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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1971)
Fat« 2 Blacks to policy making positions is the only way to insure that Black citizens be fairly represented and have a share in formulating the laws that govern their Portland/Observe/ Thursday, Sept. 16, 1971 lives. Th* Northwest's Bast Weakly We ask that the state, county, and A Block Owned Publication city officials of this state that was Published every Thursday byE xie Publishing Company, 2201 N "created by free men -- the fairest KUItngsworth Portland, Oregon 97217. and the b est," free another segment r‘,IW' 40 “ ‘" ,s f* r n'» n,h bv earner. $4 .00i»r vW >5.00 per year b ym a ll In Tri-County area; $5.25 per year else- of society. We expect you, our elected wnere. Phone 283-2480 officials to free us from the political ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, Publisher and Editor bondage you have held us in since the first white men settled in Oregon O re g o n ’s Black P o litic a l Look Country. Senator Edmund Muskie said that he does not believe that "at this point i7 history" he could be elected President of the United States with a Black running mate, even though there are Blacks who are eminently qualified. Muskie told a private meeting of Black leaders in Watts last week that he thinks it would be impossible to have a Black man as a Vice Presidential candidate and win. Oregon is among the worst of the states in the nation for minority parti cipation in government. No Blacks have ever served in the legislature or in other state office. The have never had an opportunity to make the laws at the state, county, or city level. What is even worse, the White Elected Officials betray their Oath of Office to uphold the constitutional rights of all citizens by refusing to appoint Blacks and members of other minority groups to positions of influence. Have Senators Hatfield and Packwood appointed Blacks to their Washington or local staffs? What about Represen tatives Dellenback, Wyatt and Ulman? Mrs. Green’s district contains the vast majority of the states’ Black citizens. What is her record? Governor McCall, who was one of the founders of the Urban League of Portland, has a dismal record both in inspiring and facilitating the rise of minority persons into the upper ranks of the state agencies, departments,and in the appointments of Blacks and min ority persons to serve on many state commissions and boards. Now that Governor McCall is in the state’s highest position of power and influence, he above all should foster those ideals of equality and opportunity that he so ably espoused with the Urban League. Secretary of State Clay Myers, an NAACP member, has insured that a Black not be elected to the State legis lature by dividing Albina at Fremont in his new reapportionment plan. .Mr. Nixon failed in his opportunity to give Blacks at least a minimal chance. How many Blacks hold supervisory positions with the county or the city? What is the average income of Black Civil Servants as compared to their White co-workers? Why are the vast majority of the Blacks employed by the City of Portland and Multnomah County on menial jobs? Neil Goldschmidt, whom most Black thought would be their "M essiah," has not lived up to many expectations. After his speaking so forcefully for the rights of Blacks and the poor and his excellent service at Legal Aid, many Blacks have expected more than he has produced. We know that he has made some valiant efforts on behalf of the proponents of some city planning and was not successful; so perhaps a junior city commissioner cannot do it alone. Maybe he needs more men of like thinking to join him ontheCityCouncil. Well Mr. Ivancie, Mr. Anderson, Mrs. McCready and the rest of them’ their records stand for and speak loud’ for themselves. Could it be that they are all in the same bag? We hope not. They are elected by and for the people and we hope they will not just do the things they deem politically expedient. Since it is unlikely that a Black candidate could win an election in the "Planned Conservative Atmosphere of Oregon" expecially in a race that is city or state wide. The appointment of Y o u n g V o te rs W o n ’t fit into P re c o n c e iv e d M o ld is that regardless of how many or how few, of the youths vote, their number will be so small in the total electorate that they won’t seriously effect congressional or national elec tions, especially since the youth vote may be divided. As Fisher and Treadwell see it each candidate is going to have to find’ out what the new young voter, in his own area, thinks. That thinking may vary radically among the factorys, the college, the slum, the farm and’ the suburbs. Looking bevound 1972, the fact that the 18-vear-old vote rule augurs many changes in politics, government and in education as well; for if high school seniors are going to take part in the electoral process, they need to know a great deal more than the standard civics textbooks tells them. We are in for a revolution of attitudes and issues that will rest our political fabric in many new ways. Now that the voting age has been lowered to 18 years, the guessingabout the effect of this enlargement of the electorate begins to be widespread. Will the new young voters have any effect really on next year’s elections? If so, what will be the effect? Sign posts are few. In the states where persons under 21 have been per mitted to vote in the past, in five out of the 50 states, the records show that a comparatively few in the under-21 age group have bothered to vote, and when they did, they tended to make the same choices as their parents. The young political liberal activists Over 250 black candidates a re running for are beginning to organize for next political office in M ississippi's November year’s voting contests. So also are the elections. The black candidacies were young conservatives. The great major made possible by the Voting Rights Act of ity of youngsters at this time are 1965, under which black registration in the preoccupied with anything but politics, state leaped from less than 20,000in 1964, and that goes for most of their elders’ to 275,000 in 1970. But the blackcandida- as well in spite of all the journalistic cies are imperiled, black leadersandcivil stirring of the political polls across the rights activists say, because the U.S. De land. partment of Justice has been doing a less There is a book about to be published than enthusiastic job of enforcing the Vot ing Rights Act. that analyzes the picture of youthful Blacks cite these three instances of Jus voters not only in the United States tice Department inaction: permitting but in 29 other countries where those counties to require voters to re-reg ister under 21 have the privilege of voting. without obtaining prior clearance, as is The authors are Dr. Joel Fisher, a required by the act; failing to oppose the political scientist formerly on the White so-called "open prim ary law , which was House staff, and Bill Treadwell, no wan clearly aimed at the gubernatorial cam assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, paign of the black candidate, Charles who was a candidate torCongress when he was still in his twenties. Evers; and failure to oppose redistrict- ing laws, which discrim inate against Fisher and Treadwell, in their book, black candidates. take issue with the idea that youthful voters don’t go to the polls. They found in France, West Germany and Great Britain that on occasion youthful voters do excercise their right of the ballot, at times with surprising strength. Some analysts have predicted the Chester Moran walks where youth vote will be liberal. Others with no man has trod before him equal conviction have asserted that this fall. Moran, 3 6 -year-old Portland when the votes are tallied,conservative educator, became the firs t youth voters will be found to heavily male administrator atMonroe High School in that school's62- outnumber the liberal voters expected year history. from college campuses. Monroe, which began as a tiade school for g irls In 1909, Fisher and Treadwell found that in was called G irls Polytechnic Germany, in a recent election, the until January 1, 1968, when the Board of Education made a ch majority of youths apparently threw ange of name tojam es Monroe their weight toward "left-leaning" can High School effective. Moran, who firs t joined the didates. But in England, voting for Portland D istric t as an intern the first time in national elections, the teacher at Washington High In 1962, will replace M rs . Nancy effect was quite different. The Con Russell, who w ill be on a leave servative candidates, by and large, of absence. Monroe also w ill have a new principal. D r . E i benefited from the new youth consti- leen Shank, who replacesMlss tuency. Ruth Dowe. MlssDowe retires In August after 16 years as Youths are by nature neither Con Monroe's chief administrator. servati ve nor liberal. You have to Moran will bring to thejobat Monroe a great deal of exper ask: What youth, when, and where do ience that previous vlce-p rln- they they vote and what are the issues? clpals have not had. F o r ex ample, he served three years These authors are convinced youths will In the UjS. Arm y Infantry. vote for the issues, not the party. Also, he has been at various times a laborer, cab d rive r, There have been forecasts that young salesman and service station people vote like their parents. This attendant. concept was advanced strongly for a Within the Portland D istric t, Moran tought social studies at period by certain specialists at the Marshall High, was a Neigh White House. borhood Youth Corps coordi nato^ and served as a c u rri Fisher and Treadwell have found culum associate at Jerrerson that when tested on specific issues, High for the past two years. Moran was born In Wibaux, there is a wide difference between Montana, In 1933. Heattended what the average youth believes and the Ursuline Academy in Moscow, Idaho, and Whitman College In oldsters believe on a range of critical Walla Walla, Washington, be issues. That difference extends to how fore earning hla bechelor'sde- gree at Oregon State Univer seriously they take these issues in sity in 1962. voting. This doesn't mean all youths In 1963, he was awarded a Master of A rts In Teaching de will vote the same way on these topics, gree by Heed College. or on candidates--but that a candidate's Moran and his wife, Margot, view on pollution, poverty or Vietnam have lieen m arried since 1956. They have three children: a may normally be more important to the boy * g iti 10, and a g irl 7. average young voter that to the average Moran lias been active with the Oregon Historical Society, oldster. Black Candidates In Mississippi Man In Unusual A n o th e r a p p a r e n t m yth the Albina Neighborhood Ser vice Center and theAlblnaArt Center. Has Patience of Job «1 have the patience of Job," says Archibald Motley J r. He la not referring to his career as an a rtis t, but no tra it could serve this accom plished and dedicated paint e r better. Motley w ill be 80 on Oct. 7, a Chicagoan since he was 1 1/2 years old, living quietly In the same house for the last 65 years - - and still painting every day. Warm, soft-spoken and thoughtful, Motley Is a leg end In his own lifetim e, ills work Is known and respected by artist and art experts who generally have no Idea that he continues to create more than 40 years after he made history with an exhibition at the New G allery of New York that was the first by one of his race. — « m b s Portraits, street scenes, cabarets and especially the effects of lights at night In terested Motley. They were In the show, and so were six voodoo paintings. "P v e never seen Africa, never been In A frica, but I researched four or five years and got a pretty good Idea of what I was striking a t," Mo tley explains. Night life. Indoors and out doors, always with people walking, dancing, carousing, weaving rhythmic i>atterns through them. And always with a fat man In the crowd, symbol of happiness, often prominently placed. " I was always Interested in figures and lig h t," says Motley, Indicating the subtle transition of light and shad ow in a night street scene with warm light streaming from shops and cooler light from street lamps; Among the canvases In M otley's second floor studio Is "Barbecue In a Garden," painted In 1960. It Is a study In light, done In great detail. "Each Individual Is d iffe r ent,” he said, "different In appearance and character." The chief difference be tween his early pointings through 1948 and recent ones Is that Motley's color lias shifted to a higher key. The pictures that won him fame are dark, rich and luminous; since about 1960 his palette has been lighter and bright e r , although the principal hues remain red, blue, green and brown. "Stomp,” a 1927 o il, lias been selected tor an exhibi tion of Illinois art to 1940 that will be circulated by the Illinois Arts Council. "Chick en Shack," a 1936 street scene painted under WPA auspices, Is In the National Archives In Washington. In competition with the nation’ s leading artists, Motley was takes In many more people selected to paint a Post Of than are black. fice mural, about six by five •*! i«lnt to please m yself," feet, oil on canvas, for Wood he says. " I have always R ive r, 01., also In 1936. Ills painted for the sheer Joy of a rriv a l to study the site, lie painting." recalls, caused a stir Inttiat He paints things he knows. city. "Getting Religion" 'res Motley was destined to be a street revival meelng an artist since he firs t cov onlookers that Include tils ered the margins of his mother and brother outside school books with drawings. the house the artist still lives Horn In New Orleans, he was In. "Tongues," or "Holy 1 1/2 when his family moved R o llers,’’ done In 1929, lias to Chicago. Ills father was a been exhibited widely by the railroad man, In charge of a A m e r i c a n Federation of buffet car on the Chicago- A rts. Look at It, he remarks, New York run of the Wolver •’ You have a lot of fun going ine. "M y father and A. Phil to one of those churches.” ip Handolph organized the firs t Negro railroad man’s union sitting at that table,” he said, tainting Into his din ing room. Ills parents appreciated a r t . Motley remembers, a l though his father wanted him to be a doctor. "D a d ," I told him, " I ’ m too tender-hearted to be a doctor. I want to be an a rt is t.” Hundreds of construction The family approved. A r personnel - - f r o m c ra n e chibald became an artist ami operators to company pre sidents - - are learning tlie his brother W illard a distin guished novelist; Motley’ s techniques of construction Job son, Archie, Is chief In the safety under a speed-up Instr department of manuscripts uction program of "training at the Chicago Historical So the train ers,” developed un ciety. der the Labor De;>artment to D r. Frank W. Gunsaulus, Implementation of the Occu president of Armour Insti pational Safety and Health Act. tute, tried to persuade Mo The program offers a free tley to take up engineering, 40-hour course to concerned and when Motley declined, Individuals and organizations. offered to pay his tuition to T h e courses were tiegun In the school of the Art Insti January of 1971 under the Con tute. But the young artist, struction Safety Act, and have s e e k in g In d e p e n d e n c e , been exjanded this year as a earned his own way at the result of the enactment of the school, receiving a diploma W lillams-Stelger Occupati In 1918. onal Safety and Health Act. Hanging In Motley’ s living The program operates on room Is a portrait of his the “ m ultiplier principle" of grandmother that was shown training Initial groups to train at the Art Institute In the others, says George C. Ckiwi Chicago slaw of 1923. Paint ther, Assistant Secretary of ed on an old laundry t>ag Labor for Occupational safety from the Wolverine and In and Health Administration. remarkably good condition. The course Is directed p ri It Is an Impressive rendering m a rily toward the training of of the dignity of old age. Instructors who w ill In turn In a statement pub 11 she 1 In train firs t-lin e construction J ..'. Jackson’ s " A r t of To supervisors. The future In day: Chicago, 1933,” Motley structors learn lo w to present said: "T o me, subject mat both n 30-hour and a 10-hour ter plays a most Important course on construction safety part In my art. It Is my ear and health for supervisors nest desire and ambition to and middle managers. express the American Negro The stress la on actual Job honestly and sincerely, nei situations and the recognition ther to add nor detract, and of hazards, rather than on ac to bring about a more sin ademic training, as such. cere and brotherly feeling, a Classes originally were sch better understanding, be eduled to be conducted In 26 tween him and his white cities, but demand hasbeenso brethren. I sincerely believe great tliat they have been ex Negro art Is someday going tended to 35, and class size ex to contribute to our culture, panded from 25 to 35. our civilization.” He Is old-fashioned enough to prefer " c o l o r e d " to "b lack,” and modern enough WATCH OUT P o R C IU IJlR E N to point out that "colored” Safety Taught
