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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The ^Iartlanb ffibscrucr
"Along The Color Line"
Race And Revolution In Cuba: An Inside Report
by
D r . M anning M ahable
uHng my recent visit to
Cuba, I m et many gov-
em m ent officials, intel­
lectuals and community leaders,
who provided many critical In­
sights.
/£ I
ir
But one of the highlights was hav­
ing a lengthy conversation with
Assata Shakur. She had been a prom­
inent black American activist in the
1970s who had been unjustly impris­
oned. Escaping from prison, she
somehow managed to reach Cuba.
Today she is a lecturer and teacher,
active in local affairs, and remains an
astute judge of society and politics.
Assata Shakur emphasized that
while Cuba has its problems, some of
the Castro government’s strongest
supporters are Afro-Cubans. This is
because the actual conditions of dai­
ly life for black people-incomes, ed­
ucational opportunities, health care,
etc ,-have greatly improved. The old
restrictions o f racial segregation
which had been imposed by the US
upon Cuban society have been dis­
mantled for decades. The Castro gov­
ernment more recently has become
supportive of black cultural and reli­
gious groups such as Santeria, which
draw their orientations from African
spiritual traditions. There are many
black Cubans who are proud of their
African heritage and culture, Shakur
said, but who also support the Revo­
lution.
fore the Revolution, they have gained
to focus on the role o f blacks in
Shakur’s comments highlight the
the most from the vast soc ietal chang­
earlierhistorical periods. Some white
long and continuing relationship be­
es which had occurred. A quarter
Cubans still engage in a massive de­
tween African-Americans and Cuba.
century after the revolution, employ­
nial of the existence of prejudice, yet
Black abolitionists such as Frederick
ment, infant mortality, and life ex­
nevertheless perpetuate and tolerate
Douglass and Henry Highland Gar­
pectancy rates were better for blacks
unequal treatment across the bound­
net had actively supported Cuba’s
in Cuba than for blacks anywhere in
aries of color. White police officers
struggle for independence from Spain
the world-even in the Untied States.
today sill tend to stop and interrogate
over a century ago. After the revolu­
Nevertheless, when our Cuban com­
Afro-Cubans much more than whites.
tionaries seized power in 1959, Castro
rades sometimes insist that racism
I spent part o f one day with a
made a powerful impression among
had been completely uprooted and
prominent Cuban anthropologist,
African-Americans by staying in
destroyed in their country, many
who discussed her ethnographic re­
Harlem during his first visit to the
African-Americans have expressed
search in one particular urban neigh ­
United Nations. Castro’s famous
strong doubts. Any multiracial na­
borhood in Havana. She explained
September, 1960 meeting with Mal­
tion which had slavery for many gen­
that although formal racial discrimi­
colm X, to the great consternation of
erations would still have a powerful
nation has been outlawed for years,
the US government, reinforced the
legacy ofracial discrimination. Even
prejudice is still virulent. “White
solidarity felt by progressive black
in a revolutionary context, old habits
values and standards” which were
Americans toward the revolutionary
and attitudes would be difficult to
the culutral background o f the tradi­
government. As one black newspa­
uproot.
tional Cuban upper-class before the
per, the New York Citizen-Call, de­
How is “race” manifested with
revolution continue to influence be­
fiantly described Malcolm’s private
Cuban society in the 1990s? One
havior. For example, no discrimina­
session with the Cuban leader at the
research staff member of the Cuban
tion in employment is permitted, she
time: “To Harlem’s oppressed ghet­
Communist Party Central Commit­
observed, “but an employer can still
to dwellers, Castro was that bearded
tee admitted to me that genuine ad­
manifest his prejudices by not hiring
revolutionary who had thrown the
vances for blacks “have mostly oc­
blacks. In many communities, blacks
nation’s rascals out and who had told
curred in the public sphere,” rather
and whites live side by side, working
white America to go to hell.”
than in civil society. With the excep­
and interacting closely. But many of
Since the 1959 Revolution, Cuba
tion of some cultural reforms made
these same whites “don’t want their
has developed a special relationship
in the first decade after the revolu­
daughters to marry black men.”
with black people throughout the
tion, Cuban television today is still
The struggle to destroy racism still
world. Fidel Castro has personally
monochromatically white. There are
remains a central challenge in Cuba.
and politically identified himselfand
virtually no black actors on televi­
Bu, on balance, the Cubans are far
his entire nation with the cultural
sion Most Cuban playwrights and
more honest about their shortcom­
heritage and legacy of Africa. Since
filmmakers don’t want to address the
ings, and have achieved greater ra­
Afro-Cubans had been at the bottom
contradictions of race within con­
cial equality for blacks than we have
of the social and class hierarchy be­
temporary society, preferring instead
in the US.
Civil Rights Journal
Locking Up Children And Throwing Away The Key
BY BERNIC
by
B ernice
as
P o w eli . J ackson
s Were all shocked more
than a year ago by the
story of Eric Morse, the
five year old child killed by two
older boys, one ten and one elev­
en years old, who threw Eric out
the window of th e ir Chicago hous­
ing project when he refused to
steal candy for them . W e were
shocked by the reality of children
killing children.
Now we should be shocked by the
sentences which the two older boys
received and what it says about us as
a nation. The younger boy becomes
the youngest child locked up in a
maximum security juvenile prison in
the country. The older is also headed
for prison.
Both of these boys are living,
breathing examples o f what happens
when parents and all the institutions
of society fail children. Both are liv­
ing, breathing examples o f what hap­
pens to children who do not know
love at home and do not find caring in
schools, social agencies or the crim­
inal justice system. Both show us
what happens when little children
“fall between the cracks.”
They younger boy has an I.Q.
somewhere around 60. The older
child failed every subject in the fourth
grade, only to be passed on to the
fifth grade by a system that had to
know he was in trouble. Often a
runaway, he had been picked up by
police before but he had never been
seen by a social worker. His father is
also imprisoned. Both boys lived most
o f their lives in the Ida B. Wells
housing project, one of the nation’s
toughest.
Before this horrible case appeared
in the nation’s headlines children
under 13 could not be sent to prison
under Illinois law. Now that has
changed so that children as young as
10 can be locked up in Illinois. It’s a
trend that is being followed in state
after state. Said Jay Hoffman, an
111 inois state legislator,”... That s my
sense of what the public very much
wants.”
Like much o f the national debate
around crime in this nation, public
emotion and sentiment are often used
as the rationale for get tough laws
Make no mistake about it.
The murder of a five year old is a
heinous crime. But it was a crime
committed by children, no matter
how angry or defiant or hardened
they may seem to be.
I ndeed, much of the debate around
these two child murderers centers
around whether punishment or treat­
ment should receive priority. The
judge in their case seems to have
weighed in on the side o f punish­
ment. But those who are studying
children and violence believe that
while they should be punished, that
intensive psychiatric care and old-
fashioned nurturing must be a signif­
icant part of what happens to them if
they are to change.
Moreover, the same laws which
imprison ten year olds also mandate
that the children must be freed by the
time they turn 2 1. As Dr. Bruce Perry,
a psychiatrist at Baylor College of
Medicine in Houston, said, “these
children have to get out of prison
eventually. And when they do, if they
haven’t received intensive treatment
and help, they will be the most re­
morseless, angry and skilled preda­
tors imaginable. What else can we
expect of someone who has grown
up in prison?”
The boys lawyers fear that they
will end up in prison with 200 or
more inmates and one part-time psy­
chiatrist, guaranteeing that they will
receive little help. Said Michelle
Kaplan, the lawyer for the 13 year
old in a recent New York Times
interview, “there’s this history lead­
ing up to this child being in crisis and
no one has ever intervened. Now the
system has finally intervened and
they want to throw him away.”
We’re in trouble in this country. A
nation where children are killing chil­
dren must deal with what has created
murderers out of children.
A nation that locks up its young
and throws away the key can only
create more murderers and more Eric
Morses.
People of Color Encouraged To Apply!
<
n these days of anti-affir-
mative action, Clarence
Thomas, and th e Bell
Curve craze, i t ’s profoundly af­
firming to be invited to partici­
pate in any organization.
X jl
O'
Those businesses and agencies that
embrace open access seem fewer;
many incentives designed to main­
tain equal opportunity are subject to
increasing scrutiny and recision.
Some organizations that practice
equal access do so for profit. It
makes them look good, which makes
money.
Others preach “we-shal l-help-you-
overcome.” without providing the
means necessary to make it happen
And some...struggle to remain open
minded, with open arms-accessible
to all, regardless of race, gender, or
any other distinction used to exclude.
One such organization is KBOO-
FM; a community sponsored radio
station.
Asa radio station which welcomes
public input and participation, it is
j valuable. What makes KBOO
especially valuable to minority com­
munities are the twin opportunities
to counter negative media images
and to broadcast news and informa­
tion relevant to us.
How KBOO does this is unique: by
inviting ordinary people to become
volunteers. Volunteers can perform in
many radio related positions, anging
from receptionist to computer data
entry to news reporters.
T raining is available for all
positions...with open access to any­
one sincerely interested in becoming
a part o f community radio. Many
volunteers have gone on to find pay­
ing jobs at other stations around the
country.
However, as great as they may
sound, there is a responsibility at­
tached; the responsibility o f utilizing
this wonderful resource. Something
as informal as “community radio”
may not seem significant, but
consider...information shapes the
way you think, act, live.
The better informed one is, the
better one can shape their world to
suit themselves and the better one
can protect their freedom. It’s ele­
mentary' that the best way to control
people is to control information and,
therefore, control their options. It’s
been done repeatedly, successfully.
It’s even being done now. With
the buyouts of major electronic and
print media by large corporations,
many news departments are finding
themselves censored and regulated
by their new owners. Perhaps you
head how 60 Minutes had to kill a
story exposing harmful and illegal
practices of various tobacco compa­
nies.
Our conservative, business-orient­
ed government also knows this. Re­
cent legislation has drastically cut
the amount of your tax dollars avail­
able to community radio, mainly be­
came an informed public is alert and
aware. Those cuts are designed to
hobble these grassroots media facil­
ities that tell the truth about corpo­
rate piracy and government impro­
priety. Fortunately, volunteers keep
community radio alive and well by
pledging money and time. Volun­
teers are the lifeblood of KBOO. By
volunteering at KBOO, you help your
community stay informed and aware.
You can combat media stereotypes,
and you can have fun become alert,
aware and active-” radio-active” -
and volunteer at KBOO-FM. Posi­
tively impact your respective com­
munities, to control your options, to
protect your freedom.
Take a chance — and the time — to
visit the station, and see where you
could fit.
—Celeste Carey, KBOO-FM pres­
ident, board o f directors.
Szetter
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor,,PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
e r s p e c t ir e s
Sugar Dynamics,
Thermodynamics
Or Black Dynamics!
pointment if I believed that my
presentations of a newly realized
impact of black scientists and in­
ventors on the world was going to
meet with a corresponding accep­
tance and enthusiasm among the
general African American popula­
tion.
Sometimes bitterand sometimes
hopeful, Mr. Crosthwait would de­
tail his encounters with “a black
establishment of entrenched edu­
cation and social agencies as cold
and indifferent
Last week's ar­
to new ideas as
ticle
centered
any other bu­
z
By
around Norman
reaucracy in
k
T‘ 2 ■ W PM
7 /
Professor
wv
' /
Rillieux who in­
America.” He
M cklnley
vented the sugar
described ex­
Burt
refiner (Evaporat­
periences sim­
¿ jg
ing Pan, Patent No.
ilar to my own;
4879) and changed not only the
spending one’s own meager funds
field of chemical engineering but
to direct black youth into science
much else about our world. Today,.
and technology, using accounts and
I introduce another great black en­
models from our glorious history
gineer, a man with whom I had a
(and personal example).
number of opportunities for dia­
All this, while many inner-
logue ( 1974 and 1975); conversa­
city program mers, loaded with
tions about matters that heavily im­
monies for the “disadvantaged”
pact African Americans, yet today.
spent a great deal o f it on stop­
David Crosthwait, 1891-1976
gap measures, Black English,
For his outstanding contribu­
retreats and buffalo w ings’.
tions to engineering technology
And, o f course, as with my own
David Crosthwait was awarded an
experience in P ortland, Mr.
honorary doctoral degree in 1975
Crosthwait understood that the
\from Purdue University, the same
white establishm ent controls
school that had awarded him a B. S.
both the school systems and the
in mechanical engineering 62 years
inner-city social agencies. “ If |
earlier In the years between, he
the black social-types can’t read
had received 54 US. patents and
and comprehend that science
80 foreign patents relating to the
and technology are the key to
design installation, testing, and ser­
jobs and survival from now on,
vicing o f powerplants and heating
may the Lord help us.”
and ventilating systems.
This was over twenty years
Crosthw ait w orked f o r the
ago. Anyone seen any great ac­
Dunham Company o f Chicago dur­
tivity lately? I ’m trying to do
ing much o f his career and headed
my little thing yet, out o f my
its research lab o ra to ry in
social security check. And, by
Marshalltown, Iowa. Later he
the way; for those fans o f |
served as technical advisor to the
Norm an R illieux who made
company
‘sugar sw eeter’, here is an in­
An authority on heat transfer,
teresting commentary.
ventilation, and air conditioning.
Since his inventions were es­
Crosthwait invented several new
sential to sugar production and
systems He developed the control
m aintaining Am erican dom i­
systems and the variable vacuum
nance in the field, the southern
system to heating fo r major build­
sugar planters faced a perplex­
ings including Rockefeller Center
ing problem . R illieux was a
in blew York City. His writings in­
“ N e g ro ”--how in the w orld
cluded a manual on heating and
could they provide him with the
cool mg with water and guides, stan­
facilities and amenities required
dards and codes dealing with heat­
while he oversaw the construc­
ing ventilation refrigeration, and
tion o f his engineering marvel
air conditioning.
on each plantation. Certainly,
After retiring from industry in
they couldn’t put him up at the
1969 Crosthwait continued to
“big house” with them ; The
share his knowledge by teaching a
slaves would see this.
course on steam heating theory and
What happened was that at
controls at Purdue.
each installation a special house
I am deeply indebted to this great
was built for Norman Rillieux -
man for a number of insights, but
- all across Louisiana and parts
two in particular. First, he warned
o f Florida. They were called
me that, given his own experiences,
“ Rillieux” houses; well built,
I was headed for a traumatic disap­
several remain today.
h at’s in a word?” asked
Shakespeare, but we
are not writing about
teenage lovers here ( Romeo and
Juliet). Beginning w ith last
w eek’s column we are dealing
with two African American Sci­
entists, engineers and inven­
tors who pushed the field of
th e rm o d y n a m ic s
to
new
heights. And it seems so appro­
priate that the term is derived
from the Greek word for “Power-
ful”-dynamikos.
i
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