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W IW r.K V I K
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The Jjlortk:nit (lObseruer
<<'
7I4.
ast week in South Caro-
Una’s state capital, the
Republican presidential
candidates held one of their 1 9 9 6
debates. In that debate, the can­
didates were asked about flying
the Cofnederate flag over the
Georgia Capital. Pat Buchanan
responded by saying that the
flag did not fly over slavery, but
was a symbol of honor and cour­
age in battle-equating the Con­
federate flag with the American
flag. He then said that if the civil
rights community can sing “We
Shall Overcome” then there is
nothing wrong with white South­
erners singing “Dixie."
That position may be expected
from Pat Buchanan, in South Caroli­
na, as he is making crude racial and
religious appeals a centerpiece o f his
presidential campaign. That is why
he has the support o f Lester Maddox
and David Duke. However, all o f the
other candidates on the stage with
him remained silent or gave tacit
approval. When others said this was
a matter for individual states to de­
cide, they are giving tacit approval to
Mr. Buchanan’s racist statements.
Let us be clear, “ D ixie” is not the
moral equivalent o f “ We Shall over­
come One symbolizes legal apart­
heid, the other symbolizes overcom­
ing legal apartheid. The Confederate
Hag and “ D ixie” divided us along
racial lines. “
We Shall Overcome” united a
majority o f Americans across racial,
religious and economic lines. The
C onfederate flag and“ Dixie"are seen
around the world as symbols o f a
NATIONAL
C O A L IT IO N
Cat Got Your Tongue?
Republicans Catch Lockjaw Over Dixie & Flag
Jackson had a boyhood too. That
boyhood was in Greenville, SC,
where his father went o ff to fight the
Germans and Nazism in the name o f
democracy But when he returned
home he did not have the right to
vote One Christmas, when Jesse
came home from college, he wanted
to use the Greenville public library,
bu, was denied because o f his race.
His daddy was called "b oy” and his
mother was called “ g irl.” He had to
drink out o f a “ colored” water foun­
tain, be served out o f the back o f the
cafe by the road, and sit in the back o f
the bus while paying the same fare to
ride. In whose name was this done to
all African Americans? The symbol
o f all this? The Confederate flage
and Dixie.
We need conviction and leader­
ship from those in the Republican
Party who would be president o f all
Americans to match the conviction
and leadership Pat Buchanan is g iv­
ing through his racist appeal to the
O ld C onfederacy N e ith e r Pat
Buchanan, nor his racist appeal,
should be taken lightly.
We do not need the election o f
1996 to be a repeat o f a Supreme
Court decision in 1896, where a con
servati ve and racist Court turned back
the clock on racial progress. Such a
repetition is not inevitable, but the
challenge must be me, head on with
strong moral leadership.
This JaxFax is a moral appeal to all
the Republican presidential candidates
shameful past “ We Shall Overcome”
lican agenda with regard to returning
is sung everywhere around the world
block grants to the states, and with
in freedom, equal rights and democ
regard to the weakening or the elim ­
racy struggles about a hopeful future.
ination o f federal standards. States’
’Dixie and the Confederate flag
rights is a throwback ,0 states’
are symbolic o f a racist and anti­
wrongs! After all, the Old South had
semitic "O ld South.” The Confeder­
much to do with making such federal
ate flag is loaded with official rac­
standards necessary in the first place.
ism, anti-semitism, sexism, anti­
There is a New South. The New
worker and anti-voting rights sym­
South allowed J immy Carter and B ill
bolism. The decision by the other
Clinton to rise and lead all o f the
presidential candidates to remain si­
American people-somethingthe Old
lent is to allow false southern pride to
South could never have done. The
continue to exist because o f false
New South allowed economic in­
southern political fears. I f there is a
vestment and growth. The new South
“ New South” -as all the presidential
brought with it the 1996 Olympic
candidates contend and, as JaxFax
Games; the Atlanta Braves, Hawks
believes, there is--,hen it must be
and Falcons; the New Orleans Saints;
appealed to politically by candidates
and the Charlotte Hornets and Caro­
o f conviction and courage. Repre­
lina Panthers. They would never have
sentatives o f the New South cannot
come to the “ Old Buchanan South."
remain silent in the face o f a brazen
The New South has helped the
attempt to resurrect the Old South.
South, the nation and the nation’s
For the other candidates to re­
image in the world. Buchanan’sCon-
spond to Pa, Buchanan’s over, racial
federate flag and Dixie would help to
to step up to the plate o f racial, gender
political appeals by saying that these
unravel those gains.
and worker grievances, and hit a home
are matters o f “ states’ rights” is ,0
Pat Buchanan likes to talk about
run for racial, gender and worker jus­
pull the cover o ff o f the real Repub­
his boyhood. That is fine, bu, Jesse
tice everywhere.
Along The Color Line
Black Liberation: Where Do We Go From Here?
lack leaders have advo-
The chief beneficiaries o f reform-
cated various programs
from-above politics have been, and
and s tra te g ie s to ad­
continue to be, the black middle class.
vance the interests of African-
The basic thesis o f this class can be
American people. One such strat­
described by the concept o f “ sym­
egy can be called “reform-from-
bolic representation” : increasing the
above."
actual number of blacks in positions
The social foundation o f “ reform-
o f authority w ithin every institution
from-above” politics came largely
o f society w ill directly empower A f­
from the black middle class and pro­
rican-Americans as a group. Funda­
fessionals, black elected officials
mental social progress would occur
connected with the Democratic Par­
only in cooperation with white liber­
ty, and moderates w ithin the C ivil
al institutions and organizations.
Rights Movement. Ina nutshell, their
Loyalty to the national Democratic
strategy favors: the complete inte­
Party is central to this approach for
gration o f blacks into US society, the
gradual change. Thus the insurgent
passage o f c iv il rights/equal oppor­
presidential candidacy o f Jess Jack-
tunity legislation, and increasing the
son in both 1984 and 1988 did not
number o f blacks in influential posi­
challenge the two-party system, but
tions in government and the private
operated solely w ithin the confines
sector. The federal government is
o f the Democratic Party primaries.
viewed as principle for addressing
Although Jackson frequently c riti­
the black comm unity’ s social prob­
cizes the Clinton administrations’s
lems and human needs, such as health
policies, he is not prepared or w illin g
care, housing and education. Im plic­
,0 launch a truly independent p o liti­
itly, reform-from-above is based on a
cal movement for blacks and other
pragmatic partnership between black
oppressed groups.
middle class and political elites, with
However, an alternative third po­
white liberal groups in the founda­
litical vision hasalsobeen represent­
tions, education,organized labor,and
ed within African-American leader­
the Democratic Party.
ship: the radical politics o f “ reform-
The limitations o f reform-from-
from -below .” W ith their massive
above as a strategy for black libera­
migration from the rural South to the
tion gave been obvious to many black
northern ghettoes, African-Am eri­
working class and poor people for
cans soon became the most urban­
decades.
ized population in the US. With the
"1 r> - 1
I
----
--- ---
expansion o f the black industrial
working class and the subsequent
growth o f urban poverty and unem­
ployment, political protest began to
assume a more m ilitant character. As
early as the Great Depression, black
street radicals in Harlem initiated
rent strikes, boycotts and “ don’t buy
where you can’t work” campaigns.
Thousands o f African-Am ericans
joined the Communist Party and oth­
er radical organizations; thousands
more participated in trade union
struggles. In the Cold War, the more
radical wing o f black freedom move­
ment, led by Du Bois and Paul
Robeson, challenged McCarthyism
and domestic political repression. In
the 1960s, a sim ilar spirit o f radical
internationalism, Third World soli­
darity and peace was advocated by
Martin Luther King, Jr., in the months
before his assassination. And as the
movement for desegregation was
supplanted by the demand for Black
Power, new models o f black m ilitan­
cy and radicalism emerged, such as
the Black Panthers and the League o f
DiH/nlntinnnm
tlZ_I__
Revolutionary DU-L
Black Workers
What each o f these African-Amer­
ican leaders and protest groups had
in common was a radical rejection o f
the existing power structure o f the
larger society. They were convinced
that the traditional methods o f polit­
ical cigagcm
engagement,
w orking
orking solely
solely
em , w
through the system, would not pro­
duce meaningful changes. African-
Americans had to pressure the p olit­
ical and corporate establishment from
below, by active participation in pro­
tests o f all kinds: mass demonstra­
tions, renters’ strikes, labor unrest,
economic boycotts, sit-ins, civ il dis­
obedience, and even armed struggle,
This perspective fostered a type o f
activist-oriented leadership which
saw itself as part o f a broad social
movement for black empowerment,
and the radical redefinition o f Amer­
ican democracy. In an international
context, reformers-ffom-below em­
braced the parallel struggles o f A fri­
can, Asian and Latin American people
against colonialism and economic
domination by the West. Black Amer­
ican’ problems were an integral part o f
a much larger human dilemma, the
inequality and oppression o f non-Eu­
ropean people along a global bound­
ary o f race, nationality and class.
“ A c c o m m o d a tio n ,” “ re fo rm -
from-above,” and “ reform-from-be-
low” represent distinct strategies and
approaches to the problematic o f
black empowerment. I f we re really
serious about fundamental change
for African-
Americans, we must recognize that
the transformation o f this system w ill
occur, no, from the top down, bu,
up.
from the bottom up
C iv il Rights Journal: In Memory Of Cynthia Wiggins
ll J
a c KSON
m B J e e r r n n i c k f l . P P o o w w e e ll
J ac
kson
n e v e r m e t C y n th ia
Wiggins. She was sin­
gle, teen ag ed mother
who lived In Inner-city Buffalo.
But unlike the stereotypes, she
was not an irresponsible, welfare
mother. She wanted to work to
support her son, who was Bom
last fall. So she went to work at
a suburban shopping mall, the
Walden Galleria M all.
Jus, before Christmas Cynthia
Wiggins was crushed to death by a
dump truck as she tired to cross the
seven lane highway separating her
bus stop from the mall. It seems the
Walden Galleria M all had refused
permission for the No. 6 bus from
inner-city Buffalo to stop on the mall
property, forcing inner-city residents
to cross the dangerous highway with
no walkway or stop light and then
walk across the large parking Io,
reach the stores.
In the afterm ath o f C ynthia
W iggins' untimely and unnecessary
death, a public outcry forced the mall
owners to gran, permission for the
No. 6 bus ,0 stop on the mall proper­
ty. After all, they had always allowed
busses fille d w ith
____
busses filled with Canadian tourists
to stop in the mall, as did busses from
nearby suburban Amherst and from
other suburban malls. Indeed, ac­
cording,o the Niagara Frontier Tran­
sit Authority, they had applied for
permission for the No. 6 bus to stop
in the mall when the mall was opened
in 1989. But the Transit Authority
was told no; while the mall would
consider suburban busses, they didn ’,
wan, the No. 6 coming into the mall.
In the aftermath o f the Rodney
King and O.J. Simpson cases, there
has been much discussion about the
differing perceptions o f white Amer­
icans and people o fcolo r concerning
the existence ofracism in contempo­
rary America. Most whites believe
that racism is a phenomenon o f the
pas, and that bigotry is confined to
only a few, uneducated extremists.
Most African Americans and other
people o f color see racism in their
lives each and every day. For some,
. _
racism provides the definitions o f
their lives.
I he story ofCynthia Wiggins and
the No. 6 bus raises several issues. It
belies the mistaken notion that rac­
ism is no longer alive and well in
America. For it no, only shows how
poor blacks are no, wanted in many
stores, but how they are prevented
from even going into them.
1 he story ofCynthia Wiggins and
the No. 6 bus shows that racism does
impact business decisions in this na­
tions. The mall owners allowed their
racism to keep black and poor shop­
pers from coming to their mall, even
at the expense o f losing the business
o f these shoppers. Even wealthy and
middle class African Americans have
experienced the racism o f store own­
ers who have followed them around
the store, assuming they w ill steal
something. But this mall, and others,
like the Georgia mall that prohibited
young African American men from
b e tter
shopping there, took it one step fur­
ther. They didn’t want the people
from the inner c ity even to enter there
mall.
Their racism had another impact
as well It also made it d ifficu lt, i f not
impossible, for black and poor w ork­
ers to get and keep jobs at the mall.
Cynth ia Wiggins had wanted to work
in a neighborhood M cDonald’s ac­
cording to her friends. When they
weren’t hiring, she was forced to
leave her neighborhood to look for
work. Upon obtaining a job, she was
then forced to cross that highway to
get to work.
The story o f Cynthia Wiggins re­
minds us that racism not only dis­
criminates against people, bu, that
racism kills. What about your subur­
ban malls” So they allow inner-city
busses to stop on their premises? Are
they making decisions about poor
people o fc o lo r that are racist? Why
don’t you ask them and find out?
TNie
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
? e r s p e c tiv e s
What To Do For An Encore: Reinvent
McKinley? Change Routines?
*JI
O '
n the heyday of vaude-
vide when trav ellin g
performers with varying
cans -- particularly the ones that
have created trillions o f dollars in f
wealth for ‘others’ . And, o f course,
add a little luster - so many o f these
inventions have been important to j
degree of talen t were making
the theatre circuit around Amer­
ica (and Europe), one of the
our health and safety.”
most famous and colorful sites
But, back to the substance o f this
was th e A pollo T h e a tre in
article, what to do for an encore?
Harlem.
Reprise some good
S in g e r s ,
performances for a
dancers, come­
21 st century stage? I
By
dians, mimes,
Some p la y s /p ro -|
Professor
stars and hams
ductions are desper­
Mcklnley
dared the stage
a te ly needed sol
Burt
and that inevi­
many o f our youth
table
hook
are dying in mean
which would pull you back into the
streets because they don ’ t know who
wings i f the "toughest-audience-in-
they are; that they are our engineers, [
show-business” went thumbs down.
scientists, scholars and physicians ■
Red Fox, an old schoolmate ofm ine
- and there are mean people who
from St. Louis used to tell me some
don’t want them to know, and are
harrowing tales about the circuit.
determined that they shall not re-J
Had I know them, so could have
gain their identity.
George Bums, Jack Benny, Butter
I have contemplated a number o f J
Beans & Susie, Moms Mabely,
possible vehicles, keeping in mind
Sammy Davis Junior, et al.
that one must be motivated and in­
Lately, I ' ve been thinking in terms
spired to learn - to read, to count, to I
o f“ where do I go from here? Should
identify with success and the success­
1 trot out some old routines and pol ish
ful. Every nook and cranny o f my
them up? Go for new stages-new
office and den is a tangle o f files and
audiences-rewrite the script for the
papers as I narrow the search and
21st century-get new agents-what?
selection forexperience-proven mod­
More math, science, inventors, edu-
els. A choice o f the right plays for the
cation-orgo for new librettos play­
fright stage and for the right theatre - (
books and scores. I ’m also remem­
- where that minority youth can com­
bering that long ago the street per­
fortably project himself as a protago­
formers o f North Africa crossed the
nist, a competitor i f you will.
Mediterranean, these Moors becom­
1 haveagoodfeelingabout several
ing the “ Jongleurs” o f Italy-Prede-
mode is which could be launched this
cessors to the "opera."
spring or fall. The current disasters
A ll of this extra-heavy mental
besieging the Portland Education
effort was prompted by an over-
District would rather seem to dis­
long introduction to a recent lun­
suade one from a cooperative enter­
cheon speech I gave before a west
prise with those folks. And then, too,
side business group. I thought the
in the case o f my “ Mathematics/1
guy never would shut up as he con­
Communications/Computer” mod­
tinued the litany -- “ been there!
el which the district turned down 25 j
done that!. I began to sense the
years ago after its national award
audience eyeing me w arily - “ real­
success in The Dalles, Oregon -
ly? but what has he done lately? the
why would one suppose that their I
Tualatin River is pretty high out
vision has improved that much after
there, perhaps he could jus, stroll
reading some o f their commentary [
across to put things in perspective.”
on how the internet and World-1
Now, this kind o f back lighting
Wide Web would be sued.
for one’s stage usually results from
I had moved beyond that level 30
an ignorance (real or pretended) o f
years ago, using A T & T , Western
the fantastic accomplishments o f
Electric and IBM equipment but as I
black men and women in the arts
in the case o f the black inventors,
and sciences, whether chained or
“ they” pretend not to know. How­
unchained (partially). As a matter
ever, this time, the Japanese and the
o f course, I always begin my pre­
Australians want to know and we I
sentations with a distribution o f
may be able to provide a very sue-1
cessful play for acquainting our|
patent office photostats o f the key
patents granted to African Am eri-
youth with their true identity.
f
I
2The ^ortlanb (Observer
(USPS 959-680)
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