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Editorial Articles Do Not Neccassarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views Of
The Jflortlanh ffihsvrucr Staff
r
y
_________
3{ 1
jy \
epublicans have pub-
lished their plans to
balance the budget.
They claim that all will sacrifice,
but the reality is very different.
They have slashed programs
for the weak, the young, the
disabled, the poor, the elderly
and the unem ployed-w hile
protecting those for the strong.
Republican conservatives as
sume »hat the U.S. m ilita ry is weak;
our corporations need more subsi
dies; the rich need more money, t d
remedy this and balance the budget,
Republicans w ould force the elderly
to pay more fo r health care, cut food
and n utrition fo r infants and c h il
dren, increase the cost o f college,
decrease support fo rth c unemployed,
put more fam ilies on the street, raise
taxes on the w o rkin g poor, and slash
aid to the cities. The most insecure in
our s o cie ty-th e young, the old and
the w e a k-a re squeezed to provide
resources fo r the stro n g -th e Penta
gon, the wealthy and the corpora
tions.
W hy balance the budget? The
w hole purpose is to stop mortgaging
disabled. Fewer poor children w ill
I he fight over these budget plans
w ill say much about the direction o f
this country over the next decade.
The fig h t begins now in the House
and Senate Budget Committees, and
w ill culm inate in the 1996 elections
when Am ericans must decide w heth
C O A L IT IO N
The House Budget...
Forrest Gump-O-Nomics
our c h ild re n ’ s future fo r our current
consum ption Yet the Republican
plan w ould do worse: it slashes in
vestments vita l to our fu tu re -in edu
cating the young, in tra in in g our
w orkers, in b u ild in g a 21st century
infrastructure, in re b u ild in g our c it
ies and putting people to w o rk -w h ile
stickin g the next generation w ith the
b ill fo r the dam age-,he increase in
the sick, the weak, the illiterate, the
despairing, the violent and the lost.
Bubba-G um p Shrim p w ould have
er to stay on a conservative course. I,
is tim e to act! Cal I your legislator and
House Budget C hair John Kasich
and Senate B udget C h a ir Peter
D om enici and register your opposi
tion to balancing the budget on the
backs o f the poor, the elderly and the
caught hell purchasing th e ir first
shrim p boa, under this budget.
Some specifics from the conser
vative W all Street Journal: The eld
e rly w ill pay as much as $900 a year
weak.
Forrest G um p said that life is
like a box o f chocolates. When you
more fo r health care. Job training
programs w ill be slashed by 25% or
more. College students w ill pay thou
sands more in interest for loans; schol
arships fo r the needy w ill be cut 10%.
M ore homeless w ill camp on our
open it you never know what you are
going to get. The House Budget is
U n like a box o f chocolates. When
you open it now you Do K now what
you are going to g e t-robbed. Forrest
Gum p was Right: “ Stupid is as stupid
does” —i f Congress passes it.
streets, as a b illio n dollars is cut from
programs to house the e lderly and
Bomb Blast In Oklahoma Exposes The Enemy From Within
S a stunned nation
witnessed the tragic
human toll of the worst
ilar attacks in Beirut and other parts o f
the M iddle East.
domestic terrorist attack in U.S.
history, the search for the
perpetrators of this heinous act
immediately began.
enemy reached a frenzied pitch, a
Jordanian Am erican was detained in
Cj
\
There was utter d is b e lie f that
such a horrendous act could be com
m itted in Oklahom a C ity, the heart
land o f Am erica. What kind o f per
son or group o f people could com m it
such a dastardly deed9
The frantic search for those re
sponsible for the bombing revealed
some fatal flaws in the American cul
ture and character. The initial reports
indicated that two “ m iddle eastern
looking men" were seen fleeing the
scene shortly after the explosion. The
Nation o f Islam was even b riefly men
tioned in some o f the early reports
(though there are hardly any “ middle
eastern looking men” in the NOI).
There was immediate rush to judge
ment that this terrible crime was com
mitted by Islamic fundamentalists or
individuals tied to Arab organizations
in the M iddle East. Experts on terror
ism were seen on all the major national
networks making comparisons to sim
As the search fo r an external
route to Jordan, roughed up and treat
ed extremely bad . A11 across the coun
try “ m iddle eastern lo o kin g ” people
and Islam ic religious organizations
and agencies came under intense scru
tin y. M any people who appeared to
fit the m iddle eastern lo oking pro file
were subjected to harassment and
in tim id a tio n . It was clear that the
U.S. governm ent was saliva tin g ,
w a itin g to capture a m iddle eastern
B e r n ic e P o w e l l J ackson
3«
er picture is indelibly
imprinted in my mind.
A young African Ameri
can woman whose whole life
changed in that moment of the
explosion in Oklahoma City.
H er name is Dana Bradley, a 20
year-old m other o f two. She lost her
leg in the explosion. She lost both her
ch ild re n , one 4 months and the other
3 years, in the explosion. And Dana
B radley lost her mother in the explo
sion.
D ana B ra d le y has been in m y
th o u g h ts and m y p ra ye rs each day
sin ce I fir s t heard h e r s to ry . H e r
d o c to r says she is an in s p ira tio n
to e v e ry o n e . The fa c t th a t she
can even open her eyes to face
the m o rn in g is c e rta in ly and in
s p ira tio n to me.
There are hundreds o f other sto
ries o f lives forever changed by that
O klahom a C ity bomb blast. Stories
ignored the enemy from w ithin.
The A tlanta based Center fo r
D em ocratic Renewal, underthe lead
ership o f the renowned c iv il rights
activist C.T. V ivia n , has been w arn
ing o f the danger o f the radical right
fo r nearly tw o decades. But A m e ri
ca’ s penchant fo r racism, stereotyp
ing and scapegoating has blinded the
nation to the cancerous enemy from
w ith in : the W hite Aryan N ation, the
Skin Heads, citizens m ilitia s, the re
surgence o f the K lu K lu x K ian and
Neo N azi groups - v iru le n tly racist,
sexist, h om ophobic, an ti-se m itic,
a n ti-c a th o lic , ra d ic a l rig h t w in g
type so that another Libyan style
bom bing raid could be conducted to
groups who are armed, dangerous
and destructive.
punish the offending A rab nation.
Then came the composite photos
o f the prime suspects, John Doe #1
Politicians, governm ent leaders
and the media have looked the other
and John Doe #2.1 thought to myself,
these are odd looking middle eastern
types. A middle eastern looking man
with a crew cut? The arrest o f John
Doe #1, a White male who has been
identified as a member o f a right wing
extremist group called the Patriots,
was a telling commentary on A m eri
can society. W hile the nation looked
fo r an external enemy, America had
Civil Rights Journal:
bv
way as a fu ll-b lo w n monster has been
g ro w in g w ith in this country; a mon
ster that is being fed by the rise to
prom inence o f right w in g conserva
tism w ith its emphasis on W hite
C hristian values and the preserva
tion o f “ wester’’ ( W hite) civ iliz a tio n ;
a monster nurtured by the likes o f
Ronald Reagan who began to exploit
the latent and overt racism in the
Am erican character
to & gain
--------------- . . . . .
» * * ■ | p
x o
v r litica
u i i v « l l
advantage. Playing the “ race card”
has become an acceptable tactic in
Am erican p o litics w ith code words
and images lik e w e lfa re reform ,
crim e, im m igration, W illie Horton,
and now affirm ative action being used
as “ wedge” issues.
The G ingrich-/D ole Contract on
America is the latest racist, sexist,
homophobic, Eurocentric scheme o f
the radical right; a scheme which is
giving encouragement to right wing
fanatics. A range o f dangerous fringe
groups are motivated by the false con
viction that the ills o f American soci
ety are attributable to the racial, cul
tural, gender, gender orientation, and
religious defects ofcertain unwelcome,
unpure, segments o f the American
population. The enemy from w ithin is
also being fed by a declining standard
o f living for poor and working people
and increasing economic insecurity in
the face o f growing inequality in this
nation. The rich are getting richer and
the poor are getting poorer. Indeed, it
is the rich and the super rich, the
transnational corporations, the White
male privileged elite that is the real
source o f most o f the nation’ s ills and
problems.
Learnings From The Heartland
- ones lost, o f injuries re
o - f • loved
cei ved and stories o f caring and brav
ery and faith.
But there is a learning from that
te rrib le event as w ell. I t ’ s really very
simple. In the words o f the great
from the Qubilah Shabazzcase, which
centered in M inneapolis. I t ’s the
learning that a governm ent which
does not respect the rights o f in d iv id
uals, w hich tips over into entrap
when a U.S. A tto rn e y pays a known
drug user and inform ant already in
the witness protection system and
facing yet new drug charges to cor
written to me concern
ing legislative matters.
T h is p o lic y has been c a r
rie d o u t fro m the v e ry b e g in
n in g o f the L e g is la tiv e Session.
I b e lie v e I re p re se n t a ll O re g o
n ia n s and am o b lig a te d to an
sw e r th e ir le tte rs .
I re g re t th a t th in g s are m o v
in g so fa st these days th a t I, a nd/
o r m y s ta ff, m ay n o t be able to
re sp o n d to a ll le tte rs b e fo re the
s u b je c t o fc it iz e n in q u ir y is v o t-
whose p o litic a l aspirations have
been brought to an abrupt halt be
fore the road block o f “ O ld Age and
<
com m ents on this
issue from readers of the
Portland Observer. Many say
they have given a great deal of
thought to the matter, and for
some time.
S urvivors Insurance” (O A S I) fo r
non-whites. It has been revealed
that W ilson, who has made illegal
im m igration a key issue in his fle d g
lin g presidential campaign, d id in I
In m a k in g
the ro u n d s o f
“ p e o p le -p la c e ’
in the Northeast,
fly
I ’ ve encountered
o nly a few, black
Professor
Mckinley
Burl
o r w h ite , w h o
saidthat they felt
threatened, o r anticipated econom
ic harm from the surge o f im m i
fa ct e m p lo y an
u n d o c u m e n te d
Latin Am erican in
his household. It
always seems left
to one o r more o f |
m y readers to put
a new but relevant
spin on things. I like the fo llo w in g .
John D ixon, a form er student |
grants.
o f mine, w ritin g from Atlanta, says,
“ I hope you make it a point in your
series on Im m igration to emphasize
that a good case can be made that
the great wealth o f C a lifo rn ia (and
I f they are being honest, then
they w ill find themselves in agree
ment w ith Clarence Page, the w ide
ly-read A frican American colum nist
for the Chicago Tribune newspaper:
F lorida) was created by m inorities,
“ Immigration, as an issue, is not about
immigrants. It is a measure o f the
public stateof mind at any given time
and its sense o f economic security”
(W ell, i f you say so).
many o f them so-called undocu
mented aliens.” He went on to detail
how the agricultural riches o f the
land were “ m inded” w ith the p oor
ly-paid la b o ro f Mexican men, w om
Given that was a rather tongue-
in-cheek statement, M r. Page does
en and children.
Dixon proceeded, to cite my I
go on to expose Peter B rim elow to a
brighter light; this author o f the best
seller, “ A lie n N ation” is also the se
nior editor o f Forbes Magazine and
in the particular case, the inventions
o f the A frica n Am erican genius,
Frederick M cK in e ly Jones. He in
the National Review. The tw o repre
sent conservatism at its best (?/), the
latter magazine having been found
ed by the Right W in g ’ s darling, the
viper-tongued W illia m F. Buckley.
This wordy, but tongue-tied bigot
probably thinks that only fe llo w Yale
graduates q ualify as the proper type
immigrants for occupation o f the In
dian’ s land.
We may add to the roster o f
racists and hypocrites such standouts
as the C linton appointees to high
positions in government who it turned
book Black InventorsofAm ericaand
vented the refrigerated truck (Patent
No 2,475,841), and the Refrigerated
ra ilro a d box ca r (P a te n ts N o .
2,696086 & No. 2,780,923). W ith
these two great innovations, C a lifo r
nia and Florida could now ship per
ishable fruits and vegetables all over
the continent. It is easy to see how the j
invention o fth is black man has creat
ed trillio n s o f dollars in wealth (but
for who?). Gov. Wilson questions
A ffirm a tive Action.
And yet it is we have so many
greed-ridden hypocrites who wish to
be sure that not even the children o f I
out ju st loved the low-wage services
o f “ A lien N ation” Latin American
the exploited laborers and inventors
domestics, but couldn’ t bring them
shall benefit from their parents toil
selves to the point o f paying their
and inventions. As I remember its,
these bountiful lands o f C alifornia
social-Security taxes. It is a wonder
that author Peter B rim elow does not
choke on his own cynical bile when
he writes o f the “ ethnic and racial
transformation” o f America and the
diluting o f its rich European heri
tage” ; More o f the “ B ell Curve” .
C a lifo rn ia G ov. Pete W ilson
has ju s t jo in e d the ranks o f those
and the rest o f the Southwest once
belonged to the fore fathers, these
“ undocumented aliens” . I have be
fore me “ Abraham Lincoln: Great
Speeches” (Dover edit.) and on p.21
he leaves no doubt the wrongness o f |
the
“ M e x ic a n
W a r”
(The JfJorHanit (©hseruer
(USPS 959-680)
com ic strip philosopher Pogo, “ We
have seen the enemy and the enemy
is us.” We are n u rtu rin g our own
ner a young woman whose whole life
has been troubled by her father’s
OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
assassination, w hich she witnessed
Established in 1970 by Alfred L. Henderson
our country as those who seek to
bom b it.
hom e-grown variety o f terrorist here
in A m erica and we needn’ t hasten to
blame others.
at age 4. Where is the ju stice in such
a case?
The Q u b ila h S habazz case
re -o p e n e d o ld w o u n d s in the A f
ric a n A m e ric a n c o m m u n ity . It re
These tw o learnings from our
nation’ s heartland need to be consid
ered together i f we are to avoid re
Joyce Washington—Publisher
The PORTLAND OBSERVER is located at
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97211
503-288-0033 * Fax 503-288-0015
Predictably, there has been a
rush to pass legislation to prevent
such terrorist actions. W h ile we must
do everything w hich legally can be
done to protect Am erican citizens an
federal workers in the future, we
must be careful not to over-reaction
is ju s t as dangerous as under-prepa
ration.
T hat's the second learning from
the heartland to w hich I was refer
ring. I t ’ s the learning w hich comes
from the story o f another young A f
rican Am erican woman. It comes
op e n e d w o u n d s caused w hen Ms.
S h a b a z z ’ s fa th e r, M a lc o lm X,
w as m u rd e re d ju s t as his v is io n
was e x p a n d in g and his dream was
b e g in n in g to fo c u s . It re-opened
peating the mistakes o f the past We
terror strikes o u r nation. And we
w o u n d s caused w h e n the fe d e ra l
g o v e rn m e n t spied on bla ck A m e r
icans lik e M a r tin L u th e r K in g ,
seek to protect us all.
Jr. fo r decades ju s t because they
d a re d to speak tru th to p o w e r and
to c h a lle n g e o ld ra c is t system s.
The Q ubilah Shabazz case is a
tro u b lin g page in this co u n try’ s legal
history books. I t ’ s a sad day fo r us all
o r n o t b e fo re the le g is la tio n is
v o te d up o n , I w il l c o n s id e r th e ir
am
com pelled to
respond to your report
<
on “Tiernan: Enemy or
Emissary?”,
co m m e n ts and o p in io n s re g a rd
in g p e n d in g le g is la tio n .
Rep. Tiernan may be a question
mark to you, but to me he is an
I invite Oregonians to continue
exclam ation p o in t! H isexdam ations
about m in o ritie s and w o rkin g people
ed upon. I w a n t the v o te rs o f the
State to k n o w w h e th e r I re sp o n d
to w rite to me on any legislation o f
interest to them.
I want to know what the voters
o f this State th in k about proposed
legislation w hich I may be called
upon to pass judgm ent.
^ jfi
are not lost on me. I f they are lost on
you, I need to rethink m y respect for
you.
Rep. T iem an w ill continue to
issue exclam ations that hurt poor
people, black people, public employ
Mike Fahey, Sr.
Representative District i 7
ees, women and m inorities in general
so long as the media fails to hold him
I
Deadline fo r all submitted materials:
must not rush to blame Arab people
o r any other group o f people when
must protect the c iv il rights o f every
citizen o f our country even as we
In the meantime, let us pray fo r
Dana B radley and a ll the victim s o f
the bombing. A n d let us pray for
Qubi lah Shabazz and her fam i ly . And
may justice flo w down like waters
and righteousness like an e ve r-flo w
ing stream.
Articles:Friday, 5 :0 0 p m
Carter because she is entertaining.
To me, clowns, and monkeys are
Second Class postage p a id at P ortland, O regon
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. M anuscripts
and photographs should be cle a rly labeled and w ill be returned
to entertain. She is w ell respected fo r
her a b ility to represent them, not fo r
her entertaining a b ility.
Hank Miggins
Portland, Oregon
If
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entertaining. I wonder w hich one Rep.
Tiem an thinks Rep. C arter is. He
must know that the voters o f her
D is tric t did not send Rep. C arter here
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accountable. The State Legislature is
fo llo w in g the media lead on this man.
I must have missed the Emissary
point o fy o u r story. I did not miss the
fact that he likes to listen to Rep.
( lik e
McNamara?).
ment, w hich overreaches its legal
authority may be ju s t as dangerous to
Send your letters to the Editor to:
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instituted a policy of
answering all letters
have been impressed
by the level of the
I
p u u ic iliy
Heiter (fe fffie (Sedi ter
p jj
The New Wave Of Immigrants III:
The Controversy Rages On
w ill pay more taxes w hile the a fflu
ent pay less.
\Z a n ta g e P o in t
5\
p e r s p e c t i res
ge, nutritional support; fewer poor
people w ill get food stamps Public
libraries w ill close. The w orking poor
P ortland , O regon 9 7 2 0 8
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