Page 2
Portland Observer
Thursday, February a, 19'.S
as
The
Editor’s
Desk
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■a
by Lenwood G . D a v i»
Is 1973 the year of the consumer?
P art I
ALFRED LEB WWF.RSON
WE SEE THE WORLD
THROUGH BLACK EYES.
Peace with honor?
The A m e ric a n p e o p le h a v e re c e iv e d th e new s
o f "P e a ce w ith H o n o r" in V ie tn a m w ith m ix e d
e m o tio n s. The a g re e m e n ts to w ith d ra w A m e ric a n
troops a n d to cease the b o m b in g is a v ic to ry fo r
th e V ie tn a m e se p e o p le a nd it is a v ic to ry fo r the
a n ti-w a r m o v e m e n t in the U n ite d States a nd
a b ro a d . But th e w a r in V ie tn a m is n ot o ve r a nd
A m e ric a n in v o lv e m e n t in V ie tn a m has n ot e nded.
The a g re e m e n ts d o n o th in g to solve the
p ro b le m s o f V ie tn a m
— th e so c ia l, e c o n o m ic
a n d p o litic a l p ro b le m s th a t caused th e w a r. The
fa ct th a t V ie tn a m c o n s i s t s
o f tw o o p p o sin g
forces -
th e 'c a p ita lis t' re g im e o f the South
th a t is h e ld to g e th e r b y A m e ric a n m o n e y a nd
fo rce , a n d th e 's o c ia lis t' or 'c o m m u n is t' re g im e o f
th e N o rth , based on th e w o rk e rs a n d peasants.
The w a r has n o t c h a n g e d th e fa c t th a t these tw o
g o ve rn m e n ts c a n n o t exist in o n e n a tio n , a n d th a t
e v e n tu a lly o ne m ust p re d o m in a te .
N o th in g has b e e n a c c o m p lis h e d by the w a r
or by th e fr a g ile 'p e a c e '. A c iv il w a r exists and
w ill exist u n til o n e side co n q u e rs th e other.
A m e ric a n in te rv e n tio n in V ie tn a m d id not e nd
w ith th e cease fire . B-52's a n d o th e r a irc ra ft w ill
re m a in in T h a ila n d a n d in o th e r A sian bases,
p o ise d to d e fe n d the S aigon g o v e rn m e n t, a nd the
Seventh Fleet w ill re m a in o ff th e coast.
C iv ilia n
'te c h n ic ia n s ' w ill re m a in to a d v is e T hieu's m ilita ry
forces a n d the U n ite d States w ill send m assive
e c o n o m ic a id .
M uch o f th e A m e ric a n w a r
m a te ria l in South V ie tn a m has a lre a d y been
tu rn e d o ve r to S a igo n, in c lu d in g th e e q u ip m e n t
fo r the w o rld s th ird larg e st A ir Force
The U n ite d States has g iv e n assurance o f fre e
e le c tio n s — b ut w e k n o w h o w fre e e le ctio n s
a re c a rrie d o u t in South V ie tn a m .
On the o the r
h an d. P resident N ix o n has said th a t the U nite d
States re co g n ize s o n ly o n e g o v e rn m e n t — that
o f Saigon.
A sid e fro m th e fa c t th a t V ie tn a m w ill in a ll
p ro b a b ility e ru p t a g a in in to a c o n tin u a tio n o f its
C iv il W a r, th e re re m a in s the d e e p d iv is io n in this
co u n try re s u ltin g fro m o u r in v o lv e m e n t in th e w ar.
There a re n o t not o n ly the h a w k s a nd the
doves, b ut th e re a re th e ve te ra n s, those w h o
a re opp ose d to th e w a r a n d those w h o fe e l th ey
fo u g h t fo r th e A m e ric a n d re a m , w h o a re not
fin d in g th e m e d ic a l care a n d re h a b ilita tio n they
n e e d or w h o c a n n o t fin d e m p lo y m e n t.
There is th e p ro b le m o f d e fe c to rs , conscien-
cious objectors, a n d those w h o le ft th e co u n try or
w e n t to ja il. The p ro b le m o f a m n e s ty d iv id e s the
A m e ric a n p e o p le , b u t h o w can a n a tio n th a t has
fin a lly d e c id e d th e w a r w as a m is ta k e c o n tin u e to
p un ish those w h o riske d th e ir fre e d o m to te ll th e ir
g o v e rn m e n t it w as w ro n g ?
S h ou ld th e y be the
re a l heroes o f th e V ie tn a m w ar?
Then th e re a re th e masses o f th e p e o p le w h o
have had to go w ith o u t the so cia l p ro g ra m s th a t
the n a tio n needs — e m p lo y m e n t a n d tra in in g ,
re h a b ilita tio n p ro g ra m s, c h ild ca re a n d e d u c a tio n ,
m e d ic a l a n d m e n ta l h e a lth care, h ou sin g, a nd
m a n y m o re
The reason g iv e n
— th e w ar. The
results o f w a r — th e d iv is io n a m o n g th e A m e ri
can p e o p le — w ill n e ve r be e lim in a te d u n til the
p e o p le can see th e g o v e rn m e n t tu rn in g
its
a tte n tio n to th e ir needs.
So w e can see th a t w e h a v e a c h ie v e d
n o th in g by ten ye ars o f w a r
N ot the conquest o f
te rrito ry , nor the s p re a d in g o f D em ocra cy, not the
respect o f th e n a tio n s o f th e w o rld
W e have not
a c h ie v e d p e a ce in A sia or at h om e.
WHITES APPEAR DETERMINED TO FORFEIT THE CITIES W B LACHSANO
TTIS INCONCEIVABLE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO THROUGH FORCED SLAVE
LABOR BUILT THIS COUNTRY FOR OTHERS, CANNOT NOW WILLINGLY UNTIE
TO REBUILD OUR COMMUNITIES FOR OURSELVES."
to y
Strength in unity
Mrs. O sley G a te s ' stand a g a in s t th e School
B oard p oints o u t o n c e a g a in th e lack o f u n ity in
th e Black c o m m u n ity .
W h y sh o u ld o n e person
h a v e to ca rry on th e fig h t to p ro te c t th e rig h t o f
Black c h ild re n to th e ir h e rita g e ?
A n issue as
im p o rta n t as e d u c a tio n s h o u ld h a v e b ro a d com -
m u n ity support.
This issue o n c e a g a in b rin g s to lig h t the usual
c o m m u n ity response — o n e or a fe w in d iv id u a ls
or o n e o rg a n iz a tio n in v o lv e d in a cause they
c o n s id e r to be im p o rta n t, a n d a p a th y on th e p art o f
the rest.
O n ly w h e n la rg e n u m b e rs w ill g iv e h e lp a nd
s u p p o rt can these b a ttle s be w o n .
A ll o f the
c o m m u n ity o rg a n iz a tio n s -
those w h o se p ri
m a ry pruposes a re so cia l, fra te rn a l, e d u c a tio n a l,
re lig io u s , as w e ll as c iv il rig h ts o rg a n iz a tio n s
m ust co m e to g e th e r fo r a c o m m o n purpose.
E q ua lity is fa r fro m w o n
-
a n d the n e x t fe w
ye ars w ill b rin g n e w o p p re s s io n a n d n e g le c t. O n ly
th ro u g h u n ity can w e o v e rc o m e .
the circle,
Governor McCall
Mrs. B renda G re e n w as a p p o in te d to th e Law
E n fo rce m e n t C o u n c il by G o v e rn o r T o m
M cC all.
W e a re to ld th a t she w as h ig h ly re c o m m e n d e d
a n d th a t th e g o v e rn o r a ls o c o n s id e re d the fact
th a t Mrs. G re e n is an e d u c a to r a n d th a t the C ouncil
w as la c k in g in th a t a re a . W e b e lie v e Mrs. G reen
to be a h ig h ly q u a lifie d a p p o in te e , as a re the fe w
a d d itio n a l Blacks w h o h ave re c e iv e d th e G o v e r
nor's a p p o in tm e n t to state c o m m is s io n 's and
boards.
But w e p o in t o u t once a g a in
-- n e a rly a ll
Blacks a p p o in te d to these p o s itio n s a re e m p lo y e e s
o f the State or o f fe d e ra lly fu n d e d projects. W ith
w h ite a p p o in te e s , th is is n o t th e case
Typical
w h ite a p p o in te e s a re p ro fe s s io n a l p e o p le , b usi
ness p e o p le , p e rson s e m p lo y e d by p riv a te indus
try, fa rm e rs o r ra n ch e rs, a n d an occasional
"g ra s s -ro o ts ” re c ip ie n t o f th e p ro g ra m . They are
ra re ly state or fe d e ra l e m p lo y e e s !
Yet n ea rly
e v e ry Black w h o re c e iv e s a n a p p o in tm e n t o f any
k in d is a state o r fe d e r a lly fu n d e d e m p lo y e e .
W e fin d no fa u lt w ith th ese persons or w ith
the jo b th e y a re d o in g . W e just th in k th e circle
sh o u ld be b ro a d e n e d . W e th in k th e re a re m any
h ig h ly q u a lifie d B la ck p e o p le w h o have the
b a c k g ro u n d a n d th e in te re s t to serve the state w h o
a re not b e in g c o n s id e re d . The sam e fe w p e o p le
g e t th e a p p o in tm e n ts p e rh a p s because o f th e ir
v is ib ility -
or b e c a u s e o f th e G o v e rn o r's lim ite d
vision .
Published every Thursday by Exle Publishing Company, 2201
N , Killlngsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. M ailing address,
P .O , Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
Association
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- Outside Portland.
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IN P A
I See It
N \pER
MA
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at Portland, Oregon.
Association - Founded 1885
THE NORTHWEST'S BEST WEEKLY
A BLACK OWNED PUBLICATION
ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, Publisher/Edltor
The Observer's official position L expressed only in its
Publisher’ s Column (The Observation Post) and the Editor's
Desk. Any other m aterial throughout the paper is the opinion
of the Individual w rite r or subminer and does not necessarily
reflect tlie opinion of tie Observer.
It has bean predicwd that
1973 w ill ba tha y* a r that tha
consumer w ill make hla big
gest gain. Since this Is the be
ginning of the year obvious
ly It la too early to draw any
conclusions. However, there
are Indications that the con
sumer w ill get more proaac-
tlon than any time In history.
The axiom, “ Let the buyer
bew are", Is no longer preval
ent as it once was. tiv e rth e
the past ten years consumers
have demanded hotter quality
of goods, tette r services and
more knowledge about pro
d u c t s . M a n y co n su m e rs*
groups haw been organized
and haw brought pressures
on local, state and federal
government for legislation to
protect them. It goes without
saying that consumer advo
cate, Ralph Nader, has done
more than any one man In
Am erica to aid the consumer.
M o re o w r, he and his "N a
d e r’ s Raiders,*' have been
p rim a rily
responsible for
state anti tete ral legislation
being enacted to protect the
consumer against fraud, mis
representation, deceit, and
faulty goods.
The Federal Government,
however, has been somewhat
slow in taking up the battle of
the consumer. Newrtheless,
It has made a start. In 190«,
(’ o ig r e ii created the National
Commission
on Consumer
Finance (NO CF). 1« U com
posed of three members ap
p o in t ) by the Preaids nt of
the Senala and three Con-
g tesamen named by the speak
e r of the House. This Com
mission recently reported to
Congress and made certain
recommendations. It, how-
s w r , urged caution In adopt
ing them. The main goal of the
commission la to promote
greater competition In the
consumer credit market.
The NOCF mode o w r »4
recommendations
to safe
guard Ixith the consumer and
lender rights including elim
ination of harassing collec
tion methods and restrictions
on such practices as garnish
ment and repossession.
The
commission
urged
states to prevent widespread
Instances of unwarranted dis
crimination In the granting of
credit fo r women and called
for treatment of the basic
causes of poverty and unem
ployment to handle the prob
lem of granting more credit
to poor people.
In the past women had «d if
ficult time In receiving credit
from small loan companies,
saving and loan firm s and
hanks, as well as retail stores.
Even though women have teen
earning is much ¡is men and
had good records of paying
then bills, they still receive
low credit rating. Such arch
aic attitudes haw no place in
modem society. Hence, times
have changed and so must Die
altitudes.
Poor jeople historically
have also had a difficult time
getting credit. The teconl of
poor people paying their bills
la based on opinions and at
titudes and not (ac«B. |B the
first place, poor people obvi
ously can not afford to axwnd
their meager salaries orpufv
Itc assistance checks. M ore
over, many poor people can
manage what little money they
have le tte r than some ot the
m o re
a I fluent
segments of
society.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
School book selection brings problems
D e a r Sir;
F o r public confidence, I feel
it is essential that the Board
of Education have the oppor
tunity to vote on the basis of
fact. If citizen Input Is to have
real meaning, the opportunity
for rebuttal of e rro rs In staff
information or citizen infor
mation is necessary. I feel
that the February 12th meet
ing of the Board of Education
meeting should provide for;
1. the total number of books
Included In the January 22,
Action needed
D ear Reverend Henderson:
This letter is to call your
attention to two matters of
concern to the Albina com
munity - at least I believe we
can agree that they are con
cerns of the Albina Commun
ity-
At the Council meeting of
January 24, Wednesday morn
ing, 9;30 a.m . I arrived late.
M r . Neai was speaking at the
microphone on Hearing JI201
protesting the proposed con
demnation of the building ap
parently owned by M r . Neal at
4519 S J i, 27th Avenue. M r.
Neal isa black m an.TheCoun-
cll and the M ayor kept re ite r
ating that M r . Neal had had a
warning two years ago to clean
up and repair his property.
His reply was that tie did not
have the money to do so, that
he worked out of town, and
that to his knowledge the
neighbors had not complained.
The Council did not speak to
this point while I was present,
but voted to start condemna
tion proceedings, and direct
ing the city attorney, Miss
Rushing, to prepare an em er
gency ordinance to enforce
city codes. As I understood,
proceedings would take 40 to
45 days after the passage of
the ordinance.
1 felt that I should call this
to your attention, not knowing
whether there is good reason
for such condemnation. How
ever, I could not helpwonder-
Ing why this particular build
ing is being condemned, when
there are so many other ob
vious code violations In the
area and in other parts of the
city. I understand the Observ
e r recently published a list of
building owners along Union
Avenue.
I call this to your attention
with the humble suggestion
that some Albina residents
should be regularly attending
the Council meetings because
much of concern to the com
munity happens tie re.
Second, M rs . O J.G a tes has
taken the leadership in ques
tioning the content of and pro
cedures used In selecting so
cial studies textbooks fo r tie
Portland public schools. I have
ieen endeavoring to support
her, speaking at the last meet
ing to the process of selec
tion and stating that racial
equality did not exist In the
SELECTIO N of textbooks tor
social studies. M rs . Gates
could use some help from the
Negro community’. She has
carried out her challenge to
the school hoard alone, oth
e r than M rs . Gates, the only
Blacks (orNegroes) appearing
at the Board meeting were
students from the Black stud
ies program at PSL and their
d irecto r, and M r . H arryW ard
who did not speak.
Elizabeth L . Sale
1973 adoption for which
Portland Public School per
sonnel served eltiier as au
thors, editors, or consul
tants. substantiated by facts
to determine that conflict
of interest does notexist;
2. the correction of misin
formation given by staff re
garding the book I and of the
Free as a m ajor revision
has occurred (and not )usr
a few dates changed); for
example, the inoon landing,
Vietnam andCamhodla.etc.;
3. consideration
by the
Board that their vote was
based on an erroneous st iff
statement regarding sup
plenientary material for a
high school bookTiie Amer
ican Experience (the staff
m e n d er gave anelementary
(xiok as supplementary m a
terial for a high school
hook);
4 . a statement as to what
happened to the book au
thored by D r . Helen G. Ed
monds (member of the Uni
ted States delegation to the
Untied Nations);
5, an amended statement of
the American Assoclatlonof
University Women including
the specific books exam
ined,
the
number
of
A.AJU.W. members making
said examination, and the
specific date or dates In
volved.
I do not see how (he Jan
uary 22, 1973 adoption can be
considered valid until the
above questions are answered.
M rs . Osly J . Gates
With Ron Hendren
A YOUNG VIEW OF WASHINGTON
BARE BONES BUDGET: STORY OF BOMBS VS. BOOKS
By Ron Hendren
W A SH IN G TO N With the unveiling of
President N ixon’s “ bare bones budget" as
Senate M inority Leader Hugh D Scott
(R-Pa.) termed it, the stage has been set
for one o f the most historic and far-
reaching confrontations between Con
gress and the White House in recent years.
Eight pages o f the President’s budget
message were filled with the names o f
programs he plans to reduce or terminate.
They read like a history book o f Demo
cratic administrations since Roosevelt, for
the programs Mr. Nixon plans to scrap are
primarily legacies from the New Deal,
Fair Deal, New Frontier and Great Soci
ety o f Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and
Johnson.
According to the President’s view,
people programs (such as federal grants to
elementary and secondary school librar
ies) should not be funded by federal tax
dollars. As these programs are phased out,
his projected savings grow from $6.5
billion in (he current fiscal year to $21.7
billion in Fiscal Year 1975.
At the same time, however, the Presi
dent has called for an increase of $4.7
billion in the Defense Department bud
get, an amount which exceed! the total
budget o f the Office o f Education.
While Mr. N ixon’s message o f frugality
was delivered in the spirit o f holding
down taxes, interest rates and inflation
goals to which every politician and citizen
aspire that spirit was tainted with the
harsh reality that Mr. Nixon, places do
mestic problems low on his totem pole of
priorities.
A keystone in the White House strat
egy for winning the budget fight will be
to secure the support o f the nation’s
governors mayors and other state and
local elected officials. ITie golden carrot
on the end of Mr. Nixon's stick is the
promise o f greatly increased revenue shar
ing, and already some o f the country’s
most influential mayors are publicly lick
ing their chops. The President apparently
believes that with their support and by
holding down taxes, he will be able to
carry the day against Congress and the
special Interest groups which benefit from
federal domestic spending.
What Congress will attempt to show,
on the other hand, is that those special
interest groups include the poor, the
elderly, children in public schools
indeed, nearly all Americana. For ex
ample. the proposal to phase out library
grants has already been termed ”a disaster
for our schools, which would set elemen
tary library , , development back ten
years,” by the president o f the American
Association o f School Librarians. In
plainer language, those grants have for
years meant that children and adults in
communities all across the land have had
ready access to books. Without the aid,
the story will rapidly change Without
books, what happens to education?
And federal grants to libraries repre
sent just one of the myriad of programs
which the President proposes to end.
Whether he will be able to have it his way
depends in large part upon the determina
tion of C ongress to fulfill its Constitu
tional mandate to allocate federal funds
And if Congress’ will in the months ahead
w no stronger than it has been in the past
the picture will be grim indeed.
Syndicated 1972 by
W A SH IN G TO N W E E K L Y , Inc.
All ri|hl> reservad