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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1977)
P»B« 2 Portland Observer April 7. 1977 Jwn the, JLqliLatuM ■ M W W iM M We see the world through Black Legalize disobedience Recruit fo r Boise Boise Elementary School has received a good evaluation on its first few months as a Basic Skills. School. Boise is a majority Black school in an area where combining with other schools in an element ary-middle school plan would be difficult. The school is in constant danger of hoving its upper grades lopped off and those students scatterend across the city. We have watched with great interest for the past five or six years, since we joined with other community spokesmen in denouncing some of the statements of principal Dave McCrea. We also, like many others, have some concerns about the racial imbalance at Boise. We have watched McCrea and more important, we have watched the Boise students. We have been and continue to be impressed with the Boise students and their behavior both at school and on field trips. They are by far the most well behaved students with whom we have been involved. It amazes not only our staff but customers and visitors who come into our offices to find the "Boise Speaks" staff working quietly and diligently on their newspaper, with or without adult super vision. The newspaper they produce demonstrates not only some ability and talent but a great deal of enthusiasm and school spirit. McCrea and his staff deserve the community's congratulations and thanks for their successes. The School Board is appropriating money tor year around recruiting of minority students to transfer into white schools, and for white preschool children to attend Early Childhood Centers. We recommend that some of this money be used to recruit white students into Boise. A bit of public relations effort could solve the problem of racial imbalance and allow the Boise community to retain its school. There are many children in the district who could benefit from Boise's educational program and from its multi-cultural setting. W hy no unity? Racism has done a good job on this community. One of the lasting effects of racism is the old "divide and conquer" philosophy. Let one Black individual or organization make an attempt to accomplish something and you'll see another Black individual or organization stab them in the back. Until the community laws to get together and present a united front, it will have just what it has now - nothing. Until we can help each other and be glad for what the other person is able to accomplish, we will stay at the bottom of the heap. It is not always the white racists who get in the way of progress - it is too frequently the jealous and ignorant Blacks. N o cause fo r fuss The fuss over saccharin is indication of the petty nature of many Americans. Congressional members are getting more mail calling for an end to the federal ban on saccharin than on any other issue. Not even bussing, civil rights or the Vietnam war caused such a furor. All of this for a diet coke. If all this fury over the loss of a sweetner to persons who cannot use sugar were directed at a healthy diet or the reasonable good taste of essential food, it would be more understandable. But the central issue is diet coke. Never since the days of rationing during World War II has there been such desperate hoarding and never before has there been such a tremendous outcry over a government policy. Senator Mark Hatfield has introduced a bill which would legalize the act of civil disobedience prac ticed by many persons during the Vietnam war - withholding their income taxes on a protest against military spending. The bill is sponsored in the House by Congressman Ron Dellums. Money withheld from the regular tax collection would be placed in trust to be used for humanitarian purposes. In light of increasing military spending this is not a bad idea. It could even eventually lead to a decrease in defense spending. Hopefully large numbers of citizens would take this opportunity to direct their tax contributions into humanitarian causes instead of war materials. Over a period of years so much potential tax money would be redirected that it would be difficult to maintain war spending but there would be money for all of those needs that now cannot be properly addressed— medical care, guaranteed annual income, mental health programs, etc. Unfortunately, Congress will probably forsee this possibility and the bills will never be passed. N azis w h ite problem A couple of weeks ago the Nazi party opened a book store in a San Francisco suburb. Although the store opened with much fanfare - marching storm troopers, flag waving, etc., probably nothing would have happened to it if it had opened in the ordinary complacent, white middle-class neighborhood. The Nazi's made their mistake when they selected a Jewish neighborhood - one that contained many survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. So the bookstore was destroyed by its neighbors, led by the Jewish Defense League. We can't condone violence - and yet it's hard to say what should have happened. Are the people to endure the flaunting of racism and threats of violence in their own neighborhoods? Individuals should have freedom of speech and of belief, but doesn't it hurt to see the ACLU defend the rights of the Kian and the Nazi party? Do we have to endure the spread of anti-Black and anti-Jewish literature among impressionable youth? The answer lies with the white community. The problem should not be allowed to grow to the point where minority communities feel compelled to defend themselves. The only answer to the growing influence of the Nazis, the White Peoples Parties, the Kian and other similar groups is a massive outcry from the white community. We should be seeing an educational campaign - speaking directly to the issue - in the schools, the churches, the service and community organizations, and in the white press. Only the "good" white people have the resources and the influence to stop this movement before it grows stronqer. If the "good" people of Germany had attacked Nazism at its birth, the world would have been saved a lot of sorrow. 1st Place Community Service ONPA 1973 Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201 North Killingsworth. Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 3137. Portland. Oregon 97208. Telephone 283 2488. 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 Portion Na Now York MEMSEH Oregon Newspaper I Publishers Association The mood at the Legialature is becom ing more intense. The number of bills passing through committees and on the floor of the Assembly has increased considerably form recent weeks. Thre is an air of urgency as the legislators and staff move into the second half of the MEMBER ER 1st Place Best Ad Results ONPA 1973 5th Place Best Editorial N N P A 1973 Herrick Editorial Award N N A 1973 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Place Community 1 ONPA 1975 doesn't m oke it so! Birth defects ore forever. Unless you help. state and federal agencies with develop ment plans having an Impact on the Gorge. The bill has had one public hearing and further work sessions are planned. Police officers will have a more comp rehenaive set of guidelines to follow when called to the scene of domestic disturbances if a bill I am sponsoring is approved in the House Judiciary Com mittee this week. The Committee, chaired by Rop. Hardy Myers (D-Portland), is hearing public testimony on HB 2438, which tightens the existing law and gives more protection to battered spouses and family. The current system gives little authority to remove anyone from the home during a domestic disturbance without a civil court straining order, which may follow k petition for dissolution or separation of a marriage. This had made most police officers reluctant to get involved. The measure accopmlishes a number things. First, it mandates officers to check nut domestic disturbances when notified and upon probably cause to a rre s t‘the suspect. T he‘ legislation also eliminates civil and criminal liability when an officer us acting in accordance with these provisions. Another aspect allows courts to issue temporary re straining orders to keep the abuser away from th e home if a petition has not been filed for separation or divorce. March of Drrtes t h is » wacs c o M ra io o V fo • » thc » u b o » m « p The House Ways and Moans Commit tee. chaired by Rep. Vera Kata (D-Port- land), is scheduling work sessions in the near future after hearing testimony this past week on a bill to require public schools to identify and offer instruction for the education of able and gifted children. The bill was referred to Ways and Means after it recently paaaed unanimously in the House Education Committee. The bill, HB 2931, establishes on a regional or statewide basis a specialised April 8 8:00pm program of instruction not ordinarily available on a local level. This includes Civic Auditorium special summer schools, annual statewide activities, and scholarships. I t also pro vides both model programs conducted to demonstrate exemplary practices, and pilot projects designed to validate the program on a trial basis. St. Vincent de Paul Day Care Center The effect of the legislation will enable Link A R t Fund gifted children to explore and develop Volunteers of America Day Nursery talents that might otherwise be wasted United Negro College Fund due to inadequate facilities or programs. The idea of specialised education fqft Tickets: the gifted and able child is not new. *8$ Stevens & Son bill merely revises an Oregon statute th$j Civic Auditorium I f you need information about House has been on the books since the 50’s. Eastside Bookkeeping Service and Senate bills, you can determine their The last time the program received status by calling Legislative Information. funding was in the 1973-1975 biennggn. The toll free number is 1-800-452-0290. A t that time it received $15,880.* Infr comparision. almost 11 million dollar» were appropriated for education of the mentally retarded and handicapped in the same biennium. * This session the proponents of HB 2831 seek just under three million dollars to develop and administer the program throughout the state. The program is designed to provide for each child reimbursement of local district costs over and above normal educational costs to a maximum of $100 in state funds. The bill also authorizes state grants in aid to local districts. J CebonMa R iver Gorge The House Committee on Environment and Energy is considering legislation which declares as state policy the preser vation. protection, and enhancement of the Columbia Rive Gorge for public use and enjoyment. 'The bill, introduced by Rep. Wayne Fhwbush, (D-Hood River), requires ex isting city, county and state agencies to establish and administer a land use plan for the Columbia Gorge. • Dependable heavy duty construvt.on ’ I t also is designed to protect certain rir rvcle «election« • Energy-»avine • Long Ute quad coat Meet cabinet • Eabrn «oSenei' d“ £ n. areas within the Gorge that are of • lo u g h poly pum p • U n d e rw a te rto t hl significant geologic and ecologic interest Self-cleaning porcelain enamel wash ba« for scientific study and public education. Under HB 3073, the Columbia Gorge Commission expands from th re e tb a five member citizen board a p p o in t* by the Governor. The legislation calls for the Commission to reveiw area land use plans Save Now on in order to protect and m a in t a in the scientific value and scenic quality of the Maytag Dependability Columbia Gorge. The members act as a coordinating body for interested local, Jubito, J ùa , Now nt Smith's! A\ MAYTAG MAYTAG j Heavy Duty 7 Washers Sale Priced! Bill progresses ii a e e i t o v t i f i U f i f t w i . Subscriptions: $7.60 per year in the Tri-County area, 18.00 per year outside Portland. ALFRED L. HENDERSON Kditor/Publieher • Senate Bill 850 was passed out of the Senate Committee on Aging and Minority Affairs and will go to the Ways and — revs s ••• » « P ortland O b server Ä by W ishing... aim ; U W WOU1Q p r o - vide for an elevenmetnber commission appointed by the Governor, to study past and current legal, economic, educational, social and political status of Black people in Oregon. Following a public hearing in Salem in which approximately two-hundred Black people from throughout the state partici pated. The bill was amended to increase the commission size from nine to eleven members. The first draft had proposed that no more than one member be from each city, but the amended version provides for two members from each of Oregon’s four congressional districts, each to be Black. The other three members will be public officials and can be of any race. The bill carries a budget of $100,000. Although the Senate Committee on Ag •ng and Minority Affairs approved the bill, some Senators have expressed the opinion that the bill will not be passed due to lack of funds. It all adds up! MAYTAG Big Load Dryers , ♦ Exilasive low-temp. tUTaiti-oi-hear drying • M ulti-cycle «electron • Feat, efficient enetgv-wvm g operation • Efficient drum «ixe • Unique air-ride drying «yslem Sale Priced! Ask about Special installation offer W hen you buy a D E P E N D A B L E M A Y T A G w e D O N 'T try to « I I you an Extra Cost Service Contract Ughtrd, O H -S tr-t Parking S M IT H 'S EASY ¡W uí SHOP « T O « M O N THSU NH at TIL * IC Io l.d Sun.) » 30th and S. E. 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