Page 2
Portland/Observer
Thursday. January 10. 1974
WE SEE THE WORLD
f t
ALFRED L. HENDERSON
E ditor/P ub lish er
THROUGH BLACK EYES
EDITORIAL FOCUS
Nationalize oil
Promote Bennie Brown
W h e th e r the present o il crisis is a co ntrived
m e th o d o f increa sing th e p ro fits and p o litic a l
p o w e r o f th e o il co m p an ies or w h e th e r it is the
result o f poor p la n n in g on th e ir part is o f no
s ig n ific a n c e
--
the im p o rta n t fa ct is that the
cu rren t lack o f o il products could b rin g the e n tire
n a tio n to a g rin d in g h alt. Lack o f fu e l fo r industry
a nd re su ltin g u n e m p lo y m e n t, lack o f transportation
fo r goods a nd fo r p e o p le , shortage o f fu e l fo r
h e a tin g hom es, even to m o b iliz e fo r n a tio n a l
security, a ll le a ve this co un try in an unexcusable
position.
W h a teve r the reason, n a tio n a liz a tio n o f the o il
industry is in o rd e r!
N o o th e r industry o f such
s ig n ifica n ce to the co u n try re m a in s beyo nd the
co n tro l o f the fe d e ra l g o ve rn m e n t. Public u tilitie s ,
tru ckin g , co m m u n ica tio n , b ro a d ca stin g — a ll are
subject to g o ve rn m e n t co n tro l, no m atter how
lim ite d .
A p re ced en t has been set by the
te m p o ra ry n a tio n a liz a tio n o f th e ra ilro a d s d u rin g a
p ro lo n g e d strike.
W hat is the reason fo r the present shortage? Is
it m e re ly the p ro fit m otive ?
Is it g re ed w hich
c o u ld th ro w this country into a w a r w ith the A rab
states? Is it a w a y to u n d e rm in e a n d d iscred it the
e nviro n m e n ta lists? Is it insurance to get the A laska
p ip e lin e regardless o f dangers to the e n v iro n m e n t
or o f the rights o f the A la skan natives?
W e have been ta u g h t since g ra d e school that
m o n o p o lie s are ille g a l, a n d ye t our g o ve rn m e n t
sits by and a llo w s the o il co m p an ies to d iv id e up
the country a m o n g th e m a nd to destroy the
n a tio n 's econom y.
N ot o n ly are the o il co m p an ies not re g u la te d ,
but th ey are g ive n d e p le tio n a llo w a n c e s that a llo w
them to m ake huge p ro fits w ith o u t p a y in g co rp o r
a te inco m e taxes. The th e o ry b e h in d this is that
som e d a y th ere w ill be no o il in the g ro un d fo r
th em to sell. H ow e ver, this is not a v a lid a rg u m e n t
w h e n w e re a lize th a t a ll o f the n a tu ra l resources
o f this country sh ou ld b e lo n g to the p eo ple.
Rather than tax d ed uctio ns because some d a y they
c a n 't sell our o il, the o il co m p an ies sh ou ld pay the
p e o p le fo r our o il
-- a n d pay us a d e p le tio n
a llo w a n c e because th e y are re m o v in g an ir-
re p la c a b le resource.
Is it true? Is President N ixo n so in d e b te d to the
o il com panies that he ca n n o t fu n c tio n in this crisis?
If not, let h im ta ke a ctio n !
w h o w o u ld also lik e to have tra in in g or pro m o -
and p ro m o te d to the GS leve ls a nd the positions
they w o u ld n o w h o ld had th ey been w h ite
This m ig h t seem u n fa ir to w h ite e m p lo ye es
w h o w o u ld also lik e to have tra in in g or p ro m o
tio n.
But if the fe d e ra l m e rit system w orks, w e
have to assum e th a t they have had o p p o rtu n itie s
fo r a d v a n c e m e n t th ro u g h o u t th e ir fe d e ra l service
If a n y o f them h ave been d e n ie d u n fa irly , then
th ey to o should seek leg al recourse.
But this does not change the fact that Bennie
Brow n, w h o now has e le v e n years o f fe d e ra l
service, in c lu d in g th re e years in the a rm e d ser
vices, has been the ob|ect o f d is c rim in a tio n and
deserves co rrective action.
Law and O rder has bee n th e cry o f the N ixon
A d m in is tra tio n — w h ic h is e a sily the most corrupt
a d m in istra tio n in the h istory o f the U nite d States.
This b a ttle cry
--
Law a nd O rd e r
— w hen
a ccom pa nie d by c rim in a l acts, treason and co rru p
tio n , has served to u n d e rm in e th e fa ith o f the
com m on m an in a system o f laws.
President N ixo n has bee n in o ffic e fo r fiv e years
and has had fo u r a tto rn e y g e n e ra ls, the CIA, the
FBI, a nd the Justice D ep artm en t a ll suspect in the
W a te rg ate a ffa ir a nd re la te d a ctivitie s.
The law s that w e are to ld are passed to protect
th e p e o p le hove been used a g a in st us. W e are
to ld by the President th a t he is b e yo n d the reach o f
the law s and the courts.
But w h e re is the interest o f the p e o p le ?
H.
Rap B ro w n s a id s e v e r a l y e a rs a g o :
" I w i ll
not be bound by law s th a t m y p e o p le had no
part in m aking — I w ill not be bou nd by courts
w h e re m y p eo ple have no re p re s e n ta tio n ."
The
w h ite press co lle d Brown a ra d ica l -- a re v o lu
tio n a ry — but the m a io rity o f Black p e o p le and a
large percen ta ge o f the w h ite poor agree.
We
have no part in the w ritin g or the e n fo rce m e n t o f
the la w
The la w is not an instru m e nt to protect
the p e o p le
— but, ra th e r is an instru m e nt o f
oppression.
Dr. likes editorials
Dear Mr. Henderson:
gressive year in 1974!
This letter is to express
my appreciation for all three
of your editorials in the
December 27, 1973 Portland
Observer. They were factual,
lucid and timely. They were
fitting statements for your
last issue of the paper for
1973 and suggest a bright
future for your efforts in
1974. The sense of integrity
of the editorial writer(s) came
through clearly in the read
ing -- a refreshing differ
ence from the double talking
that seems to be the mode of
the monopoly press in this
area.
I have been reading the
Portland Observer for the
past year and am impressed
with its growth in overall
quality. Lay outs, editorials,
selection of news and feature
stories, etc., all have shown
real progress. I extend you
best wishes for another pro-
Sincerely,
Donald Corwin Jones
Chief Management Consul
tant, MEDIA. Inc.
Compliments
Dear Mr. Henderson:
I want to compliment you,
the Observer, and its staff on
your special Christmas Edi
tion with the beautiful photo
graphs and artwork by the
children in our community.
It was a most beautiful
presentation.
Sincerely,
Keith Burns,
State Senator
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company,
2201 North Killingsworth. Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing
address: P.O. Box 3137. Portland. Oregon 9720M. Telephone:
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The Portland Observer'» offiiaal | misi I ioii is expressed only
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Black Eycsl. Any other material throughout the paper is the
opinion of the iiulividual writer or submitter anil does not
necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer
4
Hour*:
Food To G o,
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d o l liv
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10 pm
II •<"
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C a te rin g S e rv ice
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Sun
283-4573
213 N. Killingsworth
/
CONGRESS P A S S E D A N A D N EN D N E N T TO T H E
ENERGY A C T THAT MOULD BAN ALLOCATIONS OF
FUEL FOR BUSING CHILDREN PAST N E IG H B O R -
p HOOP SCHOOLS.
They had to blam e the e n e rg y crisis on som ebody
A Letter to the Mayor
An open letter to Portland
Mayor Neil Goldschmidt:
Dear Neil:
I am sorry to keep writing
you about the Clarence
Harper Jr. rase: however. I
am unsettled about the case
even after reading the report
of the police investigation. I
want to share with you the
[xjints at which I am con
cerned. They are as follows:
1. There is no reporting of
the court action in w hich Mr.
Harper defended himself be
fore a jury of all white
members in Judge Field's
court on October 23. Clar
ence tells me this jury ac
quitted him of the charges
brought against him by the
police! This would seem to
cant
p
investigation i (4
rt'port
and it is
not.
What troubles me is that
the police brought this action
against him and that he
should have had to spend
(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Whose law and order?
MEMBER
B ennie B row n, an e m p lo y e e o f the U.S. Forest
Service, has asked fo r im m e d ia te p ro m o tio n to
GS11 a nd back p ay to 1968, w h e n he was first
p ro m ise d tra in in g .
Had Brow n been accepted fo r tra in in g in the
fie ld he chose
--
C ontracting Procurem ent
he w o u ld have n ow reached the GS11 leve l, as
others w h o have u ndergonev tra in in g since then
have. W hy w as B ennie Brown passed o ver w he n
n ew tra in e e s w e re selected? His request a nd the
o ffic ia l re c o m m e n d a tio n w e re in his file
He
p e rio d ic a lly re m in d e d the p ersonnel d e p a rtm e n t of
his interests.
He never w as to ld he was not
q u a lifie d . He can o n ly b e lie v e it was because he
is Black.
There are no Blacks in the re g io n a l o ffic e in
C o n tractin g Procurem ent.
This in itse lf seems
strange since one o f the duties o f that d e p a rtm e n t
is to insure that contractors d o in g business w ith the
Forest Service liv e up to th e ir a ffirm a tiv e action
o b lig a tio n .
It m akes one w o n d e r h ow w e ll a
d e p a rtm e n t th a t d o e sn 't w a n t a Black e m p lo ye e
carries o ut this resp on sibility.
B e nn ie Brow n should be p ro m o te d to GS11
im m e d ia te ly , fo r d is c rim in a tio n and n eglect have
caused this fe d e ra l agency to o v e rlo o k its Black
e m p lo y e e s w h e n p la n n in g tra in in g and p ro m o tion .
The se le ction m ethods
--
w h e th e r the p e r
sonal pre fere nce s o f supervisors or o vert d is
c rim in a tio n by the e n tire a ge ncy
— have had
Sp e c ia liz in g In B ar-O -Fo ods
Vigilance
praised
Dear Mr. Henderson:
I wish to express apprecia
tion to you and your staff for
your December 20, 1973 Edi
toriai Focus: "Racists At
tack Blacks in the Name of
the Poor", and an article,
"PMSC Challenged”.
Both
articles were objective and
forthright.
The personal attributes to
my administrative and exe
cutive abilities are also ap
preciated and serve as further
incentive towards my com
mitment to provide the best
possible service to our pro
grams, the disadvantaged
and the community.
Your constant vigilance in
behalf of the community,
willingness to stand up and
be counted
opposing and
exposing all who would de
stroy or afflict our com
munity
are just a few of
the qualities which make the
Portland Observer outstand
ing.
Personally, and in behalf of
the Board of Directors of the
Portland Metropolitan Steer
ing Committee and staff, we
thank you for your interest
and support.
Sincerely,
Cleveland Gilcrease
Executive Director,
Portland Metropolitan
Steering Committee
1
almost $300 to delend him
self from the [ mi I icv ! This is
what his mother told me.
2. Something else that
troubles me is that the in
vestigative report docs not
deal with the questions I
raised in my letter to you of
( Ictnbi I I. 197 I The Offlm■
admit using mace to prevent
Clarence from harming him
self. Clarence is saying to
me that if he was such a
danger to himself why didn’t
they take him ’<> the county
hospital which he says is
what the police do regularly
with persons they feel are
deranged.
There is no answer to the
question of why he was not
released when bail was
[«»sled. There is no explana
tion of the twelve hour delay
in [MTinitting the phone call
guaranteed by the law.
There is no explanation that
says why there was the
seven hour delay before he
was informed of the charge
against him.
I have written Sheriff Pur
cell asking that the report to
the sheriff on this case tie
made available for me to
read. There is a kind of
doubt that enter« my mind
(»ecause the Portland ,x>lice
re|M»rt on this case does not
go into more detail about
what hapfiened in the jail, it
seems that the one jurisdic
tion does not want to lx- put
in the position of reflecting
adversely on the other juris
diction.
If this is the case this
represents a kind of con
venient way to obscure what
needs to lx- made known.
3, Also. I have this ques
tion. From the report by the
Portland police investigating
this situation Clarence is
made out to ap|x»ar very
unstable, as though he were
on medication. He is made
to appear as though he were
in some maniac state when
this incident happened.
The profound irony is that
Clarence is presently, so he
tells me, a psychiatric conn
selor and employed, as I
understand it, by the medical
school: also that Dr. John
Butler gives him a g<M>d re
port on his mental Health.
Since Dr. Butler is presently
out of town I haven't b«-en
able to check this out.
I. Finally, in talking with
Susan Kerr of your office,
she tells me the Eugene
,M»lice did have a record on
Clarence. Clarence says this
is in fact the case but that
this is an instance where the
charges were drop|icd; in
other words, Clarence is in
fact tx'ing [M-nali/ed because
the full disposition of the
case was not made known to
Susan by the Eugene police)
If this i» true this is exactly
a practice that one of the Ad
Hoc Police Community Bela
lions Committee lulls at the
last session of the legislature
was attempting to deal with:
it represents a very daiuug
ing mis use of records
I do not know what else to
say except that I am grateful
to you for what you have
done thus far in showing
great concern for this case;
at th«» same time I want you
to know I still have severe
doubts that we know the
truth.
Sincerely yours.
Rev. Austin 11 Richardson
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PORTLAND OBSERVER
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Portland, Oregon 9720ft
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