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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1974)
Minorities soy County freeze thaws only for whites The Unit«-»! Affirmative Ac lion Committee ha« called for the removal of Jewel God dard. Multnomah County'* Director of Human Service*, ami hi* aaaiatant Jack ('hup man. The UAAl' threatened to aue the county for viola lion of its freeze on hiring unices the resignation* take plaee by May 1st. The Board of County Coin mi**ioner* put a freeze on hiring by the county until it* affirmative action »tatù* amt hiring ' procedure* were in vcaligucd, so optimum oppor tunity could I h - afforded minority persona. Statistic* for minority employee* from the county are not available since these record* are in aileipiate and no central per sonnel file* exist. From re porta compiled by the various department*, minorities ap pear to be largely confined to social service and health areas, ami generally in low pay low status position*. Since the hiring freeze, the Department of Human Be Hource* ha* continued to hire. Interviewing for posi lion*, by Jack Chapman, ha* continued and from all re port* these interview ee* have I>i en white, (><*ldard and other county & PORTLAND Volume 1, No. 66^1 Portland. Oregon NEWSPAPER IN fM t WHOLE WIDE W O » lO attendant*. 36 employee* lor Blue faike Swim Center, three substitute staff for Littles Centers; Dental Assi* tant; Administrative Assis tant for CHISS. The United Affirmative Action Committee charge* that hiring is going on a* usual and that the spirit of the freeze has knowingly been broken. (Please turn to pg. 2. col. 51 OBSERVER THAT R EA llY Thursday, April 25, 1971 CARES ABOUT life per copy REORtf NACD elects Gilcrease Cleveland Gilcrease, Exe cutive Director id the Port land Metriqailitan Steering Committee, has been elected president of the National Association lor Community Development l'he orgamza tion, which ha* over 8.(8X1 numbers. was founded three years ago to serve as an advocate fur the nation s 25 million poor ( illerease w ol) elect ion ov er Dr. Dave Billing*. HI, of New York City , former head of the City Recreation De partment. He follows Dr. Denton J. Brooks, Commis sinner ol Human Resourci s of Chicago, who has served for (he past three years In accepting thi presi deni-y, Gilcrease said "Ui- must use our In-St mini, I tower to carve out a valid slake in the economic main stream of this nation lor millions of poor American«, their children, and their children’s children vet to bi (illerease said me of hi* goals is to see that funding of anti poverty program* is removed from th» political arena. “I »ay thi* bi cause the issue of whethir a starving child is fed or an unemployed fathe. obtains a jolt in order to support his family or whether millions of Americans rem an unedu ra te d . misinformed. ill httused and poorly clothed. ought not fw riso, -, cd on th» ground* of political ex |H-di»ncv. NACD is a national ad voracy program for th* |toor concerned with national priorities in the area* of manpow»-r. health rare, revenue sharing, child development, coalition build ing, senior citizens, legal aid, ele. Dm- of the primary concerns at this time is legis lation for continuation of the Office of Economic Oppor tunity i War on Poverty) which i* slated for closure June 30, 1974. Other goals for the coming year are: the development of additional regional organi /atior.s and a massive voter registration drive. Thi- organization will at tempt to bring the private sector into the war against poverty, "letting them know our interests and their re s portabilities." Black Studies funding threatened by Rosemarv Allen Beaverton |«>ll»ce officer Jim S|»-ars responds to emergency (Photo; Rosemary Alien) call Spear* anil hi* wifi- Mattie Ann anil their I children reside in Portland. The family attends Mount Olive, Baptist Church During hi* free hour* Spear* enjoy» hunting, fishing and bike riding. The reason (or negative (Please turn to pg. 3. col. 3» Block Educators oppose Jeff, plan The Or«-gon Blark I. »tin a tor*, an organization of Blark teacher*. i* deeply concerned about the new direr,ion of Jefferson High School a* proposed in the recent Jefferson Study" prepared by Portland Publir Schools, \r»-a 1. believing thi plan will have a negative and detrimental effect on the Jefferson community in general, and the Black com niunilv in particular. The DBF membership slated that very few member* of the community were involved as contributors to the research. and the input of a number ol the ,iersons involved was not reflected in the study. DBF gives the following reason* for it* opposition to the Jefferson Plan: I l'he School of Intrrprc la liv r Art* p erp etu ates racial stereotype* of Blacks a* singer* anil dancers, am provide* for little training in technical skills. authorization for luring is being sought. Positions in these categories include 25 part time position* for park landscaping, part time clerk typist for Sanitation Depart ment; Nuisance Control M anager; th rci Animal Shelter attendant*. 12 stu dent license collectors for Animal Control; Mamienam-i Carpenter; four cemetery maintenance men; 25 park an io u a i orrortunity employer THE O N I t Black officer serves white What is it like to be the only Black police officer on an all white [ mi I ii - c force in a predominantly white city? For Jim Spear* of the Beaverton Police Depart ment, it ha* been "no prob lem". When Spear* began 4 years ago on the force he wa* scared. "I didn't know how the people would accept me." Spear* explained How ever, the only slight problem that Spear* ha* run into was when he stopped a lady and wa* accused by her of slopping her because »he was white. Spear* look her accusations as a joke, con sidering that Beaverton i* an all while town. Spear* came to the Beaver ton Volin- Department from Marin. California In Cali forma he was a deputy for the Marin County Sherd, Department in an all Black district. Prior to hi* job in California, Spear* served I year* in the Air f orce a* a member of the Military Air Police. Spears ha* always liked law enforcement, although he has had no law enforce ment schooling. "In this job, »aid Spear*, "you never know from one minute to the next what's happening. Some days it's ju*t zero, then sometimes it seems the sky is falling." official* have staled that the only position* that are being filled are due to emergencies and that the agencies would not fie able to function properly with vacancies existing These vacancies are filled when justified by the agency. Member* of the community do not see the emergent need for positions which have been filled or for which 2. The School ol Careers does not prepare students lor a realistic job market and additional,v. prematurely cliiphasi/»-» th«- selection ot a career. 3 l'he Competency School docs not address itself to the State's ideal ol colllpi tellcv education, but encourages and support* "tracking". It is an attempt to mt» » n.illv segregate lh>- srhoo' , lid will, ill tael. ii ii|« » s e an ill lerior education upoi. Blinks Also, elementar. teeder school* should 1» considered a part ol the problem (hat Jefferson laces. They have inadcqtialclv prepared many students lor high school. The Jefferson study il«*-s not propos»- a solution to the improvement of the quality of instruction in th«-*«- schools. Jefferson High School and its stu d en ts hav«- been laln-lcd for pas, racial tell sions. I hi* lain I has eon Longer-term Financing for Home Improvements Now is the lime to plan remodeling projects for more convenience and recreation at home Even major appliances can be included with up to 15 years to repay at the Benj Franklin Make your plans, get estimates, then visit any ot our offices Block A D e c k « Poww fool when you obtain aHixnelmpiDvwmHntloanotMOOOtxmoi«» It a n j.t O F ra n k lin aleiRat Horn* O d io * Franklin Blda , Portland. Oregon 97204 Robert H. Mazan. Pre* • 2$ Office* • Phon* 248 1234 pnM-nt ■ lav from feeder school* to send th» ir children to other high seh<*il*. \* in all integrate«! high school*. some racial problem* »Io exist. The .1» Ifersoll study does not deal with a«fe«|Uat< prescrip tion* ,or t h e s e problems. Jefferson ha* thi- large*, concentration of Black high school student* in Portland: it is also th«- only high school in the Black community. \n «•ffectiv«-, rnnipi-ti-nl, and representative stall is essen tial in any school. In this vein, two important ,mints must be ,-on*idcr«-d: 1. It has Ix-cn indicated that the vice principal« represent the largest stumb ling block* in the improve mi'iits of I be quality of in struction am, th«- facilitation of innovative program*. Thi s» should ,»• analyzed. 2. Then- I* a dispor|»or donate lialance ot Black stall at Jefferson. This school need* more Black staff at all levels ami particularly at th» leadership level. DBF invites the immediate and active support of con i-i-riU'd citizens to help draft an alternative to this "ill conceived and dcslructiv »•" proposal." An information and strategy nut-ting will be held a, th«- North Branch YMCA, 513(1 N Moore. iN. Killmgsworth and Moore) on Wednesday, May 1, 1974, a, 7:30 p.m. Copies of the Jefferson Study are available at the Portland Public School* Administration Of lie»-, 631 N.E. Clackamas. tinutd In lh« Candidate Fair A candidate fair will be sponsored by the Black leadership Council on Satur day, April 27,h from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Cascade Center of Portland Commtin ity College, All candidates for city and county positions have been invited to speak and to be present to nuu-t members of the community. "Utter astonishment" was the res[»onsc of some Black students and faculty of Port land State University at the actions of the university's administration recently. fn the departmental reductions for the 1973 74 academic year, the Black Studies Center was cut $16.654. The Black Studies Center's bud get for 1973 74 was about $70.(XM). When the center started in 1969. its proposed budget, which was said to have been verbally agreed u,K»n. was set at $100,000. In a meeting Tuesday April 16lh, Black students and faculty met with the PSI administration to voice their opposition to Black Studies budget cuts. George Allen, president of PSI * Black Student Black Faculty Alliance (BS BE \ l repre vented that or • »¿ z.ttion by saying Blark Studies has never been funded at its proposed budget of SltXI.IXXI and was therefore unable to successfully strive to become a department as originally planned. However, the meeting re ceived a complete turnabout when the adm inistration answered Black Studies de mands for a re-evaluation of the budget cut with a flat "no". The administration claimed that Black Studies programs are disappearing from coast to coast; enroll ment in Black Studies is low; the certificate program regis (ration is low and when cross listing between Blark Studies and other departments is available, students prefer other departments. It was then stated that the exis tence of a Black Studies Center at PSU in 1974 75 was questionable. Allen stated to acting PSU President Anderson that the "Blark Studies Center is absolutely necessary because Black students do not trust the administration to fulfill its obligation of providing a relevant education. "Black Studies must move from a special program status to a departmental status in the near future. This must be done so that Blark studies will not be railed upon at the end of each year to defend and justify itself to receive the (Please turn to pg. 6. col. 3) City honors Mel Renfro Mel Renfro will receive a ong overdue hometown «•cognition on Sunday, April 8th, at the Sheraton Motor fotel. The Rova! Esquire Club of ’ortland, Inc., in conjunction n th its Scholarship Fund, vili hold a Testimoniai »inner honoring this na ionallv known professional ithlete. The public is nv ited. Mavor Neil Goldschmidt a ill proclaim this day a* Mel (tenfro Day and sports did Hilaries will be present from over the country. The guest speaker will be Roger Stauback, Dallas Cow boys quarterback. Others on the program will include Tom Desilva, former Jeffer son High School coach; Den Cassanava, former I niver sity of Oregon football coach; George Pasero. Oregon Jour nal; and Gil Brandt. Vice President of the Dallas Cow boys. The master of cere monies will be William Lowe, producer for KOIN T \ and AM EM radio. Renfro is one of the great athletes in Oregon's history. He became nationally famous in football and track while attending Jefferson High School. He received further national recognition for his feats at the University o, Oregon. He was an All- American halfback who played in the 1964 College All-Star game, and was a trackman who had bests of 9.6 in the 100, 13.8 in the high hurdles and 25’ 11 in the long jump. He has been with the Dallas Cowboys during his entire ten years as a pro fessional football player. He has been an all pro each year and was named Most Valu able Player in the 1971 Pro iPlease turn to pg. 2, col. 7) Lack of commitment hinders minority police recruitment “I have now spent more than six months as the Port land Police Employment Specialist and it is my opinion th a t Bureau wide minority, disadvantaged per son hiring will not materialize until serious commitment is fostered within the mana gerial and adm inistrative echelons of the Portland Bureau of Police, to assist in developing a realistic mech anism for facilitating the entry of minorities disadvan taged persons into the Police Bureau," said Robert Davis, Jr. "I believe the talent neces sary to develop and institute affirmative action measures exist within the Portland Bureau of Police, however, the present efforts I if they can be called that) will make it difficult to convince very many people of this. "I will not say that the entire Bureau is negative. I find that the present per sonnel officer iR. Schwartzl has exhibited a positive in terest in affirmative action and perhaps this will enlist support from the managerial and adm inistrative heir archy." Davis also stated that further problems have been identified with the police hiring procedures that in volve the civil service com mission. “I am sure (bat the community at large is aware of these problems and should take an active stand with regard to attempting the in- Z t& rt& il Change* that will benefit the total community." For the past six months, Robert Davis, Jr. has been employed by the Portland Police Bureau as a minority employment specialist. Davis, who is 33 years old. was born in North Carolina. He graduated from Clinton College in Rock Hill, South Carolina with an A.A. in Liberal Arts. He served in the C.S. Air Force, then at tended St. Peter's College in New Jersey. Currently he is enrolled in the Administration of Justice program at Port land State University. Davis began his police career in 1967 with the Hoboken Police Department in Hoboken, New Jersey. He served as a patrolman, detec Wilberforce University rebuilds With tears of joy in her eyes. Carolyn Scot, was crowned 1971 .Iunior Mis* Black Oregon. Carolyn Scott crowned All the sparkle, glamour and excitement were [»resent at the Second Annual Junior Miss Black Oregon Pageant Sunday night at the Sheraton Motor Hotel. Master of Cerem onies Ellis Casson smoothly presented the 23 lovely young contestants to an audience of approximately 650. Casson handled the tradi tional little slip up that makes a pageant a pageant humorously and efficiently. When thi- wrong contestant was introduced, Casson quickly recovered by com menting "We all look alike, but we aren't." Each of the contestants, who were all between the ages of 10 and* 12 from all over the city of Portland, were escorted on stage bv a short young handsome fellow. Dressed in flowing floor length dresses of various colors and styles, each con testant gave a low elegant bow and a short speech under the theme "Happiness Is". Amid screams and ap plause, Mel Renfro of the Dallas Cowboys crowned and placed a kiss on the cheek of 12 year old Carolyn Scott, the 1974 Junior Miss Black Oregon. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William James Noble Sr. of 13606 N.E. Fremont Court, and was sponsored by Bethel AME Usher Department. First runner up was Caroly n Ronison, 12; Sherry Mason, 12, 2nd runner up; Paniala Grahamn. 10, 3rd runner up; and Stephanie Johnson, 11, 4th runner up. Dr. Rembert Stokes, Presi dent of Wilberforce Uni versity, the oldest Black university in the United States, and Dr. Lionel New some. President of Central State Cniversity, met with President Nixon in Xenia. Ohio to discuss the rebuild ing of the two institutions. President Nixon surveyed the damage to the two uni versities from a helicopter as a result of the April 3rd tornado which struck both Xenia and Wilberforce. Ohio. In a conversation with Dr. Stokes. President Nixon is quoted as saying "the two universities will be rebuilt." Nixon also discussed the [»ossibility of sonic [»ending legislation and efforts of his own to assure that the private institution would re ceive assistance. Nixon told Dr. Stokes that when the rebuilding is completed, he will pay a personal visit to W ilberiorct- University. On the Wilberforce Uni versity old campus. Shorter Hall (the oldest building), Carnegie Library (built in 19061. Emery Hall and Payne Theological Sem inary re reived extensive structural damage. Damage on the new Wilberforce University- campus was minimal by comparison, with only win dows being blown out in some of the newly con structcd buildings. Central I Uprooted trees and scattered debris mar the entrance to Shorter Hall, which suffered extensive structural damage and parts of the roof blown off. Shorter Hall served as a women s dormitory on the upper levies, while an auditorium, classrooms and administrative offices occupied the lower level. State University, however, was hardest hit, suffering an estimated 80% damage to the entire campus. In addi tion, numerous homes of both Wilberforce and t entrai State faculty and surrounding residents were completely demolished. According to President Stokes, no injuries to the immediate W ilberforce family were sustained, al though the Assistant Post master ci the Wilberforce Community Post Office was killed. At Central State, one woman died as a result ot injuries received from the destruction. An emergency meeting was called by Dr. Stokes and Bishop H.I. Bearden, Presi dent of the Bishops Council of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, at the Dayton Airport Inn on Tues day, April 9th. At this meeting, Paul Sheldon, Vice President of Gulf Oil of P ittsb u rg h , assumed the chairmanship of a $5 million drive to help restore the Wilberforce University cam pus. In this emergency move, the AME Church and the National W ilberforce University Alumni Assorts tion pledged $250,000 each i Please turn to pg 6. col. 4,
