CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY California?, Walt Curtis I n an interview with the Clinton Street Quarterly last summer, Barry On The Radio, Lynn Darroch.... 35 Hole In The Water, Larry Adams. 42 Why Have My Friends Moved to Lenny Dee.......................... King Clam Jeffrey Frederick, Jack Gallagher.................. View from Northeast, Carol Diane Miller............ Brazil: ‘Miracle’ On The Brink, David Milholland.............. My Rose Festival Memories, Steve Winkenwerder........ The CRIB, Peggy Lindquist... Mssr. Marsupial Man of Conscience The Clinton St. Quarterly is published free to the public by the Clinton St. Theater, 2522 SE Clinton, Portland, Or. 97202. ® 1981, Clinton St. Quarterly CONTENTS STAFF Abortion in the Halls of Congress, Carol Sherman & Roger Margolis.. 14 Golden Fries, Jim Blashfield & Matt Wuerker. 16 Empire As A Way of Life, William Appleman Williams... 18 The Curse of The Rounders, Commoner told us that “we’re in for a hard four years.” And now that they’re upon us; as we see those ignoble triplets, paternalism, racism and militarism rising to new heights; as we look at hard won gains in social, economic and environmental areas being garroted before our very eyes; it is time to seriously examine how we protect and advance those causes that define our mutual wellbeing. This issue of the Quarterly, while not neglecting the bizarre and entertaining, takes seriously the challenge we face, here in Oregon and in the world. It’s encouraging you to get involved, as effectively as possible, in fighting for what you believe. Bob Marley’s last message to us all was his album Survival.. .“All together now, wake up and live” .. .“We’ll have to fight, we gonna fight, fight for our rights.” This issue of the CSQ is dedicated to Bob Marley, all he gave us, all he stood for. Co-Editors: Jim Blashfield, Lenny Dee, Peggy Lindquist, David Milholland • Design and Production: Jim Blashfield, (Eric Edwards pp. 30-34) • Ad Production: Peggy Lindquist, Stan Sitnick • Production Assistant: Dana Hoyle • Ad Sales: Denny Chericone, Lenny Dee, David Milholland, Randy Shutt, Pat Sumich • Proof Readers: David Milholland, Lenny Dee • Contributing Photographers: Michael Moran, Laurie Meeker, Lynn Darroch, David Milholland, Larry Boyd • Contibuting Artists: David Celsi, Matt Wuerker, Sharon Niemcyzk, Dana Hoyle, Johanna deVries, Stephan Leflar, Steve Blackburn • Typesetting: Cathy Siegner, Publisher’s Friend, Thanks — Archetype • Camerawork: Jeff Jacobs, Publisher’s Friend • Advertisers call: 222-6039 We’re proud to present the political/historical insights of Oregonian and celebrated historian William Appleman Williams, who in this issue goes to the roots of America’s imperial ways, and asks us to reconsider the roles played in history by Jefferson, Lincoln, Ike and JFK. It’s provocative, stimulating reading. The diverse and dynamic talents of those artists and writers whose work has graced our pages have been duly recognized. We emerged a big winner in the nondaily category of the competition staged recently by the Willamette Valley Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Kudos and thanks to Katherine Dunn, Kevin Mulligan, Isaac Shamsud-Din, Musicmaster Lynn Darroch, Stephen Leflar, Lenny Dee and Steven Sandstrom. You done us proud. We welcome your letters, and every subscription that comes our way makes us smile. Many thanks also to our advertisers and all those behind the scenes who make this paper happen. Tell those who advertise in the CSQ you saw it here. We’ll be back in September. THE VIEW FROM NORTHEAST CAROL DIANE MILLER THE REV. John Garlington, president of the Albina Ministerial Alliance, attempted to describe the plight of black Portlanders June 4 in an eloquent speech on the steps of City Hall following a march to protest the removal of Charles Jordan as police commissioner. Blacks in America have no power, the reverend said. “All we have is an appeal to conscience.” That, of course, has been the theory under which many black leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., have operated. But the appeal to conscience will have no effect in the hard line ’80s, when many white Americans believe that blacks have had more than their share of the fruits of the land and “law and order,” the code phrase for keeping blacks in line, once again has gained favor among the powerful. In fact, an examination of the history of this country would reveal few instances in which the white majority acted with conscience toward blacks. Thanks to Mayor Frank Ivancie’s Sunday night massacre, there certainly is no longer a conscience in control of the Portland Police Bureau. His appointment of 27-year veteran Ron Still as head of the Bureau, who last year authorized the illegal police search of an attorney’s office, and whose record of race relations can best be termed dismal, can hardly reassure the black community. Still and Ivancie owe their loyalties to the police union, a tight, incestuous body run by the white, male cops which for years has vigorously opposed any effort to open up its ranks. Ivancie has no idea how to run the department and doesn’t intend to try. According to an interview he gave to The Oregonian recently, he will give his tacit approval to whatever the police do. Ivancie showed that he does not care about justice when he refused to support pardons for persons who had been wrongly convicted on evidence created by narcotics officers. Instead, he’s thrown his lot in with good ol’ boy Still, who has never spoken out about police abuses on any front. Where has his conscience been over the years as blacks have repeatedly cried for relief from police abuses? Indeed, where are the “good” cops and why have they been silent witnesses to their colleagues’ abuses? Still told people attending a June 20 police/community relations forum that there is a “fine line” between aggressive, assertive police work and the abuse of someone’s rights. Unadulterated bullshit. There is a clear difference between good police work that nabs a dope dealer and te planting of drugs on a “suspect.” There is a clear difference between the force necessary to subdue an unruly suspect and the force necessary to kill or main (e.g., the choking of Eric Branch). Men and women of conscience instinctively know the difference. ONE HOPE, of course, was to change the composition of the force, to introduce a much higher percentage of women and nonwhites into police ranks. Commissioner Charles Jordan introduced a tepid affirmative action plan that merely would have given city department heads the option of choosing candidates for job vacancies from a list of the highesy scorers on the city civil service examination or a list of nonwhite candidates who also passed the exam. But even that modest step was too much of a threat and the union sued to prevent implementation, implementation. That was essentially the reason behind the union’s opposition to Baker when Neil Goldschmidt brought him up from Berkeley, California. Although a white male, he simply was not one of them. Goldschmidt’s appointment of a black commissioner to head the department was the ultimate insult. Ironically, Jordan had no significant power as police commissioner and he declined to use effectively what little he had, opting instead for the cooperation of the bureau. Of course, the old guard of the command staff, including Still, and the union, fought every tiny progressive step the commissioner took. Portland is not unique in this regard. In every city in the nation where the police command is black—Los Angeles, Detroit, Newark, Atlanta—there is a struggle with the white-dominated unions. To really understand what the union is all about, one should read its monthly The Rap Sheet. One finds in the writings the work of fascist minds. “As creeping twilight seeped through the streets and chased the good people fleeing for their cars, the weirdos would limp and slither out from dark doorways... overcrowd them on leaky boats and send them to Cuba.” The union has hired possum cops Ward & Galloway to work on The Rap Sheet at the same salaries they were making as police officers. BLACK PORTLANDERS win find little resource in appealing to the conscience of the community at large. We’ve heard no cry of outrage from the corporate boardrooms and civic clubs over the police abuses. After all, these are the same people who stood silently by while the school system abused black children under an absurd desegregation plan. A telling commentary on the attitude of the city’s so-called enlightened community can be found in a letter to the editor published June 5 in The Oregonian from historian E. Kimbark MacColl. After all the revelations of police impropriety, the only thing MacColl could find to be outraged about was Black United Front leader Ron Herndon’s statement that “Anybody who takes the promise of a white politician to black people seriously is either ahistorical or naive.” Given history, MacColl’s criticism of Herndon’s remarks can only be viewed as sanctimonious. An even worse attitude emerged in the results of an Oregonian poll on community attitudes toward the police conducted in June of this year. Only a very slight majority of the people polled thought that the police had overstepped their bounds in the plainly illegal actions against motorcycle club members and drug suspects. There’s not much of a conscience to appeal to there. Only the blacks who were polled overwhelmingly condemned the police actions. There is little hope that an appeal to conscience would move the majority of the city’s elected leadership to reform the police department. Jordan’s colleagues on the City Council have been largely silent on this issue. Commissioner Margaret Strachan, who while campaigning for votes in Albina donned a green ribbon—supposedly to show concern over the killings of black children in Atlanta—has said nothing about police abuses. Curiously, Ms. Strachan hasn’t been seen wearing a green ribbon since the night of her election. Illustration by Steve Blackburn Clinton St. Quarterly 3
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