Hage 2
1 he Portland Observer -No\ember 28, 1990
When is "At
Home" Not At
Home?
These recent “ Office At Homey
E lectronic C om m unications” may have
prom pted you to think, “ hey, perhaps
this is a way I can surm ount some of
these barriers (social or ra c ia l-re a l or
fancied) that seem to block any en
hancem ent o f my financial situation. If
so, you are absolutely right.
This electronic interaction can
spring you. Already Computer World
m agazine reports “ 30 m illion A m eri
cans have com puters at hom e and over
13 million have offices and/or businesses
at hom e.’ ’ Also, many seniors and shut-
ins say they have m oved far beyond the
narrow world of a former isolation. Many
A frican A m ericans say they are feeling
a lot more confident and optimistic about
the business world as they deal with
satisfied mail order custom ers who nei
ther know nor care who you are. The
enterprise may involve the delivery of
either service or m crch an d ise-o r both.
If you are a new com er into the
mail order world you may be wonder
ing, “ How in the world can you store all
o f that merchandise in your house or
basem ent until somebody places an
o rd e r-o r, even, how can you afford to
buy the huge quantiticsof stock?” Here,
you need to be introduced to the concept
o f “ Drop Shipm ents” . W hen you re
ceive the custom er’s order, it is for
warded to the m anufacturcrof the equip
ment or merchandise. He ships the
order to the custom er but bills you for
your cost of the product. Usually, the
custom er assumes that is came from
your big company or branch, rather than
from YOUR KITCHEN!
A case in point is an article on
page 1, section M, o f Sunday’s O rego
nian. Here, we find a young couple
operating a W aste Technology corpora
tion that sells huge m achines which
com pact and recycle garb ag e-m ad e in
Europe by a Swedish com pany. Their
“ headquarters” are a small suite on
East Burnside Street, but could just as
well have occupied a spare room in the
family residence.
As I stated last week, we cer
tainly need to see more African A m eri
can women taking on the challenge of
en trepreneurship-and, in particular,
taking advantage o f the opportunities
offered by electronic com m unications.
W e see that some econom ists and soci
ologists are saying that women are reach
ing the upper lim it o f their participa
tions in the work force. And, o f course,
we have the present dow nturn in the
eco n o m y -p lus the ever-present barrier
o f child-rearing demands. The elec
tronic com m ercial interface from the
home is a m ade-to-order solution.
Consider, too, that the opera
tion o f many of these new devices is not
nearly so difficult as one might think:
not nearly as frustrating as m ost o f us
males find the w ife’s new sewing m a
chine, a technological wonder, the use
o f which she takes in stride. Many o f the
m achines are self-m onitoring, incorpo
rating a tiny com puter that continually
trouble shoots and issues status reports.
The following is an excellent example.
Be sure to get a FAX machine
that prints out an “ activity report” as
part o f its unattended routine. The other
morning mine burped and w histled at 5
a.m. but there was no reason to get up
and investigate. Later on I found an
advice in the receiving tray which stated
an unaware caller from back e a st-a l-
ready in their office, 8 o ’clock their
tim e -h a d either put their transmission
in upside down or had inadvertently put
in a blank sheet o f paper. Also, pressing
“ Traffic A ssessm ent” furnishes a recap
o f a day or w eek’s activity in both direc
tions. It doesn ’ t get any easier than that.
Last week, 1 did not have space
to include the outstanding contribution
in com m unications made by anotherduo
o f black fem ales. Their effort was in
support of the 1978 convention o f the
Black Scientists and Engineers in 1978
at San Francisco. I participated as a rep
resentative of Portland State University.
The highly technical applications o f
m odem telecom m unications carried out
by these two young ladies made this the
m ost productive conference I have ever
attended anyw here or at anytime.
This was a scenario where not
only did the activities o f several hundred
African A merican scientists and engi
neers have to be supported, but those of
planeloads o f black school-age young
sters from age 8 to 18 who were flown in
from California cities as far away as Los
Angeles and San D ieg o n -to be m oti
vated and advised on the technical ex
hibits and working models constructed
by the engineers. These ranged from
m iniature waste treatm entplants toelec-
trical transm ission towers.
Also, scores o f west coast high
school and college seniors w ere flown
or bussed in to interact with college
recruiters, or with industry and govern
m ent recruiters from across the country.
This daily activity took place on the
floor o f a huge ballroom that had been
equipped with many scores o f desks and
ta b le s-a ll connected by dedicated tele
conference lines to the individual uni
versities or to the personnel offices o f
the corporation or public agency.
A youth could practically close
the deal on college acceptance or get
clear instructions on his next move. A
m ajor African American travel agency
was provided with on-site facilities in
cluding com puters and reservation tie
lines. O lder youths could establish
com m itm ents for interviews, be pro
vided transportation vouchers and be
put on a plane straight from the confer
ence. As I ’ve said, I have not seen
anything like it before or since. Some of
us are ready and some o f us ain ’t!
More next week.
cerns, and problems unique to African
A m ericans in the public sector. It will
address overcom ing race related stress;
conflict; developing coping techniques;
assisting participants to clarify personal
values and career objectives; and pin
pointing positive aspects o f the black
cultural experience which can be effec
tively used in the work place. Tom Nesby,
President of Nesby and Associates, will
facilitate this seminar.
Registration is required, there is an
advance registration fee of $25 for BNA
m em bers and $35 for nonmembers.
This workshop is endorsed by the
Sate Executive DepL, Portland City Com
missioners Mike Lindberg and Dick Bogle,
Black Professional Network and the State
D epartment of Human Resources.
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Fighting for a New Defense Policy in the U.S.
George Bush has decreed that the
United States needs to increase its expe
ditionary force in the desert sands of
Saudi Arabia to 450,000 troops by the
beginning o f 1991. W hat was initially
supposed to be a force o f 100,000 -
150,000 troops will now grow to a force
nearly as large as the U.S. deploym ent in
Viet Nam. In explaining this huge in
crease in U.S. forces in the Persian G ulf
region, Secretary o f State Jam es Baker
reiterated the need to defend our way of
life in the United States. The original
cost o f the U.S. deploym ent was pegged
at 1.2 billion per month or 15 billion
dollars a year. Neither President Bush
nor Secretary Baker have floated the fig
ures for these m assive additions to an al
ready costly and unaffordable force.
In the m eantim e entire American
cities like New York, Philadelphia and
East St. Louis, Missouri are on the verge
o f collapse. David Dinkins, M ayor of
New York, appearing on N B C ’s Today
Show, and reeled off statistics which go
to the source o f the problem . For every
$1.00 New Yorkers send to W ashington
they get $0.77 back in revenues. Federal
aid used to account for 19% o f New York
C ity ’s budget. Now federal aid accounts
for only 10% o f the city’s budget. And in
the critical area of housing Mr. Dinkins
pointed out that for every $1.00 the feds
use to spend on housing, $7.00 was allo
cated for defense. Now for every $1.00
the feds spend on housing, $46.00 goes
for the m ilitary budget. In 1988 Jesse
Jackson revealed that aid to education
was reduced by 20% under the Reagan-
Bush adm inistration. Jackson noted that
.55 of each tax dollar was going to de-
fensc/m ilitary spending while only .02
was allocated to education.
There are 30 million people in Amer
ica who are illiterate and another 30 m il
lion people who are functionally illiter
ate. Some 31 million people, or nearly
13% o f the U .S. population, are officially
listed as poor. But according to Repre
sentative Tony Hall, Chairman ol the
House Select Committee on Hunger, there
are another 13 million people who make
up the “ hidden poor” who live in des
perate conditions but are not defined as
poor by current official criteria. Includ
ing the hidden poor, 1 - 5 Americans
lives in poverty. 37 m illion people have
no health insurance. 3 - 6 m illion people
arc homeless. And millions o f people
have jobs with incomes so inadequate
that they arc joining the ranks of a rapidly
growing category of people who com
prise the “ working poor” .
Billions of dollars arc needed just to
repair public schools facilities in the U.S.
that have fallen into disrepair. The infra
structure o f federal highways, bridges,
state, county and m unicipal roads and
bridges is crumbling. This crumbling infra
structure is responsible fo ra growing loll
o f mishaps and fatal accidents. In addi
tion, A m erica’s aging and neglected in
fra-structure is becoming a m ajor drag on
business, com m ercial and industrial
developm ent and expansion. The list of
ailments which afflict “ our way of life”
is virtually without end.
All o f this raises the question as to
whose way o f life is the U.S. expedition
ary force defending the Persian Gulf.
Certainly not the way of life of the vast
number o f Americans who are afflicted
by the m aladies cited above. For them
the bloated military budget and foreign
mis-adventures like the invasion of Pan
ama and the massive U.S. troop build up
in Saudi Arabia arc the real enem y. It is
clear that the United States need a new
definition o f “ defense policy” .
W hat we need in A m erica is a de
fense against human m isery and suffer
ing; a defense against poverty and hun
ger; defense against unem ploym ent and
underemployment; defense against home
lessness, slums and urban and rural blight;
defense against illiteracy and inferior
education and mis-education; defense
against infant m ortality; defense against
AIDS and drugs; defense against poison
air, poison water and toxic waste; de
fense against racism , sexism , cultural
chauvinism, anti-sem itism , homophobia
and all forms o f prejudice and discrim i
nation; defense against the rich and su
per rich who control the A merican po
litical-economy and m anipulate it (and
us) to protect and enhance their wealth
and to maintain their pow er and privi
leges.
Progressives must fight for a new
defense policy which translates into the
developm ent o f a socially responsible
economy which fosters and promotes
human development and fulfillment over
property and profit. And a political-econ
omy which promotes and pursues peace
over war. Our real enem ies are not in the
Persian G ulf or on some far flung foreign
shores. O ur enemies are the maladies
which plague the U.S. from within. The
U.S. will cither find the appropriate ‘ ‘de
fenses” against these enem ies or no
amount of military spending or wars
against make believe enemies from abroad
can prevent the total devastation, demise
and collapse o f these U nited States.
...And Justice For All
Black Networking Association
Sponsors Workshop
The Black Networking Association
is sponsoring a Career Developm ent
Luncheon W orkshop on Dec. 13th from
11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the second
floor of the Smith Center, Portland State
University. The luncheon workshop is
entitled “ Career-development Strategies
for African American Public Em ploy
ees’ ’. The keynote speaker for the lunch
eon will be Gerald Seals, City m anager
for the City of Corvallis, Oregon. There
will be greetings, updates and inform a
tion from representatives o f Blacks in
Government, The Black Professional
Network, the National Forum, for Black
Public Officials and key public adm inis
trators at the luncheon.
This workshop is geared to develop
ing strengths to deal with issues, con
By Ron D¿ niels
[~T~l by Angelique Sanders
¡
Government Secrecy: Democracy vs. Supremacy
I had hoped to write an uplift
ing column this week, but I seem to be
(again!) dow nw ind of a stench em anat
ing from W ashington, D.C....
Regrettably, I have only cir
cum stantial evidence to cite, so this
colum n shall be based on “ aw areness of
the
p o s s ib ility ”
of
a
grave
w rongdoing...don’t judge a book by its
cover, o f course, unless its cover is a
brown paper wrapper!
H ere’s the bad news: Joseph
G crson, of the Peace Society of New
England, claim ed on KGW that body-
b a g s and other blatant im plications of
w ar arc being shipped back to the U.S.
from the Middle East. We are already at
war, he claim s, and Congress, the press,
and consequently the American public
are un aw arc-as well as powerless.
I wish I could simply dismiss
Gerson as an ovcrcrazed maniac that
was merely “ crying wolf” : but I have
seen too much lately that leans toward
the angle o f Bush acting maniacally,
that intim ates Gcrson might be privy to
something m ost Americans d o n ’t want
to face: has Bush declared w ar without
anyone’s know ledge or acceptance?
Several friends overseas have
informed me that the governm ent has
asked their husbands (who are affiliated
with the U.S. Army) for “ hclp” ...” in
case of w ar” , said the military, but went
on to verbally prepare them for a defi
nite and imm inent war. This was about
a month and a half ago. The men de-
c lin c d -th e lucky few who have enough
seniority to turn down the option, yet
with not enough seniority to be respon
sibly required to go. (By the way, this
addendum may prove crucial: mail that
these friends send to the states is m oni
tored by the g o v em m en t-it is opened
and read, and approved or disapproved
for passage onto the recipient...w hat se
crets do they have to hide? W hat can ’t
I know about my own country’s army,
that uses mine and fellow taxpayers’
money to fund their own activities? I
feel like I’m being forced to give money
to a generic charity, one labeled only:
“ Killers ‘R ’ U s” .)
Additionally, Bush’s edgy
behavior, which is attempting to hustle
us into war, has been further indicative
o f - i f not w ar-c o v e rt action o f some
sort in Iraq. A m erica’s growing rebel
lion has not yet tipped the scales of
Congress’ opinion toward war: but many
Congressm en (don’t lake that word as
A
sexist, please) are wary of B ush’s activi
ties, and several House members have
already threatened to take Bush to court
over violations of the Constitution.
Congressmen Foley and Mitch
ell verbally reminded Gcoge Bush of the
constraints-C onstitulionally-placcd on
the powers o f the presidency (namely,
that he cannot go pushing red buttons as
haphazardly as he cuts social programs
and vetoes civil rights bills). W hipping
a copy of the Constitution from his pocket
( I ’m not making this up! I know you’re
all wondering what a copy of THE
D O CU M EN T-the very one which states
our governm ent is of, by, and for the
peoplc-would be doing so close to Bush’s
fingertips and eyes. He m ust read the
Constitution the way an anxious school-
child reads his report card to his parents:
skipping the unsatisfactory parts and
jum ping right to, and dw elling in, the
parts he likes.), to Foley and M itchell he
snapped, “ I’m aware of w hat the
Constitution says, but it also says I ’m
Com m ander in C hief!” And, appar
ently, he intends to make full use of this
title.
Playing a game of secrecy and
deception surely comes as-read my lips—
no new thing to Bush. As former head of
the C.I.A ., he is probably one o f the
m ost skilled dcceptors of our time (at
par, I ’m sure, with ex-actors, such as
Reagan). Perhaps our continual history
o f electing deceptive men to presidency
(with the exception o f Carter, who didn’t
have the ingenuity, especially on for
eign policy m atter, to spread any tall
tales: but rem em ber Hoover, with his
intim ate F.B.I. experience; Kennedy,
with his extram arital affairs; Nixon,
with W atergate; Reagan, with the Iran-
C ontra a lfa ir-w h ic h if you’ll rem em
ber, would never have leaked had it not
been for an irate Iranian arms d e a le r-I
could go on and on) is not mere coinci
dence: perhaps we subconsciously seek
a man with a poker-lace to make us feel
our nation is in glorious shape. It would
be much harder (though much wiser) to
be under the conscientious rule of Jesse
Jackson, who would be screaming
“ R eform !” and pointing out the errors
o f our ways, while Bush, hands in pock
ets, would chuckle, “ Taxes? W ho needs
*cm?”
I am definitely not saying that
everything our government docs should
be exposed: I agree with the necessity to
keep some technology and weaponry
secretive (although, on that note, re
m ember when Reagan, a few years back,
said that his Star Wars missile net tech
nology would b e -a h , yes-H A N D E D
OVER TO TH E SOVIETS, so that we
would all be equally protected by it,
making w ar even more obsolete? My
two responses to that were: A: Oh,
RIGHT, y o u ’ll hand over that technol
ogy, and B: Even if you DID, it surely
w ouldn’t make war obsolete, as the net
was far from perfect, and only deflected
90% of projectiles...now , I have to fig
ure, it only takes one bomb out o f ten,
considering the overspill of radiation, to
kill most everyone within quite a cir
cumference: 90%, while good, needs to
be 100% to be at all effective. I read an
article in the San Francisco Chronicle
recently that said the justice system is
99% cffectiv, but isn’t it aw ful to be
caught in the other 1%?). I also can’t
argue that there will b e - in any opera
tion, including the U.S. governm ent-
some trade secrets, that it would be in
stockholder’s interest to never learn.
However, I’m sure that most would agree
that when those trade secrets jeopardize
one’s stockholdings, as well as one’s
life, the holder should be acknowledged,
and permission should be requested to
go forth with the p la n -o r at least, the
president o f the company or country
should m eet with the com m ittee heads
or Congressm en. And, brothers and sis
ters, w e’re not talking idly about jeop
ardized s to c k -w c ’re talking about jeop
ardized LIVES! I am not looking for
ward to a day when it becomes the norm
o f our go verm ent to hide its actions from
the American people: this day is com
ing, if no one protests.
Secrecy has been played to the
hill in all aspects of governm ent lately.
The Decem ber 10, 1988 issue o f Editor
& Publisher spoke of a photo ban: news
organizations which refused to sign a
governm ent censorship docum ent arc
barred from installing cameras near the
space shuttle launch pad. A year later,
on December 23, 1989, Editor & Pub
lisher correspondent George Gamcau
(the same w riter as in the last case in
point) reports that the governm ent is
tightening up on information o f all re
gards. “ The flow of information from
the Department of Justice is being choked
to a trickle, according to the increas
ingly frustrated press corps there.” In
1989, the Department o f Justice’s Pub
lic Affairs stall'(w hich gives updates to
4
the press) was cut in half, and The
W ashington Post reported new Im m i
gration and Naturalization Service regu
lations barring local offices from talk
ing to reporters without first getting clear
ance from W ashington. A dditionally, a
recent ruling bans prisoners from w rit
ing paid or bylined new spaper stories
(again, I ask, what does the governm ent
have to hide? T hey’re not protecting the
public from lies; they’re protecting the
public from knowledge.) Los Angeles
Times reporter Ron O strow , who has
been on the Justice D epartm ent beat for
23 years, says: “ Y ou’re finding in all
parts of Justice [ D cp’ t] a great reticence
to disclose basic inform ation that the
public certainly has a right to know .”
He went on to tell o f a recent incident in
which he had lunch with a top official
from the Department of Justice, and the
official was later interrogated about their
discussion. “ That sent out a chilling
message to people at any ran k ,” said
Ostrow, “ that it would be better to not
have any com m unications with report
e rs.”
A book by People for the
American Way called “ G overnm ent
Secrecy: Decisions W ithout Dem oc
racy” had several interesting items. “ The
National Security Council...has been
extensively utilized by President Re
agan to issure more than 200 ‘secret
law s’ on national policy m atters. C on
gress has virtually no know ledge of the
issuance of the orders. Even in the case
ol pertinent national security matters,
the appropriate com m ittees of Congress
are not inlormed. These have included
orders that: in 1981 first sent funds for
covert training o f Nicaragual rebel to
Argentina; in 1983 authorized Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) training and
support of secret counter terrorist squads
in the Middle East for the purpose of
‘preem ptivestrikes;’ in 1985authroizcd
agencies other than the CIA , such as the
National Security Council, to engage in
covert operations; and in 1986 author
ized the Libyan disinform ation’ cam
paign.” Summary, as 1 sec it: it is not
im possible-though wc like to be able to
put full trust in Congress to find out
about things like this before they’re
enacted, and faith in the press to find in
formation out before it’s ovcrcxploited-
that we could already be in a war with
Iraq.
Continued next week