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T he P ortland O bserver • A ugust 23 1995
lack Presidential Candidates, A Source Of
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K en M organ
Are you into black presidential
candidates? Then take your pick!
C olin “ Hit-man” Powell, Jesse “ run-
then-hide” Jackson, Alan “ lts-okay-
to-be-a-black-conservative” Keyes
or A rthur ‘Tm -the-godfather-of-af-
fixmative-aetion” Fletcher for presi­
dent in 1996.
Only Keyes and Fletcher have
o ffic ia lly declared. O f the four,
Powell and Jackson have been the
most prominently talked about in the
upcoming presidential campaign sea­
son. These four black men, like the
parties and class politics they repre­
sent may d iffer - for and against
different approaches to domestic and
foreign policy - but they are cut from
the same cloth.
Most o f their ideas or solutions
start from a common source, one
sim ilar to B ill, Bob, Pat, Phil, Pete,
Pat, Newt and Ross, where politics is
being pushed to the right. They w ill
usually use words like “ our econo­
my, “ our foreign p olicy," “ our na­
tional interest” o r “ our government.”
That’s when you know that you have
caught the propaganda virus, when
you start say ¡ng “ our” and “ we" when
talking about the U.S. or its actions.
These runners o f the race may
spout some o f the rhetoric that re­
flects the interest o f black and w ork­
ing people, but it is never in our
context or on our terms. These
“ bloods” hang out in the “ hood” o f
fake choices that are passed o ff as the
people’ s democratic right to choose
their political representatives - the
bedrock o f “ our" (oops!) U.S. de­
mocracy. They represent or are in­
fluenced by: the entities who control
the m ajority o f wealth in the country,
the ones who control most o f the
economy and who frame our p o liti­
cal and social environments
Take for example Jesse's “ Par­
ent Pledge" project to be signed by
parents in 50 cities. His idea is to
encourage parents to be more in­
Do Black Women
Hate Black Men?
“ Although racism is destructive
to black people in America, it falls
far short o f the destruction caused by
the conflict between today’ s black
woman and black man,” contends
author and p sych o lo g ist A. L.
Reynolds, III in his latest book enti­
tled, Do Black Women Hate Black
Men?
The black male in American
society is an endangered species and
strong black families are decreasing
to dangerous levels. In this provoca­
tive new book, author A. L. Reynolds
frankly addresses such questions as:
Why are black communities filled
with “ boys” in their 20s, 30s, and
40s? How did this evolve? Why are
black women furious with black men?
Why are there so many destructive
behaviors in black male and female
relationships that are contributing so
forcefully to the disintegration ofthe
black community? What is prevent­
ing the rise o f an economically sound
black America? How can the black
community - men and women -- re­
store the black fam ily unit?
Do Black Women Hate Black
♦
Men? relates how the roots o f A fri­
can American community problems
lies w ithin the battle between the
genders. Drawing from case histo­
ries selected from over 300 inter­
views with black men and women
across America, psychologist A.L.
Reynolds presents their testimonies
to demonstrate and examine the de­
structive dynamics o f separation,
hostility and anguish that is thriving
today in relationships o f African
American men and women.
The
A n t i- D e fa m a tio n
league ( A D L ) file d an am icus
c u ria e
b r ie f
u r g in g
the
M is s is s ip p i S ta te S u p re m e
C ourt to uphold the c o n v ic tio n
o f B yro n de la B e c k w ith fo r the
m u rd e r o f M e d g a r E ve rs in
1963.
“ This verdict,” said Abraham
H. Foxman, A D L National Direc­
tor, “ serves justice in a pivotal case
ofthe civil rights era: the assassina­
tion o f the Mississippi head o f the
N AACP amidst the most violent
and concerted effort to resist deseg­
regation in American history.” Said
Foxman, “ The conviction sends a
clear signal that racial hatred w ill
not go unpunished in this country.”
In B e c k w ith v. S tate o f
M is s is s ip p i, B e c k w ith claim s
Fossil discoveries in Kenya have
Increased physical energy
*
Greater mental clarity
*
Improved mood and attitude
same age.
*
Improved digestion and
assimulation
By placing the emergence o f
bipedal ism further back by about hal f
a m illion years, the discovery sup­
ported the growing impression that
this novel mode o f locomotion might
be the defining adaptation that first
*
Better regulation of weight
and appetite
Not an extract or formula, but
one of the most nutritionally
complete, naturaly balanced
foods on the planet.
Experiance the difference!
the c o n v ic tio n should be o v e r­
tu rn ed because his rig h t to a
speedy tria l was denied. The A D L
b rie f argues “ those g u ilty o f as­
sassinating p o litic a l figures be­
cause o f th e ir b e lie fs or because
o f ra c ia lly insp ire d hatred should
not go unpunished s im p ly be­
cause tim e has elapsed.”
In 1994, Beckwith was convict­
ed o f the murder; he had been tried
twice in 1964, but both times all-
white juries failed to convict
him even though the evidence
linking him to the murder was over­
whelming.
In
1973 p o lic e stopped
Beckwith’scar outside New Orleans,
Louisiana. W hile searching the vehi­
cle, authorities found a time bomb,
firearms, white supremacist propa­
set human ancestors and their close
relatives, known collectively as hom­
inids, apart from the quadrupedal
apes.
From genetic studies comparing
modem apes and modern humans,
molecular biologists haveestabl ished
that the split between the two lineag­
es occurred 5 m illion to 7 m illion
years ago.
The discovery also crowds and
probably compl icates the base o f the
hominid fam ily tree. It could pro­
voke a new round o f controversy
among scientists trying to reconstruct
human genealogy.
For two decades, the earliest
known hominid was a species repre­
sented most famously by the Lucy
skeleton.
Know n as A ustralopithecus
afarensis, this appeared to be the sole
hominid species from 3.9 m illion to
2.9 m illion years ago. Reading the
D N A clock in the genes based on
guesses about the rate o f mutation,
molecular biologists started assert-
Join us in celebrating
1-800-927-2527 ext 7082
ODbseruer’s
A M H I * E H ÜA H V
Legal Battle Over Tobacco
Centers On Drug Question
Legal experts say efforts by to­
co companies to fight govern-
it control over cigarettes w il I boi I
in to whether nicotine is a drug.
Led by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
, a unit o f RJR Nabisco Holdings
p., major cigarette makers filed
in North Carolina against the
d and Drug Administration and
\ Commissioner David Kessler,
ring to block the agency’ s at-
pt to regulate cigarettes.
Proposed F D A re g u la tio n s
lid lim it sale o f tobacco to m i-
5, ban
cigarette vendingmachines.lim-
e exposure o f ch i Idren to tobacco
ertising and prohibit distribution
items such as T-shirts bearing
jcco logos or slogans.
The lawsuit w ill seek an injunc-
i against proposed FDA curbs on
tobacco ads, arguing that the FDA is
extending beyond its legal regulato­
ry reach, the companies said.
Peter Schuck, a law professor at
Yale University, called the lawsuit
“ a diversionary tactic.”
“ It w ill boil down to whether the
FDA has the statutory authority,”
Schuck said. “ It’ s simply anoth­
er way o f raising the salient issue as
to whether this is indeed a drug. This
is certainly the core issue.”
Schuck and others said the law­
suit seemed premature, given that the
FDA has not issued the particulars o f
its proposals.
Schuck said, in the end the to­
bacco companies w ill likely not suc­
ceed. B utjust slowing down the pro­
cess is an end in itself, noted attorney
Henry M ille r, o f White Plains, N .Y.
who worked to ban tobacco ads on
television.
“ The tobacco companies know
ultimately they w ill lose the war, but
that w ill be years and years away and
this slows down the process,” M ille r
said
“ The issue is, is tobacco a drug?
The FDA w ill hold public hearings
and issue regulations and this looks
like the tobacco companies w ill make
it all-out warfare to prevent them
from making that inquiry,” he said.
C lif f Douglas, a legal consultant
to tobacco litigation cases, said he
believes the FDA does have the reg­
ulatory power under existing law to
regulate cigarettes.
Should the tobacco companies
lose this legal round, they can chal­
lenge the F D A ’ s regulations, once
issued, on any number o f grounds,
experts added.
dates, none o f our good brothers are
for quotas and timetables in enforc­
ing true affirmative action. A ll o f
them like B ill and Bob start from
how “ we” can get rid o f the deficit.
None o f the black presidential hope­
fuls, like B ill and Bob acknowledge
the real deal; that government cut,
backs in social programs and entitle­
ments mean lower taxes and less
social wage contributions from em­
ployers.
And they ignore that much ofthe
balance-the-budget ballyhoo is based
on protecting the government and
the bond security holdings o f the
wealthy (between 40 and 50 percent
o f U .S., government bonds and secu­
rity holdings are owned by banks,
corporations, and insurance compa­
nies). In other words the less social
wage and taxes they pay, the more
profits are made in a world where
profits are harder to come by.
So in November 1996, i f you
vote for these brothers dressed up in
donkey brown, elephant gray, or as
fake independents or whether you
vote for Clinton or Dole, be remind­
ed, black gains are the results o f our
organized struggle. The c iv il rights
movement is a prime example o f
what I mean. A ll social gains, from
women’s rights to labor gains, in­
cluding the eight-hour day, resulted
from struggle. Politicians have re­
sponded because the political price
was usually too high not to.
1 call for a truly black indepen­
dent political party led by w orking
people, everyday people where po­
litical action takes place every day,
not once every two or four years; a
party where participants are not be­
holden to the orchestra ofthe wealthy
and big businessmen to whose music
the two parties almost always dance;
where foreign policy is based on
international human solidarity and
not how much p rofit you can squeeze
from a country. That’ s the only time
we can say “ our” or "w e.”
Still Forging Ahead
ganda, and a map marking direc­
tions to the home o f A D L ’s then-
Regional Director in New Orleans,
A.I. (“ B” ) Botnick. When asked by
police o f any prior crim inal activi­
ties, Beckwith replied that he shot
Medgar Evers.
“ Byron de la Beckw ith’ s con­
viction,” said Foxman, “ provides
an opportunity both to celebrate
Medgar Evers’ legacy and to assess
the strides Mississippi and the na­
tion have made towards securing
civ il rights for all citizens.”
The
A n t i- D e f a m a t io n
Lea gu e,fou nd ed in 19 13 , is the
w o r ld ’ s le a d in g o rg a n iz a tio n
fig h tin g a n ti-S e m itis m th rough
programs and services that coun­
teract hatred, p re ju d ice and b ig ­
otry.
Kenya Fossil Reveals
New Human Ancestor
*
Commonly reported benefits:
ous black presidential candidate, is
so because he has proven his mettle
as National Security Advisor and
Chairman o f the Joint chiefs o f Staff.
Powell unlike Jackson was a major
participant in shaping establishment
politics and enforcing its w ill and
“ national interest." For example, he
played a leading role in unleashing
the killin g machines in the U.S. inva­
sion o f Panama and in the Desert
Storm operations where thousands
o f Iraqi soldiers were gunned down
fleeing back to Iraq, all in the name o f
protecting U.S. o il and dominance in
the Middle East.
And true to form, even in his
retirement, he served as one o f the
ambassadors o f ‘ bad w ill’ in negoti­
ating the occupation o f Haiti by U. S.
forces. America’ s hero could run as
a Democrat, Republican or fake in­
dependent He has not declared his
candidacy for the oval o f office.
Just like B ill, Bob, and the oth­
ers in the herd o f presidential candi­
ADL Amicus Brief Says Beckwith
Conviction Should Be Upheld
reveal a new species o f human ances­
tor that lived 4 m illion years ago,
were hardly any bigger than chim ­
panzees, bore striking resemblances
to both apes and evolving man, and,
perhaps most significantly, were al­
ready standing erect and walking on
two legs much like modem humans.
Leg and arm bones found near
Lake Turkana, paleontologists said,
provide the earliest direct and unam­
biguous evidence for upright w alk­
ing, or bipedalism, by any members
o f the human fam ily tree. U ntil now,
the oldest evidence has been the 3.6-
m illion year-old footprints at Laetoli
in Tanzania, together with tiny foot
bones from South Africa, first re­
ported last month that are about the
SUPER BLUE
GREEN ALGAE
volved in school. Nobody disagrees
with this thought. However, he starts
from the premise that parents are the
roots o f the troubles with public
schools, an idea sim ilar to both the
Democrat and Republican Parties’
rhetoric, which are neatly tied into
the fam ily values issue.
Jackson completely ignores the
d e c lin in g resources fo r p u b lic
schools, the fact that they are more
segregated now than before the land­
mark Brown vs. Kansas 1954 Su­
preme Court decision; that there is a
big drive to privatize public educa­
tion and the oppressive socio-eco­
nomic system that marginalizes, de­
humanizes and alienates ever larger
segments o f the black and w orking
class populations. In reality Jackson
helps to ju s tify the assault on public
education. Though Jesse is threaten­
ing to run as a fake independent, he
w ill again play the role o f Pied Piper,
drawing blacks to B ill.
Powell, most likely the first seri­
lack Hope?
The NAACP hosted a successful convention in Minneapolis recently
as it sought to address the issues of affirmative action and voter
registration for African-Americans in the nation's cities. Its new
chairman. My die Ever-Williams, has succeeded in gaining
significant corporate and philanthropic support for the organization
which is currently emerging from a rather challenging
reorganization. She is pictured with one such supporter, above,
William J. Richardson, Vice President, Urban Market Development
for Schieffelin & Somerset Co.
CHOICES
i ng that the spl it from the apes was far
more recent than most paleontolo­
gists believed - a mere 5 to 7 m illion
years ago.
Thus inspired, paleontologists
searched more diligently for signs ol
earlier hominid life by looking in
Africa for fossil-bearing sediments
o f this critical age.
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