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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1972)
11 BULK RÄTE U. 8. POSTAGE P A I D PORTI <1 ». OR'-CON PfPMIT N O K 1^46 <U »’ ••sklent Nixon askedCon- K>« sn to pluce .i tnoratoi lutu on «11 court o ld e r, thut would '«•lUlie busing to «thieve achool desegregation and to en.ict dui ing the m oratorium legislation that would place permanent le s tia in ts on the mie ot busing |,y the c o u rt, «ml the executive branch. H im pi oposal went much fui - Hwi against busing than 1» had indicated in a special ad dress to the nation March 17. Il I I lie moi atoi lutu would last until July I, 1973, o r until Congress enacted legislation that would establish aunltorm stamlaid lot assigning stu dents under integration o i- ders. In a long message that In cluded two antibusing b ills d ialled In the White House, Nixon, In effect, asked Con gress to place lim its on the Supreme C ourt’ s jui Indicium In tlie 18 -year-old school de segregation e ffo rt and to pre- s c ille by legislation steps to 1» taken In remedying the denial ul equal eilucatlonaI op portunity under the 1 ith Amendment. I he Supreme C o u it, since Its landmark decision of 1954 declaring segregation by of fic ia l policy unconstitutional, has I ■ecu deckling both what constitutes denial of educa tional oppoi tunny and th e bioad means ol correcting It. Under the President’ s pro posals, tlie process would be changed, with Congress as suming the chief burden of de ciding how equal educational opportunity fo r m illio n s of m inority children is to he achieved. II Congress enacts the full legislative package submitted by the President, the desegie- gatlon process that has been proceeding undei court o id e is would lie slowed considerably. Acting A tty. Gen. Rtchaid G, Kleindienst announced that the Justice Department would Intervene Immediately in a number of |>emJing<lesegrega- tion cases in an attempt to prevent extensive busing. I he cases Include Richmond, V a , POR TLA ND Volume 2 No. 24 ° " lAN ° 0,1 JHJ o w tr N tw tg a g , M TM WHOU wheie a d is tric t court tias ordered the mergei of sub- uiban and central city school d is tric ts , and Denver, which is hefoie the Supreme Court on apiieal of an o n le i that calls fo r extensive busing. I. Ike previous lengthy docu ments Horn the Nixon White House on c iv il i ights subjects, tlie presidential message ami the explanations by cabinet members left some contusion as to what the precise prac- tical effect would he. Ilie ie was agreement that massive busing o td e ts o fth e kind seen last yeai in San Nasi ■ , lint, Michigan ami ottiei cities probably would cease. I he Richmond decision, now on OBSERVER Nvte • 1:J72 '< * » * ' Dr. Blanchard supports busing I » ... I. . . . I 4 . • . Ih ls I Iloani ofEducatlon has assumed in the past, and u does alpiesent, anaffirm atlve nasponslblllty to reduce rae lal isolatlon m imu schoola. Its emuni Ilmeni has teen loi de- segiegnion and, hopefully as a result, lntegration. We aie uudet no cuurt u n ie i. I lie 1‘ resklent’ s tein.irka urged a inoraturlum on lowei federai court decisions related to bus ing- The ad in In I g t ra 11 ve transfei piogram of this d is - ti let reflects decisions by tlie Hoard of Education in the ab sence of any coui tdeclsiixi and hence are not the subject of the P tesslerit’ s concern. 11« Equal Educational (ip - (xii tunny Proposal of the President, contemplating a ■ ♦ «ppeal, and o tlie rsllke it com bining central city ami sub urban school d istricts also would be tu in e l back. (here was disagreement as to whether the Nixon legisla tion would eliminate lesegie- gatlon already achieved. N ix on m l his advisers contend that it would not, while c iv il rights leaders and oigarn/a- tions such as th e Americans foi D e m o c r a t ic A c t io n charge<l that it would consti- tu'e a ‘ return to separate but equal with no hope of actual equality.” Standards fordesegregation proposed by Nixon in his leg islation include assigning stu dents to the schools nearest U homes wlien p i ic tic a l. possible $25 b illion as aid to iTie rural and urban poor, piovides a partial response to a national problem In school financing. Programs fo r dis advantage.! children tend to be mote costly, thus more d iffic u lt to finance locally. When tlie details of the P res ident’ s Proposal are avail able, It shixild te carefully examined by tlie d is tric t and supported, provided it re sponds to tlie intense finan cial neo Is characteristic of Portlaiki as a representative large urban area in this coun try . Any effort tomandate legis lation to prevent transporta tion In any lo rm , as a result DR. ROBERT BLANCHARD of a condition of racial im balance, is not likely to be sustained. Here we a ie deal transportation has been used ing not only with lower court in legally segregated school decisions, but with two unan systems for maintaining seg imous decisions of the Su regation. Hence, it certainly preme C ourt of the United Is an appropriate tool fo r States, in 1954, tlie Brown reversing that condition. Case (18 years ago) ruled that More recently, again by unan “ separate but equal” fa c ili imous decision in tlie Char ties for education when legal lotte Mecklenbuig Case, the ly clalmetl and mandated by decision was made upholding a local school d is tric t could busing as one means of co r not continue to exist. The recting racial Isolation wlien conclusion of the court was reasonably applied. This is that separate can never be the law of the land, it is equal irrespective of the f i not merely a reflection of pos nancial commitment of the sible excesses by a lower southern states tc provide federal court subject to re such equality. In this con versal by the supieme C ourt. text, the prohibition of ti ans- Hence, there are serious portatlon of students would questions as to the constitu clearly tie unconstitutional. It tionality of the action recom has long been evident that mended by the President. perm itting each student to re quest to transfer from a school wheie lie is among a racial m ajority to another school where 1« would he in a m in o r ity. A fte r sketching the high lights of fns long-,i waiter J re sponse to the public contro versy over busing, tlie P re si dent spent most of the rest of his speech explaining his opposition to “ busing fo r tire purpose of achieving racial balance In our schools.” The President’ s essential argument was that busing " is a bad means to a good end" because it disrupts estab lished patterns of neighbor hood schools - a concept in which he had said many times he believes. Although the President did not say how his proposed m or atorium on the courts would work, tfre House has already passed such a provision. This was done last year on an amendment to the highei-ed ucation b ill by Representative W illiam S. Broomfield.(Rep.- M ich.) that would prevent tie courts from putting into ef fect any new busing orders pending the disposition of all appeals. 'the President’ s announce ment came after weeks of con gressional struggle over var ious proposals to re s tric t the capacity of the courts to ordei busing to achieve school de- seg regatlon. Some of these proposals have failed while others have succeeded. The d e b a te on capitol h ill over the past few weeks has at least suggested that Congress would be eager to entertain and debate a P res idential initiative. Both the House and the Sen ate have passed antibusing proposals as amendments to the $20 billion higher educa tion b ill. The House amend ments are fa r stronger. They would prohibit the use of Fed eral funds to pay fo r busing, forbid Federal o fficia ls toen- courage communities to use th e ir own funds fo r transpor ting students as a means of desegregation and delay court-ordered busing until all appeals from the court deci sion had been exhausted. Portland citizens react to busing halt Center opens 1 he Albina F am ily 4 Com munity Service Center opened Its doors Friday with snacks, punch and fnednly faces to welcome all guests. Located at 73 NJ-.. M o rris Street, the Center offers counseling ser vices fo r fam ilies with m a ri tal problems, parent-child re lationships and jie rso n a lcris es. C'unseling isdone indlvklu ally and in group sessions. Fees are based on total fam- il> income and the a b ility to pay. There are no e lig ib ility requirements. Consultation is provided to social service agencies and the center intends to also act as a resource to community task forces and indigenous citizen groups engaged in pro moting community develop ment. l« le T ro tte r is the d ire c- .2." of the program . His staff includes Cynthia Thom as, Janet Sweet, Annie Allen, Betty Overton, and Hazel Hayes. The building itse lf is ade quately supplied with small and large counseling rooms, a fu ll set of office and p rin t ing machines, and qualified people. There Is a nee.! for volunteers to work on the “ Hot L in e ", an emergency telephone service to the com munity. T he Hot Line number is 288-9145. D r. Lee Brown is opposed to one-way busing. It per petuates the superiority com plex among white students. The brightest black students This week Portland citizens responded to President N ix on’ s pronouncement on school busing. The following are statements of persons con cerned with the education of the community's children. BRENDA GREEN FRED FLOWERS Fred Flowers says we are after quality e d u c a t io n . Dumping money into ghetto schools does not help. A ll we have to do is look at the Model School Program in Portland, which was designed to bring compensatory educa tion. If busing achieves the end result of quality educa tion, it should be used. Brenda Green believes President N ixon’ s m orator ium on busing is a political move. ” 1 think he is dwelling on white supremacy to get votes in the November elec tio n .” She believes after the election, he w ill withdraw his opposition to busing. DR. LEE BROWN are sent to white schools and the rest are left in substan dard systems. W hat is needed is quality in tne mack schools, to be achieved through a re d istribution of money. Also, the teachers in black schools are not the best. A s tu d y in Washington, D.C. showed that 90 percent of the teach ers in black schools did not want to be there. There is. nothing inherent in Integra tion that provides higher achievement in black students. A REV. BERT RAM GRIFFIN PNB promotes Amerson Herb Amerson has leen piomoted by Pacific Northwest Bull to C om m ui. u i M m aguí. H U a m w ill le i la it I Which includes Northwest, Southwest, North Portland, I »uwntown l ’ u rti anti and ! .ike 1'swegn, ALLISON 4 BOB BELCHER Benj. Franklin introduces Black Studies awards certificate Phil Berthlaume Financial Advisor A new service to help individuals plan retirement income is now offered by the Benj. Franklin, with financial expert Phil Berthiaume heading the new department He is available for consultation at the Franklin Building on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and at other times by appointment Call 224-3333, Ext. 214 Knit Ô Franklin r t o ix x c Robert H Ha/en, Pre» axviNoa • ih a n as s . • 18 Offices • Phone 224 3333 Home O llic e Franklin Bldg Portland, Oregon 97204 •Service Murk Clarence B e rry , the firs t person to receive a certificate in black studies at PM , con- skiers tlie ce rtifica te progi am a "s te p tow ltd re b irth ” of the black |ieople. PSD Is the only school in tlie Oregon System of Higheri-Mu- catlon that o fle rs the cei lin eate. I he program began as an exjierlment In 1969 anil was made permanent the following year. I lie Black Studies C e rtifi cate P r o g r a m requires 45 h o u r s of black studies; 21 hours of lower d i v i s i o n courses ami 24 hours upperdi- vlslon. S ix hours of black community field work Is also required. B e rry believes that up until the program began, there were “ white studies” hut no men- tlon of black studies. ” We were overlooked, as it we didn’ t e x is t," lie claim s. I enwood G. Davis, acting d ire c to r of the Black studies Center, explained that a c e rti ficate earned through tlie pro gram can "enhance a person's job market a b ility .” He pointed out t h a t m just about every job, a person must come in contact with m in o rity people. A person with a c e rti ficate has an advantage lo calise lie has a better undei - standing o( m in o rity groups, he said, Davis explain«) that stu dents in the ce rtifica te pro gram can substitute black stu dies courses in working to ward just about any degree. F o r example, “ Introduction to Black L ite ra tu re ” counts to ward English class hour re rolled in the Black Studies C ertificate Program, there were about 400 students taking black studies courses, last year. Davis pointed out that only 133 of these were enrolled through tlie Black Stud iesCen- t r i . | l,e le st, he explained, registered through other de partment* such as history or English. This ye a r lie expects over 500 students to take courses in black studies. To be eligible for the C er tifica te p r o g r a m , students must apply to tlie Center fo r issignment to an advisor, who approves all work towards the certificate requirements. Robert Belcher is in favor of busing when it provides quality education. He realizes it is an a rtific ia l device, but we have very tew methods ot achieving quality education. Putting in mere money does not bring quality education; many things here need to be corrected. C hildren of all races should grow up together in th e ir choice of housing, but in the meantime busing ts probably necessary. Many children othei than blacks, who have inadequate educa tional opportunities need bus ing to take them to better schools, only 3 to 5 |ier cent of the children are bussed for desegregation. P r e s i d e n t Nixon deliberately nussed the point. Instead of shedding light on the situation and calling for greater sacrifice, he took the easy way out and followed pop ular sentiment. M rs. A llison Belcher, housewife, accused President Nixon of d iv id ing the country, capitalizing on fear and hat red. Educational standards are not equal. Children not living in d is tric ts with ade quate s c h o o ls are handi capped. 1 he best plan is to let people live where they want to, but in the meantime she supports busing children to better schools. Equal educational opportu nities for a 11, equal employ ment opportunities fo ra ll, are dreams and visions which we all share. There are many po litic a l tools to r bringing these about. Admittedly busing of school children is such a tool. I am not fo r busing fo r its ow n sake. But to abandon the tool of busing at our present stage of social awareness is to aban don m oral and political lead ership. A moratorium on bus ing in the name of equal educa tional opportunities is a step backward in the fight fo r our vision. "W e are opposed to the P resident’ s message on bus ing. We feel that until society establishes living patterns which are integrated, at least our public educational insti tutions should attempt to achieve this desired lacial balance. Neither of us accepts "separate but equal" in any phase of life , o r with regard to race, religion or sex. Nix on ami others are attempting B IL L McCOY B ill McCoy feels that Pres klent Nixon is interfering with the courts, which is a dan gerous precedent. H e d k in o t tell the whole story - that busing is a part of this nation and little of it is done fo r in tegration. He is disappointed b u t not surprised by Nixon's action. GRETCHEN KAFOURY by executive order to over throw the basis of our demo cratic sy stem which pi ovkies 3 distinct branches of govern ment. In 1954 our court« ruled that “ separate but equal” was not satisfactory in an e ffo rt to achieve racial harmony and balance in Am er ica. His recent statements on (Please turn to page 8) ¡»í'AatTWw i ' »• Separate but equal nothing new « T<
