PORTLAND/OBSERVER Oct. 29, 1970
Fire Deaths
Real Tragedy of Uncle Tom
Breakfast with PACE
learns from others
By FATHER GORDON DICKEY
Valuable information can be
obtained through the "P o lic e -
Community Relation Breakfast’ ’
on Wednesday mornings at Cen-
t e n a r y - W i lb u r
Methodist
C h u r c h . According to Rev.
Harper Richardson, an excellent
program of crim e prevention
comes out of the experience of
M o n t e r e y Park, C alifornia.
Their program of citizen par
ticipation in reducing crim e is
called, a PUBLIC ANTI-CRIME
EFFORT o r PACE.
"The goal of this community
e ffo rt,’ ’ according to Rev. Ri
chardson, " Is the protection of
life and property, and the pre
vention of b u r g l a r i e s and
th e fts ." What brought this city
to the PACE Program was the
c h o ic e of doubting the police
manpower, o r to involve c iti
zens in securing th e ir own com
munity.
Monterey P a r k was divided
in t o thirty-one reporting dis
tric ts . A daily record was kept
of all offenses committed, per
sons arrested, what accidents
occurred. Each d is tric t then had
a picture at any tim e of the type
of crim e occurring and their
frequency in each d is tric t.
At d is tric t meetings, citizens
were asked to react to the kinds
of service rendered by the Po
lice Department.
Q uarterly, the crim e statis
t i c s were reviewed and ana
lyzed. A t t e n t io n was then
directed to areas where addi
tional citizens support in the
prevention of crim e was needed.
Strategy of citizens* groups
placed emphasis on selected
kinds of crim e, and to work to
reduce th e ir incidence. Auto
thefts, night time burglaries,
assaults, etc. Each was concen
trated upon in turn.
One of the features of the
Monterey Park Program is to
te a c h householders security
m e a s u r e s . The importance of
lighted areas was discussed; the
effectiveness of the dead bolt
and chain was stressed. What to
do when you have a prow ler in
your home was discussed; what
neighbors can do fo r each other
when away from home was de
scribed. W h a t is happening
across our land are new con
cepts of police work. People are
coming to see that law enforce
ment ca rries with it aspects of
problem solving. We need more
effort on the prevention of
crim e, peace-keeping through
problem -solving.
E llis H. Casson
Assistant to the
Superintendent,
Portland Public Schools
which to fight. He Is recorded
in fa ir weather and foul.
as having said, "When I fight,
When the black spokesman
I want to whip somebody."
seeks to do his thing outside the
Today's perverse usage of the
established lines, then he Is
term , Uncle Tom, has meant
moved against. And the evidence
History - like God - works In
rejection for a long list of d is
In overwhelming. A D r. King is
mysterious ways its wonders to
tinguished black spokesmen and
murdered, a Malcom X is
perform .
personalities. The confusion Is
gunned down. A Muhammed All
A clear and present example
further compounded by black
Is toppled from his champion
of this Is found In the branding
m ilitants who lump everyone
ship, a Paul Robeson Is black
of some blacks by others with
over 30 in that same ignoble
listed, a W.E.B DuBols is ex
bag.
a mangy accusation of "Uncle
iled, a Bobby Seale is gagged,
T om ." The equivalent of such
Among those who have been
and Josephine Baker Is s i
b r a n d in g among Christians
so dubbed are: The late Dr.
lenced.
would be to call one a Judas;
Martin L. King, Roy Wilkins,
More than a decade ago,
among American patriots, a
Whitney Young, Ralph Bunche,
Louis Armstrong was assailed
Benedict Arnold; among slave
Adam C. Powell, Joe Louis, Ray
as a top Uncle Tom because of
rebels, a house nigger.
Campanella, Jackie Robinson,
his "eyeballing" antics on tele
T h e irony is that when
Louis Armstrong, the late Nat
vision. But when Satchmo tru m
H a r r i e t Beecher Stowe Intro
King Cole, and others Including
peted his anger over the tre a t
duced the character in 1852 in
this w rite r.
m e n t of "nine black kids at
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," she In
Probably the most tragic con
L ittle Rock, Arkansas" by te ll
vested him with such nobility
sequence of this kind of buck
ing the government to go to hell
and sympathy that m illions of
shot branding is that it robs the
and refusing to be part of a
people the world over were won
black community of a prim e
goodwill troupe abroad, he pro
over to the great antislavery
condition that Is Indispensable
tested effectively in a way that
cause.
to Its own progress: unity In Its
some of his detractors couldn’t
The original Uncle Tom re
own ranks. This, of course,
have done.
fused to become a field d rive r
poses the question: Unity for
Many a Black M ilitant, who a
fo r the hated slave owner,
what purpose?
few years back shouted his con
Simon Legree, because he could
That purpose should t>e the
tempt at Dr. King as an Uncle
not bring him self to whip other
elevation of blacks to equality In
Tom, today In retrospect see
slaves. For such refusal, Uncle
every facet of American p o liti
the questions quite differently.
T o m was m ercilessly beaten.
cal, economic and social life .
The evidence demonstrates that
Following the beating, Legree
Apart from fragmenting the
most black leaders have helped
ordered him to proceed with the
community, charges of Uncle
in the forward thrust of black
flogging of Cassie, a proud and
Tomism usually miss the mark,
people.
defiant woman slave, but Uncle
anyway, because no black spokes
Jim Brown, the great black
Tom replied:
man has the power to alter
f o r m e r professional football
" I ’m w illin ' to work night and
present black-white relation
player, once said It well:
day while there’s life and breath
ships. At best, he or she can
"We need everything we can
bi me, but this yer thing I can't
only articulate requirements of
get going for u s."
feel it right to do; and mas’r
the black community and, to the
The very nature of the black
I never shall do it — NEVER."
degree it is united, advance
condition
and the gap between
Although b i t t e r abuse Is
them.
the
general
development of Ne
heaped on blacks who are real
This truth Is well-known to
groes and that of whites, dic
o r Imagined ra cia l defector's
the white power fra te rn ity. In
tates two clearly emerging Im
termed Uncle Toms, nobody
f a c t , that fra te rn ity knows It
peratives:
s e e m s to remember that the
much better than blacks precise
(1) That black leaders w ill in
real villa ins of the novel were
ly because whites are accus
evitably
continue to be producer!
Sambo and Qulmbo, brutal black
tomed to the exercise of power
In
greater
numbers and be test
slavedrlvers used by Legree to
and, thus, are able to checkmate
ed and developed in the crucible
push the slaves to unendurable
in advance plans put forward by
of Impending confrontations.
lim its in the cotton and cane
blacks In a number of different
(2) Consistent with the p o liti
fields on pain of to rtu re o r
ways. One important way is to
cal history of the country, the
dearth.
keep them fighting among them
black movement w ill find allies
M rs. Stowe’s c h a r a c t e r ,
selves over who Is the biggest
among
a wide strata of the white
Uncle Tom, was based on thé
Uncle Tom which, of course,
population
that w ill be forced to
early life of a slave named Jo
takes a ll the heat off the white
see—sooner
o r la te r—that its
siah Henson, born In Port To
fra te rn ity.
own
s
e
l
f
-
i
n
t e r e s t is more
bacco, Maryland in 1787. He es
A hard re a lity that blacks
closely
connected
to that of the
caped to Canada where he be-
m u s t face, given the present
blacks than to the Increasingly
c a m e a well-known Methodist
power relations, is that the
arrogant power centers.
m in iste r. In 1858, Henson re -
whites who have power make or
Such are the great questions
t u r n e d from Canada and met
break black leaders In the Unit
that should preoccupy every
with a group of black abolition
ed States as they do pretty much
t h in k i n g black today. Never
ists where they d is c u s s e d
anything else. Black spokesmen
mind the name-calling.
among other things, the feasibil
are tethered to the white power
ity of publicly urging the slaves
Family Counseling Service,
centers, d irectly o r Indirectly,
to rise In armed insurrection.
with offices In Clackamas,
by m yriad lines and connec
He is known to have opposed the
M u ltn o m a h , and Washington
tions—economic, politica l, so
move on the grounds that the
Counties, Is supported through
cial, historical and c u ltu ra l-
slaves had no weapons with
your contribution to United
that have him tied to "the man"
Good Neighbors.
By W ILLIAM R. DEIZ
Last Friday, October 23, two
sm all brothers died In a fire as
they played with matches In an
upstairs bedroom of a Southeast
Portland home. Their ages: 2
and 3 years old.
Firemen who responded to a
telephone call from a next door
neighbor, had the blaze under
control within minutes of th e ir
a rriv a l. The neighbor’s efforts
were instrumental In getting a
17-year old baby s itte r out of
th e house, and the firem en's
immediate response was su ffi
cient to confine the fire mostly
to the upstairs. But In the In
te rim , two sm all children per
ished—as they hid from the
flames in a closet.
A s one photographer who
W ILLIAM R. DEIZ
later saw the bodies remarked:
"T he kids didn't appear to be
stock of the situation during the
burned, th e ir little lungs proba
Fall and W inter.
bly couldn't get enough oxygen.
Many people forget just how
They must have been overcome
dangerous fire s can be. There
by the smoke and fum es."
is the obvious danger from the
There is nothing novel nor
heat; but there is also another
unique about this story. It hap
danger, often more insidious
pened to two other children In
from carbon monoxide fumes—
Portland last June, it happens
an invisible, but deadly, poison
somewhere In the city each
released when something burns.
year.
And when a fire is extremely
But the hard facts are that the hot—as was the case of the fire
deaths can be prevented.
last Friday—the flames feed on
Each year the F ire Bureau
a ll available oxygen In order to
issues appeals to parents to be keep going, and this, of course,
aware that children, practically
includes the oxygen we breathe.
ALL
children, W ILL PLAY
When, tim e and again, you see
WITH MATCHES if they can get
the tragic things fire s can do,
their hands on them. Most kids
you begin to develop a healthy
are luckv. They either can’t find
respect fo r them. But most
any matches to play with, o r If
p e o p le aren't often exposed—
they do, they don’t start fire s .
personally—to f ir e ’s ravages.
But then there are always the
Take a look at your house
not so lucky.
hold, especially if you have
The appeals take on a p a rtic
sm all children, and see just how
ular urgency during Western
safe it is from unexpected
Oregon’s perennial rainy sea
fire s --fire s that can and ought
son, when children are forced
to be prevented.
off the sidewalk and Into the
Listen to the free safety ad
house. Adults, who may have vice given by the F ire Bureau,
been a little lax about leaving and for Pete's sake, keep those
spare matches around during
m a tc h e s out of the reach of
the hot weather when kids were sm all hands; and if you don't
spending most of th e ir tim e out
have a fir e extinguisher in
doors, should take particular
working order, get one.
Tüe Cinnamon Tree
T ill
END OF MONTH
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All Dresses 1 / 2 Price
Pant Suits and Jump Suits
All w eather (oats
Walking Suits
long Collar Shirts
Cuff links
M ost w o rsh ip G rand M a ste r E lija h G raham , center and H W
,ames L w «88on o f T h e M ost W o rs h ip fu l Prince
G re a t S i s M o n ^ ° ‘
T " I " COrP °ra te have Just re turne d from
Lodgl u D
’ Where th * y P“ id a
to N o rth e rn L ig h t
Reg $35 00
MOW *3 500
Reduced
Reduced
’25”
Reg 1 50 to 2.00
Leather Coats
nv r . h e ¿h stcrar i - moi:t w; ? h ip fu * M a* te r ° f
Reg $45.00
Bell Bottom Pants
Pimp Socks
L )d ge , W illie H. St. C la ir re tire d fro m the m ilita r y Lodge and o f
M a T t° ? S 7 UKn t Z o nd M a X t° n Veal was a pp ointed W o rsh ip fu l
M a s te r to lead the M ilit a r y Lodge.
’
«.» *39” up
Authentic African Fabric and dresses
Knit Sweaters
r x
sjoo
Knit Suits Reg up to 89 95
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T h e N o rth e rn L ig h t Lodge U .D ., a m ilita r y Lodge, ro lle d o u t
he red carpet D in n e r was served a t the H o lid a y In n . A fte r the
n ~*5°°
Mi~ M *19”
Brand name pants
Grand Master Visits
*
t , * 30%
Sweaters and Tops Reg 10 95
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13500
7 00
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!3'°
Noon to 6:00 P.M.
2 days only
~$iè$
Friday, Oct. 30
Saturday, Oct. 31
1637 N.E. Killingsworth St., Portland, Ore. 97211
284-3916