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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1978)
Page 2 Portland Observer Thursday. April 6, 1978 Portland Black Teachers: Why not unity? We see the world through Black eyes by Herb L. Cawtborne protests that gave life to the hope that one day we would all be free of racism and inequality. Dr. King was a healthy child, though, and his courage and integrity soon found him presenting the Ten Commandments of 1963 to an inspired throng of believers in Washington, D.C. where, as a civil rights teenager, Dr. King preached his now famous sermon, "I Have A Dream." So well did Dr. King relate his philosophy that millions of people all over the world embraced his course of action. Sot he died a horrible death after the showing of "King," The- highly-distorted version of who he was, what he did, imd why he became involved in the civil rights fight. He died, when Abby Mann crucified the leader who did more unify American Blacks than anyone else in the history -of this country. The press strikes again w Shades of Cleveland Gilcrease! Now comes Jack Tanner, a Tacoma attorney and the first Black nominated for a federal judgeship in the Northwest. True to form, about the time President Carter's appointment was announced, the daily press began its assault. This time it was the Seattle Times with repeated articles questioning Tanner's integrity and attempting to connect him to suspected criminals. Tanner was doubly bad. He not only had the nerve to establish a law practice in Tacoma and become active in the NAACP in the local and national levels. Worse than that, he represented Indians in their effort to retain their fishing rights. This is just another of a long line of Black public officials who have been accused and harassed by the white press. It is this pattern that makes us realize each time it happens that it is not just an attack on one man but a nation-wide campaign against any Black who finds himself in a position to make decisions or control funds. The U.S. just isn't ready yet. Dr. King died when it became obvious that there will be no end to the severe exploitation of Blacks on television and in the movies. Dr. King died knowing that the plight of Black Americans is no better today than when he was struck down by hate and poverty and frustration and the conditions that caused him to pick up the gauntlet that so many other Black leaders have dropped on their way to the banks of America. Dr. King died in great pain when he realized that Black youth in America no longer have a chance for a normal life. They have no jobs, they get a lousy education, they have no real concept of racial responsibility, and they kill each other in the streets of a country that no longer cares. His dream, which started dying the moment he was shot, is reportedly in serious condition in cities throughout the United States and chances for recovery are slim. And though doctors of philosophy and masters of sociology abound within the Black race, know ledgeable observers feel that apathy has permeated the body of his dream and it is not expected to live through the night. Dr. King and his dream leave to mourn him millions of young Blacks who have no direction, thousands of ineffective Black leaders, and millions of people who would love to help if they only knew what Jo do. Funeral services for the late Dr. King, and the almost dead dream, are being held each week in the degrading chapel of "Good Times," with the revered "Dr." Jimmie "J J ." Walker officiating. And there are literally thousands of us who are. relieved that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not live to see the depths to which we have sunk. Another Point of View The King is dead by Lee Ivory Karen's News Syndicate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., famed civil rights leader and champion of the philosophy of non-violence, is dead. He died from a severe case of apathy complicated by character assassination perpetrated by the people who have, for years, professed to love him. Though he was cut down by an assassin's bullet April 4, 1968, the very eloquent spokesmen for the rights of all men was not officially pronounced dead until last week when the friends and followers of the slain martyr realized that he no longer influenced the thoughts and actions of people of goodwill. Dr King was born on December 1, 1955, when Roso Parks, the mother of the civil rights movement, refused to bow to America's racist establishment. His childhood was spent in a series of marches and DEATH O F A M O V E M E N T -A P R IL 4, l%8 THAT SHOULD keep T'HELA NIGRAS X OUI ET FO RA few Y e a r s »’ i EQUAL RIGHTS M Y A ____• !* HELP US PLEASE DR.KIHG/S BEEN s h o t !»! “The power to define is the power to destroy. If one lass the power to define your child as being mentally retarded, then one ha* the power to iientence him to special classes for the rest of Us academic career.” Janice E. Hale “First W orld,” M ay/June, 1977 In spite of stifling days of slavery, when Black people were forbidden to expand their in tellectual horizons through self-d evelopm en t, gradually Black Americans have gained increasing influence over the development of their children. The struggle has been long and hard: Black mothers and fathers have made untold sacrifices, overcome untold adversities, in order to insure the spiri tual and intellectual expansion of their precious children. The struggle conti nues--today. NevertKWoss, as victory over Ameri ca’s well entrenched. racism barely peeks its bright light over the distant horizon, there is a growing willingneS» i^mong Blacks to complacently allow the whit^ dominated institutions of society to de fine what is a good education for Black children. Too many Blacks stand idle, indifferent in a cacoon of false security. The knowledge that Black children de serve a better opportunity does not burn in their hearts like the fire of freedom, and. therefore, they are unable to muster the courage to speak out forcefully on behalf of the future of young Afro-Ameri cans. The progress Black people have made has never come easy; each morsel of progress has been snatched with deter mined hands from the reluctant jaws of American prejudice. Progress has never by Harold Williams (This is the completion of "The Inner Soul Of The BlaA Man” by Mrs. Cal R. Williams.) He walks the halls of Congress and pleads for justice toward humanity and battles the disgust of injustice. But the Black man will find in the wee hours of the morning that his only true saviour is the universal God. We talk of education, he knows even though he’s been short-changed and not allowed to be exposed to the best of the best, the most knowledge, he will still achieve and see the light at the end of the tunnel. W'hen his own has turned against him and cried out in the halls of the nniverse that he is weak, that being his wife, he must take up his dignity and his pride and move on. For he must toil alone for many are not willing to face, seem to be aware of what the Black man goes through. He looks qfc his childrens eyes and wonders if death would be the simple way out. He looks at their tears and knows that their tears are not the tears from the raging river but from the raging filth of society that is cast on their weak bodies Portland O bserver Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201 North Killingsworth, Portland. Oregon 97217 Mailing address: P.O. Box 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208. Telephone: 283 2486. Subscriptions: >7.50 per year in the Tri-County area. >8.00 pei year outside Portland. Second Class Postage Paid at Portland. Oregon The Portland Observer's official position is expressed only in its Publisher's column (We See The World Through Black Eyes). Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the individual writer or submitter and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer. «av»« I National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers lue. New York runs Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association not yet strong enough to endure and not yet able to understand the torture that they must go through for a glimpse of hope. In spite of this, the Black man has to be, and must be. the understanding father, husband, and humanitarian re ceiving nothing in return. To be a Black man is to give the ultimate, to breathe the leftover foul air. to touch the green grass that has long since been burned. To be Black is to go beyond slavery, is to go beyond torture, lost dignity, but you must reach the mountain lop of universal peace for mankind. The Black man has made his contribu tions, not in opposition to the contribu tions of the Black woman, but in support of her. But whether she and the world have ever recognized it or not. the Black man has been the substance of the Black woman's strength, he is from which she draws her strength as though you draw water from a well. The Black man stands before the universe as the likes of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvy and others will come before us who stood in the small tunnels of injustice and spoke as loud as they could so their voices could he echoed across the valleys of justice and heard on the top of the mountain of compassion that we will endure, that we will survive as a people and that he will be She leader of leaders inspite of the enemies that try to destroy him. in spite of the cancer that invades his mind, in spite of the hatred that tears at his soul his responsibility is to give, give, in order that his children someday can give and receive. The Black man must stand up now and he heard where no others are willing to be heard such as the voices of Vernon Jordan who is the head of the National Urban League is speaking out against unemployment and injustice, poor hous ing for Black people at a time when he could hide away and have a few moments of comfort for himself, but his is chosen to come to the front and speak for our people. The Black man is beyond anything that this universe can ever imagine, is beyond what his wife is capable of understanding, is beyond what his mother is capable of giving birth to. (Please turn to Page 3 Column 3) Senior citizen: Rower of the ballot can you honestly say this man W AS wrong MEMOf» Vincent Harding has emphasized that one of the roles we must accept is that of identifying the “enemy" within ourselves. The widely acclaimed historian said, “To identify the enemy is to point to our unspoken desire for white models, white recognition, white legitimization." It is this desire, and perhaps only this desire, that causes so many of our people in Portland to deny with their inaction that we must fight for the cause of Black freedom and equality, even if that may mean a temporary personal setback. The gains over time will compensate for all losses. The modern apathy regarding school desegregation in Portland stems in part from the willingness to allow someone else the chance to define the dimensions of Black education. Somehow, white teachers and administrators know better thun we do. This is what those in control of the Portland Public School system would lead us to believe; and it seems to he what many of its Black employees want to believe. Black teachers and administrators in the Portland public schools will have to unite and begin to define unequivocally what is needed for Black children to learn the skills which will make them the masters of their futures. There is no way around the fact that Black teachers, united in the brotherhixxf of common heritage, can do more than any group to advance education in this city. Everyone working alone - each subject to intimidation and worried about promo tion and tenure - will not serve to advance the cause. Without carelessly- throwing away a hard earned career, Black educators in the public schools could do so much more if they were, as a whole, more willing to return a small portion of the gift their triumphant history has given them. Through the eyes o f Mr. W . . . by Ron H yden A L F R E D L. H E N D ER SO N Editor/Publisher come without conflict, or tension, or emotion running high. Indeed, when Black rage has been most forcefully translated into a determination to get things done for ourselves, then we made progress. At the end of the Civil War. it is estimated that less than ten percent of the Black population could read or write. That was little more than 100 years ago, and Black people have fought against vicious racism subtle exclusion, and downright prejudice to improve their situation. Illiteracy among Blacks today is a bit more than six percent, a figure which represents ironlike determination to make a healthy place for ourselves in an America full of racism and unfair social systems. Today, as some guzzle the intoxicating illusion of security, there is a tendency among Black people, especially those en joying a relatively comfortable life, to refuse to do much at all in the continuing struggle for Black self-development. In Portland, this tendency stands out like a bruised jaw on the tender fare of a young baby. Just a few weeks ago at a meeting of Blacks who often gather for conversation over breakfast, the compla cent tendency among residents here was emphasized in brutal terms: Too many Black people in this city will not work together because so many think their ultimate strength is in disassociating themselves from most things Black, parti cularly controversial issues. Young and eager Black men and women who under stand the obligations of their history will be "eaten" alive by the complacent network of the Black leadership. They seem to respect white-dominated power structure, which often laughs at them, more than they respect their own people. ME/jftBfR KktAJUfNJkL N e H p A P f ER Auocitlion - Founded fM 6 ? 1st Place Community Service O N P A 1973 1st Place Best Ad Results O N P A 1973 5th Place Best Editorial N N P A 1973 Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award N N A 1973 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadership O N P A 1975 Over 369,000 Oregonians sixty years or older are eligible to vote in Oregon's primary elections this spring. On the basis of previous elections, it can be predicted that seniors will total about 25°* of all Oregonians actually voting this May. For the next two months politicians will correspond with them, visit them, eat with them, and hug and fuss them for basically one reason: they have the votes. Significantly, the seniors are well pre pared for the onslaught of politicians about to descend on their senior centers, meal sites, and churches. In a booklet re leased by the Oregon Council of Senior Advocates, they have documented the voting record of all state legislators during the 1977 session on key issues in the area of nursing homes, dentures, housing, tax relief, utility costs, and more. Politicians speaking before senior audiences have been put on notice that one or more copies of the booklet will be circulating through the group. Senior activism is further heightened by two ballot campaigns of special inter est to elderly guarding a small, fixed income. Specifically they are: 1.) A referendum to fund general obligation bonds for low-income elderly housing. This measure will be on the May Ballot. 2.1 A initiative that would permit licensed technicians to make and sell false teeth directly to the public, which under current law is illegal. Signatures are now being gathered to put this measure, called “denturism,” before the people on the November ballot. The denturism initiative, strongly op posed by the Oregon Dental Association, has special significance. Senior activists lost their campaign for denturism in the last moments of the 1977 legislature by one vote, and want very much to win at the ballot box what they lost in Salem. Victory on this measure will give the senior movement a tremendous booster shot of enthusiasm and new strength and make many lobbyists for special interests shudder over the new possibili ties of senior power. All this activity should serve to warn campaigning politicians: this spring, more than ever, seniors will be politically involved and issue oriented. A candi date's puffery and image building will not impress them - but reasoned analyses of how to cope with - inflation, develop new energy sources, improve health care, and check government waste will score points for the campaigner. Seniors will take the time to study the statements of the candidates in the Voters Pamphlet, read the newspapers, attend candidates Fo rums, and question the candidates who come to their doors. And that, to their credit, is a lot more than can be said for other age groups of Oregonians. J j ü m to the, Edùoi----- Support prison column To the Editor: We support heartily all the avenues through the media the Portland Observer has opened for many of the inmates at Oregon 8tate Penitentiary, Oregon Women Correctional Center and Oregon Correctional Institution. "The Behind the Walls.” column has made it very possible for every prisoner to express their talents in poems, as well as writing stories of their success and failures in life, whether they be in an institution or on the street. We hope the Portland Observer and the "Behind the Walls” staff continue to supply the general public with th worthy information, as it has throughou the past year. Job well done, keep up th good work. Sincerely Don Eatoi Dennis R. Gordoi Ed Bradshaw Cecil S. Nortoi Deon Washingtdf Jack Annette Jack Dosiet Peter Gonzale Elmer Field David Martinez Wants friends To the Editor. My name is James Patrick Quinn and at this time I am confined at the Southern Ohio Correctional facility at Lucasville. Ohio. I am paying a debt to society for a crime 1 committed four years ago. Since being here I have lost all contact with family and friends, due to my confine men! I have fourteen months left before I am eligible for release, and as yet I don't have any place to go. If I can't find anyone to sponsor me out on parole I am dimmed here until my maximum date of release. What I'm really seeking is correspondence of someone that can help me in my quest for freedom. I am 26 years old, six feet, 183 pounds, would like to hear from concerned people. Respectfully, James Patrick Quinn #144 584 Box 45699 Lucasville, Ohio 45699
