Portland Observer
Thursday, September 18, 1975
Page 3
UWUWTÍS WJ SWCÄWM
by H erb l„ Cawtborne
I have been ronfrontiiig
1 have concluded that a
myseli with the question.
high school diploma for a
"What kind of edurations
Black student is meaning
are
the
Black
children
less unless it represents the
receiving from the Portland
maximum effort to prepare
high schiwdsf 1 have been
the student to fare a tough,
bothered by the results of
ruthless, mean world cal
this confrontation. I cannot
rulated to discourage him
help but insist that the
into a meek posture of
educational programs in the
n o th in g n e s s and
non
Portland school system
achievement. A high school
which involve large num
diploma means nothing un
bers of Black children are
less it represents a Black
narrow, poorly thought out
student's rapacity for self
in terms of the needs of
knowledge and self expres
Black students, and turning
sion, for a commitment to
out products who are un
discipline and freedom, and
able to effectively operate
for a tireless strength to
as good, creative citizens in
carry on the work and
a lime when the country
struggles of the generations
and the world needs their
of wonderful Black ,H*ople
citizenship so badly.
who came before him
I have looked at many
It is the spirit of inquiry,
high schools with high per
of creative expression, of
centages of Black students.
change and hope that must
I have taught countless
be promoted among Black
Black students who have
high school students. Al
graduated from Portland
though the high schools
schools
It is fair to say
cannot develop this spirit
that the greatest portion of
and strength on their own,
them were poorly prepared
without informed parental
with communicative ahili
guidance and community
ties, unable to negotiate the
involvement, they ran rer
priM-esses of education for
tainly lie criticized for their
full advantage,
and
so
routine, regimented, nar
shallow in their general
rowly conceived programs
knowledge as to render
whirh do little more than
them incapable of under
trample the sparks of free
standing how to gel worth
dom which might lead to
while things accomplished
the confident self expres
in today's world
For a
sion so essential to the
Black student who must
human being
In Portland,
strive against the strong
as in other areas of the
country, the continued ef
winds of oppression and
fort to minimize activities
institutionalized racism in
order to get worthwhile
which encourage discipline
things done, this is an
of thought, development of
character, and depth of
u n a c c e p ta b le s itu a tio n
C o n s e q u e n t ly ,
B la c k
citizenship in favor of vara
leaders, educators, parents
tional programs is a case in
,Klint
and students must
ask
themsebes and those most
The information speaking
against vocational training
directly responsible for the
in the high srhiKil is all
development of high schiMil
programs. What kinds of
around us. if only the Black
(•durations are Black child
educators and
principals
runnng the schools in the
ren receiving
from
the
Black com m unity would
Portland high schools.*''
look for it In Change. June,
1975,
for
instance,
the
fraudulent nature of "sell
mg" education as an econo
mic investment is clearly
exposed. The article indi
cates that the tendency is
to create vocational pro
grams for primarily "dis
advantaged" students, who
have already been tracked
as unmotivated, non achiev
ers
You find very few
vocational tra in in g pro
grams in schools outside the
inner city whirh have an
enrollment of smaller por
turns of the Black popula
turn The reasons why are
clear
most jobs do not
require specific skills, most
individuals change jobs five
to seven tunes throughout
life, and M ra|kht "academic
training" renders greater
economic rewards over the
long run As Change ,Hunts
out. many Black students
are being duped because
"the skills employers are
liHiking for in graduates are
not specific to a machine or
an industry, they want
young workers who ran
read, write, compute, pick
up new skills quickly and
eagerly, and interact co
o,ierative|y
with
others
These are the adaptive
skills of liberal education,
not the specific skills of
vocational education .“
No longer can the leaders
and parents in the Black
community stand by and
watch their rhildren turn
into non thinkers and no
bodies. We must speak up
and ask the difficult ijues
lions. We must ask them of
ourselves and of our tea
r(hers; we must push our
selves to be more involved,
and we must sincerely seek
to question and understand
the public srhiKil admini
strator. whether Black or
white
It should make no
difference whose toes are in
the way.
Especially of this impor
tarit at a time when so
many representatives of the
Black community are being
tra n s fe rre d
fro m
th e
schiMils where there are
large numbers of Black
students We will have no
choice but to work with the
white teachers and admini
strators as cooperatively as
possible
But, as profes
sional educators, they will
have to explain their pro
grams in answer to our
questions and inquiries
Where we find it. they will
have to explain their insen
sitivity to the Black youth,
th e ir superficial under
standing of the needs of the
Black community, and their
general lack of enthusiasm
for the issues of Black
education, locally and ria
tionwide. They will have to
explain '.'.hy children in a
program for slow readers
watch “I Dream of Jean
me." from beginning to end,
or listen to records and
finger [nip when they could
tie engaged in vocabularly
developm ent or reading
short stories, novels and
autobiographies
They will
have to explain the justifi
cation for ex,landing the
vocational training curricu
lum when it is clear that
such programs keep our
rh ild re n frozen in the
wasteland of economic in
equality, and does not en
courage the broad know
ledge required to function
is
an active,
informed
citizen in this country
High schiMils must deve
lop ways to enhance the
sense of hope and freedom
among Black students They
must ex,iose students to
many forms of communi
r a tio n , to many activities,
to many people, to many
organizations, to many
idea - and to many ways of
getting giHxi things done in
the world
Students must
be laught to interact with
many elements of the so
cietv. for this is one means
to make freedom a real
possibility.
It is in the
knowledge of the
com
plexity of the social, politi
cal Structure that a sense of
hope ran be maintained
W hin the student under
stands the nature of the
society, a sense of purpose
can be developed whirh
enables him to give to his
community as much as he
has taken from it.
Without such confidence
in their understanding of
the society, its ideas and
processes, students are not
made free, but afraid. They
are afraid to confront the
massive bureaucracy of
government and big busi
ness. they cannot go after
the processes of education
to maximize their stages of
growth; they feel inade
quate in expressing their
opinions on public matters;
and 'hey do not know how
to present their ideas to the
legislature, or the mayor, or
the community leader It is
the function of the school
system to expose them to
the methods by which they
can develop, present and
activate their ideas without
fear and frustration, but
with purpose and sincerity
Moreover, it is the school
system's function to en
courage the spirit of inquiry
and confidence and hope
that will motivate young
students to take an active,
continuous responsibility to
c re a tiv e ly change their
com m unities
and
th eir
world for the betterment of
all people.
Generally, the Black stu
dents from Portland whom
I
have taught
at
thi
University of Oregon have
not been at all prepared for
the active, responsible citi
z.enship necessary for the
advancement of themselves,
their communities and their
world
Thus, they have
been almost completely un
prepared to aggressively
take
advantage
of
the
opportunities to forge a
path against the mean wind
of a system that is full of
inequities and discrimina
tory practices.
Although
many factors come to bear
on this lack of preparation,
it is essential that Black
community leaders, educa
tors, students and parents
relentlessly ask the public
school officials. “What kind
of educations are Black
children receivin g from
Portland high schools?" And
why?
It is their responsibility
to provide acceptable an
swers.
Need
Glasses
----------
All Optical
INSURANCE
Accepted
Fast?
Oplenxet rie
EYE Examiaatiaa
Ask U i AS m I
• PtiasMu <ad Wsltu«
PitlM tl Vsiceasd
S O fU N i
CONTACT
lens
-2 2 7 -7 2 0 0
Dft LAÄRY
0M
A U D rV O X
Aldi
10 D a y F r r t T r ia l
Optom etrists
I ex a te d .n M M l f W O P T IC A L O H lC f S
STW rr k/V B • i l x u i t BLDG
W. FT . 3rd
J fU &
CM MORRISON
m V R R IJ V fl
« " S.W
\
n
O p to m p tr ia t
---------
Office» Aito m
ULCM.CO«»
A lu n iK U
•
A iM c ia « I m I h i •< O p ls m e lrr-P O C T L A M
D r. I- Sender - D r. R. H ull D r. M. Kelly - D r. J. B erry
O p to m a trn ti In O lh tr SEM LEK UZ/icei Include
________DR G W M .I.IS - DK H W EBB________
If a serious illness
could wipe out your savings,
please, please read this message.
by J M. Gates
I he S tra te g y nt In cid e n t
With the strategy of inci
dent, community bonuses
su d d e n ly becom e com
munity burdens with a
reality similar to fin d e r
e l l a s p u m p k in c a r r ia g e
whirh reverted when the
clock struck twelve
The Portland community
recently awakened Io an
educational reality concern
mg Portland schools.
It
must he remembered, how
ever, that a part of that
reality
is linked
Io a
ronqn-nsatory pay schedule
for M in I c I Schools teachers
In reviewing some of the
m icrofilm ed newspapers,
one finds citizen dissent and
disapproval iM r
William
McClendon, etc. I of the
overall educational plan
which in turn assisted the
concentration of minority
teachers in so called model
schools. At the same time,
one does not find a stated
(Hisition of minority tea
chers either individually or
collectively in editorial let
ters or news articles
Inasmuch as participation
affects
the
future.
the
quality of p articip atio n
should be the concern of all
The Oregon Bicentennial
theme is ''Participation;"
consequently the reality of
racial diversity must be
evident in every endeavor
of derision making
That
theme is therefore a chai
lenge for the fullest possible
u tilizatio n of human re
sources.
With a change of state
administrations.
one
not
only exfiects the continua
lion of the good aspects of
the preceding administra
tion but introduction of
some nrw first level ( misi
lions to which racial mi
norities are appointed Will
1975 see the current ad
m in is tra tio n re a lis tic a lly
implementing diversity with
,Kiwer at the cabinet level?
When one evaluates Gov
ernor Bob Straub's cabinet
as related to racial nunori
ties, one cannot help but
realize that a Republican
administration initially ap
(Hunted Mr Chalmers Jones
and other racial minorities
as Ombudsman lynd Af
firmative Action Officer (all
of these positions outside of
the cabinet).
There is now the neces
sity for moving beyond the
P A IN II" □EEASV
F re e is tim a to s
Expert craftsm en.
No job too small.
let us handle it for you
WENDELL E. BROW N
CONSTRUCTION COM PANY
K an tin g • I t m r n l M u r k
•
t h m n d ilin K
plateau of same ness to a
cabinet which is racially
diverse If the walls of the
e x e c u tiv e o ffic e could
speak, they would probably
echo the fart of a statir
dilemma
The measure of power is
revealed in derision making
responsibility and account
ability Together with that
is the respective impart on
all of the people of Oregon
To what extent is the
strategy of incident re
sealed
in administrative
same ness regarding poli
nes and personnel initially
introduced by a prior ad
ministration'' What is really
nrw as far as the com
munity can perceive?
The recent news photo of
the Energy Task Force did
not project "inclusiveness"
as regards racial minorities.
If one assumes that energy
affects all Oregonians, then
the future impart of energy-
on daily living should be a
matter for concern of per
ons from all walks of life.
Two decades ago, Nor
man Cousins wrote the
book Who Speaks for Man.
Such a question might be
asked concerning the Gov
enor's cu rren t appoint
ments.
It would be a
tragedy indeed if the stra
tegy of incident cqierates to
maintain a sort of out of
date status quo and "exrlu
siv eness."
The news photo of the
various official appoint
tnents provide an oppor
tunity for citizenry evalua
lion of either sameness OB
pluralistic diversity Com
munity clubs can also assist
in exten din g the para
meters of participation by
nominating persons lor po
tential appointments even
when such advice is not
officially sought.
May we
look to the Governor to
assure that the Bicentennial
I heme reflects pluralistic
diversity
to the
fullest
extent possible
I'articipa
lion connotes meaningful
involvement.
Anybody can get sick
But nobody should face a financial disaster just
because they can't get group medical protection
That s why we offer Senes 70
Protects against most health care costs.
Senes 70 offers a good solid basic health plan
It pays up to S60 a day for semi-private hospital
room costs and pays for ali hospital extras in full
at participating hospitals
Series 70 helps pay for the physician or surgeon
of your choice
Senes 70 helps pay for such costs as an assistant
surgeon or anesthesiologist 'or maternity care
ambulance service psychiatric care X-ray
therapy and even non-occupational accident
charges
And it coversyou wherever you are
I p to SJ.iO.IMMl in M ajor Medical protection.
Our Series 70 Health Plan
offers security to people
who can't have
group health protection.
Occasionally an i ness or injury is so severe or
long-lasting it requires special extraordinary
financial expenditure Series 70 offers protect.on >n
those en
- • :es worth up to $250 000 in
protection against Major Medical costs
if you don t have Senes 70 protection ask us
about i, Wnte or ca your nearest Blue Cross of
Oregon representative for further information
It may be the protection you can , afford not
to have
Blue Cross o' Oregon
100 SW M.rket Street Portland Orevion 97201
Please send me the free no-obiigabon booklet
on the Senes 70 Plan Note It you are over 65 years of
age check th.s box and we h send you informat on on
our Cover Age 65 health plan
'
Name
Add're
Crt>
M i care for people.
Blue Cross
• < o*M ru<*t»oii
Member Whim 1 nntrarlnr*
2 8 8 -6 3 4 7
.' p
Por Series 70 Plan information by phone Portland
225 6010 Salem 588-0581. Eugene 342-3317 Medford
772-8906 Pend'etcn 276 5931. Coos Bay North
Bend 756-7113
\ Mhd« I \ t I# hbnr htn»<1 H usinrxk
3 9 3 3 N.E. U nion
State
of Oregon
F a n a ticism
T ha t w h ich in
pride and w h ich
tflorteft in persecution.
ro u n d e d
on
Mo P
J