I ao I
As I See It
Portland/Observer Thu rada», January IB, 1973
I
The
Editor’s
Desk
FORMER PRESIDENT HARRY
S. TRUMAN IN HIS I W
presidential campaign -
CAME TO HARLEM, AS THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, TO TELL BLACK
Farewell to Charles Jordan
b y Lenw ood O . D a v is
A bUI to ra is e the m inim um
wage in O regon fro m $1.25 to
$ljbt> p e r hour and to Include
a ll farm w o rk e r» o v e r the ago
of 18 wae Introduced by V e ra
AMERICANS W H ER E H E
STOOD ON CIVIL RIGHTS.
ALFRED
LEE
Kau.
HENDERSON
Senator Betty Browne Intro
duced a b ill in the Senate that
would give legal protection to
newsmen s im ila r to that pro
vided fo r doctors, m in is te rs
and attorneys, who e re not
forced to reveal Inform ation
given In confidence. A s im i
la r b ill was introduced in the
House by Representative F red
WE SEE THE WORLD
THROUGH BLACK EYES.
H e a rd .
R epresentative
V e rs
Katz.
D e m o c ra t
fro m N orthw est
P o rtland , stated that ehe wUI
introduce legislation to pro
h ib it
governm ental
bodies
fro m m eeting In fa c ilitie s that
belong to organizations that
d is c rim in a te .
Portland schools
still segregate
He took a firm stand on Human Rights
G o vern o r Tom M c C a ll
has
asked the leg islatu re to ere ate
a Stats Housing Finance Agen
cy to assist low and m o d e r
ate Income home building in
O regon.
T h e nation aw aits the decision of the United States Supreme
C o u rt of w hether the courts can force the combination of Black
c ity
schools w ith white suburban schools to alleviate racia
M o la tto n ^
* f a r reaching decision. If the
T h ia w rite r, along with
many others In the C ity of
P o rtla n d ,
was s o rry to see
C h a rle s Jordan
resign ae
A cting D ire c to r of the Human
Resources Bureau and D ire c
to r
of
the Model C lttee
Agency.
M r . Jordan's Im
pact on the city and com
m unity w ill not be felt Im
m e d ia te ly .
However, within
the next six o r seven months
It w i l l .
V e r y few people
a re aw are of the many deeds
that he did fo r the Model
C itie s a re a .
O nly a lew of
us who knew him other than
as the D ire c to r of Model
C itie s re a lly knew the many
" u n o ffic ia l” things he did fo r
the com m unity. Jordan was
a " d o e r " and a person of
a c tio n
ra th e r
than
a
" t a l k e r " . In many Instances
he "w alked the last m ile ”
fo r the com m unity.
As the fo r m e r D ire c to r
pointed
out.
"th e
Model
C itie s Agency was not de
signed to solve the problem s
of the Inner c ity . Ixit to de
m onstrate new techniques in
ilea ling
with
people pro
b le m s .
Model C itie s works
w ith established institutions,
supplementing ih e ir budgets
so they can experim ent with
new methods. If techniques
developed
are
successful,
they
should
be
institu
tion alized and become part
of the p ro g ram .
Then the
M odel C itie s money esn go
elsew here to help w ith other
problem s.**
M any people do not know
many of the functions of tie
p ro g ra m .
Some people ac
tually expected too much from
the agency. As Jordan s u r
m ised, "s o m e ind iv id u al» w ill
benefit, but not all people
w ill re clave D IR E C T bene
f its " .
Some Indlvliktals. Including
this w r it e r ,
did not always
agree w ith some of his phtlo
Sophies, E sp ecially «» they
relate to dealing w ith the
“ powers that b e " . I ’erhapa.
being laym en, we did not
re a lly understand the lim ita
tions of a d m in is tra to rs . M ost
of us. however, did support
Jordan in most of his en
deavors.
P o rtland
and the com
m unity are fo rtu n a » to have
C h a rle e Jordan and hl» ex
p ertis e to rem ain In thia
a re a . No doubt he hail many
o ffers to go to other places.
As
I» declared, "O regon
holds
g re «
prom ise fo r
B la c k s '*. Obviously, he be-
lleves
that statement he-
esuse If lie did not. he would
have left tlie State of O r e g o n .
Even though Jordan Is In
" p riv a te ”
Ixisiness. he no
doubt wUI continue to 1« H>-
volved in com munity a ffa irs .
tr-«
one. he w ill not have the tim e,
w ithin
the
next
several
months, to he available fo r
too many community a c tiv i
tie s . How ever, as he m asters
his position as D ire c to r of
C a re e rs Education fo r llie
Northwest Regional Educa
tional L ab o ra to ry . 1» w ill
once again become active in
com munity a ffa irs .
As a footnote to thia a r t i
cle. I p red ict that other Black
public
adm in is tra to rs w ill
leave th e ir positions le to re
die
year
is out. U n fo r
tunately fo r tlie Black com
m unity. they W IL L N O T r e
m ain the State of O regon.
Needless to say. we can ill
answ er is YE S. it w ill reach the large c itie s of the N orth and
the W est and may even reach Portland.
W e thought the court o rders barring segregated schools would
reach P o rtla n d but they did not. We thought the o n ie rs banning
de facto segregation would reach Portland, but they did not.
£ . S g ~ b o r d e r s against one-way busing would reach
Portland,8 tu t they did not. Portland seems to be beyond the
b y V e r n o n J o r d a n , r.
T h e long-brew ing c ris is in
the public housing is about to
e ru p t, as several m a jo r local
01 f t . . I l - E l « , c h o n . « . W » M ' "
J
,
■ housing authorities a re teet
e rin g at the edge of bank
ruptcy and n ea rly 40 others
m ay have to throw in the
ch ild ren attending the e le m e n u ry schools of Albina are severiy
towel before next w in te r.
handicapped as they e n te r high school, and those who a re able
Thus, the public housing
to go on to college spend much of th e ir tim e overcoming e ^ a -
p ro g ram ,
which
provides
t ion a I deficiencies suffered during the e a rly years of elem en
s h elter fo r m o re than three
m illio n low -incom e people and
u r y school in the "M o d el Schools” .
When w ill the Portland Public Schools recognize that they
which has proved its e lf o ver
are isolating and rejecting our children — that they.are failing
the past 35 y e a rs , may be
m is e rab ly to provide the educational tools these c ^ r e n w d l
rendered useless at the v e ry
need to go on to high school, to college o r to meaningful em
m om ent when the need fo r
m o re housing is d esp erate.
^ M W * the social e v ils of today - the rejection of society
The c ris is has come about
by thJ young Black, the unemployment and w elfare statistics
because the fed eral govern
together w ith th e ir broken lives, the rising c rim e rate -
had
m ent has put a lid on opera
X
beginnings in Boise. E lio t and Highland (King) schools
ting subsidies to local hous
fifteen to twenty years ago. M ust we make the same indictment
ing a uth orities.
twenty years fro m now?
As
o rig in a lly conceived,
public housing was to be txiilt
w ith federal aid, but rents
A L F R E D L E E HENDERSON, P u b lis h e r/E d ito r
w e re supposed to c o ver oper
ating expenses.
The O bserver's official position is expressed only in its
T h is arrangem ent became
P u blish er's Column (The Observation Post) and the E d ito r's
unstuck in the 196O's, when
D esk. Any other m aterial throughout the paper is the opinion
of the individual w rite r o r subm itter and does not necessarily
reach of the cou rts.
P o rtla n d 's Black students are more isolated and m ore op
pressed than e v e r before.
E very leg islato r listening to the
risin g cost and inflation led to
rent hikes that threatened to
place such housing out of the
reach of the very low -inco m e
fa m ilie s it was built fo r .
Congress then passed a law
lim itin g public housing rents
to 25 p e r cent oi a fa m ily 's
income, resulting in ren t cuts
which the governm ent made
up through payments to the lo
cal housing au th o ritie s .
Such an arrang em ent is f a ir
and reasonable, but since the
governm ent has failed to r e
lease the funds it Is obligated
to pay, many local auth orities
m ay go bankrupt.
B a s ic a lly , th e y 're le ft w ith
two a lte rn a tive s - to board up
th e ir houses, o r to turn them
o ver to the federal govern
e r costs and to chaos.
If the local housing a uth or
ities just try to tighten th e ir
belts and save money by cut
ting maintenance and upkeep,
the buildings w ill d e te rio ra te
and new slum s w ill have been
c re a te d .
Caught in the bind between
the local housing auth orities
and fed eral budget-watchers
a re low -incom e fa m ilie s who
cannot
afford unsubsidized
housing, and who depend upon
the system of public housing as
one of the few alternatives
availab le to th em .
It makes no sense to aban
don public housing now. Con
g ress has set a goal of six m il
lion new housing uklts fo r low
and m oderate income fa m ilie s
m en t.
E ith e r would be d is a s te r-
ous. E victio n of hundreds of
thousands of tenants and the
closing up of sound buildings
is unthinkable. A fed eral take
o v e r would lead to even high
by 1978.
T h a t goal probably w on't be
m e t. F ed e ra l program s to e n -
courage home ownership and
to subsidize p rivate e ffo rts in
this field have been shot
through w ith scandals
that
m ay cost f a r m o re than the
reflect the opinion of the o b s e rv e r.
Any erroneous reflection upon the character , standing oi
reputation of person, firm o r corporation, which may appear
in t ie Portland O bserver w ill be cheerfully corrected upon
being brought to the attention of the E d ito r.
MEMBER
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
Association
INPA
With Ron Hendrcn___________ ___
A YOUNG VIEW OF WASHINGTON
W
ACUPUNCTURE: STICKY PROBLEM FOR CONGRESS?
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The Frwndliest
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Since 190t
W A SH IN G TO N If Americans have been
dazzled by the amazing artistry of the
Chinese acrobatic team which has been
touring the country (and believe me, they
put on a magnificent show), American
doctors have been equally dazzled by
what some have called the “ spectacular”
effectiveness of acupuncture, the ancient
Chinese needle treatment which has come
into vogue of late here in the U.S.
The idea, bizarre as it seems to Wes
tern medical technology, is that needles
inserted at strategic points in the body
can relieve pain and sometimes prevent or
cure ailments, often when modern science
and drugs fail No one even among the
Chinese, seems to know why acupunc
ture works, bul clearly in many cases it
does
The American medical comm unity re
mains highly skeptical, to say the least,
but limited experiments and research are
producing a few cautious converts. Just
last week, the chief of anesthesiology
traning at Washington Hospital Center,
Dr Chalom Albert, announced that some
30 patients have been treated with acu
puncture at the facility since mid-De
cember, some, says Dr Albert, with
“ spectacular’’ results
Like most American physicians who
have knowledge of acupuncture. Dr
Albert primarily stressed the treatment's
role as a pain reliever, and was careful Io
leave it at that The experts seem to
agree, although acupuncture in some
parts of the world is a highly touted form
of treamenl for such problems as asthma,
intestinal and digestive problems, men
strual irregularities, and skin diseases.
Acupuncturists do not have Io be
physicians, and in China generally they
are not, although apparently they work
closely with medical doctors from the
start There is disagreement over the
amount of training needed, and estimates
range from a period o f months to perhaps
three years.
Therein lies the problem for Congress.
Presently there is no federal legislation
regulating acupuncture and acupunctur
ists, and so far thia year none has been
introduced. Since Congress has a way of
reacting to problems rather than antici
pating them, the Senate Subcommittee
on Health and the House Public Health
Subcommittee should be put on notice
that stiff regulations will be needed, and
very quickly.
Already acupuncture centers are pop
ping up in major metropolitan areas. In
the nation’s capital the Acupuncture Cen
ter of Washington opened in late Decem
ber, and apparently is treating a high
number o f patienta. Dr. Albert says Wash
ington Hospital Center is swamped by
applicants wanting the treatment, but
stresses that he will proceed slowly
Clearly, there are already far too many
eager patients and far too few persons
qualified to provide the treatment. In a
word, the atmosphere is ripe for con
artists out to make a fast buck at public
expense before regulations are effected
and additional trained personnel can be
provided, much in the fashion o f those
cure-all cancer clinics which caused so
much heartbreak and suffering a few
years back.
A i Dr Albert said, “ You can’t use
acupuncture after three days of tnaning."
He might have amended that to say “ you
shouldn’t ” , because only prompt, effec
tive regulations will prevent some people
from trying.
Volume II Number JH
For subscribe» only.
Syndicated by
W A S H IN G T O N W E E K L Y . Inc
All rights reserved.
operating subsidies neeiled to
keep public housing afloat.
Even if subsidies continue to
rise several tim es o ver, they
w on't cost the government as
much as its present subsidies
to m iddle and upper-incom e
homeowners In tax-deductions
not available to low income
re n te rs .
P u blic
housing
projects
have come in fo r a lot of c r it
ic is m . much of it am ply m e r
ited. But there is evidence that
m any have learned fro m past
m istakes and taken as a whole,
the program houses m o re low -
income people in decent homes
than any other means yet de
v is ed .
Hy-and large. It has c re a t
ed a pool of m anagerial com
petence ra re ly to he found in
the private sector, and has be
come a source of em ploym ent,
as w e ll as housing, fo r many
thousands.
W h ile the spectacular fa il
u re s , such as the P ru e tt-lg u e
p ro je c t in St. Louis have teen
lie ad lined, t ie many successes
of the public hnising program
have been re la tiv e ly Ignored.
|n many instances, the prob
lem s the local housing author
ities have had to c o p e w llh a ie
problem s created by t ie p ri
vate sector, whose refusal to
e n e r the m oderate-coat field
leaves low -incom e fam ilie s
w ith little choice in housing.
forces m ore (»Hiding in high
land-cost central city d is
D is c rim in a tio n , too, rises
public housing costs since It
tric ts .
It la c le a r that the system
of public housing must he
saved and while fu rth e r e x -
per linen tat Ion in htaislng Is in
o rd e r, tills valuable Institution
should le improved and e x
tended so that d etent housing
w ill fin a lly le within the reach
of e v e ry fa m ily .
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Soul Bow l success
e a r E d it o r
We enjoy reading the P O R T -
AND O BSERVER because it
) IN F O R M A T IV E (te lls it like
t is), espe c ia lly the E D IT O R -
AL P A G E . I am w ritin g con-
ernlng the c ritic is m of the
Hack Expo and Soul Bowl
72 by Rosem ary A llen: It
ras published In a le tte r to
he e d ito r on fe c e m b e r 28,
972 in the P o rtland o b e e rv -
r , page 2 . I w ill app recl-
te it If you w ill PUB LISH
1Y R E P L Y to this lady's
e tte r. Thank you in advance.
4ay the L o rd bless, guide,
irotect and keep you and
! v e ry one.
am s o rry I cannot agree
rith M is s o r M r s . A llen; she
itated the adm ission prices
»ere too high. ( I hope she is
i soul s is te r. I am sure we
:an com m unicate). T h e e x h lb -
ts and entertainm ent w ere
n o te enjoym ent than money
:ould buy. (P le a s e d o n o tc rit-
Icize o u r black men; the white
»omen do not.) T he food that
«as p repared, cooked and
served by the owners of the
pig ‘N pit was clean and
le llc lo u s . Just to see and hear
the B LA C K and W H IT E p artic
ipants should have made any
one say '•Thanks to all fo r a
Job w e ll done' **.
The C la r k CountyCom m un-
Ity Congress is a non-prof
it organization that has w o rk -
ed
vigorously o ver three
months on this Expo. I think
it was w ell o rg a n iz e d -re a lly
tog eth er. Hats off to C la rk
C ollege fo r G a ls e r H all (In
Vancouver. W ashington)(there
was only standing room ).
I enjoyed e v e ry minute of It.
1 agree w ith the Lady that the
Black Expo and Soul Bowl
•72 was not perfect: no one
is but C H R IS T . In the mean
tim e I w onder if this lady
has something le t t e r to o ffe r
the public in the P a c ific N orth
west at a future Expo? If so,
w ill she please come forw ard
w ith it? I hope you gel other
le tte rs and publish them be
cause the audience seemed io
enjoy the whole p ro g ram . I
was there fro m 3:(M) p .m M
D ecem b er 9. 1972 until a fte r
m idnight. The spectators w ere
v e ry o rd e rly - thanks to o u r
B lack s ecu rity o ffic e rs . M r .
O liv e and his staff. T ru ly
this program was a success
being the finest Black Expo
in the N orthw est UJS»A. wlth
talented a rtis ts in e v e ry field
You see one of our dedicated
sons Roy H a rr is was the
o rig in a to r of the Expo Si Soul
Bowl '7 2 . M o re power to h im .
God bless all who came and
helped them . Happy New Y e a r.
W rite on.
S IN C E R E L Y
M r s . C . Louise H a rr is
Thanks donors
e a r S irs:
W e, the students a tH lllc r a s t
chool of O regon, would like
i thank the news media and
ie many donors who con trlb-
ted to m a k e s h a p p le rC h rls t-
tas p ossible.
T h e re w e re o ver 300 gifts
onated, many In sacks o r
oxee which contained m ore
isn one g ift. These gifts w ere
re a d y appreciated, especial-
f by those students who w ere
ot able to go home fo r the
Ih rie tm e s , vacation. Because
he s p irit of giving in Oregon
■ so generous, we w ere also
ble to /ro v td e g ifts to stu-
lents In fo s te r c a re homes
naklng th e ir C h ris tm a s a hep-
ile r one.
that w e re donated we also
received approxim ately $1400
In money that was placed In
the Students' W e lfa re Fund.
T h e money In this fund Is
used fo r students fo r trans
portation to th e ir homes fo r
home v is its o r fo r Individual
needs of the students fo r which
H U lc re s t is not funded.
As you can see, C h rieo n ae
was mad a much m o re mean
ingful '.or many, many stu
dents, and we wish to thank
a ll those In Oregon responsi
ble fo r making this a m e r ry
C h ris tm a s .
T o n ja P ie rc e
Presid ent, Student Council
o . — *11 U tah Crhnol
Mayor asks help
T o the E d it o r
A t you may know, positions
on the C ity P lan nln gC o m m is-
elon and some positions on
the
Portland
I levelopmeni
Com m ission are presently va
cant. Vacancies fo r other
boards and com missions w ill
arise in the n ear fu tu re . As
M a y o r, I am anxious io receive
the advice of as many c iti
zens as possible on t ie ip
polntments which it is my re -
s p o n s ib lllt y
to propose.
T h e re fo re , I would invite your
readers to w rite o r c a ll my
office with suggestions of In
dividual names o r of th e q u a l-
tficatlons fo r Individuals they
would like to see appointed
to tle s e im portant posts.
T he Planning Com m ission,
D e v e lo p m e n t Com m ission,
and other boards are mails
up of citizen s who volunteer
th e ir tim e to te ip make local
government w o rk . It le m y
hope that the C ity can draw
on as board a range of c it i
zens as possible fo r this Im
portant service and we w ill
le very greatful to anyone who
is w illin g to make this com
m itm ent of time ami energy.
N e ll Goldschmidt
M a y o r of Portland
S en ato r tries
D e a r E d it o r
Just a b rie f note to let
you and your read ers know
that there Is at least one other
Senator who practices what
he preaches.
Senator T ed Hallock, P o rt
land. offered a s e c re ta ria l po
sition to me which, because
of professional com m ittm ents
I« re in Po rtland , | was un
able to accept.
An enthusiastic " r ig h t-o n ”
to tie H illo c k s , B u rn t, et al
who are trying to get blacks
Involved In the legislative pro
cess In Salem .
Kay Jem lgan
D onations in v ite d
D e a r E d ito r:
T h is y e a r the Leadership
Conference Is honoring two
s talw arts of the c iv il rights
m o v e m e n t . C o n g re s s m e n
Em anuel C a lle r , D em o crat of
New Y o rk and W lllla m C c C u l-
loch. Republican from Ohio at
its Annual Board M eeting D in
n e r, January 29, 1973,
In
Washington, D .C .
As C h airm an of the House
J u d ic ia ry
C o m m ittee, M r .
C e lla r , who lost hie bid fo r
re -e le c tio n , led the fight for
e v e ry m a jo r c iv il rights bill
enacted since W o rld W a r II .
As a ranking Republican m em
b e r of the J u d ic iary C o m m it
tee, M r . CcGUlloch, who re
tire d at the conclusion of thia
Congress, worked side by side
w ith M r . C a lle r on all of these
h lU e. When the Equal Educa
tional Opportunities A ct was
taken away from th e ir cotn-
n iittee and brought to tie
House floo r this last session,
both men spoke eloquently
against It and led t ie fight
against It.
In o rd e r to give pro per re
cognition to tle s e men we
are asking organizations and
corporations dedicated to our
cause to take u tile s of ten
(10 ) and to reserve half of
these spaces to Invite con
gressm en of th e ir choice. We
w ill coordinate the lists In
o u r Washington o ffic e .
T ab les are $250 and Indi
vidual tlc k a u a re $ 2 5 .
We
cannot
stress
too
strongly the Im portance of
showing unity In the common
cause of c iv il rights at this •
Im portant tim e In our h istory.
F o r fu rth e r Inform ation,
c o n u c t Yvonne P ric e (202)
6 6 7 -1 7 8 0 .
Roy W ilk in s , C hairm an