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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1995)
M arch 8, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver P age A 4 The Assassination of Malcolm X: It’s Time To Heal The Wounds Part II y o o v e r c re a te d the in C o unter In te llig e n ce Program (Cointelpro) precisely for the purpose of disrupting the civil rights revolt and th e b la c k lib e ra tio n movement. No tactic was off limits within Cointelpro: the massive infiltration o f organizations, the use o f agent provocateurs, disintormation cam paigns: and character assassination and physical assassination vs ere all accepted methods for Cointelpro One o f the favorite tactics o f Cointelpro was to deliberately sow seeds o f dissension and division be tween leaders and organizations or to take advantage o f internal disputes to discredit or destroy organizations and leaders. The rift between Mal colm X and the NOI was tailor made for a Cointelpro operation Indeed, near the end of his life, Malcolm sensed that the conflict w ith the NOI o f play ing into the hands ot the government. Based on his knowl edge o f the capabilities o f the NOI, Malcolm concluded that things were happening to him that were bey ond the capacity of the NOI. Something else was afoot. Malcolm's instincts were correct. Both the NOI and Mal colm 's OAAU were infiltrated by- government agents who were in a position to collaborate on any oper ation that the government wished to conduct. In my judgement, the U.S. government, exploited the rift be tween Malcolm and the NOI to or chestrate his assassination. I he gun men who killed Malcolm may have been members of the NOI, but most assuredly some among them were also government agents. The pup pets may have been Muslims, but the puppeteers were outside ot the NOI. The United States Government con spired to kill Malcolm X. As 1 stated from the outset of this discussion, the only productive rea son for recounting and assessing this painful history is to learn the lessons from that history so that we do not repeat the same mistakes again. And, in this tragic matter there were mis takes on all sides. Our beloved Malcolm fueled the flames o f conflict w ith his attack on his former leader and teacher the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Earrakhan's rhetoric stoked the fires of rev enge and retribution which ul timately consumed Malcolm. The NOI and the Honorable Elijah Mu hammad had w eaknesses, but the NOI and the Honorable Elijah Muham mad also had enormous strengths which contributed to the rehabilita tion o f the race. It is questionable be learned from an examination of the whether Malcolm’s airing of the events surrounding the assassination NOI’s dirty linen in the "white me of Malcolm X is that the Black Nation dia” was wise Malcolm himself in needs mechamsms/structures to re "Message from the Grassroots” cau solve conflicts between leaders and tioned against this. 1 he moral and organizations. As the bogus indict ethical concerns about the Honor ment of Qubilah Shabazz graphically able Elijah Muhammad should have illustrates, the U.S. government has first been aired through structures not changed its method of operation. internal to the black community'. Leaders, organizations and movements It must always be absolutely which have the potential to spark mass clear, however, that no organization opposition to the government will be or leader that claims to be working targeted for disruption and destruc on behalf of black people is above tion. As a maturing people- nation, we criticism. The w illingness ot'theNOl cannot afford to fall prey to the deadly to respond to Malcolm's criticisms machinations, plots and schemes of of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad the U.S. government. by the ready use of intimidation and The lessons drawn from the political v iolence must be condemned a s s a s s in a tio n o f M alco lm X as reprehensible and counter pro should also encourage us to be- ductive. Unfortunately , the tendency gin the process o f healing the to use political violence against black awful wounds that have plagued people internal or external to politi our struggle since this tragic o c cal organizations was all too charac currence 30 years ago. That h eal teristic of this period. The deadly ing process is essential to b u ild conflict between the Black Panther ing the kind o f operational unity Party and the US organization as required for the defense and d e w ell as the conflict between the Black velopm ent o f the Black N ation Panther Party and SNCC are other into the 21st C entury Perhaps, notable examples of this tendency; a the governm ent’s attem pt to ex tendency which leads itself to ex ploit these wounds through the ploitation by government intelligence persecution o f Q ubilah Shahazz agencies. It is a tendency which and the Black N a tio n ’s response should not be tolerated in our com to her entrapm ent can set the stage munity. for the healing process to begin. One of the most critical lessons to CSD Seeks Solutions To Child Abuse Continued from front tu tes child abuse and neglect, re q u irin g people who w ork with c h ild re n to re p o rt s u s p e c te d abuse, giving CSD and law en forcem ent agencies jo in t resp o n sib ility for investigation and re sponse to reports ot child abuse and neglect and also requiring the state agency to provide p ro tectiv e social services to safe guard the c h ild 's w e lfare .^ But the translations o f these p r o v is io n s h as o p e n e d a groundsw ell o f resentm ent and have angered some parents. "P aren ts have all the statu to ry rig h ts and there are no laws that Talk of c h ild re n ’s rig h ts,” Kdfen Lde. CSD com m unications d irecto r, said. Many p a re n ts are ask in g when is it spanking and when is it child abuse? How is a parent sup pose to draw the line if the inten tion is d iscip lin e0 The law defines child abuse as any assault ot a child and any physical injury to a child which has been caused by other than accid en tal means, including any injury which appears to be at variance with the explanation of the injury. It also defines neglect or m al treatm ent o f a child, including but not lim ited to, failure to pro vide adequate food, clothing, shelter or m edical care. These definitions and provi sions, parents say are too vague. Even C S D 's m ost vocal critic Rep. Bob Tierm an, R-Lake O s wego o f the House Com m ittee on G eneral G overnm ent and R egu latory Reform, agrees. Anthony Stoudam ire o f P ort lan d 's S elf Enhancem ent , Inc. (SEI) and a CSD program coor dinator, said the law needs to be more clear so that there s a better definition o f what is discipline and what is abuse. Stoudam ire said parents need to understand "you cannot disci pline when you are angry at a child. "The overriding factor is that this agency is com m itted to pro tecting children and if errors are «oins to be made, most o f the CSD workers prefer to make an error on the side of the child and protect that child. Stoudam iie said. A CSD study done between 1987-1993 discovered that more children are experiencing abuse and consequently an increase in behavioral, m ental and physical problem s. The report also show ed a slight reduction in both the num ber o f children reported to be endangered and in the num ber ot child abuse and neglect victim s. But a frightening abuse o f drugs and alcohol by parents, the CSD could argue, has made it even m ore cautious. The CSD said most parents they deal with (65 percent) have drug and (45 percent) alcohol- related problem s. The agency revealed that these percentages have increased 7.5 percent over the last two years. S to u d am ire re g retted that there has been a poor perception o f what the agency provides. "W e d o n 't go looking for fam ilies to pick on We get re ports from the hospitals and o th er agencies and we evaluate and investigate to find if they are fo u n d e d or u n f o u n d e d .' Stoudam ire said. Part ot our jo b is m aking parents more responsi- ble and better parents through our parents training serv ices.” Kay Toran, CSD ad m inistra tor, recently testified before law makers. ‘‘We d o n ’t tell people how to spank their children. W etellth em not to injure th eir children em o tionally or p h y sically ,” Toran said. If w e’re gong to allow spank ing in our society. What co n sti tutes a legitim ate spanking and how do you draw the line?, Toran questioned. CSD is a social agency that cannot be ignored. It’s an en o r mous social institution with great potential influence, but poor pub lic perception has put a dent in some of its good nature. Until there is a statutory d ef inition o f what is corporal pun ishment, CSD case w orkers will continue to face difficulties. Governor's Planned Attack On Crime Gov. John Kitzhaber has un veiled a plan to reduce violent crime and drug abuse. The effort will in clude the application for $5.6 mil lion from the Edward Byrne Memo rial fund. Kitzhaber will try to incorpo rate Oregon’s urgent needs with national priorities at combating drugs, violent crimes and building community-based law enforcement. "Violent crime is an epidemic. It’s infecting our state with fear and diverting resources from education and o ther im portant areas," Kitzhaber said. "This strategy rep resents tangible action toward light ing crime.” The plan was drafted using the governor's "Four Pillars of Crime as a blueprint for a balanced c'ime fighting approach that includes ju- venilejustice reform, juvenile crime prevention, domestic violence pre vention and increasing prison ca pacity. Kitzhaber said the plan had the Governor John Kitzhaber potential to effectively attack crime because of its balance of punish ment, deterrence and prevention. "To reduce crime tomorrow, not just control it today, we must treat the causes of crime as well as the symp toms," he said. Studio 14 Hair Design For Men & Women 2719 NE 7th Ave.. Portland, OR 97212 2 8 7 -2 5 5 7 Celebrates Black History By Offering $5 O ff Color or Hair Cut Service (with another service) Mention This Ad For Discount Until March 15, 1995 abric Jnù+Jis iiis&tdebrating Mattò 5 Z . ' a n n iv e r s a r y THE LARGEST. MOST COMPLETE RETAIL FABRIC STORE IN THE WEST MARCH 7 THROUGH MARCH 2 1, 1995 ss? w 3rd Anniversary Sale S U N N Y ’S P IZ Z A 5626 NE M .L .K . 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