J une 16, 1993 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A2
School Is Out, Except At The White House
T h e pained outer) o f the natio n ’s
black m edia was unanim ous in its
in d ic tm e n t o f the a d m in istra tio n 's
botched process in the Lam G uinier. It
has been m any a year since we have
seen a new s photo so poignant and
trag ic as that o f the nom inee sitting
dejectedly on the
steps o f the U n i­
versity o f P ennsyl­
v a n ia law school
b u ild in g T he fate
o f ’true believers’?
From one end
o f th e country to
th e other, blacks
are voicing their
o pen-m outh incredulity at President
C lin to n ’s ante-bellum ("good nigger”)
type statem ent w hich could be para­
phrased, "w hy 1 really like this col­
ored gal—if she needed the money, 1
w ould let her have $5,000 right out o f
my personal bank account!” We sup­
pose it b oils dow n to a tw ist on an old
adage, “you can take M r C harlie out
o f D ixie, but you c a n ’t take D ixie out
in health program s could win Senate
approval, there is no way they could
pass the House Spend where, tax
w here'.’ Confusion reigns supreme, and
far past that "1 0 0 days” into the
presidency, no one seem s to have
the key to unlock the deck ’, w hile
the band w agon teeters precariously,
W h ite H o u se P re s s S e c r e ta r y
Dec D ee M eyers says th in g s like
n ca
W hite D em ocrats are expressing "W e w ant to see the process go for-
the same degree o f dism ay as the w a rd -w e ’ll m ake very clear w hat the
bandw agon begins to wobble in the president w ants to see, but the thing
Senate. "G ridlock seems alive and w e’re most concerned about is the
well (am ong D em ocrats o f all people) final product” . So are we, dear lady, so
as those on the Finance C om m ittee are we.
T hen, closer to hom e there is
w ould raise energy taxes less th an
C linton proposed and m ake up the that m atter o f C lin to n ’s “N orthw est
difference by further shrinking M edi­ Forest Strategy” . H ave you rev iewed
care and M edicaid. However, Senator W ebster’s definition o f “Strategy”?
John D Rockefeller, (D) W V irginia Even our neigh b o rh o o d M o rn in g
says “ 1 w o n ’t vote for the energy bill, Coffee C o u n cil’ o f unelected politi­
unless the proposed cuts in M edicaid, cians correctly predicted a grow ing
w hich benefits the poor and M edicare, paraly sis o f the process to resolve the
for the elderly and disabled, are m od­ conflict betw een? Econom ic grow th
an d en v iro n m en tal protection. No
erated considerably” .
It is a given that even if deep cuts N orthw est group, agency or politician
and increased spending for I lead Start
childhood im m unizations. M edicare
and M edicaid "arc all in grave d a n ­
ger” . T he childhood im m u n izatio n ’
situation is especially deplorable; co n ­
sider this, A m erica lags not only be­
hind the in d u strialized n atio n s o f
Europe, but behind the five principal
third-w orld countries o f Asia an d Af-
o f Mr. C harlie.
But. isn ’t that w hat 1 said last
week in respect to the P resident’s
A rkansas perform ance—and isn ’t that
w hat I so strongly intim ated last Sep­
tem ber w hen 1 used an old Chinese
proverb to caution against unbridled
e n th u s ia s m
regrading the elec­
tio n ch o ice s: “ A
know n devil is al­
ways preferable to
an unknow ndcvil!”
The obvious logic
being th at in the
first instance you
know w hat to ex­
pect, and intelligently, can prepare to
counter the mischief.
T hat "pained outcry ” in the black
m edia has risen to a crescendo as more
and more D em ocrat "true believers”
discover that the band w agon was
m is s in g a w h eel. R ep C y n th ia
McKinney discovers that C lin to n ’s
proposed expansion of the earned in ­
com e tax credit for the w orking poor
OMBRATE
can design or im plem ent a credible
“ strategy ” fbr resolving our problem s
w ith ta x e s , jo b s , e d u c a tio n o r
jo b -tra in in g directio n , if it is not
know n how the adm inistration is go­
ing to com e down on this issue.
T h is is b e y o n d " g r id lo c k ” .
O reg o n ’s econom ic future is in abso­
lute limbo, and now to top it all off, the
adm inistration cannot decide (at this
w riting) w ho to nom inate foi the Su­
prem e C ourt vacancy, Interior Secre­
tary, Bruce Babbit or federal judge,
Stephen Breyer, an experienced ju ­
rist. I t’s eith er am ateur night again or
a prom ised political payoff Babbit
seem s to be the obvious choice to
continue in his role o f resolving the
econom ic crisis engendered by the
lum ber versus environm ent com bat­
ants Why in the w orld would Presi­
dent C linton remove him an d prolong
the econom ic agony andgridlockw hile
an acceptable successor is fo u n d -lf
any.
No, school is still in session at the
W hite House
This Way For Black Empowerment
The Fight For Justice In L.A. Is Not Over
In a little m ore than a month, the
Los A ngeles courts w ill begin to try
the case o f three young Black m en-
D am ian W illiam s, A ntoine M iller and
Henry W a tso n -w h o m the police have
accused ofbeating a w hite truck driver
w ho drove into their neighborhood
d u rin g the April 29, 1992 rebellion in
South C entral Los A ngeles follow ing
the acquittal o f the four cops who
brutally beat Rodney K ing.
T he Los A ngeles authorities have
handled this case in a way that dem on­
strates that they have learned nothing
from the national dram a that began
the night a citizen videotaped the L„ A
police doing w hat they do all the tim e,
usually w ith total im punity : brutaliz­
ing people o f color. R ight from the
start, these three young m en (and four
others w ho w ere a danger to the com ­
m unity. Y oung D am ian and his tw o-
c o d e fe n d a n ts have been charged, not
ju st w ith aggravated assault an d at­
tem pted m urder, but w ith “torture.”
T h e ir bail has been set at up to
$580,000, w hich virtually ensures that
they will sit in ja il until the end o f their
trial. (In contrast, bail for the four
policem en w ho carried out the offi­
cially sanctioned torture o f Rodney
K ing w as set at only $5,000; w ith the
two convictions on appeal, there is a
chance that none o f those cops w ill
ever spend a day in j a i l )
It is no longer the policy o f the
pow ers-that-be to try to com e to a
accom m odation w ith the poor and
oppressed. In the wake o f a social
disaster in Los A ngeles that cost doz­
ens o f lives and destroy ed the phy sical
and social infrastructure o f a com m u­
nity, there will be no K erner C om m is­
sion convened, as there w as after the
W atts riots, to try to “get to the root of
the problem .” No, those w ho rule
A m erica-and w ho have ruined the
A m erican econom y th ro u g h th e ir
sh o rt-sig h te d p ro fite e rin g -c a n no
longer afford the reform s th at m ight
be suggested by such inquiry. T h eir
only interest now is in using these
tragedies to teach us a lesson.
T he case against the L.A. 4+ is
being organized to scapegoat they oung
m en and cov er up w hat prov oked the
disturbances-the acquittal verdict. The
undeniably brutal bean ng o f the w hite
truck driv er, Reginald Denny, has been
totally extracted from the social and
political context in w hich it happened.
A ttem pts to put the beating back into
that context have been brutally re­
pressed.
Last Decem ber 14, the Free the
L.A. 4+ Defense C om m ittee o rg a­
nized a peaceful press conference and
rally. H undreds o f riot-equipped of­
ficers poured onto the site o f the rally
and attacked the protesters, hitting
them w ith batons an d gun butts, shoot­
ing them w ith plastic bullets, and
subjecting them to tear gas. h an d ­
cuffs, an d M ace. Sixty people were
arrested, many indiscrim inately. Most
o f those arrested w ere not charged
w ith any crim es, supporting the D e­
fense C o m m ittee’s contention that
innocent people w ere subjected to
unnecessary an d excessive force.
Brother M alcolm X once noted
that here is a critical difference-both
m oral and historical-betw een a slave-
m aster beating a slave, and the slave,
rising up and tak in g a stick to the
slave-m aster R eginald Denny w as no
slave-m aster, but an innocent an d
unfortunate casualty of the blind rage
this corrupt and racist system inspires.
T here are liberals (m any o f w hom ran
for may or o f Los A ngeles this spring)
w ho profess to sec a k ind o f m oral
symmetry betw een the w hite cops who
beat Rodney K ing, an d the Black
youths (whose identities, it is im por­
tant to rem ind ourselves, have not
been established) w ho beat Reginald
D enny. T h ese p o litic ia n s w an t a
“ single standard o f ju stice” applied in
court, but are rem arkably com placent
about the double stan d ard o f justice
that rules all aspects o f daily life in Los
A ngeles and throughout our country.
A frican A m ericans and th eir allies in
all o f you; others com m unities must
not be com placent, but m ust be on the
front line o f the fight for ju stice for the
L.A. 4+. O n June 1 7 ,1 w ill welcome
to H arlem Ms. G eorgiana W illiam s,
D am ian’s m other, w ho has risen abov e
this tragedy to becom e a leader in the
fight ag ain st a system th at is stigm a-
ti zin g an d killing ouryoungB lackm en
We all m ust listen to th is sister, and
m ake her fight our own.
Satruday
June 19
THE EMPIRE STRIKES RACK II
by Professor M cK inley Burt
L ast week, the replies o f readers
to th e E conom ic S eries’ prom pted me
to furnish several illustrations that
indicated I was listening to them . In
particular, I gave that anecdote about
th e young m an aided in launching an
industrial cleaning b u sin e ss-a tm e
story that w as sim ultaneously rew ard­
ing and tragic.
T he story excited quite a bit o f
interest from both individuals and
o rg a n iz a tio n s . In c o n s e q u e n c e I
have been asked to speak at several
m eetings. A dditionally, two have re­
quested consulting services in the d e­
sign o f program s to further the in ­
volvem ent o f m inority y o u th -m a le
an d fem ale--in “For Profit” business
enterprise Should there be any other
type o f activity for poor folks in this
republic?
I c e r ta in ly h o p e th a t th e s e
en d eav o rs are supported by m ore
en th u sia sm and com m itm ent than
w as the case about 15 years ago m em -
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bers o f several black organizations
asked me to m ake presentations to
their respective groups regarding the
design o f econom ic ac tiv itie s th e
groups could pursue. In both these
cases, the interest was initiated by
m em bers w ho years earlier had been
students in my business classes at
Portland State University. O ne in p ar­
ticu lar, a stro n g su p p o rter o f his
church , rem em bered a classro o m
model I developed around the eco­
nom ic program s developed by the
Reverend Leon Sulivan for his church
in Philadelphia (Circa 1969).
Just briefly here, for those o f you
not fam iliar w ith this m arvelous ex ­
am ple o f enlightened "self-help” , this
m inister organized his congregation
o f hundreds o f urban poor blacks into
a for-profit corporation that contracted
w ith industry and the general m arket­
place to produce products and ser­
vices—backed by the necessary train ­
ing program s, also support program s
like daycare and sim ilar social ser-
vices. T he Project succeeded beyond
all expatiations, and in various forms
spread not only to o th er cities in
A m erica an d C anada but to Europe
A sia and Africa. Billions in econom ic
w ealth were created
I recall that there were branches
in S can d in av ia, G erm any, Jap an ,
India and N igeria. T here w as a branch
in Portland, "P.O .I.C . “ (Portland O p ­
portunities Industrial C orporation),
though, like many o f the ‘fran ch ises’,
it w as n o t c h u r c h - h o u s e d My
form er student the church member,
w as u n a b le to g a in th e in te re st
or support o f the ‘eld ers’ an d the
id ea died s till-b o rn . H o w ev er, a
w hite friend o f m ine, w ho w as the
o rg a n is t at a la rg e d o w n to w n ,
99% w hite church, leaped at the idea
as a vehicle to em ploy the urban poor
an d hom eless to w hom they m inis­
tered
I sp e n t se v e ra l w ee k s o n a
consultant 's contract to design a ‘m a­
trix ’ w hich w ould first determ ine ex-
actly w hat resources w ere already at
hand, what did th e congregation own
and how available: tools, pickuptnicks,
dum p trucks, bulldozers, backhoes,
com pressors, steam -cleaners, spray­
ers, lathes, even v acant lots and empty
storefronts A nd then there w as the
need to assess the training, skills and
experience o f both the unem ployed
and the em ployed, as well as tim e
availability. It is easy to sec that one
could organize a rath er effective pro-
gram around these data banks T here
was never any doubt about its success
and later I did som ething sim ilar for a
N ative Am erican Program T he people
had the enthusiasm to m arket th eir
resources W hydon'tvve?Scaled-dow n
versions arc quite possible.
Now, I note that several o f you
readers who are “striking back from
the em pire” are voicing suspicions
that there m ust be som e type o f con-
spiraev in force against ‘rea l’ Black
blacks and w hites whose standard of
life depends on the preservation o f a
non-cconom ic minded ghetto tow hie
they can sell their social and philo-
sophical wares. How long should we
E co n o m ic D e v e lo p m e n t- “a g e n ts be led by people who cannot operate a
loose in the com m unity” — “a new corner store or m ake a door stop
v ersion o f C O IN T E L P R O , E T C .”
Before speculating that far, per aps
we should exam ine ourselves first and
the cultural grooves from w hich most
seem unable to escape. G enerations o f
activists are succeeding generations
o f those w hose am bitions and liveli-
hoods are tied to escalating the qua -
ity o f life o f the poor
P erhaps the econom ic trap in
w hich A frican A m ericans find them -
selves serves the purposes o f those
B oy S couts
of A merica
Mary K. Richardson
Director o f In School Scouting
Columbia Pacific Council
2145 SW Frount Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97201
(503)226-3423
1993 National Black Theatre Festival
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• • • # # ■
Tw o o f the stars o f A B C -T V 's
“H om cfront" series. Dick Anthony
W illiam s (left) and H attie W inston
h e lp e d a n n o u n c e p la n s fo r th e
1993 N a tio n a l B la c k T h e a tr e
Festival, w hich w ill be held here
A u g u st 2-7 T h e a n n o u n c e m e n t
also featu red Larry Leon H am lin
( r ig h t ) , (h e f e s t i v a l ’s f o u n d e r,
producer and artistic director, Jam es
W Johnston (second from right),
ch airm an and C E O o f R J Reynolds
T o b ac co C o , w h o a n n o u n c e d a
$125, ODD com m itm ent by his com ­
pany to the festival: W ill Jenkins
(se c o n d from le ft), p re sid e n t o f
the N C Black Repertory Theatre;
and H erm an LcV crn Jones, special
assislanl to the festival’s producer
I a u n c h c d in 1 9 8 9 a n d h e ld
« » • * *
V
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•
every other year, the internationally
acclaim ed festival this year features
p e r fo rm a n c e s by m o re th a n 20
B la c k th e a te r c o m p a n ie s fro m
across the nation, w orkshops and
s e m in a r s
fo r
B la c k
th e a te r
groups, an d a host o f celeb rities
in c lu d in g S id n ey P o itic r. D ella
Reese, Harry Bclafontc and Gregory
Hines