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Black trucker challenges state action, charges racism
Otis Smith will (ropen his
hearing with the Oregon
State Public Utilities C om
mission, which denied him a
common carrier licenae laat
August. Smith ia taking that
the hearing be reopened to
present new evidence.
He
will allege that the Public
Utilities Commissioner has
an affirm ative obligation to
open the transportation in
dustry in Oregon to m inc-ity
people.
Oregon law requires that
an applicant for a PUC li
cense prove public necessity
and convenience for his li
cense.
There ia only one licensed
Black trucker in Oregon. Bill
Jones, who was awarded
a dump truck license in April
of 1973.
Another Black,
David Dawson, has applied
for a dump truck license.
Smith first applied for a
contract license
which
would allow him to haul
loads under contract to apeci
fic companies
in 1971.
A t that time he was hauling
for Steelco in Salem, and
needed the license to main
tain his job.
Smith re
applied, and took shippers to
the hearing who said they
had work for him and needed
his services. He was turned
down by the PUC, which
said there was no need for
his truck and that there
were other trucks available
to the shipper .
Smith reapplied and this
time was awarded a contract
carrier licens»
This license
restricts him to hauling for
one company. He hauls steel
to Salem, but cannot accept
any other loads. If he were
to negotiate a contract with
another company, it would
have to be approved by
PUC.
On December 31, 1971,
Smith applied for a common
carrier license.
This would
enable him to accept any jobs
within the state. This appli
PORTLAND 4? OBSERVER
Volume 3. No. *
Portland. Oregon
________
AN «O U A I O»»O«TUNITY IM P IO T I»
THI O NtY
M IW tP A P |» IN tH |W H O U _ W IP t
W O »tD
THAT H A t t V
^Thursday, August 23. 1973
CA«IS
City hires Hepburn
C o m m is s io n e r M ild r e d
Schwab announced the ap
pointment of Erm a Hepburn
as Assistant Director of Pro
gram Administration for the
City of Portland's Bureau of
Human Resources.
Miss Hepburn. 37. was
previously Associate Director
for Community Programs for
the P o rtlan d M e tro p o lita n
Steering Committee.
She
has also held the positions of
Community Services Coordi
nator and Community Action
Programs Coordinator since
joining PM SC in August of
1968. Previous to that time.
Miss Hepburn was with the
Albina Neighborhocxl Service
Center.
A graduate of Portland's
Jefferson High School and
the N o rth w e s t School of
Business, Miss Hepburn is a
member of the Urban League
of Portland, the N A A C P . the
Governor's Advisory Com
mittee on Vocational Educa
tion, the Portland Public
Schools Review Panel, and
numerous other civic, proles
sional anil religious organiza
tions.
In her new post1 under
HRB Director Ira Blalock,
Miss Hepburn will be re
sponsible for programs dir
ectly administered by the
Bureau, including youth pro
gramming. and the possible
future transition or purchase
of other program services.
“I am extremely happy
that in selecting Erma we
were able to continue our
(Milicy of seeking out the best
local talent for key positions
in the Bureau." said Miss
Schwab. "We could not have
found a In-tier person for
this position."
A L L E N L. JO NES
Scouts seek leaders
Allen L. Jones, the new
Associate District Executive
for the Big Thunder District
of the Boy Scouts of America,
is looking for adults who are
interested in working with
Scouts.
Jones, who is from Oakland,
graduated from the College of
Alameda in 1972.
He was
employed by the Boy Scouts
in a New Careers program,
and was the first man on the
West ('oast to bo trained for
the scout program through
New Careers. He has been
with the Big Thunder Dis
trict for approximately two
months.
One program brought by
Jones from the Bay area is
the "Scoutmobile". The van
is located in parks or on the
street where boys gather
and provide a program of
activities for the boys. Ap
proximately 200 boys have
been attracted to Scouting
and placed in existing troops
through this program.
There are about eight ac
tive troops in the Albina
area. Many boys would like
to join a troop but cannot
until adult leaders are found.
Jones, who was not a scout
himself, emphasizes that it is
not necessary that a man
have a scouting background
to tie a good leader. All that
is necessary is interest and
the desire to work with boys,
lead ers are provided training
through a program designed
to meet their needs and fit
their available time.
Jones believes the scouting
program is valuable to boys
and young men and to the
community. The acout pro
gram provides experience in
planning and meeting goals,
working together on p ro
jects, a sense of comradeship
and b ro th erh o o d , and in
terests that can become hob
bies or even careers.
The
many activities and the op
portunities for responsibility
and leadership give hoys a
v e rs a tility th a t broadens
their perspectives and allows
them to make responsible
decisions.
For adults - the women
who work with the rub parks
and the men who work with
o ld e r b oys
s c o u tin g
brings the opportunity to
teach and provide guidance
and understanding to young
people.
Government awards
soldier
The Senate passed a bill
that would award $25.(XX) to
Dorsie Willis, believed to be
the sole survivor of the all
Black infantry unit unjustly
discharged in 1906.
Senator Hubert Humphrey.
D Minn., said he did not
think the compensation was
enough. He hoped the House
would restore the $40,000
figure in his original bill, plus
past veterans and pension
b en efits to which W illis
would have been entitled.
Willis. 87. of Minneapolis,
received his honorable dis
charge on February 11, 1973
at a Minneapolis ceremony,
after spending 66 years shin
¡ng shoes in a barbershop.
He was dishonorably dis
charged along with 166 other
members of the 25th infantry
regiment following a shooting
incident in the border town
of Brownsville. Texas in Aug
ust, 1906.
Townspeople claimed five
to 20 soldiers in the regiment
were involved, but investi
gations failed to identify any
of the guilty.
All the troops were then
Law requires child immunizations
A new -state law enacted
r the 1973 Oregon Legis
lure requires all students
trolling in the Portland
ublic Schools for the first
me this fall be immunized
(ainst certain communicable
diseases before s ta rtin g
school, or they may be denied
admission.
Under the law. parents
must give evidence that stu
dents have been immunized,
or that immunization would
as a b a te r
Beni.® Franklin
Robert H Hazen, Pres. • 20 Offices • Phone 248-1234
Home Office Franklin Bldg, Portland. Oregon 97204
I
be injurious to the health of
the student, or obtain them
through private physicians or
the public health office of the
county.
Parents will be
given 30 days to arrange for
immunization from public or
private sources.
The law also provides the
list of immunizations to be
prepared by the state Health
Division and to be adminis
terod by the county health
offices. They are to set up a
system to make immuniza
tions available to students
either in school buildings or
areas close by at no cost.
Affected by the law will be
every child five through 14
years of age prior to initial
enrollment in any public,
private or parochial school.
Parents or guardians who
object to immunizations on
religious grounds may have
children exempted after filing
a certified statement.
Detailed information on the
procedures to be followed in
Portland schools will be an
nounced as soon as they are
set up by the Multnomah
County Health Department,
accoi ding to John H. Nellor,
Director, Public Information
Department. Portland Public
Schools. Nellor said he was
certain procedures would be
developed well in advance of
the start of school.
The new law affects all
students in the state.
assembled and the com
mander ordered the guilty to
step forward. When no one
did. P re s id e n t Theodore
Roosevelt discharged the en
tire unit for it's “conspiracy
of silence”. l.ater evidence
cleared all the troops.
The bill passed by the
Senate would compensate the
survivors of Willis' regiment
with $25.000 each and theii
u n m a r r ie d w id o w s w ith
$10.000.
Humphrey said “not only
were those soldiers sum
marily removed from the
Arm y, but they were also
fo re v e r b arred from r e
enlisting in the Arm y or
Navy of the United States,
as well as from employment
in any civil capacity from the
Government.
“I t was the Government
who injured these men, and
it is up to the Government to
right that terrible wrong."
When he received his hon
orable discharge, Willis sug
gested that he be paid the
equivalent of $1,000 a year,
or $66,000. in compensation.
In recent testimony before
the Senate Veterans Affairs
Committee. W illis said “some
people feel the world owes
them a liv in g .
I never
thought that, and I never
took a dime in welfare.
"I did figure the world
owed me an opportunity to
earn a living myself, but
they took that away from
me. That dishonorable dis
charge kept me from im
proving my status.
“Only God knows what it
did to the others.”
A8OUT
P IQ P tf
plied for his dump truck
license and was met with
white opposition, he pre
sented evidence showing that
contractors holding federal
contracts and therefore re
quired to hire minorities
could not obtain Black dump
truckers in Oregon.
He
alleged that the licensing
re g u latio n s p e rp e tu a te d a
condition of racial exclusion
that existed before the regu
lations were passed.
The
PUC
licensed
Jones
based on his proving need
for his truck and avoided ths
issue of race.
PUC Com
missioner Richard W Sabin
said race was not at issue and
that he believes the granting
of a license on the basis of race
would be an "unjustifiable
d evia t'o n from the la w ."
Smith will challenge this as
sumption by alleging that the
state has a responsibility to
open an all white industry,
th at it reg u lates, to mi
nonties.
l«e P*r copy
____
Berkeley
recalls
councilman
Dawson claims right to license
Black Berkeley city council
man D 'A rm y Bailey was re
called from office Tuesday
night.
His chief opponent,
William B. Rumford. Jr. won
the race to replace Bailey.
The campaign to replace
Bailey stemmed from the
strident style of the 31 year
old graduate of the Yale
School of Law. Bailey bad
gered city officials for what
he claimed was their slow
ness to hire Blacks. He de
nounced Mayor W arren Wid
ener. who also is Black.
Bailey was elected in 1971
by a coalition of Blacks and
radical students.
Rumford, who is a member
of a prominent Black family,
is on leave from his position
as assistant chief of security
for the Bay Area Rapid
Transit District.
Fair gets
soul food
The Oregon State Fair will
have its first Black-owned
booth this year when Mrs.
C lara Peoples opens her
"Soul Food" booth.
Mrs.
Peoples will sell all of the
traditioiiai vtuarlies of soul
food and plans to give people
from all over the state an
opportunity to sample these
delicacies that they will never
find in their home towns.
Clean-up
scheduled
A community clean up cam
paign will be held in the
Humboldt area on Saturday.
August 25th.
Drop boxes
will be provided by Baldwii
Sanitary and the A rm y Na
tional Guard heavy equip
ment unit.
Food w ill be
served a t th e H um b o ld t
Neighborhood D evelo p m en t
office, 4000 N. Mississippi.
The clean up committee mem
bers are Mrs. Opal Strong.
Greg Watson, Brozie I-atham
and Mel Hamilton.
"I was born in 1943 at
Emanuel Hospital and grew
up in Portland, and in all my
life 1 never looked up and
saw a Black driving a dump
truck. Now I have a little
boy who talks about nothing
but dump trucks.
I didn't
have the opportunity to ride
with my father or uncle. I
want him to have that chance.
Then someday. I'll transler
my license to my son.” That
was the closing testimony of
David Dawson. Black appli
cant for a Public Utilities
Commission dump truck li
cense at his hearing Wed
nesday.
W hite members of the
Dump Truck Association had
testified that it was common
practice for truck owners to
buy and sell existing licenses
for as much as $3.000, but
that they object to the is
suing of new licenses. Two
of the three protesting ow
ners has assisted their sons
to purchase licenses.
Dawson, who by law must
prove that the addition of his
truck is necessary for public
convenience, based his case
on two factors: that there is
a need for additional dump
trucks and that there is a
need for Black dump truck
owners to enable contractors
to meet their affirm ative
action needs.
Alexander Hicks, Director
of Civil Rights and Urban
Affairs for the federal En
vironmental Protection Agen
cy. Region X. is responsible
for seeing that civil rights
laws and federal compliance
regulations are followed in
all EPA construction jobs in
the Northwest.
Hicks said the contractors
in Oregon, as a whole, fall
far short of meeting even
modest affirmative action re
quirements.
Executive Or
ders 11246 and 11625 require
that general contractors and
subcontractors actively seek,
train, employ and “upgrade"
m in o rity em ployees
and
assist the development of
minority-owned
businesses.
Hicks said one of the
Alexander Hicks (center). Civil Rights officer for the federal Environmental Protection Agency,
explains contract affirm ative action requirements. Hicks advanced the idea that public regulatory
agencies have a responsibility to open industry to minorities. Dawson is at left, his attorney. John
C. Barnett, second from left.
major reasons that contrac
tors in Oregon are not meet
ing their minority require
ments is that few racial
minorities have been allowed
into the construction and
su b co ntractin g ind u stries.
Another reason is that con
tractors do not take the
trouble to find out who is
available. Hicks warned that
although there are a great
number of E PA jobs planned
for Oregon, there might be
delays or even cancellations
if contractors do not meet
their compliance obligations.
As for the need for addi
tional trucks in Oregon, Hicks
said the social need for Black
owners should be regarded
as a legitimate need.
Jack McDonald of Todd
Building Company described
the affirm ative action needs
of his company and affirmed
the fact that his company has
(Please turn to pg. 6. col. 61
UNICEF feeds Africans
In an emergency program
to help combat the disastrous
effects of the prolonged
drought upon the health of
millions of West African chil
dren, the United Nations
Children's Fund has rushed
Farmworkers Union
sues Fred Myer
The United Farm Workers
filed a lawsuit and restrain
ing order against Fred Meyer
Stores, Inc. recently.
The
lawsuit arose because of a
Farm Workers Union label
from an old table grape b-vX
mounted above the I .pe
section in the Fred Meyer
store at 39th & Hawthorne.
A t present there are no
union grapes being produced,
and the Union felt Fred
Meyers was fradulently mis
using the label. Because of
this misrepresentation, the
lawsuit charges Fred Meyer's
with violating Oregon laws
on deceptive sales practices
and interfering with con
tractual relations.
A third
violation is made under Fed
o ra l tr a d e m a rk laws.
For
cation was denied.
The
finding of the commission
was that Smith did not prove
the present trucking service
is inadequate. The shippers
who te s tifie d th a t they
needed and would use Ms
services were told that other
companies were available to
them.
Smith will now reopen the
hearing, alleging that the
PUC requirements are per
petuating an all white in
dustry.
When William Jones ap
each charge the Union is
seeking $5.000, in damages,
plus an additional $15.000 in
punitive damages, for a total
of $30,000.
The temporary restraining
order, signed by Judge Al
fred S u lm o n e tti, prohibits
Fred M eyer from continuing
these deceptive practices.
Mel Huey. Oregon U F W U
re p re s e n ta tiv e , commented
on the lawsuit: “The super
market industry has been
ignoring the grape boycott
since they know we are
locked into a nation wide
boycott of Safeway stores.
We hope this lawsuit will
convince Fred Meyer and
other chains that we mean
business."
t
tons of high-protein food
supplements and medicines
to the six stricken countries,
according to Paul Larsen.
U N IC E F Emergency Opera
tions Coordinator.
The shipments are part of
U N IC E F ’s emergency relief
program for the children and
pregnant mothers of Mauri
tania. Mali. Niger, Chad.
Senegal and Upper Volta, to
which the Children’s Fund
has already committed over
$1,000,000.
Although latest reports in
dicate that other countries
and international agencies are
now sup plyin g su fficien t
grain to avert death by star
vation on a massive scale,
m a ln u tritio n , d e h y d ra tio n
and greater susceptibility to
diseases, particularly spinal
meningitis, still threaten the
lives of these children.
Here, as it has in Nigeria
and Bangladesh, U N IC E F is
concentrating its efforts and
expertise to establish child
feeding program s, supply
anti biotics and other medi
cines. and aid well-digging
projects to increase the avail
a b ility of clean d rin k in g
water. By September, it is
anticipated that 72.000 pre
school children and pregnant
or nursing mothers will be
receiving daily allotments of
CSM. a mixture of corn, soya
and milk that supplies suffi
cient protein to meet the
body needs.
K M ix I I, a
liquid high protein mixture
that is fed intravenously to
ch ild ren h ospitalized w ith
kwashiorkor, an acute form
of malnutrition, has been air
lifted from Senegal. U N IC E F
is also su p plyin g heavy
trucks for the distribution of
relief supplies and drilling
rights, steel rods, transport
and other technical equip
ment for the well-drilling
brigades.
Contributions to support
these emergency operations
and future long-term child
care programs for the sub-
Saharan region may be sent
to U N IC E F West Africa Re
lief. United Nations. New
York, New York 10017.
NAACP
sets picnic
The Vancouver Branch of
the N A A C P will hold its
annual picnic on Sunday,
August 26th, at Lewisville
P ark near B attle g ro u n d .
Everyone is invited.
Come
before 1:30 p.m., and bring
food to share and your own
David Dawson ponders complaint of his chief adversary,
truck driver-owner Arnold Johnson.
Black-owned firm
gets federal contract
A $5,767,000 contract for
construction of a new U.S.
Courthouse and Federal Of
fice Building in St. Thomas,
Virgin Islands, was awarded
to Luther Benjamin Asso
ciates, a Black-owned Virgin
Islands firm, the General Ser
vices A d m in is tra tio n an
nounced recently.
The contract is the largest
ever awarded by the Federal
Government under special
provisions of Section 8<al of
the Small Business Act.
A rthu r F. Sampson, head of
GSA, cited the contract as "a
milestone in GSA's coopera
tive efforts with the Small
Business Administration to
encourage growth and de
velopment of firms owned by
socially or economically dis
advantaged persons.
The Courthouse and Fed
eral Office Building will be
located within the Barracks
Yard Urban Renewal project,
Charlotte Amalie. St. Thom
as, the Virgin Islands. The
four story, brick faced struc
ture will house the U.S.
Courts, Department of In
terior. and nine other agen
iies which will be consoli
dated from their present lo
cations in Charlotte Amalie.
The building was designed
by the joint venture of H .D .
Nottingham and Associates,
Inc. and Reed, Torres, Beau
champ and Marvel of Arling
ton, Va.
Section 8(a) of the Small
Business Act permits the
Federal Government to award
co n tracts to a m in o rity
owned firm on a non-competi
tive bdsis for up to three
years. Contracts are awarded
to the Small Business Ad
ministration, which then sub
lets them to the minority
firm.
GSA has awarded
more than 1,200 service, con
Struction. concession and
manufacturing contracts to
minority owned firms under
the program since its incep
tion in 1969: total value of
these contracts is more than
$103.7 million.
)