Clarion Defender_1972-06-29

...... 2 JUNE Cl9, .1972 THIS NEliSPAPER IS THE OLDEST BLACK PUBLICATION TN THE NORTHWEST Being Fran!..-- Where do blacks stand at pol convention? },Jy FRANK L. STANLEY By FRANKL. STANLEY . It seems most significant ar thiS point in American political history parti– cularly with regard to the current cam– paign to elect democratic nomjnees for the White Houoe, to assess where we are and where we are going. As far as we can decipher, the chief aim of the Na– tional Black Political Caucus (Gary) was: "to reach to the uncommitted Bla-ck man and woman, to involve them in the black struggle for equal · rights and opportunity, to forge unity without uniformity." Reportedly there were actually two strategies and one non-strategy as of the be"inning of this year. The first was pr:ached by Georgia State Rep. Juli~n 'Bond and in effect said that blacks :n the different states must unite behind favorite son candidates and come to the Miami Democratic Convention armed w i t h t h e negotia tlng leverage t h a t wuuld generate. However, this plan ran afoul the new delegate selection reforms of the party which actually work against favorite son candidates, The second strategy was sponsored by Michigan Rep. John Conyers Jr. and it would have ra.lli~d. Blacks behind a single national Black candidate. How– ever this died aborning because Brook– lyn's' Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm jumped the gun so to-speak and an– nounced her candidacy. This was not to Rep. Conyers liking because he was thinking of a male black candidate of the stature of Cleveland's former Mayor Car; Stokes who now is a television com– mentator and who was not for the Con– yer.;; strategy. The non-strategy wa.s centered in California mainly becau~r biack po'ili· cal leaders there saw no future in ~ithcr of the above strategies because in the winner take-all p r i m a r y in Calif<ll'nia there was no hope neither for a favorite son or for a black national candidate. So California blacks, agreed to split u:p into the varjo us candidate camps, where <>ach of th.em felt most comforta·ble and jockeye d for a s ·much influence as pos– sible. Now to put thi.s in full perspective please remember that in Gary in March primarily black leaders met to nominate a candidate but they did not. Instead a black political agenda emerged calling for a black political movement with the potential of becoming a .t h i r d party. Worst still the convention not only ad– journed- without a black candidate but :without an agreed - on strategy, either. . What has happened in the• mean– while', Julian Bond, John Conyers, Jesse Jackson and others have all embraced a white cand:date George McGovern. Candidate Shirley Chisholm keeps plug– ·ging along without any additional con– gressional associateo supporting her to say nothing of black · leaders of high ranks across the country. However, Mrs. Chisholm is showing each day t;pat she does have supporters and that she is not only articulate and forthright ·but highly qualified. At this moment it appears that Mc– Govern will get the Democratic nomina– tion. It also appears that he will have the support of America's leading black . democratic politicians. To be sure some are remaining loyal to Humphrey most– ly because of his past record because actually the erst-whiie liheral Humphrey ha.s vacilliatcd considerably in his posi– tion on bw;ing as \\·e ll as his latest pro– mulc:ation that he could run with Wal– LAee , \\·hich he later modified. TO PAY WHITES $5,000 TO LIVE IN ALL BLACK AREA Residents of interracial neighborhoods from 36 cities met recently in Baltimore to plan practical help for embat– tled changing neighborhoods faced with problems of exploi– tation, apathy, and the threat of decay. The National Neighbors conference responded enthusias– tically to a proposal by the staff director of the United States Commission Civil Rights that multiracial living be subsidized by cash payments to families making housing mOVt!S that would increase integration. Delegates to the conference also adopted a self-help program of a nationwide network of task forces to develop information and resources that can help local neighborhoods maintain viable muliracial communities. Attending the conference from Portland, Oregon, was James 0. Brooks a Vice-President of the Irvington Community Association and an Executive Board member of National Neigh– bors. John Buggs, director of the federal government's civil rights agency, told the group assembled at Morgan State Col– lege June 9, "We're not winning. We'er losing the fight against spreading ghettos," and suggested that a "massive dose of corrective action" is needed to reverse the trend to– ward an increasingly polarized and segregated society. He proposed that the federal government adopt a plan to pay a white family $1,000 in chash for moving to a neighborhood with a 15 to 20 percent black population and a black family $1,000 for moving to a nei'ghborhood only 8 to 10 percent black. His plan would pay increasing subsidies as the degree of pioneering increased, until a white family ,noving into an all-black neighborhood would be paid $5,000 and a black fam– ily venturing into an all white neighborhood would also get $5,000. UNITED INDIAN COUNCIL The United Indian Council announces the start of an emer– gency relief fund for American Indian familes who were victims of the recent floods in Rapid City, South Dakota. The fund is in response to a call from Rapid City, Aim, Inc., and numerous phone messages asking for immediate finacial assistance. We ask the Portland area residents to donate bed-rolls, blankets, food, and money, which will be sent to American Ind– ian families in Rapid City. Your donations can be delivered to the United Indian Coun · cil Urban Indian Program office, 1128 SE Rhone Portland, Ore– gon or Nara House 3829 SE 64th Portland, Oregon. For further information, please contact Mr. Kenn Conners or Mr. Manny Me Dougal at Urban Indian Program 233-9977, or Nara House 774-0927. THIS IS YOUR LIFE! What will the new high school graduates do? By DR. BENJAI\IIN E. MAYS '''i1'lll.<·and ,; upon thousands of stu– di'nt.s have ;;:raduated from high .s·chool. illgn ,a·ho:~' commencements are over. What percentage of high school grad– uates 1rill go to college this September no one knows. It is definite that a rea– sonable number will go to college in reparation for a degree to teach, to do .:-esearch, to work in industry, govern– mE'nt or to prepare themselves to enter a professional school such as law, medi– cine. ministery or to comp:ete their work in some technical school. to be– come engineers, etc. All of this is wonderful and fine and those who look forward to a professional career beyond college will in all proba- bility land on their feet. , The great question is what wlll those do who do not go on to college? In fact, it is not necessary for every person to receive a college education or a univer– s·ity degree, but it is necessary for every person to have a skill which will enabl~ him to take care of his family and do something that the community needs to have done. It is necessary for a high school graduate to be able to get a job. J. Gayle Je!!erson , 6913 Perry St. It is the hope that high school grad– uates who do not go to college will go to an area technical school or a terminal junior college which will enable the non– coll e"e g raduate to learn a skill in nurs· in" de.si "nin!t building, painting, archi- ~" b ...,, .. tect ure, e lectricity, plumbing, repamng automobile~ or some trade that will en– able him or her to make a respectab·e Jlvjng and contribute something to the well being of the community. It is too bad that we live ·in a so– ciety where rn,ore prestige is placed on the white collar than on the blue collar worker or on the man who works in overall. I am quite sure that a .skill· · ed electrician or a skilled plumber makes more money than the average p u b' l i c school teacher in the United ·States and many of them make more than college professors. Prestige should go with any trade or :orofession in which one does weli. A coliege or university de.gree may not be necessary, but it is necessary that one wssesses a skill in some art, some w?rk that will make him respecta.ble to him– self and to the people. Really it does not matter that Joe Louis did 'not go to college. It did not matter that Joe Louis did ' not handle the King's English very well, but it matters much that Joe Louis became the heavy wei"ht champifln of the world and that his ~ame will go down in boxing history as one of the greatest fighters. It does not matter that Willie Mays or Hank Aaron are not college grad– uates. Both of them are at the top of their profession. This should be the aim and desire of every man, whether he goes to college or not - to do something worthwhile and do it well. Degrees may not be important but skills are. CONGRESS OF AFRICAN PEOPLES In working toward realization of the Nation Time theme several projects were undertaken. Among them was the strengh– thening of unity between Africans in Africa and Africans in America by establishing formal and informal relations with all African nations. A national boycott of Portuguese products i~ still in effect because of their aggressions and colonialist' policies in Africa. Closer to home, the National Black Politi– cal Convention was another workable concept j:hat.ernerged from that first conference. The Congress established itself on the International scene by establishing the first Black non GovenliDent agency in the United Nations. The Executive Committee of the Congress was invited to Tanzania by President Julius Nyere, to atl:end their tenth anniversary celebration in December of 1971. As a follow up to Atlanta 1970, in 1971 regional confe– rences were held in NewArk, New Jersey, Kansas City, Missouri, and in San Diego, Ca. The purpose of these regional sessions was to bring participants together to analyze and discubs how the implementation of Atlanta 1 s ideas is prog::essing. . For further information contact the Congress of African Peoples at 4183 Market St., San Diego, Ca., 92102, or phone (714) 263-3139.

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