Clarion Defender_1967-08-03

,. [K§)[KJ DEFENDER L~ n: Walters-----------------Publisher Jimmy 11 Bang-Bang" Walker----Editor Telephone--------2 8 4 - 1289 2742 N. Williams Ave. Portland, Oregon News deadline: Tueday 12 Noon CIRCULATION Z by MAIL * N E W S B 0 Y S '~ B U S I N E S S THE INSANITY OF IMMORALITY r Morality is a good word. It connotes a high, noble, and pleasant situation in which human beings strive to exemplify the principles of the Golden Rule. Flagrant violation of the moral code by pre– sent day Americans is so general that it is almost accepted as ethical. Among the many Biblical admonitions, we find, "Thou shalt not covet,'' yet the great struggle of life is to "get some– thing," get it by any mer~ns, without regard for the rights of others even though he is the owner of the object we desire. Get– ting so~ething· for nothing, and the "skin-em-if you can" theme of present-day· Americans, are the underlying causes of much of in– equities, and misery with which our lives are fraught. The erosion of morality is everywhere apparent in the machina– tions of our business and social intercourse, to the extent that an aura of fear is created in the minds of the little business– man when dealing with big business, in the mind of the work-a– day class, when dealint with the silk and fur-clad, and diamond– be-decked gentry. Many instances of the decadence of our ethics, our morality, pass– in-review, each day, with only minimal attention and comment, be– cause someone else is immediately affected. Perhaps a small busi– ness is collapsed from sanctions imposed by a big and powerful com– bine. The workmen so displaced, seek employment elsewhere, ' or join the ranks of the unemployed. The owners and their families are compelled to start anew. This take-over often meets with tacit approval in business circles, being considered astute maneuvering. A glib-tongued salesman sells an unsuspecting housewife a "good deal" that places a heavy penalty on the family budget - the whole family suffers, we say "what a pity," because we know the family. Recently a home was burglarized in a 'nice' east side district, the thugs taking television, radio, tapes and player, several suits of clothing and other items, literally dispossessing the owner. In this instance, neighbors exhibited appreciable interest, but often the Police ask the owner "did you see them take it?" and their in– terest seems to stop there. These cited examples of our eroded morality may seem at a glance to be insignificant and irrel evant, but they bring into sharp focus how · we abrogate the basic standard of right and feel but little recrimination. When we are the im– mediate recipient of an unprincipled ~eal, the full-blown import of the moral wrong is readily apparent. Let us now look at a factual picture; then mentally multiply it a few million times, and this is what we see. A child born to rest– lessness, into a family that lives by the credo that acquisition justifies the means, •any means, is taught by living example that only "other people" need adhere to the principles of morality, and we have today's young "hipsters" hoodlums, graduates of homes of paternal and economic uncertainty, on the streets of American cities, boasting of their hustli~g prowess in crime, and who presently overcrowd our penal institutions. His respect for the rights of others - the moral code of ethics, simply does not ex– ist. He is our next genera~ion. It is authoritively stated that there are many more people who should be in mental institutions than are actually confined. In– ability of the nation to curb · the ever-increasing crime rate, in– ability or unwillingness to respect the rights of others, by the citizenry, the assumed role of peacemaker of the world, by the U.S. indicates that the immorality of these pursuits is insane. It is a refreshingly good omen that Americans in high and low places are decrying our role in the non-white countries internal ' affairs. Here immorality is in full flower. Some citizens express a doubt that these South American and Asian countries really want the U.S. "foreigners with guns" killing their people, under the guise of helping them and 'keeping the peace,' while these soldiers do what U.S. soldiers have always done in every country they have invaded. Immorality so perfected at home, just might be expor~ed to these bastions! In our definition of MORALITY is correct, that is Ethical, Vir– tuous, Righteous and conforming to the Standard of what i~ right and good, then the Church is not blameless. The Church has not adhered to the religious, nor moral standards it 'so ferveqtly' asks its members to follow. How often has .a 'brother' of color felt the need of spiritual sustenance, and was forced by the (im) moral ethics of the Church to seek out a COLORED Church before he could satiate his spiritual appetite? How many thousands of times has the church been used as a forerunner of conquesting armies, subjugating the people? It has made a gesture toward morality, lately, but many souls have been turned away. Today, as during the last three hundred years, the American man of color is denied the right and privilege to exercise his talents in the pursuit of a good life for his family, in these great, rich, freedom-loving United States. We, singly and collectively, must surely recognize and respect the efficacy of adhering to the moral philosophy of right in our daily intercourse with each other. How else can we preserve our conscience? A life of disorder leads to insanity, and mass insanity leads to national disaster. Immorality is insane! CLARlON D£FENOER ~~..:;;r,,"r"·""_;;:,m"'!'J:~ .cc'&'710%t"'L'D'!Ri><1:: :K.GC ':;v:: .:~,~~-:;;,;,;;; ·:::.. T.:·.~_iS:d'S.U'.::.i,;.)c~;.,":<.::~''M''t1 f j THE LOST TRINITY ~ MY DREAMi The BASIS of all civilizations is the family: fath~r, mother ' and child, and in ANY society where this great TRINITY 1s broken, grief trouble and disorganization are always present. There is no SUBSTITUTE for this trinity wh~ch we call the fa– mily and without which there can be no such th1ng as a HOME. By MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr. t' Peace: God's Man's Business Some of my friends of both races and others \\'ho do not tonsider themse]\'es mr friend:-; have expres::;ed disapproval- be– cau::;e r have been voicing con– tern over the war in Viet ~am. Jn newspaper tolumns and edi– torials, both in the ~ eJ;ro am\ general press. it has been imli– rated that Martin .Kin![, Jr., is · "getting out of his dP.pth." I have been rhided. even by fellow civil rights leader::;. mem– bers of Congress and hrothers of the cloth for "not sticking to the business of civil rights.'' :-J'ormaiJ~·, I do not seek to an:-~wer <Titil'ism merely as an ego-justifying exerci,.;e. If 1 were to cuntinu;tl\y a1:<l pel'sis– tcn l\y add to my numerous activities the luxury of defen– sive debate about' m~· personal ('ollvictions, I wou hl find litt.le time left for my \l·ork. However. hccausc I believe that many of those who have ~pol\en and written in opposi· tion to my rry for peace are men of good will who really do not understand my motivation. I would like to pose here 1-l;ree overriding reasons why I see it as my ·responsibility. tJer:-;onal and public. to sue for a war-lcs,.; world. First and forcmo~t. l am a minister of the Cospel. As a ~:lergyman, in the prophetic J udeo- Christian 1 raclition, I would be \eRS than l;tonest if I did not say, with all the force at my command. and at every opportunity whi<:h presents it– ,-;e\f. that I belie\'e that war is One of the "'har)!cs m:v· critics register is t haL [ ha\'e no right t0 acldres::; myself to the Viet– !\am question because ram not an "expert.'' On surfaec, this is a true indictment. Yet. at hottom. I am expert in recognition of a simt,IY elo– quent truth. That truth is that it is sinful for .any of God's <·hildren to brutalize and of God'~ other children, no matter frnm what side the brutaliza– tion comes. r believe there are legions or people throughout · thi::; worhl who recognize that and, who. like m~·self, are unwilling to leave the conflict!> of the world in the hands of the experts. Recently, it was written that the late President Kennedy had paced the White · House office floor the day after the disaster of the Bay of Pigf', murmuring that he never· should have lis– tened to the experts. As a minister. T cannot advo– cate racial peace and non-vio– lence for blaek men alone, nor white men alone. nor for .vellow men alone. Men, bas;; black and treble white. are of equal im– portante of God's keyboard. If a man of God fails to see this; if he fails to seek to help bring about peace on earth as well as good will among man– kind, he isn't much of a spokes· man for the Christ who pre– dicted. centuries ago. that he who lives by the sword shall perish by the sword. There is a second reason why T must involve myself in the long-fought effort to <'hange the jangling discords of war into meaningful and measured rhythms of negotiation and rea– son - and ultimately to fuse a marvellous symphony of peace. I am an American. Despite the shortcomings of this imperfect democracy, I love America. I love her because she belongs as much to me as to any other American, with the possi– ble exception of the disinherit– ed American Indian. This land i,; my land ....:.... a legacy earned by the blood, swellt, toil and !iacrifice of black ancestors who tiled the earth and enriched e,.;tates and shaped bridges and mansions and made Cotton I\ ing. I do n{)t want to see my nation destroyed. War is obsolete. No nation wins a war. I am as concerned about the expansion of Godless Communism as any other man. Yet. I believe that our guns and hombs do not prove that we love democracy, They prove that we still believe that might makes right, despite the fac't that common sense and bitter experience tell us there has never been a true conqueror. The third reason I seek world peace is one which seems to me to contain its own retort to thMe who insist that I "stick t<J the civil rights business." Of them I ask, with the late presi– dent Kennedy: "Is not peace, in the last analysis, a matter of human rights'!" If I could ad– \·ora te non-violence in Montgo- 111CI'y, Alabart1a; in Birmingham and Albany, Georgia and in the seethin~ dties of the North how can I not be con~istent and fail to say that violence is as IITOng- in Hanoi as it is in Harlem? The Negro must not allow himself to become a victim of the self-serving philosophy· of those who manufacture war 1hat the survival of the world is the white man's business alone. He must not permit those anti– quated "white only" signs which once adorned southern out houses. to now be displayed on the oaken doors of the con– ferenre rooms where interna· tional policy is fashioned. What shall it profit the Negro to avail himself of an in– tegrated sandwich or a quality education or a good job or a de– segregated home - in the midst of horrible death and falling bombs? The historian, Arnold Tonynbee, once suggested that it mav be the Negro who will g-ive the new spiritual dynamic to Western civilization that it ~o desperately needs to :-nrvivc. That same idealism, that same non·violent spirit and cou· rage whkh brought embattled men to the conference table in the Montgomeries of the South might well achieve indentieal victory with Moscow. It is a victory which must be won. For, there is no longer a question of violen,ce or. non-via- . lence in the world. The grand decision now is between non– violence and non - existence. That is the practical point. The moral point is that the plea for peace is God's business. There– fore, it is yours and mine. 'y 0 u can have a FINE apartment with all of the AMENITIES of g– ood living but unless there is a FAMILY, complete and together, you are si~ply nowhere, and LESS fortunate than the most BENIGHT~D tribe in the jungle. . . INQUENCY When you look around for the ~auses of J~ve~1le D~L in the Negro communities, the DROP~OUTS, the 1nd~fference to lear– ning, and lack of ambition, which seem GREATEST 1n these urban ar– eas you find them in the harsh fact that 22 per cent of all Ne~ro children are born OUT of we~lock, as against 2.5 per cent of wh1te children. In one of our great Northern cities 37.~ p~r cent of Negro children born there are ILLEGITIMATE, and th1s 1s said to be a re– gular pattern· with mothers setting up COMMON-LAW hPuseholds aft– er the REAL f~thers have run off, leaving "new" husbands to take their places, and most of them likely to DEPA~T shortly .. This places a heavy BURDEN upon the women-mothers, 1n ONE-. FOURTH of the 13,000 Negro families are headed by women, as aga1n– st one in ten of white families. These are the lost trinities: lo~t becaus~ of the IRRESPONSI– BILITY of Negro men who will MAKE bab1es but w1ll not SUPPORT th– em or help to rear and INSTRUCT them. This is a SHAMEFUL circumstance, and no amount of loud talk– ing and alibi-making can expunge the recor~; and, ~ven worse, we cannot excuse Negro ieadership for not mak1n~ mass1ve e~for~s to alleviate it- rather than running away from 1t and blam1ng 1t on racial prejudice. Jackie Robinson says: More Than One Way To Solve a Problem Some of the ooponents of civil rights demonstrations shout about that what we need is production-not protest. They get a lot of "amens" by striking the ~ttitude of the de– magogue and saying, "I don't want to beg the wh1te man to serve me a cup of coffee in his restaurant. I want the restaurant and the land it stands on." This is well and good. What these people - do not understand or do not wish to admit that they understand is that there is no one road to solution of the racial problem. There must be several approaches and all of them contribute to success. The other day, the Chicken Delight restaurant chain held a grand opening for the press. William Bailey, who_happens ~o_be a Negro, is the first person to receive a Small B11qnP.ss AdmHnst– ration loan under the Department of Commerce Task Force Program for Equal Opportunities. Bailey, 35- a bachelor, saved $8,000 ov– er a five year period while he did odd jobs - painting, carpPntrv, ~indow washing and waxing floors. The Government loaned him $7, 500, and Freedom National Bank, in Harlem, came through with a $2, !500 loan. This enabled him to establish a Chicken Delight franch– ised carry - out restaurant at l6lst St. and Amsterdam Ave. If the Negro is to mature into the role he deserves to enact in this society, it will have to be done and not only through pro– test but also through production. Mr. Bailey, the Chicken Delight people and the Government are all to be congratulated on this forward step. · It is to be hoped that as many people as possible will enco– urage this ambitious man who worked as much as 18 hours a day and skimped, spending only for the bare necessities for five years, to achie~e a glorious dream. 'We Draw Attention .To the Rights Cause, Man' -Hesse in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat ......... ·.·· ................................................... .--. ........................ . . Call Call Mark Lee, one of Portlands most con– trove~sial talk show moderators. The timL to call is from 12:30 to 2:00. Monday thr– ough Friday, on any subject, you name it! : . . , •••••...•••.••••.•..••••••.......•....•..•...............••........••........••••••••••