•(f
sisä
ÄSSÄ
$ , ' ** J s t
P age A4
■s
O ctober
15, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver
Editorial articles do not necessarily
reflect or represent the views o f
(The JJnrtlaxth © bseruer
Attention Readers!
Please take a minute to send us your comments. W e’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 improvem ent., any suggestions are welcomed and appreci
ated. We take criticism well! Get your powerful pens out NOW and address
your letters to: Editor, Reader Response. P.O, Box 3137, Portland. OR 97208,
tLlic |J.îortlanô (©becruer
(LISPS 959-68«) Established in 197«
C harles W ashington
P ublish er & E ditor
M ark W ashington
D istribution M an ager
G ary A nn T aylor
B usiness M an ager
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
D irecto r o f O peration
Iesha W illiam s
G raphic D esign
M ichael J. L eighton
C opy E ditor
C on tribu tin g W riters:
P rofessor M cK inley Burt,
Lee Perlman,
N eilH eilpem
4747 NE M artin L u ther K ing, Jr. B lvd.,
P ortland, O regon 97211
503-288-0033 • Fax 503-288-0015
Em ail: P d xob serv@ aol.com
Deadline fo r all submitted materials:
Articles:Friday, 5:00 pm Ads: Monday, 12:00pm
P O ST M A ST E R : Send A dd ress C hanges To: P ortland O bserver,
P.O . Box 3137, P ortland, OR 97208.
P eriodicals postage p a id a t Portland, Oregon.
Subscriptions: $30.00 p e r yea r
The Portland O bserver w elcom es freelance subm issions. M anu
scripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned
if accom panied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display
ads becom e the sole property o f the new spaper and cannot be used in
other publications or personal usage w ithout the w ritten consent o f the
general m anager, unless the client has purchased the com position of
such ad © 1996 TH E P O R T L A N D O B SE R V E R . A L L R IG H TS
R ESER V ED , R E P R O D U C T IO N IN W H O L E O R IN P A R T W IT H
O U T PER M ISSIO N IS P R O H IB IT E D .
The Portland O bserver—O re g o n ’s O ldest M ulticultural P ublica
tion—is a m em ber o f the N ational N ew spaper A sso ciatio n —F ounded in
1885, and The N ational A dvertising R epresentative A m algam ated
Publishers, Inc, N ew Y ork, N Y , and The W est C oast Black Publishers
A ssociation • S erving Portland and V ancouver.
S ubscribe to
Portland (©bsrrurr
The Portland Observer can be sent directly to your home for only $30.00
per year. Please fill out, enclose check or money order, and mail to:
S ubscriptions
T he P ortland O bserver ; PO Box 3137
P ortland , O regon 97208
Name:
I A ddress:____________________________________________________________
C ity, S ta te :_________________________________________________________
Z ip - C o d e :_____________________________________________
T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver
This Way For Black
Empowerment
B y 1) r . L eonora F ui . ani
D em ocracy G ets A nother C hance
As readers o f this colum n know ,
over years I'v e aggressively lobbied
C ongress for legislation that w ould
open up our political process to new
parties, new voices and new ideas.
F airelectionsm ust b ea ce n tral part o f
any Black agenda and over the years
m em bers o f the C ongressional Black
C aucus have been in the forefront o f
supporting this type o f legislative
reform.
Last w eek. Congressm an Ron Paul
(R -TX ), re-introduces tw o fair e lec
tion bills into C ongress that I have a
long history o f supporting.
file first bill is the voter Freedom
Act o f 1997. IT R 2477 D rafted
initially o ff o f the lessons learned
from a 1984 effort I undertook with my
colleagues to place an independent
presidential candidate on the ballot
nationally the bill w as originally in
troduced m 1985 by John C onyers
(D -M I). In its present form the bill
retains its objective to m ake stru c
tural reform s to the ballot access pro
cess w hich has been so m anipulated
by the m ajor parties in their self-serv
ing effort to m onopolize political
pow er and influence
Basically, the bill w ould say fair
and uniform ballot access standards
in federal elections sand prevent
states from erecting excessive ballot
access barriers such as currently ex
ist For exam ple, right states and 1X7.
This is 28 tim es the num ber needed
by a D em ocratic party candidate and
13 tim es the num ber needed by a
Republican Presently 32 states re
quire no signatures o f D em ocrats or
Republicans w hile only 3 states re
quire no signatures o f independents.
M inor party candidates m ust also
meet discrim inatory filing fees, filing
fees, tiling deadlines, and restrictions
on w ho can sign the petition that are
not required o f the m ajor parties.
In his press release announcing
the introduction o f the bills. C on
gressm an Paul, a form er L ibertarian
candidate for President and now a
R epublican, states, “ The tw o m ajor
parties love their hold on the system
because itkeepsthem in power. While
it is unconstitutional for the federal
governm ent to tell states w hat re
quirem ents they should have or can
didates seeking state and local o f
fices, it is the jo b o f congress to
ensure the federal elections are fair,
open and, above all, representative
o f the great diversity o f opinion in our
nation ”
The second bill, the D ebate Free
dom A ct o f 1997. H. R. 2478. was
initially sponsored and cham pioned
by form er C ongressm an Tim Penny
(D -M N )in th e 101 sta n d 1 0 2 ndC on
gress (1989-93). D eveloped origi
nally in collaboration with C ongress
man Penny and draw ing heav ily from
the experience o f my exclusion from
the 1988 presidential debates and
subsequent law suits, it provides its
current form, that m ajor party presi
dential candidates m ust debate each
other and any other presidential can
didate wish to receive general elec
tion public financing.
C ongressm an Paul is also co n sid
ering adding a second debates bill
directed at the legal status o f debate
sponsors. In it. the debate sponsor
m ust inviteall legally qualified presi
dential candidates w ho are eligible to
receive general election presidential
cam paign funding and are on the
ballot in 40 states. O therw ise, the
debate w ou Id be considered a co rp o
rate cam paign contribution to can d i
dates.
To Be Equal
L o h e s i/
by H ugh B. P rice P resident
N ational U rban L eague
em pow er the w ords w ith real m ean
ast June, President Clinton
ing.
u rged our nation to lay the
For one thing, the President can
groundw ork for becom ing
w hat he calls “O ne A m erica react
in the sw iftly to the dism aying an
nouncem ent last w eek by G ilbert
21 st C en tu ry ” by confronting its lin
C a se lla s.c h a irm a n o fth e U .S . Equal
g ering tensions o ver race.
E m ploym ent O pportunity C o m m is
A m erican m ust heed his advice.
sion, that h e ’ll resign at the end o f the
W e all have an enorm ous stake in that
year.
effo rt becau se our racial difficulties
C asellas is w idely adm ired in the
und erm in e our m any strengths.
civil rights com m unity for trying to
O n a m oral level, A m erica c a n ’t
effectively lead an agency burdened
preach hum an rights to other nations
w ith a huge caseload and a too-sm all
w hen racial injustice continues to
budget. H is ow n assessm ent-that the
fester in o u r ow n. O n a pragm atic
agency “ could do a lot better if we
level, w e w o n ’t be prepared to com
had m ore m oney, m ore people, m ore
pete in the global m arketplace if the
support”— o ught to galvanize the
dynam ics o f race and ethnicity co n
W hite H ouse to take the action nec
tinue to d eny m illions o f people a
essary to elim inate its a backlog o f
first-rate education.
80,000 cases and enable it to stay
T h e U rban L eague has acted to
current w ith its caseload from now
pro m o te racial harm ony and inclu
on.
sion for nearly a century; and w e ’ve
Secondly, C linton and the task
recently jo in e d w ith the N ational
force m ust continue to rem ind the
C o n f e r e n c e , A n ti- D e f a m a tio n
nation that by the m iddle o f the next
League, N ational Council o f La Raza
century, h a lf the population w ill be
and L eadership E ducation for A sian
people o f color. T hat reality u n d er
P acific’s in the N ational V oices co a
scores how im portant prom oting in
lition to m ore effectively do that.
clusion and equal opportunity is.
W e salute the P resident and the
A m erica’s econom ic and civic v i
early steps his task force o f distin
tality will increasingly be dependent
g u ish ed citizens has taken.
on nonw hite w orkers, entrepreneurs,
But, to be blunt, we w orry that the
taxpayers and custom ers. The b etter
Initiative is too long on dialogue and
educated this grow ing segm ent o f
to o sh o rt on action. T alk is not
the A m erican population is, the m ore
enough. N ow is the tim e for actions to
robust our econom y, the m ore har-
speak louder than w ords— in order to
L
p e r
v s e p s e
m onious our society and the m ore
secure the entire population will be.
C ourt decisions and state ballot
initiatives m ay alter som e o f the tools
and m echanism s used to reach that
goal. But the P resid en t’s Initiative
should keep the n atio n ’s eye on the
prize o f inclusion— in the n eighbor
hoods w e live in, the schools and
colleges we attend, in com panies we
w ork for or ow n— even if the m echa
nism s used to achieve it have to
evolve.
T he President can drive that point
hom e by inviting corporate C E O ’s,
C ham ber o f C om m erce leaders, and
university presidents to high-profile
m eetings to affirm their com m itm ents
to inclusion. Sim ilar sum m its involv
ing grass roots organizations like the
U rban League and our partners in
N ational V oices and other com m u
nity and religious institutions could
be held sim ultaneously all across the
county to shore up the national co m
m itm ent to inclusion.
The P resid en t’s Initiative m ust
also squarely confront the festering
issue o f police m isconduct and b ru
tality tow ard m inority civilians. The
1996 killing o f Johnny G am m age by
w hite police officers outside Pitts
burgh, the vicious assault on Rodney
King and, m ost recently, the barbaric
attack on A bner Louim a are ju st the
m ost notorious o f a w idespread pat-
c
t
tern o f law enforcem ent tactics that
often ensnare civilians w h o 'v e done
little or nothing wrong.
O f course, we m ust catch and p u n
ish crim inals and m aintain order by
enforcing “quality-of-life” laws. But
treating trivial offenders and true in
nocents like hardened crim inals is
dangerously counterproductive. If
th e re’s one lesson A m erica should
have learned by now , it’s that race
relations w o n ’t im prove until there is
peace betw een police and the m inor
ity civilians they are sw orn to serve.
T he President and the Task Force
should sum m on governors, m ayors,
and state and local police chiefs in
order to focus public attention on the
urgent need for reform. Clinton should
insist that the Justice D epartm ent
investigate and prosecute any p at
terns o f abuse found in police d ep art
m ents. Finally, he should instruct the
US. Solicitor G eneral to urge the
courts to scale back the runaw ay
discretion that has encouraged this
abuse o f pow er.
T h ese are ju s t som e o f the tests
the P re sid en t an d the task fo rce
m u st p ass i f th eir w o rk is to ex ten d
the A m eric an D ream to all A m e ri
cans. O n ly then w ill the co u n try
e m b o d y th e s lo g a n o f th e
P r e s id e n t’s I n itia tiv e o n R ace:
“One America in the 21st
Century.”
i
Is It Too late To Rebuild?
thing ‘w e ’ d o .’ On com m on v iew
point I’ve heard is that "n eith er group
is looking for renewal within the insti
tutional ch u rch .” A m anifest A m eri
can failure?
his past m onth seem s to
But speaking o f p ro m ises' I did
h av e h o sted a se ries o f
say I w ould present am odel o fa failed
com m ents, ec h o es and re
A frican A m erican attem pt to develop
flections am ong our re a d e rsh ju
ip st
-re that
-
type o f econom ic venture
actions to that earlier assessm ent o f
which many thought the ‘Million Man
the “ M illion M an M arch." T h e y ’ve
M arch should have been about.
been econom ic and social.
In the w inter o f 1970 I spent a
N eedless to say, readers have been
m onth in W ashington D.C. p resen t
equally absorbed in critiq u in g the
ing a series o f sem inars at H ow ard
“copycat march o fth e w hite folks” as
U niversity and com m unity institu
they have term ed it. T he reference, o f
tions (in clu d in g several churches).
course, w as to the “ P rom ise K eep
The subject w as Black Inventors o f
ers" w hose equally em o tio n al and
A m erica and the heretofore hidden
highly-publicized ren d ezv o u s at the
co n tributions and abilities o f A frican
C apitol Mall w as as great in rhetoric
A m erican s d isco v ered d u rin g re
if not in num bers.
search for my book o f that title.
We heard the usual o u trag ed cries
W hat w as so am azing, and initially
that ‘beginning with the G reek s and
gratify ing, w as the spirited conver-
continuing through the ages from the
sations and speculations that d ev el
black inventors to the "C hristy M in
oped after speeches. T here w ere the
strels" and the Jazz A ge, w hite folks
invitations to address black b asso o n
have im itated or taken o v er every
ist an d so cial g ro u p s, situ a tio n s
T
w here consistently there w as ex
pressed a com m on upbeat them e.
" W e ’ve done it before and we can do
it ag a in .’”
It sounded good and the enthusi
asm w as infectious. I pointed out to
one particular group, prim arily m a
ture men and w om en w ho were real
estate brokers or directly and indi
rectly involved in property dev elo p
m ent. H aving not that long ago had
direct accounting and tax court ex p e
rience in the operation at Los A nge
les Real Estate Investm ent Trusts
(R E IT S), I had an im m ed ia te‘to u ro f
o p p o rtu n ity ’ on w hich to take this
g ro u p ’.
Prow ling around tow n in a rented
car, m y usual discovery technique in
each m ajor city on my book tour, I
found several blocks o f tw o and three
story- stone apartm ent buildings (3
and 4 room ). They w ere structurally
sound but the slum -lord had not m ain
tained tenant am enities or decor and
H ousing and Urban D evelopm ent
(H U D ) w as foreclosing and all was to
go up for auction.
As an investm ent, the location
w as ideal; only a few blocks from
Pennsylvania A venue and its miles
o f federal office buildings where both
low and high level governm ent em
ployees worked. Even then, 25 years
ago, you were talking about refur
bished apartm ents that w ould bring
$500 a room from federal executives
($1,500 today).
Seeingall these smart, sophisticated
blacks from their focus groups, the
law yers draw up papers o f incorpora
tion and explore financing modes, I
was certain I had inspired a modern
day reprise o f Port land ’ s pre-war bui Id-
ing phase ofblack pu I Iman porters. But
not to be; the spirit o f cooperation, the
high-flying plans and objectives dis
integrated within 30 days. As I re
marked several months ago in “Build
ing N eighborhood C apital,” there has
to be an experienced-based founda
tion to these grandiose concepts-so-
cial and spiritual structure.
C oncluded next week
C ivil R ig h ts J o u rn a l
Tears For Nigeria
B y B ernice P dwei . l J ackson
1993, the relationshipbetween the United
met W alter Carrington two
States and Nigeria has been troubled.
decades or so ago. I rem em
Indeed, he was in the country less than
ber being impressed here was
two weeks whe n tlie mill tary. led by Gen
an African American deeply com mit
eral Abacha, tixik over the government in
ted to Africa, a scholar, a Peace Corps
a coup. Shortly before he arrived, the
veteran, a warm and gentle brother,
military had annulled the derm viatic elec
who was determined to make a differ
tions and jailed President-elect Abiola.
ence in our nation's Africa policy.
He remains imprisoned and last year his
So, many o f us were especially proud
wife was murdered execution-style on a
and deeply moved when he was ap
Lagos street. The Nigerian government
pointed A m bassador to Senegal by
described her murder as a robbery at
President Carter in 1980 and were
tempt
again pleased when he was appointed
Indeed, thousands o f Nigerian hu
A m bassador to Nigeria by President
man rights and dem ocracy leaders re
Clinton How ironic that such as the
main imprisoned. Nobel laureate Wole
object of harassment by the govern
Soyinka, w ho has repeatedly d e
ment o f A frica’s most populous na
nounced the Abacha military govern
tion. Itdoes not bode well forNigeria
ment, faces the charge o f treason
or for human rights.
should he return to his hom eland and
It seems that in his final days in
environm entalist and poet Ken Saro-
Nigeria, as Nigerian pro-democracy
W iwa and eight other Ogoni leaders
and human right groups held a fare
who dared to oppose the governm ent
well reception for the American A m
were executed in 1995 despite world
bassador, heavily-armed Nigerian
wide pleas for clemency.
state security officials burst into the
Despite promises o f a return to de
room, threatening to shoot the speak
mocracy, N igeria's I lOmillionpeople
ers and ordering everyone to leave.
are still denied their basic human right
Mr. Carrington called this latest In a
to vote. The constitution rem ains sus
series of desperate acts by an out-of
pended, opposition political panics
control government the "m ost surre
are banned, the free press is shackled
alistic experience I have had here
and freedom o f assembly is denied.
And while the military government
yet."
From the earliest days o f Mr.
prom ises a transition to dem ocracy,
Carrington’s appointment to Lagos in
there is little evidence that they are
I
willing to give up their rule. “They
cannot explain why an elected Presi
dent enters his third year in prison
without a trial when hisonly crime was
to win a free and fair election,” said
Jennifer Davis, Executive D irector of
the A frica Fund, recently.
Incredibly, and despite this long list
of human rights violations, the Abacha
military government has blamed A m
bassador Carrigton for the troubled
Lagos-W ashington relationship. They
have charged him with being a part of
a “corrupt African American elite" that
publicly criticizes Nigeria in the secret
hope that the Nigerian government
will offer them money to keep quiet.
They even have said they wanted to
question the A m bassador and several
em bassy staff about several bom b
ings w hich have taken place.
And after the United States govern
ment filed a strong protest about the
armed break-up of the A m bassador’s
reception, instead of an apology, a
N ig e ria n g o v e rn m e n t m in is te r
launched an attack once again on the
Ambassador, describing his tenure as
four years of waste in which nothing of
value was accom plished Only in the
last few days has the Nigerian govern
ment offered a tepid apology for its
inexcusable actions
The government of General Abacha
has made it clear that it has no intention
of changing its policies. As one of the
worlds’ largest oil prixlucers. Nigeria
and it’s overseas oil partners, earn bil
lions of dollars selling oil to the U S.
while Nigerians at home cannot buy
gasoline for their own cars and 40 per
cent of its people of its people face
malnutrition. The government lias made
no gixxl-faith efforts — it has released
no political prisoners and has only set
up a sham political process transparent
to all who are watching critically.
This last attack on an United States
Ambassador should be the final straw
for our nation. Congress is facing a bill
sponsored by Representative Donald
Payne which would bar new American
investment in Nigeria and link resuming
those investments with the release of
political prisoners, real political elec
tions and free speech and assembly
rights. With the increasingly despera
tion of the Abacha regime, the only
question we might ask isdoes the bill go
far enough fas, enough.
In the w ords o f A m b assad o r
Carrington, “as a black American,
this deeply saddens me. This is a
place that should be one o f the lead
ing countries in the world But until
they are able ,o resolve the problem of
allowing the people to choose their
leaders demiKratically, I am afraid
they are not going to be able to realize
this potential.”