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P age A 2 F hi P ortland O bserver ihhi l s'' / Chou tn-Lai was once asked what the impact of the American Revolution had been upon histo ry, he replied: “It's to early to tell," We should keep tha' thought in mind as we approach the publication o f Marshall Frady’ s biography of Jesse Jackson. Jesse’s only 54. Alm ost a full score years younger than Bob Dole, the Republican nominee for Presi dent A full four decades younger than Strom Thurmond, again run ning for the U.S. Senate. And still younger than Ronald Reagan was when he was first elected governor o fC a lifo m ia back in 1966. The final chapter o f this book has not yet been written. Neverthless, JaxFax would like to congratulate Marshall Frady for the spirit o f respect with which her approached this complicated task. JaxFax had our disagreements with parts o f Frady’s Frontline television show this w eek-w e found the pop psychology ending weak and out-of place (why not end the show with the victory o f Jesse Jackson, Jr., to C o n gress, the clearest possible public validation o f the Jackson fam ily’s years o f service?); we noticed a few factual errors; and we disagreed with some o f the interpretations voiced on the show. But Frady seems to have told a story that needed to be told, and with \ ' I i r » J «U 1 J..! - 1 x C O A L IT IO N Pilgrimage: Part I a true sense that the life o f Jesse L. Jackson is a real American story. He has filled in some missing history for the younger generation, and rem ind- ed the rest o f us o f our own journey these past 36 years. Among other truths, Frady il luminated: • The fact that Jesse and Jackie Jack- son were activists from college on ward. • That they have raised a wonderful family, an intelligent and talented next generation o f Jacksons that w ill leave their own marks on American culture and politics. • That Jacqueline Jackson is a re markable woman o f spirit and steel, with her own fascinating story to tell. • That Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was Reverend Jackson’s true men tor. • And that Jesse L. Jackson, virtual ly alone among modern-day public figures, has remained dedicated to the original principles for which he first joined the struggle, despite the passage o f time. Frady’s own words, from the 4/ 29-5/6 New Yorker magazine, sum up this later point I: "Jackson is about the only figure remaining from the classic days o f thecivil rights movement who is still actively working at it, and, in some what the same way, he has become one o f the few remaining voices o f any force who are still unabashedly campaigning, like the Last Believer, for the old liberal conscience in American pol itics-to the point where he has come to be regarded by many as a kind o f orotund anachronism.” (Em phasis added.) What we find strange is that most pundits somehow regard this com mitment as a failure o f Jesse’s, or as some sort o f weird and inexplicable behavior. Im agin e -a public figure that for nearly 40 years has fought for the same basic set o f r principles... i......... J Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily Reflect Or Represent The Views O f The ^ o rtla n b ffibseruer What a concept! In this age o f poll- driven leaders, would the media pun dits approve o f Jackson if he were more “ flexible" in his beliefs? At the end o f an otherwise fasci nating T V documentary, Frady ap parently felt compelled to end with one o f those pop psychology ques tions that are constantly raised about Jesse Jackso n -w h y can't he stop? Our first reaction, o f course, is that he is still young, by political standards. He is younger, for in stance, than both Colin Powell and Louis Farrakhan, the two African American children growing up in poverty, this does not seem like the right question. Ina country with a higher percent age o f African Americans in ja il than under apartheid South Africa, this does not seem like the right question. In a world where the divide be tween rich and poor is growing de spite the end o f the cold War, this does not seem like the right question. Perhaps the real question should be-Jesse Jackson has never stopped marching; why has the rest o f Am er ica? How can we go on as a nation with no urban policy? With our children gunning each other down on their own streets? With our public schools in so much trouble? The answer is painfully clear-w e can’t And Jesse Louis Jackson w ill continue to say so. God is not done with ............. him . yet Civil Rights Journal: Tears For The Babies m B ernice P owei . i . J ackson hen I returned to New York last week it seemed that I was inundated with stories of children. I was inundated with stories o f abused, neglected and murdered ch il dren. I was inundated with stories o f out-of-control parents and children attempting to kill other children. So many stories in so short a time. So many tears for the children and for our people. First, there was the story o f the whole family found in a South Bronx housing project. The children were found malnourished and covered in feces. The youngest was found dead in the trash bin behind the building. Some neighbors said they heard cry ing often. Others said they didn't even know there was more than one child Then there was the story o f the mother in Queens who killed her infant with a small barbell weight when the baby cried. And the story o f the mother who threw the baby out a window. And the story o f the father who shook the infant so hard that the baby suffered brain damage. And then, a continent away, the story in California of the six year old and twin eight year olds who broke into an apartment to steal a tricycle. The thought o f little children bur glarizing is bad enough. But then, to learn that the six year old kicked and beat the one-month-old infant they found in the apartment makes you want to cry for the infant and cry for the child. There's something wrong in this nation, where children must fear their parents and must fear other children. There’s something wrong when the most vulnerable are left unprotected. There’s something wrong when fam ilies don’t protect children, when communities don’t protect children, when our nation does not protect children. There’s something wrong with this nation when we want to take federal dollars designated for child protec tion and turn them back to the states, at the same time that nearly half o f the states have had their child protec tion systems taken over because they aren’t working. There’s something wrong when month after month ch il dren are being killed by their parents and killed by other children and cit ies like New Y o rk seem to be incapa ble o f stopping the killing. We must make a better America. We must make an Am erica where every child is safe, every child is fed, every child can thrive. We must make an Am erica where child protection systems work - where families and neighbors and schools and churches and social workers and public offi cials protect children. We must all become involved -- not as mere spectators or complain- ers about bad parents or welfare or "those people.” We must get involve^ in helping to teach parents how to be parents. We must get involved in helping young, single overwhelmed mothers by providing support systems, pa renting education, job referrals and child care opportunities. We must get involved in helping to stop the drug trafficking in our communities which is tearing fami lies apart. We must address the im pact o f H I V / A ID S on families in our communities. We must help young fathers and grandparents raising chil dren. And then, we must march. On June I the Children’s Defense Fund and 2,300 other organizations are sponsoring a national march in Wash ington to enable all o f us to make a stand for our children. Called Stand for Children, this march’s hope is to m obilize hundreds o f thousands o f Americans at the Lincoln Memorial to collectively pledge themselves to work for our children -- all our ch il dren -- and to say to our legislators that we as a nation w ill not turn our backs on Am erica’s future -- our children. And then, we must march. On June I the Children’s Defense Fund and 2,300 other organizations are sponsoring a national march in Wash ington to enable all o f us to make a stand for our children. Called Stand for Children, this march’s hope is to mobilize hun dreds o f thousands o f American at the Lincoln Memorial to collectively pledge themselves to work for our children -- all our children -- and to say to our legislators that we as a nation w ill not turn our backs on Am erica’s future -- our children. Come to Washington on June 1. make a Stand for Children in your own life. And then get busy in your own community helping thechildren. Le t’s wipe our teas and roll up our sleeves. (For information call 1-800-233- 1200 or fax 202-234-0217 or e-mail: standinfor@mailback.com) p e r s p e c tiv e s What Is History,: Part II 31 ban schools confrontations between | was very surprised at black parents and racist white teach the number of readers ers and superintendents. < of last weeks article who were as equally surprised Having reached New York, on my by my closing statement - “the nation-wide book tour “(Black In ventors O f America”), I was immedi- j true history of the darker races on this planet was deliberately ately caught up in the struggle be rewritten and distorted by the tween blacks who wanted black teach real revisionists in the latter ers, principals and authentic black half of the 19th-century; In an history in the 99% black schools... and attempt to justify slavery and the vested white teachers who came I colonialism.” in each day from the bedroom sub A number (o f readers) said, "I urbs like an occupying army. Tenure or seniority was not to be achieved by I never thought o f the racism and den igration in this fashion; I just thought any other race, for the managers o f I that they’ were naturally racist and these educational plantations had the [ cruel, or at best, a natural clash-of- same iron grip on the schools and curriculum as did the absentee land-1 cultures’ was at work. You have made a logical connection that may call lords on the real estate. into question the bulk ofour efforts to I soon discovered that in New I demonize many o f our neighbors.” York as elsewhere, it was the con The same tem porary ver I readers went on sion o f colonial to chastise both ism and slavery Sy I educators and that demanded a Professor m edia ( “ they supporting pro-1 Mcklnley have access”) for cess o f justifica Burt failing to deliver tion e.g. controll on their most no and administra-| ble charge: "T o faithfully deliver tion o f cultural history. And so ob and disseminate facts and informa vious were the economic factors I tion in a truthful deliver and dis that drove the whole racist machine. seminate facts and information in a Generations o f the same families o f truthful and dispassionate manner.” white teacher had succeeded each I And I would say, that for so many other in particular black districts— who occupy the very highest places many immigrant relatives from mid- in their disciplines and professional dle-Europe. associations to play to the prejudic And the same dynastical rela es o f the vulgar crowd is a shameful tionships held (still hold) for the I I stain on a democracy. ownership o f the real estate. So it is Several readers pointed out that to be understood that much o f the | in my listing o f ‘Latter Day Saints hysteria about "history standards” O f Racism ’ as if it were, I omitted is like Plato’s observation about I the name o f the most recent recruit "shadows on the surface ofthe pond” to that repulsive tribe o f fearful (but — the real action is somewhere else. dangerous) clowns who wou Id rath Ms Lefkownitz Suggest in her hys er see a nuclear holocaust than terical book that neither the Greeks I multiculturalism (in a multicultural nor the Romans knew what they | world at that). We speak here o f were talking about when they cred Mary Lefkowitz, author o f "Not ited blacks with important contri Out O f Africa: How Affocentrism butions to the world’s culture and) Became An Excuse To Teach Myth technology — “ it was m isunderstood A s History.” in both antiquity and modem times.” It is the pseudo-educators o f this It is unfortunate that Freud and | ilk who, in the words o f one black Jung are not still around to person I columnist, would almost force one ally attend to the warped and bruised I psyches o f this psychotic tribe o f, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Newt Gingrich in denouncing “the education writers. Any doubt that j super-left wing hypocrites who have their diatribes have other than an infiltrated the education fraterni economic basis fades away when | ty.” It was twenty-five years ago we realized that these same ‘used- that I came face to face with the to-be liberals’ now lead the fight) insecurities and racist diatribes o f against affirmative action and ‘set-1 her Ivy League-educated tribe dur a-sides! ing the O ceanville-Brow nsville ur- Concluded next week. i I Wife ^ o rtia ttb (©bserver (USPS 959-680) V cm + ag e. P o in t OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION An Abusive Society Produces Abusive And Violent People Charles Washington-Publisher The PORTLAND OBSERVER is located at 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 * Fax 503-288-0015 in R on D aniels jT"! espite statistics show- 1 ing a decrease In crime over the past few years, fear and anxiety over crime re mains at the top of the agenda of most Americans. Predictably, within the American body politic, politicians o f both po litical parties continue to exploit these fears an anxieties by offering up mind less get tough on crime initiatives and laws. More prisons, tougher sentenc ing, mandatory sentences (three strikes and you’re out), no frill pris ons the réintroduction o f chain gangs, and the reinstitution o f the death pen alty have become the order o f the day. I he prison/jail industrial com plex is now a fact o f life in the U.S. as shallow, opportunistic politicians trip over themselves trying to prove whose toughest on crime T otersofCoos County have a unique opportunity to show support for your public land. Coos County Commissioners are submitting an advisory measure for guidance regarding the Co qu ille Tribe's request for 92 square miles o f prime forest land transferred from Bureau o f Land Management over sight to trust status under the Bureau of Indian Affairs fortheiruse and benefit. Tribal trust lands are exempt from The great tragedy is that though crime is down, the streets are still largely unsafe, and the amount o f violent crime is still at epidemic lev els when compared to previous peri ods in American history. For all o f the hoopla and political demagogu ery about crime, the U.S. is still the most violent and unsafe society among the world’s western, industri alized nations. A ll o f the political posturing and the huge allocation of tax payer dollars expended on crime and punishment have simply not pro duced the promised result, a safe and secure society. This is because the diagnosis and prescription is mis guided and wrong. Within the field o f psychology and psychiatry there is a theory that people who are psychologically and physically abused as children are predisposed to grow up to be abusers themselves as adults — abuse begets abuse. I believe this theory can also be applied to social systems within nations, that an abusive society w ill produce abusive and violent people. Hence, in my cause o f the epidemic of crime and violence plaguing the U.S. For example, it is a well documented fact that communities that have been hit with large lay-offs and loss ofjobs due to plant closings experience a marked increase in domestic violence, divorce and economic crimes - bur glaries, robberies etc. Am erica is an abusive society which places a priority on the profit, property and the privileges o f the rich and the super-rich over the wel fare o f the vast majority o f people o f color and poor and working people and the struggling middle class. Ne glect, abuse and violence have virtu ally become the norm in terms o f public policy and the reckless behav ior o f giant trans national corpora b e tte r 'Cfo C7/c CfCditor S en d y o u r letters to the E ditor to: Editor, PO B o x 3 1 3 7 , Portland, O R 9 7 2 0 8 most civil law, including taxation, en vironmental law, right o f appeal and fair labor laws. After fai ling to prevent the measure from going to voters, the Tribe is spend ing thousands of dollars to bait the hook o f tribal trust control This does not even consider what they are spend ing to lobby Congress Senator Hatfield, Representative DeFazio, and Governor Kitzhaber have cautioned them to enlist local support, without which these offi cials are not supporting a transfer, even though each o f them has complimented some features o f the scientific study. Unless there is a transfer, the proposal is moot. Established in 1970 tions. In the interest o f further en riching the privileged classes the masses o f people are being forced to suffer. And, this callous and blatant neglect o f the health and well being ofthe majority ofthe people is breed ing crime, violence, fear and anxiety. f he failure o f a nation to ensure food, clothing and shelter or the means to acquire them in a society which glorifies consumerism and material success is criminal. As Mar tin Luther K in g put it, “a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on mi I itary defense than on programs o f social uplift is ap proaching spiritual death.” C iv il so ciety is dying in the U.S. as a direct consequence o f the demise o f the culture o f rights and the destruction o f the social safety net for human beings that generations o f social ju s tice advocates fought for and won in this nation. Informed voters realize the seri ousness o f their choice, for they are choosing on your behalf as well as theirow n.know ingthatifthis timber land does go into trust, other groups w ill be swift to claim even more public lands for their benefit. Coos C ounty voters need to send a clear message to their Comm iss ¡oners, the Governor, and Congress, rejecting transfer o f your public lands to a sov ereign nation. Jea n M cNam ar Deadline f o r all subm itted materials: Articles:F riday, 5:00 pm Ads: M onday Noon POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes to: Portland Observer, P.O. Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208. Second C la ss postage p a id at Portland, Oregon The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be returned. If accompanied by a se lf addressed envelope. 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