Page 2—T he Portland O bserver-February 6, 1991
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The Colors of War
BY A. LEE HENDERSON
our newspapers, as I am now doing, to
rally the dem ocratic opposition. Even
The heroes of this war will be the
among Republicans like myself!
people, those who selflessly gave of
The luxury of exercising one’s con
them selves to comfort and support the
stitutional right to critique the powers
fam ilies and service personnel drawn
that differentiate us from our Arab nation
into the Presi
adversaries.
d ent's
The end o f a bayonet o f firing
signal to stop
squad speaks the language that silences
Saddam H us
any opposition. And it does, most e f
se in ’s ruthless
fectively. W e are free from that cal
aggnxssoi_beiGre
umny.
it got worse.
But we must exercise our free
The military
doms, even in wartime, to explore the
heroes of this war
things that provoke us. Indeed, some
Dr. A. Lee Henderson
w ill, u n fo rtu
are so provoked against the govern
nately, also be those who have put their
ment that they have used them selves as
lives on the line...and suffered the con
a peace protest to the governm ent and
sequences, from loss of life to loss of
this administration.
buddies.
The tactical need for w ar is not at
Every one in service, to me, is a
issue any longer.
hero...sung or unsung.
W e’re in iL
We have already learned that A fri
W e’re pledged, all o f us, to side
can A m ericans as a group are the ma-
with reasonable thought and fervent
jortiy heroes, since each and every one
prayers for the resolution o f conflict on
o f them signifies a disparity that ren
both sides.
ders their group the largest, proportion
Meanwhile...the minority of Blacks
ately, o f any other group o f people in
in this country are already waging the
service!
war for all o f us at home, and we ought
I doubt that this will be accorded
to remind A m ericans everyw here that
the salute it properly deserves form the
they should be grateful!
President of the United States and those,
Circulating the facts on this situ
including General Colin Powell, chair
ation can re-aw aken the civil rights
man of the C hief of Staff, whose busi
seeds that have fallen dormant.
ness it is to orchestrate the Persian gulf
Now is the time to stop sleepwalk
war.
ing the path o f promises. Now is the
G eneral Pow ell's designation as
time to dig in and re-claim the path by
C h ief o f Staff has afforded him the
re-seeding it with new, well-expressed
visible luxury o f standing out as an
demands. We have all earned the right
A m erican o f great stature...an African
to do that, and we had better maximize
A m erican who has achieved what few
our political advantages while they stand
Blacks would have believed possible
out loud and clear in military statistics
during W orld W ar II in any branch o f
that support the United States and Presi
service.
dent Bush, too!
Blacks were then considered ex
We want something back.
pendable, along with other good sol
We deserve it, fairly, but like any
diers, but certainly not worthy to be
disenfranchised and at times ‘ ’dysfunc
m ajor office-candidate material, much
tional” group o f serverly m isunder
less a General functioning as Chief o f
stood and mistreated minority peoples,
Staff at the highest Pentagon level!
we have not been as effective in a
Yet there are still things in this
positive way as we want to be.
nation that are covered over in a cam ou
Yet our own position against tyr
flage that passes for haste to get on with
anny is sounding out loud and clear, as
first-things-first on a wartime priority
mine is, as a mandate o f support o f our
basis. The winning o f the war is first
women and men in service.
Down home issues are conven
There is evidence that Blacks in
iently tabled, unless we speak out through
the United States are bearing too great
President George Bush
a burden in our current Persian G ulf
crisis.
Defense Department o f the United
States statistics showed that the Kuwait
border numbers of one hundred four
thousand (104,000) Black women and
men, account for nearly twenty-five
percent of the American troops in the
Persian Gulf. The total o f thiry percent
o f all Army troops provided by Blacks
compares with Blacks making up only
twelve percent of the nation’s civilian
population!
Some anti-war groups are trying to
discourage Blacks from joining the
military since their community will be
forced to pay disproportionately for a
war that many Blacks fail to find pur
poseful.
The eloquence of Bertha Bailey, a
Black high school teacher in McKin
ney, Texas, speaks for many of us,
however. She has a grandson serving in
the heat of the gulf area war, and unlike
the Muslims in the U.S.A. opposed to
the war, Bertha was not afraid to ex
press her own simple patriotism and
heartfelt feelings when she said:
“ Sometimes, some things can’t get cor
rected without someone getting hurt.
We don’t need a fight within a fight.
Why worry about who is over-repre
sented when they’re all at danger point?”
Yet the voices of Rev. Jesse Jackson
joined those o f Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks,
president of the national Association of
the Advancement o f Colored People
decrying surplus numbers of Blacks in
the voluntary service, drawn into the
gulf hostilities, as evidence of their
readily available.
According to W illiam J. Hicks,
M .D., ‘‘If there was ever a time when
we (Blacks) should be considered spe
cial donors, this is the time. Blacks
need to gain a greater aw areness of our
blood and blood donating services. There
are some misconceptions about giving
blood, but through information sharing
and education this problem can be elimi
nated.”
If you are at least 17, weigh a
minimum o f 110 pounds and are in
good health, give a special gift-give
life. To schedule a donation appoint
m ent, call Trudy Sullivan,
284-0011, ex.292
ERYER
PORTI
(USPS 959-680)
OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established in 1970
Alfred L. Henderson
Publisher
Joyce Washington
Operations Manager
Gary Ann Garnett
Business Manager
Leon Harris
Editorial Manager
The PORTLAND OBSERVER is
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Portland, Oregon 97211
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ing Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., New York, NY.
must guarantee them a future worth
coming home to, and we must press
these
h o m efront
issues
loudly...firm ly...positively...and in
concert with each other.
Henry A. Kissinger defined the
philosophical paramenters o f the cur
rent war when he said, “ In several
thousand years o f recorded history, the
Middle East has produced more con
flicts than any other region. As the
source o f three great religions, it has
always inspired great passsion...An Arab-
Israeli negotiation will not end all the
turmoil, because many Middle East
problems are quite independent of that
conflict. Fundamentalism in Iran has
next to nothing to do with the Palestin
ian issue, though Teheran has exploited
i t And Saddam Hussein would have
tried to dominate his neighbors even if
the Palestinian problem did not exist.
But w hat the Arab-Israeli conflict has
done is to make it difficult for the
voices o f moderation in the Arab world
to cooperate with their supporters in
the W est. Victory in the gulf will create
a historic opportunity to alter that par
ticular equadon-and it should be seized.*
Another historic opportunity awaits
our President on the homefronL
He is a man who can clearly per
ceive that a domestic agenda of conse
quence awaits him , and his recent “ uni
fication’ ’ speech to the nation reflected
some crystal clear vision.
Yet, it is up to us to write to him
and com m unicate our expectations...
now, not later when the press of new
priorities intervene!
I would hope someday to be in
vited to sit down with President Bush
and share my own thoughts on practical
avenues to solutions to the morass of
problems that will continue to mount if
left untended during this crisis.
President Bush invites com m uni
cation from those who care.
Id o .
You do.
L et’s speak out supportively, but
in the spirit o f constructive criticism,
let’s “ prioritize” home business side
by side with the war.
May we encourage you to read
these w ords of our President to inspire
you. The leader who gave this speech
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« 3 K
M
I
to a troubled nation on the evening of
Tuesday, January 29, 1991, reveals
himself as a human being whose “ points
of light” rest in us, his people. Let us
share our own thoughts with President
Bush and urge him to create and correct
those fundamental issues in which you
have a personal stake. Express your
self, even as he, in the following words
has expressed himself, simply, to you:
Excerpt from President Bush’s
Speech to the Nation:
“ Halfway around the world we are
engaged in a great struggle in the skies
and on the seas and sands. We know
why w e’re there. We are Americans,
p a rt o f so m e th in g la rg e r than
ourselves...The strength o f a democ
racy is not in bureaucracy, it is in the
people and their communities. In eve
rything we do Je t us unleash the poten
tial of our most precious resource: our
citizens, our citizens themselves. We
must return to families, communities,
countries, cities, states, and institutions
o f every kind the power to chart their
own destiny and the freedom and op-
porunity provided by strong economic
growth. And that’s what America is all
about
“ I know tonight, in some regions
of our country, people are in genuine
economic distress. And I hear them.
Good health care is everyone’s rig h t
“ Let (the future generations) know
that together, we affirmed America and
the world as a community of conscience.
‘ ‘The winds o f change are with us now.
The forces o f freedom are together,
united. And we move toward the next
century, more confident than ever that
we have the will at home and abroad to
do what must be done-the hard work of
peace.”
That peace making process can
turn the colors o f war into a rainbow of
hope providing each and every one of
us self-empowers our com m unication.
In your own words, speak o u t
S elf-co n fid en ce co m es w ith
pracitee. Democracy demands such prac
tice. Use it or lose it!
*” A Postwar A genda” by Henry
A. Kissinger, Newsweek, January 28,
1991.
1
Pride Felt When Giving Blood
Different groups o f people have
different blood types. Nearly 20 per
cent of all African A m ericans have
type B blood, com pared to about 11
percent o f white Americans. As an A f
rican A m erican, you can make a spe
cial contribution to the African A m eri
can com m unity and to all Americans
by donating blood regularly.
The blood you give will result in
changing the shortage o f Type B blood .
The African American community does
not give in proportion to its numbers of
black patients needing transfusions. If
this shortage persists, patients...Black
and white...will be in jeopardy becasue
the blood types they need might not be
economic, not necessarily their patri
otic need!
Hooks said, ‘ ‘This nation ought to
be ashamed that the best and brightest
o f our youth don’t volunteer because
they love it so well, but because this
nation can’t provide them jo b s.”
Right now their loyalty to this na
tion is being played out in life-and-
death confrontations.
President Bush, may I ask you, on
their behalf to initiate a tribute to all
women and men o f color a civil rights
bill that unequivocally restores to them
the so-called ‘ ‘ inalienable” rights enti
tling them to justice in the job arena... to
freedom from any and all discrim ina
tion, and to a widening o f economic
opportunities?
President Bush, may I ask you, on
their behalf to initiate the best legal
tribute that they could have more in
centives to look forward to in a just
homecoming from hostilities?
Peace without equal opportunity is
peace in chains.
Emerging Blacks prove themselves,
time and again, in industry and com
merce. W e point with pride to those
who have achieved distinction, and we
promote with perseverance the rights
of those still discriminated against by
the privileged systems o f employment
practices which are a disgrace to our
nation.
In view o f President Bush’s ag
gressively righteous actions against
Saddam Hussein, w e wish to see the
backdrop screen of his civil rights posi
tion re-clarified.
Can we expect less from the leader
of our nation who has moved with chal
lenge and might to correct the abuses of
an international tyrant. The abuses of
national inequities deserve swift and
certain redress.
To sustain the momentum of the
war, we ask you to write to President
Bush, along with us, to accomplish this
objective.
Instead o f ‘ ‘Throwing out the baby
with the dirty bathw ater,” we must
take command o f our visions to rouse
the nation at w ar into a nation com m it
ted to fulfilling its civil rights duties to
our service personnel all around the
world! Our nation and its President
ÍS B M ®
R ccb o k
Candlelight
Prayer For Peace
Diane Enright urged the people of
Portland to help create a world of peace
Sunday, January 27. A cross-scetion of
faiths and congregations from the Church
of Scientology attended the candlelight
service with Portlanders joining together
to sing and pray for world peace.
The interdenominational service
was organized by the Church of Scien
tology o f Portland to give support to
friends and family o f servicemen and
women in the Persian Gulf and to broadly
promote a message o f peace.
Reverend Diane Enright o f the
Church of Scientology added that, “ Our
prayers and hopes are a united and
powerful force. These are the seeds
from which world peace can grow .”
Peace Group
Announces New
Offices
The Coalition Against U.S. Mili
tary Intervention in the Middle East has
moved to a new office space at 1841
NW 23 Avenue, Portland, 97210. The
new phone number is (503) 226-6411,
Soon the office will have several phone
lines in operation making com m unica
tions much easier. Before this week the
Coalition had been sharing office space
with the Portland Central America
Solidarity Committee (PCASC). Please
feel free to call for any updates on
activities or if you need information.
On Friday, February 1, 1991, at
5:00 p.m., there will be a gathering in
Pioneer Courthouse Square to express
opposition to the continued use o f force
in the Middle East. Area veterans have
organized Northwest Veterans For Peace.
They are presenting the forum this week
to express their support for the men and
women soldiers in the Gulf, and their
opposition to the governm ent’s policy.
PORTLA^JÖBSERVER
Are • The • Proud • Sponsors • Of
Reinvestments
Community
Glory: Black History and Struggle
The history of Black America has always
been, fundamentally, a struggle to be free.
Enslavement and racial oppression were
more than physical restrictions and the use
o f coercion against a people. Domination
could only be achieved when the mind and
spirit, as well as the body, was controlled
and broken. More Ilian a century ago, the
slaves came to understand that their free
dom could only be achieved if assumed an
active role in the struggle to liberate them
selves, mentally and physically. Freedom
handed down from above to the oppressed,
is not freedom at all. Freedom is only real
when the oppressed themselves, through
their own initiative and inner strength, shatter
the chains o f bondage.
This is the central message o f “ Glory,”
a historical drama depicting the ordeals of
a Black regiment which fought during the
height o f die Civil War. The Film is based
partially on the actual letters o f Union
Army colonel Robert Gould Shaw (played
by Matthew Broderick), who trained and
led the Massachusetts 54th Regiment in a
devastating assault on Fort Wagner. South
Carolina, in July, 1863. The son o f wealthy
abolitionists, Shaw was convinced that
African-American troops, if properly trained
and equipped, could exceed the perform
ance o f white Northern troops. As the film
unfolds, there is a synthesis o f sorts be
tween this abolitionist-inspired belief in
the equality o f Blacks and whites, with the
African-American desire to strike a per
sonal and collective blow against the evils
o f slavery.
The wisest decision o f “ Glory” direc
tor Edward Zwick was to focus the heart of
the film not on Broderick’s character, but
instead on four fictional Black men, who
are used to represent the divergent person
alities within the 54th Regiment. Denzel
Washington portrays a Nat Tumer/Mal-
colm X styled character, a Black man whose
back has been bloodied many times by the
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slaveholder's lash, who fights in order to
settle scores. Morgan Freeman plays the
regimental sergeant, a former gravedigger
who fights because o f his willingness “ to
die for freedom.'* Jihmi Kennedy portrays
a rural and illiterate ex-slave, but a crack
shot and screen newcomer Andre Braughlcr
does an excellent job as a New England
educated, middle class Black man, who
finds his roots and identity by bonding with
his fellow Black soldiers. The device per
mits a largely tyhitc audience to sec both the
diversity and humanity among the African-
American soldiers, who have volunteered
into the Union Army in order to liberate
their brethren in the South, as well as them
selves. Through the ordeal o f conflict, in
battle against white slaveholder officers,
the Black soldiers become active partici
pants in the struggle for freedom.
This is not to suggest that “ Glory”
holds up to historical examination. As
American films go, it is generally very
good, particularly the detailed accuracy o f
the battle sequences. However, it is short o f
the'mark within the framework o f Black
social history.
“ Glory” provides many examples o f
while racism within the ranks o f Northern
troops and officers, who refused to accept
the idea o f Black men carrying guns. But
this racism within the military was simply
a reflection o f bigotry within the entire
Northern society and political establish
ment as a whole. Lincoln didn’t free the
slaves with the Emancipation Proclama
tion as a humanitarian gesture, but solely as
a military decision to disrupt the South's
labor supply. The war was widely unpopu
lar among white Northern workers, and
they targeted their grievances by making
Blacks scapegoats. On July 13,1863, only
days before the galant and bloody assault
by Black troops on Fort Wagner, the white
working class in New York City rioted
against the city ’s Black population. Hun-
dreds o f people, mostly women and chil
dren, were killed; thousands more were left
homeless. For Black abolitionist Henry
Highland Gamet, who was nearly killed in
the race riot, these were “ dark and terrible
days.”
y
One o f “ Glory's” most moving se
quences which depicts Black troops reject
ing discriminatory wages beneath those of
white soldiers is also historically accurate,
but insufficient. The Enlistment Act o f
July, 1862, had set the pay scale for white
privates at $13 per month vs. $7 per month
for Black privates. The 54lh Massachusetts
Regiment refused any pay for more than a
year, and the policy o f discriminatory wages
was finally reversed in 1864. However,
many other Black troops protested the pol
icy as well. In the third South Carolina all-
Black regiment, sergeant William Walker
mobilized his fellow soldiers, stacking their
rifles and refused to fight under Jim Crow
wages. Predictably, Walker was court
martialled and shot.
.,
Finally, “ Glory” gives the audience
-the false sense that Black troops were an
exception to the rule in Civil War combat.
Actually, a total o f 180,000 Blacks fought
in the Union Army by the end o f the war.
More than 38,000 died, a 40 percent higher
casualty rate than for white Northern troops.
Blacks fought in over two hundred fifty
separate engagements, beginning as early
as the fall o f 1862. There were also scores
o f Black officers, including abolitionists
Major Martin R. Delany and Captain P.B.S.
Pinchback. Ex-slaves, both women and men,
worked as spies behind Confederate army
lines. African-Americans, civilians and
soldiers alike, were not passive witnesses
in the struggle for freedom. Despite these
weaknesses, “ Glory“ makes a substantial
contribution to our awareness o f the role of
African-Americans in the conflict to abol
ish human bondage.
"Reinvestments in the Community" is a weekly column appearing
in API publications throughout the USA.