Page 2
Portland/Observer
Thursday, December 6, 1973
WE SEE THE WORLD
THROUGH BLACK EYES
ALFRED L HENDERSON
E d ito r/P u b lish e r
EDITORIAL FOCUS
No danger to profits
President N ix o n 's u n a nn ou nce d p la n fo r gas
ra tio n in g w ill p rotect the rich and hurt the poor.
A lth o u g h it is b e in g d e n ie d , m any a d m in is tra tio n
fig u re s fa v o r ra tio n in g o f gas so th a t every person
can g e t a little b it, but a llo w in g those w h o have
m on ey to buy e xtra gas at a hig h cost. W hat kind
of e q u a lity is this?
President N ixo n also plans to b rin g 250 o il
industry m agnates in to g o ve rn m e n t to h e lp solve
the fu e l crisis.
W e can im a g in e w h a t k in d o f
so lu tio n these m en w o u ld b ring !
The p re sid e n t is e x h ib itin g ind ecision and lack o f
le a d e rs h ip in this crisis.
The A m e rican p e o p le
have no assurance that he w ill com e up w ith a
p la n d esign ed to p rotect the citizens. W hat w e can
be sure o f is he w ill do n o th in g to slow the rising
p ro fit-m a k in g o f th e o il industry.
M any p e o p le a re convinced that the o il sortage
Is co n trive d -- th a t it was d e ve lo p e d to raise the
price o f g a so lin e a nd fu e l o il, to insure co n tin u e d
tax loo ph ole s, to o b ta in the Alaska p ip e lin e , and to
confuse and e lim in a te attem pts io m ake th e in
dustry co nfo rm to "c le a n a ir " standards
The pre sid e nt's lack o f action enhances those
suspicions. If th e re is a real crisis, he should take
b o ld a nd im m e d ia te action. If, h o w e ve r, th e re is
no crisis, he can sit back and w a it fo r the o il
industry to d e cid e w h e n to b e g in d e liv e ry a g a in .
Unneccessary spending
W h e the r or not the b irth co ntrol survey b e in g
conducted in P ortland is a m a licio u s a tte m p t at
Black g en ocide or w h e th e r it is an in n o ce n t a t
te m p t to assess the a v a ila b ility o f brith co ntrol
m ethods to those w h o desire them is not kn ow n.
The questions are ra c ia ly slanted, w h ich sh ou ld not
be necessary to test a ttitudes to w a rd b irth control.
But, w h a te ve r the purpose, w e b e lie v e that it is a
waste o f m oney.
If the g o v e rn m e n t w ants to kn ow w h e th e r its
fe d e ra lly fu n d e d fa m ily p la n n in g clinics are
rea chin g the p e o p le w h o w a n t th a t service, it
w o u ld be a sim ple m atter to ask the e xis tin g social
service agencies to m ake a b rie f survey a lo n g w ith
th e ir other duties. It w o u ld be a sim p le m a tte r fo r
a casew orker to ask his clie n t if she w a n te d b irth
control services, if she knew h ow Io o b ta in th em ,
and if necessary, to fjssit her to o b ta in th e m .
It
m ig ht not be a scie n tific survey, but it w o u ld do
the job.
Evaluations o f services is o b v io u s ly necessary,
but fe d e ra l p rogram s tend to spend as m uch
m oney on e vo lu tio n and co nsu ltatio n as th e y d o on
d e liv e ry o f services.
The vast a m ounts o f m o n e y spent o ve r a p e rio d
o f seven years co u ld better have been used to
d e v e lo p safe m ethods o f b irth co n tro l fo r those
w ho w a n t and need them .
Action two-way street
The d irectors o f m an y o f the a ge ncies o f the
State o f O reg on h ave c o m m itte d them selves and
th e ir a gencies to th e e m p lo y m e n t o f m in o rity
persons.
Som e o f these d ire cto rs say they have been
o pe n to the h irin g o f m in o ritie s in the past, but that
no m in o rity persons a p p ly fo r positions w ith th e ir
agencies. M in o rity w o rkers, h o w e v e r, say they do
not kn ow w h a t p o sitio n s a re ope n or h o w to app ly.
The state c iv il se rvice system looks lik e a w a ll to
ke ep them out, ra th e r th an a m eth od to g et them
in.
N o w that the a ge ncy heads have le a rn e d the
m e a n in g o f a ffirm a tiv e a c tio n , g a in e d n ew insight
into h irin g procedures, a nd say they are ready,
m in o rity p e o p le m ust m ake the e ffo rt to m eet them
h a lf w a y !
The w a y to g e t a state |ob is to a p p ly fo r it -
f ill o u t the form s, ta ke the tests if necessary, and
go th ro u g h the in te rv ie w . This takes tim e and the
results m ig h t not be im m e d ia te . U sually the best
tim e to a p p ly fo r a state jo b is not w h e n you need
to go to w o rk the n e x t day, but w he n you fe e l it is
tim e to m ake a ch a n g e or ta ke a step u pw ard.
If m in o rity p e o p le a p p ly fo r position s and are
d e n ie d , or if th ey a re confused a b o u t w h e re to go,
th e y can contact H a ro ld W illia m s , EEOC C o o rd in a
to r fo r the State Personnel D epartm ent, or the
P ortland O bserver.
State agencies o ffe r a ll types o f e m p lo y m e n t --
c le ric a l, m e ch a n ica l a nd construction, d riv in g , ja n i
to ria l, te ch n ica l, a nd m a n y o the r types th a t one
u s u a lly d o e sn 't th in k a b o u t w h e n he considers the
W e lfa re or H ealth or Education d e p artm en ts. It is
w o rth an occassional trip to the c iv il service o ffic e
at 1400 S.W. 5th to see w h a t is a v a ila b le
O n ly by an honest and c o n tin u e d e ffo rt to o b ta in
state e m p lo y m e n t w ill w e e ver be a b le to d e te r
m in e w h e th e r the co m m itm e n ts m ade are rea l —
w h e th e r a ffirm a tiv e action in O regon w ill e ver be
m o re th an just a p ie ce o f paper.
1
Abortion discussed
Dear Editor:
Thank you for printing
Don Fuller's letter. "Birth
Control Study F oretells
Genocide", in the November
29 edition of the Portland
“. . . incontrovertible e v i
dence that they (Blacks) are
being eliminated against their
wishes."
This is from an
article titled "Abortion, Pov
erty, and Black Genocide:
Gifts to the Poor?", which
appears in a book called
Abortion and Social Justice,
Subscriptions: $5 25 per year in the Tri County area. S6.U0
per year outside Portland.
Second Class Postage Paid at Portland. Oregon
The Portland Observer's official position is expressed only
in it's Publisher's Column iWe So«- The World Through
Black Eves). Any other material throughout the pa|ier is the
opinion of the individual writer or submitter and does not
necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer.
MEMBER
svi
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
■ ll's g « Association
memi * r
IE
written by Erma Clardy Cra
ven.
What are the facts? At
Belleveue Hospital, a large
metropolitan hospital whose
patients are mostly Brack,
2.3 babies are aborted for
every live birth. Right here
in Portland, Emanuel Hos
pital has had many days
when more babies have been
killed in abortion than the
ones that are allowed to live.
Bellevue Hospital is in New
York City.
Portland has
been a little slow in gearing
up its abortion and genocide
program for Blarks and poor
whites.
Ms. Craven questions the
basic assumption of the abor
tion pushers, that birth pre
vention will free Blacks from
the chains of poverty:
"P overty prevents man
from realizing humanity to
M EMBER
Auocialion - Founded 1U 5
by Bayard Kuatin
There is increasing evi
dence that Black Studies
courses, once promoted as
the solution to the psycho
logical and educational prob
lems of Negro students, are
becoming obsolete in the few
short years of their exis
tence. Courses on Black cul
ture and Black history, which
filled university classrooms
several years ago, now at
tract a handful of students.
The more frivolous offerings
have succumbed altogether,
victims of their innate ir
revelance.
At Howard 1 niversity. for
example, 3b students are
majoring in Afro American
studies; two years ago over
1,600 students signed up for
courses in the department.
Predominately white George
Washington University saw
enrollment in a Black history
course dwindle from 167 stu
dents in 1969. the first year
it was offered, to a mere 24
students this fall.
The impulse of many is to
explain this phenomenon in
terms of rising student
apathy
a dc politicization
that has infected campus life
in the aftermath of riots and
building takeover*.
There
may he some merit to this
argument; certainly it helps
explain the lack of interest of
white students.
But it does not answer the
question of why Black stu
dents, w ho are entering col
lege in increasingly large
numbers, reject Black Studies
for traditional curriculum.
To understand why this is
taking place, it is first neces
sary to recognize the over
riding implications of Black
Studies.
To those who
initially demanded, at times
violently, that universities
institute autonomous depart
ments of Afro American his
torv and culture their actions
appeared as a genuinely re
volutionary gesture which
would accelerate the process
of racial pride and racial
solidarity.
And yet, in
reality, they w ere laying the
groundwork for educational
vehicles that, far from in
stilling racial* pride, have
perpetuated the myth of
racial inferiority.
The philosophy which
underlies Black Studies, as
well as Black English and
quotas, is that without special
treatment Black people can t
make it in the real world.
And this is simply nonsens«-.
In spelling out his objec
tions to racial quotas, Thomas
Sowell suggests the magni
tude of the psychological
damage that results from the
translation of these myths
into social and educational
policy. “What all the argu
ments for quotas are saying,”
declares Sow ell, "is that
Black people just don't have
it. and that they will have to
be given something in order
to have something." He adds
that the commitment and
abilities of competent Black
people "will be completely
undermined as Blacks be
come synonymous
in the
minds of Black and white
alike
with incompetence,
and Black achievement be
com es synonym ous with
charity of payoffs."
There are. of course, quite
pragmatic reasons why Black
Studies courses are shunned.
Eor once the student leaves
the sheltered atmosphere of
the campus, he discovers
these courses have little
value. Those who see educa
tion as a means through
which they can obtain the
skills to enable them to serve
the cause of racial advance
ment look to medicine, law
or science. And those who
have a genuine scholarly in
terest in the role of Black
people in America realize
that they must study Negro
history, not in isolation, but
as part of American history.
I want to make it clear
that while I believe Black
Studies to be without real
educational merit. I recog
mze that the demands which
led to their establishment
were a legitimate reaction to
the racism of the educational
system. The contribution of
Negroes to our history and
culture was neglected or dis
torted; the racial stereotypes
which had such devastating
psychological effects on Black
and white alike were rein
forced.
It is also true that gifted
Negro scholars, teachers of
th«- highest abilities, were
passed over by the most
prestigious universities until
the clamor for Black Studies.
Insofar as Black S tu dies
forced the educational estab
lishment to recognize their
talents, it performed a ser
vice.
Those of us who raised
o b je c tio n s ab out Black
Studies land were very often
denounced as "Uncle Toms"
because of it) did so for one
reason: we did not want to
see another generation of
mis educated Blacks.
The
easiest thing in the world is
for colleges to create a
separate set of courses for
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
O bserver.
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company.
2201 North Killingsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing
address: P.O. Box 3137. Portland. Oregon 9720b Telephone:
283-2486.
The decline of Black Studies
One thing the early Greeks
didn’t have a word for was
Africa, which they con
sidered a part of Asia.
Black students, while ig
noring the very real prob
lems createil b> ghetto pov
erty and inferior schools.
The challenge is to provide
compensatory programs that
can help students overcome
their deficiences, rather than
pretend they don't exist.
The institution of education
did not escape the racism
which pervaded American
society for 3(M) years. The
reforms which followed in
the wake of the civil rights
movement represent impor
tant. and often quite success
ful, efforts to achieve the
equality of opportunity. The
enrollment of Black students
has increased dramatically,
and Black scholars are now
offereii the positions which
for years were denied them.
But the reform impulse has
been impeded by succumbing
to the cult of the "new", by
the acceptance of instant
solutions, and by taking the
popular, but easy way out.
Black students, by their
repudiation of Black Studies
courses, are already ills
covering this. It is time that
the universities learned this
lesson as well.
the fullest degree. Abortion
only knocks him down an
other step."
There is another book by
Betty Sarvis and Hyman Northwest Film Study Center
Rodman. The Abortion Con 617 N.W. Culpepper Terrace
troversy, which has much Portland, Oregon 97210
more details and background.
You won't find it on the Gentlemen:
shelves of the North Portland
County Library. The white
We see in Ted Mahar's
folks would like to keep column on page 34 of the
Black people from finding out November 29. 1973 edition of
about what's happening.
the Oregonian that you plan
In many states in the to show D.W. Griffith's "The
South, illiterate mothers have
Birth of a Nation" on Dec
signed forms (with an X) ember 9th.
without knowing that those
We hope you point out to
papers would be used to your members that not all
sterilize all female children,
Americans felt this was a
as young as 12 years old.
good picture, no matter how
In a few years, we may
technically advanced for its
have state laws which re
times.
quire abortions or steriliza
The Portland Branch of
tion for women without
the National Association for
fathers for their children.
the Advancement of Colored
The social welfare agency is
People was formed almost
already doing what it can to
fifty years ago in 1914. This
"starve" poor people into
1915 film was the focus of
abortions.
Many poor wo one of the Branch's earliest
men with jobs are forced to
activities when it vigorously
get abortions because they
protested its showing here.
know that their white em
Thomas Dixon, who wrote
ployers would use pregnancy
"The Clansman", from which
as an excuse to fire them.
"The Birth of a Nation" was
Regardless of "laws", abor
taken, was known for his
ion is social injustice.
violently anti Negro writings.
"The Clansman" as a play,
and “The Birth of a Nation"
Jaunita Marie Blondell
as a film, made heroes of the
Cherokee Indian
Ku Klux Kian and villains of
the Negro lawmakers of the
Reconstruction South. The
movie was responsible for
renewed waves of lynchings
and gave impetus to the re
vival of the KKK Millions
saw the picture and who
knows but what its "mes
sage" has helped perpetuate
Black stereotypes to this
day. It would be tragic if
today's young viewers be
lieved they were looking at
history.
"The Birth of a Nation”
was hailed for its technical
excellence and made fame for
its Director.
However, if
your members will view the
picture from the [mint of
view of social history, they
should know that it probably
caused more protest from
civil libertarians than any
other vehicle because of its
rank, crude racism.
If we had progressed far
enough in our country, and if
our children had been ex
posed to factual history about
the role of Blarks, to b«- able
to laugh at this picture as a
quaint relic of our racist
past, then we wouldn't have
to remind your members
that not everyone hailed
“The Birth of a Nation" (in
Mr. Mahar's words) as “the
first great American film".
As noted above, we feel it
especially necessary for
young film buffs to know the
social history of this picture.
Most modern textbooks on
the Negro document "The
Birth of a Nation" as a blow
to Negro progress.
We
might mention, for example,
William Ijoren Katz's “Eye
w itness:
The N egro in
American History": Thomas
F. G o ssett’s "Race; The
History of an Idea in Ameri
ca”; and John Hope Frank
tin’s "From Slavery to Free
dom”.
Sincerely yours,
Ellis Casson, President,
NAACP, Portland Branch
Charles Crews, owner of
Chuck's St. Johns Cyclery.
ill donate a bicycle to a
nerdy child (his Christmas.
Anyone who knows a child
who nerds a bicycle or tri
cycle and who would not
otherwise receive one, is
askrd to send the child's
name and address, his par
rnt's or guardian's name, and
a short desrription o( whv
should be Ih r recipirnt
Churk's St Johns Cyclery
the l'orlland Observer
December 15th.
■In •
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Sell 100 subscrip
tions, earn $100.00. Sell 500
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Sell 1000 subscrip
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Earn m o n e y in y o u r s p are tim e
"Birth of the Nation”
I Editor's note: This is a
letter written to the North
west Film Study Center by
Mr. Ellis (asson. President
of the N A A C P.l
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