1985
Mikhail S. Gorbachev becomes general secretary of the U.S.S.R.
1985
Boris Yeltzin, Gorbachev’s protege, becomes head of the Moscow Communist party organization.
1985 January 5
Rep. William H. Gray (D-Pa.) becomes Chairman of the House Budget Committee, a distinguished position which has a powerful voice in governmental budgetary affairs. Gray, a black congressman, had enormous competition for the prized position which he had sought for several years.
1985 January 5
Sen. Edward Kennedy begins a visit to South Africa at the invitation of Noble Peace Prize recipient Bishop Desmond Tutu and forcefully speaks out against the country's apartheid system. Many South African blacks cheer him, however, the Azanian People's Organization (Azapo), a radical black group that is opposed to any cooperation with whites in their antiapartheid struggle, followed the Senator's tour and jeered him at every speaking event.Kennedy visited Winnie Mandela, the wife of jailed black nationalist Nelson Mandela, but his request to meet with the imprisoned leader was refused by the government.
1985 January 16
President Reagan holds a meeting with 20 little known
blacks from a variety of fields for the purpose of discussing an "agenda
for black progress." No nationally recognized black leaders are included,
thereby creating the impression of a symbolic gesture purely to enhance an
image, and also, within the black community, representing "callousness"
toward the underprivileged and programs for their health and well-being, even
those underscored by the administration such as self-help programs. Writing
about the meeting in the New York Times. Diane Compton asks the question "Where's
the support even for programs involving self-help?", and indicates that
federal loans for minority and small business were down as were "set asides"
for minority contractors. Robert L. Woodson, leader of the group meeting with
the President, stated that the purpose of the meeting was to "establish a
strategic alliance between the black community and the Reagan Administration."
1985 January 19
President Reagan states many black leaders distort his
civil rights record for partisan political reasons since they are committed to
the Democratic Party, and to "keep their constituencies aggrieved."
1985 January 29
A dispute between the NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense
and Education Fund may not be at an end even though a three-judge panel from the
appellate court decided that the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund could
continue to use the initials NAACP in it's name. Ruling that the length of time
that the parent organization had allowed the fund to use it's name, negated the
claim that the parent group had exclusive rights. Wrote Judge David Bazelon, "these
two great organizations, like brilliant but quarreling family members must
continue to share the NAACP initials with which they were born. " The NAACP
intends to take the decision to the Supreme Court. The fund was at one time the
legal arm of its parent and had fought and won many landmark civil rights cases.
1985 February 1
Clarence Pendleton, Chairman of the United States
Commission on Civil Rights, and Vice Chairman Morris Abram, state that they
support the Supreme Court decision invalidating affirmative action plans in
conflict with 'legitimate' on the job seniority programs.
1985 February 21
As a cost-savings measure the NAACP will move from its
headquarters in New York City to Baltimore by 1986. The association is
negotiating the purchase of a suitable building for $2 million in Baltimore
after being unable to find, in New York City, a suitable an economically sound
location not in conflict with their budget.
1985 February 25
Libyan leader, Col. Muammar Qaddafi, in a 30-minute
speech via satellite to the Nation of Islam annual Conference, urges black
servicemen to leave the military and form their own army to create an
independent and separate black state.
1985 February 26
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights gives enthusiastic
support to a Supreme Court decision giving the seniority systems in place in
cities that have affirmative action programs preference over recently hired
blacks when layoffs are necessary; even though the blacks were hired to remedy
previously contended discriminatory hiring practices. U. S. Civil Rights
Commissioners Mary Frances Beny and Blandina Cardenas Ramirez, in heated
disagreement with the Supreme Court and the Civil Rights Commission's report,
state that civil rights laws are designed to protect blacks, minorities, and
women, not white men. The statement creates new controversy as to the meaning of
the existence of the Civil Rights Commission.
1985 March 7
Charging that the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights had already
decided to oppose such measures as timetables and quotas, national civil rights
groups boycott hearings on the use of such goals to achieve racial balance or to
remedy discriminatory hiring practice.
1985 March 9
The late Clarence M. Mitchell Jr., often referred to as the
Senate's 101st Senator because of his ability to get his message across
effectively as a lobbyist for the NAACP, with whom he had a relationship for
some 40 years, is honored in Baltimore with the renaming of Court House West to
the Clarence M. Mitchell Court House. This is in commemoration of his years of
service to the cause of equality and justice. The ceremony is attended by
hundreds of friends, supporters, and family, including Supreme Court Justices
Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan.
1985 March 10
Soviet premier Konstantin U. Chernenko, Soviet leader for just 13 months, dies unexpectedly at age 73. His death will be announced on March 11th and Politburo member Mikhail S. Gorbachev will soon be chosen to succeed him.
1985 March 13
Clarence Pendleton, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights, estimates that after the issue of preferential treatment is settled the
Civil Rights Commission should be abolished. Responsibility for civil rights,
says Pendelton, should be in the hands of the Justice Department and the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission.
1985 March 22
At the Joint Center for Political Studies Annual Dinner,
black economist Andrew Brimmer contends that economic progress for blacks is
being hindered not by discrimination alone, but by a lack of education and/ or
marketable skills. Brimmer argues that although discrimination is part of the
problem, "Certain problems are not a matter of circumstance but a matter of
choice for black people," and cites, as contributory, high teenage
pregnancy rates and black youth joblessness caused by frustrated job search
efforts .
1985 March 22
According to the Joint Center for Political Studies, there
were more black mayors elected (3 1) in 1984 than in any other single year. This
was attributed to the presidential candidacy of Jesse Jackson, the enthusiasm
for him and his ability to turn out the black vote.
1985 March 24
Patricia Roberts Harris, former Cabinet secretary, diplomat
and lawyer, dies of cancer at the age of 60, in Washington, D.C. (see biography
in section on Voter and Elected Office Holder).
1985 May
Muslim militiamen attack the Shatila and Burj-el Barajneh Palestinian refugee camps. According to UN officials, 635 are killed and 2,500 wounded. During a two-year battle between the Syrian-backed Shiite Amal militia and the PLO, more than 2,000, including many civilians, are reportedly killed.
1985 May 1
A statue of Martin Luther King Jr. is dedicated at the
Washington Cathedral (Washington, D.C.), as a memorial to his comprehensive
contributions and celebrated leadership in the struggle for civil rights.
1985 May 6
The Federal Government and the state of Maryland reach
tentative agreement on a plan to desegregate the state's public colleges and
universities White enrollment at traditionally black colleges will be increased
to 19% and black enrollment at predominantly white schools will reach 15% from
11% The implementation of such plan is to take 5 years.
1985 May 10
Warith Deen Muhammad, son of the late Elijah Muhammad,
founder of The Nation of Islam, disbands the organization inherited from his
father and renamed the "American Muslim Mission." He urges his
followers to join the international Muslim community.
1985 May 13
THE PHILIDELPHIA SEIGE: In a residential section of West Philadelphia, a state police helicopter drops a bomb upon the roof of an Osage Street house, igniting a can of gasoline and causing a six alarm conflagration which kills 11 members, 4 of whom were children, of a black radical group known as MOVE, and destroys two city blocks of homes leaving some 300 people homeless. Since the arrival of MOVE in 1982 a group described as believing in anarchism and the rejection of technology, neighbors had filed numerous complaints and accusations with the police. However, no effective action was taken until an appeal for direct involvement was made to Mayor Wilson Goode who, after initial hesitation, gave in to community pressure and sent in the police, citing housing violations and unpaid utility bills.In response, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Chairman Clarence Pendleton accuses the House subcommittee chairman of racism for repeatedly raising questions about why more blacks, minorities and women have not been appointed. Rep. Edwards says Pendleton 's statements show he is unqualified to head the commission.
1985 May 20
The FBI arrests John Walker Jr. and accuses him of spying for the USSR.
1985 May 28
David Jacobsen, director of the American University Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, is abducted by pro-Iranian kidnappers. He will be freed 17 months later.
