March 4 , 1992...The Portland Observer...Page 5
Back To The Ranch; If It’s Still There
BY PROF MCKINLEY BURT
As many o f us, black, while and
other, spin out o f Black History M onth,
we find that some have “ renewed their
roots, reinforced their psyche or paid
their respects to m inorities for another
year.” Others are just glad to get their
classrooms and assembly halls “ back to
basics.” Now, where is the “ Portland
Observer” in this scheme o f things?
Where should it be?
The establishment media is not
going to be o f much help, not w ith its
flu rry o f m ixed, misleading and emo­
tional signals. “ Abu Dhabi to settle
some BC C I Claim s,” or how about
“ C linton tells Black voters H e’ s The
M ost Q ualified.” The ones I really like
are the updates on President Bush’ s
H O M E IN T A X -F R E E T E X A S , Suite
271 in the Houstonian Hotel. Though
he only spent three nights there in 1991,
the M aine People’ s Alliance says the
scam is “ not illegal, but we think i t ’ s
sleazy.”
Bear w ith me now, somewhere in
this potpourri o f a media m ix are the
substantive issues that need to be ad­
dressed by A frican Americans. Now
several weeks ago I dealt w ith the de­
railm ent o r m odification o f two key
national programs designed to place
this nation in a lead position in science
and technology by the tum o f the cen­
tury: “ Education 2000andW ork Force
2000.” There w ill be much more to
come on these. Anticipate some dis-
cussion on the fo llo w in g announce­
ment: “ Higher Education B ill Passes;
Pell Grants w ill now have a $42,000
maximum fam ily income lim it and in ­
dividual grants w ill top out at $4800."
In addition schools whose students have
had a serious repayment problem w ill
becut from the program. Itoccursm ost
imm ediately that there are a number o f
constraints other than financial upon a
number o f youth who would form erly
be considered college bound. There is
the declining economic situation o f the
state systems o f higher education, as in
Oregon where enrollm ent has been
capped or reduced.
A dditonally, when the cold waves
o f reality fin a lly washed over the avid
proponents o f Omnibus education and
w ork force “ 2000” projects, these mis­
sionaries were abruptly faced w ith the
fact that the only technological learn­
ing structure which could deal w ith
youth at the math and language literacy
level o f our kids was the C O M M U ­
N IT Y C O LLEG E SYSTEM . Even
here there is a mountain o f remedial
w ork to be done until science and math
are sufficiendy integrated into the lower
grades (That alone w ill take u ntil the
tum o f the century--that magic dale o f
2000 forecast by dreamers or charla­
tans fo r the U.S. to gain international
technical leadership).
There is much that can be done to
further an improved educational pro­
cess, an effort that w ill require several
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decades o f concentrated effort and com-
m itm cnl. It is d iffic u lt to understand
why we s till have so many educated
(and uneducated) who conform to a
H oly G rail that everyone must pursue a
straitlaced, unbroken educational path
from Head Start to Pomp and C ircum ­
stance at about age 22 or 23. And who
believe any deviation from the process
constitutes a failure o f cither the in d i­
vidual or the system. A concerned
American industry (Associated Oregon
Industries included) has made it quite
clear that they are first concentrating on
obtaining a vastly improved H IG H
SCHOOL G R A D U A T E and then C om ­
m unity College products w ith Technol­
ogy Certificates (2 years) or who have
completed R E TR A IN IN G .
In the 1970’s, coming from indus­
try to a teaching poistion at Portland
State U niversity, I was able to see the
handwriting on the w all quite early on.
I was able to quite successfully adopt
and m odify the educational time line o f
many students, white and black, who
were in consequence enabled to survive
econom ically and e m o tio n a lly -a n d ,
eventually, gain their higher degree, all
w ithin the context o f R E A L IT Y . As a
matter o f fact I am on the Board o f
Directors o f a Beaverton Corporation
whose CEO is a former student from
this period.
I w ill continue w ith this important
concept next week.
Si
A long
One o f the central tenets o f the
struggle for freedom in A frica n-A m eri­
can history was the idea that what was
politically necessary also had to be
m o ra lly u p liftin g . From Frederick
Douglass to Malcolm X , the ends never
justified the means. Ethical behavior
toward each other was an important
feature o f the African-Am erican com­
munity. The violenceof Black vs. Black
crime and the peddling o f drugs to
innocent children were denounced as
socially destructive behaviors which
have to be expelled from the Black
community, i f it is to survive.
However, during the recent rape
trial o f former heavyweight champion
M ike Tyson, disturbing trends devel­
oped within the national African-Am eri­
can c o m m u n ity . Some com pared
Tyson’ s prosecution unfavorably to the
acquittal o f W illia m Kennedy Smith in
last year’ s controversial rape trial. O th­
ers complained that the behavior and
m otivesofTyson’s victim were “ highly
questionable.” W hy w ould Desiree
Washington, an intelligent woman who
had been crudely propositioned by
Tyson earlier in the day, w illin g ly go
back to his hotel room in the middle o f
the night? Black Baptist ministers clus­
tered and prayed fo r the Black pugilist
in his hour o f need.
W ith Tyson’ s conviction, some o f
these sentiments assumed ugly dim en­
sions. A Black student newspaper in
New York C ity declared that the young
woman raped by Tyson “ w illin g ly went
to his hotel room to w in his fame and
fortune, but realized that a one night
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Mike Tyson vs. The Morals Of Our Movement
BY DR. MANNING MARABLE
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the
stand would not have been enough.”
Tyson’ s conviction was “ a grave injus­
tice to the whole Black comm unity,”
because the “ loss o f another Black role
model means the imprisonment and
death o f many o f our Black youth.”
A t some Black radio stations, tele­
phone calls ran at least five to one in
favor o f Tyson and against the woman
he had raped. M any o f the callers sup-
portingTyson wereBlack women. Some
argued that the woman’ s decision to
enter a man ’ s bedroom voided any right
she held to claim that she had been
sexually violated. The same attitude
could be observed on the streets. In Los
Angeles several days ago, I witnessed
Black young a dulls-m ale and female
alike-w earing sweatshirts which pro­
tested the Tyson rape conviction in bold
letters. In vulgar, sexist language, the
shirts proclaims: “ The b-— set me up!”
Enough is enough. On this issue,
we must draw a line. To stand w ith
M ike Tyson is to stand fo r everything
B la ck freedom struggle has been
against.
No man has a right to rape any
woman, no matter what the situation or
context. When people argue that the
woman shouldn’ t have gone to his hotel
room , our response m ust be “ So What?”
People who use poor judgement de­
serve to be raped? There are no excuses
for crim inal behavior and the evidence
indicates that Tyson was indeed guilty
o f rape.
W ithin the African-American com­
munity, we need to discuss the social
destructiveness against the Black male
w ithin society. Our young men are bom­
barded by values and images o f v io ­
lence, vulgarity and self-hatred w ithin
the popular culture. In rap music, Black
women are ro u tin e ly described as
“ bitches” and “ ho’s.” On N W A albums,
there are titles such as “ Findum, F -u m ,
and Flee.” Given this social condition­
ing and sexism, is it surprising that too
many young males make the connec­
tion between violence and sexuality?
We must challenge the glamoriza-
tion o f male brutality, the concept that
males w ith status, money and power o f
whatever race can act in ways w hich are
destructive to women. By placing Tyson
on a pedestal, by ignoring the evidence
and accepting this brutality against one
o f our sisters, we are embracing that
same violence against our daughters,
mothers and ourselves. Instead o f pro­
jecting a vision o f humanity which en­
riches the spirit, we devalue and de­
grade ourselves.
No doubt, Black men suffer dis­
proportionately from the violence and
discrimination o f the political and crim i­
nal justice system. Racism is alive and
w ell, lim itin g Black males’ economic
opportunities. But the pain o f oppres­
sion doesn’ t ju s tify violence against
another person. Tyson is g uilty, and fo r
the sake o f our own hum anity, we must
draw the line.
Dr. Manning Marable is Professor
o f Political Science and H istory, U n i­
versity o f Colorado, Boulder. “ Along
the Color L in e ” appears in over 220
publications internationally and a radio
version is broadcast by more than 50
stations.
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Magazines Seeks information on Black
Art Galleries
Black Spots, aseven-year-old Black
culture magazine, is com piling a direc­
tory o f Black-owned art galleries and
seeks information.
“ W e’re looking fo r historical and
contemporary data about Black-owned
art galleries including the firs t one
founded, and the oldest continuously
operated one,” says publisher Cynthia
E. G riffin .
G riffin adds that galleries included
in the directory can feature the works o f
artists o f local, regional, national or
international note and must be more
than a retail art outlet.
“ We want galleries that mount ex­
hibits at least tw o times a year in their
own space or at another location. They
should also be a place where people can
buy or just look” stresses G riffin , add­
ing that the galleries must be at least 50
percent Black owned.
Gallery owners interested in being
included in the directory should send
the name, address, phone number, hours
o f operation, the number o f exhibits
held each year and a b rie f description o f
the works featured, says G riffin . Also
include the year the gallery opened.
March 15 is the deadline to submit
inform ation to: Black Spots at 1283 S.
La Brea Ave., Suite 304, Los Angeles,
C A 90019. Fax to: (213) 296-5399. For
information, call (213) 938-0101.
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