4
T
Pag* 2
Portland Observer
«
May 15, 1975
WE SEE THE WORLD
THROUGH BLACK EYES
Schools h ire w h ite
No Black justice
True to o u r p re d ic tio n o f last w e e k , the
For the last fe w w ee ks w e have c a rried a rticles
Portland School Board has e m p lo y e d a C aucasion
w ritte n by Black inm ates o f the O regon State
to rep la ce Joe B o w m a n, a Black, as p e rso n n e l
P enitentiary. O n e th em e runs th ro u g h the w ritin g
specialist.
-- th a t o f d is c rim in a tio n a nd d e g re d a tio n o f
Dr Jack H ornback d id a g o o d jo b in San D iego,
Black prisoners.
in N ew York, and as Executive V ice President o f
The d e g ra d in g a nd inh um a n aspects o f prison
G rea t Cities Schools.
life are g e n e ra lly kn o w n , but the citizens o f
If he is a llo w e d to fu n c tio n , w e p re d ic t th a t
O regon a p p a re n tly do not k n o w that such
H ornback w ill b rin g changes to the a ffirm a tiv e
a ctivités occur rig h t here in O regon.
W e hove
action p icture m P ortland Public Schools.
not had th e serious prison revolts th a t N ew York
W e are to ld that the p u b lis h e d |ob d is c rip fio n
and m an y o th e r states have had — but the
was not accurate a n d that some q u a lifie d Blacks
p ro ble m s exist.
d id a p p ly fo r the p o s itio n ; th a t one w as to ld the
A lth o u g h fo r m an y reasons Blacks m ake up a
job was n e g o tia b le a nd a n o th e r th a t the
hig h
p re ce n ta g e
of
those
co nvicte d
and
a n n o u n ce m e n t should n eve r have been m ade.
sentenced, Blacks are not e m p lo y e d in the
W e b e lie v e a Black should be p la c e d in a
c rim in a l justice system in O regon.
There are
p o sitio n to be in v o lv e d in the re c ru itm e n t a nd
alm ost no Black p o lic e and sheriffs — o n ly one
h irin g o f teachers a n d c e rtific a te d staff.
Black state p o lic e o ffic e r.
Few Blacks are
attorneys or judges and fe w serve on juries At
every step o f th e justice system — fro m the
ju v e n ile court to the p e n ite n tia ry — Blacks are
A lp h a Kappa A lp h a Society has lo n g bee n
convicte d a n d sentenced by w hites
in v o lv e d in social concerns. The p re a m b le to its
The O reg on State Police have 1047 e m p lo ye es;
co nstitu tion give s as one purpose " t o study a nd
o nly tw o are Black.
h e lp a lle v ia te p ro b le m s c o n c e rn in g w o m e n a nd
At M acLaren School, a stopping p la ce fo r m any
g irls in order to im p ro v e the social stature o f the
young p e o p le on th e ir w a y to a life o f crim e,
ra c e ."
there are 357 e m p lo ye e s but th ere are no Black
A m o ng the n a tio n a l a c tiv itie s are v o c a tio n a l
m ales in this in s titu tio n w h e re the m ale im a ge is
g u id a n ce , scholarship program s, n o n -p a rtis a n
so vital to th e yo u n g p e o p le
There are o nly
p o litic a l a c tiv ity , fu n d raising fo r c o m m u n ity
three Black w o m e n at MacLaren.
needs, etc.
The O reg on
State
P e nite n tiary
has
427
Last ye ar's th em e w as "G re a te r in v o lv e m e n t o f
em ployees, o n ly 18 o f w h ich are m in orities,
A lp h a Kappa A lp h a in a ll areas — lo c a l, state
in clu d in g fiv e Blacks.
At the C orrectio na l
and n a tio n a l a c tiv ity — to e n h an ce m in o rity
Institution th e re a re 209 em ployees.
Five are
a c h ie v e m e n t."
m in orities in c lu d in g tw o Blacks.
W hat is h a p p e n in g in Portland?
The C orrections D ivision, part o f the D epart­
There
seems to be no e n c o u ra g e m e n t to fo rm
m ent o f H um an Resources, is resp on sible fo r the
an
u
n
d
e
rg
ra d u a te chapter. There is little if any
a d m in istra tio n o f the state's p en al institutions,
e ffo rt to re c ru it ca p a b le Black w o m e n , e s p e c ia lly
a d u lt p ro b a tio n a nd p arole , w o rk and edu catio n
those w h o are n e w com e rs to the c o m m u n ity .
release program s, m a in te n a n ce o f standards in
Little is b e in g d o n e to insp ire yo u n g la d ie s to
local jails, and assists w ith crim e p re ve n tio n
seek h ig h e r e d u ca tio n .
program s.
The C orrections D ivision has 1832
A lp h a Kappa A lp h a , Zeta Phi Beta, O m eg a,
em ployees, in c lu d in g 23 Blacks.
A
lp
h a Phi A lp h a , Kappa A lp h a Psi or Phi Beta
The Police
Protection
D ivision
has
1174
Sigm
a — at least som e o f these fra te rn itie s and
e m p lo ye es, w ith o n ly tw o Blacks.
soro
ritie
s should fo rm a p a n h e lle n ic co u n c il so
The Police Standards and T raining Board
m
em
be
rs
c o u ld
m ake
an
im p a ct
in
the
prom otes la w e n fo rce m e n t and im proves co m ­
co m m u n ity .
petence th ro u g h tra in in g program s, sets stand­
W e k n o w th a t som e scholarships a re g iv e n , b ui
ards, c e rtifie s p o lic e o fficers, and operates the
w e b e lie v e w ith the in fe llig e n c ia th a t m ake up
•’ p lic e A co d e m y. There are no m in o ritie s a m o ng
AKA th ey have th ^ a b ility a nd the p o w e r to do
its 20 em p lo ye es.
m ore.
The A tto rn e y G e n e ra l is the c h ie f le g a l o ffic e r
fo r the state and heads the D ep artm en t o f Justice.
The D ep artm en t o f Justice has 230 e m p lo ye es
in c lu d in g six m in o ritie s, tw o o f w h ic h are Black.
In response to a lle g a tio n s that his d e p a rtm e n t
It is a ny w o n d e r that Blacks fe e l helpless w he n
o
v e rlo o k e d ' the one m in o rity a p p lic a n t fo r a
ca ug ht in the justice system, w h y th e Black
top
p o s itio n in the E m ploym ent D epartm ent, Ross
inm ates o f OSP fe e l isolated and m isunderstood?
M
o
rg
a n , d ire cto r, said last w e e k , "W e b e lie v e in
Surely the heads o f these agencies w ill see
a ffirm a tiv e a ction — w e lea d a ll the la rg e r
th e ir d é ficie n ce s and m ake corrections b e fo re the
G o ve rn o r has to step in and use his in flu e n c e to agencies "
The E m ploym ent D ivision has 1246 e m p lo ye es,
m ake necessary changes.
W e are sure th a t w hen G o ve rn o r Straub sees a m o n g them 82 m in orities. O f these, seven are
the serious n eg le ct o f the rights o f Blacks in this Black m ales a nd 23 are Black fe m a le s O f those,
o n ly fo u r are e a rn in g $827 per m on th or m ore
a re a he w ill take action.
M o rg a n sh ou ld take the in itia tiv e fo r h irin g
Blacks in the h ig h e r position s and stop b la m in g
the c o m p u te r'' fo r his d e p a rtm e n t neglects.
AKA needs re n e w a l
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Y ou A r e n ’t G e ttin g
The N e w ,
ANYWAY YOU LOOK AT IT
IT’S Y O U R NEWSPAPER
N o t the com puter
7J-J5 £
land or work outside of the
Portland area where better
o p p o rtu n itie s p re s e n t
themselves.
Unemployment in the
Black Community at pre
sent is 22%, if Black people
do not start speaking up it
will be 44%. How many
times does one have to tell
people that the only one
that cares about you mak
ing it is you yourself. It is
sad and very painful to see
in 1975 a great many Black
people still have their
minds in 196#, let's face it;
"The poverty programs are
gone” and we are going to
have to make it the best
way we can. That means
working together, putting
our heads together and
digging in. 'For the War of
unemployment is upon us,
and Black people are the
only people that can change
the "fate” of Black people.
Don't sit back and wait for
nothing happens by chance.
Being polite and non emo
tional gets you absolutely
nothing.
"The squeaky
wheel gets the oil" and it is
time • iat Black people do a
"helluve" lot of squeaking.
I am only one man that is
telling it as I see it. I have
not got the power to hire or
fire anyone, but with the
support of the total com
munity changes can be
made in the world of
employment for Black peo
pie.
Brothers and Sister let's
start straightening it out
now, not tomorrow. If you
don’t get on the move
"They will bury us”.
Published ev i.y Thursday by Exie Publishing Company.
2201 North Killingsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing
address: P.O. Box 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208. Telephone
283 2486.
Community Servin
t»NI’ \ PI7.I
Subscriptions: $5.25 per year in the Tri County area. $6.09
per year outside Portland.
1st Place
Best Ad Results
ONPA 1973
Second ( lass Postage Paid at Portland, Oregon
ALFREDI HENDERSON
Edi’ o r/P u b lish e r
Editorials jfiKk FASHIONS
SPORTS
Oí 5 Ä yy.
by Harold C. W i lli a m *
In several articles that I
have written in the past I
tried to point out certain
things the Black Com
munity must do to get in
the mainstream of the work
force in the State of
Oregon.
I am sorry to say that I
have seen little activity in
the community at large. I
see fewer and fewer Black
people venturing into other
areas outside of the Field of
Human Resources for em­
ployment and still even
fewer willing to leave Port
HEWS& FEATURES
The Portland Observer's official position is expressed only
in its Publisher s column (We See The World Through
Black.Eyes). Any other material throughout the paper is the
opinion of the individual writer or submitter and does not
necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer.
YOUTH s.
te r ta in m e n t
is i r i w r
5th Place
Best Editorial
NN I’A 1973
Honorable Mention
H errick E d ito rial Award
NN A 1973
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