Portland observer., June 21, 1973, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2
Porti and/O bserver Thursday June 22. 1973
MtMBfcR
■ ■ Oregon
WE SEE THE WORLD
I
THROUGH BLACK EYES.
M
Newspaper
M itt«
Association
■H P u b lis h e rs
■
A
MEMBER
CLAY TON WILLIS, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC
AFFAIRS AND CONORESSONAL R ELA W N S
FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION SAID IN
A STATEMENT THAT INFORMATION COM­
PILED 0 } A TWO-YEAR STUDY BY THE
PANEL NAD SHOWN SUCH A PATTERN OF
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN HIRlNb
PRACTICES THAT ‘OUR FIRE DEPARTMENTS
ARE CORRECTLY CALLED THE ‘L A S T
WHITE M ANS COUNTRY C L U B "
\LPER
A L E R E I) L E E H E N D E R S O N
E D IT O R /P l B L IS H E R
Association • Foundad 1885
EDITORIAL FOCUS
action:
Success or failure
The state's fe d e ra lly fu n d e d p ro g ra m to m ake
state e m p lo y m e n t accessible to m in o ritie s w ill end
June 30th. This p ro je c t, "P u b lic S ervice C a re e rs ",
was d e sig n e d to re c ru it m in o rity w o rk e rs fo r e x is tin g
stale jobs, to expose th e state a g e n cy heads to the
ide a o f h irin g m in o rity p e o p le , a n d to teach
a gency p e rso n n e l h o w to fin d q u a lifie d m in o rity
e m p lo ye e s.
The w o rk o f this u n it w ill n o w go to o ne person —
An Equal O p p o rtu n ité s C o o rd in a to r — in the
e x e c u tiv e d e p a rtm e n t. This person, to be n am ed
to da y, Thursday, w ill c o o rd in a te state e ffo rts in
a ffirm a tiv e a ctio n .
The Public S ervice C areers P rogram can be
v ie w e d as e ith e r a fa ilu re or a success. The unit
m et it's c o m m itm e n t o f p la c in g m o re than 509 d is ­
a d v a n ta g e d persons (n o n -w h ite s a n d w h ite s w h o
are h a n d ic a p p e d by p oo r e d u c a tio n , lo w inco m e ,
etc.).
The e m p lo y e e s o f the p ro g ra m re c ru ite d
m in o ritie s a n d m a d e an e ffo rt to g et state a ge n cie s
to c o m p ly w ith the state's a ffirm a tiv e a c tio n p o lic y .
It can be c a lle d a success th a t th e y w e re a b le to
increase th e p e rce n ta g e o f m in o ritie s in state
e m p lo y m e n t fro m 2.3 p e rce n t to 3.88 p e rce n t and
th e to ta l m in o rity e m p lo y e e s fro m 503 to 728 o u t o f
18,763 state e m p lo ye e s.
The n u m b e r o f Black
e m p lo ye e s rose fro m 158 to 244, or fro m .85% to
1.30%
The p ro je ct a lso p la ce d Blacks a n d o the r
m in o ritie s into som e a g e n cie s fo r th e firs t tim e ,
and assited those a g e n cie s th a t w e re in te re s te d in
h irin g m in o ritie s in fin d in g p e o p le fo r th e ir va can t
positions.
For a sh ort-term fe d e ra l p ro je ct, these co u ld be
te rm e d successes.
But th e la stin g b e n e fit can o n ly be d e te rm in e d
by th e state.
N o w th a t the fe d e ra l m o n e y has
g on e, w h a t is th e fa te o f th e p ro je ct? It w ill be
p la ce d in the hands o f o n e person, based in
Salem , w h o w ill c o o rd in a te the a g e n c y 's effo rts.
This does not a p p e a r to be an a ll-o u t e ffo rt.
S ta tistica lly, th e p ro je c t looks g o o d .
In som e
ca te g o rie s th e re w e re su b sta n tia l changes.
In
sales, fo r e x a m p le , an increase o f fro m 2 to 4
Black e m p lo ye e s, o u t o f a to ta l o f 202; In Service
W orkers, fro m 39 to 80 Black e m p lo y e e s o u t o f
3,201.
A b e g in n in g , you co u ld say, b u t o n ly a
p itan ce w h e n v ie w e d in the lig h t o f o ve r 100 years
o f e xclu sio n a nd d is c rim in a tio n .
The m ost d rastic fa ilu re in the p ro je c t a n d in it s
successor is the lack o f sanctions. Som e a ge ncies
w ere fo u n d to be e x tre m e ly c o o p e ra tiv e , th e ir
d irectors e a g e r to p a rtic ip a te . O thers w e re just not
interested a n d re m a in a ll w h ite
U n til th e state
(the G o v e rn o r's o ffic e ) ord ers th a t th e la w be
o b e ye d — th a t th e re q u ire m e n ts w ill be m et,
th a t d e p a rtm e n t heads w ill be re p la c e d , th a t
w h a te v e r is necessary w ill be d o n e to insure
c o m p lia n c e — O re g o n A ffirm a tiv e A c tio n A g re e ­
m en t is still just a p ie ce o f p ap er.
County gets a dionee
M u ltn o m a h C ou nty re c e n tly p urchased the H oyt
H otel fo r o ffic e space. This co u ld be a sm art m ove
on the p art o f the co u n ty if the p ro p e rty is p ut to
g oo d use.
It co u ld b e co m e just a n o th e r o ffic e
b u ild in g or it c o u ld b e co m e a ce nte r fo r services
tn p e o p le . This is th e o p p o rtu n ity fo r M u ltn o m a h
C ounty to e stab lish a ce nte r fo r social services
w ith in the C ity o f P ortland.
The b u ild in g w o u ld be id e a l fo r h ou sin g e ld e rly
persons a n d fo r e m e rg e n c y h ou sin g.
There c u r­
re n tly is no p la ce fo r fa m ilie s in n e e d o f te m p o ra ry
e m e rg e n cy h o u sin g to go, a nd sick a n d e ld e rly
m en a re sent to flo p houses The H oyt has re sta u ­
rant fa c ilitie s so th a t e m e rg e n c y m eans c o u ld also
be p ro v id e d .
O ther fa c ilitie s th a t c o u ld be housed at the H oyt
are d ro p -m centers fo r yo u n g p e o p le a nd the
° ld e rly , a lc o h o l a n d d ru g d e to x ific a tio n centers, a
crisis center, 24-hour |u v e n ile co u n s e lin g services,
24-hour e m e rg e n cy w e lfa re service, ve teran s assis­
tance, a n d m a n y others.
The H oyt co u ld a lso house a m u ltitu d e o f o th e r
g o v e rn m e n ta l a g e n cie s using the M u lti-S e rv ic e
center concept w h e re citizen s can re c e iv e the
m any v a rie d services th e y n e e d u n d e r o n e ro o f
If the H oyt turns o ut to be just a n o th e r o ffic e
b u ild in g , the p e o p le o f M u ltn o m a h C ou nty are
b e in g cheated. W ith C ity-C o un ty c o n s o lid a tio n just
a ro un d the corner, th e C ou nty C om m issio ne rs h ave
the o p p o rtu n ity to e stablish a cric le o f in flu e n c e
w ith in the C ity o f Portland.
S O
BILL KOVACH By ?!HtS
Published every Thursday by
Exie Publishing Company,
2201 N. K illingsw orth. Port
land, Oregon 97217. Mailing
address. P.0. Box 3137, Port
land. Oregon 972OW.
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W hat other
Black Editor Say
LA scores
[fro m th e A tla n ta In q u ire r]
The e le c tio n o f Tom B ra dley to b eco m e M a y o r o f
the C ity o f Los A n g e le s is u n iq u e in m a n y w ays
a nd serves as an e x a m p le to be fo llo w e d by o th e r
c itie s th a t s in c e re ly w a n t to d e m o n s tra te
a
w h o p p in g d ecrea se in p o la riz a tio n .
B ra d le y, w h o w ill b e co m e on J u ly 1 the first
Black M a y o r o f the n a tio n 's th ird large st c ity, is the
son o f a Texas sh arecrop pe r.
He w o n in a city
th a t has th re e m illio n residents, a b o u t 16 p e rce n t o f
w h o m a re Black. He w o n o u t o v e r tacts o f ra c ia l
u n d e rto n e s that w e re p o p u la r d eca de s a go .
He
ke pt his " c o o l" a fte r s im ila r tacts led to his d e fe a t
fo r the sam e post in 1969.
M a y o r B ra dley had a d re a m
— a n d a p ro ­
g ra m
— a n d he to o k b oth b e fo re th e p e o p le .
The p e o p le re s p o n d e d w ith a n ea r 100,000-vote
m a rg in a n d 56 p e rc e n t o f the vo te o ve r in c u m b e n t
Sam Y orty, best d e s c rib e d as a p o litic a l m a v e -ic k .
A n d this is w h e re th e B ra d le y e le c tio n is most
s ig n ific a n t a n d m ost u n iq u e .
The voters o f Los
A n g e le s scored!
The Los A n g e le s e le c tio n is, th e re fo re , m uch
m o re th an a B ra d le y triu m p h ; m uch m ore than the
triu m p h o f a Black w o rk in g w ith in the system . It is
a triu m p h fo r th e voters w h o to ld racism to go
s o m e w h e re a n d h id e .
A tla n ta , to o , is co n s id e re d L.A. — Lovely A t­
la n ta .
It, to o , has th e ch an ce to e le ct a Black
m a y o r th is fa ll. But A tla n ta also is u n iq u e a n d w e
fe e l th e voters o f th a t city a re g o in g to reg ister a
n e w s o p h is tic a tio n in the c o m in g e le c tio n
s o p h is tic a tio n o f v o tin g fo r the best m an.
There m a y be som e su btle ties o f ra c ia l u n d e r­
tones in th e e le c tio n , b ut w e th in k th e city has
g ro w n past th a t stage.
E specially w h e n one
co nside rs th e 1969 e le c tio n w h e re a re lig io u s is­
sue in th e w a n in g days o f c a m p a ig n in g caught
the v o te rs' a tte n tio n a nd tu rn e d them to w a rd
M a y o r Sam M assell.
W h ile w e c o n g ra tu la te B ra d le y a n d th e L.A.
voters fo r th e ir Big Score, w e th in k o f the |ob a he ad
to e le c t le a d e rs h ip th a t w ill be p e o p le -o rie n te d .
A n d, fin a lly , th e B ra dley e le c tio n is s ig n ific a n t
in th a t th e n e w m a y o r says the system c a n 't be
ch a n g e d by w o rk in g fro m o utsid e. B ra dley said he
hopes y o u n g p e o p le d is e n c h a n te d w ith the
A m e ric a n w a y o f life w ill loo k at his h u m b le
b e g in n in g s a n d see th a t he, to o , liv e d on the
o u tsid e o f th e g o o d life o f A m e ric a fo r so m any
years.
A , a tim e o f W a te rg a te , etc., it is e s p e c ia lly
d iffic u lt fo r m a n y to h a v e m uch fa ith in th e system.
But L.A. voters scored. V oters e v e ry w h e re can
do th e sam e
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The Observer's official posi
tion is expressed only in it's
Publisher's Editorials (We
See the World through Black
Eyes. The Observation Post,
and The Editor's Desk). Any
other material through the
paper is the opinion of the
in d iv id u a l w r ite r o r sub
m itte r and does not neces
sarily reflect the opinion of
the Observer.
WHEN ARE QUOTAS UNCONS I I I UTIONAI . MR. PRESIDENT?
SHOP
Bradley victory dtows
lENOW'S
need for organizing
FO R
by Bayard Kustin
Of the many undeserved
setbacks aspiring B lack. have
endured, few have been as
painful and disillusioning as
the one suffered by Thomas
Bradley in 1969.
The campaign of demagogy
and radical baiting that de
prised him of the mayoralty
ej^i'tion in I.os Angeles was a
discouraging blow to the
political hope* of Blacks.
Sam Yorty * ultimate victory
was enough to convince those
who wanted to believe it that
the passions of racism and
fear were the dominant im
pulses of American political
life.
Thus Bradley's recent vic­
tory over Y orty is a pro­
foundly satisfying personal
vindication as well as a
genuine reflection of an im
proved ra cia l atm osphere.
That Y orty resorted to the
same racist tactics, and failed,
is fu rth e r evidence that poli
tics is becoming less and less a
conflict between Black rage
and W hite fear.
To conclude that what hap
pened in lx>s Angeles re
presents the final trium ph of
reason over intolerance would
be premature, ju st as in 1969
it was premature to assert
that American was irredeem
.ibly prejudiced. There are,
however, some lessons for
the future.
Just because the campuses
•ire no longer revolutionary
battlegrounds and because
the Black Panthers have
checked in their guns doesn’t
mean that there is a “ new
urban moral.” While this may
partially explain the election,
it is superficial and incom
plete.
Perhaps the most impor
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tant lesson is that permanent
political success requires the
unheroic work of orgam/a
tion.
Black Americans are
o fte n com pared to o th e r
im m igrant groups who have
somehow so the m yth goes
“ Made it" on their own. Time
does not jie rm il me to dwell
on the shallowness of this line
of reasoning as it is generally
applied to Blacks. But there
are important parallel* be
tween how the Irish and
Italians approached politics,
when they were down and
out. and how Blacks look at
politics today. These groups
had the most to gain or lo w
from politic* the stakes were
quite personal. Because, of
this, they responded by or
ganizing.
They registered
voters, and mobilized voters
and made certain that if they
did lose it was not because
they failed to exercise their
democratic freedoms to the
fullest extent.
The recognition of the im
portance of organization was
one of the reasons Thomas
Bradley won this year. Four
years ago he mounted no
substantial voter registration
effort; this year over KM),(XX)
Black voters were registered
between January and May.
This massive effort to maxi
mize the Black political voice
may in fact have been the
crucial element in the election
since Bradley ultim ately won
by slightly less than KX).(MX)
votes.
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