SAT..KJCM23,13
Why We Need A Third Political Force
A Position Paper On The 1980 Election
Politically, tne united
States is shifting
dangerously to the right.
At the same time,
domestically, her
economy continues in
crisis with high and rising
unemployment and infla
tion (called stagflation);
school systems are in trou
ble ' and threatened with
collapse (e.g., Chicago,
Cleveland and New York);
our urban centers con
tinue to deteriorate
through neglect, rot and
decay; , our people
(especially the poor) are
ill-housed and ill-fed; and
the health care needs of
our people are threatened
because of staggering and
escalating health care
costs, while the U.S. re
mains the only industrial
nation in the world
without a national health
insurance system.
Internationally, we feel !
threatened from without,
but seem to think that in
creased military spending
(i.e., "might is right"),
rather than seeing a
longer-range perspective
consistent with our na
tional ideals (i.e., "right is
might") as the dominant
approach we should use. j
A third political force
must emerge and raise' a
political agenda that is
tough-mindedly realistic,
but at the same time
militantly committed to
peace and justice, both at
home and abroad. ,
Our present options are
too limited. We are
philosophically open to
the Republican option,
but the candidates who'
have thus far emerged as
the front runners leave us
with no live options in the
Republican camp. Bush,
Reagan, Connally, Dole
and Crane have made
their appeal abound such
narrow political issues and
interests that there is no
room for us in their vision
or their political house;
Baker is better, but only a ,
possible option. Anderson '
is a real option, but has
' MHm'lfM . to faintly
minimal mass support ;
among his fellow j
Republicans. '
On the Democratic side,
the options are greater ,
Carter, Kennedy and i
Brown but even here
each of them represents a ,
mixed bag of positive and
negative political factors.
In some ways, Brown
has many visionary ideas
and has been courageous.
On registration for the
draft, he has been for-!
thright and progressive.
On energy, he has warned
us of the costly economic,
health and safety factors
relative to the continued'
use of nuclear and other
forms of non-renewable
energy supplies. He argues
for a transition to more
benign forms of energy
use. On economics, he
argues persuasively for
more economic in
terdependence and
cooperation through a
North American Common
Market comprised of the
U.S., Canada and Mex
ico. However, he has also
appeared to be without
political conviction on oc
casion, such as his about
face on Proposition 13.
He seems to align himself
with the "new conser
vatives" with his call for a
constitutional convention
in support of an amend
ment to force a balanced
"budget and limit federal
spending.
Senator Kennedy also
seems willing to shift with
the political winds. In the
days when Governor
George Wallace had a lit
tle following, he sought an
accomodation with him.
Even though he has ac
cumulated a liberal record
in his seventeen years in
the Senate, when it ap
peared that he was posi
tioning himself to run for
the presidency in 1980, he
shifted his emphasis to
projecting a more conser
vative image. Then on
January 28, 1980, at
Georgetown University,
he again tried to light the
liberal torch.
In spite of the rekindl
ing of his liberal torch we
must not forget that
Senator Kennedy is still a
co-sponsor, with Senator
Strom Thurmond (name
the last time Senator
Thurmond did anything
for the people, especially
black people), of SB-1722,
the Criminal Reform Act,
that contains some very
repressive and dangerous
threats to our constitu
tional liberties. Senator
Kennedy has no blacks in
his inner-circle of ad
visors. Senator Kennedy
enthusiastically and ag
gresively helped to defeat
Senator Edward Brooke
the first and only black
senator to be elected to
Congress since
Reconstruction in his
time of personal difficulty
and political weakness.
Senator Brooke did not
act in the same manner
and campaign against
Senator Kennedy when he
was .aced with a similar
personal tragedy. Senator
Kennedy's position on the
Middle East, the most
volatile area threatening
world peace and the flash
p(nt ffor4 4othot and
blcf:war, is based on "an"
unworkable formula. He 1
can no longer afford to ig-'
nore the Palestinian ques
tion. Also, Senator Kennedy
has had relatively little to
say and has not been par-'
ticularly aggressive regar
ding this country's need
for a positive relationship
with the nations of Africa,
nor has he spoken out
forcefully about the U.S.
partnership with the apar
theid regime in South
Africa. So, though
Senator Kennedy's liberal
domestic and generally
progressive foreign policy
is appealing, it is not
unblemished and is not
different enough from
President Carter's to
automatically command
our support.
President Carter, as an;
incumbent president, is
also a live option. He
came to office because of
the black vote, yet he too
has been very disappoin
ting in many ways. He has
virtually abandoned his
domestic agenda and pro
gram. It is contradictory
for him to say that his
"number one priority is
Prosidoot Appoints Sovea
Blacks To U.S.-Liborian
Rotations Group
WASHINGTON Pre
sident Jimmy Carter this
week announced the ap
pointment of seven blacks
to be among eleven
members of the Presi
dent's Commission on
United States-Liberian
Relations. They are:
Theodore R. Hagans
Jr., a Washington, D.C.
businessman, developer of
the New Fort Lincoln
residential community and
president of the National
Business League.
James H. McGee,
mayor of Dayton, Ohio.
Dayton is the sister city of
Monrovia, Liberia.
Ms. Eunice Lockhart
Moss, president of a
management consulting
firm for small businesses
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
a former participant in
such programs as the
Overseas Development
Council Transnational
Dialogue Project.
inflation," and then in
crease military and
defense spending by five
per cent beyond the cur
rent inflation rate, since
the military and spending
on the Vietnam War is the
root cause of our present
inflationary problems,
and, economically speak
ing, non-cyclical military
spending generally is one
of the major contributors
to the spiraling inflation
rate. The prospect of the
1980's being similar to the
1970's, under the present
Carter economic and
domestic policies and pro
grams, is not a very bright
future indeed.
More than anything
else, the country (and
blacks, Latinos and the
poor in particular) need a
jobs plan. Yet an adequate
one is not forthcoming
from the Carter ad
ministration. Even with
inflation, those workers
with jobs are better able to
cope than those without
jobs. Carter reluctantly
supported the Humphrey
Hawkins Bill as a can
didate, then helped to gut
it and reduce it to a full
employment policy (not a
plan) when it came to
passing the legislation
and now he even wants to
water that down through a
two-year delay in its full
implementation.
We, too, are extremely
concerned about inflation
(since we suffer the most
from it), but Carter has
chosen to fight it through
the use of monetary and
fiscal measures, which
have been ineffective. So,
in effect, he is fighting in
flation through higher
unemployment, or at the
expense of what we need
most jobs. So we are
BY REVEREND JESSE L. JACKSON
National President, Operation PUSH
extremely displeased with
Carter's skirmish against
inflation.
Two years ago he
declared energy to be "the
moral equivalent of war",
yet he has proposed solu
tions that exacerbate,
rather than solve the
energy crisis, and con
tribute to both inflation
and unemployment. ' His
solutions perpetuate infla
tion and unemployment
because they are capital
intensive (reliance on
nuclear energy, non
renewable resources and
synthetic , fuels are his
primary means), rather
than the safer, cleaner,
cheaper and more labor
intensive renewable energy
sources.
Thanks to Carter's
decontrol of natural ,gas
and crude oil prices, a
family of four will be forc
ed to spend an average of
$2,000 a year for the next
ten years in additional fuel
expenses. Decontrol
represents the biggest con
sumer rip-off of the
decade, as oil companies
will , reap $988 billion in
additional profits over the
next ten years, and the ex
cess profits tax does not
recoup it on behalf of the
American people.
A third political force
must emerge around the
theme, "Jobs and Justice
Register and Vote,"
that will entice both par
ties and all political can
didates to compete for our
agenda and our vote. All
politicians will respond to
a political constituency.
Our challenge is to build
and surface such a consti
tuency. We must build,
from the bottom up, a
sane, sensitive, just,
humane and peace agenda
i J
SYMPOSIUM HELD AT ST. AUG - Saint Auguitina's Collaga praaantad Its Seiranth Annual HaaKh Cmmt
Symposium on March 13 in the Fine Arts Auditorium. Dr. Georgia Jones, R.N., Ed.D., (canter) owner and director of
Hanson Rest Home. Inc., delivered the keynote address. Dr. Johnson, chairman of the Science and Mathematics Dwiiion
Saint Augustine's, and students joined the speaker in a rap session following the program.
that is broad based in
leadership, comprehensive
in perspective and deter
mined in will.
Who will constitute this
' "third political force"?
The black, the Hispanic,
the youth, progressive
labor, women, en
vironmentalists, the poor,
the dispossessed, the op
pressed and all those seek
ing a more just, humane
and peaceful society and
world. In what form
should their presence be
manifest? Essentially
through a combination of
direct action and political
action. We will be among
the leadership in mounting
marches and other forms
of drama and direct action
campaigns to educate the
people during the
primaries in key states in
1980.
Also, we snail stimulate
voter registration and par
ticipation campaigns, in
cluding the PUSH
EXCEL high school
diplomavoter registra
tion idea. There are 3.1
million high school seniors
graduating this spring, all
of whom will be eligible to
vote in November. We
contend that every high
school senior should come
across the stage with a
diploma in one hand sym
bolizing knowledge and
wisdom, and a voter
registration card in the
other symbolizing power
and responsibility. The
month of May should be
declared citizenship
education month and
students should be taught
how to operate a voting
machine, taught the dif
ference between a primary
and general election,
taught what a ward and
precinct is, and other
things pertinent to citizen
ship education and the
political process. In addi
tion, a concerted effort
must be made to conduct
voter registration drives
and encourage the
political participation of
the 11.2 million students
pursuing a higher educa
tion in the U.S.
We will encourage per
sons who identify with the
third force political move
ment and agenda to cam
paign and run for election
as committed and uncom
mitted delegates to the
political conventions, and
then leverage their votes at
the conventions on behalf
of our and the nation's in
Qontinued On Page 10
Frank E. Pinder, a
former official of the U.S.
Agency for International
Development with exten
sive experience in
economic development in
Liberia.
Thomas Queen, ex
ecutive director of
California Regional of
Oakland, California; an
investment banking firm.
Prezell R. Robinson,
president of St.
Augustine's College,
Raleigh. He is former
scholar in residence at
Nairobi University.
Randal M. Robinson,
executive director of Tran
sAfrica, a Washington
based : lobby for Africa
and the Caribbean.
Congressman William
H. Gray III will serve as
chair and Andrew F.
Brimmer, an international
economist, will serve as
vice chair.
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