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
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EQUAL RIGHTS
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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
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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.
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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