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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1994)
P age A? N ovember 22, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver o not m istake what happened on Tuesday. A “right revolution” took place. Not since World War II has Congress seen such dramatic change. Republicans gained over 50 new seats in the House (the outcome of about 8 races is still pending) and 8 new Senate seats-plus one switch (Richard Shelby of A labam a sw itched from Democrat to Republican). While the initial words o f Dem ocrats and Republicans were biparti san and sweet and low, it w on’t last. The Democrats w ho remain are gen erally more liberal and the new Re publican majority is more conserva tive. The only counter to prevent Clinton from caving in to the Repub lican right and conservatives in his own party, if he is to be countered, is his base-people o f color, workers, women and progressives. The election results send a clear m essage-unless REAL Democrats offer REAL hope based on REAL change voters will choose REAL Republicans. If a Democratic Con gress can't deliver health care, an urban policy or investments in our economic future, voters will choose FALSE hope and a counter-revolu tio n -ta x cuts for the rich, an increase in military spending and a balanced budget. Sound familiar? Republicans signed a “Contract with America." Democrats signed a “suicide pact” with each other. Most Democratic candidates ran away from the President, some Democrats even ran commercials against him. Demo crats ran away from their legislative and political achievements. Demo crats also ran against their base, us ing so-called “tough-on-crime" and R ainbow ] c o a l it io n Right Revolution Wins “ w elfare refo rm " co m m ercials. Progressives certainly should not be tolerant o f crime nor defend unwork able and dehumanizing welfare pro grams, but neither should they toler ate Republicans or Democrats using covert race signals in their (crime and welfare)commercials to get elect ed to office. While progressives and people o f color may lose later with regard to social policies, the Democratic Lead ership Conference (D L C )-the “mod e ra te ” D em ocratic o rg an izatio n formed to offset the influence o f the National R ainbow Coalitionafterthe 1984 presidential campaign, to ap peal to white males, and to pull the Democratic Party back to the “cen- ter”-w e re the big POLITICAL los ers on Tuesday. With a DLC Presi dent (Clinton) and a DLC Vice Pres ident (Gore), the DLC Chairman, Dave McCurdy lost in Oklahoma, both DLC candidates running for the Senate in Tennessee, Jim Sasser and Jim Cooper, lost big time. Another DLCer, Charles Robb, would have lost in Virginia except Ollie North was so extreme that he divided his own party and had Senator John W am er(R-VA); Marshall Coleman, a third party Republican candidate; N ancy R eagan; N orm an Schwarzkopf, former Secretary o f State, Lawrence Eagleburger; and other Republicans aligned against him. While Democrats face an iden tity crisis, Congressional Democrats lack a unifying vision or legislative agenda. The White House has lost the political initiative. Republicans, on the other hand, are clear on their agenda. If there was any doubt about where the new Republican majority plans to take the country the new Speaker o f the House made it crystal clear the day after the election. Al though Mr. Gingrich said it might take a decade, he promised to bury any remnants o f what he disdainfully calls the “Great Society, countercul ture, M cGovernick” Legacy and re turn America to a more black-and- white view o f right and wrong. He said, “There are profound things that went wrong starting with the Great Society and the countercul ture and until we address them head- on, W e’re going to have these prob lems.” Three hundred Republican can didates ran on the Contract with America. W ithin the first 100 days o f Congress it calls for the passage o f legislation in the House that, among other things, includes: a new crime bill which focuses on sentencing, the death penalty, increasing law enforce ment, cutting the previous crime bill’s social spending to fund prison con struction; prohibition o f welfare to minor mothers, cuts in Aid to Fami lies and work requirements for wel fare; an increase in businesses; a limit on punitive damages and re form o f product liability laws; and support for term limits. In the Senate they propose to enact a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution; putting prisoners to work and building less resort-like prisons; and a reversal o f defense cuts and the prevention o f future ones. R ead c a re fu lly the w ords o f N ew t G in g ric h spoken on CBS M o rn in g N ew s on W ed n esd ay m orning: “ I think th a t we have an o b lig a tio n to listen c a re fu lly to w hat w as c le a rly a voice for low er sp en d in g , for less G overnm ent, for lo w er taxes, for m uch to u g h er p ro v isio n s on crim inals. I think it’s p re tty hard to look at g o v e r n o rsh ip s, state le g isla tu re s, to look at the S enate and H ouse, and not c o n c lu d e so m eth in g f a ir ly big w as h a p p e n in g in A m erica last n ig h t.” JaxFax may listen and hear a d if f e r e n t m e ssa g e th a n N ew t Gingrich, but Rainbow supporters should not underestimate the pro gram or the will o f those now in power to turn back the clock on civil rights, voting rights, workers rights, women’s rights, the environment and the other political and social gains made since the 1960s. better Send your letters to the Editor to: Editor, POBox 3137, Portland, OR 97208 Build Relations With Newcomers Of Color by K athryn F lewellen m ajority of the one m illion new com ers who have come to the U.S. each year of this decade are people of color, Asians, Latinos, Africans, and blacks from Caribbean countries. We African Americans often have mixed emotions about these newcomers o f color. The legacy o f racial discrimination has left us eco nomically and politically vulnera ble, and we wonder if new immi grants and refugees pose an addition al threat to our already tenuous situ ation. Some o f us may resent Carib bean and African immigrants and refugees because we believe these newcomers look down on us and do not want to associate with us. On the other hand, many o f us spoke out against the racially-charged policy toward Haitian boat people which barred them from applying for asy lum in the U.S. And many o f us have registered our objections to the lim ited number o f African immigrants permitted entry into the U.S. annual ly. Given this complex and some times contradictory set of views, what position should African Americans take on immigration? I believe that we must develop a strong and we 11-articulated commit ment to the rights o f immigrants and refugees that is reflective of our strug gle for racial and economic justice and for a positive identity. As descendants o f the largest forced migration o f a people in mod em human history - African slavery - we have a great deal in common with today’s immigrants and refugees o f color. We have a unique understand ing o f the racism and xenophobia many o f them confront. Like today’s immigrants, we know what it means to be used as cheap labor, then locked out o f the wealth o f our labor pro duced. And we know how it feels to be blamed for everything from na tional unemployment rates and bud get deficits to crime. We who are the descendants o f slave migrants can be proud that our struggle for civil rights, equality and social justice has set the moral tone for how al I other “minorities” should be treated in this country, particular ly immigrants o f color. Our struggle produced the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which granted cit- izenship o f every child bom in the U.S., including children o f all immi grants and refugees. Our struggle to keep slavery from tearing apart our families gives us a framework for empathizing with ref ugees, many o f whom come seeking freedom from ethnic, religious, po litical, social and gender persecu tion. It helps us understand why im migrants who become naturalized citizens and legal residents seek to bring their spouses, children or sib lings to this country. Our struggle produced the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects any person o f color in the U.S. - immi grants and native-born Americans alike - from various forms o f dis crimination. W e have a m oral o b lig a tio n to c re a te w hat A frican A m erican th e o lo g ia n C ornel W est c a lls “ a p ro p h e tic fra m e w o rk ” - w hich d ire c ts o u r anger and action at c o n tin u in g p a tte rn s o f ra c ia l d is crim ination in em ploym ent, hous ing, urb an n eg lect and the b a n k ing in d u stry ’s n e ig h b o rh o o d in vestm en t po licies. We African Americans cannot oppose fair and generous immigra- tion policies due to fears o f jo b dis placement or losing the status o f be ing the largest “minority.” We can not betray our centuries-long cam paign for justice by joining forces with the anti-immigration movement. We African Americans must “lift as we clim b,” leaving no community of people behind to be victimized by racism and poverty. We must re member the tragic history o f divide and conquer - too little for too many. As w e A fric a n A m e ric a n s p rep are our ch ild re n for the 21 C e n tu ry , we m ust ask o u rse lv e s, do we w ant them to be lead ers in the tra d itio n s o f M arcus G arvey, W E B . D uB ois, M artin L uther K in g , a n d M a ry M cL eod B ethune, w ho b elie v e d in ju s tic e fo r a ll? O r w ill so m e o f us, th ro u g h o u r rh e to ric , en c o u ra g e them to bow to the u g lin e ss o f a n ti- im m ig r a n t b ig o tr y ? T he c h o ice is ours. (E d ito r’s note: Kathryn Flewellen is the director of the Na tional Immigration Forum's Mi gration Project, an umbrella group for more than 200 organizations that advocate fair and generous im migration policies.) The O J. Case: Racist Conspiracy Or Collective Paranoia? bx E arl O eari H i tchinson Nationalof Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan recently warned that the media has “destroyed” O.J. Simpson. He fingered Time maga zine for doctoring the cover pic ture of O.J. to make him look more sinisterand menacing. Farrakham claimed that Time “did the same to me" in a cover picture. O.J. is only the latest smear tar get. The Nation o f Islam warns that sinister plots, secret relationships, hidden agendas and covert plans are being hatched to destabilize black organizations and wipe-out black leaders. Many blacks agree. It is now respectable, even fashionable, totalk about conspiracies and plots against blacks. On nearly every talk show I’ve appeared on this year the host has asked, “Do you think there’s a conspiracy against blacks? Many African-American telephone callers on these shows dutifully chime in with an assorted list o f plotters that run the gamut from international Zi onists to the CIA. But why has the O .J. case brought the conspiracy fears o f African Amer icans exploding to the surface? He never visibly identified with black causes He moved easily in the cor porate world o f money and power. His friends and personal relations were mostly white Yet those are precisely the reasons his plight has heightened black paranoia If the mainstream media could relentlessly assault his character and prosecutors could orchestrate a damaging cam paign or convince the public o f his guilt even before a trial, then every black was fair game A majority o f African Ameri cans in July CNN and Newsweek polls insisted there was a conspiracy by “unknown forces” to frame him. They reasoned that “O .J.’s fall from grace reinforced the deep belief by much o f the public that black men were a menace to society. This would p ro v id e still an o th er excuse to marginalize, repress and eventually physically eliminate blacks. O.J., say the conspiracy theo rists, is the latest link in a racial plot that began in the 1960s It goes like this. Following the urban uprisings, the ghettos were flooded with drugs, alcohol, gangs and guns. During the 1980s AIDS was imported in The “white establishment” wanted to stop blacks from developing unity, strong political organizations and programs to counter oppression. The plot was to bet blacks to self-destruct. Some blacks, like Farrakhan, named the “unseen forces" behind the plot. “ Where do the drugs come from? W ho is the unseen hand. The government o f the United States." In editorials and articles, the N ation’s newspaper, The Final Call raged that the “unseen forces” had a global master plan to plunder A frica’s stra tegic minerals and annihilate Afri can-American leaders. There is certainly no proof that any o f this is true. And most whites and some blacks laugh at, ridicule and lampoon much o f this as the lunatic ravings o f crackpot fringe groups that trade in paranoia. Still, we must remember the old line that even paranoiacs have enemies. His torian Richard Hofstadter observed that Americans have always had a special affinity for “a paranoid style" in times o f crisis. (Editor's note: Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author o f The Assassination of the Mack Male Image.) p e r s p e c tiv e s The I.Q. Attack: The Insecure And Politicians Draw The Bell Curve (conclusion) o, I didn’t leave out that third category, a ca d e m ic s ; they come under the heading of “politicians.” Certainly we must list main stream sportswriters among the in secure.” These are the people who for so long insisted that black foot ball players were not m entally equipped to be quarterbacks (or sportswriters). Among them we find the same shaky rascals who advanced the theory o f “a special physiology” to explain black dom inance in every sport to which they gained entrance (articulated heels and butts,” what about T iger’ and golf?) I ’ve r e c e iv e d m any phone calls and letters since I began this se ries; a number from p a re n ts who have done two things. First, they have used the articles to restore many a chi Id’s self-image (especially last w eek’s which demonstrated that the I.Q. score is not ‘w ritten-in-stone.’) Second, several say they have just gone out and spent a bundle up grading the “cognitive environs” around the house as per my pre scriptions. Ask and “thou shalt re ceive,” 284-7084 (kids ages, grade, etc.) While I’m trying to recall the name o f that young black female astronaut with the vibrant person ality - and degrees in science, med icine and astrophysics - I’m leaf ing through my ‘desk-top I.Q. Bi ble’ “Practice For Scholastic Apti tude Tests: Complete Preparation for the SAT and PSAT (Verbal Part and Math Part).” It is out o f printing now but there are many books out now - though not so concise and neatly packaged. What I liked about the first little manual was that you could j ust scan though it and immediately becom e aware o f what SAT and PSAT were all about (“Mae Jemison” was lady’s name.) It is obvious from the book that the home environment o f the high I.Q. achievers I described last week was just the type o f cognitive incubator that would produce stu dents capable o f “eating those tests for lunch”: The right books around, the current magazines on the cof fee table, a similar peer group, and at least one adult around with the time and inclination to tutor, guide, reinforce and nurture. It will work 2Thi' as , ’ve see and demonstrated over the last 30 years, first in The Dalles, Oregon where I was an award winning consultant to the school district, and then at Portland State University where I wrote those “cognitive prescriptions” for many students who were parents. C om e to th in k o f it, w hat I ’ve been d o in g o v er the years is develo p in g a “N eo -H ead start P ro g ram ” that takes o v er w here the o rig in a l left o ff, and th a t se a m le ssly in te g ra te s into a seco n d stage w hile a c c e p tin g the fact th a t “ it ta k e s an en tire v illa g e to raise a c h ild .” I have now re ach ed the age and c ir c u m stan ce w here I can re a lis tic a lly a s s e s s the e d u c a tio n al in p u ts a n d By o u tc o m e s o f Professor the tw o g e n e r Mckinley a tio n s that fo l Burt lo w e d m in e , black or w hite, rich or p oor. A sp e c ia l c irc u m stan ce w as the d isin te g ra tio n o f th at id e a liz e d m id d le class b ac k g ro u n d o f m ine at about the tim e I e n te re d high sch o o l - fo r a th ree y e a r so jo u rn (b u t still re a d in g v e ra c io u sly ). The descent to the “deep ghet to” as they called it provided a new perspective, a new peer group and new paradigms for “making it.” This experience has proved in valuable through the years, en abling me to analyze many socio economic factors in a different light, and to expose the stereotyp ical denigrations thrown at minor ities by such ilk as the “I.Q. Char latans,” like “Jensen, Shockley, Ravitch, Farrett, Et. Al.” So it is the case now th at w hen you com e to page 270 o f th a t n e fa rio u s p u b lic a tio n o f C h a rle s M u rra y , “ T he B ell C u rv e ,” you w ill be able to re fu te and c o n d em n th e v i cio u s, b a ld -fa c ed lie p re se n t ed by the au thor: “ E thnic d if fe re n c es in m easured c o g n i tiv e ab ility have been found sin ce in te llig e n c e te sts w ere in v e n te d .” F o rtu n a te ly , I ’ve b een ab le to fo rm a liz e th a t “ P re -H e a d sta rt P ro g ra m ” d e v elo p m en t into a form al stru c ture th at is being trie d out in B eav erto n and se v e ra l large c itie s in C a lifo rn ia , the E ast and South. T hank you form er P .S .U . s tu d e n ts , w h ite and b lack. I rem em b er w hat they say ab o u t a p ro p h e t in his own land! C^liserucr (U SPS 959-680) OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION E stablished in 1970 by A lfred L. H enderson Joyce W ashington—Publisher T he PO R T L A N D O B SE R V E R is located at 4747 NE M a rtin L u th e r King, J r . Blvd. P o rtla n d , O regon 97211 503-288-0033 * Fax 503-288-0015 Deadline fo r all submitted materials: A rtic le s. F riday, 5 :0 0 p m A d s: M o n d a y N o o n PO ST M A ST E R : Send A ddress C hanges to: P o rtland O b server, P.O. Box 3137, P o rtla n d , O R 97208. Second Class postage p a id at Portland, Oregon The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned. If accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and can not be used in other publications or personal usage, without the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad © 1994 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART W ITH OUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. 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