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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1972)
Urban program adopted I tie Steei mg Committee of I'he National 11 rban Coalition has adopted a three - pronge«] action program a line«] at the revitalization of American cities which ate faced with serious problème of abandon ment. Cable TV* A chance for Blacks in Media by Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. fhe Pre sklent's recent an nouncement of the nomination of Benjamin Hooks, a black at torney from Memphis to the the broad policy outline F e d e ra l Communications adopted by the Steei I ng Com Commission Is a heartening mittee w ill be Implemented In and Important step. specific programs uni pro I lie FCC Is die powerful jects now uisler development regulatory commission that at tlie Coalition, oversees the activities of all radio and television stations In Coalition Chairman Sol M. tlie country, as well as exer Llnow ltz said tie three d ir cising regulatory responsibi ections In which the Coali litie s over other communica tion w ill work are: tions giants such as the tele - Local action: concrete phone Industry. A black pre r e v i t a l i z a t i o n programs sence among the seven FCC launched through selector’ Commissioners Is long over problem areas In target citie s, due. It Is almost fo u r years - National policies: devel 'e r n o n E. J o rd a n ,J r. since Whitney Young fir s t oping an effective national called fo r a black com m is- "in e large corporations, and commitment to the revitaliza » loner, and the appointment continued black exclusion. tion of central citie s. could not come at a m ore cru But if tlie FCC acts to as - Information atsleducation! cial tune. sert its authority over the in- support fo r tie revitalization This is because the whole lustry's development, and if It effort through an Information system of electronic commu moves to insure a fa ir chance and educatlonprogram dlrect- nications in America is under fo r blacks in the industry, the erl at tie public, at national going rapid change and is the picture Could change radical and local leailership, and at subject of FCC actions that ly. private sector Interests. could revolutionize the Indus Black entrepreneurs arxl try . Decisions w ill be made "W e also hoie to capitalize community groups should get a In tlie coming year o r so that f u r share of tlie Cable TV on election-yearopportunltles have the potential of redress- by encouraging political can franchises that w ill be up fo r A rthur A F letcher, Executive D ire cto r of tie United Negro uig black powerlessness in didates stxl platform com m it grabs, there is no reason why Puni • nc" ,nd lo<1 Ltherlngton, Presklent of the this important field. tees to take strong positions this important new form of National Centet fo r Voluntary Action, at a recent meeting of Perhaps the most cru cia l of aimed at urban revitaliza communications should hr the Steeung Committee of the National Urban Coalition in these decisions w ill be that of tio n ," Coalition President M. subject to the same concentra Washington, D.C. I he group discussed the C oalition's new the future of cable television. C arl Holman sakf. tion of power as other indus uiban revitalization thrust. Cable TV Is a dynamic, fast- tries. growuig Industry. It’ s s till In I his is especially so since Its infancy, lu t experts predict Cable TV is uniquely a com that by the end of the decade it munity service industry. A w ill grow to a $4 billio n indus- Cable TV outlet covers only a try that w ill create about 2 Ol a part ot a city, so m illion new Jobs. it should tie in the hands of the In a very real sense Cable community it serves. r v represents a last fro n tie r E Ighteen years ago, die I I.S. Guidelines that insure own IOPEKA, KANSAS: the res re tlie bunion of paying fo r p r i fo r black people, our last ership access to black bus Supreme Court ruled that <9 schools in Topeka, five of vate schools may force white chance to gain a foothold in the segregated educational fa c ili inessmen, community organi which ate m ajority black and communications industry, as students back, and a handful ties were unconstitutional. zations, and colleges and a some 15 ol which are all or owners, job-holders, and par of indigenous white lesilers The ruling came In a con ¡xiblic and private program of predominantly white. Blacks ticipants. ate teg inning to see desegre solidated case Involving five financial assistance could be a make up 13 per cent ol the gation as die only answer to There is no question that school d is tric ts , arxl slowly tremendous boost fo r black student population, and M exl- black people have been effec die educational c ris is . It was applied to educational economic development In the can—Americans another five PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, tively excluded from present- '70s. d is tric ts across the country. |>er cent, The atmosphere VA.: Perhaps the most cele day radio and television. It Is obvious that Brown And since Cable TV can of lias changed since the Brown Nearly all stations are owned brated example of defiance. v. Hoard of Education has had fer far more television chan «leclslon days- blacks are now by white people, o f the more Prince Edward County s till • profound impact upon nels than conventional, over- mote assertive arxl whites than 350 radio stations whose has Its version ol dual th e -a ir, broadcasting, the school systems th roughout the more fearful and confused programming Is p rim a rily d i- schools—public schools fo r black community should be as nation, but It is reasonable to WASHINGTtiN. D.C.: I he stu- rected to black people, a mere blacks (s till white-controlled) assume that Itsgieatest effect sured of access to the home dent population in D.C. is ap nine are owned and controlled and private schoolsforw hltes. should have teen on the five screens. New FCC rules pro proximately 95 percent black. by blacks. The county's most recent school systems d ire ctly vide fo r a community channel. Standardize! test scores In [ubile school superintendent Entry into broadcasting, an cover»! by die o n le r. What It w ill be up to the black dicate educational effective seems to have Improved edu established industry, requires has happene«l to education In community to make fu ll use of ness may have declined, and cational quality, tu i it ap exhaustive license challenges Delaware, Topeka, K an, it, and also to monitor tune al die crim e problem la severe. o r m illio n s of d ollars o fca p i- pears unlikely his efforts w ill locations on such a channel to C la r e n d o n County, S .C , I he D.C. school hoard, ham tal. But Cable TV is a new in le sufficient to luiethew hltes Prince Edwanl County, V a , Insure that it operates on a strung (7 a lack of genuine dustry whose ownership and back In the te a r future. arxl Washington D.C. since non-discrim inatory basis. power, has teen beset by capital requirements are s till DELAWARE: 1 he desegre 1954? If you couple all this with the serious Internal bicker ing. tut fluid. So fa r it has been re gation Issue remains alive in To those who viewed de black efforts to gain access to there are signs that the stricted to ru ra l areas and lielaware with busing a pivotal segregation suits as an edu the communications media, as leadets may be getting to- sm aller towns, tut now the concern. In Wilmington, fo r cational panacea, the answers reflected by license chal gether. example, the schools have FCC is encouraging its growth lenges to stations that neglect presented In the following sec CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C.: in la rger cities, and that is moved from nearly three- th e ir public service and fa ir tion should be anything but Whites In massive numbers where the bulk ol ttx; black tourths white In 1954 to almost employment obligations, and com foitlng. Tfiree of the sys have lied from Clarendon fo u r-fifth s black In 1972. population is. the continuing monitoring of tems are nearly all-black, schools---- especially since Right now, the situation is Racial tension has teen high, arxl the other two have ex local stations’ programming, 1970 when la te ra l co tin s ap chaotic. Cable TV franchises ant Delaware newsman Jim you begin to see the Impor perienced racial tension. plied the neighborhood school M ille r w rites that the "seeds are licensed by local govern System by system, the box concept to (tie county. But tance of a black voice on the ments and this has resulted in of violence rem ain.” score Is this: FCC and the need fo r that some local scandals, control agency's becoming responsive of the fledgling industry by to m in o rity needs. Reports on Brown cases PortJand/ohserver Thursday June I, 1972 H ie PORTI j AND TRAFFIC SAFE IY COMMISSION re ports one out of six cars on the highway today would fail to pass a safety Inspection. How about yours? Would it flunk the test in an em er gency? NATE hartley Fuel Oil O ne out of every fou r A m e ri cans m ay eventually develop cancer. The Am erican Cancer Society urges you to support cancer research w ith your d o l lars and help to w ipe out cancer in your life tim e liaaiUldCMe Norman E. Isaacs of tlie Co lumbia Graduate School of Journalism la quoted in tlie Post (4-21-72) as noting that m inorities have not teen en couraged to seek careers in journalism . He a ls o sees "seven lean years” ahead be fore there can be a significant Increase In the number of black newspapermen. F o r fear that the uninformed might believe blacks have not sought careers In Journalism, I wtaild like to provide them with some significant back ground. As a group that haa always wanted to put Its case before the public - and It has had a worthy one since tha a rriv a l of the firs t slaves - blacks have always viewed the press as s tool vital to th e lrflg h t for equality and Justice In this country. One of the p rim a ry reasons blacks have been able to achieve some measure of progress and enlist soma sup port from others has been arxl Is the a bility to articulate, sometimes subtly through ■ ong. from the pulpits of churches, hut mote Impor tantly through the w ritten word because It teaches a fa r greater audience and has per» inanence. It Is no accident that many affective black leaders,Duug- lass, Washington, Du Bols, Powell, employed the Negro press as one of their most ef fective Instruments fo r pro test, enlightenment. Interpre tation and guidance. one with s close klentlflcs- tlon with the black press Is aware of a variety of tactics employed to denigrate the black sports w rite r who, de assaults upon blacks. In the black press either out of fear elated Negro Press, founded nied press accommodations at North It was a m atter of be of it as a com petitor o r by the late Claude A. Barnett. tlie Kentucky Derby, coveted nign neglect refusing cover because of disagieetnent with We sent samples of the service It by donning a white coat and age ofNegroevents. With rare Its mission. we had been regularly provid hawking m int juleps. exceptions, the only jo u rn a lis It may seem laughable to ing to the Negro press since A white youth with whom J tic acknowledgement of Negro 1919, to 500 white newspapers some that white newspapers went to high school was hired existence was In crim e re would consider themselves In offering fot tree a tria l ser with no experience by the ports ami occasionally tn the competition with black week vice. Some of the papers were city s leading daily as a cub obituary column. Unsolved lies, but why else did many large metropolitan dailies, reporter and I was refused a crim es weie regularly a ttrl- southern newspapers replate others were small weeklies. s im ila r Job several years txiied to "a n unknown burly their financial pages to ca rry Only about a half dozen later after 1 had earned a col Negro” especially if it in "N egro News” ? eventually subscribed. About lege degree and had some volved an assault upon a white 25 to 30 evinced Interest, but O r some northern metropo Journalistic experience. woman. litan dallies employ Negro m a jo rity didn't bother to re - I know when a black g irl was Assigned to cover a double ply. W'hat was so startling was Journalists to w rite a cen denied admittance to the state lynching in M ississippi, I had sored once-a-week column of not tie rejections we received supported school of Journa to disguise myself to Interv iew from many, but the Insulting “ Negro News and (unopln- lism In M issouri and the state. the blacks about the event he- lonated) Views” ? remarks that accompanied In an effort to circumvent a cause of the hostility of tlie Or white editors describe some of them. "W e 're not In court ruling in her favor, es sh e riff who later refused to the black press as "In fla m m a terested in nigger news.” tablished a "separate but talk to me ami referred me to to ry " when Its mission was "W ho cares?” "W e donot re equal” Jint Crow school of a local white newpaperman fo r seeking those great American gard this as newsworthy,” Journalism at Lincoln Univer the " fa c ts ." "H as no news value." " P r o goals of equality and Justice? sity In Jefferson C ity. I know from personal expe O r when newsprint was ra paganda.” "B ia se d .” Even the White House and rience that many white news tioned during World W a rll and One of tlie ironies is that Congress denied press p riv i papers have refused to accept publishers tegularly lenteach many of the best black report leges to reporters from the experience on a black news other supplies, whites Invari ers In TV and p rint media to Negro press with the conni p a p e r as qualification fo r a day were (rained by the black ably denied requests from Ne vance and approval of white Job though the average good gro editors fo r tlie loan of press which Is now faltering Journalists. black reporter on a black newsprint? fo r lack ol advertising re I can tecall during World newspaper has broader back venue. I can recall when about 150 War II the extreme d ifficu lty ground because he Is fa m ilia r Negro newspapers were being If it is true there are only Negro publishers had In get with two worlds, the white one 300 non-w hite r e p o r t e r s published weekly, some with ting the Defense Department and the black one, and Is more A BC circulations as high as iniong a workforce of 40,000, to accredit reporters as w ar versatile because of the va ri it's a self indictment, fo r the 500,000. In spite of creditable correspondents, h a v in g to ety of assignments that he claim that a shortage exists is circulations, th e ir margin of overvome the ch<irge that none must cover out of economic to some extent a convenient p ro fit was always lower than qualified as bona fide Journa necessity. that of wtdte publications with and not too original excuse. lists, then discovering that In It is true, as Roger W ilkins the same circulation. White The white press that has the Pacific many of the whites has pointed out, that many claimed clairvoyance so often hislnessmen shunned them were drunken discards put out white reporters have long either because they were of on so many issues has teen to pasture. since lost thelrobjectivlty be fended by th e ir m ilitancy o r strongly myopic concerning With a few exceptions the cause of thelrclose identifica because they underestimated Its relations to m in o ritie s. In white press has neve rle e n ob tion over long periods of time the Negro market. the early sixties when blacks jective so fa r as Negro Is covering the same beat. F o r years Negro sports were clam oring fo rp a rtlcip a - sues ami events ate con Due of tlie most revealing w rite rs were denied press tlon tn almost every human cerned. In the South until tlie experiences I have had con privileges by major league endeavor, the white press was last 20 years, white newspap cerning the objectivity of die teams and p a rticu la rly fortbe rejecting practically all appli ers ohstrtteted Investigations white press occurred in |9oO cations from black journa World Series, I remember a of lynchings and other Illegal while I was editor of the A sso- lists. 2 8 2 -5 5 3 9 2330 •’ F Alberta St Portland, Ore. 972« 1 W hy we want to get to know you. It s simple. W e figure if we know you better, we can do more for you. And, also, if you know us Better, you'll Be more apt to ask for help when you want it. Even if it’s just getting change for your parking meter. So stop m at the First National Bank of Oregon and introduce yourself. It II give us a chance to do those little things that make your hanking a lot nicer. 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