page 2
It is really that time....
The N o rth w e s t's Best W e e k ly
A Black O w n e d Publication
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2
N. Killingsworth Portland, Oregon 97217.
Subscription rates: 40 cents per month by carrier, $5. 00 per
year:$5.25 per year by mail in Tri-County area.$6.00 per
year elsewhere.
Phone 283-2496
X
¿ r O iV ir J i
The
Caucus
teience
m ists
5., r a».,.
3
Portland/Observer Tuesday, Dec. 21, 1971
I
I.
öncy
MUST MMK TOGETHER / W FULL
ANU EQUAL EMPLOYMENT.
Caucus
seeks plan
?
Body and Fonder Repair
M o s t r e a s o n a b le
ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, Publisher Editor
Verna L . Henderson
Asst. Publisher/Business manager
Helen Hendrix
Personnel and Production Manager
? 8 /-8 5 2 9
Congtesslonal {Hack
is convening a con-
of top black , Con(>_
and
entteprenaura
January 27-29, 19Z2, at Mor
gan State College, Baltimore,
Maryland.
JI
X”* '
’ •?
t A
B rin g in g You
| Hamilton Furs
$ and Leather
iW W u I m
HEALTH. H E A L T H
A N D HAPPINESS
T O OUR M ANY
G OO D FRIENDS!
PA IG E'S
PRESCRIPTION
PHARMACY
2701 N. E. 7th
284-4659
M a y t h e jo y s
o f th e season
a b id e w i t h y o u
W IL L IA M S FO O D
MARKET
2709 N. E. 7th Ave. (At Knotl
284-9973
SFASDHS
Notice
G reetings
V
p
/
liJ ^ '
? .°“ 1CUI Position is expressed only in its Pub-
‘ , ’ her s Column (ThC ' fc3erv,tlon Post) «nd the E d lto r’ sDesk
d iv a J u ]rr T terl>l throu«hout the paper,s the opinion of the in-
dividual w rite r or subm.tter and does not necessarily r e f le t
the opinion of the Observer,
G u a ra M e e d Savings
i*
a /
3 More Days
of H a m ilto n } trem endous Fur values
V e ry L ib e ra l Terms
In defense of Christmas
A cornerstone of 19th Century southern conservatism was the
re strictio n of the franchise to the w ell-to-do, owners of property
the so-called “ enlightened” classes. To those who embraced
this philosophy, democracy did not include those whose skins
were dark o r who spoke with a foreign accent.
America has rejected the concept of government by an ed
ucated o r economic e lite . The rh e to ric of a ll our political lea
ders speaks approvingly of the need to extend participatory dem
ocracy.
\ et the Nixon Administration, in its opposition to an important
political reform measure, proclaim s sentiments which closely
parallel those expressed by southern aristocrats in their suc
cessful campaign to deny the Negro his vote following Recon
struction.
The reform , which could have a significant effect on the poli
tical participation of blacks, is popularly known as universal
voter registration. There are several versions beingconsidered
by Congress, b it all have in common the intent to abolish voter
enrollm ent regulations which many states have adopted todilute
the political influence of m inorities and the poor.
The most far-reaching b ill, introduced by Senator Gale Me
Gee, would enable every voter in the U.S. to re g iste r by post
card and would set a nationwide residency requirement of 30
days, substantially less than some states which require six
months or a year.
Two Republican P arty leaders, ChairmanRobertDole and Ro
bert Erickson, a Justice Department o fficia l, have already test
ified against universal registration. The adm inistration’ s rea
soning, as summed up in the comments of one party official,
are interesting. “ Anytime you go out anddrag people to vote”
the official said, “ you are gening a less well-inform ed elector
ate, and that can be dangerous in a democracy.”
Compare this statement with those of spokesmen fo r the Old
South who rationalized the dlseniranchisement of the black man
and you w ill discover striking s im ila ritie s .
The defender of Jim Crow would often insist that he was not
motivated by racial prejudice. The poll tax, literacy test and
Grandfather Clause were not, it was asserted, designed to pre
vent the Negro from voting but only to ensure that control of the
government did not fa ll into the hands of the ignorant and uned
ucated .
Senator Dole him self issued a statement which carried the
harsh ring of the Old South m entality. Dole contended that
apathy, rather than inability to register, was the underlying
cause of failure to vote, a view which fits in well with the
stereo-type of the southern black as too shiftless to care about
voting.
» • » • " > IO 9 OO p m Da.ly
Sunday, Noon Io 4 0 0 p in
2 8 1 -3 7 3 1
#
Restrict the franchise?
2 6 0 9 N V a n c o u v e r Ave
P o rtla n d , O re .
Ctoyd Cant«
Naa,
,n , t lquoe s,o»t
t pt P I S Ona M,d Only S to,.
~
Any erroneous reflection upon the character, standing o r rep
utation of pe: son, firm o r corporation, which may appear in the
Portland Observer w ill he cheerfully corrected upon being
brought to the attention of the E ditor.
The Editor’s Desk = Con" nuni'» v»ites
tow n
l et P E i’ l ’ s BOTTLE Silt >1’ be youi headquarters f
champagne, wines, m ixers. . ait the lowest prices
town
.1 /
//J /. . /J,/i
in
Carlos
The purpose of the meeting
as explained by Rep. Parnan
M itchell (l)-M d .), chairman of
the Caucus’ Subcommittee on
M in o rity Enterprise and Ec
onomic Development, is to
create a ten-year plan with
specific timetables fo r Black
enterprise in tlie decade of
the 70‘ s. The plan is to be
used as an integral pan of
the Caucus’ National Black
Agenda.
pays
shop
l read in the paper the other day that a clergyman has pro
posed we change the date of Christmas because “ The modern
commercial pagans have destroyed not only the religious basis
of this feast, hut also the human warmth and m srriness that
grew up around it. ” He pointed out that thu Dec. 25 date foi
Christmas was originally a pagan celebration, before it was
adopted by the early Christians.
He said the proper religious message of C h ristm a s," which
is the g ift of God’ s love fo r men and his visible revelation in
history through JesusC hrist, has long sincedied an ignominious
death." He also said Christians should celebrateC hnst’ s s p irit
of selfless and unstinting love of our brothers, especially the
poor.
Well, I’ ll have to take issue with the man. Yes, there is a
commercial side to C hristm as but this is not as bad o r as
nearly all bad as he and soma others would have us think. We
only see and hear more of the “ com m ercialism ’ ’ because of tl>e
advertising and promotion, but underneath there are s till the
solid and rewarding values of Christmas time, the deep exper
ience and appreciation of Christmas as a sacred observance
fo r Christians and as a time for enjoyment of fam ily and friends
and the joys of giving g ifts.
Since the giving of gifts is a traditional part of our observance
of Christm as, businesses are doing us a service by making a
wide variety of gifts available and by advertising to let us know
what they have and where. Whatwould it be like if stores didn’ t
stock and advertise the many g ift items? They wouldn't be f i l l
ing our needs. Shopping for appropriate gifts would be much
more d iffic u lt and time-consuming than it is undei present c ir
cumstances. Thus, I think that if we look at it tfte right way, the
“ cotnm ericialism ” of Christmas is actually a service and not
a handicap. As long as we keep the buying and selling ard giv
ing of gifts in proper perspective to the other values of C h rist
mas, it is not something bad. However, if too many “ experts”
continue to harp about ’ ’ overcom m erciallsm ,” they make some
of us feel guilty as long as we hold to the deeper meanings of
Christmas also.
The Christmas season may indeed have oi lginuted in ancient
times as a pagan festival, tu t It was so Christianized long ago
that it is purely Christian for us. As fa r as Christm as for the
poor is concerned, we here in Portland don’ t need to apologize.
Generous donations to the Salvation Arm y enable them to help
lite ra lly hundreds of deserving poor fam ilies have a better
Christm as, and the churches and other organizations have
Christm as aid projects fo r the poor. I think sometimes the
poor fam ilies have it better than we near-poor people who don't
qualify for help butdon’ t have the means to do all the things we’d
like to do at Christmas time.
The clergyman who suggested a change inthedate of C h rist
mas also suggested a new date of ja n . 6 which is observed by
Eastern Orthtxloxy as Epihany, the manifestation of the C hrist
Child to the Magi; but a mere change of date would not e lim i
nate his complaints about Christm as. It Is not the fault of tte
particular date if there is too much comm ercialism rnd too
many people are not participating In the real meanings of
Christm as, lu t ra tte r the fault of those people ind they would
be the same if the date changed to July.
I believe that Christmas Is s till the trueChristm as to the big
m ajority of people, and that the m ajority is as big as it ever
Sharing
is
Caring
K
Hamilton Furs
and Leather
922 SW M o rris o n
y
9 JU
30 AM
AM to
to 9 9:00
PM
u
:0 0 PM
Sunday 1:00
1:00 10
tl) 5*00
5:00 PM
PM
was.
J . H. Davis
z V x
WE WISH YOU
ALL THE BEST!
"THE T im e ”
1
by John
Watch & Jewelry,
• 1
CH ICK LE
Sales & Service
730 N. Killingsworth
289-8207
A young man is on the road
to wisdom when he learns that
women, fish and race horses
are smarter than he is ...........
OUR AIM
Is to
Ease the
Burden ...
Thoughtful
meticulous
attention to
every fam ily
wish is assured
by our many years
of experience
V an n ’s
C D on V a n n
MORTUARY
5211 N .W illia m s A v e n u e 2 8 1 - 2 8 3 6
Port la n d ,O r e g o n
Help! whose to blame?
To the E ditor;
1 am making a plea to the
home owners and renters in
North Portland, especially
Model C ity Area.
It is so
disturbing when questioned,
where do you live, and you
reply North Portland only to
hear, “ oh that area. This
also applies to some Realtors
giving tie impression that we
have some kind of blight.
We have lovely homes and
beautiful streets with trees.
Our parks are lovely. Wej
have a college and many gooc
shopping areas. A ll our good
points more than off sets tne
bad. It is sad when one is
foiced to sell th e ir home due
to illness or old age and no
longer can maintain them. It
is heart warming to see our
young couples buying some of
these homes and keeping them
up.
We have many good rentei s,
m m on Welfare, through not
fault of theirs due to unfor
tunate circumstances beyond
their control, who take pride
in keeping their places at
tra ctive . There has been fo r
many years a home on W i l-
liam s Avenue not far fio m all
those old fundings, kept up
and greatly admired by many.
It is a pleasure to live by
these people.
We are in an integrated
area, not one color, race or
creed.
We need our strong
young men and women to
volunteer their services to
help patrol our streets and
help with many projects in all
areas. I hope some one can
get something done so we can
show people what a model area
can do with our own resources.
This does not take money.
Only people with pride, giving
a helping hand, ind the will
ingness to work.
Even if
we start with one block clean
ing the sidewalks and alleys.
Vivian Barnett’ s le tte r“ Paint
your face", hits the nail on
the head, Even a sheet can
be made into a pretty cur
tain and clean patches are
not a disgrace.
1 am a desperate Noith
Portland resident fighting to
save our beautiful area. I
can’ t do it along.
Young
people help.
Mary Goodwin
SCI OUR LARGE
SELECTION OF JACKETS
SHO P
WHILE QUANTITIES LAST
lENOW'S
FOR
-B R A N D S you know
-V A R IE T IE S you laki
- SIZES vou w a n t
The Friendliest
Stores In Town
Since 1908
•
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64 I I •> I
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SSth «
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12?nd A N I
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N l o m b a r d •*’ G r » e t » v
» a le .q h H ills P U » 4
» l? p d et S » D .v \ o r
•
M tM B fR
•
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14tt. A S I
J J ,,| A N t
M o r risen,
H 4 n<o>h
•
l9 t t , A S E
O iv v ia n
• J h d IL W e s t ft
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9 ) ft
O f UNITED GROCERS
d
A
USE YOUR BANKAMERICARD
OR MASTER CHARGE
O RIN 9 -9 DAILY • 10 to 6 SUNDAY
SHOR WIGWAM EVERYDAY VALUES
tA M teou
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ROAO
7 7 7 -1 4 »
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741-7J7O
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II7 T U R .
4J4-4
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