Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1974)
Page 2 Portland/Obeerver Thursday. January 31. 1974 School children and the Energy crisis by Vernon E. Jordan WE SEE THE WORLD THROUGH BLACK EYES ALFRED L. HENDERSON E d ito r/P u b lish e r EDITORIAL FOCUS Not political pawns! m lri, It is easy to cry racism w h e n a Black person is re je cte d fo r a p o sitio n — b ut it is necessary to look a t the n o m in e e a nd the p o litic a l e n v iro n m e n t in m a k in g a ju d g e m e n t. As Blacks m ove h ig h e r in positions o f g re a t re sp o n sib ility w h e re o n ly a fe w in d iv id u a ls can serve, th e re w ill be re je ctio n |ust as th e re a re re je ctio n s o f w h ite s w h o fo r some reason do n ot possess a ll o f the q u a litie s or e xp e rie n ce necessary. O n ly if re je ctio n is based on race need w e b eco m e concerned. In th e case o f th e n o m in a tio n o f W illia m Thomp son fo r the D irector o f E n vironm ental Services for M u ltn o m a h C ounty, w e q ue stion the m otives in v o lv e d in this n o m in a tio n . C hairm an James G leason kn ew fu ll w e ll that the board had a lre a d y d e te rm in e d th a t th e a p p o in te e w o u ld have to possess a strong b a ckg ro u n d in land use p la n n in g a n d e n v iro n m e n ta l p ro tectio n . Not o n ly did G leason kn o w th a t his n o m in e e d id not have this b a ckg ro u n d , he a p p a re n tly d id not even inform Thom pson o f th e fu ll re sp o n sib ilitie s o f the job. A lth o u g h Thom pson is a ca p a b le e n g in e e r and m a n a g e r, he expressed no p a rtic u la r k n o w le d g e or interest in the fie ld s o f g reatest concern to the C om m ission that had to a pp ro ve his a p p o in tm e n t. W e b e lie v e Thom pson w as set up by C h a ir m an G leason to be rejected. Three m em bers o f the C om m ission — the th re e w h o are at odds w ith the ch a irm a n on m any issues, C lark, Padrow and G ordon — have been strong supporters o f a ffirm a tiv e a ction and m in o rity h irin g . The ch a irm a n , on the o th e r hand, has resisted im p le m e n tin g the a ffirm a tiv e a ctio n p o licie s passed by the Board. As A d m in is tra to r fo r the county, o nly the ch a irm a n can take a ction . O n ly he can hire a nd fire . W h a t b e tte r w a y to em barrass his p o litic a l o p p on en ts th an to p u t these th re e com m issioners in the p o s itio n o f b e in g fo rce d to re ie c f a Black n o m in e e ? W e b e lie v e th e ch a irm a n selected a m an w h o co u ld n o t be accepted -- b ut a m an w h o is lik e d a n d respected by the co m m u n ity — so th a t he m ig h t say, "W h o is fo r a ffirm a tiv e a ction n o w ? " This was not o n ly a disservice to Thom pson, but to the Black co m m u n ity as w e ll. If th e c h a irm a n is n ow s u d d e n ly co m m itte d to equ al o p p o rtu n ity , he has an e x c e lle n t o p p o rtu n ity to show us. He can, im m e d ia te ly a nd w ith o u t C om m ission a p p ro v a l, a p p o in t Thom pson to the p osition o f D irector o f Public W orks, a p o sitio n fo r w hich Thom pson is e m in e n tly q u a lifie d . As fo r the fu tu re D irector o f E n viro nm e nta l Ser vices, w e w ill e xpect that he m easure up to the hig h standards set by the C om m ission. W e kn ow that u n q u a lifie d w hite s have bee n a p p o in te d w ith little hesitancy. We kn ow the Board o f C ou nty C om m issioners has been p la g u e d w ith c o n flic t b e tw e e n the chairm an and som e m em be rs o f th e Board for several years. Perhaps this c o n flic t w ill be resolved in the next e le ctio n . In th e m e a n tim e , w e do not a p p re cia te Blacks b e in g used as p aw ns in th e ir p o litic a l battles. Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company. 2201 North Killingsworth, Portland. Oregon 97217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208. Telephone: 283 2486 Subscriptions: $5.25 per year in the Tri-County area. $6.00 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 (We See The World Through Black Eyes). Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the individual w riter or submitter and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer. MEMBER il inetnl>er Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association r » i A g re a t m a n y n e w p ro gram s ti.td o rg a n iz a tio n s h ave d e v e lo p e d in th e past fe w years a nd m any a re v ita l to th e life o f the c o m m u n ity . M any of these o rg a n iz a tio n s th a t w e seldom k n o w m uch a b o u t a re m a k in g decisions that w ill a ffe c t o u r lives fo r m a n y years. It is m a n d a to ry fo r Black p e o p le to b eco m e in v o lv e d in these o rg a n iza tio n s. The m ee ting s are o p e n to th e p u b lic a nd p a rtic ip a tio n is sought by m ost. It is n ot e n o u g h to w a it u n til th e decisions a re m ad e a n d then c o m p la in th a t w e a re not in c lu d e d . Black o rg a n iz a tio n s a nd in d iv id u a ls sh o u ld be a tte n d in g these m ee ting s a nd le ttin g th e ir n e ig h b o rs kn ow w h a t is h a p p e n in g . Som e o f the m ore im p o rta n t o f these o rg a n iz a tio ns are th e M e tro p o lita n H um an R elations C o m m ission; th e Tri-C ounty C o m m u n ity C o u n c il; the C o m p re h e n s iv e H ealth P lanning A sso cia tio n ; the M e tro p o lita n Youth C om m ission; the P ortland P la nn ing C om m issio n; CRAG (C o lu m b ia R egional A ssociation o f G o v e rn m e n ts ); P ortland D e v e lo p m en t C om m ission. These are the age ncies th a t d e te rm in e h o w the m o n e y w ill be spent. Right here in the c o m m u n ity w e h ave M o d e l C ities, w ith its m any w o rk in g co m m itte es, the A lb in a A c tio n C enter and the P ortland M e tro p o lita n S teering C o m m itte e P a rticip atio n in these p ro g ram s is m in im a l and the w o rk fa lls to the sam e fe w in d iv id u a ls . A tte n d a n ce at m e e tin g s w h e re im p o rta n t decisions a re m ad e is poor. There are a lso a d v is o ry a n d p o lic y co m m itte e s to the various a ge ncies, a ll o f w h ic h need p e o p le w h o are w illin g to d e v o te a little o f th e ir tim e. The School District is a n o th e r a re a w h e re th ere is o p p o rtu n ity to ta ke p art in som e areas o f decision m a k in g . Few p e o p le ta ke the tim e to fin d out w h a t is h a p p e n in g in th e schools u n til a p ro b le m d evelops. W ith the h istory o f racism and exclu sion o f Blacks in O re g o n , w e w ill fin d ourselves le ft out a g a in if w e d o not insist on a ro le in the p la n n in g . By now it is obvious to all that the energy crisis is an all-purpose a lib i, eagerly grasped at by anyone with an axe to grind. Perhaps the most blatant attempt to use the energy crisis as a means of squirm ing out of something that has to be done was seen in the attempt to amend the pro posed E m erg en cy E n erg y Act to forbid gasoline alloca tions for public school busing. The attem pt was shelved, but it is likely to come up again when the Act is re considered. Passage would not only not save gas but would also be a constitutional challenge to the courts and hamper the peaceful desegre gation of schools that has already taken place. A premise of the gas ban is that school buses are burning up gobs of fuel transporting kids for pur poses of integration. But that's not true not true Mayor’s response Mr. Earl Huyck National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda, Maryland In assessing the number of minorities in the department, they found 1 microbiologist, 1 clerk I, 1 public health nurse IV , 2 public health nurse I, 2 registered nurse I I, 1 dental assistant trainee, 1 psychiatric social worker, 1 clerical and 3 mental health aids, and 7 licensed prac tical nurses. This is a total of 21 Blacks, 270 whites. 5 Orientals, 0 Chicanos. 0 Indians. The Blacks are clustered in the lower pay, lower-status posi tions. Of this situation a report to the Metropolitan Human Relations Committee of Jan uary 25, 1973 says, " A t present we are not aware of any concrete policy th a t spells out a plan whereby any aggressive attempts are being made or will be made to offer increased employ ment opportunities which will compensate for the disad vantage of minority mem bership. This in itself though should not be viewed as a discriminatory act as there appears to be a scarcity of any kind of con-rete policy that spells out anything in this branch of government service. Of hiring procedures, the report goes on to say, “Posi tions open up very quickly as a result of political skills of department heads and they are filled very quickly before an advantage is lost. Pro cedures are not followed be cause of survival pressures, not because of any attempt to discriminate against any one. If a minority member In the future, if Portland is to be part of a National Survey. I would appreciate advance notification to my office and to appropriate community representatives. Dear Mr. Huyck: It has come to my atten tion that a survey was con ducted recently in Portland under the direction of Dr. Udry of the University of North Carolina and funded by H E W . The survey was designed to evaluate the ef fectiveness of family plan ning programs in 18 cities throughout the United States and involves an extensive interview system. Members of the Portland community who have been interviewed or otherwise in volved with these question naires feel that many of the questions are an invasion of privacy, and that many is sues are raised which are. at best, misleading and irrele vant. They hM e contplainad to my office and to Dr. Udry in person. It is my under standing that the survey has been withdrawn from Port land. What the County’s doing - W hen the A ffirm a tiv e Action Committee of the Medical Services Department of Multnomah County a t tempted to determine the extent and effect of discrimi nation in their department, they found the task nearly impossible. at all. First, busing for integra lion represents a tiny frac tion of all school busing - less than three prerent of all students bused. Those yellow buses are on the streets to transport children who live too far to walk to school, who are handicapped, or who need transportation to extra curricular activities. Nearly half of all school children ride the yellow bus. and not for integration, either. Second, how much gasoline is consumed? The govern ment estimates that school busing for all purposes comes to get this eight ten thousandths of one per cent of all the gasoline use,I in the country for all pur poses. Since busing to desegre gate is such a tiny fraction of all busing, the amount of gasoline used for that pur pose is in fin ite s im a l you'd need a computer to were as available as anyone els«- at the moment a flash edict goes out through a section to fill a slot, he or she would be snapped up just as fast. The demand seems to be to protect the position, not the employee. Hiring practices and policies are enshrouded in a thick bureaucratic fog which is im penetrable to the employee and I'm not sure even man agement is all that aware of its own hiring activities.” Unfortunately, the Medical Services Department is not unique, but is typical of the Multnomah County employ ment situation. The County civil system is not functional and should be replaced with a professional personnel de partment directly responsible to the Chairman of the Board of C ounty Com m issioners. Only in this way ran affirma tive action, or even an equit able em ploym ent system , ever be a reality. Sincerely. Mayor Neil Goldschmidt I Editor's note: I'he Port land survey was halted when the Klark interviewers for the survey quit in protrst. Following a visit to Portland Io meet with members of the Black community. Dr. I drv cancelled the Portland sec tion of the survey.) figure those kinds of frac tions of fractions. So the issue of saving gas is an easily seen through phony attempt to kill de segregation efforts. But it is still a serious constitutional threat to the power of the courts to protect the const! tutional rights of citizens. It tries, in an indirect way. to n u llify standing court orders. The Supreme Court has ulready ruled that busing is a legitimate tool to de segregate segregated schools and an act of Congress that challenges such rulings, even in such an apparently neutral way. raises serious constitu tional problems and confron tations. There seems to lie no shortage of energy among the defenders of segregated schools to try to overturn the consequences of the (wo decade old High Court ruling that segregation violates the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws. If they'd apply the same energy to making integrated schooling work, we'd all tie much better off. For the fact is that it does work: where it has been given a chance there has been a marked im provement in race relations among students and better education as well. T he only real purpose served by those who would use the energy shortage as an alibi to sabotage desegre gallon is to plant the weeds of doubt among those school districts that have reluc tantly moved to desegregate. And the sudden concern (or saving gas doesn't extend to private school busing, especially those segregation academies that have sprouted up all over the South to siphon off white students from r e c e n t ly in t e g r a t e d schools. It's been clear for some weeks now that the energy crisis is being used to rationalize all sorts of dis criminatory proposals that leave poor people holding the bag and now, it seems that it is the turn of Black children seeking a decent education to bear the burdens of racially inspired attacks on their rights. I've just re read my copy of the Constitution and I find nothing there that says a citizen's rights may be com promised because there is a shortage of gasoline. De segregation is now a const! tu lio n a lly protected rig h t and. gas or no gas, it has to go forward. DR. JEFFREY BRADY Says: DO Not Put Off Needed Dentol Caie Enjoy Dental Health N ow and Im prove Your Appearance (OMI IN Ai TOUR (OhTiNIINd OPIN SAIURDA» MMMNG • 80 APPOIhlMihl M iU tl) • ( O M P IIII (O O P ItA llO h ON AIL 0 IN I4 1 INSURANCE PIA8S • ( O M P IIII 0 IN IA 1 SEiWKiS U N IO N OS C O M ’ ANV O IN T A l IN S U SA N C I C O V IS A C I À C C IS T I0 O N r o u t N IIO IO O IN T IS IS V ’ • ’ k » ••• A n» Sorb n thee le» MOUAS W .th d O T t I J O . m »o S p.SR So» A SO e m to I p.m . D R . JEFFREY B R A D Y , D E N T IS T SfMLER BUILDING S Vv 3»a A M o e tvor *>1 Por»lond O 'e g u f la k e E le va lo ’ »o 2nd f loo» 3 'd S» Ent»»” <e Phone: 2 2 8 - 7 5 4 5 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! P o rtla n d O b se rv e r Readers If Y o u A r e n ’t G e ttin g The O b s e r v e r Y o u A r e n ’t G e ttin g The N e w s ANY WAY YOU LOOK AT IT IT’S YOUR NEWSPAPER POUT L A M ) -¿S ORSE R IER Editorials FASHIO NS b RECIPES ¡VERT1SW6 SPORTS YOUTH & E n te r ta in m e n t C la s s ifie d Ads to h e lp you fin d th e jo b you n eed SAME A ild re w Attention The O bserver will publish a special issue in observance of Black H istory W eek on F eb ru ary 14th. Our ad v ertisers and friends are invited to take this opportunity to express your support of the goals and aspirations of th e Black com m unity. We also are soliciting pictures and m aterial on the history of Black people in the N orthw est. ON SALE AT YOUR FAVORITE NEWSSTAND Citv State f t D FOR MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS J M U 2201 N. CALL 283-2486 K illin g s w o rth ^LtrmnmSS* KLHEKfflK Z Zip » M .» S5.25 per vear Box 3137 Portland. Oregon 283-248« 97208
