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Portland
Thursd
V
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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
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Gilchrist
Oswald murder CIA coverup
To the Editor.
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