v , Energy Proposals Signal Windfall v
Hardships For Minorities
The "continuing discussion of the Administration's
proposals to deal with the energy crisis has generated lit
tle hope, and a lot of hoopla. , t
Unveiled , in dramatic stages to insure maximum
media attention, the new energy plan purportedly
presented a package of tough measures to address our
national dilemma, while forcing the oil industry to share
the high Costs of dwindling energy resources. The terms
of the energy proposals, however, fall far short of the
attendant fanfare, . ' ,
As delivered in Congress, the new energy plan boils
down td price decontrol of domestically produced oil,
with a recommendation for a windfall profits tax on ex
cessive oil industry profits. According to the broad
scope of the plan, the revenues generated would be us--ed,
in part, to provide an energy security fund for the
disadvantaged and finance research on alternative
energy sources. v
In an effort to shore u the President's populist im
age, Administration spokesmen have waged a non-stop
campaign, promoting the new energy plan as a series of
stringent measures against the profit-hungry oil com
panies. But, a careful review of the proposals reveals
some important, though unheraled, details.
Coo
0
Dr. Berkeley G. Barren
President
National Business League
Te Administration's tax provisions, lauded as a
substantial bite on windfall profits, may be more a
paper tiger than a tough and effective regulation. Many
Congressional leaders have expressed concern and skep
ticsm about just how hard the .Administration's
measures will tackle oil industry profits'. ' Moreover,
there is growing debate over the actual amount of
money that will be generated by this windfall profits
tax.
According to Administation projections, the tax
would amount to 50 of the profits accrued from
decontrol benefits. However, independent reports peg
the potential revenues at a much lower figure, and note
that although the rate may be 507, that does not mean
that half of the profits will go to the tax. In addition,
they note that a larger tax bite already exists in the form
of royalties, and federal and state excise taxes that the
oil companies must pay. And despite all the fuss about a
windfall profits tax, the benefits of decontrol will boost
oil industry profits by a whopping $5 to 10 billion in any
case.
More significantly,, the Administration's proposals
neglect to define the implementation procedures for the
energy security fund. Despite all the public interest
rhetoric, the new plan fails to provide adequate
economic protection for the poor and disadvantaged in
sat., mm ma , mtt:vKATzx-7
an already bleak and deteriorating economy,
. Such meager attention to the development of a means
to equitably distribute the burden of the energy crunch, .
encourages the assumption that the Administration has
been engaged in a symbolic exercise.
The poor and disadvantaged segments of this nation
already suffer a disproportionate hardship because of
the energy crisis. On an average, low income households
spend more than 20 of Us gross income on home fuels
and gasoline. In addition, poor people generally pay a
higher price for energy than their more affluent counter
parts. Therefore, the rising costs of energy will force the
disadvantaged, the poor and those on fixed incomes to
make bareboned cutbacks on the basic necessities of
life. -
The American people, in the President's words, are
being asked "to pay more for less. Already at .the
point of double digit inflation, the cost of living may
become intolerable if no economic guarantees are pro
vided for the hard-pressed disadvantaged while oil com'
panies reap huge bonanza profits. v
By fashioning an equitable energy program that en
courages research and exploration for alternative energy
resources, and discourages windfall profits for the oil
industry at the expense of those least able to afford it,
the Administration and the Congress could get down to
business for the benefit of AD Americans.
Helping Blacks T,o Share TV A
The Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley
Authority (TV A) has approved a plan I submitted to it
n to expand opportunities for minorities to share in the
agency's $3 billion annual work contracts throughout
the seven-state region. The plan calls for the creation of
a Center for Minority Economic Development which is
now underway. . .
This Center is designed to rectify the historical im
balance which has prevented black people who live in
the region from fully participating in TVA activities.
Since its creation in 1933, TVA has made few concerted
efforts to channel its development resources directly in
to the minority communities within its service area. This
is in spite of the numerous development programs and
activities in the Tennessee River drainage basin and its
adjoining territory.
The need for the Center is great. In 1976, only four
minority firms received TVA contracts for a total of
$119,726. This represents only .01 of all TVA con
tracts awarded for that year. More recently in 1978, 139
minority contractors received TVA contracts represen
ting $4.6 million or .08 of the total contracts awarded
Exporting lobs, Importing People
Unemployed blacks, and in deed all blacks in
America are caught in the trap of America's anomalous
position of exporting jobs and importing people, inten
sifying the already serious unemployment problem of
which mostly blacks are bearing its full brunt.
Recently, President Carter announced that he was
doubling the monthly refugee quota of Southeast Asia
from 7,000 to 14,000. Most of these are Vietnamese
boat people, trying to find their S'friends" with whom
they fought a senseless war. Except for Britain's Hong
Kong, most other countries of Southeast Asia In
donesia, Malaysia, Thailand are turning the refugees
away. America's expanded refugee quotas are in addi
tion to the normal annual immigration quota of
290 000
fhat the U..S.'; is accepting more refugees shows a
streak of decencv of which we all ; can be proud.
However; a puzzled-taolfc musMppear tnaayblaek
oSL.
By Rep. Harold Ford
FOWl
in 1978. This extremely low figure should be significant
ly upwardly adjusted with the creation of the Minority
Economic Development Center.
Although the Center will be involved with assisting
minorities to obtain more TVA contract opportunities,
it will also provide a framework for a more comprehen
sive approach to the economic development of the poor
people of the Valley. The Center, moreover, is designed
to allow for interaction of all minority organizations,
agencies, and institutions to achieve a broad-based and
well-coordinated economic development system.
Some of the more specific functions of the Center are
to design, develop and implement programs in the
following TVA areas:
economic research and analyses;
economicbusiness feasibility studies; minority purchas
ing and business development; management and
technical assistance in support of business and economic
development projects; sources and support mechanisms
for equity and debt financing and bonding; manpower
development and training; experimental and demonstra
tion projects in the development and alternative energy
t 1 1 1 ' 1 i i i . .
The Blfich Sidle off U(3sfagy0M
By Sherman Brisco NNP A
faces when we note that Haitian refugees are being put
back on the boat arid sent home. . .
We blacks, with twice the percentage of our people
out of work as whites plus forty to sixty per cent of our
young people jobless, are puzzled, too, by an American
policy which permits our multinational corporations to
move so many jobs overseas where they manufacture
everything from safety pins to tvs to automobiles, pay
ing the natives fifty to sixty cents an hour, and selling
the products here at home fonan inflated American
price. ... , . ; "tfis'isT
Ideally, there would be one-world without political
boundaries and quotas and passports and visas, and
everyone would be free to settle wherever he could find
a place. And work ancTfive and share with everyone. No
one should have to live on a boat, or go hungry, or be
denied health services, clothing, shelter, education, and
employment.
And all of this is very possible in our world and
should be accomplished. But the millenium has not ar
rived. In the meantime, why should blacks bear so large
a share of the bwdehTi;.--,.-;vv:Wv..,:
sources and in energy production, conversion and con
servation. The Minority Economic Development Center,
through this plan, should reverse conditions of exclu
sion which are costly to the entire nation in terms of
waste, human resources, and the loss of regional and
local technological and industrial capabilities.
The Center will create new jobs, strengthen the
business and industrial base and promote long-term
economic growth and development in minority and
poor communities throughout the Valley.
As the only black Congressman from the TVA
region, I felt it a responsibility to push for this plan. The
only way minority groups can effectively achieve such a
development program is for local representation of
minority interests to join forces in identifying their
economic and social needs and developing strategies,
based upon locally available resources, through which
the needs can be satisfied.
The Center has been studied for a long time. A plann
ing committee composed of minority business people,
professionals and other resource people shaped the final
draft of the proposal which was approved by TVA.
Chilean Racism
Congressman John Conyers of Michigan is to be
commended for his strong response to Chilean racism as
expressed by the president of that country's Supreme
Court who has refused to extradite three Chilean secret
police officials to the United States to stand trial for
their part in the murder of Orlando Letelier and his
aide.
Chile's Superme Court President Israel Borquez used
as an exuse (for not extraditing those charged) the racist
claim that a fair trial had not been conducted because a
black judge, the Honorable Barrington Parker, and a
black jury had found the defendants guilty.
Chile, of course, is a racist country like Argentina
where the Europeans drove the Indians out. The coun
try is 97 per cent white.
Also, if those responsible for Letelier s death were ex
tradited, they would likely be much higher up those
who overthrew President Salvador AUende, including
perhaps some members of the CIA who are said to have
lent a hekrina hand. . , -
A proposal to add another book to the 66 books of
the Holy Bible will be one of many topics confronting
the Black Theology Project at its third national con
ference in Cleveland, Ohio. Beginning August 1 and
lasting through August 4, the conference will meet at
Cleveland State University campus on the theme
"Mission of Theology: Theology of Mission".
"Yes, some of our delegates have advocated exten
ding the Holy Scriptures to reflect God's revelation in
the Afro-American context," says the Rev. Muhammad
Isaiah Kenyatta, director of the Black Theology Project
(BTP). "Some have suggested canonization of the
Letter from a Birmingham Jail written by Martin
Luther King, Jr.,' in 1963. Others have suggested the
Message to the Black Church and Community drafted
and adopted by 200 theologians and church leaders in
Atlanta in 1977."
(Canonization is the process by which a written work
becomes accepted as sacred text inspired by God. The
Protestant canon or Holy Bible includes 39 books in the
Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Roman
Catholic canon includes these 66 books plus seven
others. Canonized Christian scripture has remained vir
tually unchanged since the end of the Fourth Century
A.D.)
Contemporary black theologians as James H. Cone,
J. Deotis Roberts, Olin P. Moyd, Gayraud S. Wilmore
and others agree that Afro-Americans are a chosen peo-N
pie in the context of American Christianity just as the
ancient Hebrews were the chosen people in the Biblical
context. In traditional Christian theology, the chosen
people status has been extended to include the Biblical
church formed after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"Thus it is not surprising that a movement would
develop within American Christianity and especially in
black theology to extend Biblical canon to an inspired
BLACK CHRISTIANS WANT
BIBLE REVISED
black epistle," elaborates Rev. Kenyatta, a Baptist
minister and lecturer in sociology of religion. "The
sacred letter or epistle is also a common Biblical form.
Martin Luther King, the black Christian writing to the
white churches of Birmingham, parallels the Apostle
Paul, a Jewish Christian writing to the Roman chur
ches." However, Rev. Kenyatta and other BTP spokesmen
emphasize that the canonization concept is only to be
one of many proposals discussed by the 300 delegates
and observers expected to attend.
The conference's main thrust will be "practical
theology" according to BTP chairman, the Rev. Fred
Douglas Kirkpatrick of New York. Unemployment,
African liberation and youth evangelism are three
critical issues requiring coordinated strategies by black
churches and community ministries, says Rev.
Kirkpatrick.
The Rev. Gregg Brown, a BTP executive committee
member and leader of the National Youth Mobilization
for Jobs, sees the issues of unemployment and youth
evangelism as related. Rev. Brown, of the Stuyvesant
Heights Christian Church in Brooklyn, asserts that
churches must become militant advocates for jobs,
quality education and high moral values to regain the
respect of youth and young adults.
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In addition to such domestic issues, BTP conferees
will ponder the "Theology of Mission" in its interna
tional dimensions. The Rev. Dr. L. Maynard Catchings
will address the problems of overseas mission from a
black perspective, drawing on over twenty years of mis
sion involvement in the Third World. Dr. Catchings
presently serves as a staff executive with the United
Church Board of World Missions and is a founder of
the Pan African Skills Project related to the National
Council of Churches.
Highlighting the international focus will be a keynote
address by journalist Dumisani Kumalo, a South
African exile, who has lectured extensively in the United
States under sponsorship of the American Committee
on Africa. Joining Kumalo will be various represen
tatives of liberation movements from Zimbabwe,
Namibia and South Africa.
Attorney Almanina Barbour, a black Quaker (Society
of Friends) scholar and Philadelphia attorney, will ad
dress the "Mission of Theology" theme relative to per
sonal ethics and social witness. Other invited guest
speakers include the Rev. Dr. Phillip Potter, president
of the Switzerland-based World Council of Churches;
director Owen Brooks of the Delta Ministry in
Mississippi, and the Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker,
general secretary of the International Freedom
Mobilization.
On-site conference registration begins at 6 pjn. on
Wednesday, August 1, at the University Christian
Movement (see Rev. James Leehan, 2012 Euclid
Avenue) and at the Cleveland Interchurch Council of
fice of conference host pastor, the Rev. Thomas L. Mc
Cray (2230 Euclid Avenue). Registration fees are $20
per person; $25 per family, and $10 for students or
unemployed persons. The public is invited. Pre
registration by mail is $15. Interested persons of all
races and religious affiliations can pre-regifter or re
quest information by writing: Black Theology Project,
P.O. Box 63, Chester, Pa., 19016.
Telephone contacts are Rev. Thomas McCray
(216)621-5925; Rev. James Leehan, (216)382-7248; and
Rev. Kenyatta, (215)527-1865 or (215)649-4709.
Special Fcaturof
Continued from front
sons are expected to at
tend the conference whose
theme is "Mobilizing for
the Challenges of the
80's."
The NUL last met in
Chicago in 1943 when the
Conference theme was
"Victory Through Unity"
focusing the nation's at
tention on the need to put
aside racial hostilities and
include blacks in the war
effort by bring down
segregated barriers in
defense industries and by
integrating the armed
forces.
Headquarters for the
1979 conference is the
Conrad Hilton Hotel. The
more than 200 exhibits
which comprise the exhibi
tion portion of the con
ference will also be housed
in the Conrad Hilton.
r Registration to the Con
ference is ' open to the
'- TmPammaIiaii VMM..
Iuuuiiw. iiiiui uiauvm may
be obtained by contacting
the National ., Urban
League V Conference
Department, 500 East
62nd Street, New York
New York 10021. -
You dont htv to borrow
, your neighbor'! copy of
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