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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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,
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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
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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
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