Blacks are American as any
P l KTLAND/OBSERVKR F fc b .ll, 1971
The Northwest’s Best Weekly
A Black Owned Publication
Published even Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2726 N.E. Union
Ave.. Portland. Oregon, 97212.
Subscription rates: 60 cents per month by earner, $5.00 per year;
$6. (Ml per year by mail in Tri-County area; $6.25 per year by mail outside
Tri-Countv area. Phone 232 0929
ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, Publisher and Editor
Model Cities
(second series)
Program .
New Construction : Acquire
vacant
lots and land occupied
by dilapidated structures for
constructin
of new housing
necessary to meet
various
needs
of
local
residents.
U tilize Neighborhood Develop
ment
Program fo r financing
land acquisition and all avail
able public and private financ
ing fo r construction.
Neighborhood
Development
Program : U tilize urban re
newal program to achieve hous
ing g o a l
by establishing
a
Neighborhood Development Pro
gram fo r theentire Model cities
area.
Public Housing : A ssist the
Housing Authority of Poi tland
in expanding its le a s in g pro
gram fo r existing housing and
provide vacant land fo r const
ruction of needed new housing.
Encourage
modification
of
rental
increase procedures
based on increased renter in
come.
Residential Development Pro
gram:
Study the
m e a n s of
organizing a citizen
ow ned
and controlled non-profit corp
oration
to expedite new hous
ing construction and rehabilita
tion. By nature of this program
RDP is a natural means fo r
the participation of citizens in
the economic and social bene
fits arising from the total Model
C ities housing program .
This is
the
second in a
series ol
stories to provide
Portland
Observer readers
with intorniation
about Model
C ities Program .
The Model
C ities planning
process is based on the con
cept that citizens
should be
involved
in determining th e
m ajor
issues that w ill shape
their neighborhoods
and af-
th e ir
neighborhoods
and
aliect their lives.
During the
Planning Year fo r Model C ities
citizens
participated in work
ing committees to
set
th e
five
year
objectives
and
strategies fo r the program .
In
the areas
of housing
some definite
objectives are
planned. In the areas of phy
sical
housing
strategies are
the following:
Maintenance :
P re s e rv e
and improve the
condition of a standard single
and m u lti-fa m ily h o u s in g by
encouraging owner maintenance
and clean-up programs and by
developing an ellective
code
enforcement program . A
va
riety
of financial s o u r c e s
w ill be utilized.
Rehabilitation : Rehabilitate
substandard housing
w h e re
economically feasible. U tilize
Housing and Urban Development
programs,
the Neighborhood
Development
Program
and
grants and loans from a seed
money pool from the
M odel
C ities Residential Development
K e lly ’s MOBIL SERVICE
2 6 4 3 N.E. 7th
2 8 2 -2 8 5 8
Auto Repair
Tune Ups & Brake Jobs
have
been elected to high
tree
Negroes
in
Am erica.
office in
cities,
1860
there
were 463,070 . government
towns and the federal govern
The
number of free Negroes
ment. Among the large cities
in 1800 in Maryland
w as
towns
now ruled by
Blacks
53,942;
in V irg inia, 58,042 ;
are Cleveland, Ohio;(5th la rg
North Carolina,
30,463
;
Louisiana,
18,467;
District est in Am erica), Gary,Indiana;
Springfield,
Ohio; and several
of Columbia, 11,131 ;
Ken
other,
in
which
there
are
tucky, 10,638, o r 250,787
in
Black
M
ayors.
Fayetteville
,
the South.
another town
Blacks
contributed to the M ississippi, is
where recently a black mayor
development
of Am erica in
has been elected.
Senators,
music, in politics and govern
Congressmen, and even mem
ment, in agriculture
and in
dustry, education,
h e a lth ,
bers of the President’ s cabinet.
commerce, war
science, re l
Blacks are represented. The
igion, labor,
and in fact, in
current president of the I J.S.
every
other
field of labor.
does not fascinate Blacks’ res
There are many fields. Blacks
pect and support by his ignor
haven’ t just been inc hided,
ing them fo r cabinet posts.
but they have outstripped the
There are m illions of Black
whites in several fields.
children in the schools, colleges
Blacks have contributed more
universities today. W ilberforce
and have made more p ro r-
U niversity, (AJM.E.) Church, is
the oldest Black U niversity, own
ress since emancipation
in
Volumes
could
be said
Am erica than any other group
ed and operated solely by Black
o r w ritten on the above ques
perhaps in the world history.
in Am erica. Howard U niversity
tions without exhaustion. But
Blacks
have and are u tili
founded in 18b7 by
General
we shall only touch on a few
zing the
great
possibilities
Howard, is probably the only
vital
areas. Negroes
were
in Am erica, is not a gainsaid
educational
institution ,
in
with the
fir s t
whites
who
Am erica
that depends on the
fact.
came
to A m erica. Alonzo
Blacks therefore should con
federal government fo r support.
was
pilot
of
the
P ietro
sider themselves m erely a d is
Althoughit is usually regarded
one
of
the
ships
Nina,
tinct race
with its own cul
a Negro Institution, it is op
of
Christopher
Columbus.
tural and historical background
erated
for students of all races
Negroes were with Vasco Bal
but as also an American c iti
creeds
and both sexes.
boa who discovered the Paci
zen like all other Am erican.
Blacks
have always tiail the
fic Coast . They were also
It is fo r Am erica’ s
benefit
support
of
some liberal whites
with
Herman
Cortez
in
and advancement
that
the
in
tlie
ir
efforts
to
secure
Mexico
and
the explores of
Negro
strives
as
well
as
fo
r
freedom,
security
and
hap
Guatemaela, Chile, ire
and
his
own.
While
strivin
g
fo
r
piness.
But
none
have
ec
Venezuela.
the
common
good,
Blacks
have
lipsed
(as
leader)
the
late
Negroes
were thus
exp
D r. M artin Luther King. The
lores anf ussistants to those given America m illio n of men
and women in the armed force
abolitionists
were devoted to
who fir s t cam to these shores.
many
the cause of Negro emancipa
Many
Negroes cam to A m er during the wars, plus
of physicians, den
tion.
Whites have supported
ica as indentured servants and thousands
tists, nurses, scientists and
the
cause
of Negro freedom,
like that class of whites were
others associated with the arm y.
equality
and
opportunity
ever
in some cases set free after
IN GOVERNMENT: Blacks
since
the
days
ol
slavery;
des
serving
the tenure of their
have proved unquestionably their
pite
the
m
illions
of
them
who
positions of employment. Other
ability of successful
govern
have
done
otherwise.
I he
were captured slaves
whose
ment.
Despite
their
long
white
support
can
s
till
lie
condition remained
unaltered
years of political segregation
counted
upon.
Next
to
the
Black
throughout th e ir lives. There
and denial of the ballot and
Church, 1 think that the NAACP
children
were
born slaves,
office. Blacks have
wrought
HAS been the strongest agency
but
occassionally a liberal
m arvelously
in
government
or organization in the Negro’ s
master
either
freed
his
Negroes have governed more
cause
although
many other
slaves
or
permitted
them
than 60 towns and settlements
recent
groups
have
risen upon
to purchase their freedom.
in Am erica. The most fam i
the
scene.
There were
59,557
free
lia r and best known of these
Negroes in
Am erica by 1790
is Mound
Bayou, M ississippi,
of whom 35,000 lived in the
which was founded by Isaiah
South. From 1790 to
1810
Cosh and Maxey’s
T . Montgomery. It has a very
the rate of increase of free
splendid
population,
and is
Barber Shop
Negroes
exceeded
that
of
so well
governed that it has
slaves.
A fter 1810 however,
no use
fo r
a ja il which it
46 0 3 N. William» Avenue
the opposite
was the
case
abandoned many years ago.
Phone 2 84 -5 188
in most instances.
In
recent
years
Blacks
By 1850 there were 431,455
The following questions excite
interest on part of many
as
we
address
ourselves
to
Black Studies today. They are
old questions, but yet im port
ant questions.
1. When did the Negro come
to Am erica
and under what
circumstances
did
he firs t
come to these shores?
2. Why did the Negro come)
to Am erica
and how did he
fare?
3. What right h3S the Negro
to claim
himself an Am er
ican?
4. What are
his
chances
of realizing his best achieve
ments in Am erica and under
what circumstances?
5. How should the Am er
ican Negro proceed to achieve
his
highest freedom and se
curity?
W H O D HAVE THOUGHT W H ITE CATS
W O U L D BE C O P Y IN G BLACK CATS?
S a v in g
S p e c ia l O n ly
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Ask anyone in the fashion in-
d u s t r y . When a black cat
cro sses your path, brother,
th at's good luck.
’’The Negro shopper is my
g u i d e , "say s an executive at
Carson P in e Scott. "If I see
him buying yellow shirts I start
to buy greater quantities of the
color which will Alter down to
white men a little later.
("Two years la te r," in the
judgment of the people at Kosin,
the Detroit menswear store.)
Men’s wear magazine agrees.
"American Negroes form an in
dependent fashion group whose
tastes filter down to influence
the general men’s wear mar
ket."
But who influences the influ
ences? " I personally feel that
the Black news media is the
most effective medium around
today," concludes the men’s
wear buyer at Strawbridge &
Clothier.
"I'd like to see more manu
facturers take out ads in the
black news media on the brands
that we stock."
W ith good reason, Portland
O bserver readers s(>end 35%
more of their income (median
$7,584) on clothes than whites.
Eor instance, 75,,; more black
liought $100- and- over suits
then the city average. And that's
almost 10% more than the total
city men in $10,000 to $15,000
income class.
Furtherm ore, on the national
level, the comparison with the
U.S. Average, 107% more black
men bought at least 7 dress
Ixiught at least 16 pairs of hose
<285% more thought at least 11
pairs of support hose); 109%
more bought at least 4 pairs of
shoes; and 80% more txrnght at
least 2 hats.
Little wonder that advertisers
like Manhattan sh irts, London
Eog coats, Jay mar-Ruby slacks,
Florsheim and Stacy Adams
shoes, Stetson hats, and Petro-
celli suits turn to the Black
news media to influence the
black and white cats.
T h e r e are some merchants
who have a moral conscious
knowing that some of their cus
tom ers are black take out ads
because they want to help Ixiild
all community business by plac
ing a few dollars back into the
community.
Many other advertisers of
f o o d , drug, home furnishings,
automobiles, airlines and per
sonal grooming products, they
know that the black market
(Portland Observer) is a spend
more market and cannot lx?
overlooked.
Besides, Portland Observer
advertisers figures that what
the Observer readers Ixiy today
will "filte r down" to the rest
of the cats before long.
For further I n f o r m a t i o n ,
please call Lew’s Man's Shop
"House of Style" 113N. Russell
282-4900, William Greaby, Re
gional Loan Manager UJ>. Nat’l
Bank, Portland, Oregon, Leon
Washington, publisher of the
Los Angeles Sentinel, East 43rd
St. Los Angeles, Calif., Fitz
gerald Beaver, publisher of
Fact News, Seattle, Wash.