Amy Carter goes to school
By Yvaam. B ra th w .lt* Brake
Another Point of View
Racism invades MC
P ortland's o w n "ly n c h the n ig g e r" m e n ta lity
com es to the surface occassionally, most re ce n tly at
the M e m o ria l C oliseum . The venum in the voices and
the ha tre d on the faces o f Portland fans w h e n they
boo S idney Wicks a nd Lionel H ollins are too m uch to
understand.
W hat could these tw o young m en — both fin e
athletes — have done to b rin g on the hatred o f so
m any Portland fans?
There is a sim ple answ er - they are both Black and
they are both strong and pround.
Portland has not yet le arned to liv e w ith Black
d ig n ity — and that o ld southern m e n ta lity s till runs
deep.
Let Puerto Ricans decide
W hat is the reason fo r President Ford's sudden
re v iv a l? W hy in the last fe w w eeks o f his a d m in is tra
tion w o u ld he suddenly m ake proposals th a t he
could have ca rrie d o u t a n y tim e in the past tw o
years?
A fte r strongly opposing am nesty fo r d ra ft resisters,
he is n o w re th in k in g that decision. A n d w ith o u t any
w a rn in g , an d a p p a re n tly little th o u g h t, Ford has
proposed statehood fo r Puerto Rico. Is he try in g to
com m it a fin a l act by w hich his la ck-luster a d m in is
tration can be rem em bered? Or is he cre a tin g som e
d iffic u lt issues fo r the next president?
The p ro p o s itio n o f statehood fo r Puerto Rico is an
e m o tio n a l and som etim es v io le n t o ne a m o n g Puerto
Ricans. Besides the a p p a re n t m a jo rity w h o fa v o r the
current C o m m o n w e a lth status a nd those w h o fa v o r
statehood, there is a lo rg e se gm ent o f p e o p le w h o
w a n t ind e p e n d e n ce .
The in d e p e n d e n c e m o v e m e n t is de e p an d has at
tim es be e n v io le n t, s p illin g o u t in terrorist m o ve
m ents in N e w York an d o th e r cities w h e re large
groups o f Puerto Ricans live.
The Puerto Rican g o v e rn m e n t has not seen the
need to a p p ly fo r statehood a nd the issue has not
been settled a m o n g the p e ople . Perhaps th e y do not
v ie w statehood as a w o n d e rfu l g ift fro m a d e p a rtin g
p re sid e n t. The U nited States has no business
in je c tin g its e lf in to this issue, no m atter w h a t the
m o tive , u n til the p e o p le o f Puerto Rico h ave spoken.
China still a puzzel
from the N e w Pittsburg C o u rie r
A reverse cu ltu ra l re v o lu tio n is g o in g on in C hina,
if any credence can be g iv e n to reports filte rin g out
o f Peking. The ra d ica l le ft seems to have lost its
steam in the p o w e r struggle th a t C h a irm a n M a o's
death has p re cip ita te d .
The fig h t b e tw e e n the radicals an d the m oderates
is an om inous sign o f in te rn a l p o litic a l in s ta b ility that
m ay w e ll be re fle c te d in C h ina's fo re ig n p o licy.
M o re o ve r, the outcom e o f this tug o f w a r w ill
d e te rm in e C hina's fu tu re fo r m ore years than can be
ch a lke d on th e ca le n d a r o f p o litic a l sequence o f
events.
It m ay be th a t C hina m ay n ever see a g a in the
g o ld e n days th a t C hairm an AAao had ushered. AAao
w as a p h e n o m e n o n o f the 20th C entury. He had to ta l
d o m in a tio n o f a q u a rte r o f a m illio n o f m a n k in d fo r
m ore th a n a q u a rte r o f a century — a p e rio d fa r
lo n g e r than the re ig n o f a n y m o d e rn ruler.
The secret o f his lea d e rsh ip a c h ie v e m e n t is a
m ystery that the W est m ay never u n ravel. W he th e r
his lo n g re ig n resulted fro m an o rie n ta l p e rce p tio n o f
d e m o cra tic im peratives, has escaped thus fa r
searching c ritica l analysis.
W h a t w as a visib le an d c o n vin cin g o u tla y o f
p o w e r, w as M ao's absolute control o f an a n t-lik e
society. The in e v ita b le question is w h e th e r a n y
person or b ody o f p e o p le can m a in ta in sta b ility a nd
a lle g ia n c e in such a vast p o p u la tio n w ith o u t the
alm ost m ystical charism a w ith w h ich M ao ru le d .
His d e ath is not o n ly a consequence to C hina, it
e q u a lly a ffe cts the p o litic a l posture o f the outside
w o rld . The tw o co n te n d in g fa ctions, radicals and
m oderates, h o ld the key to C hina's fu tu re . W hat
w o rrie s W estern statesm en is w h ic h o f th e tw o camps
w ill e m e rg e victorious. For, on th a t co n tinge ncy rests
the fu tu re re la tio n s o f C hina's 800 m illio n w ith the
w o rld a t large.
U nder AAao, C hina show ed m uch sym pathy w ith
the A fric a n struggle fo r lib e ra tio n . C hinese m oney
and w o rkm e n h e lp e d b u ild ra ilro a d s in Z a m b ia a nd
Tanzania. C hina w as g e ttin g re a d y to h e lp A n g o la
a ch ie ve its in d e p e n d e n ce w h e n Russia an d C huba
stepped in to the c o n flic t. South A fric a too, lost a
frie n d in the d e ath o f M ao.
I'll never understand people.
What
happened to the neighborhood school?
According to the newspapers, some
parents have been phoning Thaddeus
Stevens School asking how they can
enroll their children. By now, we all know
that Stevens school has a 80 per rent
Black enrollment and is the oldest school
building presently being used in Wash
ington D.C. Why th clamoring to enroll at
Stevens?
Amy Carter, 9-year-old daughter of
President-elect Jimmy Carter, will soon
attend Stevens. Calls come from the
neighboring states of Virginia and Mary
land.
Parents say they are willing to pay
$1,117 a year tuition.
Parents who inquire alwut enrolling
their children are playing a good hunch.
The age-old “association syndrome" is
strong; that is, the possibility their child
will benefit from being in the class or
school of the president's daughter.
A fter all, we have read over the years
about the play groups assembled at the
White House lor the Kennedy children
and about the private school activities of
the Johnson girls. None of us is so naive
as to believe that it is “business as usual"
when a child of the president is a part of a
school.
Stevens school received three new
teachers soon after it was announced that
Amy was coming.
To be fair, it was announced that the
extra teachers were planned for Stevens
before any word of Amy's arrival. He
that as It may. it is not surprising that
Amy's class has been reorganized and
mede smaller.
Amy'» 22 classmates will certainly
benefit. So will Amy. What a wealth of
cultural exchange will take place among
the 13 American Blacks, three American
whites, two l^ tin Americans, two Pakis
tanians, a Bangladesh' and an Italian, all
about 9 years-old and relatively unspoiled
b>
b" '
Thaddeus Stevens School has become a
magnet school, an inner-city school with a
special appeal. The concept is not new.
Most parents cast around for educational
and cultural advantages for their child
ren.
How many parents drive their children
to special music lessons. Little League
practices and religious or culturul gather
ings?
All of us hope to enrich our
children's lives and give them a found
ation for a happy, successful adulthood.
Outside Washington, no parents are
clamoring to enroll their children in
inner city schools. Seldom do teachers
ask voluntarily for assignment there.
What we need are 10,000 Amy's to
distribute throughout the inner city
schools of this nation. Though the idea is
titillating, there is only one Amy. We
can t spreud her candid Southern charm
among our distressed inner-city schools.
Nor should we need to entertain the idea.
The benefits at Stevens w ill be for all,
Amy included.
Though the smaller class and carpeted
floor are advantageous, Jimmy and
Hosalynn Carter know the greatest re
ward lor Amy w ill come from her
classmates.
This world has become a very small
place. By enrolling at Stevens, Amy will
not postpone until she is out of school to
learn about cultures other thun her own
She w ill have daily p«-rsonul contact with
children from all over the world and from
inner city America. What un extruord
inarily fine experience for a child.
It is a tragedy that we do not value or
feel comfortable with the culturul diver
sity of our cities. Because we don't, they
ure neglected Neglect breeds a loss til
sell -image with its destructive const-
quencea.
The Carter administration has raised
the hopes of many of us. hop«- that the
callous abandonment of the cities w ill be
reversed. Somehow, attention must la-
focused on the cultural riches being
ignored.
Amy has started the job. My hat is off
to her.
Amnesty issue revived
By Versos Jordan
who got less than honorable discharges.
The real lasses to individuals holding
President-elect Ca ter has indicated
such discharges are enormous. A leas
that one of his first acts of office will be to
than honorable discharge means its hold
issue some form of pardon for Vietnam
er is disqualified from a wide range of
draft resisterà as a step toward finally
veterans' benefits ranging from G.I. Bill
burying the searing divisions of that
educational and employment aid to Veter
unwanted war.
ana Administration medical care and civil
My experience on President Ford's
service point perferences.
Presidential Clemency Board helped con
Since so many of the less than honor
vince me that such a step is right and is
able discharges are held by men who
long overdue.
served for significant periods of time in
Reviewing the cases that came before
the armed forces, and many who saw
the Board, I found that many of the draft
combat duty, this is a sad situation. But
evaders and resisters and deserters were
it is made worse by the fact that such
not pampered middle class kids seeking
discharges are often administratively
to evade responsibility but that they fell
imposed, the fruits of personality con
largely into two categories. The first was
flicts with superior officers, minor fric
made up of large number of young men
tions that would be meaningless in
whose personal problems and exper
civilian life, and - too often - racism.
iences were such that they should not
How else explain that in the Vietnam
have served at all, while the second group
era blacks were twice as likely as whites
consisted of persons whose convictions
to receive less than honorable dis
should have enabled them to win consci
charges? Just as Black GI's were more
entious objector sWus.
likely to find themselves in combat, more
Not enough peo. le took advantage of
likely to be wounded, and more likely to
the Board's existence. Some were dis
die in action, so too did being Black place
trusting of any official group, thinking it
a man in greater jeopardy of being
was a trap. Others were put off by the
separated from the service with the
requirements attached to clemency. Still
stigma of a less than honorable discharge.
others had a multitude of personal
Recognizing the serious injustices of
reasons for refitting t o i p p i y ' th" the
many Such discharges Wie* Army has
Board.
begun outreach programs to grant hear
So the Clemency Board really didn't do
ings reviewing such discharges, but such
the job of burying the Vietnam divisions.
a piecemeal effort still leaves many
Nor did it begin to tackle the big hidden
untouched.
problem of the Vietnam era - the more
Any amnesty program should include
than 350,000 veterans of the Vietnam era
provision for dealing with the larger
problem of veterans holding less than
honorable discharges, and it should ulso
spur changes in the way we treat those
who fought and returned to find jobless
ness and discrimination.
It sometimes seems as if the national
guilt over the Vietnam involvement has
been directed against thos who served
there.
Somehow the image of drug
taking trigger happy attekers of inno
cents has taken root as a stereotype
inspired by My Lai and similar incidents.
In this war, when Johnny marched home,
he marched into public indifference to his
problems of adjusting to civilian society
and to job discrimination.
Veteran's unemployment is higher
than for their civilian counter parts at
almost every age level and for younger
veterans, the number are devastating.
Black veterans suffer astronomical job
less rates — over a third of young
veterans are without jobs. And disabled
veterans often have the rawest deal of all
- about 60 percent are unemployed and
they need special help to regain economic
independence.
Amnesty is essential if we as a nation
are to put the Vietnam war finally behind
us.. I t Should be SS broad and sweeping as
pOMiWej- *ft ..nkoUld. -nDV'ioniy inetMte
wiping the slate clean for draft evaders
and resisters, but provide for justice to
deserters and holders of less than honor
able discharges.
And it should be
accompanied by improvements in G.I. Bill
benefits and by special efforts to employ
jobless veterans.
An interview with Sidney Wicks
(Continued from page 1 col. 3)
Portland fans? “Yes. quite different. In
Boston the fans are more knowledgeable,
they’re critical about the game and you
can’t fool the fans there. I f you’re not
performing they’ll let you know ”
When asked how he felt when he heard
about the New Orleans trade. Wicks said.
“I ’m a professional ball player. I knew I
would be going somewhere. Portland's
management offered me a contract and I
gave them my idea of a reasonable deal.
We couldn't agree so I did the thing I
thought best, cut off negotiations. This
infuriated them, but I believed I had
certain rights as a professional and I was
going to exercise those rights. Same
thing in New Orleans; we couldn't agree."
“I haven’t signed a contract yet with
the Celtics. They're paying off my option
year. If no agreement is made then I ’m a
free agent next year. It's as simple as
that."
Wicks had been labeled by manage
ment as a troublemaker for his refusal to
sign
Wicks is a good example of the new
Black ball player. He's cold, bold, and
together - not letting anyone but Sidney
Wicks decide what's best for him. Sidney
Wicks was very outspoken and the
following are his views.
Trailblazer management - “They were
never truthful in negotiations and finally
when I could see things weren’t working
out. I broke off negotiations and refused
to discuss it further. They flatly refused
to discuss my going to a Pacific Division
club."
Bill Walton - “Bill's a great NBA
center and if he had stayed healthy last
year we would hve made the play-offs.
But if I, or any Black ball player, had
presented the Blazer management with
the problems Bill did his first two years . .
. Well, I don’t believe we would have
lasted very long. We would have been
driven out of town on our buts."
Lionel Hollins - “What, you mean that
stuff is still going on. After playing as
well as Portland has . . . you mean they’re
still booing him? I can't understand
Portland. Wow! I t ’s good to be away from
here."
Dave Cowens - “I t ’s tough when you
lose an all-pro center. Dave is great to
play with, but we’ll adjust and play
without him as best we can. I only had a
chance to play four games with him. I
know some have suggested that Sidney
Wicks is the reason Dave left. The truth
is I came to Boston late and only played a
very short time with Dave. He played
M M M M K M N M H M M IM K
well and so did 1.1 think I was averaging
22 points and 14 rebounds when he left.”
There has been much said and written
in the Portland press about Wicks. Why
he's not allowd to disappear over the
horizon is a mystery to both Wicks and
this writer. When 1 stepped into the
Memorial Coliseum Tuesday night all talk
was of Sidney Wicks. And all this talk
was of hatred, not praise, “How loud
should we boo", said one fan. “When he's
introduced let's just remain quiet”, said
yet another.
You know, listening to all this talk, one
had the feeling that he had travelled back
in time and instead of being at the
Memorial Coliseum, and instead of being
about to watch a basketball game be
tween two friendly teams, he was at that
now famous Roman Coliseum and was
about to witness a bout between the
Christians and the lions. It was particu
larly evident in the fourth quarter with
Wicks on the bench and Portland ahead
by 40 points. “We want Wicksl We want
Wicks!" The chant rocked the Coliseum
walls.
Now, more than ever, we all must
know how those ill-fated Christians felt
while feeling the powerful jaws of the
lions. I've said all along that Portland's
fans are different . . . they're disgusting.
1st Place
Community Service
ONPA 1973
P ortland O b server
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201
North Killingsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing address
P.O. Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208. Telephone 283 248«
Subscriptions: $7.50 per year in the Tri-County area, $8.00 per
year outside Portland.
Second Class Postage Paid at Portland, Oregon
A L F R E D L HENDERSO N
Editor/Publisher
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 w riter or submitter and does not necessarily reflect
the opinion of the Portland Observer
(Continued from page 1 col. 6)
cars and watch - and have kicked down
his door." Or perhaps it is because he has
been too successful in diverting the
addicts, whom the police arrest, away
from the jails and into drug programs.
A legal defense fund has been estab
lished. Those who are able to contribute
are asked to send their checks to:Babe
Wilson Defense Fund, Box 10681, Port
land, Oregon 97210. Anyone who can
volunteer time and work should call
283 2487.
ONPA 1973
5th Place
Best Editorial
N N P A 1973
asked were answered, some quite candid
ly. Dan feels that the PPD is among the
top 2 or 3 police organizations in the
country and this feeling, along with other
examples of a healthy morale (all-import
ant!) I saw, does a lot towards keeping it
near the top.
Of course. I saw only a very small part
of the total police picture during my
4 hour ride. For that reason I hop«- to get
the opportunity to go again when the
Ride Along program isn't so busy. I was
told that a large number of the people
taking these rides are high school kids.
There couldn't be a better way for them
to learn respect for the police.
It
wouldn't hurt some older people either.
If you're interested call 22« 7551 ext. 251
and ask for Lt. Coffey. He will give you
full information.
104?
" In doubt if an action be just,
abstain."
Zoroaster
To protect the unborn
and the newborn
f H U S P A C F C O H I B i B u T t O B V 'M B C U B O S H B R
Oregon Black History Project
Honorable Mention
Herrick Editorial Award
N N A 1973
2nd Place
(Continued from page 1 col. 6)
$2.50 of your new subscription to
The Portland Observer will go to the
1st Place
Best Ad Results
Tri-County area
Best Editorial
Community Leadership
O N P A 1975
New York
membcr
Auociation - Founded
Babe Wilson
Ride - A - Long
$7.50
other areas
$8.00
3rd Place
National Advertising Representative
Amalgamated Publishers, Inc.
MEMBER
Geoff Petrie left Portland because he
made certain demands and would not sign
a contract until they were met. Well,
subsequently they weren't met so exit
one Geoff Petrie. But wait until Petrie
returns to M C . . . this w riter will bet that
you’ll not hear a single boo and will
probably see a five minute standing
ovation. What a difference color makes!
Wicks performed will during his stint
on the floor and it drew boos from
Portland's fans everytime he touched the
hall. He was tight and it showed.
Wicks' departing words were, “I ’m
away from Portland now. They should
forget me; I ’ve certainly forgotten them.
It s just a memory, a very unpleasant
one.” So long Sid and good luck next year
in Los Angeles with Kareem.
Name
Address
IMS
C ity
Por’lond Observer
P-O. Box 3137
Portland, O regon 97208