' • ' • * • ', . ’• » • f • . / ' • •* ' * • * - . .1 * ’ * * P age A2 ; • „' <» • N ovember 15, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily Reflect Or Represent The Views O f The JJortlanb © bscrucr ¿ J ¿ ...... jT ï XL* o u b le S ta n d a rd In Sent»nclng On the day of th e M illio n M an March President Clinton gave a persuasive speech on ending racism. Yet when he had the opportunity to undo the most grievous racial in­ justice written into our legal system- the 100-to-l disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences—he caved in (again) to political pres­ sures Rather than vetoing S.1254 and eliminating this inequity , Clinton signed the bill and overruled the U .S. placate White fears. Sentencing Com m ission's call to Just this week, the Supreme equalize the penalties Court agreed to hear a Los Angeles JaxFac is disappointed that Pres­ case which proves that L A has only ident Clinton signed this racially dis­ prosecuted African Americans un­ parate bill. In the absence o f a real der the law which y ields the 5-year war on drugs and an urban policy, we mandatory minimum sentence. We have a war on the young and vulner­ now see evidence ofa rat iai disparity able, Black and Brown A compre­ in targeted prosecutions across the hensive war on drugs would include country. In 17 states, no Whites have jobs, education and treatment as been prosecuted under the federal weapons in that war, not more ja ils statute. This explains how more than and mandatory sentences. A real war 90% o f those in ja il on mandatory on drugs would stop the flow o f sentences are young Black and Brown drugs into the country, and stem the youth despite the fact that 80% o f levels o f drug abuse The president’s wholesale suppliers are White, and apparent campaign strategy is to 55% o f crack users are White prove he can stand up to the civ il B ig White suppliers and cartels rights community, the Congression­ have gone unchal lenged O nly 5° o o f al Black and Hispanic Caucuses, to those in federal prison are high-level NATIONAL' C O A L IT IO N Crack VS. Powder crack offenders, and only l% o fcra ck defendants operate internationally. Meanwhile the crack possessor, the lowest rung on the totem pole, bears the burden o f the appearance o f a war on drugs. Crack is becoming a code word for Black Powder is the source- wholesale. Crack is the derivative- retail. Yet, those caught with the derivative serve more time than those conv icted o f the source or even o f violent crimes. Crack offenders are, on the average, serving more time than a state inmate imprisoned for kidnapping, robbery and assault. This ja il population is now feeding the ja il industrial com plex-the number one growth industry in urban America This is a very expensive political gimmick. Oddly, the rationale for dispari­ ty is to protect B lacks from Crack That is racial paternalism. We want to be protected with jobs, education and treatment programs, not fast- tracking jobs out o f the country and more jails. A 5-year $40,000-a-year penitentiary scholarship, in a c e ll- public housing-w orth $100, plus maintenance, costs Add 5 years o f full security, full medical benefits- but not drug treatment, three square meals a day, public utilities and what you have is a very expensive non­ remedy for the urban crisis. Rev Jesse L. Jackson and other human rights leaders sought a meet­ ing with the president to discuss this disparity and its effect, but to no avail. A logical solution would be to contact the Justice Department to file suit, but the Justice Department has declared itself to be against equal protection under the law. What is at stake here is the es­ sence o f the 1954 Supreme Court decision-”equal protection underthe law "JaxFac urges supporters to call the White House at 202 -456-14 14 to register your dissent, and jo in us as we mount our legal and legislative challenges to demand justice in sen­ tencing, and a positive urban policy. Civil Rights Journal Washington’s Quiet War On Our Children bv M. B ernice P owell J ac K* on Q T V t - h a t is g o in g on in Jy%ri Washington these days ( * w ill h ave a c h illin g effect on the most vulnerable of our nation -- our children. What is going on is called wel­ fare “reform" or ending the war on poverty ; but it really is a war on the poor and it signals an end o f a funda­ mental ethical principle o f this na­ tion - that every child should be protected by our federal government as a last resort, when all else fails. Numbed by the steamroller o f the Contract with America and the rhetoric o f a Congress which has chosen to deionize poor mothers and their children, many Americans just don’t understand what the welfare reform bill w ill mean for children in this rich nation. Seven m illion ch il­ dren w ill no longer have health care coverage and childhood immuniza­ tion w ill no longer be guaranteed. Three million children w ill no longer receive income from A id to Fam ilies with Dependent Children. Fourteen m illion children w ill lose food and nutrition programs, including school lunches and infant formula under the W1C program. In other words, m il­ lions o f children will-be sicker and hungrier and colder this winter. The irony o f all o f these cuts is that they come at the same time that Congress is giving the richest I per­ cent o f Americans a tax break o f at least $12,000 per year and a $92 billion capital gains tax to the wealth­ iest 3 percent o f Americans. The irony is that these cuts come at the same time when congress is giving the Defense Department $243.3 b il­ lion — almost $7 billion more than the Pentagon asked for. The irony is that these cuts come at the same time when Congress is giving the largest I percent o f corporations a $121 b il­ lion depreciation tax break over 10 years and has refused to cut corpo­ rate welfare or farm subsidies It is estimated that in 1994 the federal government spent $104 bil- lion in corporate welfare - in bail­ and nutrition assistance for poorchil- outs o f failed companies, in export dren while leaving untouched hun­ promotions, loans, debt forgiveness, dreds o f billions in corporate wel­ interest-free financingand below cost fare, giving new tax breaks o f over sales to corporations. It was corpo­ $200 billion for non-needy citizens rate welfare which paid the Walt and giving the Pentagon almost $7 Disney Company $300,000 to put on billion it did not request.” a fireworks display while paying Our nation now is in the unenvi­ M cDonald's $466,000 to subsidize able position o f having the richest the advertising o f chicken menuggets children in the industrialized world - in Turkey . It was corporate welfare - and the poorest children is poor which paid Lockheed Martin Corp. Right now, before these cuts one in $ 8 5 0 m illio n when it m erged every four American children ¡spoor Lockheed and Martin Marietta air­ Right now, before these cuts one in craft companies and then paid the top every 12 children is hungry. These executives o f those companies an proposed cuts w ill mean that our additional $100 m illion as a reward country has chosen to protect the for a successful merger. It was farm , future o f the richest children at the subsidies which paid Sam Donaldson, expense o f the poorest children. the millionaire television correspon­ I don’t believe that is what our dent. $97.000 in agriculture subsi­ nation is all about — making expend­ dies for his New M exico ranch. able the most vulnerable o f our soci­ In her open letter to President ety For what w ill it profit us to gain Clinton, Marian Wright Edelman, the whole world and lose our souls? president o f the Children’s Defense (C all President Clinton today - Fund, wrote, “ it is moral hypocrisy (2 0 2 ) 456-111 I or E Mail: for our nation to slash income, health president@whitehouse.gov) better ffö Tfhe (SLfiför Send your letters to the Editor to: Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 The Powell Obsession BV J x CQt ELINE SALIT m e ric a 's m e d ia is p o litic a lly o b s e s s e d L with Black men. First was O.J. Simpson. Next was Minister Louis Farrakhan. Now it's General Colin Powell. W hy0 Because beyond the sen­ sationalism that the media has gener­ ated, each o f these figures has re­ vealed profound an intensify ing na­ tional antagonisms Mr Sim pson’s trial uncovered that the chasm be­ tween Black and white Am erica is more cavernous than most anyone (white) was w illing to admit M inis­ ter Farrakhan's electrifying M illion Man March revealed that B la ck America is standing at the edge o f that precipice, unsure about whether and how to try to cross over it. The prospective presidential run by Mr Powell has the political profession­ als in an uproar over the impact his candidacy might have on an unstable political structure which is already deeply unpopular with the voters. And they have yet to really consider the potential political clout that his entry into the race could confer on Black voters. Does this mean that Powell, should he become the Republican nominee, would re-aljgn the B lack voter to the G .O .P.? Not necessarily The Republican Party has nothing to offer African Americans, even with Powell on the ticket. The impact o f a Powell candidacy w ill be for more complicated than a mere intra-two party switch. How so? First, the rumored prospects for an independent bid for the presiden­ cy by Powell now seem dim I fhe had gone the independent road, he cer­ tainly would have pulled m illions o f African American voters out o f a 60- year “bad marriage" to the Demo­ cratic Party and into a new partner­ ship with the white center. ( I f you don't think it was a bad marriage, take another look at the M illion Man March It was the failure o f the liber­ al Democrats todeliver on theirprom- ise to end poverty and racism that brought Minister Farrakhan and a m illion Black men to the edge o f that precipice. That’s why the Minister called on Black America to political­ ly reshape itself as an independent "third force ") But even the Republican route promises to reshape politics-as-we- know-it. If Powell runs and wins as a Republican he w ill in the long run. if not the short run. split the party No less an expert on intra-Republican warfare than Pat Buchanan has fore­ cast it. And some scenarios suggest that his description may be a pre­ scription as well. Consider this. Colin Powell enters the Repub­ lican Party primary and by March 7. the date o f the New Y o rk contest, it is crystal clear that he w ill be the . nominee. Pat Buchanan, with the political and financial support o f the Christian Coalition abandons his Republican run and hurriedly assem­ bles an independent bid. With a lot o f money and a riled-up Republican right wing, he can access all 50 bal­ lots, switch his primary matching funds eligibility over to his third par­ ty run, and stay in the game big time Meanwhile, the new Indepen­ dent Party (know n as Reform in some states) cataly zed and funded by Ross Perot, has been creating a new party infrastructure which w ill be prepared to choose an independent presiden­ tial candidate at a mega-Town Hall meeting-style national convention in "W e must learn to resolve con­ flicts without violence, because we human beings w ill share space on this planet for many years to come We hope that Mr Rabin's untimely death will motivate us all to work even harder for peace and unity in the world and turn back the hatred and extremism which is responsible for his death "W e w ould like to express our support for and so lid a rity with a ll people w o rkin g for peace in the face o f such vio len t oppo­ sitio n ," stated Law rence J. D ark, Urban Leagu e o f Portland p re si­ dent and c h ie f execu tive o ffice r The Urban I eague o f Portland for 50 years has been a bridge bu i Ider for race relations. More Threats To “Business As U su ar Are Mounting h o s e b e la te d and overdue stirrings of ’ c o n s c ie n c e in th e I N o rth east co m m u n ity that were prompted by the March, seem to have affected some members of the black clergy; church people I have not heard from in years want my ‘spin’ on the matter, or its, “did you see that article on page 2 of last W ednesday’s Observer I Newspaper (11/8)?" “The African | American Leader And The M illion Man March" was b / the title ofa strong commentary writ­ ten by a pastor Jr *• member o f the na­ tion’s largest African Am erican Christian organization: The Nation­ al Baptist Convention U S A. Inc. I Among other things he said, "what­ ever your position on the Honor­ able M in ister Farrakhan may be, the fact o f the matter is that his success is directly attributable to our fail­ ure" (...o f the Christian Church). The pastor further says that “ ...others are taking the leadership in the struggle because the African American Christian establishment has failed to select leadership able to respond appropriately to the chal­ lenges o f our times." I pointed out here several years ago that the R ev­ erend Martin Luther K in g Jr. had been assassinated just as we was to launch a vast "economic” crusade on a national scale, A decade before that (and since then), I was holding up the Rev. Leon Sullivan, founder ofthe O .i.C . movement, as an ideal role model for members ofthe cler­ gy Here in the Northeast commu­ nity the local branch o f the interna­ tional organization founded by Rev. Sullivan is known as " P O IC " (Port­ land Opportunity Industrialization Corporation). Beginning 30 years ago as a project to create employ­ ment for members o f his Philadel­ phia church. Reverend Sullivan took [ thislegacy ofthe"M aster"(feedthe LI multitude) to new and successful heights around the world. Sweden, Germany, Russia, Poland, India, South Africa. M exico, wherever. I can w'ell understand the fears o f that pastor we discussed earlier. 1, like others here, have been re- buffed or ignored by black church ‘ leaders' when we have made offers to contribute to or participate in the I interface between the church andf the people. Well remembered is a| particulartripofmineto the Yakim a, Washington area and the islands o f the K lin git Indian people o ff A la s­ k a -a ll for the U .S. Forest Service. In both instances, I discovered al vast infrastructure o f economic en­ terprise which in several cases had been imitated and nurtured shortly after World War II by the "mis-1 sio n a ry o u t­ By reach” to native Professor A m e rican s es-| I Mckinley tablished by sev­ ' Buri eral denom ina-l tio n s o f the Christian Church. Returning to Port­ land and my classroom at the uni-1 versify where I was teaching a class in Urban Economics I enthusiasti-1 cally described my experience to I the class. We developed a project and an agenda that could very well address I the socio-economic problems o f l Portland’s Northeast community. We promptly called, wrote or other­ wise attempted to gain an audience with Portland black ministers. I thought that I was on kind o f a roll having just successfully structured the real estate concept and grant) project that gained those three build-f ingsatN .E. 17th and Alberta for the | Black Education Center. Not to be! That was twenty one I years ago this month and I haven’t heard from a black minister yet. However, a white student in the I class belonged to a large downtown church on S. W. 12th and said his minister was very progressive and would be more than interested. They were, and a successful program in the Rev. Leon Sullivan style wasf I developed. Incidentally, the church organist turned out to be one ofthe kids at The Dalles Junior High I School math and science presenta­ tion where I won the National Sci-1 ence Foundation Award for the dis­ trict. For those o f you who have an older edition o f my book "B lack Inventors o f Am erica” , he is the) little fat-faced kid watching the cam­ era in the picture ofthe event found j on the inside back cover. M ore next week