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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1997)
OCT. 8, 1997 ---------- (Elie P o r t Lattò <W«Bcrtw------------ m Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily Reflect Or Represent The Views Of i | ------------------- / (T ljc P o r t l a n d f f i b s e r n c r r s p e c t i ve s Attention Readers! Please take a minute 1« send us your comments. We’re always trying to give you a better paper and we can't do it without your help. Tell us what you like and what needs improvement... any suggestions are welcomed and appreci ated. We take criticism well! Get your powerful pens out NOW and address your letters to: Editor, Reader RcsH^ns v. 31J7if«trUandi OR 97208. (Tlie | l n r t lattò (!¡)liscruer in P rof : M< K im lx B i ili (LSI’S 959-68») Established in 1970 Charles Washington Publisher & Editor Mark Washington D istribution Manager Gary Ann Taylor Business Manager Larry J. Jackson, Sr. Director o f Operation Gregory Benton Graphic Design Mike Leighton Copy Editor ( ontributing Writers: Professor McKinley Burl. 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State: Zip-Code: T hank Y ou F or R eading T he I’ ok i land O bserver /M /M B 0IP P U $H C O A L IT IO N T a lk in g T h e T alk To Be O r Not To Be: A Black Dichotomy white, leftist multiculuralism crusade. t w ould seem from reader re Others have said, “we blacks were sponse that the last two ar becoming irrelevant and insignifi licles have reflected a basic dichotomy or split in the mind-set o cant f ciphers in a fuzzy, murky pool of America’s societally disabled—need many African Americans in a vigor ing Affirmative A ction.” ous effort to reassert a threatened C lau d e A n d e rso n , a u th o r o f identity or spirituality. “Black Labor, W hite W ealth’’ put it And that being the case, the ap very well; “It’s not diversity, black parent delinkage between the ap people need, its inclusion. However, proaches or attitudes o f two major inclusion in a gung ho capitalist so groups has been described in no ciety must necessarily be based on uncertain term s. There was the com an economic development process mentary o f the black teenager who where the excluded group practices echoed the opinion o f a parent re its won inclusion of ' all ’ members, all garding the Million Man M arch’, “ .. .a skills. million black men could have as An “Internal Affirmative Action”, sessed themselves $100 each and if you will. s ta rte d so m e g re a t e c o n o m ic A process that would include projects.” those with real-time, experienced- And at the other end o f the spec based talents in industry and the trum we had those who planned a marketplace - not just the philoso spiritual excursion; “ ...it was more pher kings, planners, novelists and like my identity was threatened...for politicians at the top o f the pyramid. a moment I had to get away from this I African American real estate venture that was described here at least a decade ago. This model is too important and too relevant to the contemporary scene for a hasty compression at the end o f this article. Next week I will shed this very revealing light on the incapacitating d ichotom y that b e se ig e s us; opportunity’s bruised knuckles. Interestingly, while writing this piece, a caller wanted to know if 1 was “aware that the white folks are hav ing their own Million Man March on the Capital Mall .’ And their women are also fussing at being left out.” The man went on to cite that basic African American belief, that since the Pyram ids, the U niversity o f Timbuctu, whatever-first the black pioneers, then here comes the Euro pean right behind’ (remember the “Chrisy M instrels”). (C ont'd next week.) Civil Rightsjournal Remembering The Little Rock Nine By y Bernice lieriin Powell Jackson lor young people 40 years ago may be history, but f o irJL r T . s some o f us it seems like yesterday, or at least yesteryear. In the news these days is the reminder that it was only 40 years ago that a governor defied the federal govern ment in a m uch-publicized event in the civil rights movement. It was all about the right o f black children to attend public school - the same pub lic schools that whites attended, instead o f the inferior, segregated ones they had attended for genera tions. The place was Little Rock, A r kansas, the home state o f President Clinton and newspapers and televi sions carried pictures o f the Gover nor standing in the doorway ofCen- tral High and defying the court- ordered desegregation o f Central High. It was only when President E isenhow er ordered in federal troops that the nine black students, dubbed the Little Rock Nine, were able to enter the building. Escorted by members o f the 101 Airborne, the nine teenagers braved mobs spitting on them, shouting epithets and threatening them and their families. Most o f us can hardly imagine how frightening, how dis gusting, how exhausting it must have been for those nine children. One recalled never once having F gone to the bathroom at school since the solders couldn’t go in with her for protection. One remembers her dress so wet with spit that she could wring it out. Another recalls the FBI asking her parents for permission to finger print her so that they could identify her body when it was found. Several still are uncomfortable in crowds and at least one admits to spending thou sands o f dollars in therapy. Miraculously, the Little Rock Nine members survived and even flour ished after their frightening experi ence. They include an accountant, a social worker, a real estate salesper son, a clinical psychologist, a teacher, ajoum alist and an investment banker. But only one remains in Little Rock; two no longer even live in the U.S. The lessons o f the case o f the Little Rock Nine could be many, ifthe city o f Little Rock and if our nation chooses to learn them. Clearly, the case proved that the federal govern ment did have the authority and the right to make sure that constitutional rights overrode so-called “states rights.” Indeed, the term “states’ rights is a code word even today for African Americans, who remember the use o f it during the Little Rock Nine case and therefore many o f us are distrustful o f recent moves by states to take control o f welfare. But what have we learned about t was a great week for speeches, ering in Pittsburgh: “American workers find them and Reverend Jackson rose to selves in a box today, a box with four the occasion 3 times in only 6 solid sides carefully constructed by days, at m ajor conventions. On Sat the apologists for unrestrained capi urday, 9/20, Jesse had the Teamsters tal. fired up and on their feet. “One side o f the box is corporate “When we stood together on those strategies to oppress workers-to roll picket lines, we were not merely Black/ I can now write that early evidence B y H ugh B. P rice back safety standards, hold down W hite/Brown/Yellow/Red, male or indicates Texaco is en route to be P resident female, gay or straight, disabled. We wages, weaken labor law, downsize, coming a better, stronger company. N ational U rban L eague were working people, standing strong outsource, and in many cases, simply Notice what I have said here: a ast November Texaco, Inc., against corporate greed . . .This land is to win organizing battles by breaking better, stronger company. For the the n atio n ’s fourteenth- the law. our land. evidence, now being marshalled at jargest company, drew a nother side o f the box is “Teamsters, when you won, we all Texaco, and already proven else sharp blast from African Americans the Fed-the Federal Re won. Teamsters, when you won, the where, shows that the allegiance to and others, damaging coverage from serve Board, which makes Reagan Era really ended. Teamsters, equal opportunity is good for busi the m ed ia- and a significantly nega it very clear that if wages begin to rise, when you won, the new activist labor ness. it will restrain growth by raising inter tive reaction from investors-when it movement won. It’s good for business because it est rates. Our current national pros became apparent that, despite its pub “The great gap in America today is opens up the avenues o f advance perity isbeing subsidizedby working lic statements, equal opportunity was not so m uch a horizontal gap be ment within a company to new talent, families... not a reality there. tween men and women, nor between which enhances its internal strength. “The third side o f the box is public The now-infamous Texaco Tapes the races, though those gaps are wide. And it’s good for business because disinvestment, the systematic loot broke open the racial discrimination The great gap—indeed, the grand it enables the company to more skill ing o f our children’s futures... lawsuit that several of its African- Canyon o f American life at the end o f fully pursue customers across the “The final side o f the box is inter American employees had been pursu the 20th century-is the vertical gap breadth o f the consumer marketplace. national trade policy, on which we are ing against the company, prompting between wealth and workers, between That is illustrated by the docu the company to quickly settle the case rich and poor, the canyon between about to engage in a major public ment Texaco produced this summer: policy battle, to slow down the fast before it went to trail. haves and have-nots. Equal Opportunity and Diversity at track... We fight for trade agreements In its wake, Peter I. Bijur, Texaco’s “For the wealthy, the roofhas been Texaco: 1997 Report. that protect environmental standards. chairman and chief executive officer, removed...For the poor, the floor has This 29-page document is loaded We fight to lift workers up in other who had vigorously condemned the collapsed.. .For the working family and with charts and graphs about the countries, not bring our workers down blighted attitudes that led to the suit, the middle class, there is an anxious, Texaco workforce, details on what “The only way to break out o f their pledged to change Texaco’s corpo sinking feeling, with stagnant wages, cunent programs have accomplished, box is to fight back to knock down the rate culture for the better. stuck in a house with no floor and no and specific pledges that the company walls. T hat’s what the Teamsters fight I wrote back then that “the evi roof." intends to honor within five years. dence indicates that he has a great On Thursday, 9/25, Rev. Jackson was all about-knocking down their For example, Texaco states that in restraining walls.” deal o f work to do there.” closed out the annual AFL-CIO gath- I Many o f the marchers attributed much o f the loss o f identity and their spiritual angst to lack o f cooperation at the community, or even the neigh borhood level. Last week I put it that “blacks have becom e as celebrity-obsessed as whites”, an ill omen for a people whose cultural and economic integrity is so threatened. There was some very in teresting and valuable commentary in the book, “Million Man March/ Day o f Absence: A Commemorative Anthology,” Third World Press, 1996, edited by Haki R. Madhubuti: and Maulana Karenga (Jesse Jackson, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Conrad West and others). Addressing that economic scene which the black teenager described and putting it in relationship to the other side o f the dichotomy just dis cussed; I think our case is best illus trated by a failed W ashington, D.C. that question. Indeed, what might schools and integration? In most large have happened if white children cities students o f color attend schools walked next to the black children? which have few white students. Mean What would have happened if white while, the Supreme Court has been clergy had walked next to the black overturning desegregation orders , children? W hat would have hap and has ruled that suburban school pened if white mothers and fathers districts cannot be forced to accept had been at their sides? urban students as a means o f re Finally, what have we learned dressing segregation. about the toll taken on those who Terrie Roberts, one o f the Little dare to challenge racism, to be on Rock N ine comments,” it ’ s not about the front lines? Young people were separating or integrating; it’s about often in the forefront o f the civil trying to find a formula that’s going rights m ovem ent - at the lunch to supply black children with what counters, on the Freedom Ride bus they need to succeed in society .” He ses, in desegregated schools. Many also recalls that their hope was that o f them, like that member o f the when whites saw that not all blacks Little Rock Nine, have needed ex carried weapons and that they were tensive psychological treatment; real human beings that they would many others have needed long accept the black students. “ But after term medical care for damaged kid they knew us, they still didn’t like neys, crushed skulls and other in us,” he said. juries. And what have we learned about The Little Rock Nine believe their how we must all actively participate parents’ bravery and determination in ending racism? In a recent CBS have never been recognized either. Sunday Morning interview, a white At least one family had their house citizen o f Little Rock, who was a bombed and one father lost his job. student during the time o f the Little Have we ever really acknowledged Rock Nine, commented, that most the sacrifices these heroes and people believe that the near-riots sheroes made for all o f us? As we which accompanied the desegrega carry on this national conversation tion were the actions o f a small minor on race, the Little Rock Nine case ity o f the people. He was then asked has lots o f lessons for us. We just by the reporter, “Well, why didn’t have to ask the right question to the majority speak out and say this learn them was w rong?” He had no answer to To Be Equal: Report on Texaco A t L “striving to achieve business goals, not meet inflexible quotas,” it expects its workforce to increase from nearly 20,000 to more than 22,000 in three years. O f that number, it forecasts that women employees will increase to 35 percent o f the workforce, up from the cunent 32 percent, and that A frican-A m erican and Hispanic- American employees will increase from 9 to 13 percent and from 8 to 10 percent, respectively. Overall, Texaco said that women and people o f color would comprise 29 percent o f the company, up from 22 percent now. The report also names more than a score of internal and external programs the company now sponsors or sup ports and ones it will establish to open up the corporate ladder within the com pany and open wider the pathways into the company from the outside. They range from internal mentoring programs to improve employees’ op portunities for advancement to schol arship and internship programs to en courage African-American, Hispanic- American and Native-Amencan high school seniorsentering college to major in such fields as the physical sciences and engineering. In addition, Texaco promises that within five years it will be doing more than $ 1 billion worth ofbusiness with women- and minority-owned compa nies and professionals in engineer ing and construction firms, and law, advertising, accounting, and govern ment and public relations firms. It said it has already increased the number o f women- and minority- owned banks with which it does busi ness from 21 to 50 and that it will expand its use o f other banking services and money-management activities with women- and minority owned financial firms. And it intends to double the number o f minority- and women- ownedwholesalermarketersfrom43 to 85,11 percent o f its network, by 2002. O f course, Texaco still has a long way to go to reach its goals. To its credit, the company has embarked upon the journey, one that other cor porations should follow- for its report on diversity at Texaco demonstrates that equal opportunity is sound busi ness.
