Portland observer., February 17, 1977, Page 2, Image 2

Economic stimulus
Schools get the word -'O b e y the la w ’
made.
The school district, as a public body, has the same
obligation. This understanding must be reached
immediately, before the contracts are signed. A
shut-down by the Black community would prove
costly, not only in tax dollars, but in bod publicity -- a
problem the district does not need.
Court rulings requiring desegregation of the
nation's schools will at last be enforced. Joseph
Califono, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare, has put the school districts on
notice that federal funds will be cut off if federal civil
rights laws ore violated.
This marks and end to the years of disregard of the
law promoted by the Nixon and Ford administra­
tions. Over the past five years several Texas and
Arkansas districts hod been judged to be out of
compliance but the former secretory refused to make
the decision to cut off funds. School districts knew
they had littel to fear and no reason to comply. Now
Califono, President Carter's new HEW secretary, says
he will perform his job.
Emphasizing that he hos no desire to block funds to
any school district, Califono said the laws will be
enforced. "W e must now restore the integrity of
HEW's civil rights programs and execute those laws
and all other civil rights laws with energy and
compassion.
Perhaps the Portland Public Schools will take heed
and procédé with the desegregation of its remaining
majority Black schools before federal orders bring
another crisis to the communtiy.
The school board changed its long standing policy
of rotating the chairmanship among its members,
each taking a turn. That policy seemed to work well
for many years; why the change?
The board will have problems if they begin to
change their rules to fit their personality preferences.
Law yer* know belter
e * * • •
The school district will soon award bids on its
multi-million dollar educational center. Will any of
this work go to minority contractors and employees?
It is not likely unless the school district makes a
strong commitment to insure that minorities are
included.
Tri-Met is a good example of an agency that did
require its prime contrator to meet EEO regulations
and to sub-controct to minority firms. Their were
even some thoughts of denying the contract to the
low bidder if they did not make a firm commitment
to minoirty participation. The commitment was
The American Bar Assoication, the organization
representing half of the nation's attorenys, refused to
recommend to the states that the death penalty be
abolished.
The legal profession is in the best position to know
that justice is not equal in this country — that
minorities still get the poorest legal counsel and thot
judges and juries still can't see beyond a Black face.
The legal profession also knows of the incompe­
tence within its ranks - the court appointed attorneys
who don't have either the ability or the interest to
provide a proper defense for their clients.
The members of the ABA know best how much the
fate of a minority or poor defendent rests on chance
-nnd how the rich ones never die.
One of President Carter's first actions
was to present Congress with a package
for “economic stimulus." While stimula
tion of the economy is badly needed, the
stimulus suggested is not enough help to
the people who need it most.
Even if the proposed stimulus package
is 100 per cent effective, it would dc little
to reduce our present 7.8 percent unem
ployment rate. The proposed reductions
would be to 6.8 percent by October, 1977
and 6 percent in 1978.
The result for Blacks in this country
will be a sustained unemployment rate of
18 percent.
This is an intolerable condition which is
causing untold socioeconomic suffering
among Black families and the commun
¡ties within which they live.
Let's look at some of the features of
M r. Carter's plan. They are not new.
Most have been included in past propos
sis to Congress.
Nonetheless, their impact has been
insignificant because they lacked, as a
major thrust, the reduction of unemploy
ment. Unless it produces jobs, spending
money alone means little.
Fortunately, the stimulus package pro­
vides for a 8200 million increase in fiscal
year 1977 for countercyclical assistance
to state and local governments and 81
billion for fiscal year 1978.
This program has proved most bene­
ficial to state and local governments to
maintain basic services and avert layoffs
of public employees.
not and will not believe that L Babe
Wilson, a Black man who gave the
Portland police department so much
trouble in the past, can make such a
positive adjustment to become and stay
drug free and further to succeed through
will power, self-motivation and the will of
God to become a successful drug counsel­
lor and helper to others.“ Wilson empha­
sized that if the system will not believe
him, who demonstrated every day on the
job his freedom from drugs, it will not
believe the others who are not under such
close scrutiny.
“I had begun with the belief that our
judicial system searched for effective
ways to solve the social problems in our
communities. I find instead a system that
looks upon success as if it were a mere
accident. I find a system that really
believes 'Once a dope fiend, always a
dope fiend'. I have found a system that
functions on compromise and sufficates
truth. How can a man like myself and so
many others like me find understanding
in a system that cares and then learn
later that the prescription once used to
cure is now used to poison. That is cold
blooded.
“I once read. T ru th conquers slowly.
There is wonderous vitality in error.
Truth indeed, for the most part, shoots
over the heads of the masses, or if an
error is prostrated for a moment, it is up
again in a moment and is as vigorous as
ever. I t will not die when the brains are
out and the most stupid and irrational
errors are the longest lived.' I may never
know at what moment success awaits my
efforts in counseling drug addicts, but
this I know without doubt, succeed or fail,
I will not bow to error or succumb under
discouragement.
“1 appeal to the people to restrain the
system from the further commission of
injustice and acts of wrong and outrage
against me and others who have tried
with everything within them to change
and to lead meaningful and productive
lives.”
Will the police system allow a former
drug addict to live in peace? W ill the
system allow its drug treatment plans to
rehabilitate addicts? “When I win my
appeal. I ’ll be back with a dedication and
determination that surpasses anything I
had before. I have greater determination
and insight because of this experience
with the police and the courts.
“This whole thing is not hard for me or
for anyone else who lives in Portland and
knows me to understand. I was trouble to
the police when I was on the other side of
the law and I was still trouble for them
when I, Babe Wilson, was getting people
out of jail after they had spent so much
time and money trying to put them
there."
W ill they ever let a man reform? “No,
there is just no way that the police
system can accept the fact that a Black
man can pick himself up out of the gutter
where they put us and become a man.
This is Black History Week and people
think about and hear about the contribu­
tions Blacks have made and are making,
yet the jails are filled with Blacks who are
there because the justice system doesn't
work for us. And when we gat out, or
when we go through programs to change
our lives and try to become useful
citizens, they won’t believe us. It doesn't
fit their stereotypes. They would rather
see Blacks the way they would prefer us
to be degenerates and criminals. There
is just no way that they can believe that I
Am Somebody ”
Portland O bserver
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201
North Killingsworth, Portland. Oregon 97217. Mailing address:
P.0. Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208. Telephone 283-2486.
Subscriptions: $7.50 per year in the Tri-County area, 18.00 per
year outside Portland.
Class
ALFRED L. HENDERSON
Editor/F
Paidat
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
1st Place
Community Service
ONPA 1973
Certainly the 1977 session will not be
looked upon by posterity as a dull session.
There are enough controversial issues
Posting around this session to satisfy
anybody's desire for good hot debate.
Some of these issues, however, will
probably not go beyond the committee
hearings level. There are two measures
in particular - rescinding the 1978 Oregon
Legislature's approval of the Equal
Righto Amendment and adoption of the
death penalty - they will receive their
due share of vocal testimony from those
in favor of and opposed to their passage.
In addition to those two issues, the
Oregon Legislature is beginning to con­
sider emergency measures that would
mitigate the potentially disastrous effects
of the drought currently plaguing the
western states.
Herrick Editorial Award
N N A 1973
2nd Place
Best Editorial
3rd Place
7
New York
MEMBER
ili
O re g o n
New spaper
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N e U p A p Eft
The 1978 session of the Oregon Legis
latere ratified the E R A . being the 26th
state to do so. Three mere states are
needed to ratify the E R A before 1979 in
order that it become the 26th amendment
to the U.S. Constitution.
This past week legislation was intro
duced in the Oregon Legislature that
would repeal the E R A . Though the
committee members voted to allow the
bill to be introduced there is not a strong
sentiment among legislators to reverse
the ratifiction of the ER A . Quite the
contrary, a majority of the members on
the committee that voted to allow the bill
to be introduced indicated they would
vote against the measure once it came up
for a vote. Rep. Drew Davis, who asked
that the bill be introduced by the
committee, said he was only asking that
the bill be introduced at the request of a
citizen's group. He indicated that if the
bill came up for a vote on the floor of the
House he would vote against it.
Death Psnalty
The death penalty was originally es
tabliahed by Oregon voters in 1864,
abolished in 1914, reinstated far first
degree murder convictions in 1920 and
abolished again in 1964. An attept to
reinstate the death penalty has taken the
form of HB 2321.
Under HB 2321, a person convicted of
first degree murder would not necessar
ily be sentenced to death. Though the
U.S. Supreme Court has said that in
order for a death sentence to be constitu­
tional it must be uniformly applied for
certain offenses, the proposed Oregon
death penalty would give considerable
discretion to the sentencing judge. The
judge must have a separate sentencing
hearing for the defendant if he is found
guilty. The judge would consider whether
the defendant acted intentionally and
whether it is probable that he would
commit further criminal acts of «riolence.
In addition, the defendant would receive
an automatic review by the Oregon
Supreme Court of his or her death
sentence and the Governor would have
the right to commute any death sentence.
Drought
The current drought affecting Oregon
has potentially disastrous effects not only
on our economy but also on the many
amenities water has provided us.
The Oregon Legislature is taking ac­
tion on measures that will help to
conserve our scarce water reserves.
Among the proposed laws being consid­
ered is SB 887. This bill would require all
toilets installed after January 1, 1978 to
flush only 8"/> gallons per flush. The
average toilet currently uses between 5
and 7 gallons per flush.
A family of four uses approximately
10.0Q0 gallons of., wafer annually In
flushing toilets. It has been estimated
that 40 per cent of all water used in
homes is lor flushing toilets. I t is esti­
mated that 17.6 million gallons of water
per day could be saved if SB 887 were
passed.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Babe Wilson
needs support
To the Editor:
This letter is in regard to James
“Babe” Wilson - a man who has tried in
every way to use his own misfortune to
help others. He was convicted of a crime,
that I feel in my heart, he is not guilty of -
He couldn’t be - He went too far out of his
way to help others get away from the
thing be is being accused of - I ’m in drug
treatment, and be made that possible by
pleading with me to change my life,
telling me there was another way to live,
that a person did net have to give in to
being a drug addict. Everything he told
me and showed me was true. He is a
living example of what society said could
not be done. He changed his life - and
others. Now he is in jail because some
people feel we never change. I mention
again, he was convicted of a drug cnarge
but I wonder if he was really convicted of
his past?
Thank you for your time,
Lauressia Lamberth
To The Editor--
My name is Anna R. Martin. I am a
mother of two sons and the wife of a very
beautiful man. Right now I am in a drug
treatment plan.
I have known M r. Babe Wilson for so
many years and now he is convicted of a
crime which I really deep inside don't
believe and know he did not do.
M r. Wilson has always given me some
positive ideas to straighten my life out
even when I was out on the street
messing around I would see Babe and he
would always tell me there is a better
way of life.
Instead of drugs he would always
constantly tell m e-Get your life together.
I feel the court did not give him a fair
trial because anyone who knows and has
met Babe knows he did not do this crime.
Anna R. Martin
Dear Portland" Observer Readers,
A t 11:80 p.m., February 4, 1977, an all
white ju ry convicted James Babe Wilson
for Criminal Activity in Drugs and
Taking Contraband into s Correctional
Institution (Rocky Butte Jail). Babe is
innocent of these charges. Babe told the
truth; he was framed. Unless he wins his
case in Appellate Court, he could face
spending the rest of his productive life in
the penitentiary.
Since Babe left Conquest House, a drug
rehabilitation program, he has dedicated
his life to helping drug dependant individ-
duals. He spent long hours at Alpha
House working with the residents. He
would not hesitate to come in at any time,
day or night, to help in a crisis. He talked
to addicts on the street, trying to show
them that there is a better way of life. By
his own example, he showed them that
they could change their lives. Babe has
had a positive impact on hundreds of
liven.
Now Babe needs help. His life is at
stake. While Babe was out of jail, he
could have raised money for legal expen­
ses by dealing dope. He did not do this -
he is a changed man. He could have run,
but didn't. He is putting his life in the
hands of the community that he worked
so hard for.
The bitter reality that he is now facing
is that the support he expected is not
there. The Defense Fuad P .0 . Sox
remains empty. There is an abundance of
words of support, but very little action.
All of you who complain and cry 'about
social injustice and oppression of minori
ties and the poor, where are you now? If
you are not fighting the problem, then
you are part of the problem Is it so very
much to ask for a little of your money and
energy? How much is this man's life
worth?
Donations and offers of help should be
sent to the Babe Wilson Defense Fund.
P .0. Box 10681. Portland. Oregon 97210.
Sincerely.
Nancy L. Adams
Coordinator
Babe Wilson Defense Fund
$2.50 of your new subscription to
The Portland Observer w ill go to the
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lest Editorial
N N P A 1973
The stimulus program submitted to
Congress calls for 84 billion, just enough
to fund about one-sixth of the pending
applications.
The most controversial part of the
package is tax relief. I'm not going to
criticize the 880 per person, even though
I'm not sure how much it will do for the
economy. And I think the provisions to
increase standard income tax deductions
are great.
My question concerns the corporate
tax benefits.
A business is given the option of either
a 4 percent return to employees of payroll
taxes paid for Social Security tax pur
poses or an increase from 10 percent to 12
percent in the investment tax credit.
We recognise that a real increase in
jobs must come in the private sector
because four out of five jobs are there.
My question is whether this method id
government expenditure is effective to
produce jobs.
In 1976, we provided some 86 billion to
increase the investment tax credit. Did it
produce jobs? Not much so far.
A1 UUman. chairman of the House
Ways and Means Committee, is propos
ing a major change in the business part of
the tax cut plan submitted by M r. Carter.
UUman suggests an employment tax
credit this year and next under which the
government would pay part of the wages
of additional workers a business hires.
This approach not only stimulates the
economy and helps business but also
guarantees jobs.
This is not a tax break nor a bonanza
for businessmen who would make the
investment anyway. The attraction of
Ullman'a proprosal is that unless jobs are
provided, there is no cost.
I strongly urge Congress to accept
UUman's proposed change. We've waited
much too long for an administration to
pull our economy out of the doldrums.
Let's do it now - not using old ineffective
methods that in the past have produced
nothing - but by straightforward meth­
ods which put the unemployed back, to
work.
Only then can we get real “economic
stimulus.“
From the Legislature
Rehabilitation: Does the system believe?
(Cont. from page 1 col. 6)
Wilson was arrested at Rocky Butte
Jail, accused of taking heroin into the jail,
while working as a drug counsellor. That
week, he had been filling in for another
counsellor, interviewing jail inmates who
had expressed a desire to enter the
state's drug treatment program. “What
was I doing at Rocky Butte Jail that day?
I was there to interview people with drug
related cases, talking about their case,
their lives, their drug histories, their
families . anything to try to help keep
them from going to the joint - where
there are all the drugs in the world - and
and to get them into treatment.
‘ A fter I was there lor about forty
minutes, waiting to see some men (it
usually only takes ten to fifteen minutes),
I asked another officer why the wait and
if he would help speed up the process. I
waited because I was doing my job. Next
thing 1 knew, here comes the police from
outside. 1 watch them through the bars,
coming up to the jail, ringing the bell, and
I stand and watch them come up to me.
show me their ID and ask to talk with me.
I said OK and while walking to the
talking room', one of the officers leaped
around my throat and said, ‘H e’s going to
his mouth'. Then all hell broke loose
because I knew as God is my witness that
I didn't do this, so I tried to fight them off
me because I knew something was going
down wrong. They all jumped on me and
downed me. One officer said. ‘Here it is'.
and he put a red balloon in my face.
“They said 1 had a bottle of methadone
in my pocket.” The state dropped that
charge since the evidence was lost, but it
played an important part in Wilson's
defense.
“Since then I've learned the discourag
ing truth that the judicial system does
It is effective because assistuncs is only
given to localities with 4.6 percent or
more unempfoyment.
Once .«gain. however, funding falls
short. W ith present unemployment high
er than anticipated, it would take 8300
m illion to carry out formulas in the 1976
law and much more to given added
stimulus to the economy.
Public works is proposed as another
method of providing jobs. Judging from
the number of applications received last
year when the United States began an
intensified program, additional public
works projects are needed.
In 1976.
26,000 applications were received total
ing a whopping 829 billion from cities,
states and local governments.
None of these applications is for more
than 86 m illio n and construction must be
ready to begin in 90 days. This means
jobs for construction industry people of
all kinds.
Oregon Black History Project
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