Page 2 Portland Observer Thursday. June 15,<978
M y D a u g h te r's T eachers
W e see the world
Pickett and Carry: A Love Combination
by Herb L. Cawtborne
through Black eyes
School Board error?
Confusion reigned in the board room Monday night
and out of the chaos stepped Forrest Rieke, the new
school board member
The Board had an opportunity to select a man who
would bring a new constituency to the Board Bill
Scott, the bright young former assistant to Neil Gold
schmidt. had promised an in-depth look at the budget
and the budgeting process and a genuine effort to
seek out the concerns and ideas of citizens. Scott
would have added another dimension to the Board
and aided in the struggle for credibility.
But something went wrong, Jonathan Newman lost
his cool and Scott lost the appointment.
Scott had always been favored to win but there
were political realities to deal with. Gladys McCoy
had a political ax to grind, opposing Scott because
his group endorsed her opponent in the County
Commission race. Phyllis Weiner owed Rieke her
vote because of friendship and his assistance in her
past political campaign. Beverly York favored Rieke
but could switch to Scott.
For Scott were Wally Priestley, who stuck with him
through the vote; Jonathan Newman, who supported
and lobbied for him; and Frank McNamara.
The first vote went as expected, a 3-3 tie. This was
followed with some good natured bantering and
giggling about who would change their vote. Mrs.
York, perhaps not wanting to switch too soon after all
this chatter, stuck with Rieke through the second
vote. But McNamara, voting iast, made the surprising
move of switching to the third candidate. Goroon
Ranta. Though unexplained, some old political
hands in the audience felt this was an effort by Mc
Namara to loosen up the vote and allow Mrs. York to
switch gracefully the next time around.
However. Jonathan Newman, the self-proclaimed
leader of the Scott forces, in apparent confusion,
switched to Rieke Although McNamara switched
back to Scott, it was all over Rieke had been elect
ed with a 4-2 vote.
If it weren't such a tragedy this comedy of errors
would be humorous. The omnipotent school board,
tangled its own feet, wound up caught in its own
web
Now loaders on dock
There are signs that a new era in Black leadership
is developing in Portland. An example Is the Urban
League's recent reply to a school district request for
participation in public hearings on the scheduled tax
base election, (see page 1) Having received a
questionnaire from the district, the Urban League ob
jected to the form and the timing of the request. "The
Urban League Board of Directors not only finds the
nature of the questionnaire to be somewhat con
descending. but we also think this is attributed to a
temperance that is too tight to allow for full and open
discussion.”«-
Referring to the success of the Community
Coalition for School Integration in involving the
community, the Urban League advised that “if the
school district wants the counsel of the community,
a process of patient involvement of citizens is a good
place to begin.”
Only a few years ago the Urban League could have
been expected to do whatever the school district
asked This response indicates not only a growing
awareness of its rightful role - one of questioning as
well as supporting - but the stength to stand up to
those who once could depend on its submission.
The NAACP is still dormant in Portland, although It
Is currently planning tor the National Convention
which will be held the first week In July. A large num
ber of people who are not ordinarily closely identified
with the NAACP are working on convention commit
tees The hope for further growth and development
of the NAACP branch - and its involvement in the
many serious issues that confront the Black com
munity - is that many of the younger, professional
people will become involved In the Branch and
provide the energy and enthusiasm it needs
It would be unfortunate if the NAACP were to bring
its national convention to Portland, then leave, and
there be nothing changed.
Portland needs a viable, involved civil rights
organization. It will be interesting to see whether the
NAACP, which should fill that role, will be revived or
whether the Urban League, traditionally a more con
servative "social work” agency, will become the
dominant civil rights organization In Portland. Much
will depend on the NAACP’s response after the conven
tion is gone and on the new Executive Director soon
to be selected by the Urban League Board.
Victory
is W on
y? . >
Learning anything worthwhile is dif
ficult. Some people fin d it painful.
Everyone finds it tiring. Few things
will diminish the difficulty, the pain,
and the fatigue like the kindness o f a
good teacher.
gaining her certification and assuming
full responsibilities, wants her children
to make no mistake about her feelings.
" A teacher has to show love and care.
There’s no reason not to put your arms
around a chilo and hug him. And a lit
Gilbert Highet. tle praise goes a long way - like a nap
The A rt o f Teaching py face on a math paper, or a sticker,
or a star. 1; doesn't take a whole lot to
In spite of all the criticism, teaching make a child feel good and proud.”
must be one of the most rewarding ef
It may not take a “ whole lot” to
forts a person can make. The society make children feel proud, but the ef
pays teachers very little, which reflects forts of Mrs. Pickett and Mrs. Curry
our willingness to hock the future for are exceptional - they go far beyond
the pleasure of living well today. Com the minimum requirements of modern
plaints are heard daily: “ Teachers are teaching.
ineffective. They cry and moan and do
Mrs. Curry, for example, had every
nothing.'*
child in groups of five come to her
In spite of it all, teaching must be home for a slumber party. “ 1 enjoy
rewarding. What else can it be for having them.” she says, " It goes back
those who do it well? Viewing my to the way 1 feel about the children I
daughter's kindergarten teachers this teach. Also, a lot of children think
year at Irvington School, there is no their teacher’s home is at school. It's
other conclusion to draw. They seem good for them to see your life away
tireless, eternally patient, able to trans from school.”
form the gittery existence o f a five
A week ago the kindergarten
year old into a sparkling vision of the classroom was turned into a
future.
restaurant, with clever placemats
My daughter has been guided this decorated by colorful drawings and
last year by Naomi Pickett and bright tablecloths.
Mrs. Curry and
Katherine Curry. Mrs. Pickett is the Mrs. Pickett had arranged a buffet
classroom teacher; Mrs. Curry the breakfast for the parents o f the
classroom aide. They are a team, with children in their class. The sign in the
a deep sense o f the atmosphere which back of the room said, “ Thank you for
helps learning.
the joy o f teaching your child this
"W e want them to learn and feel year.” The chance for the children was
happy,” says Mrs. Pickett. “ It ’s best magnificent - they all dressed up,
when a child feels good about coming greeted their parents with unusual ex
to school.”
citement, proudly guided them into
Mrs. Curry adds: “ You can be firm, their classroom, helped them get eggs,
but you don’t have to be a big bad ham and hash browns, then sat down
w olf.”
for conversation and laughter. What a
They understand the meaning of way to end a good year!
kindness in teaching. “ W’e are firm
Naomi Pickett and Katherine Curry
but kind,” stresses Mrs. Pickett. “ We are a team. They are like the halves of
want them to do well but wc don’t a perfect wedding ring which fit
drive them so hard that we have to together to make a flawless circle. 1 am
holler or get made. For example, we only one of many who acknowledge
have quiet time.
They know when this smooth combination.
For in
quite time comes and they react. stance, as concern developed over the
W e’ve taught them to react, but we possibility that Mrs. Curry might be
never hit or scream.”
moved to another classroom, a group
The kindness they transmit give a of worried parents wrote the principal,
sense o f family. From what I have Frank Haight, saying, “ Although our
seen, this sense of family energizes the children will no longer be working with
children. They feel at home. And they these two fine teachers, we do urge you
are eager to learn. This is no accident, to consider what impact your action
as Mrs. Curry points out, “ I feel I am might have on children coming next
their mother away from home. I am year. Since many feel that the initial
responsible for them, and I wouldn't years are more crucial than others, we
do this kind of work if 1 didn't feel that wanted you to know how pleased we
way.”
have been with the combination of
Mrs. Pickett, who has spent several Mrs. Curry and Mrs. Pickett.”
years as a classroom assistant before
These two Fine teachers are the
69TH ANNUAL
July
1st Place
C omasunits Service
O NPA 1973
P ortland O b server
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The Portland Observer'» official position isexpressed 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 w riter or submitter and does not necessarily
reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer
ALFRED L. HENDERSON
E d iter/PvMiafcer
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Othe’
N a m e ------------------------------------------- ____ ----- _____________
A d d r e s s _____________________________________________
C i t y _______________________________
O b s e rv e r
Box 3 1 3 7
97208
Our children
are the soul foundation o f a new world.
Our children
are the fresh dreams o f a new future.
Our children
are the continued progress o f a struggle
that is 400 years oid.
Our children
are the great wings upon which the
dark race glides into a new relationship
with tomorrow.
Our children.
We must protect our children.
Affirmative action necessary
To the Editor:
M emorial C oliseum
Our Children
J-dtui to the ZdiiM
NAACP
CONVENTION
ultimate proof of the validity in the
argument for more Black teachers in
the Portland Public Schools. They are
concerned, they work hard and they
work well. They are innovative. As
strong Black women, kind but firm,
loving but demanding respect, they
transmit a very important message to
my child.
In an atmosphere o f stinging
criticism aimed at public teachers. Mrs.
C urry stands unbothered in the
warmth of a sound philosophy: “ My
appreciation comes from the students;
how they feel toward me and how I feel
toward them. If they progress toward
the goals we set early in the year, I feel
good. That’s my appreciation.”
Mrs. Pickett, on the other hand,
acknowledges that the criticism is often
discouraging, but she doesn't dwell on
it. "W e are pleased when we see the
change in children," she says. “ They
begin to respect others, respect their
teachers, and learn to respect the
property of others — this is our reward.
You see a child progress; they begin to
listen and work hard to do what is ex
pected of them. This makes me feel its
all worthwhile."
My appreciation for the work of
these two dedicated teachers stems
from an understanding of the impor
tance o f young people to the im
provement of our race and of our
world. Katherine Curry told me, ” 1
am never too busy to help a child. I am
here to help them." The poem that
follows is my way of saying why I think
that attitude and the work which
results arc so very vital:
Given the nation's history of racism
and sexism and the critical role played
by the law as their vehicle, affirmative
action should be merely a question of
simple justice. But of course too many
people have forgotten or choose not to
remember that racial minorities have
been the victims o f centuries o f a
unique Amerikan barbarism - from
slavery right down through modern jim
crow. The Black, Hispanic, Asian and
Native Amerikan all bear the ugly scars
o f the group hatred that has been visit
ed upon them. M y great grandfather
told me of a Black man who had his
hand mutilated for learning to read,
and during my own grandmother’s day
to teach a Black person to read was a
criminal act. The latter fact is but one
illustration o f the many ways in
which the law has been the device by
which the generalized racism in the
society has been made particular and
converted into policies and standards
of social control. It was through the
law that slavery was institutionalized.
It was through the law of the slave
codes that Black people’s lives were
governed in oppressive detail before
the Civil War, and it was through the
law of the Black Codes that the same
result was achieved after the Civil War.
It was through the law that a monolith
of Amerikan apartheid was erected,
receiving judicial approval in Plessy
and standing with no major cracks in
its facade until the Supreme Court
decision in Brown. It is the law which
continues to this day as an instrument
o f state power keeping the non-
caucasian on the bottom in a vertical
caucasoid/non-caucasoid relationship.
The legal and social order has vic
timized racial minorities as a group.
Though, of course, there are obvious
and important differences, women too
have been victimized as a group. There
can be no fair-minded objection to
providing group redress. The only in
telligent societal response to these
historic wrongs and group injuries is
affirmative action to redress their
results. Blindness to the racist and
sexist past will only perpetuate that
racism and that sexism.
M r. Vern Cook, I believe, beyond
any judicial Fiat, affirmative action is a
simple moral and political imperative
with its justification deeply rooted in
history. For a Black Leader to endorse
anyone who was against affirmative
action, would be worse than a crime, it
would be a sin against the Holy Ghost.
In the State o f Oregon, minority
workers are today kept out of many
better paying occupations not overtly
because of race but because they “ lack
qualifications." However, this "lack
of qualifications" is the end result o f a
cycle of racial discrimination stretching
back through the decades.
Because
their parents were discrim inated
against - denied good jobs and hous
ing in neighborhoods with adequate
schools -- the present generation of
Black workers largely lack the
education and skills that would
qualify them for the better paying jobs.
Which means many of them will be
forced to live in slums and send their
kids to poor schools -- and the cycle
will repeat itself.
I f one builds a wall o f legal
segregation and discrimination around
a group of people so that they do not
have access to decent jobs, education
and housing, then this group of people
will have no social mobility, it will not
be able to upgrade its education and
skills. After a few generations the legal
wall is no longer necessary to keep the
group isolated and subordinated All
that is necessary is for all economic
decisions to be based on formal
qualifications and skills and the group
will be automatically excluded.
In
deed, institutional racism can co-exist
with the rhetoric of formal equality.
Black workers are today free to apply
for any job -- that's what is meant by
equal opportunity - but if they lack
qualifications due to the cumulative ef
fects o f generations of past discrimina
tion they will be excluded from the bet
ter paying jobs and occupations. M r.
Vern Cook, this is why affirmative ac
tion or preferential treatment is ab
solutely necessary in order to create the
basis for actually achieving some
degree of equality.
In my travels around the country, I
have noticed. The racists have tried to
label affirmative action as “ reverse
racism.” This is simply a crude at
tempt to portray the victims of racism
as the perpetrators of racism. Racism is
a historically evolved structure of
inequality aimed at stigmatizing, ex
cluding and depriving certain groups.
Essentially racism is a social mechanism
for fostering and maintaining a reser
voir of subordinated labor within the
framework o f capitalism. Racism
enables employers to fill jobs that
caucasoid workers seek to avoid and to
fill these jobs with a work force whose
wages can be kept at the lowest levels
because this work force has no other
options.
(CO RE) believe, special admission
and affirmative action are certainly-
worth defending, but the effectiveness
and value of these reforms depends on
the existence of a powerful movement
for social change. The struggle against
racism is the key to the struggle for a
new social order in the United States,
and now it is especially urgent to re
energize the struggle against racism
and to place this struggle in the context
of building toward a new social order
in which labor is not a commodity to
be exploited but is the essence of
human growth and creativity.
Respectfully,
Dr. Jamil Cherovee
Field Director For (CORE)
<Editor's N ot*: Thu u a response lo Senator
Cook's explanation o f his views on affirm ative
action in the 6/3/73 Observer )