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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1976)
I Young Black too ’a w a re ’ to study W e see the world through Black eyes by Herb L. Cswtborae There is an unfortunate climate in fluencing the thought of Black people today. It is a climate that causes a lazy approach to study and inquiry. It is a climate that throws a dark ahadow on the people's will to work hard to learn about and explore the unique aspects of their history. There is evidence to suggest that the more we gain a so-called "awareness” the more we neglect to dig deep into our history The general unstated assump lion is that because we appear to be gaining such a deep awareness, there is The p rim a ry e le c tio n is just six w e e k s a w a y a nd no pressing need to pursue our history m an y Blacks a re still not re g iste re d to vote. It is too through reading, writing and active com easy to sit back a n d not p a rtic ip a te , th e n b la m e munication. others fo r the ca nd id ates they chose. Because of images created in pari by M an y Blacks have d ie d to insure the rig h t to vo te. the mass media and also by the exploita They m ust h ave th o u g h t this a v a lu a b le rig h t. tion of the Black identity movement by self-service individuals, we have gained Perhaps w h e n it com es easy, w e lose interest. the impression that Black people are Across the c o u n try , vo ter p a rtic ip a tio n has been more aware of the events and historical lig h t a nd th e re is an a tm o sph e re o f a p a th y . This is development which affect the Black con u n fo rtu n a te since m any v ita l decisions a re to be dition today. I say the impression is false. m ad e. W e saw d u rin g the N ix o n A d m in is tra tio n the We are not as aware as many are led to d a m a g e th a t can com e fro m choo sin g th e w ro n g believe. We are not as aware as we m an. A lth o u g h N ix o n w as fin a lly d ep ose d, his should be, and we are not in a position to a p p o in te e s w ill re m a in in g o v e rn m e n t - m a k in g understand the struggles of the people who came before us as well as we should decisions th a t a ffe c t our lives - fo r m a n y years to be. Especially is this true of many, many co m e A ll o f those w h o fa ile d to vo te h e lp e d p ut young people who are not willing to pay the price of the difficult work required to N ix o n in the W h ite House. Local races a lso a re o f e x tre m e im p o rta n c e to our master the knowledge of our past. The impression that we have gained an c o m m u n ity . Elected this ye ar w ill be state senators unprecedented level of awareness has led a n d rep re sen ta tives w h o w ill represent o u r c o m many of us to think that this awareness is m u n ity. A State A tto rn e y G e n e ra l -- th e m an w h o sufficient to meet the needs of the laMter e nforces the la w s — w ill be e le c te d , as w e ll as o th e r half of ihe twentieth century. The state o ffic ia ls . A M a yo r, c ity a n d co un ty c o m m is impression is false. The life of many Black leaders, who sioners, and school b o a rd p osition s w ill be fille d . have sacrificed everything to advance the W e con reg ister a n d vote, w o rk to e le ct those w e cause of equality in America, are obscur th in k w ill best serve our interest, or w e can sit back ed behind the fog created by this unfor a n d let others d ecide . tunate climate. Malcolm X is a prime The C o m m itte e fo r A lb in a V o te r R eg istra tio n w ill example. We think we know Malcolm X. We co nd uct a c a m p a ig n to reg ister a nd m o b iliz e think we understand his development P ortland's Black c o m m u n ity . This is the firs t tim e in and we think we appreciate his sacrifice. rece nt years th a t an a ll-o u t c a m p a ig n w ill be We think we know he rose to become one co nd ucte d to g e t o u t the Black vote. A r a lly w ill be of the oustanding Black leaders of this h e ld on A p ril 20th a t 7:30 p.m . in the S tudent U n io n century. We speak of him as though we B u ild in g on C ascade C am pus. A g o o d tu rn -o u t is in knew him personally, and as though his thoughts were our own thoughts. order. I say we think wrong. As with Martin Luther King, Angela Davis and Jesse Jackson, Malcolm X suffers from the idea that we in the Black community are so Register to vote A suitable task t The p r o b le m as to w h e th e r B la c k s s h o u ld p a rtic ip a te in the o bservance o f the n a tio n 's 200th b irth d a y is still a n a g g in g o ne in m an y areas. O pponents say Blacks w o u ld be c e le b ra tin g 200 years o f slavery, se g re g a tio n a nd ro c s m , in e q u a lity , p ove rty, in ju stice a n d oppression. That a rg u m e n t w as re n e w e d last w e e k by Lerone Bennett, h isto ria n a nd S enior Editor o f Ebony m agazine. Bennett asserted th a t w hite s sh ou ld not ce le bra te the B ice n te n n ia l e ith e r. But d esp ite the questions a nd reluctan ce, Blacks are re je c tin g a n o n -ce le b ra tio n p o sitio n in fa v o r o f one th a t varies fro m "g u n g h o " to in d iffe re n c e . W e co uld w ith d ra w fro m the B ice n te n n ia l c e le b ra tion a nd re m a in in the sh ad ow o f history, or w e can use this tim e o f interest in the n ations history to p o in t o ut that w e, too, have p la y e d a p art a n d to c la im our just share. In Portland, o ne aspect o f th e B ice n te n n ia l w ill be the e n d e a vo r o f the O reg on Black H istory Project to w rite a history o f Black p e o p le in O reg on . This is to be a c o m m u n ity p ro je ct, w ith em phasis on th t re c o lle c tio n o f our o ld e r citizens. M a n y have liv e d th ro ug h p erio d s o f tria l a nd oppression, ye t have su rvived a nd have c o n trib u te d . Let's n ot let this history be lost fo re v e r. The c o n trib u tio n o f Blacks to O regon have never b e e n c o m p ile d or w ritte n . It is im p ossib le fo r a person to go to one pla ce, a book or file , to learn h ow Blacks h ave liv e d in O regon. Teachers w h o have th e re s p o n s ib ility o f te a ch in g history, h ave no w h e re to turn w h e n d e sig n in g th e ir courses in O regon H istory. Y oung p e o p le w h o w o u ld lik e k read a b o u t the o ld days in O reg on do not fin d Blacks in th e ir school books. This B ice n te n n ia l ye a r if is a p p ro p ria te fl>at m a te ria l on Black co n trib u tio n s to .O reg on be c o lle c t ed. This can be our c e le b ra tio n o f the n a tio n 's 200th b irth da y. aware of our plight. Because we think we are so aware, we seldom encourage our own children to think deeply about the life and meaning of Malcolm X and other great Black people. We freely use his name as s badge to mark our relation to the Black community, but behind the badge there is sn emptiness in under standing and appreciation. We must begin to strongly encourage our children to look deep into their past. We must encourage them to dig and dig deeply into the lives of those who have given great sacrifices to move the cause of Black Americans forward. And in order for them to accept our encouragement, we in the Black com munity must do more than simply speak - we must set. If our children see our concern for understanding the people who have made important contributions to the struggles of our rare, they too will more likely develop a similar concern. Then the unfortunate climate will be eliminated and our children can sUnd on the solid foundation of yesterday as they try to build a better world for their children tomorrow. Community Business Conference A pril 26, 1976 7:30 PM UPSTAIRS LOUNGE He Present nr Send a Delegate y nur Business Is Important To This I ammaniti FEE: $ 1 0 PER DELEGATE 2 8 8 -8 4 6 9 SPUNSOHUl HY ConIrtu t(trt MannKWHi Auocuiion. Inc J9JJN I Union/Portland Orrgon 97212 Skaaaer 4MS N K V im « * ve» sad KtlUegawerOt P fc M U» f t Vai (M A « U N K Ui Fíchela available at HarGaad O bserver G eaevs• <£» N tin n ì OMSI New York City’s Crisis Revisited by Vernon Jordan New York City’s last-ditch struggle against bankruptcy got a lot of national attention a few months ago, culminating with a hardline stand by the Administra tion that finally led to a three-year plan to get the city back on the road to solvency. That plan didn’t end New York's problem - it just was a step on the way toward correcting its fiscal emergency. In fact, the imposed cuts in City spending have worsen» .onditions for its poorer citizens and may, in the long run. prevent the City froti regaining its economic viability. One basic remaining problem on the fiscal scene is the dollar straitjacket the City has been placed in by its three-year plan that forces it to cut a deficit that took ten years to accumulate, and builds into the City’s budget over $2 billion just in interest charges. Those are tough terms; private cor porations and foreign countries have all been able to get easier terms than that. So the very terms of rescue impede full recovery and make the long-term outlook bleak. With so much of its revenues going to creditors, the City has fewer dollars left for essential services. That means lay-offs of City workers. Because the lay-ofis have been on the seniority principle. Black and minority workers have been the ones chopped from the payroll in disproportionate numbers. New York's Human Rights Commissioner, Eleanor Holmes Norton, reports that in the past year-and-a-half the City has lost half of its Spanish surnamed workers, forty percent of its Black males and almost a third of its women employees. So equal employment opportunities have been a big victim of the fiscal belt-tightening. Another target of budget cuts is the City University, which has a free tuition policy and recently instituted a successful open admissions policy that has enabled more youngsters to get a college educa tion. Open admissions is one of those pro grams popularly labelled as being for Blacks while actually benefiting greater numbers of white ethnics who never before went to college in such numbers. Now, both whites and Black students have their futures endangered since the City is trying to get the state to take over the colleges, and that means tuition payments beyond their means. Even if lim ited scholarship money becomes available, white middle class families that won’t qualify for such aid will have leas reason to stay in the City, leading to increased white migration to suburbia and greater segregation. It’s as if each step leads to a second one, and then a third, each with unfor tunate results for the City and for its residents. Attracting more job-producing busi nesses to the City is one goal of the City's planners and a good one. But several key officials are now talking about bulldozing slum areas to build industrial parks to attract factories. When it is pointed out that it's cruel to uproot families in this manner and that the City has plenty of empty land zoned for industrial use. they say yes, but we need to give industry a symbolic gesture to show we want them. So the solution seems to be to kick the poorest and least able out of their homes and neighbor hoods not for concrete results, but for “a symbolic gesture.” All of these real and impending hard ships, including some that border on the cruel, are taking place in the name of fiscal austerity and lack of City tax revenue. But at the same time. City residents pay some $7 billion in federal taxes earmarked for the Pentagon. In other words, the City shuts down hospitals and firehouses for lack of money while it sends billions to Washington for redistribution to other parts of the country in military contracts. It all adds up to an anti-city, anti minority set of priorities imposed upon our largest city. Solution of the fiscal crisis was bought at the cost of increased misery for the poor and by undermining the ‘ M ar*. P ortland O b s e rv e r Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201 North Killingsworth, Portland. Oregon 97217. Mailing address: P.0. Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208. Telephone: 283 2486. Subscriptions: $7.50 per year in the Tri-County area, $8.00 per year outside Portland. Sdmnd Class Postage Paid at Portland, Oregon A L F R E D L. HEN D ER SO N Editor/Publiaher 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. MEMBER Hi Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association J! * MtMMR MM™ (Continued from p. 1 col. 3) efforts and is working very hard to see his plans become a reality. Persons interested ih his activities can call him at 248-5900. He would be more than happy to discuss the OMSI program in greater depth and would be more than happy to speak with interested groups. OMSI is more than “just a museum". Besides just being a facility, where one can go and see the exhibits, OMSI also offers classes for all age groups, begin ning with pre-schoolers, at very minimal prices. The classes are fun and exciting and can range from micro-wave cooking to mountain climbing. Applications for the Summer Outdoor Education Classes are now being accepted. The doors to OMSI are constantly being opened wide and wider to pass new avenues of exciting education for all. 2nd Place Rest Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadership O NPA 1975 2 speed*. Cool-down car* lor Permanent Press fabric* W hirlpool Automatic Washer handles up to B ic F ik Laundry Inform ation Center ot heavy denim and I garments at EXTRA LAF water level And it ha* i more going tor It, t o o ___ Model ot 4 cycle*. NORMAL. Kt LDA5400 PERMANENT PRESS end GEN • Easy to clean litter • Sv SURGILATOR* agitator • Rae f Laundry Information Center See it toe jjnussvou ‘ Whirlpool selected load — see Laundry Guide Wash basket ? 71 cu It capacity with agitator in pli jfc ^ H E L A Lighted Off. Street Parking »Hi* a»acc coMTwiauTto ev »**■ r>.a< U h i » EASY TERMS ^SMITH'S SHOP » TO 9 M O H THRU FRI SAT T K k l O o a ^ S o e , , 30*h and S. E. D IVISIO N * 234-9351 $2.50 of your new subscription to The Portland Observer will go to the Oregon Black History Project Tri-County a re a $7.50 other areas $8.00 Name Address C ity I 4 temperature selections BIRTH DEFECTS ARE FOREVER. 1st Place Best Ad Results O NPA 1973 Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award N N A 1973 Permanent Prest of heavy garments 1st Place f omm unit y Service O NPA 1973 5th Place Best Editorial N N P A 1973 4 cycles including I M a il to: Portland O bserver P O. Box 3137 Portland, O reg on 97208
