Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1971)
Page 2 Quit following me ( ou ou ture lure isonne RECLAIMED FURNITURE W eddings, Suits Custom Tailoring, O ratories MUST M W TOGETHERFOR FULL ANO EQUAL EMPLOYMENT. P ot11 a n d / O b s e r v e r T h u rsd a y , O c t. 28, 197 1 the Editor’s Desk Pattern of discrimination PAIGE’S PHARMACY |7 th an d K nott 2 8 4 -4 6 5 6 PRESCRIPTIONS If you don’t see your ^merchant’s ad in The O bserver, ask him w hy. M o s t r e a s o n a b le President Nixon Is h.ivUig a d ifficu lt time finding a qual ified man or woman who w ill fit his political specifications (or an appointment to the U. S. Supreme Court. In tills nation full of attorneys. Judges, law school professors ant deans, legis lators, etc., tie cannot find someone who is not tarnished by racism or m.- lioerity. His fir s t reported choice decluied to be considered because b i was a lra xi his segregationist record would prevent his ap proval by the Senate, t he next two choices, oils of whom had spent much of his legal career unsuccessfully defending seg regation in the I utie Rock Schools, were found to be unqual ified by the American Bar Association, Itself a highly conserv ative organization. M r. Nixon is in an unusual position. He has already hid the opportunity to n in e four out of the nine Supreme Court pos itions, and If lie Is re-elected he w ill probably name at least two more. Since Supreme Cout decisions are not Irre ve rs ible and since Supreme Court Justices serve fot life, Nixon’ s appointees could reverse the humanist trend of the Warren Court ami encourage the facist trend in this country fo r years to Como. lt appears that President Nixon Is purposly hoping to under mine tbs influence and respect of the Court by packlr^ it with judges of little reputation. With Congress already giving up much of Its power to ths President, tills would give the Ad m inistrative branch frightening power and bring to an end the constitutional concept of "separation of powei " . Published every lhursday by Exu Publishing Company, 2 N. Klllingsworth Portland, Oregon 97217. Subscription rates: 40 cents per month by carrier, $5. 00 per year;$5,25 per year by m ail in Tii-Countv area:$6.00 per year elsewhere. Phone 283-2486 ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, Publisher Editor Arthur Fletcher: Promoted or Squeezed Out at Labor? Why are you haunting me? We just reapportioned blacks out of their representation and we’ll take care of you next Observer’s Intercom In spice of the fact that they represent only 11% of the c iv il ian labor force, blacks and members of other m inority races were 18 % of the nation’ s 4J m illio n jobless workers In 1970. They were 20 % of the total in 1969. senator George McGovern, candidate for the presidency, has prom ised to grant amnesty to men who have evaded the d ra ft fo r moral reasons. Rev. Ralph Abernathy told the A ll-C h ristia n Peace As sembly in Prague about the "oppression, repression, blacks and asked fo r th e ir in tervention before the U. N. Black Representative Shir ley Chisholm is in the ’ 72 Presidential race fo r sure: she w ill enter p rim a rie s in F lo rid a , North Carolina and three other states. Rep. Ron Deilums is supporting her but Rep. John Conyers and Julian Bond feel blacks w ill have maximum influence at the Democratic Convention by backing several favorite sons. • • • The Senate Labor and Pub lic Welfare Committee ap proved a b ill to give the Equal Employment opportuni ties Commission more power to combat job discrim ination. The unanimous vote of 7 Re publicans and 10 Democrats wss a blow to the Nixon Ad m inistration which backed a weaker b ill. Minority Report By Jamas E . Alsbrook. Ph D. AIR FORCE GENERAL SEEKS RACIAL JUSTICE AS NIXON CODDLES SEGREGA TION- 1STS While President Nixon is coddling segregationists and trying to out-wall ace Wallace, one of his generals is taking constructive action toward re ducing racial Injustice and strife in ths A ir Force. This man of good action is L t. Gen. George B. S im lar, Commander of the A ir T rain ing Command headquarters at Randolph A ir Base in Texas. Seeing violent racial con flic t in his own command and at various m ilita ry installa tions here and abroad, Gen. Sim’ ar set up a human rela tions team of officers and en listed men and asked them to look honestly and carefully fo r evidences of racial d is c rim in ation on the 15 bases he super vises. FACTS UGLY Reporting to Gen. Sim lar on July 26, the 15-man team an nounced that "T h e re is dis crim ination and racism In the command, and lt is ugly.” Gen. Sim lar did not like this report, but he got busy and set the base a flu tte r with seven steps, as follows: 1. He ordered that there be no more discrim ination in duty assignment, promotion, enforcement of regulations, and punishment. 2. He increased the number of hours of human relations in struction men receive in basic training, and said all leaders at all levels must face the fact o f racism and act against it. 3. He called in ju n io r o ffi cers and noncommissioned leaders and told them it was their responsibility to educate their units on good race rela tions . 4. He ordered the chaplains to spend more time among mon in the field In order to Intensify the presence of religious thought and positive influence. 5. He ordered security po lice on the bases to take charge of all law enforcement instead of leaving race-related prob lems of law enforcement to the commander and to non-com missioned officers. 6. He increased the number of security police and gave them training in race rela tions . 7. He ordered all recrea tional fa c ilitie s open on a 24- hour bases In order to have maximum an J equal opportun ity fo r all personnel to relax and enjoy themselves. While Nixon babbles "We are a good people” and at tempts to assuage the guilt feelings of the Silent M a jo rity, Gen. Sim lar faces the fact of racism and takes steps to In sure fa ir and equal treatment fo r a ll. ENCOURAGES DISORDER While Nixon calls fo r law and order, he really encour ages disorder and defiance of the U, S, Supreme Court by coddling segregationists and generating an atmosphere s im ila r to that which prevail ed In the sixties when the white mothers spat on black school children and the white fathers set the black children’ s school buses afire . Gen. Similar, on the other hand trie s to create an atmos phere of equality,justlceand fa ir play. If Nixon’ s policies that slow down movements toward ra cial integration and racial equality are extended to the Armed Forces, Gen. Sim lar may get a call from Strom Thurman or find him self sud den tl y transfeired to a d if ferent job. Undersecretary of the Treasury Charles W alker re ported that deposits in mino rity banks cl imbed almost 40% in the 12 months ending September 30. Deposits in creased $155J m illion, bring ing the total to more than $500 m illio n fo r 35 minority- banks in the nation. N igeria w ill be the host country fo r the second Wo-ld Festival of Black A rts and Culture to be held in Septem ber of 1974. The fir s t festi val was held in Dakar, Senegal four years ago. C urtis E. Shaw, president of the N atlom l Association of Television and Radio An nouncers, an organization of black broadcasters, has re commended to P re skle n tN ix- on that he "demonstrate his political wisdom by appoint ing a black or m inority mem ber to the Federal Communi cations Com m ission." Crisis in The Court Judge Alfred Burka’ s re cent pronouncement from the bench of D.C. Superior Court that "b la ck is pretty ugly bas ed on myexperiencewith a few people..." is a grave trans gression of Juiiclal propriety. Lnderstaraiably, Burka har bors some resentment tie- cause his father was recently killed during a robbery at tempt, ixut personal anxieties should not be vented while sit ting on a bench and being re sponsible fo r a man’ s fate. Justice traditionally has hien blind arxl unyielding to personal preference and pre judices. A white ju lg e who w ill outspokenly condemn a man because of his color and who w ill attest to such stereo- typos as blacks are " la z y ” has no piace on a bench In the D is tric t of Columbia. How ironic the remarks made by this white julge went practically unnoticed by those U.S, Senators who were so quick to criticize Judge H arry T . Alexander fo r insisting suspects he given tie dignity and courtesy of being ad Ire s - sad by their propar title s. Ths nitional ju iic la l system is facing a m j o r c re d ib ility c ris is at this tim r. Conscien tious citizens of ths nation are haunted by the tragedies of A t tica and San < jusntln prisons. With ths entire crim inal justice system under fire-and rightly so-th ire is no room for a judge wlu w ill sidestep his ju iic la l duty fo r his personal leanings. shop in town Carlos 7 8 7 -8 3 2 9 2609 N. V a n c o u v e r A ve. P o rtla n d , O re . S & J Billiards 1036 N.E. Alberta POOL,CARDS AND SNACKS Hours 10.00 A M til 1:00 A M. Sam F. Scott Earl Foster OWNERS AND MANAGERS phone 2 8 4 -9 5 9 7 I P E P I’S BOTTLE SHOP I t . T t P l S B O I TLC SHOP h . your h— d q u « .,,.. loi i champagne wine*. mixers » I I A rth u r Fletcher, form er Assistant Secretary of Labor is no longer at that post. He resigned and accepted an appointment to a 90 day position as alternate delegate for the U. S. to the 26th Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Blacks hive lost th e ir most potent member In the ujiper ranks of the Republican administration. In tlie UJ9. he is virtu a lly powerless and does not have a vote unless sitting fo r a regular delegate. 1 his is what h is happjntxl to all blacks who were a part of t e Nixon Adm inistration and who used their positions to be strong advocates of change. W ithout doubt, Fletcher was held back by the adm inistration and although lie had some de gree of success, he dkl not acconniish what tie had hoped when he accepted the Nixon appointment. While with the Labor Department, Fletcher created the Philadelphia Plan to increase m inority workers in the con struction trades. He was also a leading advocate of the "horns town plans” designed to let local construction Industries, labor unions, governments and m inority groups solve local problems of discrim ination with federal guidance. As ¡lead of the Employment Standards Administration he was responsible for the adm lustration and direction of a program of n on-discrlm ‘natlon and affirm ative action In government con tracts and sub-contracts and In federally assisted construction. He was responsible fo r the activities of the o ffice of Federal Contract Compliance, the Woman’ s Bureau, the Wage and Hour Division and the Bureau of Employee’ s Compensation. He administered these programs effectively and his resigna tion from ths Department of Labor raises the suspicion that hs was too effective. A r t Fletcher plans to run fo r the U, S, Senate from die State of Washington With a seat In the Senate, ha wuuld be relatively free from political pressures and could speak out on all Issues and concerns. He would be free to use his dedication and his talents to help Improve the plight of black workers. at tha.Invest prices in Lloyd Cooter N ext to th e I »quor Store p PERI’S Ona and Only Store > / Opon 9 30 i m to 9 00 p m Daily Sundays Noon to 4 00 p m 2 S 1 -2 7 3 1 PORTLAND CLEANING WORKS NORTH & N.E. PORTLAND ONE DAY SERVICE KNIT BLOCKING OUR SPECIALTY Wo Give M IN O « Rf P A IR S -N O CMARGÍ tick up a o tiiv tR y 282-8361 3968 N W illio m . “You've Tried The Rest, N ow Try The Beal* N . Alexander, Proprietor OUR AIM Is to Ease the Burden ... Guest Editorial U Thant against racism In probably the most forceful s|»ech he ever made before the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary General U Thant referred to the dangers facing ths world by a continuation of senseless discrim ination aganist black people. He begged the Assembly to speed the universal ratification of the International Convention on the Elim ination of all form s of Racial D is c rim i nation and the International Covenants of Human Rights. He warned against unctiecked colonial oppression of A fri cans by Europeans In Southern A fric a . This policy, 1/ not re versed, he said, " w ill generate intolerable racial tensions that w ill Inevitably effect the future relations betwaen black A frica and the rest of the w o rld ." I I hant alluded to South A fric a ’ s penal system which denies elementary human rights to black prisoners. Had the United States ratified the International Covenant on C ivil and P olitical right, the Attica prisoners would have had their gr ievances aired before an international tribunal and the massacre at the New York Correction F a cility would have been aborted. The Human Rights Covenants were open for ratification De cember 19, 1966. The United States government has unearthed ways and means to evade the Issue. The reason fo r the evasion is obvious. America does not intend to he a party to provisions of covenants that protect human rights and dignity of the per son. It is one of the baffling paradoxes of our tunes that a na tion that religiously parades Itself under the banner of demo cracy Is unwilling to commit itse lf fu lly to the moral obliga tions incidental to its own philosophical declaration. MISSISSIPPI Body an d Fondor R epair Nixon tries again The Northwest's Best W eekly A Block O w ned Publication The only recourse open to us to halt the reapportionment plan that divides Albina into three legislative d is tric ts with a black vote of about 10 - 15% each and one with a nagligable vote, and into three Senate d is tric ts with perhaps 5% black vote and one with a few , is to file suit ir the federal court charging dis crim ination. This is what is being done in Jackson, M ississippi, where reapportionm;n" eliminated two m ajority black d is tric ts by distributing blacks among five m ajority white d is tric ts . The D etroit School decision found discrim ination based on the planned segregation of blacks by government and private forces was illegal. A case fo r a ''pattern of d iscrim in a tio n " can easily be made’ fo r Oregon. To anyone who has read Oregon history it is clear that since the fir s t white settlement, the political, legal, econom ic, educational, religious institutions and the news media have combined to isolate blacks from the mainstream of public life and to negate our influence on decisions effecting our lives. The fir s t wagon trains that brought settlers to the Oregon Country refused blacks. The Provisional Government set up in 1843 banned blacks from residence. Whan Oregon became a T e rrito ry of the U. S. and later a state, it kept its constitu tion and laws re strictin g blacks. P rio r to and during the C ivil War there was no abolishionist movement InOregon. Oregonians voted in 1857 against slavery fo r Oregon, not because they were opposed to slavery but because they wanted to avoid contact with blacks - bond or free. A t the same time they voted 8 to I to continue th e ir ban aganist blacks living in Oregon. Oregon did not send troops to fight fo r the Union and its governor said he would never send his m .'litia to fight against his southern brothers. Following the w ar, a greatdeal of legislative time and the major political battles involved the question of whether blacks should vote, although there were about 200 blacks in the state at the tim e, it brought the overthrow of the Dam-icratic party and the long Republican reign that s till continues. In the early 1920‘ s Oregon was one of the strongholds of the Ku Klux Kian, w,th tha Klar wielding more power than any where outside the South. It took over state government in 1921, electing the governor, must m ajor state offices, and controlling the legislature. The Mayor and Chief of Police of Portland were strong supporters and in Portland the Portland Police Vigilantees and the Black Patrol rode with the blessings and authority of the state and the c ity . So strong was Kian influence that only two newspapers, the Portland Telegram which soon went broke and the Salem Capital Journal, dared oppose it. The people of Oregon repeatedly voted to keep their laws prohibiting blacks from voting, even though the laws were un constitutional and unenforceable. Not until 1926 was this re strictio n removed from the Oregon Constitution. And, believe it or not, itw as not until 1959 that Oregon ratified the 15th Aminendment to the Constitution of the United States. It was not until the beginning of World War II that there were enough blacks in Oregon to have inspired such tactics. When numbers came to Portland to work in the shipyards, they were crowded into a small section of N2 Portland, ware given tbs must menial jobs, were denied union membership^ and "w hite o n ly" signs ware posted. Whan the shipyards closed and black unemployment was at a serious level, ths problem was ignored because Portland s till hoped blacks would go away. This is how the picture remained until the early 1950*s, when Oregon’ s reputation fo r racism had become so bad across the country that its image as one i f the leading states in education and political reform wasbeccm ng so tarnished that many leading figures decided that something needed to be done to improve the image. A number of c iv il rights bills were passed and ths signs cams down. Oregon became a leading proponant of equality, but did not give its laws the teeth o r its agencies ths power and ths funds to enforce them properly. However, Oregon did adpot as its policy: " I t is declared to be the public policy of Oregon that practices of discrim ination against any of its inhabitants because of race, religion, color, sex or national origin are a matter of state concern and that such discrim ination threatens not only the rights and privileges of its Inhabitants tu t menaces the institutions and foundation of a free democratic state." It is now 1971. (jregon s till has no blacks in state, county o r city elected offices. No blacks are involved In ths law making process. Few blacks have been appointed topiolicy making boards and comm sslons, of which Oregon has hundreds. We are s till divided among several legislative d is tric ts and »’ ill have no hope of electing a black to the Legislative Assembly. It is not the fa u lto f JustSecretaryof State Clay Myers or even of the legislature. It is the fault of the people of Oregon. It Is the fault of the atmosphere, the "Southern exposure" that has been set and the attitude that has been taught through the years. It is too great fo r blacks to overcome alone, since what ever we accomplish is unseen or is considered to be too demand ing. It is to ogreatfor a few well meaning whites who are brand ed radical. But It is not too great for the Governor, who could appoint blacks to positions of Influence and who could work to elim inate racial discrim ination in public in s titu tio n s , or for corporation heads and businessmen who could guarantee the right to meaningful emoloyment and economic security. And it is not too great fo r the federal courts. 3727 N Batter SLAMSTHESS Thoughtful meticulous attention to every family wish is assured by our many tears of experience Port land,O regon Vann MORTUARY 5211 N .W illiam s Avenue 2 8 1 -2 8 3 6 (Alameda Theater) 3000 N.E. Alberta ____ 284-9448 THE CHICAGO DEFENDER The mob wanted Harlembodc They got Shaft.. u p to to flly . The 'Black’ Council ( lu r e Is uoposo-J to bu a newawarenassof "b la ckn e ss." Wa sje tb ; ennrgence of black cosmetic firm s designed fo r mila dy-beautiful. We sea tha over abundance of black studies and black art groups and black lite ra tu re . Sometimes we have seen so much blackness wa have feared that some of the other goals in life has been sidetracked while black people ran hither and yon searching and seeking out their heritage. . But i u r^ '* S °Ut °l AtlanU. Ga-. » week ago was most grain- • ymg. I h .National Bar A ssoclatlon, composed of the black law yers of this country hald their annual conference. Thay took a good look at what Is happening around country and took some positive and constructive positions. One they noted the "e xtra ord in a ry length of time Angela Davis has been held In Jail in C alifornia and out of a concern fot M iss Davis’ tsvis legal , ,ghts appropriated $2500 for her defense fUnd. I m y looker! at the bar examinations around the country 1 C 1 1 1 /I f I t h a t O T . r r , . _ and concluded that something Is radically wrong with the way they ate structured. structured. Consequently, the N B \ established ---------ulc csiamisneu a committee to study examinations and make recommendations on them baaed upon mack youth’ s a b ility to cope with them lrl'P'jrta n t ‘ f'Üig they dkl w is to establish a JwJIclal Council of Black ju lg e s . Tba Council w ill concern it self not necessarily to tlx.- administration of justice f«r bl«kt. as they w ill fo r the poor as wall. X -X< SH AFT’x hit name. SHAFT’S hit game. i . , - y n m a v f i ft * (M A N M,. h , • a - * : a , , , ,A N r i ..a. i. , O u ts ta n d in g C o fe a tu re Halls of Anger » » O p e n S u n d a y 2 :4 5 IN COLOR
