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W R * 5 » « Page 2...The Portland O bserver...August 28,1991 The Fallacy Of Black Convervatlsm: Self-Help Is No Substitute For A Responsive Government As the debate around the Clarence T hom as nom ination rages throughout the African American Community, some Black folks have rallied to support Judge T hom as because o f his advocacy ol Black self-help. The idea that African A m ericans should employ self-help strategies and not look to governm ent program s or affirm ative action to ad vance Black progress is a key tenet of Black conserv atism. In my judgem ent, the notion that African Americans can overcom e past and present racism and econom ic exploitation by exclusively relying on our own resources is seri ously Hawed and naive. African A m eri cans should not fall into the “ either or trap. Black self-help development strate gies and assistance from a humane and responsive governm ent are both neces sary to liberate the masses o f Black people from hunger, poverty, disease, and chronic unemployment and under employment. I am certainly a vigorous propo nent of self-help development as a major priority for African Americans. There is no question about the urgent need lor African Americans to adopt a f help/ em pow erm ent philosophy as the cor nerstone of the struggle for Black sur vival and developm ent. We m ust think in terms of marshalling our human and material resources as a means o f be coming more self-reliant and independ ent. 1 t * It is equally clear to me, however, that self help alone cannot provide all o f the jobs, housing, education, health care, and other economic and social opportunities which the masses o f A tri- can Americans need to achieve a m ean ingful measure of equity and parity in this society. No African American, not even Clarence Thomas, rises from the depths o f poverty in the United States without the benefit of __________ some form __ of govem m ent assistance and/or attirm a- tive action. Sell-help is not a substitute for a humane government. It should be the responsibility of government to utilize the tax dollars collected from the people to develop policies and programs to meet the human needs of all o f the people. Black people are not exempt from paying taxes at any level in this nation. It is absolutely ludicrous for Black people to walk away front the public sector as if government resources are the exclu sive preserve of white people. African Americans are entitled to expect that a governm ent that accepts our taxes will also function to meet the massive human needs o f our community. And there is a special obligation for the government to provide remedies lor the crippling and debilitating effects of past and present racism, discrimination and economic exploitation and exclusion. A ffirm a tive action and governm ent policies and programs designed to uplift the disadvantaged should be seen as a vital com plem ent to sell help development strategies internal to the African Ameri can community. The debate between Black conser vatives and Black liberals and progres sives on these issues is not tri volous but fundamental. In effect the Black con servative’s (and their white counter parts) focus on self-help is tantamount to an apology for the racist, capitalist system in the U.S. W hile conservatives glorify self-help, but in fact the govern ment in this country has always been conservatives is and continues to be that “ the business of governm ent is business.” Big business has never been reluctant to help itself to goverment resources as a means of promoting and protecting its interest. The great railroads in this country were not built through a “ self-help program. The U.S. government gave the railroads huge tracts ot land at vir tually no cost in order complement their private capital. 1 urning to more recent history, the 600 billion dollar S&L bail-out could hardly be charac terized as a self-help program. Nor were the bail-outs for Chrysler, Conti nental Bank or die Bank of New Eng land. The m ulti-billion dollar rip-off of H.U.D. funds by wealthy developers is yet another exam ple o f taxpayers dol lars going to aid and assist the wealthy. W hat the conservative self-help phi losophy really means is self-help for the masses of Black people, other minorities and pixir and working ¡xxiplc and massive subsidies (welfare) tor the rich and super rich as needed. Enough of this Horatio Alger non sense. If the governm ent can bail-out and otherwise subsidize huge corpora tions and the rich and the super-rich (who pay less of their incomes/profits in taxes than poor and working people and the middle class), then when will the government bail-out Black Amer ica and other disadvantaged people in this country ? The furious debate gener ated around the Clarence Thomas nomination is not just a nasty little argument among colored people. It goes to the very heart o, the question o f the role o f government in this society and its relationship to the longstanding aspirations ol Africans in America. Will Black people fight to transform the system which has oppressed us and force it to function in the best interest of the masses of the people? Or will the more well off “ lew ’ within the A fri can American community join in and become apologists for the present sys tem of oppression which continues to promote and protect the interests of the small elite ol the wealthy and the privi leged in this country? Representative Vera Katz to Speak at Youth Employment Institute and pre-em ploym ent training. Partici L.” “ “■1 .. . ’• * • / • ♦ ;•' f ». ,• ? ¿S.v .'î V ii * • < On Fnday, A ugust 23,1991, State Representative V era Katz addressed students ai The Private Industry C oun cil’s Youth Employment Institute (YEI), located at 1704 NE Tw enty-sixth A ve nue, in Portland. From 9:30 a.m. to approximately 11:00 a.m., she spoke about her own professional growth and w hat she nad to overcome to accom plish her career goals. She also an swered questions from Y E I’s partici pants regarding her education reform bill. The Youth Employment Institute provides comprehensive education and training serv ices for young people who have dropped out of traditional high schools or who are unable to Find work. Participants are econom ically disad- vantaged and face significant barriers to productive employm ent. These bar riers include substance abuse, racial bias, basic skills deficits and low self esteem. Some are involved with gangs or are at risk of becom ing gang m em bers. O thers are ex-offenders, teen par ents and runaways. Representative K atz’s comprehen sive plan to create “ Twenty-First Cen tury Schools” calls for the creation of alternative learning centers, similar to YEI, to capture and engage youth who d on’t succeed in traditional high schools. Services at YEI include basic skills improvement and high school com pletion through GED , vocational; ex ploration, lile skills, work experience «.» t ' « ■•<.. '. '• -7/ t.* ' •«* . *< X f e s .-•J i-f*# «’ ERVER PORTL (USPS 959-680) OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN F UBLICATION Established in 1970 Alfred L. Henderson Publisher Joyce Washington Operations Manager Gary Ann Garnett Business Manager w f i s ;.V k < t * h ■ .•/■?-• I • ,• , .1 - ’>• W». > • ' .’i ! ! r‘ L *5 V ;. -J f ••' ’ v • ' » u i l The PORTLAND OBSERVER is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company, Inc. 4747 N.E. M.L.K., Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 P.O. Box 3137 Port’and, Oregon 97208 (503) 288-0033 (Office) FAX#: (503) 288-0015 Deadlines for all submitted materials: Articles: Monday, 5 p.m. - Ads: Tuesday. 5 p.m. POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes to: Portland Observer. T O . Box 3137, Portland, OR 9720». Secono dass postage paid at Portland. Oregon The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions Manuscripts and pho‘o- graphs should be clearly labled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope All created design display ads become the sole property oi this ne*<spapor and can not be used in other publication.', or personal usage, without tho written consent cf the general manager, unless the client has purchased the compos, tten of such ad 19S0 PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN W .IO E OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED Subscriptions: $20 00 per year in the Tri-Countyarea: $2500 all other areas The Portland Observer- Oregon's Oldest African-American Publication - is a member of The National Newspaper Association - Founded it: I 085, and The National Advert s- ¡ng Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc., New York, NY ani pants learn about the world of work through an environm ent which sim u lates em ployers’ expectations. For exam ple, students punch a time clock and must conform to a dress code. Staff create links between basic skills and em ployer’s needs. The Private Industry Council is a private, nonprofit organization dedi cated to em ploym ent and training for low-incomes youth and adults through out Washington and Multnomah Coun ties. Its Youth Employment Institute operates with the cooperation and sup port of local businesses, Portland Pub lic Schools, the City of Portland, and com m unity organizations. Racism Rears Its Ugly Head: The Other Form of Hate Crime To the Editor, The M ilwaukee police officers claimed they saw nothing amiss inside and outside Jeffrey D ahm cr’s apart ment when they brought a naked and bleeding Asian youth, Koncrak Sinthas- om phonc, back to him for disposal. The three officers involved have been suspended with pay but they w on’t face crim inal charges. In our opinion, this is another form of hate crime, where the racist attitudes o f these three officers overwhelmed their sense of duly and good judge ment. Otherwise, how could they hand over a scared and hurt naked boy to an adult, obviously not o f the same fam ily? This was done in spile ol an A fri can-A m erican neighbor’s effort to protect Koncrak. Now the Police Chief as well as die police union lawyer arc trying to minimize the seriousness of this incident by creating a smoke screen. Not unlike the ritualistic beating o f Rodney King in Los Angeles, these actions show the deep-seated insensi tivity in much o f our law enforcem ent establishm ent to the voices o f non- white communities. This kind of behavior and action, intentionally or unintentionally, is breed ing the proliferation and m aintenance of hate crime in this country. This is the other facet of hate crime: to ignore the voice ol a young Asian victim because it is not heard as a human voice. Charles N.C. Shi, President Asian/Pacific American Alliance Portland, OR Glasnost’’ For American Educators and Publishers many primary school readers; his most popular poem, “ T he Fisherman and the Fish” and “ The Golden Cockerel,” a fairy talc of great beauty and fancy. Two of his novels were converted into famous operas; “ Boris G odunov” (M ussorgski), and “ Eugene O negin” (Tchaikovsky). At the library you will find a most informative article in the “ Negro History Bulletin, March 1948; The N egro’s Literary Influence on Masterpiec es of Music.” (pp. 134-137). Also, if you can find ¡L there is “ Poushkin, the Shakespeare ol R ussia” by Boris Lee Brasol, N.Y., 1931. More recent and of special interest to English teach ers developing lesson plans (we hope) is “ Poushkin; A Biography,” David Magarshack, N.Y., Grove Press, 1967, 1969. As with many of Europe’s geniuses of African descent who influenced the destiny of that continents’ affairs, there was in Pushkin a very early maturation of talent. At the age of 12 he entered the Imperial Lycec at St. Pctcrsbury where, incredibly, his passionate outpourings led to his becoming R ussia’s leading poet at the age o f 15. His first poem “ Rem iniscences o f Tsarskoye Selo” was not written in the conventional French of die Russian intellectual circles, bul in Russian. Russia had at last a great Today’s column is a reprint in support o f our page seven article, “ Russia In Turmoil, The Empire Strikes Hack.” The new Russian policy of “ glasnost” is defined as openess. May we take this opportunity to demand a forthright expedition of this process at home as well as abroad? For instance, we need to most immediately develop reading programs and supporting materials that highlight the great Black contributions to the w orld’s finest literature. There is of course the vaunted works ol Byron, Yeats, Tennyson, Longfellow and Poe, but what about the magnificent works of the authors of African descent-whose works (with notations of ancestry) would provide motivation and sell-imagery for African-American students: Pushkin Dumas(es), Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Robert Browning, and many others. Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837): T oday’s article is about this A lrican- Russian literary giant who changed the history of Russia (and the world) lor all time to come with the passionate h u manity ofhisproseand poetry. In direct relevance is “ The C aptain’s Daugh ter,” a historical novel of epic propor tions, a story of the peasant’s revolt. In this country and as late as 1940, two ol Pushkin’s shorter works appeared in poet using her own language; “ W ith one cut of die sword Pushkin had freed Russian literature from the lies that were keeping it enslaved. The passage below from the “ In ternational L.ibrary of Negro L.ilc and History (p.l 11) indicates that Pushkin s powerful pen was a powerful force in the ovcrdirow of the Czars ol tyranny, and was crucial to die developm ent of that mindset which blossomed into the Russian Revolution. Placing the lan guage of his people ainom’ the w orld’s most important, Pushkin cried out lor freedom and protested bondage and serfdom...became spokesman lor the poor and oppressed.” Marx, Lenin, and Kerensky have their due in Russian history, but most ot us know diat it is first the soul o f man which must be reached. Alexander Pushkin did just this in shaping the psyche of the Russian masses without sword or caniion--ihis great grandson ot General Hannibal, the freed A lrican slave who became chief military engi neer for Czar, Peter the Great. Several lines from Pushkins’ poem, “ Ode to Liberty,” says it all: “ Oh shake and shiver, tyrants of the world. Bui lend and ear ye fallen slaves Gain courage and rise.” Countries in Africa May Seek Slave-trade Reparations BY ALASTAIR MATHESON LONDON OBSERVER African nations are discussing whether to seek reparations of perhaps trillions of dollars from Europe for damage done by the slave trade. Supporters of Nigeria’s stance note that Germany had to pay reparations after the two world wars and also compensated the Jewish people lor the Holocaust. Some also cite K uw ait’s demand for reparations from Iraq. Not all OAU members back the campaign, l hc Kenya 1 imes, new spa per of the ruling party, called it “ a laughable idea” and suggested that African leaders shouldn’t waste time on “ trivial pursuits.” Bashorun Abilo, a Nigerian tribal chief who calculates slavery cost the continent $130 trillion in the loss of people and production potential, is leading the cam paign. He says that as many as 140 m illion Africans were shipped into slavery. Abilo suggest that unless com pen sation is paid, Africa is justified in refusing to repay foreign debts am ount ing to $270 m illion, owed largely to W estern countries, since A frica’s pov erty stems largely from slavery and plunder. N igeria’s frequent attacks on “ European colonial pow ers” présuma bly refer to Britain, France, Italy, Ger- many, Belgium, Portugal and/or Spain. Many East Africans are puzzled that Abilo has not targeted oil-rich Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, since Arab traders seized vast numbers o f slaves in East Africa. Almost all of these slaves were shipped to rich potentates in M esopota mia (now Iraq) and other countries on the Arabian peninsula, as well as to Egypt- Many went through the slave m ar ket in Zanzibar even al ter the European powers outlaw ed the trade. Taken from Ihe Detroit News, August 9, 199!. United Airlines portla W Are • The • Proud • Sponsors • Of Reinvestment^ A special Observer focus 1 Community [ HE HEARINGS A special Observer focus Teacher Standards and Practices Commision, State of Oregon Notice of H earing on the Proposed Repeal of the Basic Skills l est 9 a.m ., July 25 ,1 9 9 0 Exercising the R ight to Question A u th o rity B Y A N G E L IQ U E SANDERS W ith die “ education president” in office, Oiegon State is debating whether teachers need tod cm o nsu atethcirqua li- ficalions through a skills test. As in m aking any ludicrous decision such as this one, the capitol saw f it to hold a meeting, in vitin g any meas urable figureheads. A t first glance, Ihe meeting promised to be boorish and pointless: the "a u d ie n c e " brought to m ind overaged schoolchildren assum ing the “ a tte n tio n " stance, yet le g iti mately hearing nothing. Laie-cnicring visitors were treated w ith a vacant gaze, like new students in class. I presumed that theobvious conclusion o l this meet in g - if for no more reason than prevent ing a disruptive educational backlash— was to conclude, “ okay, so wc DO need some method o f pro of that the authori ties o f education can prove they have more knowledge than the students." Upon further listening, I found that people were taking this very seri ously. One gentleman. W a ller Hatha way, D irector o f Research Evaluation for Portland Public Schools, ridiculed the test by saying something to the e f fect of, so you d o n 't know a certain algebra trick ..docs this make you a bad teacher? M y response is, probably it /X 1 -j does not, but when your students ask you that same q u e stio n -th a t you were unable to answer on the skills te st-w h a t w ill you say? There A R E teachers out there w ho not o n ly have so-called valid teaching skills, but can also pass a cur sory knowledge test. I f they cannot, le t's question w hy they’re leading our you tli. The very in s titu tio n -W illa m - ette U n iv c rs iiy -w h c rc this meeting was held requires the test. H ow can teachers One o f the com plications o f the C B E S T is that the records illustrate a higher passing rate for high school stu dents than college students. 'litis , con cludes the school district, proves that the test is warped and fa llib le , not a valid test at all, surely ju stifica tio n fo r surren dering the test. But what they d o n ’ t say is, i f the test is inadequate, then le t’ s develop a better standard o f testing teach ing aptitude, instead o f dropping the fin a l assessment we have. have the audacity to test the students constantly, but when the teachers have to prove a certain a b ility o f general knowledge, they can ju st sm ile back and say, “ W e ll, I ’ ve got a degree, d o n't I?” Just as there arc many illite ra te students that are graduated from high schools, s im ila rly there a re -a n d we can all attest to this fact, as w e 've a ll been taught by some -teachers that have filtered through any vague testing requirements during college and gone on to educate (or ju s t ram ble m indlessly to) the masses. I vie w the skills test as an additional sieve o f poor teachers: w h ile it is not an autom atic assurance that a potential educator is qu alified , it w ill help strain out some bad apples ( I 'l l spare you the tired d itty “ one bad apple...” ). Another point the district pushes is that the tim e lim it is ludicrous. M any teachers out there have passed the test in the designated tim e (not to m ention high school students). A re these teachers saying that they cannot pass this type o f evaluation that even their students have little trouble with? W h o ’s teaching whom? In conclusion, I ’d like to ask readers the fo llo w in g : firs tly , i f you were a principal, w ho would have firs t hiring p rio rity: a skills test failure or victor? Secondly, i f you were a student, how w ould you feel if you found out your teacher was a failure in a basic skills test? A nd lastly, i f you arc a parent, how would you feel about your children being schooled under skills test failures, or teachers that never took one? "Reinvestments in the Community" is a weekly column appearing in API publications through out the USA w • ; •- : k S* lA v h * t » P • d »9 • • g • »■ e • * * * •* 4 » .. '- . - '■ 'f r . * r • . ■y A A- ." ■
