Page 2
W ASHINGfON
BRIEFS
MUST ItW K TOGETHER FVR FULL
AND EQUAL EMPLOYMENT.
Portland'Observer
I
I II.
' . I ■
Congress should be uigod
to act this yeai on an iin jx ir-
tant pi uposal that would help
elim inate b a rrie rs to voting.
I lie National Voter Regis
tration Act (5 2574) currently
is before the Senate, await
ing continuation of debate that
began in December.
Thursday, March 16, 1972
The Northwe*»’* Be*t W eekly
A Black O w ned Publication
Published every Thursday by E xie Publishing Company, 2201
N. K illingswot th, Portland, Oregon 97217
Subscription ,5.25 per year in Tri-C ounty aiea by m a il, i>ut-
side the Tri-County area - $6.00 per year by m ail
283-2486.
Phone 282
M ailing address - P.
r . O.
v . OVA
(Sox 3137, I-V,u«uu,
Portland, Vliwgc
Oregon 97 '08.
ALFRED I .i. HEM ¿R St \ , P u b lish e r/E d ito
4.»
Verna I L. Henderson
Asst. Publisher/business manager
fK tr>
Helen Hendrix
• '* A
Personnel and Production Manager
The b ill w ill make le g iste r-
ing to vote a much easier
process in federal elections.
It directs the postal service
to d eliver postcard applica
tion form s to all households
and to make large quantities
of the form s available at post
offices. A prospective votei
w ill f ill out the card, m all it
hack to local election o fficia ls
and become entered on the
le g is la tio n recurds if lie o r
she meets normal voting re
quirements, such as age.
Any erroneous retlection upon the character, standing oi rep
utation of person, firm or corporation, which may appear in the
Portland Observer w ill be cheerfully corrected upon teing
brought to tlx attention of tlx E d ito r.
The Editor’s Desk
Black Press
celebrates
145th year
Register to vote
This week is Black Press week, celebrating the 145 year
history of the black press.
Black newspapers and journals
came into being fir s t as a protest against slavery, and then to
continue to voice protest against racism in this country.
Some might assume that with the gaining of legal rights, the
need fo r a protest press would end. This is fa r from the truth.
Althoug c iv il rights laws and constitutional amendments have
been passed, racism s till runs deep in this country. Black
people s till need papers that are owned and operated by blacks,
that report the news that is important to the black community
and do not reflect the white-bias of the daily press.
This is a factor that is not understood by most whites -
including the advertising industry. The assumption that the
black population is reached by the white press is false. The
credibility gap between the white press and the black com
munity is too great. Long years of biased reporting, slights,
and racist editorials pievent black people from having con
fidence in t lx white press.
Only when he sees an advertisement, a meeting notice, a
solicitation fo r his vote in his own newspaper, does a black
individual know that he is tru ly being sought.
So the black press w ill live to communicate the culture and
the heritage of a people, to unite and bring strength, and to
provide a voice fo r justice and equality.
Security
numbers for kids
The Senate Finance Committee voted to give every child a
Social Security number when he leaves the firs t grade.
The plan is designed to block “ swindlers, wetbacks and wel
fare cheaters from fraudulently obtaining m ultiple Social Secur
ity cards and using them to bilk others, overt deportation, o r
collect m ultiple welfare benefits."
With the passage of this b ill, the federal numbering system,
which is used to file and cross reference a computerized accoun
ting of the details of a person's life , w ill be extended to age six.
With the misuse of such inform ation by a government which is
already deeply involved in spying on its private citizens, our
lives would be an open book to any private o r public group to
which the government saw f i t to reveal its files and, of greater
danger, to the bureaus and departments of the government
itse lf.
Blacks in Portland have been extrem ely negligent in re g is te r
ing and voting. Perhaps it has been because of a feeling that it
did not really m atter who was elected - we had a choice between
the bad and the worse. But this year it is more important than
ever that black people make th e ir voices heard. There a ie im
portant races and issues in the local level as well as the presi
dential election.
You can’ t vote if you don’ t register. And you must register
by A p ril 22.
Not
The nation's 20 m illio n handicapped persons represent one of
A m erica’ s la rg e stm in o rity groups and, perhaps, its most silent.
T h o u g h they have unique problems and needs, they possess
useful capabilities that can be developed, and th e ir d isa b ilitie s
should not be a permanent b a r r i e r to employment, nor to a
chance fo r a fu lle r life .
That statement summarizes the53-year-old credo of theEas-
te r Seal Society, which has launched its 1972 fund-raising cam
paign this week.
Although there probably w ill never be enough money available
to meet all the needs of the handicapped, the Easter Seal Society
believes that a prim e target fo r action must be an attack on the
causes of crippling, as well as rehabilitation of those disabled.
What do Easter Seal dollarsdo? They provide important ser
vices to the crippled that include educational programs fo r bet
te r health, vocational training, the operation of rehabilitation
center campaigns against crippling accidents, co ope rat ion with
government agencies in the promotion of m ajor health programs,
and the organization of volunteers to serve the cause of the c rip
pled.
These and other programs are conducted by Easter Seal So
cieties throughoit the country, one of w h ic h serves crippled
children and adults in this c ity . T h e ir combined rehabilitation
activities are aimed at making the handicapped a sm a lle r m i
n ority.
You can help achieve this worthwhile goal by giving to Easter
Seals now. You help more by giving more.
The Observer*s official position isexpressed only in its Pub
lis h e r's Column (The Observation Post) and the E d lto r’ sDesk.
Any other m aterial throughout the p .per is the opinion of the in
dividual w rite r or subm itter and does not necessarily reflect
the opinion of the Observer.
To Be Equal
bv Vernon E, Jordan J r ,
I was part o f a panel of
alxiut a dozen black re p re
sentatives of national org a n
izations
and c o m m u n i t y
groups on a special edition
o f “ Black Jou rna l” , a public
te le visio n
broadcast a ire d
th ro u g h o u t much of the na
tion on F e b ru a ry 8 and r e
peated on many stations since
then. “ Black J o u rn a l” made
a va lia n t e ffo rt, but the panel
failed “ Black Jo u rn a l” , black
people, and the nation.
U n fo rtu na te ly, the program
was an e xe rcise in fu t ility .
Instead o f developing sound
responses to the re a l issues,
it got bogged ilown in ideo
lo gica l discussions that have
no re a l re la tio n sh ip to the
da i’. y needs of people who
s u ffe r d is c rim in a tio n ,p o v e rty
and hunger.
The spectacle
o f a panel of black leaders
stuck in the m ire o f disse n
sion and debate was d is h e a rt
ening evidence of d isu n ity and
fragm entation.
It is m y feeling that ideo
logy has to take a back seat
when people are hungry, jo b
le s s , and in [a m . B la c k -le d
agencies have to deal with
the people, they have to m ob
iliz e the comm in it y around
so lid pro gra m s that deal w ith
the com m unity’ s n e ed s . Hours
of argum ent about whether
separation o r in te gra tion Is
be tte r do not f i l l those needs,
nor do they deal w ith black
people’ s problem s.
They may tu rn on some Ide-
logies but they Stay f i r , fa r
awav fro m the da ilv concerns
of black people. The average
black fa m ily , fo r exam ple,
Is concerned about q u a lity ed
ucation fo r th e ir kid s. They
want to know what th e ir lead
e rs and th e ir agencies can
do to im p rove the education
o f black youth. Issues lik e
busing and com m unity c o n tro l
As I See It
a re a pa rt of tlie answer lo
th e ir burning question. But
it ’ s depressing to find a ix iie l
such as tlie one assem bled
the o t lx i night ig n u 'e t lx Iwstc
question and tr y to tu rn the
busing Issue into a le st of
one’ s presumed “ blackness” .
Black jieople know som e
thing many a t th e ir spokesmen
don’ t seem to know
tlia t
they a re liv in g here today,
in a society w ith a ce rta in
kind of economic and |>olitl< al
s tru c tu re .
They know tlia t
th e ir problem s have to be
solved by using tlia t s tru c tu re
to w o rk fo r them and then
m aking whatever changes a re
necessary.
B lack
people know dial
they’ re h u rting - today. Thev
know tlia t If th e ir leaders
h o jx to gain th e ir re sp e ct,
the leaders have to deal w ith
the re a l problem s
today.
And above a ll, they know that
fantasy and high-sounding nle-
o lo g lc a l dream s do not deal
w ith th e ir p ro blem s.
Take a ll the m a jo r Issues
facing blacks - Jobs, w e lfa re
re fo rm , hunger, federal health
insuran* e, education, housing.
None o f them were discussed.
What could have been a .stim
ulatin g broadcast dealing with
Issues became Instead, a p la t
fo rm o f d iv is io n and c o n fro n t
a tio n , a re tu rn to tlie old game
of en te rta in in g the white man
by exh ib itin g d iv is io n and
n a m e -ca llin g In pu blic.
Black jieople deserve m ore.
They deserve m ore I tian pub
lic
con fro ntatio ns lietwcen
ideologues and headline-seek
e rs , They deserve a le a d e r
ship that Is not jx r j x t i ia l ly
hung up on Issues lik e in te
g ra tio n and s e r r a tio n , hut
leaders who deal co n s tru c
tiv e ly w ith the hunger fo r food
and hunger fo r ju s tic e tliat
a re the p rim a ry concerns o f
black A m e rica n s, whatever
th e ir personal philosophies.
Judge Dies:
A woman of compassion
By Lenwood (J. Davis
The citizens ot O r e g o n
should welcome die election
of Meivedes F . Inez to the
Judgeship of the C lrcu itC o u i l
In the Department of Domes
tic Relations lui die Fourth
Judicial D is tric t.
If s ix is
elected s i x w ill bring i«w
dimensions to that position.
Dnlike other courts, this one
w ill tie hearing cases of a
very delicate and sensitive
nature—adopt Ions, d (voices,
c h i l d custody, juvenile mat
ters, etc. I herefore, the pre
siding judge needs to he sensi
tive and sympathetic to those
persons dial come befoie I x r
(o r hltn). As I see It, none
L en w o o d G .D a v it
ot the other candidates, ex
cept possible Gevurtz, have
specialized knowledge, a tti
tudes o r background neces
sary fo r presiding oxei such
Judge Inez also has a num
cases.
ber of assets that can be most
In matters that Involve
Ix ljiiu l
in I x r campaign,
domestic relations, the judge
b u st, s ix has die needed ex
needs to know more than the
perience aixl expertise neces
law. S ix (o r lx ) needs to have
sary fo r such a delicate ixrsi-
an understanding of society
tlon. Second, she is a Ix iie r
a ml know people. Judge D ie/
known candxlate than most
has had several years ex
of the atto rixys who are run
perience as an Attorney who
ning against Ix r . Third, s ix
specialized in fam ily ami juv
is already a judge that pre
enile m atters.
She served
sides over both crim in a l arxl
as Pro lem Judge of tlx C ir
c iv il cases. Fourth, she Is
cu it Court in Marion County's
a Democrat arxl die m ajority
court of Domestic Relations
ol the registered Voters are
during d x summer of 1971
Democrats. F ifth , JudgeDiez
arxl has recently serveii in
is running at a time wtxn the
the same court ui Multnomah
18 year old vote could play a
county.
None of the o ile r
major role in I x r election.
candidates canclalm such dis
( I his w ill lx the firs t time
tinctions.
tlwy w ill lx allowed to vote
W hen one examines t lx a t
In this kind ol election.) Ninth,
torneys who are running fo r
she r. . i p ,/ (e, ,, i; i,|.,t...
the same posltion--$im m ons.
•ympaitxiiv, brilliant, and
Smith, Gevurtz, I x ffy , Knapp,
perceptive, seventh, the can-
H alt. V e rsh u m --o ix has to
dlate Is a woman of com-
question tlx sincerity ol th e ir
pisslon; i stulsnt o’ human
motives. I, fo r o ix , question
nature! and has - sincere
most of their intentions arxl
desire io see reform . come
several queries must tv a l
about in the judicial system.
luded to.
A re they really
'As | see it , " Meicedes
serious about tlx election?
F. Dlez w ill lx elected as
A te they re a lly concerned?
a Judge ol the C irc u it Court
A re they running to r the o l-
in tlx I « jx rim e n l of Domestic
fice fo r publicity? A re d x y
Relations fo r the b o u rth ju -ll-
running fo r d x office fo r
Clal D is tric t,
If she is not
prestige? A re they seeking
elected, It w ill not lx bee luse
p o litica l advancenxig? I wun-
she is not the Hl.s I qualified
ile r. And ALL thinking c iti
candidate; it w ill net 1« lv -
zens should too.
cause she -did not have die
Mercedes F, Dlez w ill have
support of the general popu
to overcome many obstacles
lation; it w ill not lx because
if she Is to succeed. F irs t,
she dxl not launch a serious
s ix w ill have to put together
arxl vigorous campaign; It w ill
a campaign that w ill appeal
not lx Ixcause she was not
to all segments of tlx pojxila-
p rupeily financed.
It w ill
tlon.
Second, she w ill have
lx because d x people of i ire -
to have financial b a c k in g .
gon are judging Mercedes F.
Third, she w ill have to let
D ie / on the coloi I het skin,
the public kn o w in no uncer
her sex and not on I x i proven
tain term s that she is BEST
ability, sincerity ol motives,
ju a lilia l fo r the [xisu o n .
chai - le i, arid --mpas ,ion foi
Fourth, d x w ill no doubt lx
hei fellow human beings.
competing fo r d x sarre con
stituents as Gevurtz (since lx
has a reputation ot being a
" lib e r a l" and a man of com
passion), F ifth , s ix w ill ilso
" . . . President Nixon Is
lx appealing to sonx ot the
perhaps tlx only man with
same voters as Vershum,
s till an ojrpoi tunlty to lu 'n
since both aie women, sixth,
Peking
iway ftom p o litics
since she Is Black many whiles
dial - an spall disorder and
w ill not vote fo r Ix r because
even nu lea i w a r.”
of I x r color, even though she
should lx rate-1 on I x r a b ility
and not Ix r race.
h an I'le rre H rn lr in tha
San l l i u f n I nn m
San D x g o , C a lifo rn ia
Letters To The Editor
No black journalists on China trip
Dear
iear E ditor:
d ito n
»
(E d ito r’ s note:)
Cheryl James :
Alfred Lee Henderson
Portland Observer
2201 N. K illingsworth
Portland, Oregon 97217
Dear Friend and Brother:
still no justice
ton, Colorado, not Englewood,
C a lif., as you have it. B u t
these are m inor e rro rs , be
cause a prison is a prison, is
a prison, under any name, and
no matter where it ’ s located.
Congratulations fo r putting
Sincerely,
Cheryl James' picture oil the
Julia Ruutttia
y,
front page of your March 9 is
6830 N , Michigan
sue! Your readers might be
Portland, Oregon 97217
interested to know thatCheryl,
after being admitted to bail and
Dear E d ito r,
brought from Term inal Island,
The March 2 issue o f the Ob
C a lif, to Portland, was held In
s e rv e r c a rrie d the s to ry by
communicado at Rocky Butte
M rs , Julia G. R uuttila about
fro m
3:30 p.m. Saturday,
the h a ll release of C h e ry l D.
March 4, to about 10:00a.m.
Jam es, 18, a Portland g i r l wno
Monday, March 6, AT WHICH
was im prisoned at T e rm in a l
TIME SHE WAS FINALLY
Island C o rrection al In s titu te ,
PERMITTED TO C ALL HER
San P e d ro ,C a lif. M iss Jam es’
FAM ILY.
appeal hearing was held on
This piece of cruel and in
M arch 7 before the U.S. N inth
human treatment gives special
C irc u it Court In San F r a n
cisco.
relevance to another a rtic le in
your March 9 issue, the col
M e m b e r s of t l x C h e ry l
James D e fe n s e C om m ittee
umn, AS I SEE IT , by Lenwood
would like to info rm re a d e rs
G. Davis, "Oregon’ s Black In
that the Ma.ch I Is s u e o f” The
mates, the Forgotten Men.” It
' h n s tia n C entury,’ ’ an ecu
was a great a rticle .
m enical weekly published in
By the way, Cheryl was Im
Chicago since 1900, c a r r ie s a
prisoned, n o t on M c N e ill
s to ry about Cheryl and he r
I s l a n d , which is in Puget
b ro th e r, d ia r ie s T , Jam es,
S«md, but on Terminal island,
J r„
USN, who s t ill is im
near San Diego; and Charles
prisoned at L ittle to n , C o lo
James at Englewood, L ittle
rado. The story Is in the s pe
t
c ia l re p o rts section o f the
magazine along w ith a trib u te
to M lh a lia Jackson, The e d i
t o r ia l comment s t a t e s the
s to ry as being a view o f the
"p ro b le m o f c iv il lib e rtie s and
fe d e ra l a u th o ritie s , e x p e ri
enced by a black fa m ily of
Portland, C *r*go i.” F ntttted,
“ What Happened to the Jam e s
es ” ’ , the rep ort is w ritte n by
Stephen G. G ilb e rt, a r tis t and
illu s tra to r of Albany, Oregon.
The C h eryl James C o m m it
tee has received re p lie s a n d
c o n trib u tio n s from a ll o ve r the
nation s in e * the s to ry ran . One
message came with a donation
fro m an A m erican J e s u i t
se m in a ria n now at O xford U n i
v e rs ity in England.
A r th u r C . Spencer III
P .O . Box 1188
P o rtla n d , Oregon 97208
Good job
L e tte r to E ditor:
It looks like you are doing
a good job — and getting out
a good paper. Keep up the good
w ork.
Sincerely,
N eil K elly
I find it necessary to say that:
I.
I he Congressional Black Caucus expressed concern
regarding "th e gross deficiency” of the lis t of persons ac
companying President Nixon fo China (according to the February
17, 1972 New York 7 Im esj.
2. M iss Ethel Payne's column in the February 26, 1972
Pittsburgh C ourier stated:
a.
"The White House press Secretary authorized space
fo r a black representative, but no one came up with the $6500 It
is costing to send each media person.
b. "T h e only black on the tr ip is the President’ s m ilita ry
-ide, L t. C ol. Vernon Colfey, I ,5.A .”
3.
M r. Lous Downing's column of the March 4, 1972
Pittsburgh C o u rie r stated " P o litic a l observers across the
country are quietly contemplating the recent A dm inistration’ s
action on excluding black reporters from that histo ric trip to
Peking, China . . . .Concerned black leader, fe lt that with so
many well qualified black brothers and s is te r* who made a name
• or themselves in the Held of journalism and reporting they
could have recommended several who could have given the
Blacks' View of the News.”
4. M iss Ethel Payne’ s column In the March 4, 1972 P itts
burgh C ourier shows a long interest in Asia with her histo ric
report of her observations at the 1955 A sian-AfrlcanConference
at Bandugn, Indonesia.
5.
I lx March 6, 1972 Oregon Journal reports that about
twenty Black Panthers are apparently "headed fo r C h in a ". I
therefore am curious as to what extent Invitations were issued
to A fro-A m erican news personnel fo r President Nixon’ s trip
to China.
II the Portland Observer has an itemized lis t of invitations
Issued and declined, I hope it w ill publish same. If no o fficia l
invitations were lasued, I think that also should lx known. I
feel that the lis t of news personnel published in the February 8,
1972 New York Tim es was not representative. I Ix lie v e that
broad-based representation is fundamental to a fie e press.
Sincerely,
M rs . O J . Gates
We have been Informed by
the National Newspaper Pub
lishers Association, an o r
ganization
of black-owned
p a jx rs , and by Stanley Scott,
Assistant D ire c to r of Com
munications fo r the White
House(black), the method of
selecting re p o rte is to go on
state visits Is as follows:
(1) I he ixwspaper publishers
request perm ission to send
a representative;
(2) The newspajxi guaran
tees to pay the cost (in this
case over $6,000);
(3) From among those who
applied, invitations are issued
by the White House. I here
fore, no one was invited who
had not requested an Invita
tion.
out of 2,000 who ap
plied, 87 journalists went
to China. F o rty -fiv e repre
sented public itlons; 41 were
with television.
We have a
lis t ol those who applied ami
were accepted.
NNPA was assured that If
a black publication applied,
an invitation would lx issued.
As M iss Payne states In I x r
column of February .'6, "n o
o ix came up with the $6500
it Is costing to semi each
media person.” It is unfor
tunate that some ui tlx largei
black publications were not
able to combine t l x i r re
sources ami semi a repre-
xntative, but apparently tlx y
feel there were Ix tte r uses
fo r th e ir money.
Black inmates forgotten
lie a r E ditor:
I read with great Interest la stw e e ksartlcle e n tltle d "O regon's
Black Inmates:
I lx Forgotten M e n ," by Lenwood Davis.
Being in tlx Held of Social W oik, I can appreciate the many
points that he was tryin g to im press on t lx general public.
I concur that the Black Inmates are truely tlx forgotten men
in our society ami that we must become sensitive, sympathetic,
and aware of t lx plight ot the Inmates.
• if all the a rticle s that M r. Davis lias w ritten thus fa r, I
like this one Ix s t. I am glad that M r. Davis is w ritin g fo r the
"P o rtla n d O b se rve r."
C. A . I horn as
Take an enthralling
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China from the oruet of
its revolution up to
the threshold of
the controversial
Nixon Mao
summit meeting
Currently a best
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Pox 3137 Portland 97208