Portland observer., January 24, 1974, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2
Portland/Observer
Thursday. January 24. 1974
W hat the county’s doing
WE SEE THE WORLD
THROUGH BLACK EYES
ALFRED L. HENDERSON
E dtfor/P ublisher
EDITORIAL FOCUS
Crusade with care
In our quest fo r e m p lo y m e n t fo r Blacks and other
m in o ritie s w e m ust use a w o rd o f caution and
insist th a t those Blacks w h o are app ointed ,
p a rtic u la rly in supervisory or a d m in istra tiv e posi­
tions, a re q u a lifie d a nd are a part o f the Black
co m m u n ity.
It does not h e lp the in d iv id u a l or those he is
e xpe cted to serve if the Black e m p lo ye e (or any
e m p lo y e e ) does not have the a b ility to fu lfill his
re sp o n sib ilitie s. O f course the q u a lific a tio n s and
standards m ust be re la te d to the position and not
be m e re ly a stu m b lin g block put in the path o f the
Black a tte m p tin g to achieve. A person should not
be a p p o in te d m e re ly because he is Black, but
n e ith e r sh ou ld his Blackness stand in his w ay.
Those Blacks w h o are a p p o in te d — som etim es
by co nscientious a dm in istrato rs w ho wish to
p ro vid e som e in flu e n ce fo r the Black co m m un ity —
should re a lly be rep re sen ta tive o f the com m unity.
There a re som e Blacks w h o receive good positions
but do n ot re la te to the co m m un ity a nd p ro vid e no
m ore Black in p u t than the a ve ra g e w h ite e m ­
ployer.
W hen w e say w e w a n t Blacks in positions o f
Senators a nd R epresentatives -- to te ll them th e ir
hopes and dream s, th e ir problem s, th e ir o pin io n s.
Recently the OBSERVER w ro te to Senators Pack-
w o o d and H a tfie ld , and R epresentatives W yatt and
G reen a b o u t a m atter o f concern to us.
Senators H a tfie ld and Packw ood h ave not
re p lie d .
Mrs. G reen's o ffic e a c k n o w le d g e d the
letter a nd w ill re fe r it to the C ongressw om an.
O n ly W e n d e ll W yatt re p lie d p ro m p tly a n d p o s i­
In January of 1973. the
Juvenile Court reported to
Jim Stitzmxn of the M etro
p o lita n Human K elations
Commission on the Court's
affirm ative action program.
The report is as follows:
Category A:
officials and
managers
10 w hite males;
Category B: supervisors
11 while males, 4 white fe
males, I Black (Philip Hoile
man. who has been with th«-
court since 19601: Category
C:
professionals:
99 em
plovees including seven mi
norities i l Spanish, 1 Orien
tai. 4 Black and 1 Indian).
Three of the Blacks are new
career tra in e rs who are
'Croup Workers'. Only one
Black
Sandra Smith
is a Juvenile Court Counselor.
Category F:
O ftice a n il
clerical
29 em ployees,
in c lu d in g one Black;
Cate
g o ry G: se rvice w o rk e rs
seven w h ite em ployees
A s an e x c u s e lo r m is
am a zin g ly in a d e qu a te reco rd .
W illia m
F in k le , E E O A il
v is o ry C o m m itte e m em b e r,
w rite s , “ I t should also be
pointed o u t th a t o u r past
h is to ry
shows th a t
when
m in o r it y p e rs o n s a re re
e ru ite d lo r th is d e p a rtm e n t,
th e ir te n u re is lim ite d as
th e y soon are o ffe re d ad
m in is t r a t iv e
p o s itio n s in
o th e r agencies and th e n -lo re
te rm in a te w ith th is d e p a rt
tiv e ly .
It m ig h t seem strange that a c o n se rva tive Re­
p u b lic a n w o u ld show the most concern a b o u t a
Black new spaper not even located in his district.
W e do not share R epresentative W ya tt's p o litic a l
p h ilo s o p h y and w e o fte n disa gre e w ith his votes,
b ut w e must respect his a tte n tio n and concern for
his constituents.
It is no a ccid en t that W e n d e ll W yatt is e le cte d
a g a in and a g a in and a g a in by p e o p le w h o d o not
share his party a ffilia tio n and p ro b a b ly d o not
a a re e w ith m any o f his view s.
He is e le c te d
m e n t."
Published e v e ry T h u rsd a y by Exu- P u b lish in g C om pany.
2201 N o rth K illin g s w o rth . P o rtla n d . O regon 97217. M a ilin g
address: p.O. Box 3137. P o rtla n d . O regon 97206
293 249«.
Telephone
in the T r i C o u n ty area. $6.00
Second Class P ostage Paid at Portland. Oregon
The Portland O bserver’*» o llic ia l p o sitio n is expressed onlv
in it ’s P u b lish e r s C olum n iW v
1 he W o rld I h ro u i'h
Black Eves). A n y o th e r m a te ria l th ro u g h o u t th e paper is the
opinion o f th e in d iv id u a l w r ite r o r s u b m itte r and <loes not
necessarily refl«,r t th«- op in io n o f the P o rtla n d O b se rve r.
inei.ilxfi
01
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
Association
F a ir and Johnson
w o rk e il fo r th e c o u rt fo r
se ve ra l ye a rs
McCoy lo r
1 •-» ye a rs
A lt e r M cCoy le ft
th e re w e re no Black coun
selors u n til last y e a r w hen
S aundra S m ith w e n t to the
c o u rt, tr a n s fe r rin g fro m an
o th e r county agency.
A n o th e r s ta te m e n t on the
re p o rt says. " In th«- m ain,
th e re seems Io lie a re lu c
tance on th e ( a rt o f m in o rity
in d iv id u a ls to w o rk lo r an
ageney th a t is re m o te ly as
sociated w ith th e police las
called in th e v e rn ie u la rl the
"e s ta b lis h m e n t", 'l et in .Ilin e
o f 1972. a Black wom an w ith
a M a s te r o f Social W o rk de
gree was to ld th e re w ere "n o
jo b s lo r w o m en ".
A n d the
last Black man to he h ire d
w as a c c e p te d w it h m u c h
p ro te s t a m i delay only he
cause the only tw o ap p lica n ts
w e re bo th Black and w ere
both a c tiv e in C iv il B ig h ts
o rg a n iz a tio n s .
So we fin d no excuse fo r
th e J u v e n ile C o u rt
a
county agency re c e iv in g led
e ra l fu n d s w h ich has such
p o w e r o v e r m any of o u r
Black c h ild re n and fam ilies.
HOH.ANDXk.*
YÜUNû
, C0N6RESSMAN
1 ATLANTA, ti4 .
ATLANTA, HA.
HEHADA
DREAH
th a t g ro u p action can b rin g .
A lth o u g h M<sli I t it le s w ill
no lo n g e r e x is t, the re s id e n ts
w ill n e v e r go hack to th e ir
fo rm e r aw e and le a r o f th e
pow er s tru e |u rc
Jam ison, who is 37 ye a rs
old. m a rrie d and has th re e
c h ild re n , came to P o rtla n d
from Kansas C ity , Kansas a
vear ago t<* Ih-comi- eoordi
n a lo r o f th o Boise H u m b o ld t
s ite o ffice
th e P o rtla n d
D e v c lo p m u # ’ , C o m m is s io n .
Hi- hail p ri< n *U sly lieen cm
ployed in housing p ro g ra m s
in Kansas C ity . He a tte n d e d
Kansas C ity College and is
now s tu d y in g fo r his Baehe
lo r's degree in Social S tu d ie s
at P o rtla n d S ta te U n iv e rs ity .
Jam ison was selected as
one o f the th re e to p eandi
dates fo r lb n M od e l C itie s
p o sition by a se lection com
m itte e o f th e C itiz e n s ' Plan
ning Board, and was selected
fo r ap|M >intinrnt by th e fu ll
board. He was a p p o in te d to
the po sitio n , by th e C ity
Council.
Vets get new chance
The latest g re at re v e la tio n fro m the W hite House
is that the transcribed rem iniscences o f Mr. N ixon
a bo ut his conversations w ith John Dean prove he
had no p rio r k n o w le d g e o f the W a te rg ate a ffa ir.
This is utter nonsense. W ho w o u ld expect that
the President o f th e U nited States w o u ld have
in clu d e d in his m em oirs the adm ission o f his g u ilt.
Even the com m on c rim in a l w o u ld have better
sense than that.
N o w if this is the best the President can do to
pro ve his innocence in a ll the m atters in w hich he
is accused
-
th e im p e a ch m e n t pro cee din gs
m ig h t as w e ll begin.
in 196«.
'C o n tin u e d fro m pg. I. col 91
in flu e n c e , on Boards a nd C om m issions w e m ean
w e w a n t Blacks w h o can relate to a nd represent
Black p e o p le .
W e do not w a n t som eone w ho
m e re ly has a Black face.
This is an error that
m any p ossibly w e ll-m e a n in g p u b lic o ffic ia ls fre -
Innocence proved?
T h is is c e rta in ly lo o kin g
back in to h is to ry since th e last
Black co unselor fo r th e co u rt
le ft a n u m b e r o f ye a rs ago.
Ben Johnson jo in e d the Job
C o rps in 1965; F ra n k F a ir
w e n t to C C A P in 1965; and
th e last to leave, B ill M cCoy,
w e n t to th e School D is tr ic t
The decision o f the fe d e ra l app ea ls court in
Louisiana th a t states it is ille g a l to deny e m p lo y ­
m ent to veterans w h o have less than h o n o ra b le
discharges w ill have fa r re a chin g effects.
M an y veterans have been discharged from the
service w ith o u t h o n o ra b le discharges. The ACLU
e stim a ted a m illio n veterans have re ce ive d other
th an h o n o ra b le discharges since 1950
The
Defense D epartm ent says 290,000 w e re g ive n
" g e n e r a l" discharges "u n d e r h o n o ra b le c o n d i­
tio n s " in the last 10 years.
O thers w e re g ive n
d is h o n o ra b le discharges
--
the low est o f fiv e
grades o f discharges.
The vast m a jo rity of the
discharges o the r than h o n o ra b le w e re m ade by
a d m in is tra tiv e boards and not th rough
court
m a rtia l. M an y w ere n e g o tia te d w ith the veteran s
consent, but w ith o u t his u nd e rsta n d in g the fu ll
ra m ific a tio n s o f his discharge a n d the resu ltin g
loss o f benefits.
The reasons for these discharges can be as
m e n ia l as fa ilu re to a da pt to m ilita ry
life ,
e m o tio n a l problem s, b e d -w e ttin g , h o m o se xu a lity,
fin a n c ia l irre s p o n s ib ility , in fra c tio n o f m in o r rules,
or p etty crim es. O ther reasons are conscientious
o b je c tio n , a nd racial strife. N one o f these w o u ld
necessarily have any re la tio n s h ip to a m an s a b ility
W h a t a h a p p y b ir th d a y (it w ould h a v e been)
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Beautician
(Continued from pg. 1. col. 91
full time job; however, ( ’ora.
wife and mother of two
daughters, is also a profes­
sional model for John Robert
Powers. If that's not enough
to keep busy, Ms. Smith
designs dresses as a hobby.
Four of her entries in a
recent show at the Hilton
Hotel did very well.
Ms.
Smith is now making plans
for a fashion show at th«*
Oregon State Penitentiary
for February in which her
own designs w ill be featured.
What’s the latest in hair
styles?
Cora said shags,
page boy flips, duek tail
shags, old styles w ith a new
look. Is it really necessary
to go to a beauty salon?
“ Every woman should know
how to care for her own
hair,” Cora explained, “ but
my motto is I t ’s the ru t that
counts’.”
M a n y o f these m en are Black or m em bers of
o th e r m in o rity groups w ho w e re the victim s o f
d is c rim in a tio n and m istre atm e nt. W ith m any, the
o rig in a l p ro b le m stem m ed from d is c rim in a tio n , and
w ith o the r d is c rim in a tio n p re ve n te d an e q u ita b le
ju d g e m e n t.
They w e re discharged w ith o u t the
b e n e fit o f a fa ir and im p a rtia l re v ie w , and this
discharge w ill h in d e r them fo r the rest o f th e ir
lives.
This court decision could e asily be passed over
in the lon g le g a l struggle fo r c iv il rights, but it
c o u ld be a m o n g the most im p orta nt. It could b rin g
a p re ced en t fo r the o b ta in in g fo r the veterans th e ir
d eserved e d u c a tio n a l and m ed ica l benefits.
POHTI.A M ) -i? OHSEHl TH
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