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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1973)
I fl Un! y ry Investigation exonerates police officers - Clarence Harper plans suit The Internal Affair» I)e partnient of the Portland Police Bureau has exonerated four police officer» charged with brutality by Clarence Harper. Jr., a Black man who wax arrexted and in carcerated on September 8th. The police department under took the investigation at the requext of Mayor Neil (»old «chrnidt. Harper, who wax found not guilty of the mixdemeanor with which he wax charged haraxxment plans to file suit against the city. He charged the police officer». ax well ax county corrections officers, with police brutality. Harper stated that he had become involved in a dispute with the manager of a car wash, and when threatened by the m anager, he ap proarhed a police car for assistance. He said before he could explain the problem he was handcuffed anil placed in the police car, where he wax maced. Another squud car appeared and those of ficer», Jimmerfield and Me Daniel, drove him to the County Courthouse for Ixsik ing. He claims those officers abused him with racial slurs and that at the courthouse he wax struck. He said he was also pushed and thrown aguinst the wull by county officers, maced while in a cell, was not told his offense or his rights, and was not allowed a telephone call. He wax released on bail approxi mately 12 hour» later. The stories of the four city police officers Tony New man, Michael M artin, Jim rnerfield and McDaniels were substantially the same. They stated that Harper was hysterical and 'abusive'. Of ficer M artin said he maced Harper in the bark seat of the police car when he began beating his head against the window and was in danger of injuring himself. He said this artion subdued Harper im m e d ia tely and he sat quietly thereafter. Newman, who according to M artin was present» , said he did not know mare was used. Jim rnerfield and McDaniels said they knew mace had been used on Harper, but that when they offered to take Harper to the courthouse, they exchanged cars and PORTLAND Volume 4. No. 10 Portland, Oregon IM I O N IT NfW SPAPIR IN used the car occupied by Newman and M artin because Harper was still too violent to be mov»d to their car. Captain Wayne Sullivan con cluded that "the use of mace in the instance was both necessary and effective in preventing M r Harper from further injuring himself." Harper stated that while at the courthouse he was struck by a police officer. He said this happened after he told a RN that she was not qualified to call him re tarded. Officer McDaniel, on the other hand, said Harper OBSERVER AN f O U A l OPPORTUNITY IM P IO T I# f H I W H O ll W tO I WORLD THAI R IA llY CARIS ABOUT P IO P II Thursday, December 27, 1973 DC gets limited Home Rule President Nixon has signed into law legislation granting lim ited home rule to the District of Columbia. The bill gives the 745,000 residents of W ashington, D.C.. the majority of whom are Black, the right to elect their city officials, who until now have hern appointed by the President. Congress will continue to control the Wash ington, D.C. city budget and will have veto power over decisions made by the city council. In signing the bill Presi dent Nixon said, “As the nation approaches the 200th anniversary of its founding, it is particularly appropriate to assure those jierson» who N E I.I.IE A L E X A N D E R Business seeks quality by Gloria W rolrn Nellie Alexander ix in the cleaning business, and has been for the past thirty years. A t the suggestion of a friend. Ms. Alexander de nded to establish her own business "where I ran do the work for the working poo pie." Thus came the birth of Portland Cleaning Works six years ago. Located at 3954 N. Wil hams Avenue, Ms. Alexan dor's buxir.es» has eslab lished a [xilicy to do only "first class work". In addi lion to first quality work. Ms. Alexander's business also offers one day service, and minor repairs such as mend ing and lengthening at no extra charge. "We do only the beat for our customer»," Ms. Alexander added. Since her 19(13 departure from Illinois, Ms. Alexander has been a resident of the Albina rommumty since she first set foot on Oregon soil. W ith the cleaning business going "great" for Ms. Alex ander, she also finds time to run a concession stand in the Bonneville Power Admims tration. "Black people have never been given the chance to establish a concession stand . . . I'm the first in Ore gon," Ms. Alexander stated. W ith a growing cleaning and a variety shop business, Ms. Alexander welcomes the rommumty to test her quality cleaning by visiting her busi ness Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. porter of the President, has slated that the soundings taken by congressmen when they return home for the holidays will be critical to President Nixon's future. It is the opinion of most political forecasters th at Congress will move toward impeach ment during this election jA TIMEX live in our rapital city rights and privileges which have long been enjoyed by most of their countrymen." Proponents of statehood for the District consider this compromise unacceptable. They maintain that statehood was withheld from the Dis trirt because as a slate it would in all probability elect two Black Senators and at least one Black Bepresenta live. Representative Edith Green of Oregon is one of the strongest op|*oncnts of Home Rule, although she maintains that her objections are not based on race. She says that she feels statehood is not p ractical because of the presence of federally owned p ro p e rty and monuments. Proponents of statehood point to satisfactory arrangements in other states where fed e ra lly owned p ro p e rty in eluding national parks and monuments ari- controlled by the federal government. The District has been con trolled bv the Senate and House Committees on the District of Columbia, which traditionally have tieen domi nated by Southern Demo erats. The citizens of the District are now watchful to see how much freedom in self determination they will he allowed and how much control Congress will main tain. YMCA director studies in Asia Fred Stickney, Executive Director of YMCA's South east Portland Branch, will depart December 27th for the YM CA Training Institute in Hung Kong where he'll begin a 2 month session as a "Visiting Professor." Stick ney's departure was announ red This week by William Sluber, Executive Director of the YM CA of Metropolitan Portl.iml The Hong Kong Institute is a joint effort of the National Council of YMCA's and the YMCA's of South east Asia, designed to provide training in various aspects of leadership for Asian YM CA ,M*rsonnel and other youth serving organizations. Stick ney will be instructing Asian Men and Women in the principles of Physical Ed ucation and Recreation as part of the Portland Y's contribution .<> YM CA World Holidays bring impeachment test Proponents of the move to im,M-ach President Richard Nixon urge the American people to take advantage of the Congressional Christmas vacation to contact th e ir Senators and Represents lives urging imjieaehment. Senator Hugh Scott, a Republican and strong sup year only under pressure of their constituent». The most important and effective thing citizens can do as individuals is to w rite letters. Letter« do count in effecting the attitudes and votes. Letters should first be sent to the Oregon dele gallon Senators Mark Hatfield and Robert Park wimm I. and Representatives Edith Green, Wendell W yatt, John Dellenliach and Al Cl man. Key people to whom addi tional letters should be sent are Senators Mike Mansfield. Hugh Scott and James East land, and R e p res en tatives Carl Albert and Peter Ro deno. The Impeachment Service an international program established in 1889 and sponsored by the 1700 YM CA's across the United Slates. World Service is currently helping to meet emergency situations in the Middle East, Indochina. Pak istan, Ethiopia. Africa, and other countries involved in the aftermath of war or national disaster. The YM CA of Metropoli tan Portland has been par ticularly active in the World Service program which now operates in 86 countries. Future plans include the recruitment and sponsoring of ten Portland area High School and College students to go to the Bogota. Columbia YM CA and help with their camping and street orphan programs. Other personnel exchanges, like Stickney's, are also being planned. For a free gift to give or keep, save now at the Ben) Franklin Deposit $1,000 to $5.(XX) and choose your gift from our collection of famous Timex and Swiss watches Offer good while they last, for new deposits only, one per customer 5!4% per annum on passbook savings. compounded constantly, day in to day out The Director of the Family Planning and Health Survey, Richard Udry, will come to Portland on January 4th to answer questions about the survey. All organizations anti citizens are urged to attend the meeting with their questions about the 'sex sur vey’. For time and place of the meeting, please call Betty L. Overton at 284 5689 or 288 8345, or Jetie Wilds at H(‘i i j , ^ P r a i i k l i i i Hom» O llie« Franklin Bldg , Portland, Oragon 9720« Robert H Haran. Prat * 25Ottlcaa * Phone 248 1234 Impeachment Citizens elect board The Albina Action Center Board of Directors held its annual election December 15, 1973. Eleven representatives were elected to the Board of Directors. E lected as low income re p re s e n ta tiv e s for th ree year terms were: Father William Curtin. Joseph Har ris. and Brenda Triplett. Elected as low income rep re s e n ta tiv e s for one year terms were: Albert Green. Lillie M. W alker, and Mary Jane Brester. Elected as community at- larg e re p re s e n ta tiv e s for three year terms were: Lee M. (ireen and Jetie B. Wilds. Elected as community at large representatives for one year terms were: lavlila Darby. Orlando M. Mathias, Ruth Fountaine. There was a total of 1,865 votes cast, of which 35 bal lots were voided. The newly elected repre sentatives to The Albina Action Center Board of Dir ectors were installed at the Board of Directors Annual Meeting on December 23. The Albina Artion Center is funded by the Office of Eco nomic Opportunity and serves low income persons of the Albina area. 288 8948. programs for low-income per sons. The survey came to public attention when the Black women hired as interviewers quit in protest of what they considered to be racist and o verly personal questions. Dr. Udry explained to the Observer that this is part of a long term, nation-wide sur vey on the effects of fed erally funded family planning Since the Portland seg ment is vital to the survey. Dr. Udry will come to Port land to meet with interested citizens. The survey is being conducted by the School of Public Health of the U ni versity of North Carolina and is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Health, Edu cation and Welfare. his name. Harper said it was "nigger boy” and "Little Black Sambo". He. Jimmerfield, then said, "Alright, nigger boy. little Black Sambo, if that is what you want to be called." The report by Lt. Brown went on to say that the officers did not per petuate or initiate any racial comments and, in fact, acted with considerable restraint under a continuous barrage of threats and abuse. On October 5th. before the investigation had been com pleted, Lt. la irry Brown of Internal Affairs, wrote. "It Hand Herman Brame, I'onimu nity Involvement Coordinator for the Union Avenue Re d evelop m ent P ro jec t, em phasiz.es the need for com munity participation in the Union Avenue project. Al though exten-ive research has been done and feasibility studies submit'ed. no plans have been mane. The actual plans for the project will be made by a Steering Committee which is now being formed. The committee as now planned will consist of representa tive« from the Model Cities ( itizen's Planning Board, The State Highway Depart m ent, the C ity Planning I IPlease turn to pg. 2. col. 51 Commission, P o rtlan d De velopment Commission, Al bina Contractors Association. M E D IA . Inc., the Union Ave nue Businesses, and possible the Lloyd Corporation. Mrs. Martha W arren, Miss Opal Strong, and Charles Ford have been selected to repre sent Model Cities. All meetings will be open to the public and all resi dents are urged to partici pate. whether or not they represent an organization. Brame will work with the Steering Committee and the public in an attempt to in volve the community in the decision making. He urges all interested persons to be come involved and add their suggestions now while the project is in the planning stage. Brame is a graduate of Jefferson High School and graduated from the Univer sity of Oregon in 1969 with a BA degree in Sciology. He is currently working toward a Masters in Business Adminis tration at the University of Portland. He has previously been employed by Model Cities as a financial specialist and by M E D IA , Inc. His most recent position was assistant buyer of mens' clothing for Meier and Frank. by Rosemarv Allen From a small farm in Malakoff. Texas, to # boot leg plumber in Oregon, to a licensed M a s te r Plum ber takes only one sentence to write. However, according to Aaron Mitchell, the man who lived that sentence, it takes great determination. Mr. Aaron Mitchell, master plumber and ow ner of Aaron Mitchell Plumbing. 1703 N.E. Alberta, describe» his -drug gle to be a licensed plumber as difficult and trying; yet he sees hope for minorities who have the true desire to be one. Aaron Mitchell was 13 years old when he began working part time in plumb ing for Malakoff W ater Com pany in Texas. After his schooling he went to New Mexico where he was a plumber. Mr. Mitchell came to Portland with 15 years of experience in plumbing; yet he was not permitted to join the union which required 3 years experience. The real requirement that M r. Mitchell did not meet was an un written rule, "No Blacks al lowed", although his only ex planation was. "Sorry. I can't hire you". T h e re's an old saying. “You’ve got to keep on keepin' on." Aaron Mitchell, faced with two dilemmas where in the South Black's were allowed to learn a trade, but not paid for it and in the North you weren't allowed to work period, still "kept on keepin' on.” During the period he was not permitted in the union. M r. Mitchell worked in the shipyards on governm ent jobs and as an auto mechanic. He also worked in the only other capacity allowed him, bootlegging. For those of you whose first impression Governor McCall and many of the agency heads have committed themselves to em ploy minority persons in all phases of state employment. Members of the Black com munity and other interested minority persons will explore methods of communication of opportunities to minorities and monitoring state hiring. Hand There were also contradic tions in the story of what hap pened at the car wash. Two employees told about Harper getting angry and shouting at the manager and an em ployee; about their grabbing a clothes hanger and a steam hose for protection; then sending someone for two cups of CTA, a cleaning chemical. One of them threw the CTA in Harper's face when he refused to stay away from them. Other witnesses described a fight that had taken place between Harper and an em ployee. He said Harper was knocked down and kicked, then was finally persuaded to go and get his car. When he returned with the car he sprayed tear gas at the em ployees. He was then knocked down, struck sev- Hard work brings success The Portland Observer will sponsor a meeting of repre sentatives of the Black com munity on Saturday. January 12th at 10 a.m. at Bethel A M E Church. 5828 N.E. 8th. Participants will discuss ways to insure that state agencies honor commitments to hire minorities made at a recent affirmative action workshop for state agency directors. book also reminds the reader that the churches were com mon gathering places before anil during the American Revolution and that sermons on revolution were common at the time. was my observation that Mr. Harper is an explosive per sonality with great temper. He feels that he is greatly persecuted and is not parti cularly fond of the truth." He recommended that Har per's com plaint be filed "unfou nded". Union project seeks involvement Leaders meet published by the A m erican C iv il L ib e rtie s Union, suggests calling im peachm ent m eetings and publicizing resolutions passed at such meetings. The A C L U can a s s is t w ith speakers and materials. The A C LU advises that visibility is important bumper stickers, radio talk shows, le tte rs to news papers all focus public attention on the problem. The lOr per copy Doctor defends birth survey book, Jbr saving called the nurse racial names and acted like he would start, toward her. McDaniel swung around and slapped his face. He said when Harper did not cooperate in having his fingerprints taken, a county corrections officer threw him on the floor. Harper said he was con tinuously called by racial epitahs and th a t th re a ts were made against him by Jimmerfield and McDaniels and that these actions were continued by th»- corrections officers. Jimmerfield said that when he asked Harper AARON M IT C H E L L when hearing the work boot legging is "Whiskey", M r. M itc h e ll was a bootleg plumber without a permit. After 20 years, in 1963, after pressures from the strikes, sit-ins. and marches of that period, Mr. Mitchell was allowed to take the State Board Examination for a Master Plumber. Strong determination and assistance from the Urban League and NAACP enabled M r. Mitchell to drop the title of bootleg plumber and take on the long deserved title of Master Plumber. In 1970 he got a General Contractor's License and opened a business in North Portland. On December 20th of this year M r. Mitchell officially opened his new office at 1703 N.E. Alberta. He now has 5 employees and 3 new trucks, and business is going very well. Aaron Mitchell and his wife Maggie have two daugh ters. Mrs. Edna Jackson, who is Itvigg in Dayton, Ohio, and Mrs. Angie Davis, an employment manager for Pacific Northwest Bell in Portland. The road to success is not slick and easy, it's always straight forward and mostly rough. Yet the person who takes Mr. Mitchell's advice might make it: "Don’t give up, there are always ways, if you really desire to do it." 4C chooses leader William Steward, Dean of Students at M t. Hood Com munity College, was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Area 4-C Council. The Board rejected the ef forts of employees of the Model Cities 4-C office to obtain funds directly from the city and elected to re quest city wide funding for the 4-C program. Metro «■»« 4 C Council funds and co ordinates child care pro grams in Multnomah, Clack am as and W a s h in g to n 4 counties. Model Cities contracts vith the M etro Area 1C Coined to provide child care for children of the Model Cities area. 4-C child care programs funded through Model Cities are the Albina Ministerial Alliance Family Day & Night Care Program. Berean Child Care Centers, Bethel Child Development Center, North Portland Child Carr, Mara- natha Emergency Child Cara Center at the Multi-Service Center, and Parent Child.
