J 1,1 |Jo rtlan b © bserucr
Page A 4
August 10. 2005
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Watts: Forty Years After the Riot Flames
Area witness to
blind rage and
desperation
E arl O fari H i tchinsos
by
The young National Guard
officer curtly and sternly or
dered my high school buddies
and me to keep moving down
the street. He waved his bayo
neted rifle menacingly at us as
he barked out his orders. Behind
him, a small army of white helnteted
LAPD officers and battle fatigued
dressed National Guardsman stood
tensely with their rifles poised. 1
kept a wary eye on them as we
nervously walked past the three
deep barricades that ringed the
streets around my house.
My friends and 1 were on our
way home from summer school
classes that hot August day 40
years ago. The smoke from burning
stores a few blocks away choked
our eyes and seared our lungs. In
the distance we could hear the
crackle of gunfire. The streets were
strewn with empty liquor and ciga
m ism anaged poverty programs,
rette cartons that had been hastily
slapped together to cool out the
discarded by the horde of looters
ghetto, did little to relieve the mis
that for nearly four days roamed the
ery o f the black ptxir.
streets near my house.
When Lyndon Johnson esca
As a resident of the Watts curfew
lated the war in Vietnam, politicians
area that fateful summer,
and the public became even more
1 remember not only the
reluctant to spend more on domes
fires and the gunfire, but
tic programs. The black poor, lack
also the blind rage and
ing competitive skills and training,
desperation that drove
were shoved even further to the
the rioters as they pil
laged
stores
and blacks embraced the call by black w ringing city o ffic ia ls w ould outer economic fringe. T heiranger
sh o u ted, “ burn baby m ilitants M alcolm X, Stokely quickly appoint a commission, or quickly turned to cynicism and
bum" (taken from a slo Carmichael, Rap Brown, the Black blue-ribbon panel, issue a volumi despair. Many turned to guns,
gan made popular by a local black Panthers and the Black Muslims for nous report on the causes of the gangs and drugs to survive.
Civil rights leaders and organi
D J). Many considered this a pay black power, armed confrontation riots, cobble together a few job
programs, and toss out a few more zations did not help. They defined
back for the century of racism and and separatism.
The violence in Watts also made dollars for social service programs. the "Black Agenda" in increasingly
violence against blacks. When Dr.
T o m any A m e ric a n s th at narrow terms. Affirmative action,
Martin Luther King visited Watts in m any w h ites re c o g n iz e that
sounded
like a reward for criminal economic parity, professional ad
A
m
erica's
ghettoes
were
powder
an effort to stop the violence, young
behavior,
and they weren’t having vancement and busing replaced
kegs
that
could
explode
at
any
toughs shouted him down.
any
of
that.
They blamed the vio poverty, unemployment, quality
moment.
The
suburbs
suddenly
The orgy of violence and de
lence
on
liberal
permissiveness,and education, police abuse and politi
seemed
less
safe
and
secure.
White
struction marked the end of an era
outside
agitators
and demanded cal empowerment as the goals that
fears
forced
politicians
to
scramble
for the non-violent civil rights
more
police,
heavy
weaponry, and all African-Americans should fight
to
find
solutions
to
the
racial
crisis.
struggle. To many poor blacks, non
tougher
prison
sentences.
With the for. Young,upwardly mobileblack
The
M
cCone
C
om
m
ission
ap
violent marches and demonstra
exception
of
the
Martin
Luther
King business and professionals fled the
pointed
by
Gov.
Edmund
Brown
tions seemed a worthless antidote
Hospital,
which
was
the
one
tan inner cities in droves. This further
called
for
modest
police
reform
and
to the cycle of poverty, violence
gible
thing
that
came
out
o
f
the drained talent, skills and leader
increased
spending
on
jobs
and
and neglect. In the next few years
ship, and positive role models from
riots,
the
McCone
Commission’s
social
programs.
That
established
Detroit, Newark, Washington D.C.
poor co m m u n itie s. E conom ic
recommendations
were
mostly
ig
an
all
to
familiar
pattern.
When
cit
and dozens of other cities erupted
shrinkage, governm ent budget
nored.
The
few
piecemeal,
badly
ies
erupted
in
racial
violence,
hand-
into violence and destruction. Many
The orgy of violence and
destruction marked the end of
an era for the non-violent
civil rights struggle.
cuts, and the elimination of job and
social programs dumped more and
more blacks into the ranks of the
underclass.
This pointed up a phenomenon
about race and class in America
that has been ignored, downplayed,
or denied. There are no longer two
Americas, black and white, and
seemingly at permanent odds with
each other. There are now three
Americas, one black, one white,
and the other, black and black. In
by-gone years, the iron curtain of
segregation had blurred, but had
not obliterated, the class divisions
between the black well-to-do and
the black poor. When the Jim Crow
signs came down, and the ghetto
walls tumbled, more blacks than
ever marched into the corporations,
onto universities, and into Con
gress and statehouses. This gave
the false, and misleading impres
sion that economic deprivation was
a thing of the past for all but a few
u n lu c k y b la c k s. T h at w as a
pipedream, and America sixin found
it out.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a col
um nist fo r B lackN ew s.com , an
author and political analyst.
Gains Made in Struggle for Economic Power
More black businesses is
a return to tradition
1.2 million black-run companies in
J udge G reg M athis
T h ough A frican -A m erican s the U.S.; only Hispanics own more
have been the objects of economic- minority businesses.
This boom in black entrepreneur-
exploitation for over 400 years, re
cent statistics show that w e've ship is a return to tradition. Prior to
begun to pull ahead in the pursuit the legal end of American apart
heid, black dressmakers, restau
for economic power.
New data from the Census Bu rants, funeral parlors, grocery
reau shows the number of black- stores and other businesses drove
owned businesses have grown 45- the black economy.
Research conducted by profes-
percent since 1997. In all, there are
by
so rs at the
University of
M ic h ig a n
shows that, in
1910, black
A m e ric a n s
w ere m ore
likely to be
s e 1 f - e m -
ployed than
any other racial or ethnic group; the
data also reveals that black women
were more likely to be entrepre
neurs than white women were. Even
during slavery, there were black
business owners: free men and
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August 12 & 13
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few er reserves. The lack o f a
“cushion” strains a fledgling ven
ture when problem s arise; as
such, the failure rate o f black
businesses is greater than that of
w hite-ow ned businesses.
In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. wrote "The emergency we now
face is economic.” Nearly 40 years
later, this statement still rings true.
Economic power in the form of
business ownership is the key to
women built homes and schools in cessful. Once legal segregation combatting many of the negative
the South and ran boarding houses ended, black businesses w ere forces that are prevalent in the black
forced to com pete with white- community. Though life as an en
and restaurants in the North.
Since A m e ric a ’s in cep tio n , owned companies that had access trep ren eu r is not w ithout it’s
blacks have seen business owner to capital blacks weren’t able to tap struggles, owning your own is the
surest way to develop personal
ship as a way to control their own into.
W hile funding for m inority wealth and community pride. It’s
destinies. As they searched for fi
nancial independence and eco businesses has im proved and has what our ancestors envisioned; let’s
nomic power, these entrepreneurs contributed to the growth in black keep moving towards the dream.
Judge Greg Mathis is chairman
struggled with racism and disc e n tre p re n e u rsh ip , the playing
riminatory practices, such as those field is far from level. On average, o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board
that restricted where black-owned blacks have less access to start and a national board member o f
businesses could operate, that hin up funds than w hites and usually the Southern Christian Leadership
dered their ability to remain suc- lau n ch th e ir b u sin e sse s w ith Conference.
Though life as an entrepreneur
is not without its struggles,
owning your own is the surest
way to develop personal wealth
and community pride.
‘Operation Tsunami’ in Zimbabwe
Government debacle leaves millions homeless
by
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B ernice P owei . i . J ackson
Nearly three-quar
ters of a million people
in Z im b ab w e have
been rendered home
less as the government
has destroyed their
small shanties in a pro
gram which the gov
ernm ent has named
“Operation Restore O rder,” but
which the people are calling Opera
tion Tsunami.
By whatever name, this action
by the Zimbabwe government of
President Robert Mugabe has been
condemned by the United Nations
in a recent report, which has also
demanded that compensation be
paid to the victims.
It is winter in Zimbabwe, which
means that thousands of families
are left without homes to shiver in
tents. In many instances, not only
were homes destroyed, but so were
the markets and small businesses
which support many families. More
over, the nation is facing a food
shortage and oil is not readily avail
able to most Zimbabweans.
Operation Restore Order is the
latest in a series of actions taken by
the Mugabe administration that are
leading much of the world outside
Africa to turn its back on this gov
ernment. Other actions include the
re-distribution o f much o f the
country’s farm land, which Mr.
Mugage attributed to the need to
end the last vestiges of colonial
ism. But it has meant that much of
the farmland which had been able
to produce food for the nation is
now unable to do so.
In addition, the status of
the last national election is
questionable, with many
outside observers raising
concerns about the fairness
and openness of the elec
tion. Mr. M ugabe’s politi
cal opponents have long
in much of Africa and often named
with Nelson Mandela. His courage
and wisdom guided those fighting
the apartheid government of Rho
desia and led them into the new
nation of Zimbabwe. I remember
when many African Americans were
buying land and homes in the newly-
freed Zimbabwe, inspired by Mr.
The bulldozing of tens of thousands
of homes of the poorest of the poor is
one more testimony to Mr. Mugabe’s
zealotry and his willingness to do
anything to remain in power.
charged that their opposition has
meant the harassment, beatings and
arrest of their leaders. In addition,
many journalists have been impris
oned or forced to leave the country.
The United Nations report, writ
ten by Anna Tibaijuka. the highest
ranking African woman in the U.N.,
called these latest actions under
Operation Restore O rdera’ humani-
tarian crisis of immense propor
tions" which leaves Zimbabwe in a
“virtual state of emergency." Yet.
leaders o f
African nations seem unable or
unwilling to speak out against Mr.
M ugabe’s actions, calling it an “in
ternal matter.”
Perhaps the biggest tragedy of
the Zimbabwe debacle is that Rob
ert Mugabe was a much respected
liberation movement leader, revered
Mugabe and his beautiful land.
Today the economy and the
n atio n o f Z im b a b w e are in
shambles. The bulldozing of tens
of thousands of homes of the poor
est of the poor is one more testi
mony to Mr. M ugabe's zealotry
and his willingness to do anything
to remain in power. It's a sad com
mentary.
Meanwhile, the people of Zim
babwe wait - wait for the world to
intervene in the madness. They are
hungry - hungry for food and hun
gry for justice. Now, many of them
arc also homeless. Tragically, many
are also becoming hopeless. While
they wait.
Bernice Powell Jackson is ex
ecutive minister o f Justice and Wit
ness M inistries fo r the U nited
Church o f Christ.
I