14 TKI CAROLINA TIKES
SAT., SEPTEMBER 19, 1981
HZEDEO HQU...MITED COAtAWNfTY LEAOERSHIP " 1
UE MUST PREVENT
CUR OWN CHILDREN
FROM TURNING MO
JUNKIES WHO A
PREY ON THEIR t &
Aiju airifti t" J iA
V
PREVENT
THAT.
1
Affirmative Action: ""
Conference in Solidarity with ' the Libera tinn
Struggle of the Peoples of Southern Africa
'. : ' ' Gerald C Home, Esquire
Business In The Black
Uncle Tom is not Dead
A Prayer for Sowell
By Charles
"Have mercy on me, wash me,
cleanse me, create in me a clean
heart. . . ." a prayer black
.Americans expect Thomas Sowell to
say when he meets his Maker. Surely
Sowell, a reputed black American
scholar, hanging his hat at the
. :Hoo'ver Institute for War and
"peace," can decipher the siege of
. depression aimed at black America
out of the latest unemployment
figures.
Biacic America going up to
' .14.2, white workers going down
to 6.4 for June, according to the
U.S. Labor, Department. David's
prayer, Psalms 51:10 may not do
justice for a "sin so great as the rape
of one's own brothers and sisters for
the lust of just a few extra pennies.
Bafhsheba with all her beauty could
not compare with a twinkle of hope
in a black chfld8 eye.
On July 28, 1981 as published in
the Wall Street Journal, Sowell said
' "the actual results of a decide of
' ttuV controversial program (affir
i mative action by numerical goals
and timetables) are seldom mention
ed." '
We submit his job as its success!
Without affirmative action pro
grams calling for goals and
timetables to be set, some institu
tions would never; run scared and
select a black American as a senior
fellow! Playing the Foleof a parrot
. forhe President can be misleading
to the unaware white readers of the
Wall Street Journal and dangerous
to the whole society.
Some people reading SowelPs ar
ticle will believe white America has
at last found what it always wanted
a black American soul sold for
little money, a minute amount of
media limelight and the promise of
eternal whiteness from the White
House. (Required reading: Andy's
White House Year. Whether or not
the White House is hiding behind
these written continuing attacks on
.affirmative action programs across
the country is academic. :
, A person who would deny his
own : brothers and sisters, his
children and' their children and their
children's children a chance fpr ;.
E, Belle
equaf opportunity can be cut down
even with the President propping
him up.
Understanding the need for affir
mative action programs for pro
moting black Americans and other
minorities requires a mentality ap
parently lacking in the make-up of
the present administration. All of
nineteen black Americans have been
appointed out of the first 400 top
Reagan Administration positions,
or four per cent versus a national
black American average of 12,
33 is a failing grade when you are
going for 100.
In the event the President believed
in quotas, black Americans, yeah,
black Republicans, would occupy
over 100 more jobs just in the top
administration. Naturally, these
ron-S,owell., like, appointees then -u
jtould needle the nest of gover nmehf v '
jobs Tor other highly qualified black '
America.
The aim. of the administration
seems somehow kin to Walter
Berns' blast as written in the Wall
Street Journal, August 5, 1981.
Berns bellows "Every federal ex
ecutive knows, or ought to, that the .
equal employment opportunity pro
gram has been corrupted beyond
recognition. . .' ,..
A thought from a resident scholar
at the American Enterprise institute
(think tank for out of office or
retired Republican and other con
servative creatures). Berns belittles
the former head of the Equal
Employment Opportunity Coun
cil, Eleanor Holmes Norton;
No one who can appreciate the
remarkable acceleration of all
women regardless of their color dur
ing Ms. Norton's tenure should take
lightly this attack on affirmative ac
tion programs. , .
: Since Sowell appears but a single
tool in this planned destruction of
affirmative action programs, '
perhaps we protest too much.
Nevertheless, ''the end of preten
sion, coming out of hiding," has a
joy only Sowell will know when at '
last he sings the song of his soul,
"Lift every voice and sing." And we
know he can sing.
Many critics of the Reagan Administra
tion have alleged that "it has no foreign
.policy." But as far as apartheid South
Africa goes, it seems that Reagan's policy
is all too clear. Consider the following:
Item: On March 13th U.S. Ambassador
. to theUnited Nations Jeanne Kirkpatrick
met with five , leading South African
military officials in open contravention of
stated U.S. policy. Observers recall that
when a similar meeting took place bet
ween Andrew Young and a PLO officials,
the Carter Administration official was
sacked immediately. . "'. '
Item: When the issue of comprehensive
' sanctions against Pretoria arose recently
in the U.N.; Ambassador Kirkpatrick ex
ercised the U.S. ."veto."
Item: On May 14 Secretary of State
Alexander Haig engaged in intensive talks
in Washington with South Africa's
Foreign Minister Roeiof (Pik) Botha.
Haig called for a "new beginning of
mutual trust and confidence between the
U.S. and South Africa, old friends who
are getting together again. . . .South
Africa can rely on (the U.S.). . . ."i
Earlier, President Reagan had praised '
South Africa as an "ally" that had stood
by the U.S. in past wars, despite the fact
mat tne present leadership there had been
interned during World War II because of
explicit Nazi sympathies.
Item: The State Department has ap
proved the visit of the South African
rugby team, the Springboks, for a series
of games in Chicago, Albany and New
York in September. African nations, led
by Nigeriaj have raised the specter of a
boycott of the 1984 Olympics scheduled
for Los Angeles.
Item: The Organization of African Uni
ty (OAU) at its most recent meeting in
Nairobi condemned the Reagan Ad
ministration for stalling on a settlement in
Namibia (Southwest Africa) and col
laborating with South Africa against the
authentic representative of the Namibian
people SWAPO (Southwest Africa
Peoples Organization).
Item: The Reagan Administration has
come out strongly for repeal of the
"Clark Amendment" in an effort to
destabilize the government of Angola, a
prime supporter of SWAPO.
Item: The Washington-based black lob
bying group TransAfrica released a series
of internal State Department memos that
document in detail this U.S.-South Africa
attempt to prevent SWAPO coming to
power and maintaining Pretoria's illegal
occupation of Naniibia.
These diDlomatic maneuwrinoe arm ;
mctely.lhe-Uip.of.the iceberg i The U,S.i '
Motors, Ford, Firestone, etc., while shut
ting down plants in the U.S. have been
moving operations in droves to South
Africa to take advantage of the cheap
black labor there. U.S. Corporate invest
ment in the land of apartheid has been
growing at an astonishing 25 per year,
the most rapid rate of any U.S. foreign'in
vestment. Hundreds of U.S. monopolies
have found a home in South Africa and
right now the U.S. V continues to be
Pretoria's largest trading partner, expor-
lLh.l!une of J2-5 biI,in and importing
$3.3 billion. : ,.
The OAU countries, Nigeria in par
ticular, have expressed a growing concern
with , the direction of Reagan policy
toward South Africa. In a recent New
Tlmes interv'ew, Dr. .. Chuka
Okadigbu, . senior political advisor to
President Shenu Shagair, said Nigeria had
not excluded its "oil weapon" against the
Wad
Nigeria's trade alone, dwarfs the
amount of commerce done with South
Africa and the U.S. investment in the il
industry of Gabon, Cameroon and other
west Aincan nations is rising daily, along
with dependence on this source. Nigeria
supplies about 13.5 of U.S. oil imports
and ranks second to Saudi Arabia among
foreign oil sources. The importance of
Nigerian oil to the U.S. economy is
' magnified by the fact that their crude is
sweet oil," which, unlike oil from the ,
Persian Gulf, is largely light, low in sulfur
and ideally suited for refining into
gasoline.
In short, the volume of U.S. trade with
Nigeria is twice as big as U.S. trade with
South Africa. Last year the U.S. exported
goods worth $1.49 billion to Nigeria but
imported goods valued at $10.95 billion
mostly oil leaving a staggering $9
billion deficit. Nigeria's threat to use the
, oil weapon" should not be considered
, idle and rhetorical. The British Petroleum
Company was banned from operating in
Nigeria and had its Nigerian assets na
tionalized in 1979 on the ground that it
had been selling oil to South Africa.
Dr. Okadigbu, barely concealing his
anger, described Reagan Administration
policy as "retrogressive" and expressed
particular disquiet about the proposed
tour of the South African rugby team. A
ban on U.S. athletes at international spor
ting events would h a
direction," he declared forthrightly.
There has been growing concern and
action m this country about the content of
Reagan foreign policy. The Philadelphia
Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade
Unionists has initiated a South African
Support Projecto support progressive
forces there politically and materially.
Tbey have rallied around the case of
71-year-old Oscar Mpetha, who has been
detained since last August at Captetown
Prison under what h nnt..:j .
- ,, "iniciu regime
'vteJftv1 and ther
labor leaders were arrested after strikes in
the industrialized Capetown area
threatened to shut down several plants.
Mpetha is also the former leader of the
Capetown branch of the African National
Congress (ANC) - the spearhead of the
liberation movement and is suffering
acute harassment because of this.
Transafrica is sponsoring ' "Freedom
Sundays." which began June 14. On these
Sundays,' churches will post detailed signs
describing the ravages of apartheid and
aiiempi to educate their membership
about South Africa and how events there .
affect us here,
" Across the country there are numerous
committees and persons of goodwill cam
paigning against apartheid, the vicious
system of segregation implanted illegally
in South Africa. This is nothing new.
During the Cold War, Paul Robeson and
' W.E.B. DuBois faced severe government
persecution because the organization they
led, the Council on African Affairs,
which was a. relentless critic of the cozy
relationship between Washington and
Pretoria. Even before this, at the turn of
the century, Afro-Americans responded
in masse to the call of John Dubye, a
black South African involved. in cam
paigning in this country against his
government's racist policies.
Yet, anti-apartheid organizers havi
long felt the need to come together yMef
one roof, confer and plot a ccordiHcS
national campaign against -jXS&jfin
Africa collaboration a need; ftitehtly .
felt in light of the dangerous" turn of
Keagan Administration torejguf policy,
Consequently, Coretta$Scott King,
Ossie Davis, the CoalitiofjM Black Trade
Unionists, the NationajfConference of
Black Lawyers, Jesse Mckson's Opera
tion PUSH, Randall Rooinson of Tran
sAfrica, a host of religious and trade
union organizations and numerous pro
minent personalities have issued a call for
a massive "Conference in Solidarity with
the Liberation Struggles of the Peoples of
South Africa" to take place October 9-1 1
1981 at New York City's Riverside
Church.
Co-sponsored by the two leading libera
tion movements of southern Africa
ANC and SW,APO and organized in
cooperation with the International Com
mittee Against Apartheid, Racism ad Col
onialism in Southern Africa (ICAA), the
conference is expected to be an historic
gathering and raise anti-apartheid
solidarity in this country to a new level.
The question 'of "runaway shops," or
U.S. plants fleeing with jobs to low wage
hayens in South Africa, the investment of
unions' pension funds in corporations do
ing business with South Africa, the spen
ding of tax dollars on military and nuclear
material for South African apartheid in
stead of health care, education and mass
transit here, are expected to be just a few
of the topics of primary concern.
F0r.:furtherinfotniation on the con
ference and the all-important local
organizing committees springing up
across the country, write Conference in
Solidarity with the Liberation Struggles of
the Peoples of South Africa, co United
Methodist Office for the United Nations,
777 U.N. Plaza, United Nations, New
iwk, juuw. can: (212) 661-0176.
A View Frnm Pimitnl Mill
Blacks Report South Africa
Becoming More Oppressive
By Gus Savage
memoer oj congress
"""TT-!!m",
i ill! villi rfnni-rin. t. 1 . nnilorn no n M Ai 1 ' . . . '
a,
You Sioufd Knov
si
M
Mmo
. Bom in Columbia. S.C' In
.1871, educated in New Hampshire;
He was a class orator and co-editor of
his college paper! He got his Ph.G in
1895; ' His m.D. r from Jefferson
Medical College, Philadelphia in 1906.
medical history with his pioneer work , A v ;
u.i im causes ana prevention of Tuberculosis. , He
also a celebfaTecl chronicler of Negro. History.
1
7
was -
Continental Features
I am still rennrtino frkm Vontro a'.u.
East coast of Africa. However, I an?
rePrtmS on my visit to . South Africa,
which I cut short, separating myself from
the congressional delegation with which I
am traveling, and flew here alone.
Last week, I was in Johannesburg, an
a:m,ode.rn city of 1.6 million people,
officially hly white. It is commercial, in-
dustnal, financial and media capital of
South Africa.
The more than one million blacks who '
labor hereabouts are forced to leave each
night to eat and sleep in a nearby ghetto, :
called Soweto.
. Anj estimated two million blacks are
forced to spend their nights in Soweto, the
largest concentration camp the world has
ever known. Most are tdmpelled to live
ten to fifteen in each bungalow, which
usually is no larger than twelve by fifteen
teet, or in all-male barracks called hostels,
forcibly separated from their families to
work in nearby gold mines.
The dirt roads of Soweto are well
patrolled by police, constantly checking
individual's indentification passes and
preventing them from leaving before day
and time for work. "
They are prisoners without rights, on
what in America we might call a kind of
work-release program but without
nope or promise of release ever, except
through their revolutionary seizure of
Fvwcr. i ney are mass imprisoned in
their own country, where they outnumber
their racist imprisoners by five to one. Of
South Africa's 28.5 million population,
fewer than five million are white.
Blacks are not allowed to select their
own employment or to own any real pro
perty, and only whites are permitted to.
' vote. . .
Nonetheless, the U.S. Embassy here of
ficially designates South Africa as "a
republic, despite admitting that tonly
whites may participate in the national
political process. Mdreover, Prime
Minister P. W. Botha's ruling National
Party only won about one million of the
2.5 million registered voters in the last
election. -
Also; the U.S. Embassy considers ihe
press in South Afri th r,t
AT1.. mr . "VVM III
Africa". Yet. as n Na?i nrnv
government owns the radir-TV hrnari.
casting authority, and some forty laws
restrict news reporting, including laws
against quoting 'banned" persons and
"communists" ("Banned persons con
stitute most who dare to publicly advocate
racial equality and political democracy).
For background purposes, let me note
that south Africa became wealthy through
the discovery here of diamonds in 1866
and gold 1886.
Yet, before that, this Bantu-speaking
area was. invaded in 1652 by the Dutch,
who subsequently, named themselves
Afrikaners. They enslaved the natives
through a series of brutal wars.
As late as 1879, the British colonial ar
my suffered a heavy defeat in its attemp
ted invasion of Zulu land. Vat British,
after the Afrikaners had settled as planta
tion operators, supplied the financing and
skills to exploit the area's rare minerals
and begin its industrialization. It was not
until the early part of this century that
Britain conceded the Afrikaners political
control.
Racism here is now officially known as
apartheid. And, according to South
African leaders, at present it is becoming
more exploitive economically and more
oppressive politically.
It is worse than the Third Reich because
its racism against the majority of its peo
ple, and its facism is grafted onto an
historically evolved internal type of col
onialism. The South African Prime Minister
defined apartheid in 1964: "South Africa
is a white man's coutry and. . . .he must
remain the master here. . . .There is no
place for (blacks) in the European com-'
munity above the level of certain form? of
labour For that reason it is of no avail
for him to receive a training which has as
its aim absorption in the European com
munity." Today, South Africa is comparatively
.an almost self-sufficient, major industrial
power. It consumes more steel and elec
tricity than the rest of Africa combined.
In 1980, the value of its gross national
product was $76 billion, 22 times that of
Zimbabwe. Currently, s it accounts for
one-fifth of the total production and one
half of the manufactured products of all
47 of Africa's sub-Sahara nations com
bined.
Helping to adcount for this essential
economic undergirding for facism, the
book value of direct U.S. investment in
South Africa by 1980 was $2 billion. In
addition, U.S. firms and agencies im
ported VA billion worth of South
African products.
, About 350 U.S. firms operate in South .
Africa and another 6,000 have agents in
this country,' Included are General
Motors, Ford, 3M, Firestone, Goodyear.
(Continued On Page 15
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