Page 2—The Portland Observer - March 20, 1991
Open Letter To President George Bush
Blessed by the Promise of Peace
We Bear the Burdens With Bush
The Honorable George Bush
President of the United States
THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington, DC 20500-001
D ear Mr. P resid en t
T oday, M arch 6, you spoke to me
am ong m illions o f others listening to
your address before the joint session of
C ongress. It was a well-deserved acco­
lade accorded to you, and among those
applauding, my own two hands parted
from their prayerful thanks to extend
you their personal tribute.
W hat excellent and feeling words
you greeted me with, “ W e m eet in a
world blessed by the promise of Peace.
I shall never forget those words,
nor your counsel that you would offer
no sim ple solutions to the trouble spots
still existing in Lebanon, with our hos­
tages, and elsewhere.
I have listened since to the criti­
cism com e down. And that, in our free
democracy is perfecdy anticipated. Some
said you missed the opportunity to call
for a m ore com pleted domestic agenda.
I do not agree with them.
I respect your call for Congress to
* ‘rise above the parochial and pork bar­
re n ” and to put together a “ C om pre­
hensive agenda to prepare for the next
century.” You specifically cited the
need to enact legislation for energy,
child care, schools, expanded choices
in education, you asked further for bills
im pacting crim e, a disabilities act, a
civil rights bill, aviation, and highway
legislation.
As the Publisher o f the Portland
O bserver my ecclesiastical ears perked
to your teminology and request for * ‘re­
form and renew al.” That phrase is
straight to the heart of my church and I
understand it so well. We strive hard to
m eet that challenge in preserving the
kingdom s o f religion across A merica
in keeping with contemporary dem oc­
racy and the needs o f the people...all
our people.”
Your words, President Bush, drew
us so c lose together. And I wish that our
founder, the ex-slave Richard Allen
could have heard you...indeed, maybe
he inspired you down through the cen­
turies in the names o f all G o d ’s ch il­
dren to utter the simple invocaton that
will echo through time when you spoke
o f “ setting the face o f the nation against
discrim ination, hate and bigotry and to
elim inate that.”
1 wrote you a letter some weeks
ago, and that letter sought your help in
seeking specific rem edies for the ills
that beset many o f my people...and
millions o f others, beyond the ethnic-
imposed lim itations imposed by condi­
tioning and being born into an environ­
ment of limited opportunity, educa­
tion-wise, em ploym ent-w ise, housing-
and-health-wise.
1 have been reminded by the R e­
publican Party affiliation that it is time
to send in my financial support.
I have trouble doing so.
W ith you, I com m it to be as you
adm onished, “ caring, good and gener­
ous in all we do.”
Yet I must exact something els?
from you.
I m ust be assured that you have the
integrity to rise above rhetoric on the
road to righteousness for these United
States o f A merica and its people.
1 want to believe beyond a shadow
of d o u b t
I already respect you for your
courage to emancipate Kuwait and prove
to the world that you could be the
soldier for peace...not just war.
I think o f m yself as a Soldier for
Peace, at your side, however, in order
to preserve that peace, you were right
sending troops to stop Saddam Hussein’s
ruthless aggression ...before it got worse.
Popularity is fleeting, and I am
sure that you are not going to follow
such polls to ascertain your percent­
ages every tim e you turn around.
But if I may, please rest assured
that your popularity shall always stay
Starter Jacket Robberies
During Decem ber 1990 through
February 1991, the Portland Police
Bureau has received approxim ately
25 reports from persons who were the
victims o f robberies where their starter
jackets were taken. T hese robberies
occurred throughout the Portland m et­
ropolitan area.
The Police Bureau has arrested a
num ber o f persons in connection with
these starter jacket robberies.
Starter jackets sport the name and
logo o f popular professional teams
(i.e., Los Angeles Lakers, Los A nge­
les Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Boston
Celtics, Chicago Bulls) and are popu­
lar am ong many young people. O ften­
times, starter jackets are favored and
targeted for robberies by youths who
are gang members.
The robberies som etim es take
place when a group o f youths ap­
proach a victim and threaten to injure
the victim if the starter jacket is not
surrendered. On some occasions, the
victim has been assaulted, suffering
physical injury.
Police believe that m any times
starter jacket robberies go unreported.
Due to the recent arrests o f persons
involved in these robberies and the
possibility that they may have com m it­
ted sim ilar robberies prior to their ap­
prehension, police are asking persons
who have been the victims o f such
robberies to call the Gang Enforcem ent
Team at 823-4106. The following offi­
cers will be available for additional
information, interviews, and display of
starter jackets on Friday, M arch 15,
1991 at 11:00 a.m.
Sgt. Larry Kochever
O fficer Frank Klejmont
O fficer Norm Sharp
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as steady as the good faith you show
this nation in initiating the specific
planks that match your expressions of
March 6 to move this nation forward
dom estically as well as in a world
made more secure by your decisive
intervention against unfair aggression.
I ask that you keep us informed. I
ask that you follow through. I ask that
you experience for yourself and your
family the blessings of the prosperity
you have mapped out for the nation
which one day, realistically, can be
enjoyed by those now denied.
Thanks to you, that can be changed.
I pray that you have the strength and
fortitude to see it through.
You shall alw ays have critics de­
nying your sincerity. I know better. I
know that you are sincere because you
told me so on March 6 before the entire
world.
I know that you do not suffer fools
gladly, and that you arc wise enough to
know exactly what you are doing. Your
extraordinary words mapped those areas
wherein you will initiate our progres­
sion from underachievers to superachiev­
ers.
W here there is help available, you
will use it. You can count on me. I’m
with you all the way. And we will get
there.
Avail yourself of the top strate­
gists you drew upon militarily to in­
spire you to locate those top strategists
you can draw upon domestically.
T h o se w ho se rv e d , serv ed
brilliantly...all those you paid tribute to
in the m ilitary...those who made the
suprem e sacrifice and those who will
be coming home now, alive and free.
We bear the burdens with you at
home.
Use us.
Use us to build that “ new world
order” on a home front that dem on­
strates its eagerness to change and make
changes before it is too late.
Sincerely,
A. Lee Henderson
Atlanta Based Minority
Firm Provides
Telephone Services To
Troops In Saudi Arabia
A consortium of companies led
by C om m unications International, Inc.
(CII), an Atlanta based minority owned
telecommunications systems integrator,
is providing telephone service for
American troops in Saudi Arabia. CII
has engineered, installed and is operating
“ telecenters” at sites along the Saudi
desert. The first sites were operable on
Christm as day and American troops are
still enjoying this opportunity to keep in
touch with their loved ones at home in
the U.S. “ Project Phone H om e” has
seen virtual 24 hour usage since it was
launched. CII plans to operate these
telecenters in Saudi Arabia as long as
there is a need for this service for the
A merican troops.
These telecenters consist of
m o b ile sa te llite te rm in a ls and
com m unications vans equipped with
state-of-the-art
telecommunications
facilities such as digital switches,
Republic and Avanti multiplexers, and
pow er supplies. C onnectivity is
accom plished via IN TELSA T into the
U.S. telephone network.
“ O ur expansion into the
international arena is in keeping with
the company’s aggressive growth plans,”
according to CII President, Joseph Profit,
Sr. “ W e also want to do what we can to
support our troops and our country at
this crucial tim e.” CII in addition to
establishing the first o f its kind telephone
service available to the troops, CII has
been instrumental in helping Washington,
D.C. base, non-profit minority business
advocate, NAMTEC, launch ‘ ‘Operation
G.I. FoneH om e” to encourage the
American public to help defray costs in
association with the troops making these
calls home to the U.S.
America's Shameful War
Against the People of Iraq
In M artin Luther K ing’s speech
" A Tim e to Break Silence, “ in which
he passionately articulated his opposi­
tion to the V iet Nam W ar, King argued
th a t: “ If we do not act we shall surely
be dragged down the long dark and
shameful corridors o f time reserved for
those who possess power without
com passion, m ight without morality
and strength without sight.” This pas­
sage is certainly appropriate to the U.S.
led war against Iraq.
The vast majority o f Americans
are engaged in an exhilarating national
orgy o f celebration o f the U.S. victory
over Iraq. The U.S. flexed its military
might with awesom e weaponry and as­
tounding technological superiority. The
“ victory" was all the more ‘‘satisfy­
ing’ ’ because the ground war was short
and the U.S. casualties were “ am az­
ingly light.” President Bush, the eu­
phoric com m ander-in-chief, declared
that the U.S. has finally buried the
“ Viet Nam syndrom e” . U.S. pow er
reigns supreme again. Lost in the eu­
phoria o f the victory celebration are the
questions o f the necessity and m orality
o f the war in the first place.
As the quote by Martin Luther
King suggests, it is the measure o f a
great nation that it uses its pow er with
COM PASSION, MORALITY and
SIGHT. Certainly Saddam H ussein’s
invasion and occupation of Kuwait and
the crimes committed against the Kuwaiti
people were wrong and clearly unac­
ceptable to the international com m u­
nity. But the U.S. response was totally
out o f proportion to Iraq’s acts of ag­
gression.
In the final analysis we m ust ask
oursleves whether or not it was abso­
lutely necessary to launch a war to
solve the crisis in the Persian Gulf? Did
the United Slates really exhaust all
channels to achieve a negotiated settle­
ment to the conflict? O r was a peaceful
settlem ent the “ w orst case scenario”
as some analysts described it? Finally,
we must ask ourselves whether it was
necessary to bring such devastating de­
struction and death on the Iraqi people
including its military?
As the air war was prosecuted with
brutal precision and the ground war
was initiated (after the U.S. hastily
ignored the Soviet peace plan), it be­
cam e increasingly clear that the U.S.
w anted to punish the Iraqi people and
totally humiliate Saddam Hussein. The
U.S. was hell bent on sending a clear
signal and warning that the U.S. is now
the w orld’s only super power. Third
W orld nations must play by U .S. spon­
sored rules within the “ New World
O rder” or suffer the same fate as Sad­
dam Hussein and Iraq. A terrible num­
ber o f casualties were inflicted on the
Iraqi people to make this point.
The great tragedy o f the v. ar in the
G ulf is that Americans seem incapable
o f seeing beyond “ o u r” casualties. As
the celebration continues there is little
empathy for the * ‘enem y’ ’ and the hor­
rendous loss of life and suffering which
the victorious American led forces in­
flicted on a nation o f 18 million people
whose bellicose leader com m anded a
third rate military force at best.
In what am ounted to a massive war ,
game com plete with live targets, the’
U.S. flew nearly 100,000 com bat mis-*
sions against the Iraqi forces. More
“ sorties” were flown against Iraq than
against Japan, Nazi Germ any or North
Viet Nam. The industrial infra-struc­
ture o f Iraq was alm ost totally deci­
mated as bridges, highways, factories,',
com munication facilities and water
purification plants were bom bed again
and again. Inevitably the “ collateral” )
damage resulted in the deaths o f thou­
sands o f Iraqi civilians.
q
The horrible human toll o f dead
and wounded Iraqi HUMAN BEINGS;
is the most shameful and immoral leg­
acy of this arrogant mis-use o f power-,
by the United States. The estim ate of;
the Iraqis killed is from 50,000 to 150,000'
people. Perhaps another 250,000 Iraqis;
were wounded. How can we justify this;
staggering and unthinkable human-
carnage? Are A m ericans immune from
feeling the suffering and pain o f other'
people who have lost sons and daugh-:
ters, children and love ones? T he physic
cal and human destruction heaped upon:
the Iraqi people is a crim e against the,
people o f Iraq and humanity.
j
The U.S. may have won the war;
but in the process, the U.S. may have-
lost its soul. To paraphrase a passage
from the Bible what profit a nation to
conquer the world and lose its soul? ?
The Federal Government Announced 54 Billion Contracts
The Federal Government has re­
cently announced that 54 billion dol­
lars in governm ent contracts will go to
individuals and small businesses. Be­
cause of new regulations, many of those
contracts have been earmarked for dis­
tribution to entrepreneurs, individuals
and small businesses.
Larry Hales, president o f M edia
USA, said, “ There will be more than
15,000 government jobs and opportu­
nities coming open and w e’re gearing
up to handle the crush of those seeking
information.
M edia USA has assisted the CIA,
State Department, Department of Com­
m erce, all m ilitary branches and many
other governm ent agencies as well as
many large private sector industries
with research and marketing and lob­
bying efforts over the past twenty years.
Hales is quick to point out that his in­
formation service is approved by the
U.S. Government and has helped thou-
sands find work within and outside of
the government.
M edia USA has established a 24-
hour information hotline to process calls
for information. The number is 1-900-
468-2437 (GOV-BIDS) (The cost of
this call is $2.95 per m inute.) “ We
have beet) inynd^t^ with ^a lls about
jobs and contract opportunities in
Kuwait, but w e’ve been able to get the
necessary information to all o f the call­
ers,” Hales said.
AMALGAMATED PUBLISHERS, INC.
PORTtfl?®lfcl&ERVER
Are • The • Proud • Sponsors • Of
Reinvestments
Community
Along the
Color Line
For months, the media followed
ihe controversial trial o f Washington,
D.C. mayor Marion Barry with a per­
verse mixture o f fascination and dis­
gust. Sex, drugs and public illegality al­
ways sell. The Barty trial had it all. A ct­
ing as a legal pimp, the federal govern­
ment obtained the services o f Barry’s
ex-girlfriend, Rasheeda Moore, to snag
its victim. Am ple evidence was pre­
sented in the trial proving to most ob­
servers that Barry had been a casual user
o f drugs for many years. Evidence o f
government malfeasance was abundant
as well. Scores o f Barry lieutenants and
confidants had been indicted and con­
victed o f various crimes during the past
decade.
The political circus came to a
disappointing end, however, when the
ju ry found the mayor guilty o f only one
misdemeanor-possessing cocaine. Il
acquitted him o f one count, and couldn’t
agree on twelve additional charges. Barry
flow claims that he was vindicated, and
has announced plans to run as an inde­
pendent fo r a D.C. Council Seat
Marion Barry is surely guilty
o f many things-depcndcnce on cocaine,
infidelity to his long-suffering and silent
w ife, and most o f all, political stupidity.
But htc Barry case makes no sense out­
side o f its broader political and racial
context. The federal government’ s en­
tire case rested on entrapment o f the
/\
1 I
By Dr. Manning;
Marable
worst kind. No one seriously believes
that Barry's decision to enter a hotel
room with his former lover was dictated
by a desire for crack. Sex, not drugs,
motivated the mayor. Barry’s certainly
guilty o f adultery, and his libido's out o f
control. His problems with alcohol and
cocaine certainly made him unfit to hold
public office. But the authorities would
have been wiser to pressure Barry to
resign, in lieu o f facing criminal charges
and a protracted and disruptive court
trial. Instead, they were dtermined to
place the black Democrat on a federal
prison.
Barry’s central argument which
attempted to justify his behavior was the
thesis that a pattern o f FBI and judicial
harassment exists against African-
American civil rights leaders and elected
officials. The argument is certainly true,
based on the evidence over nearly half a
century. In my own research on a p o liti­
cal biography o f black American leader
Malcolm X, I have uncovered an exten­
sive pattern o f illegal electronic surveil­
lance, the opening o f private mail w ith­
out warrants, and political harassmetn.
COINTELPRO, the F B I’ s Counterin­
telligence Program in the sixties, plot­
ted the destruction o f c ivil rights organi­
zations, and led to the imprisonment of
hundreds of black activists. In the 1980s,
hundreds of black elected officials, judges
and other community leaders were sub­
jected disproportionately to surveillance
and harassment. Congressman John
Conyers and other members o f the Con­
gressional Black Caucus have investi­
gated many instances o f political har­
assment aimed at blacks. The goal is to
reduce African-American political clout
within the system, and to intimidate
leaders to back away from the establish­
ment.
But the real tragedy o f Marion
Barry lies not in his cocaine depend­
ency, which he shares with literally
millions o f white, Hispanic, and black
Americans. His tragedy is his inability
to place his comm unity’ s objective in­
terests ahead o f his own. by his scries o f
errors and criminal acts, Barry’ s has
undermined the drive for D.C. statehood
ofr years. His behavior provides ju s tifi­
cation for racists and political reaction­
aries to undermine other African-Ameri-
can leaders. But his greatest tragedy
was Barry’ s failure o f vision. The great
strength o f the black freedom struggle's
political tradition, from Frederick
Douglass to Martin Luther King, Jr.,
was the linkage between politics and
ethics. What was morally correct was
also politically correct. Barry’s con­
tempt for the eth ics o f the black struggle,
his contempt for his w ife, children and
constituents, could never be justified.
Marion Barry's only real service which
he could perform would be to withdraw
permanently from public life.
"Reinvestments in the Community" is a weekly column appearing
in API publications throughout the USA.