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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 1974)
Page 2 Portland Observer Thurstlav. May 2. 1974 Open letter An Open b etter to Brenda Knapper, coordinator of the Junior Miss Black Oregon Pageant: It was Beautiful: WE SEE THE WORLD a • Brenda, at one time 1 was a little league baseball coach, then a little league baseball offieial. I have not coached,, o ffic ia te d , w itnessed nor would I encourage my son to participate in little league today because of parent in v olvenient. Well, your pageant wasn’t little league baseltall, but the parents were no different and I know the abuse you and your staff suffered. I suppose ntv plea to you is, ‘Don't let a few deter you from a beautiful program'. Now. accept this if you will, as constructive criti cism. Your staff was con cerned because some parents did not attend the reception. The hours of lit to 11 are late for a 1(1 year old school child, so my family left, not in anger, but to put I. is . i to bed I she missed school any wayl. Two years can make a great deal of difference in a child's attitude, poise, and ability to perform I think it is d ifficu lt lor a Id year old to cnni|M'te against a 12 year old. Maybe age categories might tie neeessarv . llighlv skilled professional educated |ieople are llo better quail fled to judge this kind of program than a car,«enter or a housewife. As indicated by the decision of thi judges, no consideration was given to the dillerent age brackets ' THROUGH BLACK EYES ALFRED L. HENDERSON E d ito r/P u b lish e r EDITORIAL FOCUS Africa next No vision O ne o f the most q u e stio n a b le actions to take place in th e c o m m u n ity la te ly w as the m o vin g o f the M a te rn a l a n d In fa n t Care Project from Em anuel H ospital to U nio n A venue. The M a te rn a l and In fa nt Care Program , w hich is a fe d e ra lly fu n d e d protect to h e lp pre ven t birth defects a nd p ro b le m births, has been located at Em anuel H ospital fo r o ver ten years. Em anuel has o ffe re d a p ro p e r setting to p ro vid e m e d ica l care and c o u n s e llin g to p re g n a n t w o m e n , m any o f them teenagers. It is h ard to understand w h y this m ed ica l c lin ic should be m ove d to U nion and Fremont, w h e re p a rkin g is scarce a n d w h e re the p atients must co m p ete w ith the crow ds at the liq u o r store and M acD onalds. This is not the most a p p ro p ria te e n v iro n m e n t fo r w o m e n to com e to discuss th e ir p regnancy. Some a n sw e r the p ro b le m o f p a rkin g by p la cin g th e e n tra n ce in the back, so that the ladies can d riv e in the a lle y a nd e nte r the back door. If the excuse is to put the c lin ic in the c o m m u n ity, this is a farce since Em anuel is located w ith in the A lb in a co m m u n ity and is o nly a fe w blocks from the new clinic. It is som etim es g o o d to ta ke the p ro gram to th e p e o p le , but w e have n eve r fo u n d any lack o f p a rtic ip a tio n in or kn o w le d g e o f this p ro gram . In the case o f Em anuel H ospital, it was better to take the p e o p le to the program and to let Em anuel p ro vid e some service to the co m m un ity. W ith the m ilita ry ta keo ver o f the g o v e rn m e n t in Portugal a nd the p ro m ise o f a D em ocratic process, the q ue stion is w h e th e r this d em ocracy w ill e xten d to the Portuguese possessions in A frica . Spm ola, the le a d e r o f the ru lin g |unta, has ta lke d a b o u t som e type o f fe d e ra lis m , but the fre e d o m fig h te rs are u n lik e ly to settle fo r a n y th in g less th a n in d ep en d en ce. The p e o p le of A n go la, M o z a m b iq u e and G ineau-Bissau have been fig h tin g fo r years for in d e p e n d e n c e a nd it is u n lik e ly th a t they w o u ld suspend th e ir strug gle fo r lib e ra tio n m e re ly because o f a ch a n g e o f rulers or a lessening of oppression a ga in st them . The Black p e o p le and a ll w h o a re concerned w ith s e lf-d e te rm in a tio n must u n ite in c a llin g on P ortugal to d e c la re the A frica n c o lo n ie s in d e p e n d e n t a nd to ask the U nited N atio ns fo r e con om ic assistance fo r th e ir fo rm e r colonies. A lth o u g h the p e o p le o f Portugal are them selves in econ om ic d iffic u lty w ith risin g in fla tio n a n d in e ffic ie n t p ro d u c tio n and it is not lik e ly th a t the n a tio n o f Portugal can p ro v id e m uch assistance to the A fric a n nations, they are resp on sible fo r the oppressive co n d itio n s that p re v a il in the co lo nie s and sh ou ld seek assistance fo r them fro m the w o rld co m m u n ity. Choose wisely O ne o f the most h o tly contested races -- and one o f the m ost d iffic u lt to p re d ict at this tim e — is the contest fo r the G o verno rship o f O regon. On the D em ocratic side, the fro n t runners are State Senator Betty Roberts, State Treasurer Jim Redden, and fo rm e r State Treasurer Bob Straub. The R epublican contenders are Secretary o f State C lay M yers and State Senator V ictor A tiye h . The th re e Dem ocrats are m uch a lik e in p h ilo s o p h y and policy. In fa ct some say th e ir d iffe re n ce s are m a in ly a m atter o f style. Senator Roberts says she is m ore d e te rm in e d than her opp on en ts. As State Treasurer, Redden has increased the p ercen ta ge o f m in o ritie s in the Treasurer's o ffic e fro m zero to 9.7, o ne o f the g re ate st increases in state gove rn m e nt. The fact th a t he h ire d the d e p a rtm e n t's first Black e m p lo y e e in history m eans that his predecessor, Bob Straub, h ire d none. Senator Roberts has h ire d staff fo r va riou s House and Senate com m ittees she ch a ire d , but has never h ired o Black. The tw o R epublicans have g re a te r d iffe re n c e s to d istinguish them . Senator A tiye h is a conservative He favors ca pito l p u n ish m e n t and opposes a b o rtio n and flo rid a tio n . He h asn't been to see the Black press, but it m ig h t be safe to assum e that his absence in the Black co m m u n ity ind icate s lack o f concern. Secretary o f State C lay M yers, th ro u g h his g e rrym a n d e rin g , has d iv id e d the Black co m m un ity into fo ur Senate and fo u r House districts -- e ig h t m em bers o f the Legislature o w n in g a little piece of A lb in a ! This is the o n ly c o m m u n ity in the state that was d iv id e d e ig h t w ays and a ll the Secretary o f State co uld say w as that he th o u g h t it was best. W hat he re a lly th o u g h t w as th a t he w o u ld receive less fla ck and less p o litic a l th re a t th an fro m a ny other group o f citizens. As lon g as this situation rem ains — and it w ill a t least u n til a fte r 1980 — w e cannot fo rg iv e or fo rg e t. It is e xtre m e ly im p o rta n t that O reg on e le ct a g ove rn or for a ll the p e o p le . The present and past governors have o ffe re d little o th e r th an tokenism to the state's m in o rity citizens. The next g o v e rn o r should be one w ho has d em o n stra te d concern w ith deeds, not w ith words. - Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association i— W 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 T ri County area, $6.00 per year outside Portland. Second Class Postage Paid at Portland. Oregon Need Black teachers Dear Sir: Your March 7th edition presented a compelling argu ment regarding the issue of Black men in the Portland Public Schools. I wish to applaud your forthrightness in addressing that question. It is certainly one that needed to be asked some time ago and hopefully your attention to it w ill force significant changes in the imputation of Black persons in a variety of educational positions in the district. We at John Adams have long been concerned about the practice of affirmative hiring and have made our small contribution, we bo lieve. toward alleviating the problem you address. How ever, I do wish to add one (mint of clarification to the data you presented in your article. You identified that there were three Black male class room teachers in our school. I wish to correct that and identify that there are five iMichael (¡rice, Donald John son. Cottrell White, Jr., Harold Johnson and Milton .Adams). In addition, there are four Black males serving in counseling and admimstra tive positions iSid Birt, Leixlis McDaniel, Clifford McGlotten and Edgar Mit chell). In terms of per centages, when compared to the total teaching staff, it means that more than 10°<o of our teaching administra live staff are Black males. It signals that there is considerable work left for us to do, but in my judgment, this figure is far and away in excess of any other school in the district. I hope this has helped correct the informa tion you had. Continue your efforts and if we can bo of any assis tance, please do not hesitate to call on us. Sincerely, Donald I). Holt, Principal. John Adams High School Thanks for support Dear Mr. Henderson: You are known in the community as the Robin Hood of Peace, the Bridge Builder of Hop«- and the Fournier of Reality. As a result of your efforts, I have been able to stay in tune with the needs of humanity, and to bring about change for those people who are less fortunate. You have always encouraged me to go further in striving toward these goals, and that encourage ment has enabled me to be recognized as the Portland Lisa Hankins was the pret ticst little g irl in the pageant and should have taken 1st. 2nd, 3rd. 4th and 5th places. That's her daddy's opinion. Lisa's name was mispcllcd in the program. She did not place ill the top five, and hel lasi words to me before going to sleep wen- " I en joyed that, daddy, and I would lik>- to participate next year." That's Lisa's opinion and 1 think the only opinion that's meaningful. Congratulations to you and all your staff. Stay as beautiful as you are. NOW?.. . WHY?... Hit Sutinou hot çrown. ot wo hava, wrtb tba fin œ eoH of C a HPINTMS. M M N M and ESTIMA TOSS m i * • Sincerely yours, George Bankms NEIL KELLY COMPANY tn u C d « e » ÍE 7 - 4 I7 * RETAIN Charles R. Jordan For your CITY COMMISSIONER THE NEW FACE THAT COMPLETES PORTLAND’S CITY COUNCIL A MAN WHO DECIDES WITH YOU IN MIND Send your contribution to Com m ittee to Retain Charles R. Jordan P. O. Box 1747 Portland, Oregon 9 7 2 0 7 Paid for by the Committee to Retain Charles R. Jordan; Edmund W. Green, Treasurer, P. O, Box 1747 Portland, O regon 9 7 2 0 7 P R IN T IN G PROBLEMS? C a ll us to d a y ! Jaycees’ Junior F irst Citizen for 1973. Thank you for your con stant support. Sincerely, Harold C. Williams Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator Not Everyone Subscribes To The Portland Observer h u t th e n , n o t e v e r y o n e c o m e s In o u t o f th e r a in , e it h e r . o w A b o u t Y ou ? $5.25 RATES: in Tri-County Area and Armed Services Other Areas of the US C o m m e rc ia l p r in t in g - L ith o g ra p h y T y p e s e ttin g - W eb Press EXIE Publishing, Inc. 283-2487 t
