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M arch 13, 1996 »Tm P oru and Olisi rvi r
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W D C -Editor’s note: The Human
Rights Campaign Fund recently
conducted a series of fascinat
ing polls and foucs groups
coneming American's attitudes
about the so-called “religious
right". We thought their findings
were worth sharing with you, and
Celinda Lake of Lake Research,
who conducted the poll, gracious
ly agreed. Her findings are sum
marized below.
(1) The best phrase to use to refer
to these groups is religious political
extremists. These terms are strongly
negative for every group o f voters,
much more so than “ religious right,”
the term mostly commonly dislike
what it implies--a mixing o f religion,
ligious Ipeople should be involved in
politics and extremism.
politics, but they dislike the idea o f
The term "religious right” gives
politics being used to dictate or im
o ff positive images to voters.
pose one set u f values on everyone.
The term “ radical right” does car
They would have values guide poli
ry a stongly negative connotation,
tics, but dislike the idea o f religion
but after the Oklahoma City bomb
dictating politics.
ing Americans tend to associate this
The Christtian C oalition’s usual
term with violent fringe groups such
response that those who oppose them
asmilitias, New-Nasisandskingeads,
are engsaged in anti-Christian bigot
and resist associating the “ radical
ry is not persuasuve to voters. In fact
right" with religius activity.
it seemed an example o f the very “ my
(2) The best message is that they
way or no way” attitude o f these
are extremists who would go too far,
extremises that voters dislike.
and use politics to impose their view
(3) Americans do not want the pub
on others. Voters do believe thst re-
lic schools used as battlegrounds for
i
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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The JJortlanb ©bseruer
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A
R ainbo W
C O A L IT IO N
Religious Political
Extremists
religious extremists, nor do they want
their communities divided and polar
ized Voters resent the Christian Coa
lition tactic o f "stealth candidacies,”
wherer religoius political extrremists
run for local office, but refuse to reveal
their political affiliation and beliefs.
(4) Several issues convincingly
illustrate the problems o f using the
public shcools as battlegrounds, d i
viding communites, and forcing po
litical views on others-ffeedom o f
choice, sex educatin in the schools,
book banning in shcoools and
libaries, and gay and lesbian rights.
(5) The best strategy should in-
clude a values-oreinted, faithbased
response. Progressive have power
ful norms and traditions, and strong
American values on our side. Amer
icans stomgly bel ieve in the separtion
o f church and state, in freedom o f
chouce, in fairness, and in the princi
ple o f the Golden R ule-treat others
as you would be treated yourself.
Americans believe values should
be determined by individuals fam i
lies and communities, and rresent
any attempt to dictate one set o f
political views, plus Americans dis
like the self righteousness o f amny
religious politicale extremists.
H o w e ve r, it is c r itic a l that
progressives confront religious po
litical extremists on a religious and
values-based terrain. An our response
to religious political extremists must
include a faithbased response. Reaf
firm ing values is vital at a time when
America worries about declinging
morals and fam ily values.
Since faith-based andmorality-
based responses to issues have al
ways been the core o f the Rainbow’s
work, this advice fits in perfectly
with our organizing principles.
Or, as Dr. King put it: Vanity asks,
is it popular? Politics asks, w ill i,
work? But conscience andmorality
ask, is it right?
V c m t o g e P o irv f
ringing Down The Walls Of Oppression
n the Old Testament of
the Bible the prophet
Joshua, on God's instruc
tions, assembled a small, well
trained, disciplined army to con
front a vastly superior force in
the ancient walled city of Jeri
cho.
Armed with a righteous cause and
follow ing the battle plan conveyed
by Jehovah, “ Joshua fit the battle o f
Jericho, and the walls came tumbling
down.” Intheeraofthe ‘60's, Martin
Luther King, a man inspired by his
Christian faith and devoted to the
philosophy and tactics o f the holy
man, Mohandas Mahatma Ghandi o f
India, assembled a non-violent army
composed o f the downtrodden sons
and daughters o f Africa and people
o f goodwill to bring down the walls
o f southern apartheid. Against for
midable, seemingly unsurmountable
odd, the oppressed shattered a vital
pillar in the U.S. system o f racial
oppression.
At the annual Martin Luther King
celebration o f Rev. A l Sharpton's
National Action Network, the key
note speaker. Rev. Herbert Daughtry
o f the renowned House o f the Lord
Church i Brooklyn, reminded the
audience that at the time o f his death
Martin Luther King, the “ radical
dreamer,” was also preparing to
mount an initiative aimed
at bringing down the walls o f eco
nomic injustice and oppression in
America. When King was cut down
in Memphis he and the staff o f the
Southern Christian Leadership Con
ference were planning to launch a
Poor People’s Campaign to demand
an Economic B ill o f Rights for Black
people and poor and working people
in the U.S.
Offering a more in depth analysis
and interpretation o f dr. King's fa
mous and oft repeated “ I have a
dream" speech. Rev. Daughtry indi
cated that Dr. King clearly under
stood that racial harmony must be
based on economic parity and equi
ty. Dr. King also increasingly under
stood that the battle to end racial
apartheid in the south, as dangerous
and d ifficult as it was, paled in com
parison to the struggle to end eco
nomic apartheid and injustice. That
struggle would require an assault on
the very nature o f a greed oriented,
materialistic, p rofit above people
driven economic system that might
make concessions on white only signs
at water fountainsand lunch counters
but would fight to the death to pre
serve power, privilege and a dispro
portionate accumulation o f wealth in
the hands o f a few White men who
run this country and much o f the
world.
King died before he could person
ally lead the most important cam
paign o f his life, the Poor People’ s
Campaign. His lieutenants from
SCLC carried on is his name, march
ing hundreds o f miles with scores o f
people from communities in the South
to erect a Resurrection City on the
Capital M all in Washington, D.C.
Though the campaign did have an
effect on congressional consideration
o f President Johnson’s War on Pov
erty program, it fell short o f the u lti
mate goal o f forcing this nation to
face the devastating realities o f eco
nomic inequality on Black people
and poor and working people in this
society.
This is the unfinished task on
Martin Luther King's agenda o f so
cial change and social transforma
tion. As the State o f emergency af
flicting the masses o f Black people,
people o f color and poor and work
ing people deepens under the right
w ing’s racist and reactionary Con
tract on America, it is time, past time
to discuss the vision, strategy and
tactics required to mount a renewed
campaign to bring walls ofeconomic
inequality' and injustice in America
Down.
“ Power concedes nothing without
a demand, it never has and it never
w ill.” The obscene system o f gross
inequality in the U.S> w ill not change
unless it ischallenged and overturned
by the oppressed. An Economic B ill
o f Rights w ill never be enacted in this
nation unless poor and working peo
ple, the homeless, the hungry, wel
fare recipients, the unemployed and
underemployed the locked out and
left out rise up to demand that social
and economic rights become an inte
gral part o f the fabric o f this society.
Perhaps, it is time to finish K in g ’ s
unfinished agenda by calling for a
new Poor People’s Campaign and a
new Resurrection City to disrupt
“ business” as usual in this country.
Like Joshua at the walls o f Jericho,
perhaps, it is time that oppressed
people, confident that God is on our
side, shake this system to its very
foundation until the walls i f injustice
and oppression come tumbling down.
Civil Rights Journal
i
per s p e c t i r e s
There Is An Education
Dynamic As Well
am grateful for the
o v e rw h e lm in g
re-
sponse to last w e e k ’s
column which revealed that
the principal dynamic th a t pro
pelled the United States to
world supremacy in both the
sugar industry and high-rise
urban structures was the in
ventive genius of tw o African
Americans; Norman Rillieux
and David Crosthwaite, respec
tively.
W h ile it was rather cute and
some wha, pre
cocious that a
little
g ir l
w ro te ,
“ our
te a c h e r says
th a t n o b o d y
co uld go to the
b a th ro o m
above the sixth flo o r i f M r.
C ro sth w a ite hadn’ t designed
modern plum bing systems. You
c o u ld n ’ t take a show er in a
skyscraper, either. N o way M r
B u rt! “ A t the same tim e I was
rudely rem inded o f several o f
my “ Baseline Essay” m odels
o f black in v e n tio n s ’ that were
s u b m itte d to the P o rtla n d
School D is tric t -- but never
reached the classroom s.
As I began pre pa rin g notes
on these matters and a better
way to reach p u p ils o f a d i
verse c u ltu re ( fo r a sem inar
requested by some W ash in g
ton C ounty educators), I drew
upon tw o classic, but d ia m e tri
c a lly opposed texts in my l i
brary; both considered dynam
ic at th e ir date o f p u b lic a tio n ;
“ T a x o n o m y o f E d u c a tio n a l
O b jective s: The C la s s ific a tio n
o f E d u ca tio n a l O b je c tiv e s ,”
Longm an 1956 and “ M u ltic u l
tural Education: A C ro s s -C u l
tu ra l T r a in in g A p p r o a c h ” ,
Pusch ed., In te rc u ltu ra l N e t
w ork Inc. C hicago, 1981.
The firs t book is a trie d and
true classic and in C hapter 3,
‘ The Problem s o f C la s s ify in g
E d uca tio na l O b je c tiv e s And
Test E xercises” , I found d ire c t
a pp lica tio n s to b u ild in g m od
els and paradigm s related to
the experiences o f the black
inventors. That is th e ir com -
31
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OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established in 1970
Caught Between The Elephants
bv
B ernice P owell J ackson
C jr< t's all In the tim ing” is an
'J j old saying which the Pas
C * “ tors for P eace under
stand In a new way. Pastors for
Peace is the ecumenical group
which has sponsored five cara
vans across the U.S. to the M ex
ico border to carry medical and
humanitarian supplies to the peo
ple of Cuba. Their activist, non
violent actions have been in de
fia n c e of th e U .S. em bargo
against Cuba, which they believe
is immoral.
As this is written, five o f the Pas
tors for peace group are on their 16th
day o f a hunger strike at the San
Ysidro, CA border into Mexico. Their
temporary home is made o f plastic
and canvas, and, after consecration,
was named the Wayside Chapel for
Peace and Friendship. The fasters,
led by Rev. Lucius Walker, Execu
tive Director o f Interreligious Foun
dation for Community Organization
and Pastors for Peace and pastor o f
Salvation Baptist Church in Brook
lyn, N Y, vow to continue their fast
until the U.S. government releases
the 400 medical computers bound
for hospitals and family clinics in
Cuba which it seized as Pastors for
peace tried to cross the border.
“ Even in the worst days o f apart
heid, food and medicines were never
stopped from going to South A fri
can. Even when tens o f thousands o f
people were disappearing in Guate
mala, trade in food and medicine
were never restricted. The severity
o f the U.S. government’s economic
war on our Cuban neighbors is un
precedented, unnecessary and im
moral,” said Rev Walker about the
U.S. restrictions on Cuba.
The tim ing o f this sixth caravan is
part o f the Pastors for peace’s current
problem. Several days after they
reached the border the downing o f
two Cessna planes by the Cuban gov
ernment turned the w orld's attention
to Cuba once again and hardened the
U.S government’s attitude toward
Cuba. In addition, the election year
and the Helms-Burton legislationjust
passed by Congress has escalated the
political rhetoric around Cuba
But Pastors for peace remains com-
mitted to its humanitarian assistance
better
to the people ofCuba. “ We regret the
loss o f life in this incident, as we
regret the lossofthousandsofCuban
lives caused by the U.S. embargo o f
C uba, “ said Rev. Walker, respond
ing to the downing o f the civilian
planes. “ W hile the Fast for Life may
be more d iffic u lt in this climate, it is
all the more important to create a
space for calm, reasoned and moral
reflection on U.S. policies toward
our neighbor,” he added.
Pastors for Peace says that the
U.S. government has spent over a
m illion dollars to prevent U.S. and
Canadian volunteers from fu lfilling
their mission to send donated hu
manitarian aid to churches and hos
pitals in Cuba. On January 31, 400
non-violent volunteers were con
fronted by some 1,000 government
officials, who used helicopters, sur
veillance equipment, police vans, tow
trucks and unmarked cars to stop the
caravan from crossing the border
They did allow Pastors for Peace
volunteers to take some medical sup
plies across, but when the trucks with
medical computers tried to cross,
Customs agents broke into the trucks
and began to confiscate the comput
ers. Eighteen o f the Pastors for Peace
were arrested.
Two weeks later medical comput
ers donated by Canadian citizens and
purchased in the U.S. by Pastors for
Peace were confiscated at the Cana
dian border. Pastors for peace say
that medical computers are just as
necessary for medical care as sutures
and aspirin in this computer age and
vow to continue their fast until the
computers are released. “ We cannot
match the force or resources o f the
government and so we have decided
to make the only and ultimate sacri
fice - ourselves,” said Rev. Walker
their decision.
I h ere's a nother o ld saying
about what happens when tw o
elephants decide to move. Pas
tors fo r peace, lik e the little flea
in that saying, is caught between
the governm ent elephants o f the
U.S. and Cuba. M ea nw h ile the
little people o f both countries
are caught between the tw o ele
phants and the people o f Cuba
are d yin g from the lack o f m edi
cal supplies and equipm ent.
ffiie VfLditor
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
mon a b ilitie s to abstract the
general laws that obtain to tech
nologies, and a p p ly in g them to
new, a lb e it p a rtic u la r, situ a
tions. A prim e exam ple is that
o f “ the slave in v e n to r/p ro fe s -
sor” at the A n n a p o lis Naval
Academ y” - a m odel described
here this week in another a rti
cle o f mine.
The second book is a rep re
sentative w ork o f its tim e and
genre and, fo r the most part, is
a com pendium o f ‘ fe e l-go od -
nonsense’ . I f
you have the
p a tie n c e to
sy
d is s e c t y o u r
Professor w ay th ro u g h
Mckinley
the layers o f
Burt
s e lf - s e r v in g
m e ta p h o rs
and anecdotes you w ill fin d a
fe w o b s e rv a tio n s th a t may
match yourexp erien ce w ith m i
n orities in the real w o rld . Good
luck w ith the Z illio n cita tio n s .
For those teachers w ho re
quested some c ita tio n s o f ma
te ria l they m ig h t incorporate
in fashio ning lesson plans on
“ R illie u x and the Sugar Indus
tr y ” try the fo llo w in g .
“ Sweetness And Power: The
Place o fS u g a r In M odern H is
to ry ,” Sidney W. M in tz , V i
king 1985.
See related entries in in d e x
es to such p e rio d ica ls as N a
tio n a l G eographic, S c ie n tific
Am erican and the w eekly news
magazines such as T im e , News
W eek, etc. also y o u r d a ily
newspapers where there has
been e xte n sive co verag e o f
Sugar grow ers and th e ir p rice-
support program s.
A lso there has been c o n s id
erable coverage o f the “ de
struction o fth e E ve rglad es’ by
Sugar planters o f F lo rid a who
have d ive rted the natural flo w
o f waters.
For general insights to how
blacks were able to m aintain
and n u rtu re th e ir te c h n ic a l
s k ills durin g slavery, see “ Eye
witness: The N egro in A m e ri
can H is to ry ” , K atz, Putnam;
and “ the N e g ro A r t is a n ’
W .E .B . D ubois, 1902.
Joyce Washington—Publisher
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