today, it is sim ply incomprehen­
sible that in this modem day and age, not
only do these top black organizations
find things “ too com plicated’ ’ or mem­
ber groups structurally unavailable, but
we individual members around the coun­
try cannot electronically-albeit compe-
tently-interface w ith them to retrieve
inform ation or effectively participate in
the process. O f course, we have to con­
sider that it is the case w ith some organi­
zations we know, such inaccessability is
dclibcrate-as are the ‘books’ .
And, today, my view point on these
matters is not greatly enhanced when,
w ith my lim ited resources based on
‘retirem ent’ and occasional w ritin g in ­
come, I have developed an ‘ office-at-
home’ capacity to implement many o f
the data processing and national inter­
faces w hich many o f our top organiza­
tions have yet to achieve. This from in ­
house F A X and 800 lines, to a temporary
tie line w ith the fa c ility o f a form er
student in Beaverton fo r W A T T S line
and 900 number service-until m y own
service is installed after the firs t o f the
year. I am making a “ good faith e ffo rt”
in this re-entry into the education and
A frican Am erican history field. But I
have serious doubts about the efforts and
com m itm ent o f many o f our m ajor or­
ganizations.
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr,
President Bush’s Veto: A Standard of Immorality
____________________ ——__________________ '
BY BENJAMÍN F. CHAVIS, JR.
On October 22, 1990, President
George Bush made history. Bush be­
came the third president in the history o f
the United Slates to veto a C iv il Rights
A ct that had been passed by the Con­
gress. The first c iv il rights veto was done
by President Andrew Johnson, a staunch
segregationist, in the 1860’ s. The second
c iv il rights veto was done by President
Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s. Despite
pleas from national civil rights and church
leaders, Bush chose to “ do the wrong
th ing .”
President Bush, in explaining his
position, stated, “ I deeply regret having
to take this action w ith respect to a b ill
bearing such a title .” Bush concluded
that the C iv il Rights A ct o f 1990 was a
“ quota b ill” which would demand spe­
c ific numerical or proportional remedies
to prevent employment discrim ination.
However, the text o f the b ill as passed by
both the House and Senate specifically
stated that the C iv il Rights A c t o f 1990
does not call fo r quotas as a remedy.
Senator Edward Kennedy countered
Bush by stating ‘ ‘The President’ s veto o f
the C iv il Rights A c t o f 1990 and his
repeated efforts to pin the false label o f
quotas on this legislation are part o f a
disreputable tactic to appeal to public
resentment and prejudice.” In other words,
we now fin d the President o f the United
States abandoning all notions o f public
m orality in fa v o ro f an appeal to the most
vile elements o f this society, that is,
appealing to the forces o f racism and
sexism.
The extent to which African A m e ri­
can, Hispanic Americans, Asian A m e ri­
cans, Native Am ericans’ , and women in
general are systematically discriminated
ERVER
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against in the workplace is the extent to
which discrim ination has become insti­
tutionalized in society. The Congress
was correct in trying to rectify wrong
decisions made by recent rulings o f the
Supreme Court.
Many A frican Americans and oth­
ers arc outraged that President Bush would
act to deny protection from employment
discrim ination. In particular, in the wake
o f Bush deploying nearly one hundred
thousand A frican Am erican and other
racial an ethnic women and men who
serve in the United States armed forces
to the Persian G u lf, the veto o f the C iv il
Rights A c t o f 1990 exposes a gross con­
tradiction. Does the President expect these
soldiers, who have been sent to risk their
lives to help defend the strategic interest
o f the United States, to welcome the
news that their Commander in C h ie f has
deliberately acted not to defend their
c iv il rights at home?
A t a time when our nation is becom­
ing more and more racially polarized,
President Bush’ s veto may make matters
worse. The President is the elected leader
o f the nation and has a responsibility to
help set not only p olitical direction, but
more im portantly, to help establish the
moral tone o f the nation. The tolerance
o f racial injustice and employm ent dis­
crim ination w ill destroy the moral fiber
o f any nation.
The standard o f leadership that Bush
is now exem plifying helps to create the
notion that discrim ination and injustice
are m orally and p o litic a lly tolerable. We
reject this notion. We believe this is a
challenge that must be responded to by
the people. Therefore, we are encourag­
ing all o f those who believe injustice and
equality to begin imm ediately to organ­
ize, at the grassroots level, in every
congressional district throughout the
country to build support for the passage
o f the C iv il Rights A ct o f 1991. Bush’s
veto and the ina bility o f Congress to
override the veto are not the last words
on this matter.
As we witness other parts o f the
w orld take significant steps toward a
greater sense o f democracy and justice,
President Bush is leading the United
States in the wrong direction concerning
basic c iv il rights. We are just several
days before the November elections and
we encourage people to send a strong
message to Congress and to the W hite
House on Election Day. Let the word go
out that we do not intend to allow this
nation to continue taking steps back­
wards on the issue o f justice. Political
im m orality w ill not be tolerated.
A
Miss America Writes a New Chapter
of Hope for America the Beautiful
BY: A. LEE HENDERSON
Miss Am erica was once a part o f the
hoax that presented the Am erican Dream
in shades o f anglo-Saxon antiquity: its
golden-haired paragons o f virtue and
beauty (no matter i f dipped in perox­
ide!), its ivory-skinned demoiselles pale
and w ithout any hint o f suntan to mar the
im plied v irg in ity o f whiteness, its strict
adherence to the fantasy factory stan­
dards o f fairytales and maidens freshly
arrived from fam ilies bearing the stan­
dards o f old-fashioned tradition manu­
factured by those who wanted to b lin d ­
fold us to what America was really all
about in the hope that any ‘ ta in t’ o f non­
purification would go away. Miss Am er­
ica used to be a W ASP configuration
geared to reactionary standards. Used-
to-be is OVER!
It is somewhat ironic that the last
two reigning Queens o f A m erica’s apo­
gee o f beauty are royal in their black­
ness, and that their achievements are
recorded fo r a turning point in a time
when the very foundation o f the Miss
Am erica pageant became threatened by
criticism from fem inist camps and from
those who are outspoken on the subject
o f reducing women to judgments based
on physical proportions or any dim en­
sions beyond intelligence.
But I believe that credit is certainly
due to the progress inherent in the Miss
Am erica pageant today. C ertainly, the
categories for talent and com m unity par­
ticipation, fo rp ub lic speaking andakeen
concern w ith issues bespeak criteria that
are weighed heavily in the balance. Such
was certainly the case when M arjorie
Vincent, o f Haitian descent, a 1988 gradu­
ate o f DePaul w ith a Degree in Music,
performed at the piano w ith the disci-
pline o f a virtusoso as she performed the
d iffic u lt C hopin’s Fantasy Impromptu
Opus 66. The joyous outpouring o f her
inner radiance shimmered into the per­
fection at the keyboard which was bom
o f years o f dedication, devotion, and
plain hard work.
Ms. Vincent arrived in the United
States when she was three years old. She
speaks French and Creole, and she was
the only black contestant in the 1991
completion. We now know more o f the
inside workings o f what it takes to com ­
pete. Here, too, is an enormous amount
o f preparation. We are told that the aver­
age contestant is aware that she w ill
often need the tutoring o f a professional
consultant to work w ith her on a daily
lesson basis! M odeling clothes, assum­
ing television camera angles, learning
performance steps and ensemble work is
the least o f the requirements which pay
meticulous attention to the way one’ s
hair, make-up body language speaks o f
confidence and pride.
In the category o f self-pride M ar­
jo rie Vincent spoke to all o f us and to the
world. Her bearing, impeccable and stately
carried the message o f freedom and self-
worth. Her plans to practice interna­
tional law and to render help to those
caught in the web o f impoverishment in
distant nations echoed a universal mes­
sage from the Miss America stage. The
young third year law student at Duke
U niversity has brought new status, new
prestige to the old Miss America pageant
and awakened the Am erican dream for
all o f us.
Unique, indeed, on the heels o f lovely
and God-inspired Debbye Turner, w alk­
ing w ith Jesus in every phase o f her life
as the retiring 1990 Miss Am erica, that
another black Queen shall reign in 1991!
The strings on the piano reverber­
ated w ith a message that 1 hope, during
M arjorie V incent’ s performance, w ill
resound to each and every one o f us who
aspire to change our lives fo r the better.
There is hope in the Am erican Dream
provided we set our sites realistically
upon a given objective and proceed to
labor fo r that objective.
We must labor personally fo r what
we desire.
We must labor career-wise and job-
wise for what we aspire.
We must labor com m unity-w ise for
the concert o f a ll our efforts to make
things better in education, in housing, in
entrepreneurship, and em ploym ent
We must labor c ity , state, and na­
tionally, and internationally to make our
voices and our actions count.
We have said tim e and again that
apathy is a disease and activity a passage
to hope.
There is hope for the American Dream
to respond to the changes we have brought
about, only i f we participate and prod
ourselves into a re-awakening that we
deserve a slice o f that great Am erican
Pie by never giving up, always going
forward, never backing down when we
fa ll, always picking ourselves up and
marshaling our strength to do more, to do
better, to do besL
Each one o f us, remember, is a piece
o f the America which can be put together
by us to re-create the land o f golden
opportunity in our own image to the
L o rd ’s glory.
We may always enjoy th sym bol o f
a Miss Am erican which indeed was re­
created in our own image to the L ords’
glory and as a beacon o f betterment fo r
all humanity.
lack Newspapers in America:
A Struggle For Survival
cations, the P O R T LA N D O BSERVER
A recent article in the W a ll Street declining circulations.
Many
problems
o
f
the
black
press
and T H E S K A N N E R , w hile experienc­
Journal describes the Black Newspapers
are
indicative
o
f
the
newspaper
industry
ing an increase in readership, find that
across the U.S. as perpetually “ under­
as
a
whole.
A
dvertising
has
been
soft
for
major
Oregon department stores and retail
capitalized, under-equipped, and under­
several
years
running,
as
Americans
spend
outlets
are reluctant to advertise in black
staffed.” It cites as reasons declining
much
more
time
watching
television.
newspapers,
claiming that the state’s black
advertising revenue, circulation and
But
the
impact
is
especially
severe
on
population
is
too small. Periodically, these
profits, making the mission o f black news­
black
newspapers.
According
to
the
W
all
outlets
w
ill
advertise
in once a year spe­
papers increasingly d iffic u lt.
cials such as M artin Luther King,
Recently, the N A A C P ’ s
Jr., Holiday, or M in o rity Busi­
Executive D irector, Benjamin
Newspaper
Audited
Circulation
ness Enterprise Week. Seldom,
Hooks, announced a campaign
(City.year founded)
1980
1985
1990
to revitalize the Black Press.
even when recruiting fo r m inor­
N Y Am sterdam
81,200 50,000 31,584
ity staff w ill they advertise in
He said the industry is “ Locked
News
in a struggle to survive” be­
Portland’ s two most respected
(New Y ork, 1909)
black publications, but spend thou­
cause o f forces and factors that
M ich ig a n C h ron icle
41,712 32,000 24,516
it “ cannot co n tro l” . The Jour­
sands o f dollars, daily, advertis­
(D etroit, 1936)
ing in w hite newspapers, dailies
nal points to the experience o f
L .A . Sentinel
34,100 29,356 23,886
The New York Amsterdam
and weeklies. These merchants
(Los Angeles, 1933)
News, one o f Americas oldest
w ill insist on a black newspaper
A fro -A m e ric a n
26,400 12,500 11,614
and largest black newspapers,
spending up to $3,000 fo r an audit
(Baltim ore, 1892)
which has witnessed a drop in
o f their circulation w hich verifies
M o b ile Beacon
7,560
4,678
4,672
circulation in the past two years
readership but once this is per­
(M o bile, A la., 1954)
from 50,000 to 31,584-a de­
formed, they give excuses like,
Louisiana W eekly
17,370 9,600
4,651
cline o f 16% The Amsterdam
our advertising budget is already
(New Orleans, 1928)
News Editor-In-Chief, W illiam
allocated fo r the year, or we have
Tatum , attributes this decline
in readership to the “ Freedom
Rides in the 1960’ s.” Even more alarm ­
ing is the fact that in 1980, the circula­
tion o f The Amsterdam news was a healthy
81,200.
But the problems o f The Am ster­
dam News arc not unique to other black
newspapers in America. The Baltimore
A fro-A m erican, the oldest black news­
paper in America (1896) had an audited
circulation in 1980 o f 26,400. Today, the
A fro-A m erican is audited at 11,614,ora
62% drop in circulation. As shown in the
Chart below, other major black newspa­
pers across the country are reporting
Street Journal article, another reason for
lack o f support is the indifference shown
by middle class blacks. The article quotes
H crry Labrie, a w rite r for the publica­
tion, Editor and Publisher, who has sur­
veyed black newspapers since 1970. “ The
black press took relatively conservative
positions on C ivic Rights activism dur­
ing the 1960’s and ‘ fell out o f step w ith
the youth.” M any 1960’s activists are
now members o f the black middle class,
he says, but they never developed a lo y­
alty to the black press.
OREGONs two major black pub li­
an advertising agency” . B ut the
most common or insulting ex­
cuse is, “ we get better results from the
Oregonian.
Black newspapers cannot survive
without the support o f the w hite business
establishment, sim ply because too few
black businesses generate enough finan­
cial support from the black com m unity
to advertise in a black publication.
Support fo r a black com m unity
newspaper can only come from its read-
ership^that readership must buy products
that are advertised in black newspapers.
They must also demand that merchantts
support comm unity newspaper.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Mrs. Spears:
I read your article on “ G row ing In
Grace and W isdom ” . It was a very inter­
esting article; but, it wasn’ t true and it
was insulting to me. A ll o f these experi­
ences that you have explained a ll hap­
pened after W orld War II. I was bom
here long before that time.
The way o f life in Portland was not
prostitution and gambling. Portland was
a small city w ith very few Negroes, as
we were called before the war. There
was some prostitution and gam bling but
it was all in their own comm unity. A fter
the war and shipyard days, Portland
changed. Folks began to move to Port­
land. Prostitution and gambling had their
district. It was not all over town. W hite
folks pul up signs on restaurants and on
empty houscs-W H ITE O N LY . Segrega­
tion signs were all over the city. You, if
you were colored, and had a hard lime
finding a house to rent. It was hard to find
a house on the other side o f Northeast
17th Avenue.
Families stuck together. Everybody
knew each other. We had three w ell-
known churches in town.
Being a segregated city on the west
coast, it was hard for Negroes to get
employment. Many Ncgroc fam ilies did
w ell. The men worked for the railroad as
porters,cooks and the like. Somcclcaned
up the tracks from the train trips from
state to state. The men worked as janitors
in different kinds o f businesses. Few
were postmen. A couple o f them had
new and second-hand furniture. W c had
about four doctors and few dentists striv­
ing a number o f years. W c had a couple
o f men to move fam ilies from rented
homes to more tented houses. It was hard
to buy houses then. The men raised
vegetable gardens to help Iced their
families. The wives helped and stayed
home and raised the children in the church.
Most o f them sent the kids out o f tow n to
colleges where they came from .
Now-after a few generations, Port­
land has and is im proving ir. many o f
instances. Ncgores are becoming better
citizens in most all businesses. Negroes
can buy property in most neighborhoods
w ithout a lot o f hassle i f they are finan­
c ia lly able. Em ployment is more fair
than ever before, and wherever you see a
sign you can sign up for any position you
want and can qualify.
Portland is getting belter after going
through the years after the wars.
Prostitution and gambling has never
been the way o f life among the respect­
able Negroes. I am a native daughter
bom in 1913. (Name w ithheld)
4