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Portland Observer
From behind the wall
by Larry
O A .P . 8a
wr «35021
Carreapesdest
Twoaof the moat distinguished Sena
tore in the Oregon State Senate, Friday
evening. May 20,1977, eat in the audience
of the Black Culture Organisation, a
two-hour, bi-weekly meeting held in the
visiting room of the Oregon State Pent
tentiary.
Senator William McCoy, Democrat
(District 8), the first and only Black to
hold thia state’s elective position, along
with Senator Victor Atiyeh, Republican
(District 4), both of the Portland area,
were clearly informed on the effects
being felt by the new criminal and
sentencing bills being acted upon in the
Oregon State Legialatures this year.
A select group of Black inmates cov
ered a variety of subjects ranging from
the newly proposed “matrix system" to
“creation of a transitional work and
education center" in Oregon's Black
community (Albina). “The Black prison
er's feelings were presented in one of the
most constructive and intelligent man
ners ever displayed by the group as a
whole.” stated Senator McCoy, who had
attended many prior meetings.
Ray Maple, Coordinator, turned the
full meeting over the B.C. secretary,
Dennis Witlow, who introduced each
speaker. The first speaker (name with
held) spoke of his experiences as a Black
inmate living in a transitional center.
He stated how hard it was personally
to succeed through the correctional pro
gram with none of his peers or race
employed on staff through which to relate
his problems to - which contributed to his
eventually being returned to O.S.P.
Deone Washington expounded on how
great the need is for Black employees
throughout all of the Department of
W A SH IN G TO N - Most Black mem
bers of Congress remain wary of'Jimmy
Carter - pleased that the doors of his
administration seem open to them, but
increasingly doubtful that the new access
will turn into real legislative influence.
This is a crucial year for the 16-member
Congressional Black Caucus. Freed from
the posture of chronic opposition it felt
compelled to assume in the Nixon-Ford
years, the group is ready for full partici
pation in a new administration's policy-
D em ocrat. P n m d .n l w jl
permit that participation to go.
All
caucus members are aware of one lever
they can use to influence C arter-the
Black vote. The President did not win a
majority of the white electorate in 1976
Blacks gave him his victory.
Correctional programs, so that Black
prisoners can identify as well as feel
comfortable being counseled.
Nate Howard, who has been seventeen
years in the O.S.P. atmosphere, ex
plained the need for better conditions at
O.8.P.
Charles A. Williams, discussed the
subject of three Black club members
being given four months in segregation
for confronting a guard, who ordered one
of them to “shut up".
Willie Barrett, spoke from the audience
on how Albina has been used as the
target area for crime throughout the past
few years.
This Reporter was privileged to speak
on the succesa of the Black Law class,
recently developed under the control of
the Black Culture Organization, along
with the need for adequate legal counsel
ling in our Oregon criminal courts for
Blacks.
The highlight of the evening’s program
came as a surprise, as one of the recently
arrived prisoners, an inmate of seventeen
years ef age, tried to discover whether
there was separation between the Blacks
at O.S.P.
He felt relieved after being
enlightened to the fact that none existed,
that unity and respect are the main goal.
Also in the audience was H.C. Cupp,
Superintendent of O.S.P., Rev. and Mrs.
Harding, Dori King, Multnomah County
Parole and Probation, and Gloria Fisher,
Portland Observer.
Both Senators
addressed the 61 Black members that
attended along with the outside
after listening to each topic, giving i
thought to things which were said.
Atiyeh informed the audience that he had
received as many letters concerning
House Bill 2011 and 2081 regarding
mandatory sentencing and 90% were in
favor. When naked if he was in favor of
A Quiet Factor
By 1980 Carter might be so popular
that Black votes will not matter. But he
might end up needing them just as much
as he did in 1976. It is a quiet factor in the
relations between the caucus and the
White House.
“When we have a confrontation with
Carter, it will have more impact, because
there’s no question that we are a part of
this President's constituency,“ said Rep.
Charles B. Rangel (D -N .Y.), a former
caucus chairman and still one of the
group's most influential members.
But Rangel and other caucus leaders,
including current chairman Rep. Parren
J. Mitchell (D-Md.), do not want to spend
this political capital frivolously.
“We don't win by embarrassing some
body," said Rangel. “We point out some
inequities. If half of them are resolved,
we wouldn’t be inclined to go to the mat
on the rest."
Fsi
But Carter and the caucus remain far
apart on the group's top priority-the full
employment bill promoted by Black
House member Augustus F. Hawkins (D.
Calif.).
Carter personally committed himself to
the Hawkins-Humphrey full employment
bill in primary campaigning in 1976. But
he was lukewarm even then, and since he
took office there has not been a word in
support of it.
Hawkins-Humphrey would require the
federal government to reduce unemploy
ment to 3 percent through a coordinated
set of economic policies, including new
public service jobs. Many of the bill's
supporters concede that Carter thinks it
is too expensive and inflationary.
The idea is not without friends in the
administration, and many in the caucus
are grateful for that. Labor Secretary F.
Ray Marshall has been particularly help
ful.
Said Rep. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke
(D.-Calif.): “The difference in this admin
istration is at least you have a Marshall.
In the past, we never got to that level.
Our battles were fought entirely on the
outside."
Ne Meeting
But Blacks say the administration's
willingness to discuss full employment
has not extended to the President him
self. The caucus asked Carter March 7
for a meeting on Hawkins-Humphrey.
Two weeks later it received a written
w„ u u
wn.
llama, the caucus staff director. “That's
an insult to Black Americans."
Mitchell, the caucus chairman, is not
quite so blunt. But he agrees. “The
President's position on Hawkins-Humph
rey has been a bitter disappointment to
me," he said.
Like other caucus members, Mitchell
always says Hawkins' name first in
discussing the bill. Blacks feel Hawkins
does most of the work - and should get
the credit.
The moat cynical explanation of Cart
er's silence on full employment is that he
never did consider it. His original accept
ance of Hawkins-Humphrey came in April
1976, at a particularly strained moment in
the campaign when he was under attack
tor the racial implications of his “ethnic
purity" remark.
Carter endorsed the 1976 Democratic
Party platform containing Hawkins-
Humphrey, but did not stress the issue in
his fall campaign.
Yeung’s Abesues
But others say the failure of the caucus
to interest Carter in full employment
reflects the absence of any Black person
in a position close to him. Former Rep.
Andrew Young (D.-Ga. 1978-77), who
might have played that role, ia ambassa
dor to the United Nations and is em
broiled in foreign policy.
“They want to be the brokers for
Blacks,” one close observer said of the
caucus. “And they aren't. There really
are no Blacks apart from Andy Young
that are dose to Carter... The one thing
Blacks were in a position to extract from
Carter as a campaign promise was Hawk
ins-Humphrey-and they couldn't do it."
Rangel believes that the whole issue of
personal access is overrated. He says
face-to-face contacts do not guarantee
acceptance of anything:
If it becomes necessary to complain, a
public forum may be just as good as a
private one. “We can cuss the President
out over here as easily as we can cuss him .
>ut in person," Rangel said.
restoring the death penalty, Atiyeh
replied he was, but only in certain crimes.
Sen McCoy was only lightly questionned
about t i e legislation he was engaged with
(H.B. 2297). the study of recidivism, and
(H.B. 2002) compensation to the victim. It
is with great appreciation to both Sen
ators by the Black inmate population
behind the walls at O.S.P. for their
appearance, comments and sharing of
view points with the men. All of those
present were honored.
This Reporter must comment to the
folks at home: When our public officials
show the whole hearted concern of
human lives and emotions in prisons as
these two gentlemen did, then it only can
re-affirm the wise choice made by the
majority of the people of Oregon by
placing each individual in their important
and responsible elective office in the
State of Oregon.
W ORK R ELE A S E
(■
withheld by request]
Primarily, work release is designed to
be a transitional program; a half way
point between prison and society. I t is a
program, supposedly, that will allow an
individual to begin taking on some of the
responsibilities that he will face once he is
granted parole.
This responsibility
extends to every phrase of his reentry
into the social environment he intends to
return to.
Consequently, there are
certain obligations he must adhere to.
Just as there are certain obligations for
the individual who is working his way
toward social fredom, there are also
certain obligations the staff take on as
their responsibility to help the individual
adjust his pattern of behavior, to the
acceptable means of the social environ
ment he will return to.
This means that the work release
program itself is a very eenaitive unit. I f
it intends to do the job it is meant to do,
then the individuals within the unit must
be of first consideration.
Needless to say, this is not the way this
program is conducted.
When an individual enters the work
release program his first awakening
comes with the realization that he must
give up all his dignity as a man and that
he no longer has any human rights. He is
not allowed to make any decisions or in
anyway control his life. He is told to put
his life totally in the hands of staff. Staff
includes, hi most cases, two counselors,
U. -• » * tu
¿búlfc
three police (or men who function as
police), two or three praeticum students
(who also function as police), and the
house manager.
If you happen to be Black, Indian, or
Chicano, you will find no one in c position
of authority who has any idea of your
environmental background. Trust and
respect are earned, yet you are asked to
put your trust and respect in the very
people that your life experiences have
taught you to mistrust. On top of that,
the mere fact that you are on the
program means that you have earned a
certain amount of trust and respect. But
this fact is disregarded with your initial
treatment being that of a person who is a
dangerous threat to society, who must in
every way be controlled.
This attitude is very destructive, for it
implies that you are not ready to reenter
society, but are fit only to be returned to
the penitentiary.
The total lack of Black, or other
minority counselors, creates in the indiv
idual, who must exist under such con
ditions, a fearful attitude of spiritual
destruction, not only to his efforts to
reenter society, but to have the neces
sary ability, as far as decisions and
responsibilities are concerned, to function
once he does make parole.
He is allowed no control over his funds.
Every person who wants to become
personally involved with him (friendly or
intimate) must be subjected to personal
interrogation by staff.
It seems that the primary purpose of
staff is to frighten and discourage any
and all involvement with the individual.
This approach is usually used on Blacks
and other minorities, which brings to
light the desperate need for Black coun
selors in every half-way house in Oregon.
Black people who have problems have
no way of dealing with those problems
except through other Black individuals
who, like themself, are living in the
house. If there are none living there, or if
the one or two who might be there have
no knowledge of how to deal with
problems, then the individual who seeks
help is really hurting.
Every individual in one of those houses
is in a constant strain - with the exception
of being the snitches - who are dispicable
characters in everyone’s eyes.
M y main point is this: Halfway houses
are not really set up to help an individual,
but to totally control a person - which in
the end, results in too many failures. The
idea is beautiful, but the philosophy and
guide-lines are unrealistic and des
tructive.
»h
The Vancouver Branch of N AA CP will
hold its Annual Tea Sunday afternoon,
June 5, from 1 to 5, at the YW CA, 1115
Esther.
?ouring for the tea will be Mrs.
Howard Stevens, Mrs. Eddie Butler, Mrs.
Homer Foster, Mrs. John Rodman, Mrs.
James Belton, Mrs. Bob Cook.
Mrs.
Perry Johnigna is in charge of arrange
ments.
There will be a display depicting some
of the activities of the Vancouver Branch
since its organization 32 years ago.
Everyone is invited to attend.
John Lacey is Branch president.
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Page 9
Vancouver NAACP hold* Toa
Black Caucus assesses
Carter administration
Quarterly
Thursday. June 2, 1977
A S S O C IA T IO N
Milwaukie, Downtown at
Washington and Broadway,
Walnut Park and Canby.
.
d