tions we were making were correct. We were a little concerned because we were shifting the money to social service programs, but we asked hard questions. Like how they could justify the number of administrators they had based on the overall number of people on the police force. And what their system for deployment and follow-up was. And how they worked in the heavy crime areas. They couldn’t answer some of these questions. I think that if we’d had to go into negotiations over a possible strike, we’d have been able to show some of the shortcomings in the department. But now we can work these problems out. Quarterly: So there isn’t antagonism; there isn’t controversy. Newport: Sure there’s antagonism! You’ve got some racism in the police force. But the fact that we took the chance we did and weathered the attacks by various groups of conservatives saying that we were irresponsible, showed that we weren’t bullshitting. I guess they said, these crazy SOBs mean what they say and that’s the way it is. So things are fairly good with labor in Berkeley. We have five unions. We negotiated all our contracts. There are no contracts up for negotiation for another two years. And we adopted a balanced budget which I feel pretty good about, especially when you look at San Francisco with close to a $100 million deficit this year! Not only that, we put together a balanced budget and added monies to social service programs even before we had all the information on the state bail-out money. One of the reasons that we didn’t adopt the budget on July 31 was because the city manager’s office questioned our revenue projections and we wanted to make sure that they were checked and tested. By not adopting in July and testing our revenue plans, we actually put our new revenue proposals into operation before passing the budget. This gave the city manager’s office two months to test our plan and they found that our projections were correct. Quarterly: Berkeley has been described as the only city in the United States with its own foreign policy. Would you care to make some comments about the Middle East situation, for instance? Newport: Well, the recent controversy about blacks being involved in foreign policy has certainly attracted a lot of attention. I think that it’s wrong for people to assume that black people shouldn’t have a position on the Middle East. It is probably the most explosive situation in the world today. Many of us got involved in coalition politics and the civil rights movement and moved into the peace movement, and 1 think one of the primary things on our minds now is Israel. You know, I come out of New York, and certainly people there were very strongly supportive of the founding of Israel, recognizing that all people should have a homeland. And I think that Jewish people should consider that now. They should recognize that you shouldn’t impose terrible restrictions on Palestinians or any other people without a homeland. Supposedly, one of the goals of all peace-loving people is to develop ways everyone can live side by side. When you stop and think that the government of Israel was founded on the moral principle that all people are entitled to live in peace, it’s hard to justify the fact that Israel has turned into a country that supplies arms to oppressive countries. They have supplied arms to South Africa; they supplied arms to Somoza in Nicaragua; they supplied arms to the Shah of Iran. I learned in talking to a brother from South Africa that there are mercenaries from Israel fighting alongside the South African apartheid government; they are flying planes and bombing the people in South Africa. And I think you have to recognize that there is a split right down the middle in the Jewish community as well. Certainly all the people are not in support of Begin’s posture. Moshe Dayan, for instance. I don’t think that the black community in general is opposed to Jews as a group. They don’t like some of the things that the government of Israel is engaged in. You know, there’s been a long history of cooperation as well as conflict. There was a very good relationship between blacks and Jews during the civil rights movement. But there was also conflict. For some time, Jews were looked on as the landlords and the ones who owned the stores and everything in places like Harlem. They appeared to ■be taking advantage of the very people that some of their organizations were supposedly supporting. And then, certain things have happened that have made people redefine the relationship. B’nai B'rith being friends of Bakke in the court case and opposing affirmative action. The Jewish Defense League marching with the Ku Klux Klan. That type of thing really pisses people off. The majority of black people are not coming out and saying, “ fuck Israel.” We’re questioning those policies and actions that are against our best interests. Quarterly: What about the media’s role? They appear to be a significant factor in this conflict with their efforts to polarize and simplify. Newport: Oh yeah, the goddamn media is just unreal. For example, very seldom does a discussion of the black-Jewish situation come up when black people are just sitting around talking, but the goddamn press, every time they get a chance .. .. I know when I came back from We adopted a balanced budget which I fee l pretty good about, especially when you look at San Francisco with close to a $100 million deficit this year! Cuba, I was interviewed by KQED [the local PBS station], and 1 had a long talk with the interviewer before we went on the air and we talked mainly about the Non-Aligned Nations Conference. Nothing came up about the black-Jewish situation. But when we went on live TV, the very last question he asked was, “ The Non-Aligned Nations Conference passed a resolution against Zionism. Do you support that?” I mean, he could have said, “ How do you fee l about that?” Well, I told him that the Non- Aligned Nations passed resolutions against colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, Zionism and imperialism. And the African and Asian countries equate Zionism with racism. If Zionism is racist, I oppose it. Quarterly: Congressman Ronald V. Dellums had a dinner honoring the Congressional Black Caucus and the event was covered by one of the local network affiliates. The item began with a recap of some of Cardiss Collins’ [Congressional Black Caucus Chair] remarks concerning the role of black people in foreign affairs, with particular emphasis on her statement that blacks will no longer solely rely on the old coalitions for support. This was followed by a still photo of __r____ FADED Clothier V IN T A G E C L O T H IN G V IN T A G E F U R S 37 V IN T A G E A C C E S S O R IE S Deco 30’s and 40’s collectibles and useables Olive Press 333 S.E. Third Portland, Oregon 235-7139 • posters • business cards • announcements • brochures • books • p r in ting in colors a co l le c t iv e ly ru n p r in t shop PRICES REDUCED FOR W INTER ON ALL FURS AND OTHER COATS G IFT CERT IF ICATES AVAILABLE 211 SW 6 2 2 3 - 6 4 3 0 \ . 316 SW 9th 223-0767 Mon.—11-7 Tues.—closed Wed.-Fri.—11-7 Sat.—2-7 *a state of insanity characterized by delusions of a pleasing nature 17
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz