P age A?
J une 8, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver
C IV IL
RIG HTS
JO U R N A L
RAINBdW
O A I I T I O N
Health Care In America Part III
“Pot Of Gold’ At End Of Clinton's Health Plan”; Even That Plan Is In Serous Trouble
hat is the difference
between a national
health care system,
national health insurance (pri
vate or government run) and a
national health service?
distributed and sold privately for
profit. It is governm ent regulated like
the FTC regulates other forms o f com
merce. It is private profit driven! This
was C linton’s original plan. Even it
has gone downhill from its strong
start.
The U.S. and South A frica are
2. N ational health in su ra n c e ,
the only tw o industrialized nations
ru n by the go v ern m en t (e.g., single
in the w orld that do not have a payer, Canadian-style), is a national
national health care sy stem -th o u g h
health care system which provides
even South Africa had one for its health insurance forali A m ericanson
w hite citizens. South Africa is now an equal basis; establishes the fees o f
w orking such a plan for All o f its health care providers, with the states’
citizens. If Clinton ’ s health proposal help; controls price increases; but
su cceed s-after failed attem pts by still allows the health care system to
Presidents R oosevelt,Truman, John stay entirely in private hands, with
son and N ix o n -w e too will have a unrestricted free choice o f provider.
national system for the first time in
3. N ational health service is a
ourhistory. However, prospects seem national health care system designed
to get dim m er with every passing to benefit consum ers by m eeting their
day. W hat are the broad health care com prehensive health n e e d s-i.e ., of
options?
actively promoting a healthy life-style,
1. N atio n al h ealth in su ra n c e , health education, prevention, treat
r u n by th e p riv ate in su ra n c e co m m ent, care and cure. Such a system
p an ies, is a national health care would not elim inate com pletely m ar
system designed to benefit the insur ket com petition-com petition within
ance and health industries where the fram ew ork o f a national health
econom ic competition and profit is service system would help to keep
the driving force. It treats health prices down, quality up and improve
care like peanuts, soybeans, beer and efficiency. M arket forces would in
c a rs-a s acom m odity to be produced, fluence the system, but not drive it. A
national health care service would
view health c a re a sa h u m a n rightand
be driven by social need, not by pri
vate greed.
The Rainbow believes that as
civilization and econom ies develop,
certain basics o f the m aterial life—
e.g., health care and education-should
not be turned over com pletely to mar
ket fo rc e s (i.e ., “ su rv iv a l o f the
f itte s t” . In such a sy ste m , th e few
a lw a y s w in d up on top w ith the
b e st and m o st e v e ry th in g , w hile
the m any en d up on the b o tto m
w ith the le a st and w o rst o f e v e ry -
th in g -in th is c a se , h e a lth c a re .
Bottom L in e :C lin to n ’soriginal
restructuring plan was a step forward
in the sense that it was universal and
was more com prehensive for more
people than the current system , but
still protected and w as prim arily
driven by the m a rk e t-i.e ., the special
(econom ic) interests o f the insurance
industry, for-profit hospitals, doctors
and d e n tists-n o t human health needs.
It w ould have rationalized and in
creased governm ent regulation of the
health insurance in d u stry -e.g ., 1,500
insurance com panies was too un
wieldy and socially in efficien t-b u t it
still would have fundamentally treated
health care as a com m odity along
side other com m odities. W hile the
Rainbow saw C linton’s plan as bet
ter than the current system , it sup
ports a C anadian-style single payer
plan. C linton’s plan would have
been regulated by: a 7-m em ber N a
tional Health Board, appointed by
the President, w hich would have
m onitored state com pliance and the
functioning o f health alliances; in
terpreted the standard benefit pack
age and m ade recom m endations
about new benefits to reflect chang
ing technology and needs; and would
have set regional m edical spending
ceilings. It w ould have developed
indicators o f the quality o f service
and care offered by health plans and
publicized the results to prom ote
informed consum er choices. A com
mittee w ould have m onitored drug
prices and raised questions to the
pharm aceutical com panies about
those drugs it deem ed unreasonably
expensive.
Even under C linton ’s best plan
the “gold” at the end o f his health
care rainbow is prim arily for the
health care industry, with a little
health care “ gold d u st’ throw n in for
the people.
TH IS WAY FOR BLACK EMPOWERMENT
Zaire: Next On The List For Democracy In Africa
’ by D r . L enora F vlani
n april 18 the demo
cra tic opp ositio n to
the Zairean dictator
Mobutu Sese Seko o fficia lly
designated theirleader, Etienne
Tshisekedi, to be the prime min
ister of Zaire’s transitional gov
ernment once again. Tshisekedi
received 89% of the vote.
Tshisekedi, w ho I am proud to
have known and supported for the last
five years, was first elected prime
m inister in A ugust 1992 by Z aire’s
Sovereign N ational Conference, a
dem ocratic assem bly of over 2,800
delegates which created interim insti
tutions - a constitution, a parliam ent,
and a governm ent - charged with
leading Zaire to dem ocracy within
tw o years. H ow ever, the dictator
M obutu - originally installed by the
CIA after the assassination o f Patrice
L um um ba--has refused tocedepow er
to the dem ocratic governm ent, and
has used has control over the armed
forces and the county ’ s wealth to sabo
tage the dem ocratic transition. The
United States, w hile giving lip ser-
vice to support for the legitimate tran
sition governm ent, has continued to
give political and diplomatic support
to its longtime ally Mobutu.
S tarting last S ep tem b er, the
United States along with France, Bel
gium and a special UN representative
pressured the opposition to sit down
and “negotiate” changes to Z aire’s
transitional constitution - changes
w hich d rastically underm ine the
democratic gains o f the Sovereign
National Conference and increase the
formal pow ers o f President Mobutu.
The opposition reluctantly agreed to
“enlarge” the High Council o f the
Republic (the transitional parliament)
to include all the deputies form the
former one-party National Assembly,
a M obutuist institution that had been
abolished by the Sovereign National
Conference. This “enlargem ent’ gave
Mobutu a majority o f the High coun
cil of the Republic.
The thinly-veiled objective of
these U.S.-brokered negotiations is to
dislodge Tshisekedi - the most popu
lar Zairean political leader since
Patrice Lum um ba - from the post of
prime m inister, and replace him with
a “neutral technocrat” more accept
able to international financial institu
tions. American em bassy personnel
travel around K inshasa openly pro
moting the candidacy o f Kengo wa
Dondo, a form er prim e m inister un
der the M obutu regim e who is enor
m ously unpopular with the Zairean
people.
Despite enorm ous pressure, the
o p p o s itio n re fu s e d to g iv e up
Tshisekedi. The terms o f the deal
finally concluded between Mobutu
and the opposition specified that the
new prime m inister had to com e from
the ranks o f the opposition, and
Tshisekedi was once again the choice.
Since then, the M obutuists have re
newed their cam paign o f sabotage.
C elestin Anzulur.i, the acting head o f
the transitional parliam ent and a
M obutuist, held up T shisekedi’s ap
pointm ent, w hile 13 M obutuists who
had infiltrated the opposition declared
their own candidacies. The Mobutu-
controlled radio and TV reported on
these candidacies, and broadcast the
false information that no opposition
candidate had received a majority o f
the vote.
It Doesn’t Have To
J ames L . P osey
re ce n t a rtic le in the
S kanner new spaper
questioned whetherthe
NF. Econom ic Development Al
liance was valid and truly repre
sentative of the econom ic de
velopment interest in NE Port
land.
by
This issue is centered around the
attem pt by P ortland D evelopm ent
Com m ission (PDC) to qualify NE
Portland for som e ghetto bucks from
the Feds. By having NE Portland
federally- designated as an E m pow
erm ent Zone, PD C and the Alliance
are going after some o f the 1993 L.A.
riot hush m oney.
After much conuoversy over the
effectiveness o f these type of pro
grams, the Clinton adm inistration and
the Congress have finally set aside a
few dollars. Regardless o f whether or
not the program s are effective, politi
cally at least, they give the appear
ance o f helping to keep the natives
from becom ing too restless any time
soon.
Never m ind that because o f com
petition from cities in dire straits such
as East St. L ouis, Newark and D e
troit, Portland has about a snow ball’s
chance in hell o f getting the designa
tion. The real story is more about the
posture o f PDC and the makeup of
this A lliance. The em pow erm ent
zone-thing is only one situation in
which these two organizations have
collaborated to push an economic
developm ent agenda in NE Portland.
But one has only to glance at the
A lliance’s board o f directors to real
ize there is questionable representa
tion and a lack o f viable Black busi
ness interest.
Immediately, one can see that
m ost o f the individuals representing
the NE Alliance come from back
grounds other than business and eco
nomic development. Even the few
who have some business expertise
com e from large corporate settings or
are recognized as non-profit business
junkies and not entrepreneurs in the
true sense. O thers on the board can
b ro a d ly
be
c a te g o r iz e d
as
socialworker/activist types who have
a narrow focus o f jobs as the only way
to economic salvation. That is not to
say that these good people don ’ t know
anything about economic develop
ment or that they c a n ’t contribute to
discussions on these issues. But to
have them design and orchestrate an
economic development agenda for NE
residents is sheer madness.
In Portland, w hite and Black
public officials perpetuate this crazi
ness by patronizing these kinds of
activities. They know this is a clear
case o f the tail wagging the dog and
bares no resemblance to how white
people operate for themselves in en
suring their own economic progress.
O nly in Portland, Oregon, would the
governor call the (then) director of
the Urban League and ask him to act
as the chief economic spokesman for
the Black com m unity, and he accepts.
Only here would the owners of a large
sports complex under construction
call upon acom m unity leader, skilled
in early childhood development, to
appease and cover up concerns raised
by Black contractors. And, he does it.
As the kids would say, “ Something is
really ’ailin g ’ here.”
This Alliance/PDC thing is a real
“drama dilem m a” On the one hand,
progress is being made because finally
attention is being paid to some long-
neglected economic problems. On the
other hand, organizations like PDC are
T h e C lin to n a d m in is tra tio n ,
w h ich has co m e u n d e r fire from
th e C o n g re ssio n a l B lack C a u c u s
fo r its Z a ire p o lic y , b la m e s the
c o n tin u in g im p a sse s in Z a ire on
th e in a b ility o f th e “p o litic a l
c la s s ” to rise a b o v e its p e tty a m
b itio n s . “ T h e re a re no G e o rg e
W a s h in g to n ’s th e r e ,” a D efen se
D e p a rtm e n t s ta f f m e m b e r to ld
N an cy R o ss and D eb o rah G re e n ,
p a rtn e rs in the D C lo b b y in g firm
o f R o ss & G reen , w hich a d v o
c a te d fo r the Z a ire a n d e m o c ra tic
tr a n s itio n .
On the contrary, American for
eign policy toward Zaire must bear
the lion’s share o f blam e for the tragic
delay in Z aire’sdem ocratization. The
Clinton adm inistration has adopted
the policy o f President Bush in its
entirety: hang on to Mobutu, and use
him to interfere with Zairean sover
eignty and the Zairean people’s right
to self-determ ination. Now that de
mocracy has finally com e to South
A frica, we m ust tum our attention to
the struggle for dem ocratization in all
o f Africa. Zaire must be at the top of
the list.
New Age Reconstruction
B ernice P owell J ackson
omeone once said those
who d on’t know their
history are destined to
repeat it.
by
A nd the baseball philosopher
Yogi B erra was once quoted as say
ing,” it’s deja vu all over again.”
W hichever way you look at it, w hat is
happening now has happened before
as legal challenges in five Southern
states attem pt to erase new ly-draw n
majority African A m erican congres
sional districts.
It happened after the C ivil W ar,
when the South sent 22 Blacks to
Congress and dozens to state legisla
tures and county courthouses. It was
called Reconstruction. But with the
election o f Rutherford B. H ayes and
the w ithdraw al o f federal troops from
the South, blacks had been totally
disenfranchised and all the black
members of Congress were gone by
1901. Indeed, G eorge W hite, the last
black congressm an o f this R econ
struction period predicted in his final
C ongressional address that blacks
would rise again som e day, phoenix
like. He warned, “These parting words
are in behalf o f an outraged, heartbro
ken, bruised and bleeding, but G o d
fearing people, faithful, industrious,
loyal, rising people - full o f potential
force.”
G eorge W hite w as right - blacks
did return to Congress from the South.
He probably had no idea it w ould take
nearly a century to do so. 71 years to
be exact — when B arbara Jordan was
elected in Texas and A ndrew Y oung
in G eorgia.
And he probably had no idea that
no m ore A frican-A m ericans would
be elected for two decades until a new
strengthened V oting Rights A ct in
1990 required redistricting to m axi
mize Black voters influence. As a
result, in 1992 five Southern states
which had no A frican A m erican rep
resentation since Reconstruction each
elected at least one A frican A m erican
m em ber — V irginia, N orth C arolina,
A labam a and Florida.
But all o f that can now change.
“W e began this century with no Black
representation in C ongress and the
prospect is we could end it that w ay.”
sa id C o n g re s s w o m a n C y n th ia
M cK inney o f G eorgia in a recent
Encore m agazine interview.
W hy does M cKinney make such
a dire prediction? In 1993 the S u
preme C ourt’s Shaw vs Reno deci
sion disregarded this century’s vot
ing record when it cam e to black
representation from the South in C on
gress. Ironically, it used the 14th and
15th am endm ents to the C onstitu
tion, which were designed to confer
full citizenship and equal rights upon
freed slaves to try to end the voting
rights districts which finally had given
African Americans from the South
representation in C ongress. This d e
cision established a dangerous prece
dent by recognizing the right o f white
voters to challenge m ajority African
A merican congressional districts in
North Carolina.
Now five lawsuits have been filed,
asking federal judges to end these
districts because they am ount to un
constitutional segregation o f voters,
despite the fact that 47 percent o f the
voters in the North C arolina district
in question are white. The Suprem e
Court labeled these new districts as
examples o f “political apartheid.” The
reality is that what black Southern
voters had for nearly a century is
apartheid and that these districts are
less segregated than any Southern
co n g re ssio n a l d istric t p rev io u sly
draw n. For exam ple, in Louisiana,
the m ost racially diverse districts are
these so-called m ajority-minority dis
tricts.
The Law ers C om m ittee for Civil
Rights U nder Law contends that the
Suprem e Court decision was based on
myths about the redistricting process,
myths which are unsupported by em
pirical evidence or record. These in
clude the m yth that the election o f
D ouglas W ilder in V irginia proves
that African Americans can get elec ted
in Southern states. But the reality is
that only one African A m erican has
been elected governor in any state in
the history o f the country and no
Hispanic has yet been elected.
Another myth on the Lawyers
Com m ittee list is that the courts have
always disapproved o f odd-looking
districts. The reality is that there have
been m any o d d -lo o k in g districts
which w ere designed to keep one
party or one pow erful politician in
power. T he Law yers Com m ittee ar
gues that until this recent Supreme
Court decision, it had never recog
nized any federal right to challenge a
district solely on the grounds that it
was unusually shaped.
It is 1 ikely that the Suprem e Court
will rule on voting rights districts
again. Its Shaw vs Reno decision was
one with a 5-4 split, with Clarence
Thom as, a native G eorgian, voting
with the m ajority. W ith such a split
and with a new justice on the Court
this fall, som e African American poli
ticians are unsure o f their future.
Congresspersons are not the only
ones whose futures are in jeopardy.
The hundreds o f A frican A merican
state, county and city legislators and
judges elected as a result o f the redis
tricting are also threatened. U lti
mately, so is justice and so is dem oc
racy. Not only does the African Ameri
can com m unity lose, all Americans
lose w ithout fair and representative
governm ent.
ogus
demonstrating that old habits are hard to
break. They are still trying to run organi
zations like the Alliance up the flag pole
and wave them off as representing the
economic development interest of NE
Portland residents when they really don’t
even come close.
Invariably somebody is gonna ask if
Bernie Foster from the Skanner and Joyce
Washington at the Portland Observer
are participating? Is Mr. Booker from the
only Black bank in town involved,
and w hat about O ra Hart and the
others at Albina-Progressive Realty?
W here is Paul Knauls and W illie
Harris on this stuff? W hat does Jeff
Parks and the club ow ners have to
say? If not W ave’s H air Design, what
about Ja-bclle’s input? Coast Indus
tries, Inc. is awful quiet. Hey, what
about this group called the Black
D ollar Days Task Force, not to m en
tion those struggling Black contrac
tors, NAM CO?
This is just a short list. But let’s face
it. Unless a significant number of these
folks, at least half, and others arc at the
table, it’s a bogus thing.
James Posey is a small business
owner with a background in social work
and community activism.
(USPS 959-680)
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