J anuary 27, 1993 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age 2
p e r s p e c tiv e s
f
/
A long T he C olor L ine
Why The Somalia Invasion Was Wrong
by Professor M c K in le y B u rt
by Dr. Manning Marable
More On The Magnificent Sons OF Haiti: How
About The Great Naturalist, John James Audubon?
general of Napoleon who was not born
To appreciate this "follow up “ Drive, Princeton Junction N J. 08550,
in the West Indies It was "Toussaint”
Item
#742H2,
Postage
$4.00.
article be sure to get a copy of last
whom Napoleon foolishly sent there to
Another
promise
was
to
expand
weeks' Observer Newspaper and read
maintain order in the colony. Interest­
my Perspectives' column on page 2, on President Jeflersons’ preoccupa­
ingly, Napoleon’s fear and jealousy of
“America’s greatest Debt To Haiti: tion with things African, we now mov e
this
great black general resulted in a
The Shame ” As promised. I now beyond his incorporation of Africa into
treachery
that parallels Alexander the
expand on both the magnificent con­ the Great Seal of the United States, his
greats’
murderous
rage vented upon
tributions of Africans in the West denigrating exchanges with black sur­
his top military personage, “Clitus
veyor
and
inventor
Benjamin
Banneker
1 ndies and on the European conti nent-
(Melas, The Black)” This African,
-This is what so lightened (and se­ who laid out Washington, D C. after
Commander of Alexanders Calvary
the
disgruntled
surveyor,
L
’enfant,
duced) President Thomas Jefferson
and Governor of Bactria, and boyhood
No where in American or the returned to France, and as rev ealed in
playm ate of A lexander, was run
world is there a better known or more his letters, his constant solicitations of
through by a spear, the "Great” one
prolific pioneer naturalist, painter of friends like George Washington for
blaming it on "drunk” . See Cummings,
"competent
slave
craftsmen”,
espe­
birds and gifted writer on the great
Lewis, "Alexander the Great”, Cam­
outdoors than John James Audubon. cially bricklay ers needed at Monticello.
bridge, Riverside Press, Mass. 1940;
Today,
we
will
take
a
closer
look
What is usually not know n on the side
and see "Plutarchs Lives” Vol III, Cam­
of the Atlantic is the fact that he was at Sally Hemmings, his “main African
bridge, Harvard University Press,
bom in Les Caves Santa Domino in lady” . Remember, 1 described that
1785 (Now Haiti). The illegitimate document in the Manuscript Division, Mass. 1957.
In closing this week, here is more
son of an African mother who died Library of Congress, the passport
of
the
surge in African intellect and
shortly after his birth(Jeanne Rabine) signed by the King of France, Louis
prowess
that so frightened Thomas
and French sea captain , “Jean” XVI, issued to “Jefferson and Com­
Jefferson
and other founding fathers.
pany”
w
hich
included
our
Sally
Audubon, John and his half-sister Rose
To the son of the African general,
Hemmings
who
went
on
a
shopping
were taken to France for their rearing
Dumas we are indebted for many fa­
and education A consequence of his trip in Paris that startled even the
mous novels and plays; 300 novels and
illegitimacy was that he was left no sophisticated French Newspapers.
25 volumes of drama in all. They are
legacy when his father died in 1818. They wTote extensively on a spree that
still popular after almost two hundred
The famed American “Audubon would make Eva Gabor jealous. We
years,
with motion pictures and mov-
Society”, as we might expect, is still speculate that American taxpay ers may
ies-for
television shown today.
having serious problems with this sell- have paid for this caper. Certainly a
the world still enjoys his The Three
number
of
American
tabloids
of
the
documented blood line; as are of course,
M usketeers, The Count of Monte
American teachers, historians, writ­ time thought so, for they stayed on the
Cristo, The Man in the Iron Mask, The
case
of
Jefferson
and
his
black
lover.
ers and other assorted bird watchers.
Corsican Brothers, and The Black
You
really
ought
to
take
a
look-see
Another talented ornithologist, John
Tulip this is the Black man who was
Burroughs, has written a biography of through that historical stuff in the New
voted the greatest gourmet the world
Audubon that follows a typical “Ameri­ York Public Library.
Especially informative is a book has ever seen, owned a yacht and the­
can” line; He was the son of a "creole
atre, and told a pregnant mistress, “I
beauty”, bom in Mandeville, Louisi­ by the black author, Barbara Chase-
doubt if this miracle is mine, but if it
Riboud,
“Sally
Hemmings”:
The
Wash­
ana and then taken back to Haiti. This
comes with a head of kinky hair I’ll be
ington
Star,”..
A
new
vision
of
a
much
is another strange tale developed by
convinced.”
repressed
part
of
our
history”--The
American historians for it is docu­
O f now less importance are the
Denver
Post,
“...a
combination
of
fac­
mented that Audubon “had to apply
works
of the grandson Alexander
for American Citizenship” which was tual documentation and a deep under­
Dumas
II (18244). His classic novel,
standing of the agony of slavery” . Avon
granted July 3, 1812. '
“The
Lady
of the Cameilias” made
For his timid biographer see, Pocket Books N Y. 1979. This book
him
famous
throughout France. His
B u rro u g h s, Jo h n , “ Jo h n Jam es contains a detailed Jefferson “Family
rewrite into a play made him famous
Tree”
divided
into
a
“White
Family”
A udubon,” T he O verlook Press,
throughout the world. Two world fa­
Woodstock, N Y. 1987. For a more and a “Black Family”. Interestingly,
mous operas are adaptations of this
today
’
sblack
family
has
"incorporated”
adequate account with an excellent
work “La Traviatia” by Verdi, and
and
this
organization
preserves
and
Chronology of Auduboin's entire life,
“Camille” by Forest. In 1874 this
get a book edited by Scott Russell publishes the entire embarrassing lin­
younger Dumas was made a member
Sanders; “Adubon Reader The best eage for posterity. In the 1970’sEbony
of the famed French Academy of Arts
writings of John James Audubon,” Magazine did a lengthy account on the
and Sciences and was later elected its
In d ia n a
U n iv e rsity
P ress, clan of blacks w ho collected the most
president. He next received the second
Bloomington, 111., 1986 ( I got my copy real history.
most prestigious honor of France The
Let
me
correct
one
item
from
last
in May, 1992 for only $9.95 front the
Scholars’ Bookshelf Press, 51 Everett week; Alexander Dumas-I was the one Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.
Rarely in the twentieth century
has an American military invasion
into a Third World country been so
"popular” inside the U S., than the
recent intervention into Somalia be­
ginning in December, 1992. Thebasic
issues seemed siniplistically clear to
most Americans. Thousands of Afri­
cans were dying of starvation each
day . The Somali government was in
chaos, unable to check the tcrroistic
assaults of local warlords African
nations seemed paraly zed by their ow n
problems, and fav ored U S and United
Nations intervention
As American troops landed at
Mogadishu, politicians praised "lame
duck” President George Bush’s deci­
sion. President-elect Bill Clinton (at
the time) expressed his support Clergy
claimed that American military were
working in the “sen ice of God", be­
cause their mission w as designed spe­
cifically to have lives and to foster
humanitarian service. By the begin­
ning of 1993,17,500 American troops
were stationed throughout Somalia.
No doubt that the situation in
Somalia just before American troop#
arrived was extremely desperate.
Throughout 1992. about 30,000 people
w ere estim ated to have died in
M ogadishu alone from gunshot
wounds or shelling. Throughout the
country, about 300,000 Somalis, pri­
marily women and children, starv ed
to death. However,' neither Bush,
Clinton nor the media point out that
massive starvation and violence also
exists in other parts of Africa, equal to
the Somalia crisis. In nearby southern
Sudan and in Mozambique, accord­
ing to the World Food Program, the
humanitarian “emergencies arc on par
Spotted Owl Joins Zoo’s
Education Program
A northern spotted owl has been
added to the group o f animals pre­
sented in education programs at the
Metro Washington Park Zoo. The
northern spotted owl has been desig­
nated a threatened species in W ash­
ington, Oregon, and California by the
U.S. Fish and W ildlife Service.
(USFWS). The owl, a female, came
to the zoo through USFWS, and will
be used in programs at the zoo, in
schools and at special educational
functions. It is the only spotted owl
used in such programs on the west
coast.
The 27-ounce bird has perma­
nent injuries to her right wing, which
prevent her from being released back
into the wild. She was found in A u­
gust in the Falls Creek area of the
Willamctte National Forest, and was
rehabilitated at the Cascade Raptor
‘QHje ^ o rtla n h (©bscrucr
(USPS 959-680)
OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established In 1970 by Alfred L. Henderson
Joyce Washington
Publisher
Center in Eugene.”W e’re please to
add this bird to our school assembly
and on-grounds educational pro­
gram s,” said Education Manager
David Mask. “It gives us the opportu­
nity to present information with which
individuals can form opinions and
make informed decisions about an
animal that lives close by as well as a
situation which as affected our re­
gion.”
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porters that as many as “ 10,000 U.S.
soldiers might have to stay in Somalia
for as long as two years.
There were other alternatives to
an American military invasion, even if
one accepts the "humanitarian” rea­
sons given for the decision. The U.S.
government could have allocated the
same amount of money and resources
to fly African troops from the Organi­
zation of African Unity into Somalia.
Or the government could have do­
nated the same funds to the United
Nations, to create a humanitarian force
which was not dominated by Ameri­
cans.
The American invasion of Soma­
lia was designed not primarily to save
Blacks’ lives, but to serve as an illus­
tration of U.S. military power in the
"post-Cold War era. The “New World
Order” is based on the idea of one
world superpower, the United States,
which serv es as the world’s policeforce.
The invasion of Panama, the bombing
of Iraq, and the intervention into So­
malia during the Bush administration,
are all illustrations of American power
over Third World nations.
To end violence and famine in
Somalia, we should call for an Ameri­
can troop w ithdrawal. How do we take
away the guns from the Somali para­
military forces? Why not a voluntary,
Somali-directed program ofexchange,
in which guns could be returned for
employ ment or participation in devel­
opment programs, such as building
schools or clinics. American funds
could be used to finance such a pro­
gram of economic and social recon­
struction. No one’s interests are served
by a long-term U.S. presence in Soma­
lia.
This Way For Black Empowerment
b y D r. L e n o ra F u la n i
When You’re Playing Hardball Politics With A
Billionaire, You Have To Move It Or Lose It
Ross Perot was never into third-
party politics. Now it’s official: at a
press conference last week he said
“ the v o lu n te e rs ” w ould do
“anything...to strengthen both parties
and make them work.”
The purpose of the press confer­
ence was to announce that from now
on United We Stand, A m erica-the
organization that grew up around
Perot’s history-making independent
presidential cam paign-w ill function
as a citizens lobby. It will cost $15 to
become a member o f United We
Stand, America; the money, Perot
explained, will be used mainly to
finance the electronic town hall he
promoted during is campaign. (He is
paying for the membership drive.)
Along with many others - in­
cluding grassroots leaders o f the Perot
movement —I don’t believe that all of
the 20 million people who voted for
Ross Perot last November did so be­
cause they wanted to join a lobby.
W hat’s more, I think that there are
significant elements of the Perot voter
base who want to see an independent
third party in America. They said so
before Perot dropped out in July. They
said so when they insisted that he get
back into the race. And on election
day -despite the fact that Perot ran a
less than passionate, less than compe­
tent campaign — they had the guts to
put their voices where their mouths
were.
A watchdog organization to act
as a countervailing force to the “spe­
cial interests” by bringing grassroots
pressure to bear on Congress is s fine
idea, particularly from Perot’s point
of view. He’s created a niche for
him self in m ainstream politics.-
something he’s tried to do for a very
long time - by consolidating “his”
movement into an organization over
which he can exercise a great deal of
control from the top. You can control
a lobby. You can’t so easily control a
grassroots political party - it’s too
messy. So he’s got his. But there are
millions of Perot voters whose inter­
ests aren’t being served by the rein­
carnation o f U nited W e Stand,
America as a lobby.
You see, regardless of his inten­
tions the Perot campaign precipitated
an electoral avalanche that perma­
nently transformed the American po­
litical landscape. But the question of
how that landscape will be shaped,
and who will decide, still awaits an
answer.
DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME
YEAR.
The PORTLAND OBSERVER Is located at
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with Somalia.” Why the focus on So­
malia rather than these other coun­
tries?
For more than a decade, the United
States pumped millions of dollars into
the corrupt dictatorship of Somali
leader Siad Barre While thousands
starved in the countryside and domes­
tic dissidents were murdered, the
Americans did virtually nothing. The
reason? Somalia’s geopolitical loca­
tion on the Indian Ocean gave U S.
military planners an excellent base for
possible intervention into Iran, Iraq
and other M iddle East countries.
Americans were given access to the air
force base at the Somali city of Berbera.
There were also growing economic
considerations for both Americans and
Europeans. According to the Wash­
ington Post, there is considerable
“speculation that Somalia sits atop
large oil reserves.”
Even before the fall of Siad Barre’s
regime, major oil corporations were
signing contracts to carry out exten­
sive explorations The presence ofU. S.
troops would lead to domestic stabil­
ity, one could reason, thus permitting
oil companies to pursue their potential
profits.
The American public was told
that their sons and daughters in the
military would be stationed in the Hom
of African for only several week, and
would be withdrawn before Clinton
assumed the presidency . But by the
middle of January, “Operation Restore
Hope” seemed to be taking on the
character of a permanent occupation
of hostile territory. Relief workers in
the countryside began reporting in­
creased incidents of sniper attacks.
One unnamed U S. diplomat told re­
dty, State
zip-code
T hank Y ou F or R eading
T he P ortland O bserver
Fountain Baptist Church
Pledges To Black College Fund
Rev. Jerry M. Sanders, pastor,
Fountain Baptist Church, signed a
commitment letter with Mr. William
Gray, president & Ceo, UNCF, pledg­
ing a quarter of a m il 1 ion dollars to the
United Negro College Fund. “The
monies represent the proceeds of the
Men’s Day contributions and will be
given over a 10 year period. It is our
hope that Fountain Baptist Church’s
gift will serve as a witness for other
church communities to follow,” said
Sanders.
“This is the largest gift a church
has made to the College Fund,” said
Gray. “ It is rewarding to know Rev.
Sanders and the members of Fountai n
Baptist Church understand the rela­
tionship between the African Ameri­
can church and the historically Black
colleges and universities,” said Gray.
Most of the UNCF schools were
founded by churches after the Civil
War to provide education to the newly
freed slaves. The grow ing demand for
admission to these historically Black
colleges and universities lends valid­
ity to the claim that they continue to
be necessary components and attrac­
tive alternatives within the U.S. edu­
cation system. UNCF colleges have
experienced a 25 percent increase in
enrollment since 1986, and they now
enroll over 53,000 students. This in­
crease occurs at a time when more
Black youth are graduating from high
school than ever before (77 percent),
and when more Black youth are par­
ticipating in college than ever before
(one-third of all Black High school
graduates).T ougaloo C ollege, a
UNCF school in Mississippi , was
selected to receive Fountain Baptist
C h u rc h ’s first installm ent. The
church’s gift will be matched by a
$10,000 gift from the Stewart Mott
Foundation. “ W e’re helping this
small rural college to raise $60,000
by contributing $20,000,” said Sand­
ers. “And the mission and vision of
our founders in 1897 continues to
unfold as the church seeks to minis­
ter to the poor, the brokenhearted
and the captive, serving as a beacon
of hope and agent of change,” he
added.
I have been working night and
day to bring the various independent
forces that emerged in 1992 into an
independent political coalition whose
bottom-line commitment is to build­
ing a broad-based major third party
capable of competing for power in the
electoral arena with the Republicans
and Democrats. Along with other lead­
ers of the coalition, I was in W ashing­
ton, DC between January 15 and Janu­
ary 21 to establish the independent
presence during the celebration of the
presidential inauguration (which took
place on January 20.)
My main purpose now is to bring
the middle-class white people who
voted for Perot and want to go inde­
pendent together with the African
A m erican, lesbian and gay, and
women voters who want an alterna­
tive to the two parties of Big Business.
I have the greatest respect and
affection for my coalitional partners
among the Perot people who are com­
mitted to building a third party de­
spite the dictates of Dallas. We have
to get going. When you’re playing
hardball politics, especially with
someone who has hundreds of mil­
lions of dollars in his expense account
you have to move it or lose it.
The U.S. Department
Of Labor
In 1990, wage and salary workers
with 4 years of high school had me­
dian earnings of $354 a week, and
those with 1-3 years of college earned
$431. By comparison those with 4
years of college earned $569, and
workers with 5 or more years, $704,
according to the Bureau of Labor
S tatistics’ O ccupational O utlook
Quarterly.
In 1986, only 33 percent of high
school graduates from the class of
1972 reported that they participated
in employer-sponsored training on
their last full-time job, compared to
60 percent o f those who went on to
finish college. Employer-sponsored
training often leads to better paying
jobs, according to the Bureau of La­
bor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook
Quarterly.
Graduates with bachelor’s de­
grees in econom ics, engineering,
mathematics, and business had the
highest earnings, and graduates in
home cconom ics, education, English/
journalism, and liberal arts had the
lowest, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics’ Occupational O ut­
look Quarterly.