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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1976)
4 v 'e e r r » * * * * » . * ; Pag» f Portland Thursd V ¿7 Revers» discrimination July 1. 1979 W e see the world through Black eyes Define rules first Board messes up The Portland School Board revealed two problems at their last Board meeting which seemed to have escaped attention. A point of extreme importance is the tact that Jonathan Newman, school board member and attor ney, has become legal counsel for Superintendent Robert Blanchard on a legal matter. This matter has nothing to do with school board business, but we question the advisability of this relationship. We do not question the honesty or the integrity of these two men We do believe that a private business re lationship between the two brings about a possible conflict of interst. We do not think Newman should put himself in a position where be has to abstain on important votes. He was elected because the people value is input and his vote, and he should be available for any matter that comes before the Board. The Board also revealed their discomfort at the prospect of Wally Priestley joining the board. The school board, like any small board than spends as much time working together, can too easily become clannish, like one happy family. Paul Howe was a member of the group and was a respected member, but the people have selected Priestley to replace him. . . .j l Board discussion of the possibility of holding the school elections in April, so it won't happen again (Fiestley was elected to three positions in the May election), is too much like saying they wish it hadn't happened. This subject apparently never has come up before and we question the amount of voter participation that would occur if the election was held separately. Priestley is not the first to hold two offices: Repre sentative Howard Cherry is a member of the Mult nomah County IED board and the Portland Commun ity College board; Representative Blumenaur is a member of the PCC board. Senator Frank Roberts was a member of the Mt. Hood Community College board until he was defeated by Representative Gus tafson. Representative Ralph Groener is a member of the Clackamas County CC board, and there are probably others in other areas of the state. We think the board might fear a man who has new fqpt views - w K q might disagree. We recpmgJBpd.ta the schoof board that they occept Priestley with open minds -- who knows, they might The problems developing over the Eugene Mc- Carthy nominating convention is another example of sloppiness in the elections division. Candidates who represents parties other than the Democrats or the Republicans can be placed on the Oregon ballott by petition or by a nominating convention of 1,000 registered voters.. John Callahan, coordinator of the AAcCarthy cam paign, said he was told by the Secretary of State’s office that he need only have 1,000 registered voters at the convention. After the convention had been held and over 1,000 persons had been present, he was told that he needed signatures so the status of the persons in attendance could be determined. It seems logical that voters participating should be asked to leave their names and addresses. How else could it be determined whether they are registered voters - or whether they are participât™ or spectat ors? Is it reasonable to allow 1,000 unidentified persons to gather together and nominate? The really sloppy procedure came, however, when conflicting interpretations of the law were given. It should not be too much to expect that clearly written instructions be provided to any group that expresses an interest in holding a nominating convention. Determination of procedure should not be left to the person who happens to be in the office at the time, and must not be changed after the fact. Every vote count* Bill McCoy's election to the State Senate has been affirmed by a recount of the votes, mandatory in such close elections. The final count gove AAcCoy an edge of ten votes. We hope this close race points out the urgency of voting. Blacks in Oregon have been negligent in voting and in party participation. The only way to have a voice in government is to vote and to participate at the grass roots, where policies and candidates are made. 1 too tk I vetri find he's right. letters to the editor T here has been so much w ritten about the assasination of President Kennedy lately th a t I am moved to make the following comments: The key to clearing up the m ystery that has developed around H arvey Os wald's assasination of President Kennedy (that is. was there a conspiracy to place Oswald at the window in the book w are house) is the Quaker lady who befriended M rs. Oswald. W itho ut her. Oswald would not have been in the book warehouse on the fateful day. let alone in Dallas, Texas. M rs. Oswald had been living w ith her for some tim e because the Oswalds had separated and Mrs. Oswald desperately needed a place to stay. She is also the one who directed Oswald to the job in the book warehouse about a month before the day he assasinated Kennedy. She did this so that the Oswalds could be back to gether. The Kennedy trip was not planned very long in advance. I t was a hastily organized campaign trip to help then Governor Connoly and Vice President Lyndon Johnson who were in trouble pohticaly. A t the time Connoly was run ning for re-election. For security reasons the route was layed out just long enough in advance to ensure a turn out. This was long enough, however, for Oswald to go back to N ew Orleans where he had been living to get his gun. I f there was a conspiracy in the classic sense. (I distinguish her from a social conspiracy w here people are emotionally moved by politician's demagogy and/or the various news medias hate mongering. I understand th a t the main newspaper in Dallas stirred up a lot of hate against Kennedy's visit.) the Quaker lady had to be involved months before. W ithout her and the chain of events she effected, the assasin would not have been in place on the fateful day. I have never read any reference to her being involved in a con spiracy. The solution is to simply apply intelli gence-orientated analysis to the facts we have. Others call this mental process common sense. A fte r all, a t this point we are not trying to prove a case in court. The m ystery and conspiratorial cover up becomes quite clear today in light of recent scandalous revelations involving the C IA and the F B I. W e now know that the C IA has been involved in covert activities th a t at times included assasination. Africa's Patrice Lamumba's death, the death of Allende in "Reverse discrimination" is a phrase we often hoar. H o * many times have I seen a person shrug his or her shoulders and say. "You have to bo a woman or a minority to got a job - or adm itted to a school." Nothing could be furth er from the truth. Federal civil service is a typical exam pie of the problem. Since I servo in Con gress. I see the inequities firsthand. When you and I go into a federal agon- ey, it appears that the goals have been exceeded in the employment of women and minorities. Actually, w hat we are observing is that minorities hold a disproportionate number of the lowest paying jobs in fed oral civil service. M inorities do mpke up nearly half of those holding GS 1 poei tions. nearly a third of the GS-2a and GS-3s. These are the lowest paying entry fovel job#. But such is not the case a t the decision making and managerial levels. M inorities hold only 6.5 per cent of the GS 13 poei tions, 4.1 per cent of the GS-15s and 4 per cent of the GS-18a. F o r w hatever reason, m inority employees have been excluded paying jobs. During the administrations of Presi dents T a ft and Wilson, racial segregation was established in the Census Bureau, the Treasury Departm ent and the Postal Service. Many of us remember the segregated facilities, including government cafeter ias. which faced Blacks during the 1940's. W hat seems to have escaped Hampton is that the federal government has a responsibility to move affirm atively to remedy the effects of past discrimination. The issue is not that we must have quot as, or th a t we are practicing reverse discrimination. The issue is that, based on the reasonable expectation that minori ties and women are equally desirous of and able to serve their country, that there should not be a significant disparity between population figures and work force figures. Women and minorities have been de nied equal opportunity in employment for so long that a clear-cut dramatic effort must be made to bring change. The procedures and attitudes of the past must be carefully scrutinised and changed so that women and minoritiea gain their fights to jobs. Change has to come at all levels. 1 suggest that the Civil Service Com mission should be in the lead rather than shirking the mandate of its job. If that is labeled reverse discrimination, so be it. Contract Management Association Inc. Business Success Clinic from the top jobs. How does this happen? The C ivil S e r vice Commission is responsible for civil service employe selection standards. It. is charged to act affirm atively, under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. to bring about a more reasonable representation of min orities and women in civil service at all Tuesday 2 :0 0 pm Conducted by Tom Booth 288-8469 I must report th a t Robert Hampton, chairman of the C ivil Service Commis sion. appears not even to understand his 3 9 3 3 N.E. Union Portland, Oregon job. . W hen questioned by Representative W illiam Clay. D -M o.. about the gross underutilisation of m inority employes in federal facilities in the St. Louis area. Hampton denied jurisdiction. W ithin his own commission. Hampton was party to a flagrant example ot race and sex discrimination. A complaint filed by Peggy S. G riffiths was upheld by the Civil Service Commission's director of internal Equal Em ploym ent Office. G riffiths. GS-15. a mem ber of the Ap peals Review Board and C SC s highest- ranking Black woman, was passed ov-,r when a nonboard member had been im properly chosen deputy chairman of A R B in July. 1974, and again when tb< poet of chairman had been filled in February. 1975. She was passed over despite her superior qualifications and long experi CINEMA 30 (30th & Alberta) Presents The Bi-Centennial ence. In addition, an ad-hoc com mittee ap pointed to review the selection engaged to a cover-up th a t developed setortive criteria after the position had been filled. Hampton seems b etter qualified to perpetuate patterns of racial discrimina tion than to be responsible tor employe (Continued from p. 2, coL 3) jobs followed by four months of walking the streets in search of a permanent job. Gilchrist finally sought help from Penn State's academic coordinator, who is the daughter of Geneva Jones, an empoyee of Pacific Power in Portland. In an effort to help the determined young man. the daughter called M rs. Jones, who turned to P P A L'e personnel departm ent to find out if a job would be Chile, and the death of M artin L uther King here a t home attest to this fact. Oswald was in Russia for several years. The Russians w ere only too glad to get rid of him, even slowing him to return to the United States w ith his Russian wife. This was even more unusual then than it is now. W e know that he tried to enter available. Cuba and failed. W ithin a week's tim e Gilchrist was on W e also know that he was excellent the plane heading for Oregon, the money shot. The extra shot, by the way, was an for the ticket coming from M rs. Jones' echo. As a roofer hammering shingles on tw o daughters in Pennsylvania. Did he a roof, I used to mistake the echo from the last of a aeries of hammer blows for * have second thoughts on the flight West? “I didn't have much going for me back another roofer working in the area. I there." he said, recalling his feelings that have looked for him all day long until day, “and once I was on the plane there finally realizing w hat was happening. was no turning back.” M y point is not th a t Oswald killed the Gilchrist moved in w ith Geneva Jones President on orders from the C IA . I am and her family, started to work in Pacific saying that he was hired by the C IA to Pow er and Light's general offices in the kill someone in Russia and probably Cas mail room in F eb ru ary, 1975. By Septem tro in Cuba. T he assasin just happened to ber, he was enrolled in Portland State get himself worked up enough to kill the U niversity full-tim e and. had worked up President of the United States. to an after-school job in P P A L ’s engin The m ystery and the sonspiracy devel eering departm ent as an aide. oped around the attem p t to cover up W ith some of the financial worries off Oswald’s C IA connection: a coverup that his back and a future ahead, Gilchrist has the F B I was more than willing to cooper earned grades a t P 8 U th a t he “thought I ate w ith for reasons of its own. I f I were would never see.” them, I'd try to cover it up, too. Pacific Power and Light's assistance will see Gilchrist through to a degree in Herb Simpson mechanical engineering and. a fter grad uation, he hopes to become a regular Portland Observer selection stendards. The systematic exclusion of minorities and women has long been standard prac lice in Washington. P rior to 1866, Blacks were prohibited from working for the federal governm ent By 1900, however, Blacks employed by the federal govern ment had increased to six per cent and rose to tw elve per cent during W orld W ar I I . always concentrated in the lowest Spectacular leifv Mil Subscriptions: 17.50 per year in the Tri-County area, 58.00 per year outside Portland. ° r — -1 Chas Peeta*« FMd at Portland, Oragea A L F R E D L. HENDERSON The Pertlaad Observer's official position is expressed only in its Publisher's column (W e See The W orld Through Black Eyes). Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the individual w rite r or subm itter and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the P ertlaad Observer. MEMBER Oregon Newspaper Publisher« Association MEMO« I w eì W p / I p ER mx 7:30 July 4th 1st Place amaaeaity Servi ONPA 1973 employee. Z j Z ffoirey ßiuuutt * : Pam Greer a tti Ttttck * s Isaac Hayesl 33 rr "Uve Entertainment” Featuring "After the Rain” "Fresh” The Burnside Bombers Too la te to classify 1st Place Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201 North Killingsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. M ailing address: P .0 . Box 3137. Portland. Oregon 97208. Telephone: 283-2486. 00? Gilchrist Oswald murder CIA coverup To the Editor. a Best Ad Result. ONPA 1973 5th Place Best Editorial NN PA1973 Herrick Editorial Award NN A 1973 Beet EdMarial 3rd Place A SSISTANT RAPE V IC T IM AD VO C ATE Assists rape victims through initial r if ir t * ~ g A Invest- igattee A through adjud- te^M m m m dty. M IN Q UAL: Must deuseustrate ability A knowledge la dealing with paapis bi arises Seme svsn- ing A ws ahead work. Due to immediate need to continue t U project, the deadline to July 6 at 4:38 Pm. AB re sumes wfll be screened as they ere submitted. Oral •xam a will be conducted ea July 7 4 h r the least quel- tftod appBeaata.Sebm itj e - Z T — 1 4X9 BW Stark, 7th Fleer. Portland, < *- 97304. 3484039 An egnal Oppertmdty Emptoyer. a t t i ip tc ia l tftttil ita* *UtaMt M—veuf Hasted by "Uncle Sam IF $ 3 .5 0 advance 4 .0 0 a t the door
