Page 2
Portland Observer
Thursday. October 14th. 1976
We see the world
through Black eyes
I
Gretchen Kafoury -
Gretchen Kafoury is the Démocratie nom inee fo r
the House o f Representatives, District 13. This district
encompasses portions o f low er A lb in a , north to
Frem ont AAs. K afoury's Republican opponent is
A nnette Reay.
Kafoury is w e ll know n fo r her long interest in the
rights o f w o m e n ond m inorities. Her em ploym ent
has included a Peace Corps placem ent, ch ild care
and the C ivil Rights Division. She has lo b bied fo r her
various interests in the legislature, and this as w e ll as
her p o litic a l activities give her an insight into the
w orkings o f the legislature.
The Observer h ig h ly recom m ends Gretchen
Kafoury for State Representative, District 13.
Berna Plummer -
House Dist. 22
Berna Plum m er seeks the seat in the Oregon
Legislature representing District 22 in East M u ltn o
m ah County. Ms Plum m er a R epublican is active in
party affairs, h o ld in g several positions, and w as a
d elega te to the Republican N a tio n a l C onvention.
Her experience includes teaching, c rim in o l justice
w ork, adm inistrative p la n n in g and e v a lu a tio n , and
currently
a ffirm a tiv e action o ffic e r for M u ltn o m a h
County. AAs Plum m er has the intellect, the e x p e ri
ence and the fo rtitu d e to m ake a good legislator. The
Observer endorses her fo r this position.
Betty Roberts -
Senate District 10
State Senator Betty Roberts has served in the
Senate since 1969 and previously was in the House
of Representatives fo r tw o terms. She has served on
c num ber of im p o rta n t com m ittees, in clu d in g : C hair
m an of Senate Consum er A ffairs, and Senate Vice
C hairm an o f Ways and AAeons. Her interests include
education, local governm en t, c h ild care. She is an
attorney by profession.
Senator Roberts' experience and leadership re
q u ire that she be returned to the State Senate.
1
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'Stephen Kafoury -
Senate District 7
State R epresentative Vera Katz represents District 8
in N orthw est Portland. A tw o term le g islator, Repre
sentative Katz has had a p ositive e ffe c t on le g isla tio n
in the area o f hum an needs. A m o n g her special
interests are the a g in g , tennan t rights, h e a lth care,
urban p la n n in g . She serves in the W ays an d Means
C om m ittee and the State Em ergency Board, tw o of
the most p o w e rfu l a nd im p o rta n t com m ittees.
Representative Katz has not been a fra id to be
counted on controversial and u n p o p u la r issues and
has p ro vid e d leadership that has b ro u g h t m any
benefits to the p e o p le o f her district.
Another Point of View
That dynamic Gray Panther, Margaret
Kuhn, tells the story of an 82 year-old
woman who for at least five years had
been in bed for days at a time.
One day she received a letter from a
man she had not seen in years. It was
followed by a phone call.
To the amazement of her son and her
family, with whom she lived, she soon
after appeared fully dressed for travel
ing. She announced she waa leaving to be
married and asked only that they carry
her suitcase to the cab which she had
called.
She thanked them for all they had
done, gave them a forwarding address,
assured them of her continuing love and
left for a new life. She lived happily with
her second husband until she died at the
age of 90.
Why is this story so engaging? When a
person breaks out of society's rigid pat
tern, we take notice. That courage and
style displayed by Kuhn's friend is provo
cative. After all. we, too. someday will be
old.
Old people are no longer rare. A t the
turn of the century. 4 per cent of the
population was 65 or over. Today, 10 per
cent of us are elderly. By the year 2000,
the figure will be 40 per cent. The pro
blems faced by the elderly can no longer
be ignored.
Our society starts early to improverish
the elderly. Continued ability to work is
’Decent ond good m an’?
Salem C apital Journal
Earl Butz, says President Ford, is a "d e c e n t and
good m a n ."
Perhaps so
But it is hard fo r us to understand how the Presi
dent or an yo n e else can equate the w ords "d e c e n t
and g o o d " w ith the gross racism and filth o f the Butz
statem ent.
The statem ent, w h ich u ltim a te ly led to the Butz
re signation M onday, d e a lt w ith bathroom , clo th in g
and sexual habits o f A m erican Blacks. For a n yo n e to
th in k a b out such subjects in ra cia l term s — about
w hatever race — is a t the least sick.
U nfo rtu n a te ly, Butz survived as a p u b lic o ffic ia l
a fte r his 1974 " jo k e " a b out Pope Poul V i's position
on b irth co n tro l: " H e no p la ya da g am e, he no m ake
da ru le s ."
Whatever the effectiveness of Butz as an agricul
ture secretary, our society 200 years after the nat.on
began with the notion "that all men are created
equal" cannot tolerate the Butz preoccupation with
race ond ethnic origin.
The mystery is why it took President Ford three
days to recognize that fact and get rid of Butz.
Stephen K afoury is a candidate fo r State Senate,
District 7. K afoury served tw o years in the House o f
Representatives.
K afoury is a fo rm e r teacher — teaching at J e ffe r
son High School and the A lb in a Youth O p portunity
School. In the legislature he served as chairm an of
the Hum an Resources and Land Use C om m ittee.
K afoury's m ajor interests are in the fie ld s o f urban
problem s and hum an resources. He favors careful
p la nnm nin g, e n v iro n m e n ta l p rotection, and atten
tion to the problem s o f the city.
Appreciation
Dear friends.
This is to thank Reverend John
Jackson, the Albina Ministerial Alliance
and all of the friends who held the special
farewell service for me last Sunday.
I am sorry that I was not informed
about the service since I certainly would
have been there. I appreciate the help
and support all of you gave during my
stay in Portland.
I will be returning at least twice a
month to oversee the Observer and look
forward to seeing each of you then.
Sincerely,
A. Lee Henderson
Opportunity
(Continued from p. 1 col. 4)
because it protects a basic right - the
economic - which is the key to all other
rights. Minorities must have “economic
citizenship” - “to realize the reality of the
Constitution, the individual must be inte
grated into the work force.” In the United
States, the most valuable property right
is a job.
EEOC receives all employment discri
mination complaints filed with Oregon's
Civil Rights Bureau. If the state cannot
resolve the case or cannot investigate
promptly. EEOC can take charge. EEOC
receives all state investigations and if it is
not satisfied, it can charge the findings or
the remedy. If the case cannot be re
solved in 180 days, the complainant is
given the right to sue, although the right
can also be obtained earlier. Title V II now
provides attorney fees and legal costs.
Jeffries also criticized administration
priorities saying EEOC has a $63 million
budget for Region X. while a single
Boeing 747 costs $63 million.
The conference was sponsored by the
United Minority Workers, Northwest
Minority Contractors and PU8C.
Subscriptions: $7.50 per year in the Tri-County area, $8.00 per
’/ear outside Portland.
Second Class Postage Paid at Portland, Oregon
Thi 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 th« opinion of the
individual writer or submitter and does not necessarily reflect
the opinion of the Portland Observer.
National Advertising Representative
by A. Bernard Devers
B LA C K C H IL D D E V E L O P M E N T ;
1 am compelled to write this
today and in it I will attempt only to raise
and cause to be raised, a few very impor
tant questions about our community.
For weeks now I have passed the cor
ner of Seventh and Knott, the sight has
been utterly disgusting. Black men,
young and old. the fathers and brothers
of our Black Community, drinking and
gambling on the streets. Have we come to
this? Has the white man told us for so
long, that we are nothing and that we are
nobody until we have come to believe
him? Have we no pride of community, of
environment, of home, of ourselves?
I wonder also why do we ever go
However, 86 per cent of those polled
believe that older people should be allow
ed to continue working as long as they
are productive and want to do so.
The arbitrary age of 65 years for re
tirement needs to be seriously reconsi
dered.
In our society those who are not child
ren are considered superfluous unless
they are productive and useful. Our
throwaway society has chosen an arbi
trary age of 65 after which a person is
relieved of responsibility, of life sustain
ing work and. in all too many cases,
identity and self hood. Many persons
never recover from tne snoex. tney re
treat into illness or senility until death.
The elderly see a physician, on the
average, 50 per rent more than younger
people, have twice as many hospital stays
and hove health costs of four times those
under 65 yean of age.
The eldest 10 per cent of the population
accounts for 30 per cent of the personal
health expenditures.
Added to the loss of income and self
esteem, it is the burden of loneliness that
follows the loss of friends and loved ones.
It is truly a bleak picture. Our culture has
done little to recognize the value or
strengthen the life support systems of
the elderly.
Increasingly, however, there are those
who refuse to conform to the dreary
patterns. They point out verbally or by
their actions the strengths, the wisdom
and the vitality of oldsters that are large
ly unrecognized, undervalued and un
used.
As the numbers of these oldsters in
crease. they are going to demand more
sensitivf treatment. Rightly so.
They will find that they have greater
freedom for political action than their
middle-aged children who are burdened
with responsibilities.
Their thinking about themselves will
change. They will find ways to "cope"
with the loneliness. They will demand
jobs. They will find better ways to handle
health problems. I know because 1 will be
one of them.
through the trouble and risk of getting
Black children into the world if only to
feed and nurture them through their in
fancy,' that they may spend the prime of
their life, or the rest of their lives in
someone's jail. Is this the Black fathers
and Black mothers dream of Black child
development Js it a fact, as others say the
pimp and the hooker, the drunk and the
gambler are the models of our Black
community?
I am persuaded to believe that Black
child development is more than this. I am
persuaded to believe that the Black child
can develop into something more than an
orator of profanity and curse words.
Black men are charged with racial in
justice. and discrimination, and with pre
judiceness in the choice of models they
present to our young Black children. To
follow these examples is to insure the
failure of our Black race. To follow these
examples will insure that Blacks remain
the majority race on welfare. While wel
fare has its benefits, its greater effect Is
to permanently reduce the effectiveness
of our Black race. I t guarantees that we
remain ignorant and poor. While it gives
us money, it robs us of our pride and will
to work. It buys us liquor to drink so that
we are unable to think. Development
Black Child: You must go it alone, seek a
better community model: all are not
gone.
i Editor's Nnte:“Me and My Community"
is a bi-weekly column by A. Bernard
Devers, pastor of New Hope Baptist
Church.)
Kissinger
Carol Thomas is Director of Civil
Rights and Urban Affairs for the Envir
onmental Protection Agency (EPA) in
Washington. D.C. EPA provides grants
to municipalities to build sewerage
plants. Thomas said the agency operates
on the assumption that a job is a basic
right.
Term enforcement has brought 14.8
per cent minority employment on EPA
funded jobs in the Northwest, although a
large percentage ot these employees are
still in unskilled jobs.
By June of 1977. EPA will have created
125,000 jobs in construction as well as
75,000 in equipment manufacture. “To
the extent that a contractor takes affir
mative action and is fair and open in
hiring practices, it is only reasonable to
assume that some minorites will show up
in statistics." Carol said. Although there
are no quotas, lack of minority employees
indicates discrimination.
EPA has not been reluctant to go to
court, either to force contractors to use
minorities or to assist those who do.
Although contractors hire through the
unions, if a union does not supply a minor
ity, the contractor can hire and the per
son then join the union. EPA went to
court last year to assist a contractor who
had done this and the union. Operator
Engineers M701, walked off the job.
(Continued from p. 1 col. 4)
closed, preempt the role of Congress in
the formation of U.S. foreign policy?
(18) Will the financial proposals out
lined. such as the Trust Fund and the
remittance of pension rights and other
assets, saddle a future majority-ruled
government with the heavy debt burden
and result in the large expatriation of
capital?
(191 How much is the U.S. expected to
contribute to this fund and what assur
ances have been received that the Con
gress would appropriate such funds?
(20) Ian Smith has indicated that there
are "secret" provisions which have not
been made public. Have agreements been
reached that will be unacceptable to the
bmt
African and the American people and
that either will not, or cannot, be honored
by the Congress?
The Black Leadership Conference also
spelled out a proposal for sound U.S.
policy in a 12-page manifesto, delivered
by Michigan Congressman Charles Diggs.
Chairman of the Conference.
The manifesto supports the South
African liberation struggle through
peaceful means, but supports the right of
freedom fighters to fight “by any means
necessary” to gain their independence.
Over $150,000 was pledged by Black
organizations to finance an on-going
committee to further the cause of free
dom in South Africa.
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O N PA 1973
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critical to economic security.
Yet unemployment among workers be
tween 45 and 60 is a chronic problem
resulting partly from blatant discriinina
tion.
A recent poll shows 87 per cent of thoae
responsible for hiring and firing admit to
discrimination against older workers. In
1975, unemployment among those 45 and
older reached 19 per cent of the total
unemployment. 27 per cent of those un
employed over 27 weeks. As we know,
joblessness can be devastating to the
self-image.
Mandatory retirement also contributes
to diminished self-image. Recently, a
Senate special committee on the aged
reported that 40 per cent of the retirees
in this country retired against their will
and 32 per cent would continue to work if
they had an opportunity.
Me and m y Community
______
Portland Observer
A L F R E D L. H E N D E R S O N
M ito r/P u b U sh er
by Yvonne Brathw aite Burke
Vera Katz -
House Dist. 8
House Diet. 13
.«ft .
Gray Panthers
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Beat Ad Results
O N P A 1973
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: Editorial
N N P A 1973
Honorable Mention
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N N A 1973
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