Portland Advocate_1981-06

(Continued fran Page 4) face, but he has shown both Black and white in Zimbabwe as well as South Africa the bankruptcy of racism. The question being asked of the racists in South Africa is: if Mugabe can do it and do it so well, then surely either Nelson Mandela (Azania) or Sam Nujoma (Namibia) could do · just as well once given the chance. The South African whites are realizing that they have been fooled for so long and that under their current leadership and course, they are headed for disaster at express speed. Meantime, the harvest is in in Zimbabwe and it has surpassed all expectations: 40% over last year's and the surplus will be shipped to neighbouring Botsw– ana, Zambia and Mozambique thus reducing independent Africa's dependence on South Africa. These countries in the past have been forced to import food from South Africa thus blunting their criticism of that unhappy re– gime. With so many reversals on so many fronts all at once, South _ Africa is counting on one friend and that friend is in Washington D.C. and his name is Ronald Reagan, one time Holly– wood actor. Unless he can come galloping to the rescue as he has done in so many Hollywood capers, this could very well be the beginning of the end for South Africa. Stay tuned. INSIDE/OUTSIDE by Asmar Abdul Seifullah aka Joe West tt 40404 Author's Note: Inside/Out is the first of a series of articles that will be brought to you in order to give alternatives to the present line of thought surrounding the Oregon Penal System. It's the hope of all the incarcerated Brothers and Sisters now trapped inside the system that these articles will give a new under– standiug to the Oregon Penal System and its treatment of Black prisoners. Chains, bondage, and incar– ceration not a new experience for Black people. Since the genesis of the Black experience in America, Black people have known physical and psychological limitations of all serts. Our response to those limitations have been disconcerting at best. How we respond as a people to the system of justice now imposed upon us is of paramount importance to our struggle for liberation. For any Black man or woman to think or respond to the pre– sent penal system in terms of passivity is counter productive and reeking with negroism. The "that's not my problem" attitude of most Blacks concerning the just or unjust incarceration of other Blacks is a direct out– growth of years of slavery. During those years we were taught to not become involved in the plight of our brother slave. "If Ned got whupped -– it was Ned's whuppin', Ned broke a rule, therefore, Ned deserved what he got." That line of thought is good only as long as the rules are just and are applied to everyone equally. First let us view the ghetto, our community,in terms of a colonalized community. The term colony is applied because our community is controlled by out– side forces. Its economic base is dependent upon the favors or benevolence of its oppressor. Its progress is measured in terms of progress outside itself and not in terms of what it can accomplish on its own. Welfare and poverty programs that create a dependency in the recipients are forms of colona– lization. They destroy self– esteem and self-reliance on all levels of human development. Those of us that are fortunate enough to be employed are merely a reserve work force that keeps the larger community in check. Our earnings are spent outside the community which denies us the true benefit of our labors. Lurking outside yet within the colony is the "whuppin post" or the criminal justice system. When Black people were emani– cipated on paper the system implemented fear, death, and incarceration as methods of control. Incarceration being by far the most profitable of the three has not only become a means of control, but a viable source of revenue for the system. The American Corrections System is by far one of the largest corporations in the country. White America will dispute this fact but countless numbers of white Americans are supported by and profit greatly from Black incarceration. America, there– fore, perpetuates situations for - increased revenues in corrections. Drug traffic, prostitution, miseducation, vice, and crime of every sor~ are creations _of greedy America. Blacks are the targets of these ventures in vice and are there– fore, economic and political slaves for the perpetuation of revenue through corruption and corrections. The increasing number of Blacksincarcerated in Oregon and elsewhere is indicative of a system of discrimination that finds its focal point in penal justice. White juries, judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers reinforce this discrimination to the Nth degree. The absence of true peer j~ice ~thin the criminal justice system is the earmark of racism. The state PageS of Oregon is and has always been very guilty of excluding Blacks from the justice system but it has never discriminated · against us in incarceration. Oregon leads the nation in incar– ceration of Blacks and other minorities. "The Oregon Penal System is being used as a whup– ping post for black economic slaves -- don't you think that it's time that it changed!" Significant steps must be taken in exposing police arrest tactics, duality in courtroom justice, and treatment and services for incarcerated blacks. The recent evidence of Portland police officer planting evidence on suspected criminals, racial harrassment of local black businesses all prove that just– ice is not equal for blacks and whites. "Reflect back to Ned's whuppin', isn't it possible that the "whuppin'" is not only unjustified but also racist. There can be no liberation for you, if there is none for me. The unity of our movement must include a corrupt criminal justice system and Oregon is a blue ribbon example. The number of Blacks aff~ted insidejoqtside. these prison walls as a result of the "whuppin' post," is far too great to ignore. R.emanber that it's rre today but it could be you to– rrorrow!!! "When a slave cannot be Whipped, he is rrore than half free. " Fredrick Douglass "Violence is as American as apple pie." Jamil Abdul Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown)