Portland observer., June 01, 1972, Page 2, Image 2

Peg* 2
Into the freezer, again!
Ron Hsndrsn ______
IN WASHINGTON
MUST It«« TOüETHEP FV F FULL
ANO EQUAL EMPLOYMENT.
PortlandA^bserver
In Cold Blood:
The madness of assassinations
Geoige C, Wallace, gunned
down recently in suburban
Maryland, has become the lat­
est in a long list of American
p o litica l figures who have fal­
len victim to assassination
attempts.
lin e of the firs t national
leaders to Comment on the
attack ami an opponent ot Wal­
lace In tlie Maryland P re s i­
dential prim ary. Senator Hub­
e rt H. Humphrey, lamented
that lie did not know what
the nation was coming io. Die
sad fact is, however, that In
A m erica** relatively shoit
history there have teen many
attempts to k ill government
leaders, one ol them was
directed against Humphrey
him self.
Humphrey, then mayor of
Thursday, June I, 1972
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M a ilin g add re 5
ALFRE
P. i . Box 3137, P o rtla n d , O iegon 9720s.
L i Hi-NDERSt \ , P u b lis h e i/E d ito r
\ erna L . Hendei son
A s s t. P u b lis h e i. business manage
Helen Hendrix
. e. s, ei an. I ' : ixiuCtu n M iagei
l \ P.\
U ny eiion eo us refle ction upon the c h a ra c te r, standing o i rep­
utation of person, fir m oi coi poration, u hich may appear in the
Portland ebservet w il he cheerfully co rre cte d upon tuing
brought to the attention of the E d ito r.
M inneapolis, was tire d upon
on F e b ru a ry h, 1947 as lie
returned home from a poli­
tical meeting, the assailant
was never identified.
The
Editor’s
Desk
F o u r of the I *nite>l states'
37 P residents have been k ille d
in office :
Abraham l.u ic o n
in 1865; James G a rfie ld in
1881; W illia m M cKinley in
1901; ami John F . Kennedy In
<■ » f. .
s
’.
- -• - -
' .-Z - -,
ALFRED LEE HENDERSON
I w on't need you a g a in u n til N o v e m b e r
No one-way busing
It is true that busing is a tool to achieve quality education,
however, across the country busing was a lrig h t when used fo r
whites to achieve segregation, but wrong when used fo r black
children to gain desegregation and quality education. Busing
was proper when used to bus Oregon children fo r m iles to at­
tend consolidated schools, but not when it is used to bus black
children a few blocks to achieve quality education.
And in this country, busing has meant one-way busing.
In Portland, it has meant one-way busing. There are certain
grades that w ill no longer exist in some ghetto, o r Model C ities
if you prefer, schools. These grades w ill be transported
to schools out efthearea. Perhaps in a few years, only a small
number of ch iid re n w ill be educated in schools located in Albina.
This is the result of one-way busing.
A community needs its schools, its churches, its businesses.
What is wrong with instituting two-way busing, forw e know that
where the middle class white children go, there w ill be found
the resources necessary fo r quality education? When black
children are bused out to the better white schools, and they must
be, let white children also be bused into the schools of Albina,
bringing quality education to every community in Portland.
Secretary of State Clay M yers recently said that he believes
in desegregated schools and hopes some whites w ill be w illin g
to send th e ir children to Albina schools. But why must they be
w illing? When the SUte of Oregon decided its small rural
schools would be eliminated and the d is tric ts consolidated to
provide a better education fo r all of the children, it was not a
question of which parents wanted th e ir children bused. The State
acted and the parents complied. Butwhenwe speak of desegre­
gation o r of quality education fo r black children, white parents
are given the choice to practice racism .
We reject the concept of one-way busing, the idea that the
schools of Albina cannot provide quality education if the school
d is tric t has the w ill to bring this about, and the idea that white
children cannot be brought into the Albina schools. A t this time
m American history, it seems necessary to have desegregated
schools in order to have the resources to educate black child­
ren. Since this is the case, we demand that black children no
longer ca rry the Uirden alone and that white children ride the
buses with them.
Needed: A national unity
by Imamu A m iri Baraka
1963.
Unsuccessful atteinptswere
made on the lives of four
others. In 1835 Richard Law­
rence attempted to fire two
pistols ii President Andrew
Jackson in the Kofumta of the
Capitol. Both weapons m is­
fired ami Lawrence, anunem-
ployed house painter origin­
-Chicago Mayor C a rte r ||.
ally from England, was cap­
H arrison, October 28, 1893;
tured.
He was Ivlleved to
Shot anil killed In his own
have been a maniac.
home by P atrick Eugene P i en-
I heudore Roosevelt, bat­
deigast, “ I worked hard fo r
tling to teg tin tlie Presidency
C a rte r Harrison in his cam­
In I9 |2 , was shot as he left
paign. He promised he would
his hotel In Milwaukee to de­
make me cor,xu ation counsel.
liv e r a cani|M|gn speech. A l­
He fa lla l io do this, and I
though the bulletwasdeflected
have shot him .” Piendetgast
by Roosevelt's eyeglass case
was hanged.
and a copy ot his s,»ech,
-G overnor - elect of Ken­
it did fracture one of his ribs,
tucky W illia m Goebel, Janu­
finally lodging in Ills chest.
ary 30, 191«: Shot awl kllle il
John Schiank, the assailant,
by an unknown assailant who
spent tlie rest of his life in
was paid $ 1,600 b yC alebl’ ow-
a Wisconsin mental hospital.
ers, Kentucky’ s secretary of
President - elect Franklin
state awl one of Goebel's po­
11, Roosevelt narrowlymlssot;
litic a l foes.
assassination in 1931 at a
-F orm er Governor of Idaho
political ra lly InM la in i, F lo r-
Frank ste uneiileig,| lecender
xla.
Roosevelt was not hit
30, 1905: Felled by the ex­
by any of tlie seveial shots
plosion of a n iti uglycei ;ne
that were lived, Ixit one of
tomb as lie entered the from
tlie assassin's bullets took Pie
gale of his home. Assailants
Iile ol Mayor Anion Certnak
unknown.
ol Chicago. Guise,ge Zan-
Other victim s include fo r­
gara, a 33-year-old Italian
mer senator Samuel C. I ’ oni-
tiic k l.iy e i, was convicted of
eroy of Kansas in 1873; May-
m urder.
He said le had
oi W illiam J. Gaynor ol New
purchased the weapon ten
A ork in 1910; senatoi Charles
years e a rlie r lot the purpose
B. Hewterson of Nevada in
of assassinating King Victor
1921; senator Huey P. | ong
Emmanuel of Ita ly. /ang.ua
ol Louisiana in 1935; senator
w is e le cti ocuted.
John W. B ricke r of tih lo in
An attempt was made on He
1947; Governor J, Lindsay
life of President H arry I re­
Almond of V irginia in |959;
man in Washington in 1950.
awl senatoi R o lv it F, Ken­
one of tie two assailants was
nedy of New York In 1908.
killed by White House police
Governor Wallace, tlie 29th
in anexchange of gunfire which
American polUicsl leader to
also took the life of one of
fall victim toatteinpludassas-
tie officers assignexl to p io -
i am -• 1635, won the
tect the President. I le death
Marylawl p rim a ry by neatly
sentence handed down to tie
a two-to-one m aigtn.
But
other assassin waslatei com­
that victo ry must te of m in i­
muted to life unprisonment
mum c o itifo it to hun, io his
by Truman.
fam ily and io the m ill ions of
o tt e r assassinations of Im­
Americans who, regardless of
portant
political
figures
Iheli p o litica l ,e i suasions,
include:
pray fo r his Complete recov­
-J.W . Stevens, May 21,
ery. (As expected, lie also
1870; a fo rm e r Republican
won die Michigan prim ary,
Senator from North Carolina,
making him an even stronger
found stabled and hinged ui
contewler for the 1972 I lemo-
tie Yancyville, N.C. court­
c ra tic nom ination.)
house.
Iw o men were con-
the fellihg of Geoige Wal­
victo l hut loth went free d -
lace is a blot against us all,
te r paying pall, the only pen­
an apallingcom inentaryonuur
alty fixed. A New York lim e s
nation awl the time in which
report said He assassination
we live .
But the story la
was inspired by widespread
not a new one.
Madness
animosity toward Re|iublicans
has always teen with us, awl
Ul II:.- ■ I d o ,
- '
l(
tlie only sane reaction to mad­
a Ilem ocratlc Party meeting
ness Is calm reason. N eltlier
was held in tie courthouse
Governor W allace nor tlie na­
on tie same day of Steven’ s
tion w ill lenefll fiu m e x lie rn -
death.
Ism from any iju a ite i.
vention, as it is now, in the
“ Congress'* - a national pel i-
post-convention transitional
tical structure to move us,
Whatever is left of Gary,
period In which we attempt
through any of the four areas
that is useful to Black People,
t i consolidate and build, that
of political (lower, we must at
we should begin now to try to
if any giarticular ideology
least understand that we can­
understand.
niuied to “ dominate” the con­
not threaten to destroy it any
vention or tlie follow-up as­
The tools that Gary was sup­
time we lose a question or
posed to have provided proto­
sembly, that we would ill le
vote.
types fo r are s till needed very
lis t,
because no assembly
In theCongressof tie I hued
badly, and d theNational Black
would le formed, but only an­
States,
many liberals lose
P o litica l Convention did not
other collection of opportu­
votes every week, but they do
leave any functional political
nists at w orst, or at le s t, an­
not quit C ongies- because,
tools fo r building Black Self
other ol the endless c irc le s of
say, tie conservatives domi­
Determ ination, then all that
intellectuals . . .debating tie
nate that week.
was done in the name of the
(erfect way to solve ourprob-
D r even conservatives are
Gary Convention was some
letns - while at all points of
not asked by their supporters
people’ s simple vanity.
street reality the problems get
and friends to resign from the
The convention itse lf was
observably worse.
Congress because Birch Bayh
the idea of Black people around
A National Black A ssembly,
anil 'led Kennedy s c o r e ,
the country. It was one an­
should le Just that, an Assem-
though they are certainly
swer that a few of us could
fc»ly of tie Black people elected
grateful fo r theCongresslonal
understand, to the question of
by diverse constituencies to
Record, and the New York
how should the national Black
represent our equally diverse
Tim es’ boxscore “ How They
community move, in an Am er­
National Black Community.
V oted," which allows th e ir re ­
ican election year.
In a sense, this structure
spective constituencies to see
How should our community
should function as a “ Con­
that they are keeping the faith.
move, so that after the mas­
gress*' as well a s a “ P olitlcal
I would suggest, as a matter
From M CM ,
2 8 7 -2 8 8 7
sive energy, money, rhetoric
P arty,’ ’ passing resolutions
of fact, thatwe institute some­
the
company
that
gave you 5WFT
and fantasizing had finished,
o r mandates suggesting the
thing like the Congressional
that we would have achieved
point ol view of the community
Record. I he National Black
as well as directives stipulat­
P olitical Assembly Record, if
ing action ( “ action agendas’ ’)
you w ill, and “ How T h e y
planned by the community, o r
Voted," In theNational Black
simply definitions of what our
P olitical Assembly, to keep
national community considers
our various constituencies
equitable or inequitable, nec-
certain that we are taking
| assary o r irra tio n a l.
" c o rre c t” positions.
I
F o r Instance, around the
But again I cannot see how
“ controversial issues’ * of Is­
any group, influence mongers
rael and Busing, though reso­
o r fund raisers, could ask to
lutions were passed In Gary
destroy the instrument just
which could have been suc­
because a pa rticu la r tune is
cessfully
opposed, s o m e
Dear E d ito r:
not to th e ir liking. Unless, of
Captain Jacob Kamm’ s build­
brothers ami sisters took is­
Congratulations and ASSIS­
course. It was, a fte r a ll, the
ing. The present e ffo rt calls
sues with these after the con­
TANCE are in order fo r M r.
Instrument itself they had no
to mind the time when tie late
vention as well and spoke out
W illia m J.H aw kins,architect,
use fo r. I can see even less
F rancis J . Mumane, long­
publicly to that effect.
of 1030 S.W. Second Avenue,
how they could force brothers
shoreman and “ historical
On the surface, we might
Portland 97204, owing to his
and sisters to wlthdiaw from
conscience of P o r t l a n d , ”
condemn this kind of activity
quiet campaign to raise the
such an admittedly imperfect
toured city o fficials through
as disunifying, but I think we
>1,500 needed to purchase the
assembly rather than trying to
M r . Ladd’ s site. If saved
all ought to try to belessdog-
two “ Old Portland’ ’ statues
perfect it.
these re lics would offer te sti­
tnatlc o r one sided or superfi­
presently
housed at E ric
In some cases It Is simply
mony of our region’ s creative
Ladd’ s Colony, fo r installation
cial (to paraphiraseChairman
th a t certain Individuals or
pioneer era, and would he
Mao) and even though In tie
in the restored Pioneer U.S.
groups cannot see tliemselves
a fine tribute also to th e irD a -
end we might maintain our po­
Courthouse - Post Office. The
tie«] to a larger national Black
nish woodcarver, to M r.M u r-
sitions, we should at least see
1884, 12-foot cedar caryatids
structure, because they feel It
nane’ s e ffo rts, and to M r.
are all that is left ofthem ag-
the other side of situations, al­
reduces th e ir "im portance.”
Ladd’ s preservation work.
lowing ourselves the strength
niflcent V ictorian splendor of
So we have to find a way to
Now is the tim e to send M r.
He hit
of “ all sidedness** as opposed
get us all interested.
Hawkins some proof of our in­
the
Man
to "s u b je c tiv ity ” , no m atter
With some others, we rea­
terest In his task (“ Save the
how
"
c
o
r
r
e
c
t."
for $3 million.
lize tfiat their constituency, or
Ladies Furel” ).
F o r Instance, my personal
supporters o r friends, might
Sincerely,
Right where
belief Is that Busing Is nega­
man to standwithour brothers
be offended o r threatened by
A rth u r C. Spencer
it
hurts.
tive to the amassing of Black
In unity In Albina and th e
portions of the National Black
900 S.W. St. C la ir Ave.
Power,
In
most
Instances;
al­
w orld.
Agenda,
so
they
have
asked
In
the diamonds.
Portland 97205
so, I feel I s r a e l needs to be,
1 have one c ritic ism : On the
these persons to champion
m inim ally, condemned.
U niversity and college level,
th e ir Interests.
there Is a vast amount of
But there is no question that
The National Black P olitical
talent that is not being used or
'Air maintenance of such posi­
Agenda was passed, ratified,
motivated, rhese people too
tions jeopardizes the very
form ally, in Greensboro, May
should be made aware that
union we sought and hopefully
6, 1972. That Is a significant
s till can achieve.
th e ir opportunities to obtain a
I lie Portland Observer's
date, and from this point we
better life was at the cost of
Yet I cannot see us stepping
And baby, that's cold.
reported in e rr o r last week
can eith e r pull together, build
away from the issues now or
many Black peoples' lives.
that Judge Mercedes Delz had
and rise, or else we can draw
Because of their e ffo rts, we
MHRO G01DWYN MAYIR Present*. COOI BMf/( Starring THAI MUS RASIM Al A
been elected to the C irc u it- the Black m a jo rity ’s evalua­
apart, splinter, polarize, and
tion of them. The question of
JUDY PAW JIM WIIKINS IINCOIN III PAIRICK And RAYMOND ST JACOUfS A:, Mr,. rr
owe these people our dedica­
C ourt. Judge Delz did re­
sink back to our abstract Iso­
tion to the struggle.
In te g ra tio n s! vs. Nationalist
ceive the greatest number of
lated "c o rre c tn e s s ," amidst
The Black Middle Class
is another abstract diversion
votes, but fa ilin g to receive
the not so dignified “ right
must have a long look at them­
at this point. Our contradic­
over 50 per cent of the votes,
o ff s i" of our jo lly enemies.
M u st en d n e x t Tuesday
selves, analyze what they are
tions as Black people to Black
she w ill lie in a run-off elec­
really doing fo r Black people
people w ill never be as great
tion in November with A t­
and fo r themselves. If they
torney Ron Gevertz.
as our contradlctive Black
can’ t see then, they should ask
(Imamu A m iri Baraka la
Im ita tio n o f Life
their children If they see them
Chairman of the Committee
fe a tu rin g M a h a lia Jackson
as heroes o r fools.
fo r a Uniter) Newark and a
r h e jib s e i ver’ s official position is expressed only In Its Pub­
In Peace and Unity,
member
of
the
Steer
ing
Com
and
lis h e r’ s Column (The Observation Post) and the E d ito r’ s Desk.
Gregory C. Benton
nilttee of the National Black
The G re a t W h ite H o p e
Any
other
m
aterial
throughout
the
paper
Is
the
opinion
of
the
In­
Student: Portland State Uni­
Assembly.)
dividual w rite r or submitter anti does not necessarily reflect
ve rsity
S ta rrin g James E arl Jones
the
opinion
of
the
Observer.
J r , Political Science
[Weeknights - Open 7:15
Sunday - opens at 5:00 p.m .
some
concrete objectives
which we could, hopefully col­
lectively, set fo r ourselves.
I he most essential thing, as
fa r as I was concerned, was the
creation of a National Black
P o litica l Structure. A struc­
ture which could function in all
the ways tlie national Black
community needed it to func­
tion, to gain, maintain ami use
power . . . which is my under­
standing ot what politics is.
To function m the areas of
Public Office, Community O r­
ganizing, Alliances and Coal­
itions, and even Disruption
(whether we are talking about
a demonsti at ion, or economic
boycott, o r unifying agreement
that disrupts the plans of those
that do not love us).
What we are missing, now,
but what the National Conven­
tion should have comeupwith,
was a strongdiverse Black po­
litic a l entity, capable of c r it i­
cism
and self c ritic is m ,
growth, and influence.
It was cle a r to me pre-con-
Alameda Theater
3000 NE Alberta
Letters to the Editor
Black press absent
Dear E ditor:
I recently observed that
there was a news conference
held fo r Roy W ilkins in P o rt­
land, and the Black press was
conspicuously absent. A fu r­
ther investigation revealed
that the local NAACP dki not
Invite the Black press to the
news conference. In my opin­
ion, this is a slap in the face
on the p a n of the local NAACP,
not only to the Black press but
also to the Black community.
Why the NAACP did not in­
vite the Black press is a mys­
tery to me. As of date, I have
been unable to find out Its ra­
tionale fo r this gross insult.
Knowing tlie local NAACP and
its leadership, I should not
have been surprised of this
blatant omission.
Most Black organizations
must realize that the Black
press is its greatest asset, be­
cause it Is the Black press that
gives the Black organizations
their greatest news coverage.
One only needs to look at the
dally white press to see the
importance that they place on
Black news. In my opinion,
the local NAACP and Its lead­
ers owe an apology to the
Black press fo r failing to
Invite them to the recent presa
conference that was given fo r
Roy W ilkins and also fo r the
NAACP Oregon Conference 5"
Sincerely,
Lenwood G, Davis
(EDITOR'S NOTE: We were
disappointed that we were not
invited to participate In the
NAACP Northwest A rea Con­
ference and to meet with M r.
W ilkins.
However, we have
been atM ired by the NAACP
Branch that this was an over­
sight and w ill not reoccur.
We need the leadership of all
of the various organizations—
the NAACP, the Urban Lea­
gue, the Black Panthers, etc.
We feel that the Black Press
adds a constructive voice and
means of communication to the
black community and our ser­
vices are freely offered to all
community organizations and
agencies.
It is imperative
that we all work together if
we are to bring justice and
equal opportunity to our peop­
le.)
Assistance needed
Analyze yourself
E ditor:
1 am very impressed with
the a rticle s by M r. Lenwood
G. Davis about the Black Mid­
dle Class in Portland.
It is true the'Black Middle
Class Is a great disappoint­
ment. While the rest of the
Black Nation steams ahead,
the people in the best posi­
tions and backgrounds in P o rt­
land, do no more than to try to
out white the white man. 1 know
this to be true because I am
’ ’ young, Black and Middle
C lass.’ ’
We have to put forth so m e
effort In order to elim inate
some of the inequality in this
nation, and we can’ t do It on
our knees, saying prayers or
begging our o p p r e s s o r s
(whites) fo r oui rights. These
are some of the things we've
attempted in the past, and we
have seen th e ir lim ita tio n s.
M r. Davta is right. It la up to
thoao who a r e closest to the
Correction
I
Held over
Coming June 7th