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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1978)
Pag» 2 Portland Observer Thursday. February 9. 1979 W e see the world Evie Crowell is serious and confident through Black eyes by Herb Cawtberue by Herb L A trip to the zoo A new “ integration" proposal has conrte from within the Portland Public School system which, if odopted. would be highly destructive to Block and to white children This pion proposes to bring one classroom of third groders from a white elementary school — complete with teocher — to fill a classroom in Woodlawn Elementary School. The white students would not be distributed among the Woodlawn classes — which are over fifty percent Block — but would be kept separate. These white children who would be transferred to Woodlawn for a "multi-cultural" experience would only mix with the resident population during recess, lunch periods and special activities. To make it even worse, classes would be rotated, so the lucky white classrooms selected to visit Woodlawn would stay only a few weeks, then go home and another group arrive. It is shocking to think that in 1978 this ridiculous plan could receive serious consideration True, it would fill an empty classroom at Woodlawn and it would improve the statistics at Woodlawn, but what would if do to the students? For those third groders coming in — but kept separate — it would be like a trip to the 200, an opportunity to observe at a distance Is this the purpose of a “ multi-cultural" experience or of desegregation? For the children who attend Woodlawn, this would be the experience of living in a zoo, with a never ending group of spectators coming to watch. There would be no opportunity for natural friendships to develop The phenomenon that now exists in the schools — separation of Blocks and whites in the cafeterias and in the playgrounds — would be reinforced. Surely the school district does not believe that the community will sit back and let a program out of the dark ages be thrust upon us! Demo's seek minorities The Democratic Party of Oregon has written its new delegate selection and affirmative action plan as required by the National Democratic Party. The purpose of the plan is to bring those groups who have been traditionally left out — minorities, women, youth, the poor — into the Party's decision-making process. It was this effort — bringing in more “ radicol" elements of the Party - that made the nomination of McGovern and Carter possible. The plan addresses a program to publicize the delegate selection process through the Party organi zation ond the media. Also, organizations that represent the “ unrepresented groups" will be informed. The Party must also insure that the final delegation is representative of the states' popula tion. The delegation includes eleven elected delegates, the Stare Chairman and Vice Chairman, three members of the National Democratic Commit tee and the Governor, The selection process insures that at least four of the elected delegates are women, ond since the Vice Chairman and one DNC member are women, at least six of the seventeen delegates will be women. Based on Oregon's population statistics, minorities would be more than adequately represented with one minority and since Bill McCoy is a DNC member, that requirement is taken care of automatically. As one member of the AA Committee remarked, there is no problem in meeting the requirements. The real test of the Democratic Party's intiatives toward the unrepresented groups will be whether the minimum will be acceptable or whether there will be a real effort mode to bring more groups into the decision-making process. Also, what attention will be given to the political philosophies and racial attitudes of the Caucasion delegates? We don't just want one Black voter, we want seventeen votes on issues of special concern to minorities. The people who will choose these delegates will be the four hundred electors who will be selected by the county parties. This is where the impact must be made if there is to be a true affirmative action program. The county parties must reach out and bring in minority people. Blacks and others who have historically been omitted will not swarm to the party without invitation. Over a year ago the Multnomah County Democra tic Central Committee, as required by the National Committee, adopted an excellent affirmative oction plan. This plan has never been implemented. No organized effort has been made to encourage Blocks and other minorities to become involved in the Party. As for as we have been able to determine, the affirmative action committee has not functioned for over a year. But Black people, also, must take some initiative. There is no excuse to continue to remain on the outside when important decisions are being made These are the decisions that effect party policy and party candidates. faw th o rae Upon first meeting Evie Crowell one might be misled by a mistaken tmpres sion. It may w ent as though she ts doing more tiptoeing than running hard for the Democratic nomination for the Oregon House of Representative* District «16. now held by Wally Priestley. But it's a momentary perception w hkh. Ms. Cro- well quickly points out. is the result of people not appreciating fully what she is trying to accomplish. No one doubts that she is taking on a sizeable task. Yet she is gaining confi dence. The sense that she seriously intends to complete this campaign sue cessfully - then move to an aggressive effort in the general election - is much more dominant than when she began a few months ago. W hat is Evie Crowell trying to do? I will give you my impressions which. I must admit, are formed only by my some what distant view. The 42 year-old Librarian at Portland State University is challenging incum bant W ally Priestley's position in the Oregon House of Representatives. Her chief difficulty in this challenge is the steep uphill climb required to prove her value for the future as against Mr. Priestley's record in the past. Ms. Crowell feels that M r Priestley does not provide adequate leadership at the state level, that he fails to think deeply enough on a consistent basis to bring about the ideals which lead to change He often asks the right qua» lions. Nevertheless, she contends M r. Priestley finds it veiy difficult to pul together the concerns of people, design legislation, and achieve change in the state government. The problem facing Evie Crowell is to demonstrate to citizens that she cat. do the very things that she believes M r. Priestley is unable to do: Take the problems of little people, synthesise their grievances, devise remedies, galvanize support, introduce legislation, and get it through. “1 feel 1 am the one who can get legislation through.“ says Ms. Crowell, the former president of the Y W C A . “The meumbant is not effective at the legisla tive level. He is spread thin. The legislative functions demand full time attention. I am certain that I can provide greater attention to the needs of district 16.“ According to many perceptions, Mr. I*riestley's representation in the state legislature ought to be separated from his leadership in education. His involvement on two different school boards plus holding a position in the state legislature leads Ms. Crowell to suggest that “he is spread thin.” In spite of this, M r. Priestley's work on the local educational scene renders the challenger's task more difficult. As a member of the Portland Board of Education. M r. Priestley has been by far the most consistent and positive voice supporting Black participation in local public school affairs His contribution to the Community Coalition for School Inte gration has been significant. Further more, numerous community groups and many individuals have been afforded the chance to respond to the School Board because M r. Priestley has furnished the needed information. In education. Priestley's concern for listening to the voices of the Black community is unquestioned. Philosophi cally. M r. Priestley's ideals present a picture that seems to be quite harmom ous with what many Blacks think. How ever, when it comes to the legislature, the problem that Evie Crowell feels she addresses is quite different. Evie Crowell thinks she can achieve substantive change at the state level. Therefore, she will be a more prominent force in bringing about an improved community through legislative effort. On the other hand, she says M r. Priestley speaks well and asks the right questions; but he is generally regarded to be less effective at the creation and implements tion of solutions. In this. Evie Crowell thinks she provides an important advant “M y method of bringing about change.” she says w ith directness, “will result in more iongranged, permanent programs which will be in harmony with the need of the city.” She makes no bones about it. “A forceful, direct leadership - working hard to bring out the needs of my district - would distinguish my service from that of M r. Priestley's.” T hrough the eyes o f M r. W . . . Harold C. W illiams You have probably heard the terms Equal Employment Opportunity and A f firm ative Action. You may have heard of the Office of Affirm ative Action. This is to explain what these terms mean and what this office does. A m ultitude of Federal and State Laws make it illegal to discriminate in employ ment in any way on the basts of sex. race, religion, national origin and age. The only exception is if a particular sex. national origin or religion is a bonafide occupational qualification such as for the position of sperm donor or wet nurse. Additionally, it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of physical or mental handicap unless the handicap prevents adequate work performance. Some of these laws are T itle V U of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and State anti discrimination Statutes in Chapter 659 of the Oregon Revised Statutes Discrimination means, of course, inten tional selection based on race. sex. etc. It is thus, obviously illegal to refuse to hire or promote Blacks, women, etc. However, discrimination also means the use of a device or procedure or system to select employees which has the effect of discriminating on the basis of sex. race, etc., unless the procedure or system is necessary for the employer’s business. For example, if more white people than Black people fail a test and if the test cannot be shown to relate to the require ments of the job. the use of the test is illegal even though the employer did not intend to discriminate. If. however, the test is a reliable predictor of future job performance, then the use of the test is not illegal even though more members of one sex or race pass it than another. Experience has shown that present employment systems in both the public and private sector are filled with devices which operate to the detriment of one race. sex. etc., and which cannot be justified as a business necessity. Besides un job related tests, educational require ment. inadequate recruitment, improper classifications, lack of training programs, subjective evaluations, and other devices have the effect of discriminating. This is sometimes called "systemic" discrtmina tion. The best way to determine if there is systemic discrimination is to look at the statistical make-up of the work force as a whole For example, women comprise about forty percent of the work force. Logically they should comprise forty percent of the employees at every level. If they do not. the reason may be due to selection devices which lock them out but which are not necessary to the employ er's business. Affirm ative Action means the taking of steps to do away with such barriers to Equal Opportunity. Such steps may include greater recruitment so all per sons learn of job opportunities, doing away with invalid exams and educational requirements, providing training so all employees have the opportunity for bet ter jobs, structuring jobs so they lead to better jobs rather than being dead-ended, and reclassifying jobs to more accurately reflect duties and responsibilities. An Affirm ative Action Plan analyzes the employer's staffing patterns as com pared to the work force, determines what imbalances exist and sets out what steps should be taken to correct them. A ffirm ative Action does not mean having quotas for the hiring of minorities or women: it does not mean hiring regardless of qualifications. In the words of Chief Justice W arren Burger speaking for a unanimous C-ourt in the leading case of Griggs vs. Duke Few er Cwapaajr: "Congress did not intend by the (Civil Rights) Act, however, to guarantee a job to every person regardless of qualifies tions. In short, the Act does not command that any person be hired simply because he was formerly the subject of discrimination, or because he is a member of a minority group. Discriminatory preference for any group, minority or m ajority, is precisely and only what Congress has proscribed. W hat is re quired by Congress is the removal of artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary bar riers to employment when the barriers operate invidiously to discriminate on the basis of racial or other impermissible classification.” The iniative petition has been endorsed by the Oregon Environmental Council. Oregon Council of Senior Advocates, Gray Panthers. Oregon Consumer Lea gue, Oregon State Grange. Consumer Power League, and the Young Democrats of Oregon. Join the coalition to stop the private utilities from overcharging their electric customers. JM m to tko Utilities overcharge To the Editor: P o rtla n d O b s e rv e r Published every Thursday by Exte Publishing Company. 2201 North Killingsworth. Portland. Oregon 97217 Mailing address: P.O. Box 3137. Portland. Oregon 97206 Telephone 283 2466 Subscriptions $7.50 per year in the Tri-County area, $8.00 per year outside Portland Second Class Postage Paid at Portland. Oregon ALFRED L HENDERSON Editor Publisher la t Place y Service O N PA 1973 la t Place Best Ad Resnlts O N PA 1973 5th Place Best Editorial N N P A 1973 The Portland Observer * official position is expressed only in its Publishers column (W e See The World Through Black Eyesi. Any other material throughout the paper is the/>pinion of the individual w riter or submitter and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer. Hoaorable Mentioa Herrick Editoria! Award N N A 1973 National Advertising Re.ireoentative Amalgamated Pubbshers. inc. New York 2 nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Place f-ommunity Leadership O N PA 1975 M tM B tR Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association n E ll PAPER AasocialKX) - Founded IM S Electric customers served by Portland General Electric (PGE) are being over charged over $17 million dollars this year. This is because the Public U tility Com missioner has allowed PGE to include $193 million in their earnings base for construction projects which are not delivering electricity or service to con sumers. Thus, PGE customers are forced to subsidize PGE stockholders to help finance their massive program of thermal construction projects, which are exceed ingly expensive and probably unneces sary. An initiative petition has been filed to prevent this overcharge by Oregonians for U tility Reform. So far we have collected nearly 20,000 of the necessary 46,000 signatures to put it on the general election ballot. Help us lower electric rates by w riting P.O. Box 12763, Salem, Oregon 97309. Volviiteer (Continued from page 1 col. 3) directors of 8t. John's. The experience of helping establish that agency is one which has had a lasting effect on Sohl. “It was really exciting to see that a group of neighborhood women could get together and create a service to meet a need in their neighborhood. They didn't know much about setting it up before they began, but they established a good, stable organization.” Sohl's panel is visiting primarily com munity and family service agencies in cluding L IF E Center. Labor's Commu nity Service, Jewish Federatior of port land. Volunteers of America. Salvation Arm y (Portland and Vancouver), and Planned Parenthood. David McTeague Oregonians for U tility Reform Want a job? We are recruiting young people who are in need of work. Eligible applicants will be employment and/or training. placed in Age: 16-21. low income, residents of Albi na receive preference, Northwest M inority Contractors Youth Employment Program 281-0015 10 N .E . Graham $7.50 in Tri—County Aroa $8.00 Other N a m e _____ _ ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____ _ __ Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________ C ity _________________ Observer S fa te ___________________________ B °x 3137 97208
