Page 2
P ortland/O bserver
Thursday, liecem her 21, 1972
The
Editor’s
Desk
ALFRED
LEE
HENDERSON
White Christmas,
White House,
No room for Blacks
Years ago Ralph E llison wrote “ The Invisible M an" te l
ling how the 31ack people in the United States are not only
oppressed and discrim inated against but th e ir very existence
is not acknowledged.
Today in Portland, Oregon, the Black man is s till in v is i
ble. He is unseen in the halls of c ity and county government, he
is unseen in the middle and upper levels of c iv il service, he is
unseen in the boards and committees that determine the p o li
cies of government and non governmental agencies.
On Interstate Boulevard, a sign says "P o verty is what
happens when people give up caring fo r one another."
We are in the C hristm as season - a season of caring and
sharing - a season when individuals, regardless of religious
persuasion, are drawn into the s p irit of giving. Needy fam i
lie s are provided with food baskets once a year; homeless
men are fed one good meal; fatherless children are provided
mended toys. One would think that during the Christmas season
there would be a sharing of power, that there would be a
sharing of the economic wealth.
It is easy enough to give a sm all donation - throw a can of
soup in the Sunshine h a rre ll o r buy an extra toy. Blit it cost
m ore to let Black people share in the decisions tl at effect
th e ir lives, o r to give a man an equal opportunity fo r a good
jo b . It costs more to acknowledge tie sins of the past and of the
present and to work to remedy th e ir effects.
A glaring example of the "in v is ib le m an" was the recent
dinner honoring M ayor T e rry Schrunk on his retirem ent,
attended by 250 invited guests. No Blacks were seated at the
head table - no Blacks were a p a rt of the program . The Black
press was le ft out, omitted and net invited. Black people
consider this to be an affront and a disgrace.
Even the G reater Portland Council of Churches (now in
the process of merging), which espouses the love of God and
of man, has no Blacks on its staff. If the Council of Churches
is to proclaim the good new s - the S p irit cf Christm as -
it must put its own house in o rder.
The C ity Council had another opportunity to share its de
cision making process with the Black community but failed
to do so during the Christm as Season.
Christm as brings hope fo r some but fo r many Blacks it
is the S.O.S.
M UST WORK TOGETHER FOR FULL
AND EQUAL EMPLOYMENT.
. » . » • • • • • • saaeaeeeeeee««e»eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
As
I
See
It
( Another Point of View ( Public w e lfa re
Murder in America
THE VANGUARD
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
(Guest e d ito ria l by LaVeta
G ilm ore, Vanguard w rite r,
Janies H . Rogers, professor
of American C iv iliz a tio n /
Black Studies, andGregg Ben
ton, ex-president of the Black
Student Union).
On Thursday afternoon,
Nov. 16 1972, two Southern
U n ive rsity
black
students
were murdered by state of-
f i'ia ls in the wake of a campus
rebellion.
We are not surprised! This
is typical of the Irra tio n a l
violence
practiced against
black Americans fo r more
than 300 years. It is the same
violence
practiced against
those throughout our history'
who have rebelled against
white enslavement and white
oppression.
We are aware that this in
sane incident was possible be
cause [eople of co lo r in Amer
ica suffer from one of the
most dehumanizing, irrespon
sible, exploitive and immoral
regimes In the history of man
kind.
We are aware that we live
in a society that is respon
sible fo r acts and practices
of im peralism , colonialism,
rape and rampage of peoples
of c o lo r throughout the w orld.
But, it is important we bring
this argument close to home.
Recently, the HealthEducation
and W elfare (HEW) regional
office in Seattle reprimanded
the U n ive rsity ofCregon, Ore
gon State U niversity and P ort
land State U niversity fo r their
practice of institutional rac
ism against m inority students
in the state of Oregon. Ad
m in is tra to rs at the three
schools were given specific
" a ffir m a tiv e " proposals to
c o rre c t this offense in a ' ' rea
sonable” period of tim e. This
has not been done!
We consider our education
in Oregon totally irresponsi
ble,
non-responsive
and
totally irre le va n t to the real
need of m in o rity students
(Aslan. Black, Chicano, In-
This same syndrome of psy
chological
and educational
genocide practiced at PSU In
curred the tragic events at
Southern U n ive rsity - black
students and facultydemand
ing educational equality In In
stitutions of higher education.
Although there are tew iso
lated cases of "concerned
whites of good w ill" - large
ly young and educated - a
m a jo rity of white Oregonians,
whether m inisters,educators,
housewives, students, o r what
have you, are totally Ignorant
of the experience - cultural,
social, economic, political - of
m in o rity peoples.
We would like to educate
them, but authorities respons
ible fo r higher education in
Oregon have not responded
and are not responding to our
request fo r increased faculty,
counseling services and stu
dent recruitm ent.
We believe this is the same
problem confronted by black
students at Southern U nivers
ity .
Malcom X said that, " I f
white Americans do not wish
us to hate o r despise them,
then let white Americans stop
oppressing u s ." We believe
th is suppression to be on all
levels. F or example, white
A m e r ic a n s
retu rned an
avowedly anti-black president
back lo the “ white” White
House. Again, we are not sur
prised. because white A m e r
ica is concerned with its p riv
ilege, power and status quo.
However, the tim e is now fo r
white Americans at PSU and
throughout the nation to real
ize that "in s titu te s of higher
learning "m u s t accept the
challenge and necessary in
troduction of innovative and
comprehensive programs of
m inority
studies
(Indian.
Chi ano, Black, Aslan and oth
ers) o r they must close their
doors.
We do not wish to imitate
o r emulate the m a jo rity white
culture. We black Americans
did not create the genocidal.
in Oregon:
Myths and realities
aggressive practices in indo-
Chlna. White people did.
AAe black Americans a re not
responsible for the p ro life ra
tion of hard core drugs, c rim
inal activitie s, high unemploy
ment and so forth in the black
community. White people are.
We black Americans do not
segregate and suppress native
A m erican s (Vidian, Chicano^
on concentration . amps called
reservations. White jeople do.
We black Americans are not
responsible fo r the future
downfall of America. White
people are.
We feel that at PSU so-
called "re sp o n sib le " admin
istra to rs and academicians
can no longer squirm In tl«
discom fort of th e ir a ir-co n
ditioned, insulated, private of
fices - appropriatly decorated
with
pictures
of Horace
Manns, Sigmond Freud and
F . Scott Fitzgerald (white cul
tural heros) - sadly lament
ing " t l « good old days."
Considering
the
recent
events at southern U niversity
and the general condition of
Black. Indian, and Chicano
peoples In America, no white
person In America, w hetl«r
m in is te r, educator,politician,
o r mythical average citizen
can enjoy the rank privilege
of passing judgement against
peoples of c o lo r.
1 here can be no significant
lasting peace between A m eri
can whites and people of color
u n til a viable, human, egali
tarian, social democracy is
created on this continent.
However, we do not intend
to s it around passively and
w ait for this utopian realiza
tion. We know that we cannot
depend on tl« good w ill and
prom ises of white people.
We believe that what hap
pened at Southern U niversity
on Nov. 14, was possible be
cause it is possible In the
state of Oregon. Beware.
Part III
Many taxpayers in the State
of Oregon and other states
believe that many j«ople on
public welfare can " liv e it
up" instead of working. T l«
facts appear not to support
that supposition. T l« la r
gest amounts that can be paid
during a one-month period
in Oregon are: Old Age as
sistance and Aid to Disabled
(I person case) - $143.59;
Aid to Blind (I person case)
— $163.42; General Assis
tance (fam ily of 4 - foodand
shelter only) - - $155.73; ami
Aid to Dependent Children
(fa m ily of 4) - $243 3 5 . o b
viously, few people can " liv e
it u p " on those meager sums.
F u rtl« n n o re . the $2,920 per
year received by a fam ily of
4 in tl« State of Oregon is
fa r l«low the national annual
poverty level of nearly twice
that amount - - $4,287. The
welfare program in Oregon
does not need to cut tl«
amount given to recipients,
but to increase it. Even w ith
the help of good programs
and lim ited medical assis
tance, the welfare recipient
faces a bleak substandard
existence.
Many Oregonians helwve
welfare ro lls are full of able-
bodied
loafers. The facts
do not support that belief.
It must he pointed out that
IN
OREGON,
CHILDLESS
ADULTS ARE NOTELICIBLI
FOR W! I F ARB.
A break
down of the total reveals:
21»” are e ith e r over 65, to
ta lly disabled o r blind: 5%
are In a temporary c ris is ;
3% are fa lte rs looking fo r
work: 21% are mothers caring
fo r children — 3 out of 5
have pre-schoolers at home;
and 51% are children with an
average age of 8.
F o r Oregon as well as
nationally tl« largest group
of working age adults is the
ADC mothers.
The status
of the mothers from the
latest ADC study (1971) show:
12% employed in regular full
o r p a n -tim e jobs; 9>’ in
w ork training programs or
awaiting enrollm ent; I9lj, had
no marketable s k ills o r were
disabled; 33% were needed
tull tim e In tl« home because
of small children; 20% * ere
conditionally employable; 7%
were not In the home because
of death, illrw ss o r other
reasons.
It needs to 1«
pointed out that t« a rly I out
of 10 ADC cases have monthly
earnings that reduce th e ir
welfare grant.
Of i l l ADC
cases. I out of 3 have son«
type of Income that reduces
th e ir welfare checks (fo r
example, social security and
survivors le n e fits).
T l« welfare recipients in
Oregon, like welfare reci
pients all over the country,
also have to deal with the
welfare bureaucracy, j s well
as tl« case w orkers. Some
applicants i« v e r have their
applications
acted
upon,
while o lt« r applicants are
given tl« run around. Sou«
welfare clients have informed
this w rite r that they were
treated disgracefully by some
case w orkers at the Ablina
M u lti Service Center. Many
others have nothing hut praise
fo r tl« case workers at ti«
Center.
Lenwood Davis
Rich* id M . Nixon stated
tour years ago that "w hat
Americans
i«ed
is N o I
more people on ti« Welfare
ro lls, tu t more people on
p a y ro lls ."
Obviously, that
did not happen. Unemploy
ment and poverty is at an
all tune high In this affluent
country.
Chronic welfare in tl«S tate
of Oregon must 1« tackled
vigorously l>y Governor Tom
M cCall and other leaders.
Anil, unless sou« means are
found to deal with this syn
drome, this State, like the
rest of tl« states In Am erica,
w ill be on a collision course
of devastate1
Busing foes don’t want racial mixing
By B enjam in E . Mays
Th* Northwest’s Best Weekly
A Black Owned Publication
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company
2201 N. K il 1 ingsworth, Portland. Oregon 97217
M ailing address:
P.O. Box 3137 Portland. Oregon 97208
subscriptions - $535 per year - T ri-C ounty area by mail
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Telephone: 283-2486
ipplication to mail at second-class postage rates is pending
at Portland, Oregon.
A
The Observer’ s o fficia l position is expressed only in its
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Desk, Any other m aterial throughout the paper is the opinion
of the individual w rite r o r subm itter and does not necessarily
reflect the opinion of the Observer.
Any erroneous reflection upon the character , standing or
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in tie Portland Observer w ill be cheerfully corrected upon
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A YOUNG VIE W OF W ASHINGTON
LBJ ON CIVIL RIGHTS:
THE MOUNTAINS ANO THE HOLLOWS
By Ron Hendren
INPA
ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, P ublisher/E ditor
F o r your subscription, send to:
Portland Observer
With Ron Hendren
—
F o rm e r President Lyndon
B . Johnson came out of re
tirem ent b rie fly the other day
to address a symposium on
c iv il rights at the Lyndon
Baines Johnson L ib ra ry in
Austin, which simultaneously
made public some one m il
lion pages of c iv il rights pa
pers from the Johnson ad
m in istra tio n .
Johnson, who is s till re
covering from a heart attack
suffered e a rlie rth ls y e a r, was
advised by his phy: ician not to
make the address. " I ’ m goiig
to speak anyway," he said,
"because I’ ve got some things
I want to say.”
And, indeed, he did. Reaf
firm in g his conviction that
c iv il rights advances were
among the most im o n ru n t ac
complishments of his years in
the White House, Johnson said,
" T o be black in a white so
ciety is not to stand on level
ground. While the races may
stand side by side, whites
stand on history’ s mountain
and blacks stand on history's
hollow .”
He made cle a r his belief
that " U n til we overcome un
equal history we cannot over
come unequal opportunity."
His message was one of nope
fo r A m erica’ s m in o ritie s, but
it was also cle a rly Intended
fo r his successor In theWhlte
House. While he indicated he
did not believe reports that
the President Intends to do
away with the advancement and
education programs estab
lished under the Johnson ad
m inistration and cut back on
c iv il rights enforcement, he
nonetheless urged black lea
ders to seek an audience with
M r , Nixon. " I think you should
try to reason with the P re s i
d e n t," 1« s a id ."T h e re ’ s noth
ing wrong with asking fo r an
hour of his tim e. You don’ t
have to start of) telling him
he’ s te rrib le . He doesn'tthink
he Is. He doesn’t want to leave
the White House feeling he
has been unjust.”
The fo rm e r President even
threw in a football parable
fo r good measure. Whites, he
said, would be outraged if a
twelfth man were put or the
field to stop a black fullback,
yet "e v e ry black American in
the land - man o r woman -
plays out life running against
the twelfth man of a history
they did not make and a f it»
they did not choose."
While he praised the ac
complishments of a few Macks
who have succeeded In poli
tic s , athletics and entertain
ment, M r . Johnson said " , . .
we must not allow the v is ib ility
of the few to dim inish efforts
to satisfy our responsibility to
the s till unseen m illio n s who
are faced with that basic prob
lem of being black in a white
society.”
It Is not often that a form er
President crosses an incum
bent, and M r . Johnson chose
Us words carefully, leaving a
Texas-sized clunk of maneu
vering room fo r President
NLxon. But the implication was
cle a r that M r . Johnson would
view as disastrous any effort
to undermine tl« c iv il rights
progress made under his ten
u re . And age, health and re
tirem ent status notwithstand
ing, Lyndon B. Johnson is not
the sort of man whose dis
pleasure any President would
want to incur.
The
reports
that M r,
Johnson is Impassively re
signed to the unhappy fate
wrought by his Vietnam poli
cies are exaggerated. He s till
believes, as indeed 1« has con
tin u a lly maintained, that his
to ry w ill vindicate him, at
least on the domestic score.
And he is not about to sit by
Impassively if Indeed plans
are in tl« offering to reverse
the c iv il rights accomplish
ments achieved under his
leadership.
If we were honest, I could
take it better. A ll at once
whites want quality education.
We helieve in neighborhood
schools. We believe in free
dom of choice. We are against
fusing. Son« are against fu s
ing so strongly that they bum
tle m . They dramatize th e ir
dislike fo r busing by inarch
ing in tl« streets, calling
upon government o fficia ls to
stop fusing.
Busing became a political
issue so much so that several
candidates tried to ouldoWal
lace in th e ir opposition to
busing. The c h « f opponent to
busing is President Nixon.
T l« opposition is so strong
that many in Congress want
to
pass
a Constitutional
amendment against busing.
T h is is nonsense. The ques
tion of busing w ill be settled
w ithin a few years and a use
less amendment would be
tacked onto the constitution.
Even a little busing s tirs
the community. The Atlanta
Board of Education is being
sued by certain p la in tiffs to
fu r tie r desegregate the public
schools. The charges are that
there are too many schools
that are virtu a lly all-w hite and
desegregated. The chaiges
jr e true.
T l« question is how to rem
edy this situation wt«n the
school enrollm ent in Atlanta
is 77 per cent black and 23
per cent white. T l* Atlanta
schools have been becoming
blackers and blacker and less
pale fo r the last 20 years.
Twenty years age the school
enrollm ent was arou id 69 per
cent white and 31 per cent
black.
A plan t l * Atlanta Board
of Education presented to tl«
federal court would require
the transportation of close to
4,300 pupils plus some more
when more M tddle Schools are
set up. T l * court has not
ruled on the plan at thia w rit
ing. And yet certain elements
in the community are raising
sand and threatening to keep
th e ir children home until the
busing question Is s e ttle d ,T l*
p la in tiffs are pressing fo r a
school system with a m a jo rity
black in every school, rang
ing from 55 to 87 per cent
Black. L ittle busing o r much,
t l * problem is ti« same.
Though denied on every
hand, we know that busing ia
a code word fo r race. If honest
with themselves they would
say "ye s lusmg means race.’
We could accept it If a few
blacks were bused to white
schools and no white towhites
were a large m a jo rity inevery
school. Whites don’ t want to
1« a m a jo rity in a black school
tecause they fear that th e ir
children w ill get an In fe rio r
education (no proof that thia is
so).
They must t« the m ajority
tecause tl* y fear blacks w ill
do violence to whites if blacks
are In the m a jo rity (no proof
of th is). They fear too much
mixing would result in black
boys and white g irls falling
In love. These are some of
tie reasons busing is anemo-
tional, racial m atter.
T l* tragedy is that there
is no leadership in the white
com m unltes of the nation to
dispel these fears. Few whites
have tl« courage to stand up
and say let us make desegre
gation work and do our bit
to undo the educational wrongs
leaped upon Negroes fo r cen
tu rie s. In a segregated school
system whites would not have
much Intereat In quality ed
ucation fo r blacks. L e t’ s face
it.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Attorney General defended
To the E d ito r:
In
an ed ito ria l entitled
’ Oregon defends ra c is m " you
suggest that the state of
Oregon was defending dis
crim ination in the Elks Club
suit, and that tl« Attorney
General should use the powers
of his office to Insure that
laws are enforced and that
a policy of equality of op
portunity and of treatment he
promulgated by his leader
ship and example. Attorney
General Lee Johnson agrees
wholeheartedly with this pol
icy.
In the Elks Club suit, the
Department of Revenue waa
named as a defendant tie-
cause it was charged with en
forcement of
tl« statute
passed by the legislature.The
A ttom ey General, as attorney
fo r tl« Department of Revenue
and tl« Legislature Is re
quired by law to represent
them In a ll legal proceedings.
L ik e any other lawyer, this
sometimes puts ti« Attorney
General in a position where
he would personally prefer
not to be, but a number of
factors should he brought to
yo u r attention which I helieve
m ore fa irly portrays the A t
torney General's role in this
lawsuit.
F irs t, the E lks were re
quested by the Attorney Gen
e ra l to defend the lawsuit be
cause they were tl« only real
beneficiaries of a successful
defense. F o r reasons un
known, the Elks did not do
so and the Attorney General
was therefore required to file
a b rief advising the court
what legal authority support
ed the constitutionality of the
statutes In question. If this had
not l«en dot« tl« A tto n « y
General could have leen sé-
v e ri y criticize d by ti« court.
Following the court's de
cision, which we predicted, we
advised the Department of
Revenue that tl« decision
should not be appealed. The
decision not to appeal the case
w ill Insure tl« Elks remain
on the tax ro lls until they
change t l e l r discrim inatory
policies.
There Is another fact which
I think more cle a rly demon
strates Attorney General Lee
Johnson's position on the E lks.
E a rly last year tl« Attorney
General Issued an opinion to
the M ilita ry Department which
denied to the Elks the use of
the Pendleton A rm ory fo r Its
state convention. The reason
lo r tills conclusion was that
the Elks discrim inated on
racial grounds. I helieve that
decision Issued by Attorney
General Lee Johnson, without
any fanfalr, more clearly
demonstrates his attitude on
the Issue you raised. I am
enclosing a copy of that opin
ion fo r your Information.
James W. Durham, J r .
Deputy Attorney General
DR. JEFFREY
BRADY
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