Editorials & Comments
Abortion Or Welfare?
Since last month a Senate
Judiciary Subcommittee,
chaired by John East (R-NC),
has been hearing testimony for
and against the Helms-Hyde Bill
which would declare that “hu
man life should be deemed to
exist frt>m conception.” That
very definition has sparked con
siderable controversy in the
fields of Constitutional law and
medicine.
Furthermore, when the bill’s
sponsors, who indicate little
knowledge of constitutional law,
go so far as to insult the Ame
..rican people with crude stupid
. remarks about medicine, we
. have a need for real concern.
• Specifically, we are referring to
5 Senator Jesse Helms’ statement
; on TV that a woman could not get
: pregnant from rape and Senator
John East’s comment that if his
I mother had known he might get
; polio she might have aborted
, him.
Aside from this rhetoric is the
less discussed or publicized issue
of the social costs of a ban on
abortion. Without the right of
abortion, that is the right of a
• woman to have some control
over her own body, many un
wanted o* unneeded pregnancies
will occur. For reasons of con
tinued economic discrimination I
and less educational opportun- '
ity, black and-or poor women
will Share a disproportionate
amount of these unwanted preg
nancies.
These women, who are already
heavily dependent upon Aid For
Dependent Children (AFDC) are
also those most likely to be
affected by any law banning
abortions. This in turn means
there could be an eventual need
for increased AFDC payments
while at the same time public
assistance generally is being cut
by the federal government. A
parallel to this is the ending of
major portions of the CETA
program thus eliminating jobs
that give people a sense of self
worth and transferring them to
the unemployment rolls where
government is still paying the
bill for people to do nothing.
Considering that one-third of
U.S. families are receiving
public assistance, the banning of
abortion, like the ending of
CETA, is simply shifting the
federal cost from a less expen
sive program to a more
expensive program.
The banning of abortions
serves no useful purpose.
KegamsmiA Misplaced Philosophy
The other side of President
Reagan’s push to cut taxes (for
the rich) is the cutting of social
; program (for the poor), as noted
in the above editorial.
i This truly reflects supply-side
economics and the old trickle
down theory which are the
cornerstones of President Rea
gan’s domestic economic policy.
Basically, this policy says the
business tax reduction is de
signed to transfer more money to
• the rich with the expectation that
..they will use it to provide jobs
and income for those not rich.
> Equally important, Mr. Reagan
believes that the role of govern
ment must be substantially re
duced.
Implied in Mr. Reagan’s philo
sophy is the idea of the less
government the more free
enterprise capitalism and thus
we will all be better off and live a
more prosperous life.
The problem with this view
point is that it ignores what has
allowed free enterprise capital-'
ism to succeed in America. In
expressing the viewpoint of eco
nomis John K. Galbraith, hi
storian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
write in “The Wall Street Journ
al” (Ju. 2, 1981), “Capitalism
has survived because of a con
tinuing and remarkably success
ful effort to humanize the in
dustrial order, to cushion the
operations of the economic
system...It has survived because
of a long campaign, mounted by
liberals (in government), to
reduce the suffering - and there
by the resentment and the rebel
liousness - of those to whom the
accidents of birth deny equal
chance.”
Ten years earlier (1981) Piven
and Cloward stated this more
bluntly as the central theme of
their book, “Regulating The
Poor: The Functions of Public
Welfare.” They note that hi
storically public assistance is
initiated or expanded during out
breaks of civil disorder caused
by high unemployment and then
reduced as political stability or
peace is restored. In summary,
they argue “that expansive
relief policies are designed to
mute civil disorder and restrict
ive ones to reinforce work
norms.”
This is evident by the fact that
the Equally Economic Opportun
ity, Civil Rights and Voting
Rights bills all became law in the
1960s, the decade of the nation’s
most serious civil disorder in the
20th century.
We certainly do not condone
violence, but as people see their
jobs taken as a result of public
policy; as women see control of
their bodies taken by law; as we
see our president pursuing tax
benefits for the rich and saying
to others maybe the rich will
share theirs with you; as we see
threates to the Social Security
System as insane dollar
amounts are committed to mili
tary hardware; and as we see
billions of dollars used to aid
totalitarian governments only
because of their alleged opposi
tion to communism, we must
wonder is government really
getting small and having a de
clining impact upon our lives
n - m
the charlotte post
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IT ALL STARTED WITH A BUS RIDE
t FROM DOWNTOWN MONTGOMERY
K ALABAMA, BY MRS. ROSA PARKS FROM
m. THIS"BUS RIDE WITH HONOR* CAME
A NEW LEADER, WHO WAS TO CHANGE
W^THE THINKING OF THE ESTABLISHMENT
1
A Sense Of Pride In Being Black!
A View from Capitol Hill:
The Role Of Congressmen
By GusSavage
Member of Congress
Special To The Post
As the first black journal
ist ever elected to the
United States Congress, I
am delighted to have the
opportunity to write a
weekly column for member
newspapers of the National
Newspapers Publishers As
sociation. I was an editor
publisher for 26 years, in
cluding 16 years in that role
with the Citizen Newspap
ers and The Chicago Week
end, and I have been a
member of NNPA for 15
years.
inasmusn as mis is my
first column since my
election to Congress in No
vember,.I am taking this
opportunity to briefly in
form readers about my
view of the role of a mem
ber of Congress. In addi
tion, I will share with you
some of the highlights of
my first four months as a
congressman with particu
lar emphasis on those
issues with national signi
ficance. There are many
vital issues facing black
Americans today, and I
will touch on some of these
in this initial offering.
My perception of a mem
ber’s role transcends that
of the legislator. Specific
ally, I contend that a mem
ber of Congress - in
addition to his or her legis
lative duties - also must be
an agitator and at times an
educator.
There also is this matter
of bearing the label of
“freshman” when a mem
ber serves his first term.
Although I am called a
freshman in the 97th Con
gress, I have been involved
in public affairs and civil
rights issues for most of my
55 years on this planet.
Throughout the campaign,
it was stressed that upon
Gus Savage
i eacnmg congress, 1 aian t
intend to act anymore like
a freshman than Jackie
Kobinson acted like a rook
ie when he broke the color
line in baseball. You see, a
person with rookie experi
ence and freshman creden
tials could never win as an
independent from the
machine stronghold of Chi
cago. Don’t you agree?
Let’s get down to spe
cifics. I supported the Con
gressional Black Caucus’
alternative budget because
it was “the only act in
town” that, in any signifi
cant fashion, responded to
President Reagan’s chop
ping block budget cuts.
Earlier this year, while
addressing an Operation
PUSH rally, I said Reagan
is asking people to suffer
while profits soar. I de
scribed him as a “reverse
Robin Hood, robbing the
poor and giving to the
rich." I further stated that
this President gives little
consideration to the special
plight of black Americans
-- but the little he does gives
is worse than that of any
President in the past 50
years.
For instance, Reagan
shockingly argues that
“The taxing power of go
vernment...must not be
used to . bring about social
progress;” however, he
proposes to use it to in
crease private profits. In
addition, his Administra
tion plans to shift from
categorical to block grants,
representing a return to the
discredited “states rights”
concept under which
blacks suffered so much
during the first years of
this century.
I have said that some
times a member of Con
gress must be an agitator.
My entry into the deplor
able situation involving
3,500 laid-off workers of
Wisconsin Steel -- located
in my district in Chicago -
is a case in point. These
suffering workers and their
families have endured
great hardships since the
mill was shut down more
than a year ago. Since
January of this year, the
Commerce Department’s
Economic Development
Administration (EDA)
took over the mill and
currently is involved in
negotiations with potential
buyers, principally
American Spring Wire, a
Cleveland-based firm. The
Reagan Administration’s
plan to eliminate EDA
could drasticallv affect ne
negotiations to reopen the
defunct mill. Some 150 of
the workers and their fami
lies came to Washington 0n
April 9, at my invitation, to
lobby before Congress and
to confer with represent
atives of EDA, other Com
merce officials, and repre
sentatives of the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Cor
poration.
These workers saw their
paychecks bounce when
the former owner, Inter
national Harvester, called
in the note with Envirodyne
Industries, Inc., and fore
closed on the collateral,
followed by Chase Man
hattan’s refusal to honor
their paychecks.
i1. By Gerald C. Horne, ESQ —
Affirmative
Action
Reagan Trying To Struggle
The Reagan Administration has proved to
be the nightmare that the wildest dreams
had imagined. Food stamps are on the
chopping block, Social Security is under
seige, Medicare and Medicaid are being
heavily bombarded.
But jobs are the bottom-line and affirm
ative action over the years has brought
thousands of blacks jobs. But now, accord
ing to the major corporate organ “Business
Week” (May 25, 1981), “...a historic turn
about in Washington’s enforcement of equal
employment opportunity laws and regula
tions-the first such major shift since the
passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - has
been set in motion by the Reagan Ad
ministration and a conservative Congress.”
What these fiendish minds have come up
with is to “eliminate the entire concept of
affirmative action.” If this malevolent plan
is carried through, blacks would receive
their gravest setback since the passage of
the fugitive Slave Act. Indeed, if this plan is
carried through, some might begin to look
back on the 19th Century as the “good old
days” because our reality would become -
and unfortunately, this is no exaggeration -
a Ku Klux Klan dream, where blacks would
have no rights that whites were bound to
respect.
This “historic turnabout” was kicked off
by hearings called on May 4 by chairman of
the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Consti
tution, Senator Orrin Hatch, (R-Utah) an
unreconstructed foe of affirmative action.
Hatch has asserted falsely that affirm
ative action programs have undercut the
Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of
equal protection of the laws for every
citizen. As any school-child could tell you.
the exact opposite istheTcase tor it is goals, '
timetables and, yes, quotas that have
brought us closer to that distant oasis of
equality.
T._ il I • M _
in uicsc Hearings, senator naicn - wno
also holds down the powerful post of
chairman of the Senate Labor and Human
Resources Committee - denounced in un
duly harsh terms policies that allow em
ployers or institutions to be labeled dis
criminatory “on the basis of purely sta
tistical evidence and disparate effects
rather than on the basis of some demon
stration of discriminatory intent or purpose
or motivation.” He was joined in that
criticism by Morris Abram, fat cat New
York lawyer, former president of Brandeis
University and former friend of civil rights,
who testified that Congress should pass ^
legislation requiring that under civil rights
laws proof of discriminatory intent or
purpose be provided to establish bias - not
just proof that a law or policy had dis
parate impact on blacks.
Here, wittingly or unwittingly, these two
white males let the cat out of the bag. For
the Dixiecrats have been praying for such a
standard that would make proving a claim
of discrimination well-nigh impossible.
Even a lawyer who is barely literate can tell
you that if victims of discrimination have to
show intent on the part of employers,
they’re going to have to find letters and
documents -- i.e., material in writing --
where the employer says, “I intended to
discriminate against X” or the like.
Although racist employers have never been
known for their brilliance, it is submitted
that in these times even they have enough
sense not to put racism in writing.
trom i.apiioi Mill
Reagan Places Higher Value On Money Than Lives?
By Afreda L. Madison
Special To The Post
The Reagan Administra
tion has struck another
dagger into the human
rights policy. Especially, is
he showing that basic hu
man rights of Third World
people are subordinate to
the wealth of big corpora
tions: At the World Health
Organization (WHO) meet
ing of Geneva, President
Reagan instructed the
United States’ delegation to
vote against the WHO re
commendatory code for
marketing infant formulas
as a substitute for breast
feeding.
The United States largely
initiated the proposal for
developing the recom
mendatory code. In 1979 at
a WHO-UNICEF meeting
discussions and negotia
tions between govern
ments, UN agencies, pro
fessional societies, private
industry and public inter
est groups gave impetus to
the process. Comprehen
sive discussions were held
between groups and go
vernment agencies within
the United States.
Infant formulas manu
facturers have conducted
AMrrda I.. Madison
intense looDying through a
campaign of disinform
ation by alleging:
1. The proposed code
would be inappropriate re
gulations by an interna
tional body In truth the
code is only recommend
atory.
2. It will create global
standards In truth, the
code calls for individual
governments to take ac
tions appropriate to their
social and legislative
framework and objectives
3 Opponents say the code
is an abridgement of First
Amendment rights and re
strains trade. The truth,
the code’s provisions con
cermng restrictions on in
appropriate advertising
and marketing procedures
mav be adopted, with no
less appropriateness, then
the processes by which
some countries place warn
ing labels on cigarettes and
other items.
Muaies were presented
at the hearings held on the
abuse of some American
manufacturers in advertis
ing and marketing the in
fant formulas, especially
Nestle, Bristol Myers,
Moade-Johnson and Abvott
Laboratories infant formu
la companies. Nurses and
doctors who work in hos
pitals in Third World coun
tries were given bribes to
push those harmful formu
las Some sales persons
disguised as medical per
sonnel marketed the pro
ducts. Manufacturers' pic
tures showed a beautiful,
healthy looking western
world baby for advertise
ment purposes in poverty
striken Third World coun
tries. Use of the infant
formula has been proved to
be highly devastating to
these poor people. The un
sanitary conditions of con
taminated water, lack of
refrigeration, sterilization
facilities, and insect con
trol causes the formula to
contribute greatly to infant
diarrhea and malnutrition.
Of the 125 million children
less than one year old in the
world, over 80 percent are
in the developing countries,
where infant mortality is
one out of every five.
When it was announced
that the Uhited States in
tended to vote against
WHO code of marketing
and breastfeeding, Repre
sentative Thomas Harkin
and twelve other members
requested a meeting with
the President. This was
ignored. The letter stated
that these thirteen persons
would be speaking on be
half of 75 congressmen.
Two U.S. officials of the
Agency for International
Development resigned be
cause they abhor the Rea
gan decision.
When the vote was taken
on May 20, it was 95 to 3,
with 9 abstentions. The
United States was among
the negative. Some mem
bers of both Houses were
working to get the Admin
istration to rescind its vote
on May 22.
Senator Hatfoeld said
that the Administration's
action was sending a mes
sage to the world that the
United States is indifferent
to human needs.
It was stated strongly by
these congress members
and witnesses that the Ad
ministration's vote does
not reflect the views of the
majority of the American
people, and that such ac
tion will cause our nation to
lose credibility around the
world.
.senator Kennedy said the
President should listen to
people like the witnesses
rather than big corporation
executives Mr. Kennedy
stated that the Administra
tion, drug agency and in
fant formula companies
were asked to testify but
they refused.
In discussions in the
United States, these infant
formulas were withdrawn.
However, the Administra
tion condones their market
ing in developing nations.
Representative Ron Del
lums, who introduced a bill
in the last congress for
implementation of the code
recommendation; plans to
make a few changes and
introduce the bill in this
congress. Dellums said, at
a^press conference, that,
“Mr. Reagan's actions are
appalling. He campaigned
on improving the quality of
life and that his negative
vote on the code is a direct
contradiction, since it
shows he favors big cor
porations’ profits over pre
servation of life in Third
World countries.”
Alexander To
Leave For *
Farris Island
Drorester Oraas Alexan
der, son of Ms. Kay Fran
ces Alexander of 8131 Car
rolwood Drive, enlisted in
the Marine Corps this
week. According to Ser
geant Jerald Brides, a lo
cal Marine Corps recruiter,
Drorester enlisted in the
Delay Entry Program for
four years and has been
guaranteed training in the
Marine Corps Reserve Op
JflM
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