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.
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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
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O NPA 1973
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N N A 1973
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