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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1977)
u l Minimum w ag e a social issue We see the worl through Block eyes more difficult to l e f N e g ra W e George I (3 0 this time Parents i en « v i l and btu-m the O f course, i ism in the rig ht direction. The e f th e Confitbn for * F air W age m a g a f a ii tfo * fact. I t makes it clear th at Blacks. labor and others committed to social justice are act gefag to be satisfied m erely w ith good i aad rhetoric buss th e sew T he fight a fair «or th e ir support of the poor o r civil rights. I t is doubtful th at they have converted to a more view . Despite all th e claims " T t h a t any e f the past caused iacreaaee in unemployment. Thera is no reason to th iak that it would be different this tim e. N o r is th e m ini mum wage lacrosse likely to cause inflation. The tru th is th at when labor is , it is i _ Housing The is as raen pegs 1 co i fi) staff «or sfitta fair bos it ta as y e t relatively N o one is quite i they wifi be in the g reat deal of rending helps too. “Some tim es I read five books a w eak”, eke any*, . • M in g . T h e r e w ill he one ia th e kitchen, * one fa the bathroom aad tw o in th e badboMo«" r.a< scribed ta by local H U D . local« i in th e effo rt to w ork sir bouo The Oregon Board e f recently signed a voluntary affirm ative fair m arketing agreem ent w ith H U D . and efforts «rill shortly be underway to secure oth i I'm f o n d e t e q u iet: aeons to be watched." of the « t a . I t i to love and the rto i at U t t f o i they do n p re tty good job e f w ritten about prisons in hooka, maga zines and newspapers, enough has been said aad seen <m radio and T . V , an that the m ajority of Americans should have a good idea of the daily abuse th at goes on. So you've got aa institution th at doesn't work. and you've got a society th at a m aee it. O r does society see it? I f you w ere to take a tour behind thane walls, you'd probably see th e school of desks, blackboards. and books,a nd the vocational training departm ent that teaches everything from u ta itro n iti to mechanics. You'd probably aee indus tries: the furniture factory, the laundry, the upholstery shop, the m etal shop. You'd probably see the prison yard: basket,hell courts, card tables, a track, horseshoe pits. And your guide might tell you about the sever! recreation clubs w ith their large memberships. And yon might think to yourself: "W hat is raise ing?” But what did you see except a prison environment that you already know doesn't work? Now put the eonviete in the picture and imagine them living, inter acting among themselves: hundreds of men passing The penaHty fa r this typ e of be np to tw o y e a n in of good tim e, h e a serious charge. I be easy to prov i logical th a t th e man h it should be sake It the e f the ald ariy are beec obeotate. w tth the aew move te build ilm pli ipustim -D id Donald D a n fa you on the heed?" T1 bring a simple “No" an 11 weald be oat of taek-up. But the staff« o u t do th at: t h a n aa the te d e the vast m ajo rity get aleni without) each other. B u t th e ! th at she available. But it to net. » je b e m e net eeugfo afte r by the obsoleto befara tt ta completad? And w hy hy pufatte tn aep o rtatta a? I f all of theee questioos are anewered ia the a firm a tiv a , w hera w fll th e Oeanty afonía th e "start-up" funda aad the m raey t e parchase th a b fo d fo « fo fig fo e f rapaeted ahertagee e f fonda and budgot cute? A le rt crttiee ere aakfag th at theee he nnewered befara t u funda i «vili have no control. «th aï TÜTS2 Young ’ by the leas qualified aad that's a tat (Continued from page 1 col. 8) ant p art e f : staff, ta poverty I to be fa inte the Zam wbo was trained in China. "But I They like to A ad they are more raciet than whiten. I wns in China six months and couldn't get a woman.* : wonderful people who gave fanore. the circus roes on. tee cfoume Sincerely, Donald rv-nfcyU M W » » i^ u o r o other hand, have w m e common cultural hnks. As residents of a form er British colony, Tanzanians speak a t least some English C hristianity ranks w ith Islam aa oue of the top tw o religions; Nyerere Y e t. atri ids aa the for, or the one who opens foe eefi, or the one who cie t h ee U m . o r the one who feeds him, or the one who performs any of the various other needs. W h a t happens between staff and eaeviet, the way a prieoa ta run, is the gute of a prieoa. And yon G ary only the a Puotished every Thursday by E rie Publishing Company, 2201 North Kilhngsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. M ailing address: P .0 . Box 3187. Portland.'O regon 97208. Telephone 288-2488. Subscriptions:97.90 per year ia the Tri-County area, 98.00 per year outside Portland. > official position is expressed only ia The Perttan its Publisher's col um: : (W e See The World Through Black Eyes) the paper ta the opinion e f the Any other material reflect individual w riter or the opinion of the V í!5íf 1978 I Aw ard N Ñ A 19T8 O N T A 1979 New York Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association / And the rig ht of a Portland Observer I T cover the gound th at I stand a n . . . aad Tve been known to shake more than the ground I cover." Citizen of the Week the :a a a himself ta a devout Catholic. A ad. aa by Andrew Young. Taiwan i took to th eir ties w ith America's A L F R E u L. HENDERSO N ' parts of the country role in her mo it expands her I and e f herself. A know herself end she knows th a t she ta going to get ever. T believe th a t every man is a God aad can do anything," she says. “I knew th at th ere ta something th at I am supposed to do bora but I don't knew w hat it is. but I know Fm being prepared because I know I should have been removed from here tang tim e ago. “But I'm still around." she adds, “and I'm Baaadddd!" ■ ifa 1 eoi. 8) from i f th ey W t f t t The C arter ested aa increase ia the i but sot nearly a big enough increase. T heir proposal to raise the wage fleer a mare 20 rants aad in the future tie it to 90 per cent of the average wage level is inadequate aad unfair. I t would lowest paid workers into a povs for the future. M any full-tim e wage workers would still have to seek supplemental w elfare assistance fa order to have a decent standard of living. Tho issue of a (air minimum wage ta a challenge to the conscience of Am erica. I t asks that tho plight oi the poorest paid Americans not he forgotten. As unem ployment recedes - and it haa not yet £ Berry a t the Td like to lost to inflation since 1974. when the minimum wage law th a t the m d n y .« is very good. ara Geriatric center Tp the Editor: poverty cutoff level. A a millioe workers ears only a little m ere than the minimum wags. I t would take a by law The efforts. Guards number ana problem U earns au I to roach t l w ill remain for mfiboos o f . W hen workers are peer, they can move out of poverty only U they are paid a decent wage. A a increase ia the minimum wage ta the most im portant stMp that can ba tahan ta help the working poor. I t w ill ha a sign th at the United States ta still committed to econ omic social justice. ra s a < T h e M etropolitan i w ill be the f of local government in the of voluntary fair bousing JjtttM to tkf, &ttiOl stag paid the IS J O federal cents just Z T ro s to ra the buying power of liberal taboo I l by the ith e Too Cheiresan of the U .S . I ^ ^ f o n always been the < youngsters are considered guilty by association. Parents said their was discrimination in discipline and PPS said not true. Now the Department of Health, Education and Welfare has found the parents' accusations to be true. The district's policy is not in error - its just that a few principals don't adhere to the policy, the district says. Who’s responsibility is «t to see that the principals do their jobs? It should be the job of the administration, ond it should be the responsibility of the School Board to insure that the administration knows what is happening. Black parents hove o few more complaints. They soy they are carrying all of the burden of desegrega tion. They say their children are not wanted and are not welcomed in some schools. say t^t^sir children can't participate in after-school or evening activities because there is no transportation. They soy some teachers have no awareness of Block culture and history. They soy these things to administrators and they say them to each other. If the administration and the school board can't come a little closer and listen, maybe they will hovo to say them to HEW. The district has an opportunity to bridge the gap before it is too late. They do not hove a long range desegregation plan, one that is flexible enough to adjust for the increasing numbers of minority children. They meet each fall with another stop-gap plan. This is on opportunity to involve the community in developing a comprehensive.workable pion,accept able to ail, that would provide quality, integrated education for all children. School district officials Have taken a big step forward. They have come across town and talked to some Block people - and they must be complimented and encouraged for that. But the fact that they chose to meet with friendly persons with whom they have worked before is significant. They have got »o take one step more and talk to parents and citizens — who might be strangers ond might even be unfriendly. Only by getting out in the community ond among the people will they know the moods and demands. This is true not only in the Block community but in the white neighborhoods also. They would learn that mony times parents do know best. It seems that educators donf want interference from parents or at least donf wnat to take the time to bother with them, but sometimes they should stop and listen ond share ideas and concerns. If the PPS administrators and school board members would come to Albina ond talk to parents they would find that they are genuinely concerned obout their children.that they too ore often confused ond frustrated,that they have some ideas that might be valuobleAut it seems that for some reason school officials are afraid to approoch those people with whom they should have the most in common — a concern for children. For many years Block parents have been com plaining that Block students are disciplined more harshly than their white classmates.Often when two students get into trouble, one white and one Black, only the Black is punished. Blocks are the first suspects when something is wrong, and often Block erases in the i i to the Brat mini ta 1CS7. So this leb t under eey e d to i A t the same tim e, however, W estern economic and certain cultural influences ideatified w ith colonialism- are officially disfavored And even Black Americans are not always well liked. Some resent the desire of com paratively wealthy Black Am ericans tourists to spook of them as “brothers.” Still, about 1900 Americans, many of them missionaries. live in Tanzania, and Tanzania's world-renowned game parka attract a num ber of U .8 . tourists. Aad wtth the exception of th e Chisses railw ay advisers, who always w alk ia solitary pairs. Chinees aad Russians are virtu ally "Fve never m et any Russians, but Am erirdhs I ’ve known have always tre a t ed me w ith respect,” said Jim M ukirya. “W e may be socialist, but in Tanzania we don't care if you're capitalist or oommun tat. as tang as you tre a t us w ith respect.” T aylo r ta a senior nt Portland State U n iversity, majoring ia Political 8ctanra. Public Adm inistration aad Black Studies. She plans a career fa Public Adm inistration. C u rren tly a proof operator a t U A N ational Bank. K im T aylo r has held a num ber of interesting positions: Research Aactotant for P S U Stack Studtae Center; Executive Secretary e f teh Independent Learning C enter at Concordia Ceitage; Research Assistant fo r the M a rtin L u th er King. J r. Scholarship fund of Oregoq. D u rin g the 1977 legislative ssstion she served ea an intern for Senator M a ry Roberta end spent much e f her tim e organizing support for SB880 which would have established a Commission an Blacks in Oregon. D u rin g the 1976 session she was an intern for Senator Bill McCoy. A m ember o f Bethel A M E Church. Mies T aylo r was an elected delegate to the church's General Conference held in A tlan ta in 1978. She is an active youth lender in the church. Use all you need but save all you can . . . T/te People at Pacific Power Subscriba ta The Portland Observer Trt-County ere« $ 7 .5 0 Name Address •C la rk N o rte a ta an fa A frie n . His I in Rolling Stone end City other erees $ 8 .0 0
