; Mrs. Friiices àehoen-New* Itoori
University o f i rc.jor; Í4 horary
B*¿ene, r e ; o n C?4h3
Baby of the week... is it yours ?
POR 7 7,/f N D
Volum e 3, N o. 3 P o rtland, O re g o n
_THE ONLY
NEWSPAPER IN
BULb.
U. 8 POST AGE
P A ID
PORTLAND, OREGON
PERMIT no 126A
SEE PAGE 4
OBSERVER
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD THAT REALLY CARES
ABOUT
t l
j
PEOPLE;“ ^
«
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2 6 ' 1 9 7 2 10< P « r C° P V
Should whites adopt black orphans ?
lN°' S°y> theNotional
W hite m other says yes
Pierson sings in Albina
l.d w a rl Pierson la In Portland fo r a week of appearances,
piesented by tie G if d c i Portland College* C ultural A ffairs
llo ii. l, with the I ib.in League of Portland and tie I'n lv e rs -
lt> ol Portland.
Pierson has leen with tie New York City
<’|x-i i h i the past three years, lie w ill sing at Bethel A,M .L,
Church Sunday morning.
Governor explains
child care cuts
Governor lorn McCall re
assured "anxious m utters
and o ile rs concerned with
.
|
■
that tie is getting tlie lr mes­
sage arxl Ms adm inistration
" Is working on tie problem
o ve rtim e ."
T ie governor emphasized
that (heconiuleaityof the issue
is . ompoundeu by a lack of
detailed, concrete Information
on tie related legislation
which Congress passed during
Its closing tush.
lie said that le had advised
his stalf two weeks ago that
Congressional compromises
to achieve revenue sharing
"m u s t not le taken out of tie
bale (,!
, e s ,”
I le governor also said,
however, that the skyrocketing
of 4-C ‘ s oi social services
e x p e n d it u r e s
had to le
moderatexl as was done by
Congress, This w ill call for.
In turn, he noted, a much
closer analysis of e lig ib ility
and other re<|Uirements.
"W e w ill have to take a
dose look at this to make
sure that tru ly deserving
clients
c o n tin u e
to he
served - - tu t under lightered
up programs that reflect rew
cost lim itations Imposed by
C ongress."
McCall estimated that, had
tle y leen allowed to soar
uncontrolled, 4-C costs in
Oregon could have mounted
to the $80,000,1XX) level try
the erxl of rext hennlum . In
contrast, according to tie
governor, "n o t a nickle was
spent on 4-C 's activities in
Oregon three years ago."
As more Is leaned about
the
new revenue sharing
legislation, McCall said lie
hopes that It w ill le possible
to finance Oregon 4-C ‘ s pro­
grams re a r tie present level
fo r tie balance of lie fiscal
year ending Jure 30.
"T h is is tie goal toward
which tie Human Resources
Department and I are w ork­
in g ," tie governor noted.
"B u t even this level depends
on Emergency Board action
In November and assumes
additional 4-C 's extendltures
of m illio n s of d ollars when
proiected through the rext
biennium.”
He recalled his pledge In
his
second Inaugural ad­
dress - -
and r e p e a te d
since — to plow tie state's
part of revenue sharing into
local
property tax re le f
through state assumption of
a greater portion of local
school operating charges.
"P erhaps tie state cannot
give all Its Federal revenue
sharing funds to local govern­
ment in tills w a y," the gov­
ernor observed,
" i t might
well le that sone of tie
dollars should go to city and
county governments, one state
revenue sharing d o lla r fo r
every two appropriated fo r
4 -C 's programs by tie local-
Ite s from tt e lr portion of
this new federal money."
The state gets one-third
and cities and counties two-
tlilrd s of federal revenue
sharing under tie congres­
sional form ula.
"Spending plans of cities
(Please turn to p. 4 col. I)
want CYOU
as a sa v e r
Ik iij '
UDIRAI
Prank I in
Robert H Hazen, Pros • 20 Offices • Phone 248-1234
Home Office Franklin Bldg , Portland, Oregon 97204
Association of Black Social W o rk e r*
Yes, say A llison and B o hB elcler, adoptive parents of David,
age 3. M rs d e le te r expressed le r views: " A ll children an
human Icings regardless of th e ir sexor co lo r o r religion. A ll
children need love, care and understanding."
M rs Allison said she cannot see why children should be
denied fam ilies just because there are not enough black
fam ilies to adopt them.
I le
Belchers want t le lr children to experience the
re a litie s of life and w ill teach tliem that there Is racism
ol all tyiws-espectally against blacks. They hope that in
tlie lr home th e ir children w ill learn to cope with these pro­
blems.
l i e real problem that arises is not whether a child Is
white o r black, hut the fact that he Is ad oped. There is
always tie question, "Why didn’ t my parents keep me?"
1 le longing is always tfe re .
In a ra cia lly mixed fam ily, tie question may be raised
ol w ile tle r the child Is felng cheated out of his black
heritage, l i e adoptive fam ily must provide opportunities
lor tie child to mix with all ethnic groups and especially
with blacks.
H e Belchers also have one adopted daughter, S a ra h ,
age A. who is Japanese and Caucasian. She visits Japanese
fam ilies so that she w ll understand le r cultural heritage.
l i e B o ld e r fam ily also includes th e ir natural daughter,
Rachel, who is six years old.
A llison Belcher holds adopted son, David. The Belchers,
who have adopted two ra cia lly mixed children, live In Albina
and attempt to provide th e ir children with an environment
where they can experience th e ir cultural heritages. The
Belchers realize there w ill problems o f racism but believe
iove and security w ill give th e ir black child the strenght
to overcome.
„
(Photo by Rosemary Allen)
PMSC survives
H e Portland City Council
turned lown an ordinance that
would have transferred ad­
m inistration of federal pov­
erty funds fo r PMSC to the
c ity 's Bureau of Human Ke­
sources.
I le council had e a rlie r
created a Bureau of Human
Kesources that was to Include
PMSC a; well as M ode IC it e s
and all o tte r city social ser­
vice program s.
1 le coun­
c il postjKined tie inclusion of
PMSC fo r fu r tle r study.
M ayor-elect Goldschmidt,
who o rig in a lly proposed the
Bureau , and Commissioner
Lloyd Anderson voted to In­
clude PMSC while Commis-
siorers Ivancle and McCready
voted against the proposal.
Goldschmidt saxl le w ill
bring up tie m atter again a -
soon as there are live com-*
m is s io ie rs available fo r
a
vote.
Vann claims
unfair report
C . Don Vann, Portland's
Black M ortician, released a
statement today saying he was
a victim of irresponsible
journalism . "1 am interested
in the vacant C ity Council
seat," Vann said.
Vann charged that one of
the local daily papers m is­
quoted him and took h 1 s
statement out of contextdur-
Ing a telephone’ interview.
Vann said, " I f lam ap­
pointed I w ill serve. I feel
that 1 am qualified to serve
because of my broad back­
ground."
C . Don Vann has leen
active in community service.
He has service on tie fol­
lowing board of d irectors:
UGN, YMCA, Urban League.
NAACP, and a member of
the Kiwanis Club.
Vann 's whole life
has
been devoted to the War on
Poverty. Now le is the own­
e r of Vann's Funeral Home
which he has operated fo r
tie past 18 years.
Jackie Robinson dies
In addition to being a suc­
cessful m ortician, Vann has
training in P olitical Science,
Urban and Rural Sociology,
Law and Accounting.
"M y son w ill (« a licens­
ed
m ortician in January,
If I am appointed to tie City
Council, Don J r . w ill run
tlie business so that I can
devote all my time to being
a good C om m issioner," Vann
said.
" I am Interested and I
would count it an honor to
serve on the C ity Council.
1 would work to represent
all citizens of P o rtla n d ."
The Irresponsible journal­
ism w ritten by the local
dally paper has cause man>
Individuals and organizations
to feel that I was not in­
terested. This is unfortunate
and I feel it is u n fa ir,"
Vann added.
Vann plans to talk to the
editor of the local daily
paper and explain to him what
happened.
Jackie Robinsc . the firs t
black man to play in Am er­
ica's m ajor baseball league
some 25 years ago, d <sl Tues­
day i . bis home in Stanford,
Connecticut. Death
came
.’ r a n heart disease. He was
53 years old.
The silver-haired and near­
ly blind Robinson was a pio­
neer in m a jo r league base­
b a ll. His s k ill and accomp­
lishments resulted In the ac­
ceptance of blacks into other
m ajor sports, notably profes­
sional football and pro bas­
ketball.
The world w ill never forget
Jackie Robinson. He answer­
ed taunts and racial slurs from
white fans and players with
base hits, stolen bases and
fielding gems that led the Dod­
gers to tl»e pennant in 1947.
gers to the pennant in 1947. He
was named National League
Rookie of the Year.
He played 10 seasons, bat­
ing 311 as a five-tim e A ll
Star
and as the National
League M ost Valuable Player
in 1949. Six years a fte r his
retirem ent in 1956, Robinson
became the fir s t black to be
elected to the Baseball Hall
of Fame in Cooperstown, New
Y o rk.
A fte r bis baseball career
ended, Robinson took a job
as vice president of Chock-
F u ll- o ’Nuts, concerning him­
self m ainly with
the res­
taurant chain’ s m inority pro­
gram s.
He was one of the
founders of the Freedom Bank
of New York.
■ I ■ I■ I
Robinson was active in c iv il
rights, community and p oli­
tical activities.
"O u r children are our most
valuable posess.on, our Black
diamonds, our Black pearls
and our Black gold. When we
contribute to the total develop­
ment of Black children and
their fam ilies, we contribute
to and ensure our future as a
people. O ur future as a people
resides
in
the physical,
emotional
and intellectual
strength of our ch ildren."
A t the National Association
of Black Social Workers 1972
Annual Convention, the o r­
ganization
took
a strong
position against trans-racial
adoption.
This position came after
feu r days of deliberation by the
membership which consisted
of doctors, lawyers, psycholo­
gists, social workers, psy­
ch ia trists as well as laymen.
A fte r analyzing all the rea­
sons projected by traditional
agencies as to why they couid-
agences as to why they
couldn't find Black Homes fo r
80,000 hlack youth in child
care institutions, we con­
cluded that they were noti
sound.
•
can ' t find p arents ?
One of the main reasons
fo r placing Black Children
with white parents, according
to traditional agencies, is that
they are unable to find Black
parents.
The Association of Black
Social Workers challenges
this allegation. We know that
there is a sufficient number
of available Black parents.
Black people have been
adopting children every day
through the extended fam ily
relationships which include
even the next door neighbor. In
fact, of tie 184,000 Black
babies born out oi wedlock In
1968, 165,000, o r 90 percent
were inform ally adopted or
retained in existing fam ilies.
We know that the number of
Black parents adopting chil­
dren would greatly Increase
if the traditional agencies
would adopt new approaches
and techniques of relating to
the Black Community.
The agencies should restru-
caire th e ir system to include
Black people in every phase
of th e ir operation.
Blacks should design and
adm inister the child adoption,
Foster Care, and other Child
Care Programs, as well as
participate
on
agencies'
boards in significant numbers.
C urrently, most of the adop­
tion agencies are located
outside Black Communities
having no rapport with the
people; subsequently, they a re
unable to do an effective job
of recruiting Black parents.
(Please turn to p. 4 col. 3)
4
r
r -
/
Senior Adults greet Morse
M rs . Clara Bartholenew and J oil Southwell, D ire cto r of the Senior Adult Service Cen­
te r, discuss deficiencies in the Social Security plan over a cup oi coffee in the Center's
kitchen.
■ I H LiJil V I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■ I ■
« v-
Democrats see voters
shifting to Walsh
Urging "B la ck leaders to
work letween now and elect­
ion day to get out every pos­
sible Black vote fo r Mike
W alsh Is the goal of many
Albina citizens.
Black leaders charge M rs.
Edith Green with "benign neg­
le c t" of Blacks, "p o la riz a ­
tio n
and aggravation
of
tensions,” and "C allousness"
tpwards Black unemployment.
Last week Black citizens
called fo r a B lackM oblllza-
tlon C o m m it t e e fo r Mike
Walsh.
Charging that "E dithG reen
has not promoted projects to
h e lp the d is tric t- but she
spends her time gainingpow-
e r and p r e s t ig e inWash-
ington,”
TJ9. Noffa said.
"Y e t
in nearly eighteen
years in Washington Edith
Green has never addressed
herself to the struggles and
suffering of Black [eople In
Albina. She has embraced a
policy ol benign neglect; which
says government should ease
off its already marginal ef­
forts to assist Black people
and poor people."
M rs . Green’ s oppositions
poverty programs, fusing ex­
te n d e d unemployment tene-
(Please turn to p. 4 col. 2)
GOP aimiag at Black
voters
Throughout the city, state
and even the nation, the Re­
publican P arty is seeking to
m oboli/e the Black people
to work fo r the re-election
of President.
Creation
of An
Oregon
State Black Committee
to
Re-elect P resident Nixon was
announced by the State w ide
chairman.
Announcing the creation
the Black committee, the
GOP to Re-elect Pres lent
Nbxon named its co-chairman
as D r. Booker T . Lewis and
Bern* Plum mer. Both
of
them abve been known fo r
th e ir work with the Republ-
can Party fo r anumber
years.
ot
"C reation of this Com­
mittee of distinguished Black
c ivic tedders is support of
President Nixon’ s re-elect­
ion Is significant evidence
of the broad base of support
among Oregonians fo r the
President,” said D r. Lew is.
M e a n w h ile a group of
Blaak businessmen formed
themselves into a Community
wide Black Businessmen's
Committee to Re-elect the
President.
David Nero , President ot
(Please turn to p. 4 col. I)
s