W? see the world
*1
kr
Copier News Service
through Black eyes
h ’s ep to Bell
Go to the people
The Portland School Boord has d eo d ed to hold
another election >n May to pass a three year
jtmg levy. This levy is designed only to continue
the current progrom and to allow for inflation.
A four year levy was defeated on Jonuary 11th.
There was much mixed feeling and confusion
expressed by school board members and some
bitterness over the narrow defeat of the levy, but
there was little analysis of w hat octually went
wrong. Some observers have biomed the low voter
turnout due to icy weathe* and others have blamed
high taxes and lock of interest.
Schoo Boord member W olly Priestley presented
statistics that demonstrated a decline m voter support
aside from the low turnout, that there was a lower
percentage of favorable votes in those districts that
usually support school measures.
Priestley suooested a series of public heorings be
held throughout the district to ask the people for their
thoughts and ideas on the education system
In listening to the people there does seem to be c
great d e a 1 of misunderstanding obout the school
district's progrom - the old question obou* which
subjects ore essential and which are "frills*'.
There are parents who feel the»r children are not
-ece . ng on oaequate education and rumors of
orge numbers of students groduatmg in spite of not
being able to read and write.
Some of mese people soy openly that they w ill not
support me schools until they can see where their
money is going
Public education is in trouble ocross the state and
across the nation If the public schools are to receive
the fin an cial support that they n eed to provide sound
educational programs they are going to have to get
their message to the people.
It is true that there are school advisory committees
and area odvisory commmees but many members
of the public either do not know when these
meetings or he'd or believe that they are controlled
by a few octive members or by the district.
It is a problem to get public input; all agencies
find it difficult Sometimes meetings are held and no
one attends. But we believe a series of highly
publicized meetings held throughout the community
would bring an understanding of the district's
problems to the public and would help solicit the
good w ill and support of the voters
The Senate has confirmed the appointm ent of
Gnffm B Bed to become Attorney G eneral and he
has joined the Garter cabinet.
This appointment was the most controversial of
President Carter's appointments and met the most
opposition m the Senate -
because of Bell's
mediocre record on Civil Rights. After six days of
hearings and mony angry exchanges there still is
confusion over Belt's past role in the civil rights
Struggle
Senator Edward Brooke (R ep-M oss ) soid there
ore "g reat gaps" m the record and he unsuccessfully
attempted to refer the nomination bock to commit
tee Senator Edward Kennedy (Dem.-Mass.) said Bell
did not "exercise leadership m the developm ent of
Civil rights low of a tim e o f critical and rapid
change."
Bell has been sworn in as Attorney G eneral
President Carter nomed him as the best qualified
person he could find for that position. W hatever his
past foilures, it is now the responsibility of the
Attorney G eneral to use his office to vigorously
persue equal rights and opportunities for all people
He w ill be watched carefully and if he fails, it w ill be
the President's prestige that suffers.
Watch South Africa
Prime Minister Ion Smith has pulled out of the
G eneva Conference discussing the future of Zim
bw abw e, refusing to discuss terms for handing over
control of his government to the Africans.
This was to be expected. Most Africans and mony
British did not believe that Smith would give up his
government and peacefully bring about majority
rule — Black rule.
W e predicted when the talks began that Smith
would use this period of negotiation to build up his
own military strength to prepare for the war that will
surely come.
It is still possible to salvoge the G eneva Confer
ence, to force Smith bock to the negotiating table,
but this con only be accomplished by South Africa
ond the United States. The U.S. must put pressure on
South Arico to intercede with Smith.
If guerrilla w arfare becomes necessary to free
Zim bw abw e, as the Africans have assumed it w ill, it
wiM spread to South Africa. The South African*
government has the most to lose since it w ill soon be
the only w hite controlled nation on the continent and
cannot stand alone for long. The US multinational
corporations have too much at stake in South Africa
to stand by and watch its destruction.
W e con predict intensified guerrilla warfare in
Z am bw abw e ond on increased political intervention
by South Africa.
rial candidate Wilson F erreira , whose
family was driven out of ha country by
death threats and other harassment A
third is Olga Talam ante. a young l l £ .
atizen who was tortured and held a
poiitieai prisoner in Argentina far 1«
mouths during that country's rightw ard
slide into a m ilitary coup
“O ur feeling." Talam ante say*, “is that
as the facts come out on Argentina. South
Korea and other regimes, people sriD
mare and more resist the nee of th eir tax
money to support them."
Meanwhile, in expectation of the com
mg showdown, many of the governments
m question have already moved to under
t th eir critics and mobilize U.S. public
in th eir favor.
Chile released 300 political prisoners in
a well -pubbazed move prior to Christ
mas. O ther governments such as Argen
tins, Bolivia and Uruguay quickly an
nouneed they would follow suit.
And
shortly after that A rgentina’s Gen. Jorge
Videla told a specially invited group of
American journalists in Buenos Aire*
that continued U .S. aid ws
to
(Continued from p .l eaL6)
situation in a number of countries that
receive U S . aid.
The human rights pressure groups
supporting th eir efforts in Washington
and through extensive national le tte r
w riting campaigns include Am nesty In
i number of Protestant and
working groups and a
network of farm er anti-w ar groups called
the Coaliuon fa r a N ew Foreign and
M ilitary Policy.
Perhaps the most decisive component
of the human rig b u lobby, however,
consists of
liter political prisoners and
direct experience with
i in Latin Am erica makes them
compelling witnesses to the policies of
U n b a c k e d regimes.
Among the most active is Isabel
L eteh er. widow of form er Chilean ambas
sador to the U A Orlando Leteher, whose
death in a bomb exponon last fall in
Washington was attributed by some to
the Chilean secret police.
Another is Juan Ferreira, son of
form er Uruguayan senator and presiden
fight leftist subv«
•Continued from p .l eoi.81
banks, and the credit line was not
renewed. The current resolutsons are the
first m ajor effort by churches since th at
time to stop loans to South Africa.
The Morgan Guaranty resolution was
filed by the Episcopal Church, which
owns 15.000 shares of stock. Joining in
the Manufacturers Hanover T ru st resotu-
txm were the Episcopal Church (11.300
shares), Umoa Theological Seminary
(7.000) and agencies of the United Church
of Christ • 108.884).
The Adrian Dominican Sisters and the
Dominican Fathers. Province of St.
A lbert the G rea t, filed the Continental
Illinois and F irs t Chicago Corporation
resolutions. The Adrian Sister* own 400
shares of Continental Illinois and 3.000
shares of F irst Chicago stock.
The
Dominican F a th e r* own 10 share* of
Filing the Citicorp resolution were:
Eastern Province of Semites (4,300
shares). Franciscan Friars of the Atone
ment 13.400). General Assembly Mission
Board of The Presbyterian Church in the
U S . (4,000). The G rail («00). Loretto
Portland O b server
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The Por t land 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 1* the opinion of the
individual w rite r or subm itter and doe* not necessarily reflect
the opinion of the Portland Observer
Advertising Representative
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' Publishers
BiflE 1 Association
111
in
1 could hardly resist calling the net
work to comment on the tremendous gap
ui the explanation presented. Though the
program was introspective and thorough,
in its thoroughness the gaps w ere evident
M y lasting impression of D etro it was
that if th ere is urban violence, it is Black.
This is d m o rb in g and particulariy frus
trattng because of tw o overriding tartars
that were omitted.
First, today in urban America, high
crime ra te * accompany poverty. Cities
with high crim e rates consistently share
one characteristic w ith D etro it: high
unemployment In March 197«. D etroit
had an unemployment rate of 11.4 per-
urban Am erica, the ra te is well
SO
When our nders like
their driver the word
gets around. We think
that's part of the rea
son there has been a
steady increase m rider
ship on Gan. Menden
hall's "42 Southvuood
Park line. Gary ts no I
"old timer" but in his
four years as a driver. |
he has seen vast im I
provem entson his favonte line When I first
drove this route.' he says, "one bus provided
hourly service Lots of days we'd lose a whole
trip! People really appreciate the 25 trips they
now. get every weekday''
Violence in Am erica is concluded w ith a
portrait of a teen-ager called Benji, a
»Puerto Rican who looked like a
but who displayed vicious and
cold emocionleas anger. H e is p art of the
cuh of voilence in the gang world. His
: desire is to stay high on drugs,
the part drugs play in v ie
1 was not emphasized. I f we really
to. we could put a stop to drug
traffic.
I f we are willing to enforce strong
treaties w ith our neighboring countries
and if our neighbors to the south had
Better service fo r more people.
”A
&
the book behind
the great tv event
on ABC Jan. 23-30
tor the development and production of
heroin and opium, it could be done.
The final p a rt of the program, for
anyone who stayed up th a t fang, wan the
i by a group o f panelists. I ’
I from some
i to the one exp ert. Eh.
statement
ed. I f we allow our children to grow up on
a steady diet of violence through tele
vision, they get an attitude that violence
is natural and acceptable.
M aybe the program “Violence in A m er
ica“ is the first step to stop the glorifies
tion of violence in our entertainm ent.
Maybe we will be able to turn on our TV
one night and find that every program is
no longer the chronology of the life and
times of the criminals among us.
Meet Tri-Met*s
Driver-of-the-Month.
D aily, television portrays the “good
hfe“ to which most Black youth can
hardly aspire. F o r them , legitim ate jobs
are few and far between.
Id
compounded by frustration and
often lends to violence.
Second, the reality of drugs and vio
lence in America. D e tro it is the drug
capital of this nation. But D etro it is not
slone Recently it was reported that in
Loa Angeles 40 percent of the income
producing crimes are drug related.
There are between 110.000 and 120.000
persons addicted te heroin in California.
They require 15 tons of heroin a year. I t
is paid for. dearly, by all of us. It adds up
to one California resident in 40 who is a
of a drug related.
The
dramatic.
But. uhim tely, the underlying theme
throughout the program must be accept
made that as
industrialized they
Nothing could be
No'
Indian Proverb
Church investments
Human Rights
ALFRED L HENDERSON
Editor/)
BOW
Ou Thursday, January «, I sat
at my leiev iston and watched “VI
with 55
further from the tru th W e have watched
as vast as China industrialise
up crime free.
China had
I upon opium as an important
part of Mr economy, but it was able to
eliminate narcotic traffic.
I don't recommend shooting land
owners who grow opium, as the Chinese
did. But there are other w ay*.
W hat I'm saying is that we can stop
violence W ith effective program * to put
to work those 40 te SO percent of urban
teen agers combined w ith a commitment
to elim inate drugs, the results would be
L ite ra ry and Benevolent Institution of
Kentucky (2.872). the L utheran Church in
America <4.5001. the Premonstratensian
Fathers <7001. Sister* of C harity of St.
Vincent de Paul of N ew York (2.400).
United Methodist W orld Division of the
Board of Global M inistries <37,5481. and
the United Presbyterian Church in the
TOO L A T E T O C L A S S IF Y
The Albina Action Center
will accept application* for
Neighborhood Developer I.
Neighborhood Developer U.
and Adnunst Aast. under
the C E T A I I program, be
ginning Monday Apply at
7th and Knott St.
The Albina Women's League
will accept applications for
C E T A I I postition* begin
rung Monoay. Apply at A l
bina Action Center. N E 7th
and Knott.
N e IT p Æ p ER
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The book of the year . ..A le x Haley’s compelling history of
seven generations of a black family, starting with Kunta Kinta,
abducted at 16 from Africa. In creating this monumental two-
century drama, Alex Haley has done more than recapture the
history of his own family. He has told the story of 25 million
Americans ot African descent . . and created a classic for
people of all races. 1 ?
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