F ebruary 22, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A 2
r ..
/
M / l
he “Rainbow Custom
£ | ! Long-Distance Calling
Program,” utilizing the
quality service of A T& T’s
worldwide network, is up and
running. By enrolling in the
Rainbow “Partners in Power"
program a penny (1 cent) of the
15.9 cents will be used to
support the Rainbow Coalition
and its programs. You save
money and help the Rainbow!
FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
NATIONAL'
/
• Regardless o f your carrier, you
are paying higher an higher rates it
you are among the tens ot m illions o f
Americans who have not signed up
for a discount plan.
• People who make very few
ca lls-o r those who make lotsofcalls
but have not bothered to sign up for
a discount plan-are seeing their cost
per minute go up rather than down.
Thus, people are advised to pick a
discount calling plan.
• A person who makes fewer
than $10 in calls in a month would
pay A T & T 28 cents a minute for
daytime calls. MCI would charge 19
cents a minute
• Sprint, meanwhile, announced
that it was abandoning all o f its var
ious discount programs and shifting
to “ Sprint Sense," a simple set o f flat
rates: 22 cents a minute during the
day and 10 cents on evenings and
weekends. A customer whose b ill is
less than $25 for a month pays a $3
service charge.
M a kin g sense o f a ll this
may be g ettin g a b it easier. A ll
C O A L IT IO N
Rainbow Phone Plan
Compare And Save
at & t
S p rin t
MCI
(Regular)
(Sense)
(Regular)
28 cents
22 cents
19 cents
Graphs above are based on dav rates. (Source:
three b ig carriers say they are
w illin g to take any person’ s c u r
rent long-distance b ill and ca lcu
late w hat the to ta l w ou ld be un
der th e ir own discount plan as
w e ll as those offered by rivals.
• Sprint’ s new flat-rate system is
a radical departure from the higher-
math comparisons the industry has
previously demanded o f callers. So
ifcustomers begin flocking to Sprint,
A T & T and M CI would be under
pressure to adopt tlat-rate plans ot
their own. But that could encourage
even further price-cutting because
the rates would be so easy to com
pare. [A ll o f the above facts are from
The New York Times, January 21,
1995]
Kainbs* Elan
15.9 cents
7 Days, 24 Hours
NYT, January 21, 1995)
Call yoar long-distance carrier
today and compare our T O T A L
PLAN with the one you currently
have, and see the savings add up!
CHECK TO SEE IF THE
RAINBOW PLAN IS EQUAL
OR BETTER
• Free Enrollment!
• One Flat Rate O f 15.9 Cents
Per Minute! (24 hours a day, 7 days
a week)
• Same Rate for both HOME
and BUSINESS! (Most basic rates
are about .28 cents per minute during
the day. When your long distance
carrier says you are saving ‘X ’ per
cent on your bill, ask them, “ ‘ X ’
PERCENT OFF OF W H A T BASE
RATE?" to find out what you are
really paying.)
• Up To 20% Sav ings Over Most
Other DISCOUNTED Calling Plans!
(Same as the previous question)
• No Monthly M inimum Usage!
• Six-Second Incremental B ill
ing -A dd ition al Savings! (i.e., b ill
ing is divided into 10 second incre
ments). For example, ifyo u talk for 3
minutes and 2 seconds, you are often
billed for 4 full minutes; while under
the Rainbow plan you would be billed
for only 3 minutes and 6 seconds.
• Already W ith A T & T ? Keep
the same quality service and enjoy
the Rainbow rate.
• A ll B illin g Services Handled
By An A T & T B ill Manager! Special
coding needs-e.g., attorneys, con
sultants and others who need to ID
calls with special codes? No prob
lem! F ill out specially designed busi
ness forms.
• Receive A Special Message on
your bill each month from the Na
tional Rainbow Coalition!
• A T & T Is A Union Carrier!
• You D on't Have To Be A
Rainbow Member To Join! But we
hope you are.
HERE’S HOW TO ENROLL!!
It’ s easy. Simply call 1-800-
YES-JESS [ 1 -800-937-5377]. Have
A Recent Phone B ill In Hand!
> Switch Each Telephone Line
> Switch FAX Lines
> Switch 1-800 Numbers
When you answer a series o f
questions by an automated operator,
within days you w ill be on the Rain-
bow Plan.
Civil Rights Journal
New Threat To Minority Businesses
by
B ernice P owell J ackson
t’s ironic. At the same
tim e that there are
efforts to eliminate or
d ra stic a lly
cut
w elfare
payments to the poorest of the
poor, there are also attempts to
end governm ent programs
which were established to help
people of color who own
businesses. These programs
encourage
governm ent
contractors to set aside a
certain number of contracts for
businesses owned by people
of color, many of whom would
find it difficult or impossible to
compete for, these contracts
otherwise. It feels like we are
under siege from all sides.
31
,
A c c o rd in g to the N atio na l
M in o rity Suppliers Developm ent
C o u n cil, the number o f business
es owned by people o f co lo r in
this country is risin g . They e sti
mate there are 1.5 m illio n such
businesses n ationw ide, w ith an
nual revenues that co uld go as
high as $100 b illio n . T h a t's good
news, not o nly fo r these business
owners, but also fo r th e ir com
m unities and fo r our country be
cause most job s are in small busi
nesses and businesses owned by
people o f co lo r are often located
in th e ir own com m unities and
e m p lo y higher percentages o f
th e ir own people. M ore business
es owned by people o f co lo r mean
more jo b s fo r our com m unities.
But a case now before the
U.S. Supreme C ourt endangers
many sm all businesses owned by
people o fc o lo r. In Adarand C on
s tru c tio n vs Pena, Adarand C on
tra c tin g Company o f C olorado is
ch allen gin g a U.S. Departm ent
o f Transportation program that
encourages large contractors to
subcontract w ith disadvantaged
businesses through fin an cia l in
centives. U nder th is program ,
members o f so-called m in o rity
groups and women are presumed
s o c ia lly and econom ically disad
vantaged and other sm all non
m in o rity owned businesses can
be included, i f they establish that
they are so c ia lly and econom i
c a lly disadvantaged.
In th is case, A d a ra n d , a
w hite-ow ned business, did not
receive a contract fo r p ro v id in g
h ighw ay guard ra ils, w hich went
instead to a H ispanic business
because the prim e co ntractor re
ceived a $10,000 bonus fo r using
a disadvantaged business. The
suite charges that this violates
A darand's o w n er's rig h t to equal
p ro tectio n under the 5th amend
ment to the C o n stitu tio n .
The governm ent argued that
federal law' is a means o f e ffe c t
ing an natio na l p o lic y that was
adopted by Congress and sup
ported by Presidents o f both par
ties and that the federal g overn
ment can engage more free ly in
a ffirm a tiv e action than states and
lo c a litie s , w hich in the past have
not been allow ed by the Supreme
C ourt to use set-aside programs
fo r ra c ia l/e th n ic businesses. It
also pointed out that this p ro
gram was based on disadvantaged
business categories, w hich also
can include businesses owned by
w hite men.
Thousands o f those business
es owned by people o f c o lo r
w hich are now doing so w e ll are
w atching th is case w ith fear and
trep ida tion . They are fearful be
cause the D epartm ent o f Trans
p o rta tio n alone set aside $2.2
b illio n in 1993 fo r disadvantaged
businesses. They are fearful be
cause private ind ustry watches
governm ent p o lic ie s c a re fu lly
and adjusts th e ir p o lic ie s accord
in g ly. So, not o n ly co uld m in o r
ity-ow ne d businesses’ g o v e rn
ment contracts be je o p a rd iz e d ,
so too could th e ir contractors w ith
private industry.
But these businesses are fear
fu l fo r another reason as w e ll.
They remember the days o f “ old
boy n etw orks" w hich excluded
people o f c o lo r fo r generations.
They remember when people o f
c o lo r businesses were re d -lin e d
by banks and lending in s titu tio n s
and it was im possible fo r them to
raise the d o lla rs fo r the large
bonds often required o f co n tra c
tors. They rem em ber when p rio r
w ork requirem ents and other so-
called q u a lific a tio n s were used
to keep them out.
This country needs strong busi
nesses owned by people o f color.
This country needs government to
take the lead in supporting these busi
nesses and we need private industry
to make a real effort to use them as
well. Maybe one day racial/ethnic
and women-owned businesses w on’t
need that special help, but that day
certainly hasn’t yet arrive.
Those Bloody Gloves
Whose Are They?
bv
D r . J ohn C ashin
'h e m o s t s e r io u s
th re a t
to
B la c k
A m e ric a n m a le s in all
s ta te s , a n d fro m a ll w a lk s o f
life , is th e fa c t th a t th e K u K lu x
K ia n h a s tra d e d in i t ’s w h ite
s h e e ts
fo r
b lu e
p o lic e
u n ifo rm s .” E rs k in e S m ith -1 9 7 2
N o t m an y p e o p le knew
Erskine Sm ith as w e ll as I did At
the tim e o f his death in 1973,
Erskine was the chairm an o f the
Alabam a A d v is o ry C om m ittee to
the U.S. C om m ission on C iv il
R ights. I was the V ice C hairm an,
and I succeeded him as Chairm an
a fte r his death. He was a b rillia n t
law yer, and a fearless cham pion
o f C iv il R ights in Alabam a in the
days when it was p h y s ic a lly dan
gerous and econom ic suicide tor
w hite man to defend B lack A m er
icans' C iv il R ights in the State o f
Alabama. But despite the threats,
Erskine never faltered or backed
down. He was also very b rig h t,
as his Phi Beta Kappa key attest
ed
The quotation above came from
I
one o f our many reports to the U.S.
Commission on C iv il Rights. Our
Alabama Committee had become the
most active o f the fifty states, which
was a natural result o f Alabama's
role as “ the keystone State o f Mas
sive Resistance", and “ The Heart o f
D ixie", and "The Capital o f the Con
federacy". With such mottos and
boasting, it is no wonder that Ala
bama became the main battleground
o f the C ivil Rights movement. In
fact, John Patterson was elected gov
ernor over George Wallace in 1958,
mainly because he could boast that,
as Attorney General, he had "put the
NAACPoutofbusinessin Alabama!"
Few people outsideof Alabama know
that ju s t being a m em ber o f
N.A.A.C.P orC.O.R.E. in Alabama
was punishable by a $1,000.00 fine
and six months in ja il!
But this column is not about
Alabama and/or the C iv il Rights
movement per se It is about the
current rage o f the century, the O.J.
Simpson murder trial in California.
Whenever I spoke before audiences
back in the sixties and early seven
ties, I was obliged to point out that
things were the same Up South and
Down South. Many “ knee-Grows”
disputed me back then, but not any
longer! Time does te ll— Right?
Since the very beginning o f the
tragic O.J. Simpson murder case. I
have had an uneasy gut felling that
some things offered as evidence
against O.J. just defy logic. The most
disturbing thing was the convenient
ly incriminating bloody gloves, one
found at the murder scene, and the
other at O.J.’s house. But where at
O.J.'s house? In a narrow space be
tween a steel fence and the wall be
hind the room o f a “ witness" who
heard loud bumps and thumps at a
time “ conveniently” appraised as
shortly after the murder. It was these
loud noises reported by this witness
which led to the search o f this remote
area. I suppose, and EUREKA!! The
Los Angeles Police detective found
the other bloody glove'! How “ con
venient"! how “ cut and dried!" But
the story is a bit too cute for me to
swallow!
First o f all, even the dumbest,
craziest kille r in the world is dumb
enough to leave two bloody gloves
anywhere to be easily discovered,
and is much less likely to leave one at
p e r s p r e c t i / v r e s
More Recommendations Of Excellent
Readings In Black History:
Both Classic And Modern
bv
P rof . M c K inely B i
ri
he follo w in g two
paragraphs are taken
from the preface of an
inspiring book pub-lished in
1993 by James M. Brodie;
“Created Equal: The Lives And
Ideas Of Black American
Innovators”, Bill Adler Books
(William Morrow & Co.) You
will not only be given a new
perspective on many known
classic pioneers in science,
medicine and invention, but
will be introduced to new
geniuses, men and women --
from business to nuclear
science. The preface voices
my sentiments exactly’.
“ The cre
ativity o f African
people was evi
dent long before
th ey
w ere
brought to the
North American
continent. Euro
pean explorers were in awe over the
advancement o f African civiliza
tions, and they returned home with
wondrous stories o f a black-skinned
people who were more advanced in
their knowledge o f astronomy, nav
igation, mathematics, architecture,
literature, and agriculture than any
one they had ever encountered."
'They spoke o f the mighty em
pires. the power and emotion in the
art, the elaborate governments and
ornate cities, the detailed codes o f
law, and the ingenious methods A f
ricans used to irrigate their crops,
keep time, and embalm their dead.
In fact, the first noted European
h is to ria n
and
p h ilo s o p h e r
Herodotus, a Greek, remarked in
the fifth century B.C. that Africa
was the greatest civilization in hu
man history.”
Every few years I recommend
the follow ing three-volume set on
African literature: “ Ancient Egyp
tian Literature, 3 vol.” , M iriam
Lichtheim, University o f C alifor
nia Press, Berkeley, 1973 (pb. 1975)
Vol I., the Old Kingdom; Vol II,
The New Kingdom; Vol III, The
Late Period. The set may also be
ordered through the mail order, cat
alog house, “ the Scholar’s Book
shelf, l lOMelrichRoad,Cranbury.
N.J., 08512; No. 45I2 R. Price
$39.00. Shipping $4.00.
The longer I have these vol
umes, the more I learn from their
revelations; better understanding
each year why Plato and Herodotus,
the leading historians and philoso
phers o f ancient Greece, said that
the Africans were the inventors o f
“ letters/language” (along with as
tronomy, mathematics. etc._. One
w ill soon realize with startling clar
ity that the plots and story lines o f
many "B ib lic a l" narratives had A f
rican sources; Egypt having estab
lished colonies in Israel long before
the era o f the Jews ot the Old T esta-
ment. The chronicles o f their con
quests remain, etched in stone — in
Africaand in museumsofthe world,
alternately conceded, then denied
in racist ambivalence.
It is her in Dr. Lichtheims of
ferings we note the striking (reveal
ing) sim ilarity o f earlier African
literature to the "Psalms", the so
journs o f Moses, to the predictions
o f Ezekiel, the descriptions o f the
soul, resurrection and afterlife and
to many religious rituals, incanta
tions and icons. Egyptian Religion
is detailed in books by Donald
Budge — on a
j sh elf locally at
“ Looking Glass
By
\ Bookstore, 318
Professor s. W. T a y lo r,
Mckinley I 227-4760. Given
Burt
\ these facts, we
_______ J marvel that there
are African Americans who are won
dering aloud in the nation’ s black
media and lecture halls, "why it is
that Israel has hustled the so-called
'Ethiopian Jews’ out o f Africa to
the Holy Land' -- employing ex
pensive a irlifts while borrowing
money from the U.S. for new hous
ing9 Can it be that, unlike most
blacks, there are peoples on this
earth smart enough and astute
enough to control their versions o f
history?
We offer more enlightening
readings. The founders(?) o f "psy
chiatry” , Sigmond Freud ( The Oe
dipus Complex) and Carl G. Jung
(Signs and Sy mbols) developed their
basic theories o f psychoanalysis,
human personality , dreams and the
subconscious from the stories and
narrativesof African literature. One
o f the most familiar photographs in
the world is that o f Freud with the
African bust on his desk. Jung, au
thor o f "M an And His Symbols",
documented that the Christian sym
bols (Ezekial Evangelists) were
derived from worship o f the Egyp
tian sun god. Horus. and his four
sons (P.3).
U.S. President Thom as
Jefferson certainly thought Horus
was worth emulating. For his de
sign o f the 'Great Seal O f The U nit
ed states' he placed the all-seeing
eye o f the African god over another
African icon, a truncated pyramid
(look on the reverse side o f a dollar
bill). The L atin phrase, "A n n u it
C oeptis" means “ He (G o d ) has
favored our e nte rp rise ". What
arrogance and guts these slave
owners had. M ore re v e a lin g
books next week; P ioneering
black authors.
STFfe |Hortlaub ©bscruer
the murder scene, and the other at his
house!! This strains credibility to the
utmost! But the other credibility cri
sis came when prosecutor C lark made
her detailed opening statement dur
ing the first day o f the trial. Perhaps
she recognized her problem, because
she carefully and dramatically traced
the drops o f blood from the Bronco,
up the driveway, and into O.J’ s front
door, meticulously describing each
numbered drop as matching the de
fendant’ s. However, she avoided
mentioning the bloody glove and
where it had been discovered, per
haps a hundred feet around two cor
ners from the trail o f drops she care
fully described! Maybe she thinks
she can convince the ju ry that O.J.
entered the premises twice, or that
Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., F Lee Bailey
and Bob Shapiro w on't notice the
discrepancy! FAT CHANCE!! These
guys are the best there is! And 1
would even bet they have contacted
Morris Dees at Klanwatch in M ont
gomery, Alabama, to see what infor
mation they might have on K K K
infiltration o f the Los Angeles Police
Department! Now w ouldn't that be
interesting9
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