to th¿ Ztifa
We see the world
through Black eyes
Look for causes, not 'pound of flesh’
To the Editor
mg tuxunea, <
W ell, they plan to “low er the boose" m
Sure glad 1
w a s a l standing next to a jew elry store
window w h m the tights »alarms! etc.)
treat out. Not aajriag 1 would have lakea
of the unfortunate business -
may or may not have had
who was still bene
charitable enough. coafi
vnlcot •ooturh. cn
to
niaabbl minorities have more a «
and obtain higher skills, higher eduta
t b a . higher moral teachings aad a strong
a r sense of community, what occurred ia
New York C ity is hound to occur.
Logically and predictably
The same
could have happened, to a greater or less
degree, in say ares - m inority or
otherwise - where a substantial number
of the residents thought they were being
unfairly treated. having to overcome
extrem ely formidable barricades in order
to achieve a decent human existence.
Portland. Oregon is not susceptible to
that kind of occurrence, hut we do have
enough problems so th at we can, I hope,
identify w ith N ew Y o rk, is that right?
they w ere taking,
ind even cara, by
ia
U m loeters in N ew York.
’Reverse discriniaotioa’ oiyth of white recisa
The Bakke cose brings more interest from the
general public os the foil opening of the U.S.
Supreme Court nears This case — in which Allan
Bakke. o rejected applicant to the University of
California M etí'col School at Davis, is charging
"reverse discrimination" — will be heard by the
Supreme Court this foil.
As we begin our third century, this "democracy" is
still stained by the legocy of slavery and roc ism
Blocks and other minorities are still the object of
discrimination in employment, education ond hous
ing ond are still destroyed by the police and justice
system. Yet the small gams Blacks ate making in
employment and in admissions to professional
schools are viewed hostily by whites as harming
them.
Contrary to popular myth, Alton Bakke whould not
hove been admitted to medical school even if the
spec'ol admissions progrom for he economically and
educationally disadvantaged hod not existed. He
was a mediocre student and hod been rejected by
eleven medical schools. In 1973 there were 35
applicants ohead of him on the admissions list who
were not admitted to Davis, ond in 1974 there were
32 applicants ahead of him.
The special odmissions program reserved sixteen
positions in the class of one hundred for the
economically ond educationally disadvantaged —
not for racial minorities. White students applied ond
were considered, although none were admitted
under the program. This has been explained as due
to the fact that 90 per cent of the students admitted
to Davis are from California and a disproportionate
number of California's disadvantaged are Blocks and
Chicanos.
The special admissions progrom does not use the
much maligned "Quota". In some years more than
sixteen minority students were odmitted; in others
the sixteen reserved slots were not filled.
Of great significance is the fact that the students
admitted under the special admissions progrom do
as well or better than regular students This fact
demonstrates that the admissions requirements are
at fault ond that they rule out applicants who would
be successful students. The California court stated
that test scores do not hove to be the only criteria for
determining admission of students, that other criteria
con be used to judge their potential.
In a pencd when there is a shortage
of doctors —
®
especially in the minority and rural communities — it
would seem only logicol that involvement in social
concerns, leadership ability, interest in social prob
lems and desire to serve would be as important as
test scores. The end result if this type of criteria were
odded would be a group of doctors with more
human concerns.
The entire myth of "reverse discrimination" is an
attack on the small progress minorities have made in
the quest for civil rights. Even a cursory onafysis of
employment statistics would show that minorities are
still barred from employment and education oppor
tunities by discrimination ond in no way are
replacing white males (or females) in jobs or in
professional schools.
This big trauma about "reverse discrimination" is
a function of racism and unfortunately is being
perpetuated by the white press. It is disgusting to see
Portland's major doily editoriolly attacking the gains
mode by minorities ond charging "reverse discrim
ination" rather than informing its reoders that no
omount of "reverse discrimination" would eliminate
the debilitating discrimination that exists in this city
ond in this state.
Rile discriariaates
agaiast the poor
We have to take exception to the President'»
position on federal funding of abortions. By denying
federal aid to indigent women who need or want
abortions, the government is denying to them a right
that is extended to those who have money.
This in not in keeping with the President's pledge
to make democracy work for everyone — including
the financially disodvontoged
Although President Carter — and others — may
believe abortion is wrong, the withdrawal of federal
funds is not the way to settle a religious/moral issue.
Rwoor oioogors attack PMSC
oi. «1
fight for
to m e Portland ia the
John Rice, the
tool of PM SC e r the PMSC
There are those who believe
w ith the
of PM SC.
County
poverty
depone PM SC and become the grant
A rtico
er. failing th at, control PM SC
its director and or board '■♦»sir
Edith
The
mdude the C ity of Portland.
C ousrty. P A C T , and Regioa X . CSA
The C ity e f Portland, along w ith the
county, provides lim ited funds that are
used as the match to obtain federal funds
sad appoints members to the PM SC
b eard T he C ity aad the County nbo have
the option of invokmg the Green Amend-
county. In
r sem t
a m m e funded directly by the
Thm would place control of Portland s
poverty funds directly b th e hands e f the
B egim . w ith m 1
County
mey (M C C C A ) -
w ith the sessot-
. a PM SC foe.
e f I n Blalock.
I the agency that
i W iv e to <
fhting to the
M C C A A has
CSA m y
b the local i
said ba can maybe
privad, poor, hungry
the de-
;tha<
odds w ith elements e f the PM SC
and speeifieaDy w ith the A b b a e
gem. P A C T abo appoint!
tries on the P M S C bserd aad is said te
control th e psrsoo m l committee The
reoeeurriag eonfbet between P A C T aad
PMSC has been considered by some to be
radafly based and by others to be m
effort to tak e control of poverty funds by
replacing P M SC m the grant agency
P A C T director Jim McConnell b eosm-
ered to be a strong contender for the
office of Executive Director of PMSC.
ipoc the
of Gikresse s resignation. C ity
mooer Connie M cCready called a
e f the C ity aad County appoint«
PM SC board aad discumed the 1
of accepting Gflcrease's
the option of using the Green Amend
meat. Sources close to Ms. McCready
Some of the employees of R egim X .
CSA. would abo have something to g a b
if PM SC w ere to fad. Allegedly m em of
Oregon projects '
To the
r-piay o f three I
a the pe sm u ri they bring to
« the m a t f iw weeks wfll
th e r control of
federal poverty funds wiB re m a b b th e
control of the peopb through the com
munity based PM SC board or wil) pass to
beat governm ent W ith the demise of
Model Q tim . PM SC is the only remaining
program b which citizens. including the
noor. control large amounts of federal
O N P A 1979
PuM bbed every Thursday by E x it Pubhehbg Company. 2201
North KiUingsworth. R b t b a d . Oregon 97217. M ailing address;
P O. Box 3197. Portland.’ Oregon V7206. Telephone 28S-24M.
the T ri-C m u ty
MOO
The Pertlm
its Publisher * cotum (W e 8 m Tbe W orld Through 1
ttK j other material
the pepar ia the 1
individual writer er
the epubm ef the P
N ew Verb
A A E M 0«
O re g o n
I
Newspaper
P u b lis h e rs
Asaociftion
MA
E^Âb> ER
la ti
O N P A 1979
The school district has also allowed
Beaumont - which b w hite - to avoid
being paired w ith Sabin as a m id db
school. A fte r the Sabin parents had
agreed to allow th eir upper graders to go
to Beaumont, and the upper grades were
removed from Sabin. Beaumont backed
out. Sabin's children had to be bussed out
to other schools. Those parents w ere not
allowed to back out. The same thing
happended w ith K ing and Woodlawn.
it d e a r that ! am
My
participated in the
fer program from its
tw elve years ago - both voluntary and
» v o lu n ta ry . I also worked w ith parents
in the busing program for tw o years
because I belie vert somsaas had to make
the Brat effort to change the dwcnmins
lory policies th at had been practiced in
Portland.
I am net against a positive plan th at ia
fair and just to ail students. B b ck . w hite among tw o or throe receiving schools,
and others. I am against forcing Black this was tw isted around to m y that tLsy
children to be bussed and making all had voluntarily allowed th eir children to
schools ia the model neighborhood early he bussed.
childhood centers. I felt at the recent
This program still does not w ork since
ocfioot noara roeeim f th at D r. Btanchard these schools are still m ajority Black.
th at L as seal aa others who W hite parents who sand th eir children to
I w ith him. i
early childhood centers take them out
when they ranch the first or second grade
In th e recent controversy over the aad return them to th e ir neighborhood
Newm an plan, the issue of Jefferson High
to
I
If the School Board was really concern
ed about Black children they would b t
Woodlawn and Vernon remain K-8 or
m id db schools and bus Black and w hite
children there.
1 have laid toe cards on the table for
you. Now if anyone doesn't believe w hat 1
have said, pick op the deck and shuffle in
any direction and go look an find your
i Loving
MLR had cortases growth
(Continued from p. 1 cok 21
of the M L K Scholarship, Black folk do
have (some) or enough money to coatri
bate much more than they now do. In
actuality «6 percent of the scholarship s
296.000 to $50.000 rained each year (it
to
t to
i th at kind of money from Portland's
r i t y (B bck) community but Pettis
wee th a t it can ba raised to $15 far
y $100 from the business aad cam-
sal m etor. Pettis also makes it d e a r
much move difficult it is to raise
sy than tw o or throe years ago o r in
mid -sixties. The economic picture is
h tigh ter, fund raising competitioo
h tougher and more of it and major
w h tt
, w hat are they
doing (giving to support you?).
The result of all this n a $10.000 fund
drive s i t ending through the fall of 1577.
Its purpose: (si Publicise the scholarship
to the m inority community sad ovsr all
t ? « «2*
Pettis explained the philosophy of the
scholarship fund:
"A constant and recurring theme of D r.
King was judging a man by the content of
ra th e r than the color of
In order to develop that
s must be exposed to more
meaningful aad
We' qUaHtT-xiw rioneea. W .(M in o r ity
m inority community support to 1» per
cant, (el Convince the businessmen who
the scholsrship depends upon, th at the
minority community is d o b g all it can an
its own behalf, (d) Develop momentum
into late 1977 and early *78 for fund
corporations.
The cans, barrels and signs “Give-A-
Dsmn, G tve-A-Budt or M ore." it's for the
m uM
mental aad emotional
__ .
,
g
we talk about so m ud
ia be had through educa
tion and aU these qualities the M L K . J r.
students continue to display. W e are ia
the process of m aking Reverend King's
Dream a reality through education."
Naw moral fervor in Black laadship
1 col. 3)
to
the
first b
the
The
tra e
igfaa aad m orality,
aabm world, but - 1—
to the C h ria tb a aad Je-
^ O m o f the
mteUectuslly p a b ta b b brand of Islam.
Muhammad views him self aa the "revi
vor of the faith." aad ha h m openly
is careful to emphasise either a ra m of
agreement b principle w ith, o r carefully
guarded en tieb m of. figures seen as
radical, such as Ugandan Preasdent-for
life Idi A m b .
One of the most overlooked leaders on
tbe eriO rights seem is the Reverend
M artin L uth er King. Sr. "Daddy King."
as he b called, hm all but eclipsed hb
of the Southern
Conference, the
righta figurao
office.
Dennis Whitlow
School was just a small part o f the
injustice Black students sad parents have
safSered aad are suffering. The School
Board missed the essence of the dispute.
This issue b small compared w ith
making all the Albina area schools into
early childhood education centers to
accelerate the dispersal of Black children.
Some parents did not w ant th eir children
bussed for a va riety of reasons, so they
w ere forced to bus th eir children by
cutting the upper grades from the
schools. T o make it even w orm , when
the Seattle
Portland Obsorvor
Subecriptime; $7 JO per year
year outside Portland.
i o f R e g im X w ith
D ire c t fu n d b g of the
Sincerely.
For integration, against injustice
m unity. he aays. b really n m and the
PACT, a PMSC I
esther the C ity e r the County the grant
agency. PM SC ■ a private.
eh meets the ret
forth by C S A to be the
I l - F I E D L HEM M E3M O N
by Riehard
I th e Office o f
now
CSAJ.
ne Region X
C a rter
ino g*-. sad
lernt« ia üm ghetto. B U T . il would hava
m ighty tem ptin'. know w hat I
Evidently. the ghstto
supposed to i
concept of C A SH exchange value. 1 am
convinced that most of the looters arrest
ed in N ew Y o rk C ity wore the average
poor folks. The sbo'nuff thieves - very
few of them got caught. The th ief already
had hia getaway shot planned. H e didn't
suck around no hot spot b a g anyway
But. "the public must have its pound of
flesh.' said the young D A . of Manhattan,
“and I'm going to give it to th aw ."
hat he "knows sad under
»uses." A ad therein baa the
tragedy. U n til Blacks. Chicanos. Puerto
Ricans. Indians; the d arker (easily recog-
(the
maay now-impoi
eerporate offiaais foOoeved to get th oir
poastm u m the b b d e l. b the Reveroad
Deujämin Lawson Hooks. Hooka w m the
firat Black to terve m the Federal
kat w m a Memphia Judge.
A t one to m . Hooka headed church
b both Memphis aad D w
fiery eloquence now pro-
m b m at least a smoldering - if not
blazing - new religious, moralistic, old
time-civil rights message from the N a
tional Aaeoebtion for the Advancement
of Colored Peopb. which he has headed
■ace succeeding Roy W ilkins August 1st.
Hooks abo pomesses aa apparently
genuine sensitivity to the problems aad
conditions th at produce hard line rhetoric
among m ilitant Black youtk. Publicly be
S th P bce
Woodlawn
N N PA 1979
(Continued from p. 1 col. 41
Adams High School for the 1977 78 school
year. M rs. Edna Baakett will be the
A d a a b b tra tiv e Asesstant for the eighth
Reverend Ralph Abernathy
A nother religious leader who h m per
b yed k b own comnutmeot to the move
political and corporate influence b tbe
Reverend Leon Sullivan, an eloquent
proponent of the "green power” philo-
tophy.
Sulhvan. who serves on the
boards of directors of several powerful
corporations including General Motors,
works quietly b comparison to the
Jacksons and the Youngs from the
P h ib d etp hb headquarters of h b Oppor
tumties Industrialization Centers (O IC ).
O IC programs, w ith the substantial
help of federal funds, have been eeteh-
luhed in dozens of cities. And O IC rivals
the more prestigious and media-conscious
Urban League with tens of million* it,
like the League, spends on job training
sad inner-city manufacturing and man
power development.
The only m ajor B bck figure w ith a
national bam who b not a religious leader
or government official is Vernon Jordan.
pom iM y the moot im portant lander 00 the
civil rights scene at the moment.
Aa a result of h b A tlan ta "root«.”
Jordan remains a c b m advisor to Pre®
dent C a rter, despite th e ir heated public
dialogue during the Urban League con
ference. H e abo has the doeet B bck
connections w ith the corporate commu
nity.
Meanwhile. Black movement figures of
the m ilitant period of the late 1980e
repair th e ir own broken-down machines
of the next surge of
j the nation's Blacks, a
b o 'ey the growing po
larisation evinced by th e recent sharp
C a rter Jordan exchange.
Angela Davis u still making frequent
appearances on the lecture circuit. Huey
Newton h m returned to the U.S. to
resume lead e rship of the Black P anther
P arty. And Stokely Carmichael darts b
and out of the country from h b home b
Guinea. W est A frica, for college speaking
The Black m ilitant “fringes" and the
mainstream civil rights and religious
leaders alike are regrouping - all cau
tiously aw are th at a e b a r change h m
taken place b the methods and crite ria
and ro b models from which the Black
m asses w ill choose th eir leaders in the
late 1970s and early 1980s.
0
b tbe
Subscriba to The Portland Obsorvor
VW A 1979
ta b t e August
G epim nf the tim e schedule aad bus
s to p b e a tio u wiU be mailed to parents in
ad d -A ag m t.
M r. Mathias of sta dsut
traasportatw n can be reached at 288-
5861. e x te m b a 74.
D u rin g the remodeling period, an office
sriU he m s b ts b e d b a p ortab b building
at Woodlasm School
M r. Nskvsstl.
. aad Douglas A
P-beipaJ w ill w ork with the
to supervise the
b ate. The office
' for Woodlawn School b 2884899.
TK -C aunty area 0 7 4 5 0
*
«
N om a
A ddrast
City
othar «roas O B O O