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About Portland challenger. (Portland, Oregon) 1952-19?? | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 1953)
Passing: Impossible Race Pride: Harmful /Í H (P o r tU u d J BY H. J. B EL T O N H A M ILTO N . JR. S p ecial W rite r, T h e P o r t la n d C h a lle n g e r T h e te rm “p a ss in g " h a s been th e su b je c t m a t te r of in n u m e ra b le m a g a z in e a n d n e w s p a p e r f e a t u r e a r t i c l e s . I t h a s caxised a n g u i s h e d o u t c r i e s o f d e n u n c i a t i o n a n d q u i e t a c c e p t a n c e , g o n e u n n o t i c e d . T h e C h a l l e n g e r , in k e e p i n g in lin e w ith it s p o lic y to k e e p a b r e a s t w ith th e c o m p le x in g p r o b le m s f a c in g m a n to d a y a n d k eep in g its n e w s c o lu m n s open a s a c h a lle n g e to th e re a d e r, p r e s e n ts th is in v ig o ra tin g — a n d to so m e s e n s itiv e o r c o n tr o v e rs ia l— a r tic le b y M r. H a m i l t o n . T h e a u t h o r h o l d s a n A B d e g r e e f r o m S t a n f o r d u n i v e r s i t y an d a tte n d e d th e U n iv e rs ity of P o rtla n d . H e re c e n tly fin ish e d law school r t N o r t h w e s t e r n S c h o o l o f L a w ’. H e i s p r e s e n t l y w a i t i n g t h e o u t c o m e o f h i s e f f o r t s p u t f o r t h in th e O re g o n S t a t e b a r e x a m in a tio n . Volume 2, N um ber 7 P ortland, Oregon, F riday, A ugust 7, 19S3 PRICE 10 CENTS Three Denied PM J°ckeY Gets Pointers Food Service In recent years no o th e r facet of race relatio n s has received so m uch undeserved atten tio n in A m erican periodicals as th a t of so- called Negroes “passing” fo r Caucasians. So freq u en t have articles appeared on this su b ject th a t th e alert read e r is presum ed to be Rutherford's XXX fam iliar w ith m inute details of this social phenom enon. F or th a t re a Scene of Refusal son no attem p t is m ade h ere to restate or sum m arize w h at has been w ritte n on th e subject. This discourse p u rp o rts only to in terp réta te T hree persons w ere refused and evaluate certain attitu d es w ith respect to this phenom enon. The scope of this discussion is lim ited to w h at is th o u g h t to be th e th ree service at a drive-in resta u rant on the east side recently. m ost im p o rtan t elem ents of th e su b ject in question. D o N egroes R ea lly ' Pass" for C aucasians? From any collection of w ritin g s on th e su b ject of “passing” th ree things m ay be infered, nam ely, (1) T h at the te rm “N egro” refers to a black race of people, (2) th a t th e term “C aucasian” refers to a w h ite race of people and, (3) th a t w hile in th e presence of C aucasians some N egroes give th e im pression th a t they, too, are Caucasians. This does not m ake sense. U nless “w h ite people” a re color blind it is re- diculous to assum e th at, u n d e r p ro p er lig h tin g conditions, they m is tak e black (or even brow n) m en for w h ite men. It follows th a t “N egroes” do not pass for “w h ite.” A ctually, th e so-called passers are persons w hose N egroid featu res are overshadow ed by Caucasiod features. From a p oint of origin th ey are m ore E uropean th a n A fri can; from a point of racial ch aracteristics th ey are m ore C aucasian th a n N egro; and. as a m a tte r of color they are n o t black, b u t “u’h ite ” ! Such persons do n o t “pass” for w h ite—they are “w h ite.” It is m ore logical to consider them passing w hen they claim to be Negroes. The te rm “N egro,” as com m only m isused in th e U nited States, does not refer to a single race—b u t to versons of m any races. The “N egro race,” as it is know n in th e U nited S tates, is a flexible fic tion by reference to w hich th e social statu s of m iscellaneous p e r sons m ay be proscribed. The fiction of a N egro race in this country is not subject to a precise definition. As a g en eral rule, it m ay be said th a t the term “N egro,” as understood in th e U nited S tates, in cludes tw o d istin ct classes of persons, nam ely, (1) those w hose p h y si cal characteristics leads one to believe th a t some of such persons’ ancestors w ere A frican nativ es or (2) those w ho adm it some of th eir ancestors w ere A frican natives. The refusal cam e a fte r the sta te ’s civil rights bill had gone into effect, prohibiting discrim ination in public e a t ing, lodging and am usem ent places because of religion or race. The th ree persons, Mr. and Mrs. F elder Pace and Idee Stephens, w ere told they couldn’t be served “on the inside” of R u th erfo rd ’s X XX restau ra n t, 6120 N. E. Sandy boulevard. Pace says th a t th e th ree w ere n o t p erm itted to tak e a tab le on th e inside, b u t w ere m et by C harles R u th erford, m an ag er of th e re stau ra n t, and told “we can ’t serve you on the inside.” The C h allen g er contacted R u th erford an d he read ily adm itted the incident b u t blam ed b ad “seating a rran g em en ts” for th e refusal. He said his estab lish m en t does not refuse service to Negroes b u t n eith er does it encourage it. He doesn’t think, the it t tion w ill ev er come up again. Hal D uncan (left), chief d o c k e r at P o rtlan d M eadows, gives a few pointers to M artin Simon, jockey. D uncan is selector for the O regon Jo u rn al. Simon la te r rode Com et F rancis in th e featu red q u a rte r horse event, and clipped a fifth of a second from the 330-yard record. Martin Simon Makes Railbirds Take Note In Top Jockey Performances at Meadows BY W. CARRINGTON A s s i s ta n t P u b licity D ire c to r P o rtla n d M eadow s M artin Simon, popular young In the sense th a t it involves th e m ovem ent of a person o u t of one jockey from L ake C harles, Louis P atro n s D on't C om plain race to another, th e re is no such th in g as “passing.” In the sense th at iana, w ho m akes a specialty of it involves th e m ovem ent of a person from a restric ted social caste to R u th erfo rd said th a t his patrons riding th e jet-propelled q u a rte r an u n restricted one, “passin g ” is probably practiced w ith rem ark ab le have n ev er com plained of N e horses a t P o rtla n d M eadows, frequency. groes eatin g in his place because scored his first w in n er aboard they have n ev er had th e chance Com et F rancis in th e featu red W hat Is th e C urrent A ttitu d e T ow ard "Passing"? to. He feels th a t the sta te ’s civil q u a rte r horse event, at a distance It is unsound to single out an a ttitu d e w ith respect to th is p h e rights law is w rong and doesn’t of 330 yards, and set a new rec nom enon and label it th e prev ailin g one. In d iv id u al attitu d es differ believe it w ill stay in effect for a ord for th e P o rtlan d oval in the w idely. He w ho “passes” a p p are n tly feels him self justified in doing long period of tim e. fast tim e of 17.4 seconds, clipping so. He w ho does n o t “pass” adopts one of th ree views. He approves, he R u t h e r f o r d refused to say a fifth of a second off th e m ark is in d ifferen t or he disapproves. w h eth er he allow s his w aitresses established by Miss C apri on T here are those am ong us w ho sym pathize w ith any m ovem ent to refuse service to Negroes on Ju ly 25. w hich tends to destroy th e notion of a su p erio r (or even a p ure) race. the “inside.” He also refused to Simon, who has been riding To them the fact and pub licity of “passing” rep resen ts a clever trick say w h eth er o r not his re sta u ra n t for less th an three years, has a l played on th e so-called superiors by th e ir so-called inferiors and, at had refused service to Negroes ready established him self as a the sam e tim e, challenges th e ir claim of race p u rity . O thers sy m p a before J u ly 21 (w hen th e civil top-notch reinsm an in this field. thize w ith this m ovem ent because it p erm its a m em ber of an u n d e r rights bill w en t into effect). H ow Riding in the F u tu rity stakes privileged caste to raise his stan d ard of living. S till others approve ever, R u th erfo rd did m ake it clear a t Pom ona, C alifornia, last year of this m ovem ent for reasons personal to them selves. It is believed th a t his place of business did not he was conceded little chance of th a t the b u lk of p resen t-d ay intellectu als m ain tain an attitu d e of in discourage p atro n s of o th e r col w inning th e $5,000 classic, but difference to th e subject. On th e w hole, ex cep t for disapproving ored races o th e r th a n the Negro. readers, individual attitu d e s rem ain unexpressed. The C h allen g er has received num erous com plaints on th e R u th The reaction of th e disapproving o bserver is traceab le to d ivergent reasons. If th e o bserver is a C aucasian, he m ay disapprove of “pass erfo rd re sta u ra n t w ith in the p ast ing” sim ply because it gives him an unw elcom ed sense of an cestral u n tw o years. N egroes m aking these certain ty . If he be a person of A frican n ativ e ancestry, his reaction is com plaints say th a t they have freq u en tly one of jealousy. It is som etim es a feeling th a t this lack been refused service on the “o u t Dr. W alter Reynolds, son of Mr. of group consciousness th re a te n s his econom ic in te re st and h u rts his side” and th a t the reasons given and Mrs. Phil Reynolds, 1326 N. w ere alw ays “we don’t serve N e sense of “race p rid e.” Benton avenue, w ill soon open a groes.” C ertain politicians, professional and businessm en, feel in ad eq u ate m edical office in th e P rofessional ly p rep ared to com pete in an open m a rk e t w ith o th e r m en in th eir building on N. W illiam s avenue field. T he only m a rk e t for th e ir in ferio r goods and services is am ong and McMillen street. the “race p rid ests.” To p ro tect th e ir vested in terests they foster “race j Dr. Reynolds w ill occupy th e p rid e.” Some disapprovers have no in terest to p ro tect except th eir ! space now rented to Chick and false sense of race pride. Since the te rm “N egro,” as understood in • P a t’s, a card room. P ro p rieto rs of the U nited States, refers to a social caste of m any races, th ere can , Chick ad P a t’s plan to suspend be no tru e race p rid e am ong Negroes. If N egroes are to be proud of business for the rem ain d er of the Uncle S am ’s d ra ft arm s reached sum m er and open up this fall at th e ir races, they can be p ro u d only th c t they are h u m an beings. In o th e r w’ords, they are so m ixed th a t race p ride to them w ould m ean deep and cam e up w ith Lonnie a new location on N. Russell pride for all the races of m ankind. F u rth er, this is not p ride b u t a d e H arris in a recen t d ra ft board call. street. fense for a crippled ego. C ertain A m ericans som etim es say they arc 1 R eared in P ortland, a graduate H arris, th e sm ooth-fielding in proud to be Negroes. This statem en t is sim ply asinine. It is recognized of Jefferson high school and th e the w orld ov er th a t it is a handicap in th e U nited S tates to be a | field er-catch er for th e Produce U niversity of O regon M edical Negro. He who claim s he likes to be handicapped or punished is M erchants, is slated to rep o rt to school, Dr. Reynolds w ill fill in eith er a liar, a m asochist or an o rd in ary fool. As confusing as it F o rt Lew is A ugust 20. for Dr. D eN orval U nthank, 1631 seems, these are some of th e a ttitu d es ag ain st “passing.” The 26-year-old H arris is m a r N. W illiams avenue, w hile Dr. ried and the fa th e r of a girl. He U nthank goes to the hospital for W hat Is th e Proper A ttitu d e w ith R espect to P assing? m inor surgery som etim e this w as called to F o rt Lew is once b e m onth. If th ere is a p roper a ttitu d e tow ard this phenom enon, it m ust be fore b u t w as la ter rejected b e Upon the re tu rn of Dr. U nthank one of enligh ten ed indifference. H ere are a few suggestions to au g cause of a recu rrin g leg injury. to his office, R eynolds will open m ent this general a ttitu d e: Scheduled to go w ith H arris his m edical offices in the P rofes (C ontinued on page 2) are P at Nelson and Chili Baines. sional building. Medical Doctor To Open Office Draft Calls Four From Community caused a surprise w hen he piloted his m ount, B ardella, hom e to the w ire, settin g a new record for the trac k course. Few N egro Jockeys A lthough the absence of N egro jockeys is conspicuous a t th e m a jo r track s th roughout th e country, W illiam P. K yne, general m a n ager of P o rtla n d M eadows, and the C alifornia Jockey club a t San M ateo, invited the young Negro to v isit P o rtlan d M eadew s and d em o n strate his ability. A lready Sim on has won a large following due to his skill in h an d lin g his charges. Baker Confined To Hospital Bed H erm an C. B aker, 1278 NE W heeler avenue, is still confined to P rovidence hospital w here he w as tak en recen tly w ith an in te rn a l hem m orhage. B ak er’s con dition is rep o rted poor. He has had several blood tra n s fusions b u t his condition rem ains w eak .according to relatives. Sec. 34.66 P.L.&R. U. S. PO STA G E PAID P erm it No. 816 PORTLAND. OREGON J ’ Cr „o- g* <v cf <>**? ^ a , .<?