Portland observer., October 20, 1977, Page 5, Image 5

Quotas: The issue of the day
by Dennis Whitlow
w W
w l* W
The issue of the day is "Quotas." Racial
quotas. The U.S. Supreme Court has
heard argument and is soon to deride on
the constitutionality of racial quotas, in a
case brought by Allan Bakkt against a
California medical school that reserved
16 of 100 slots in each entering class for
minorities. I would like to briefly look at:
the history; the facts; the probable
effects; the motivations of those concern
ed; and also express my owr. views on the
Bakke case.
by Alien Jones
LOU RAW LS IN CONCERT » • •
In the •'M'ks prior to the Lou Rawls concert, when everyone was still getting the
news that Rawls was coming to town. Excitement and anticipation began to appear on
the faces o f many people around town, including me. Lou Rawls has been one of my
favorite singers for many years.
Even though it has been a few years since 1 last saw him perform, in viewing the
concert last F riday night at the Civic Auditorium, 1 wasn't totally satisfied with Rawl’s
performance. It seemed to have lacked the gusto and enthusiasm that I've witnessed
in prior performances.
His voice, timing, phasing and orchestrational arrangements were most impressive.
The audience wasn't totally responsive at first, but as the concert progressed It
appeared that artist and audience had reached a happy medium. I tend to think that
many people are into Lou Rawls on a .a r ttim e basis. Meaning they only identify with
him on some of his tunes like: “You Never Find Another Love Like Mine," 'T il See You
" j n? Get ‘ here " "Tabacco Road," and a few others that are popular on the Rock
and Blues charts.
Thists not only unfair to Rawls but it's also unfair to you the listener. You couldn't
possibly appreciate the full scope of what Lou Rawls is all about by listening to a 45
rpm record as opposed to a good collection of his albums down through the years.
That s why I m inclined to think many of the people who attended the concert came
with blinders on. When they should have come with an open mind.
An artist can sense when the crowd is with him and when they are not. I think if
there were low points in the show that was probably the reason "Why. The concert
went along very smoothly with Ron Douglas opening the show with some very good
humor in the offering. For a newcomer to stand in front of an audience of nearly 3,000
people for an hour and fifteen minutes and get excellent response is quite a feat in
itself. Douglas humor is clean, real, and very funny.
P E A R L B A IL E Y - L O U IE BELLSON CONCERTS TO B E N E F IT
E M A N U E L H O SPITA L
On Thursday. October 20th and Saturday, October 22nd. the Emanuel Hospital
Auxiliary presents Pearl Bailey and special guest Louie Bellson with members of the
Oregon Symphony Orchestra in concert at the Civic Auditorium. Each of the benefit
performances will begin at 8:00 p.m.
Pearl Bailey, known affectionately as 'Pearly Mae' made her stage debut in the
musical. St. Louis Woman, in 1946 and won the 1946 Donaldson Award as the best
newcomer on Broadway. Her subsequent Rroadway appearances include Arms and
the Girl 0950). Bless You All (1951) and House of Flowers (1954).
Her film
appearances include Carmen Jones. That Certain Feeling, St. Louis Blues. Porgy and
Bess. All the Fine Young Canibals. and most recently. Norman Is That You.
In 1967. she starred in Hello Dolly!, receiving the highest critical and popular
acclaim She describes her success in Hello Dolly! as a 'fantastic emotional experience'
in which I can sing, dance, say intelligent words on stage, love and be loved and
deliver what God gave me. adding that she would like to preach' Dolly around the
world.
Larking formal training as a singer or an actress, she considers hersef primarily a
vaudevillian who tells stories to music. In spite of this modest appraisal she has made
numerous appearances in top night clubs in the United States and abroad and has
entertained at the White House more often than any other entertainer except Bob
Hope.
Married to her musical director, Jazz drummer, Louie Bellson, they have two
adopted children and live in Southern California. Portland fans who saw their recently
televised performance with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Symphony Pops Orchestra
will not want to miss this very special benefit!
Proceeds from the concerts will benefit Emanuel's unique health services
programming available to the community through diverse departments and functions
within the hospital. It is one of the largest hospitals in the Portland Metropolitan area,
licensed at 554 beds. Emanuel's extensive cancer rehabilitation unit, the Oregon Burn
(e n te r for patients suffering from critical burns and the Emanuel Rehabilitation
Center are examples of the invaluable medical care provided to our community by
Emanuel Hospital.
Tickets are available at $10.00/$9.00/$8.50 at Meier and Frank, the Auditorium Box
Office and all the usual outlets. Patron's tickets are available from the Emanuel
Hospital Auxiliary by calling 280 4267 at $25.00 each, and will entitle their attendance
at a (hampagne Reception for Pearl Bailey and Louie Bellson immediately following
the Thursday evening concert.
King musical premiers
" I’vo Gone to the Mountaintop," a
musical interpretation of the life of Dr.
Martin Luther King, was written by
Jackie McHenry.
The play, produced and directed by
F orrest Jenkins of Star Productions, will
premier on November 1st at the Evans
Auditorium at Lewis and Clark College
at 8:00 p.m.
Ira Mumford, in his first acting role,
will portray D r. King. Sandra Lane plays
' he role of Rosa Parks. Miss Lane, who is
a professional actress, was recently seen
in “Stardust," “On the Other Side of the
Coin," and “River Niger."
Michael Grant, actor and director at
Pacific University and the University of
Oregon, will narrate.
Music will be provided by: Mary
Burnett, Gypsy Hopkins. Thalia Antoine.
Jackie McHenry, Karen Phillips, Brenda
Phillips, Joyce the Voice, Bobbi O'Hare,
Prentice Phillips and W illie Binns
. . . UNION OR COMPANY
DENTAL INSURANCE
is a valuable a sset. . .
Use it to protect
your health
First the history: Blacks were slaves in
this country for 300 years. Slavery in the
U.S. constituted the worse case of mur
der and human mistreatment in world
history. That’s history and sad fact. Then
comes emancipation, reconstruction, re
gression (Black codes, Jim Crow, etc.),
and the Civil Rights movement - the
highlights of which include the Supreme
Court order for integration of the schools
11954) and enactment of the Civil Rights
Bill (1964). The upshot of the past being:
Blacks have had more of a handicap to
overcome than other people in this
country and have been opposed to some
of the other citizens every inch of the
way. Regardless that the liberation and
participation of all citizens to the extent
of their potential in the life of this country
would be an immeasurable asset to its
advancement. The false doctrine of white
supremacy has been the major fuel of this
obstructionism.
Facts: Blacks make up fifteen to
twenty percent of the population of the
U.S. That percentage is not represented
elsewhere in U.S. life except in entertain
ment and sports, and even there restrict
ed defacts to specific spheres.
In
unemployment, welfare, penitentiarys,
human misery, and violent death, Blacks
are greatly over represented. The vast
majority of "non Blacks" think Blacks
have an equal opportunity today, but
they are suffering a soothing delusion.
Analysis
The probable effects: Indifference is
ignorance. The implications are too far
reaching that any will be unaffected.
Obstruction and repression are ignor­
ance. It should be clear that the progress
of humanity cannot be checked and that
efforts to do so only hurt the country in
the long run. And then, those who are for
the progress of minorities should re-exa­
mine closely the vehicle of “quotas” to
determine if society’s goals can be
achieved just as expediently using other
methods. The remedy is knowledge - on
all three sides. Knowledge by those for,
against, and indifferent.
Maybe Mr.
Bakke has raised a valid issue; however,
it must also be realized that ultra
conservatives, reactionaries, and* others
previously mentioned may have found a
plausible Bakke, to ride to its own goals
of obstruction, regression and delay. A
nefarious dodge, a decoy.
Portland Observer
One cliche comes to mind: the Supreme-
Court must be careful not to “throw the
baby out with the water,” the baby being
Affirmative Action. Wc should keep in
mind the validity of Affirmative Action
and not be maneuvered into an attempt
to justify it (easily enough accomplished,
but redundant and pointless).
The
question is quotas.
How to apply
Affirmative Action not IF it should be.
This brings us to motivation. Quotas
are one of the tools used to correct past
and present inequality, discrimination. A
vehicle; nothing more. Its intent is not to
hinder or prevent a majority, white
individual from partaking in anything,
but M r. Bakke is claiming it does in fact
constitute “reverse discrimination" - and
is therefor unconstitutional. Is his intent
to reverse the tide of recent minority
progress (the little there has been), or is
his intent to sincerely point out a
weakness in the use of quotas?
As
indicated by the sources of the "friend of
the court" briefs advising the Supreme
Court to rule in favor of Bakke, the
anachronistic adherents to various rear
tionary doctrines see this issue as a
chance to further their own goals, regard
less of M r. Bakke's intent.
Regardless of and especially in view
of (no contradiction here) the approach
ing Supreme Court decision, we should
re-examine the use of quotas. We should
have a backstop ready to halt the tide of
any regressive trend. We should make
such preparations immediately, though
some will probably take the position that
to do so is premature and we should
concentrate on proving the constitutiona
lity, necessity, fairness, ect. of quotas.
Thursday, October 20. 1977
Page 5
Even were the Supreme Court to rule in
favor of quotas, the issue may still
provide fuel to the opponents of minority
progress. We have to be ready for this
contingency. As suggested by the Jus­
tice Department, maybe we should think
more in terms of goals or targets rather
than "quotas."
Semantics?
Not necessarily.
The
immediate objective is admission of
Blacks and other minorities in percen
tages more closely reflecting their num
ber in the population. Race must be
taken in to account. As stated by the
U.S. Solicitor General. “To be blind to
race today is to be blind to realitv."
Once admitted, which is just the first
step, the minority student must still do
the required work, master the course
material, and indicate the signs of pro­
gress like all the others. No one has
suggested that minorities be exempted
from the demands placed on the rest of
the students. Blacks aren't inclined to
accept unqualified medical help either
though any is better than none. We can
find a way to meet our goals without the
rigid entry formula that are so open to
attack.
Criteria might include back
ground, motivation, sincerity, etc. Mi
norities must also be actively recruited
A N D prepared if our goals are to be met.
We have to begin getting out of the habit
of reacting and start looking for enough
ahead so that we can always take the
initiative in overcoming the many ob­
stacles to our reaching the immense
potential we have as a people and a
country. Really, that potential is unli
mited.
Black ministers lead militant movements
by Joel Dreyfuss
membership at Allen Temple has gone up
from 800 to 2,500; the median age of his
PNS - From the days of slavery to the
church members is under 39.
1960s civil rights era. Black churches and
Another of the new, progressive mini­
clergymen served as catalysts, advocates
sters is Amos Brown, who last year
and leaders of social change. Now, after a
became pastor of the Third Baptist
decade in the shadows of more militant
Church in San Francisco, the city’s oldest
reform movements. Black churches are
and most prestigious Black church.
reclaiming their traditional role.
Brown has introduced a balance of reli­
The Black religious revival has been
gious fervor, informality and political
spurred in part by the same search for
activism to his predominantly middle-
spirituality marking the national “Bom
class congregation.
Again" movement.
One recent Sunday he used his sermon
But many Blacks, believing white
to criticize Anita Bryant’s anti-homo­
America is backing off its promise of
sexual campaign, warning against dema­
equality, are looking to the church to fill
goguery and reminding his congregation
the vacuum left by the demise of most
of the Bible's admonition against casting
militant Black activist organizations. The
the first stone. A t the same time, he
returning flocks include younger Blacks
listed homosexuality as one of many sins
who shunned the church during the
forbidden by the Scriptures.
political turmoil of the 1960s.
S P IR IT U A L SEARCH
The churches, in response, are ad­ ■» ■ If activism is once again prominent in
dressing issues, assessing their own roles
the Black church, the spiritual aspects of
and making changes to meet the new
Black religion are stronger than ever.
problems in their communities.
“We're in the soul-saving business,"
"The Black church has had a resur­
says Reverend W yatt T. Walker, pastor
gence," says D r. Kenneth Smith, pastor
of New York's Canaan Baptist Church.
of Chicago's Church of the Good Shep­
“We must not lose sight of our objectives.
herd. “As the pendulum has swung away
The.church must continue to be a citadel
from the commitment to social justice,
of faith."
the church has revived.”
Faith seems to be an attractive com­
One sign of this revival was a major
modity in the Black church today. “I f you
conference of Black ministers and theolo­
go to one of the many pentecostal
gians held in Atlanta from August 2-7.
churches," says Reverend Kenneth Smith
“W e are looking for a theology of
of Chicago, "you’ll see they're filled with
liberation that will once again place the
young people.”
Black church in a position of advocacy for
Smith and other pastors of traditional
the problems of Third World people,”
churches have had to reach out to
says Muhammad Kenyatta, a conference
younger Blacks. Some say it's normal for
organizer.
Blacks to drop out as teenagers and
The resurgence is led by a new
return when they begin to raise their
generation of younger, educated and
families.
progressive ministers willing to take
But others say the political movements
strong positions on current issues and
of the 1960s served as a substitute for
understand the need to meet non-reli­
church. While religion played a strong
gious needs of their parishioners.
role in the early days of the civil rights
One such minister is J. Alfred Smith,
movement, Black activism took on an
pastor of Allen Temple Baptist Church in
agnostic tone as the times changed. The
Oakland. California.
Smith endorsed
search for new values and new beliefs has
Lionel Wilson’s successful campaign to
led young Blacks to Marxism, transcen­
become Oakland's first Black mayor. And
dental meditation and Oriental mysti­
he has set up family and individual
cism. In some cases they have come back
counseling programs, a summer employ­
to the church.
ment program for fifty teenagers and a
"I had a young man come to me,” says
youth ministry headed by his son.
Reverend Amos Brown. "He said, T’ve
On the wall of Smith's study is a plaque
gone to college and graduate school. I
from the Black panther Party praising his
make $16,000 a year. Is that all there is
efforts. During his seven year tenure,
to life?”
“Black people are a spiritual people,"
says Brown. “Those who come back are
trying to fill a void, that need that is very
much a part of their culture.”
Barbara Wilson, a 33-year-old divorced
mother of two who lives in San Francisco,
started going to church again after an
absence of more than fifteen years.
“I just felt the need to have a strong
belief, to have faith in something other
than myself,” she says. Initially, she was
put off by Third Baptist's “bourgeois"
image, but she was impressed by Brown's
handling of issues and she now plans to
become a member. But, she emphasizes,
“I go to church for the religious aspects.”
But the Black church, of course, is more
than a religious center. I t has always
been one of the few institutions in the
Black community relatively independent
of white control. As a result, the Black
church has played an active community
role in the past and will again in the
future.
“W hat M artin Luther King Jr. did,”
says W yatt T. W alker, “was to dramatize
and create a cohesive force.”
The
potential for that cohesion still exists in
the Black church.
“The people who for the most part are
registered and care about the political
process are church-goers," W alker points
out. “Politicians go visit Biack churches.
They don’t visit white churches to look
for votes.
The Black minister is so
involved in crisis situations that there is a
trust between him and his congregation.”
The potential power of the Black
church is what has kept other young
Blacks like Anthony Wagner from ever
leaving.
Wagner, a deacon at San
Francisco's Third Baptist, is a hospital
administrator. “I had real faith in the
church and what the church stood for,
that through the church we'd be able to
make changes for the people," he says.
“W e’re at a point," says Kenneth
Smith, “Where a lot of people are looking
for a place to hang their hats. The Black
church never made a separation between
the secular and the spiritual. We must
make sure there is a theological basis for
our prophetic witness but we see the
church as the whole of life."
[Joel Dreyfuss was a former staff report­
er for the “New York Post” and the
“Washington Post."]
Church/lobor conference set
A church-labor conference will bring
representatives of the religious commu­
nity and trade unions together October
26th for an afternoon of discussion of
areas of common concern and mutual
cooperation.
The conference will be from 1 to 5 p.m.
at St. Andrew Community Center. 4940
N.E. 8th, Portland, and is co-sponsored
by the Pacific Northwest Labor College
and the St. Andrew Social Action Com
mission.
A four person panel will view past,
present and future areas of concern and
cooperation of churches and unions. The
panel members are:Nellie Fox, Executive
Director, legislative and political educa
tion for the Oregon AFL-CIO ; Reverend
Patrick J. Sullivan, a working priest with
wide experience in community services
and urban affairs, who is now actively
involved in the J.P. Stevens boycott; the
Reverend John Schwiebert, pastor of
Lincoln Street United Methodist Church,
Portland, and consultant in urban mini-
«tries for the Portland District of the
United Methodist Church; and Roger
Yockey, International Representative of
the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile
Workers Union, AFL-CIO.
The conference is expected to focus on
basic human needs with particular em
phasis on full employment, but the
problems faced by minorities, women,
consumers, workers both domestically
and internationally will be discussed.
“There is much that links together the
religious community and the labor move­
ment in a common concern and effort for
social justice. Workers rights, racism,
militarism, ecological damage, sexism
are issues which the churches and unions
must explore together," Yockey, the
conference originator, said.
“The dialogue between church and
labor is essential to building a stronger
social justice movement." he concluded.
The general public is invited to the
conference and there is no charge.
American State Bank
2 7 3 7 N.E. Union
2 8 2 -2 2 1 6
appearance
CO M PLETE CO O PERATION
ON A L L
D E N T A L IN S U R A N C E C LA IM S
W E H A N D L E A L L T H E D E T A IL S OF
CO M PLETING YOUR C L A IM FORMS
ALLEN TEMPLE CME CHURCH
(o rn e r of 8th and Skidmore
Sunday School 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Worship 11:00 a.m.
Christian Youth Fellowship 6:00 p.m.
(Second and Fourth Sundays)
» ■ * * * « * « -ee'w-
Reverend Thomas L. Strayhand, Minister
You are Welcome to Worship at
O p en S a tu rd ay M o rn in g
T H E ARK O F S A F E T Y C HURCH OF GOD PEN TECO STAL, INC.
N O APPOINTMENT NEEDED
ST. ANDREW CATHOLIC CHURCH
Come in at your convenience
806 N .E. Alberta Street
Reverend Bertram Griffin, Pastor
PARK FREE-Any Park n Shop Lot
HOURS:
281-4429
Masses:
5:00 p.m Vigil - Saturday
Sunday
10:00 a.) i. Choir - Si
Folk
Sunday
12:00 p.i
Weekdays 8:30a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Dr. Jeffrey BRADY,
"A warm spirit of fellowship always"
The Honorable Bishop U.V. Peterson, D.D. “The Holiness Preacher", Pastor
dentist
S.W. 3rd A Y A M H IL L ST., PO RTLA ND. OREGON
ST. ANDREW C O M M U N IT Y SCHOOL
4919 N .E. 9th Ave.
N oriU Kelly, Principal
T A K E E L E V A T O R TO 2nd FM M IR 3rd ST. E N T R A N C E
1
Phone: 284 1620
Grades 1 through 8
Sunday:
Sunday School
915 am
Morning W orship
1115 am
“Showers of Blessings Broadcast"
KGAR155A
11:30am 12:30pm
YPBC
6:30 pm
Evangelistic Worship
S00 pm
Tuesday-Friday
Noon Day Prayer
Tuesday:
Bible Band/Jr. Church
Wednesday;
Choir Rehearsal
Friday :
“The Pastor Speaks”
730 pm
700 pm
730 pm
84 NF! Killingsworth
281-0499
I