Mr. France. Scho.B-Me.8paper Poon
University t-f Oregon Library '
t-ugene, Oregon 97403
Don Haley of Sea nie organizes Washington delegates
Benjamin Hooks calls for continued effort.
Hooks demands responsive public policies
PORTLAND
OBSERVER
V o lu m e 8 Wo. 28 T h u rs d a y , J u ly 6 ,1 9 7 8 10c per co py
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NAACP leader visits OSP inmates
Benjamin Hooks, executive direc
tor of the N A A C P . met with a group
of inmates at Oregon State Peniten
tia ry p rio r to the start o f the
National Convention.
H ooks assured the inmates —
members o f the law class, Uhuru
(Black culture club), the Chicano
and Indian clubs, that the N A A C P is
concerned about the causes o f crime,
prison conditions, and the plight o f
the inmate upon release.
Hooks,
who
is
a
fo rm e r
prosecuting attorney and judge, said
he is concerned that prisons become
places of,rehabilitation and reform.
An example o f an N A A C P prison
p ro ject is P ro je c t R ebound in
M anhattan which has had a high
success rate in orienting prisoners
back into society ' ‘ by putting an arm
aro u nd them lik e brothers and
sisters. . . Since we are all brothers
and sisters we must insure justice for
everybody in equal am ount.”
Saying he is c o m m itte d to a
socially re h a b ilita tiv e p ro g ra m .
Hooks said "w e need to create a type
of system, a type o f society, a type of
justice, a type of feeling in our hearts”
to prevent people from falling in
to the situation o f imprisonment. I f
we do not recognize the societal
causes, the social neglect, and merely
build institutions the problem will
increase. “ I f society doesn’t care it is
our (N A A C P ) job to make it care.”
In response to questions by
C harles W illia m s regarding the
N A A C P ’ s legal redress activities,
Hooks explained that with limited
The Suprem e C o u r t’ s B akke
decision was called “ a victory” and
the Carter Administration was em-
plored to “ vigorously” move fo r
ward in the development o f a sound
urban policy in order to alleviate the
excessive unem ployment rate fo r
Blacks in the U n ite d States, by
Margaret Bush Wilson, Chairman o f
the Board o f the N A A C P at the
opening press conference o f the
organizations 69th Annual National
C onvention in P ortland M o n day
morning.
The Court in the Bakke decision
"very clearly re-affirmed the concept
of A ffirm ative A c tio n ,” she said,
when they noted that race could be a
factor in admittance and, indirectly,
in hiring o f minorities. Ms. Wilson
said that the W h ite House must
m a in ta in unem plo ym en t as the
nation’s No. 1 priority and not in
flation.
On the issue o f the passage o f
Proposition 13 by the electorate of
California, Ms. Wilson, not totally
dismissing
the
p o ssib ility
of
econom ic b ligh t fo llo w in g the
widespread
passage
of
such
initiatives, said that Blacks, whose
President elected overwhelmingly by
Black voters has not moved fast
enough and has not m oved fa r
enough . . . O ur heavily Democratic
Congress is passing laws restricting
the power o f H E W to desegregate
school systems, is sitting on the
H u m p h re y -H a w k in s
fu ll
em
ployment bill; denying equal rights
to poor women, and filibustering
labor reform to death.”
Calling this a “ time o f crisis for
C iv il Rights in A m erica,” Hooks
said, “ W e demand and shall have a
public policy which is responsive to
the aspirations o f the Black masses .
. . W e are serving notice on univer
sities, industry, and every institution
in A m e ric a — g overnm ent and
others — that if they misread the
d ear teachings o f America’s racial
history they are inviting confron
tation.”
W a rn in g the forces o f conser
vatism not to interpret the Bakke
decision as a dedsion agaisnt A ffir
m a tiv e A c tio n , H o o k s said the
N A A C P w ill never encourage
violence. “ W e are doing everything
we possibly can to avoid confron
ta tio n , but our enemies an d op
ponents are inviting disaster. W e are
com m itted to a peaceful struggle
against racism. W e are convinced
that there must be a re-distribution
o f the w ealth and the power in
A m e ric a . . . ”
Hooks warned against the tendency
o f academidans to blame the op
pressed for their oppression.
Calling on the N A A C P to form
alliances w ith o th e r concerned
groups, Hooks said a primary con
cern is to “ maximize whatever power
we have in the system, and to define
as a c c u ra te ly and d e fin ite ly as
possible how we may utilize that
power,” and to plan an organized
assault on racism.
“ The goal, through legislation,
litigation, and agitation is to make
all governmental power effective and
interdependent in enfordng the legal
p ro h ib itio n s against d is c rim in a
tion .”
Board chairman affirms faith in capitalism
benjamin Hooks discusses prison problems with inmate Larry Baker.
resources legal assistance is restricted
to cases th a t have broad im
plications. A recent case regarded,
harassment o f poverty programs o f
ficials since the effects o f legal
harassment and indictment are to
destroy the Black econom ic and
p o litic a l base, and this type o f
harassment is taking place all over
the nation.
The N A A C P also becomes in-
(Please turn to Page 4 Colum n 1)
Wilson, Greene disagree on Carter contribution
by Gregory Gudger
Calling this the best o f times and
the worst o f times, Benjamin Hooks
called fo r a new e ffo rt to make
equality a reality.
Referring to the fact that the U .S .
has for 200 years declared all men
equal; that more than one m illion
Blacks are in college; that ten million
Black Americans are employed; that
25 percent o f the Black families have
achieved "m iddle class status” ; that
a m in im u m wage b ill has been
pasted; he pointed out that thousands
o f young people are finishing school
fu n c tio n a lly illite r a te , th a t six
million are unemployed, that 30 per
cent o f Black families are below the
poverty line, that inflation and taxes
are destroying lifetime savings, that
le g is la tio n and h ostile Suprem e
Court decisions threaten to wipe out
meager gains.
Conceeding some concern to the
President, he said . . . “ A fter eight
years o f benign neglect, malignant
neglect, we have a President who at
last says he is concerned for the poor
and outcast.” H e added that “ the
unemployment rate nationally is at
ten percent, “ must be given a chance
to work before it escapes us.”
She also noted that the passage o f
the C a lifo rn ia In itia tiv e was not
racially based but that the people of
California were just “ damn tired of
the m oney they were paying in
property taxes.”
Noting the leach-like effects the
passage o f similar initiatives would
have on the am o u nt o f federal
dollars coming into (he cities in match
ing and C E T A funds, Ms. Wilson
said that “ there is no reason for there
to be a second reconstruction in this
country,” adding that the N A A C P is
prepared to struggle and maintain
ground gained by the civil rights ac
tivities o f the past and that the
organization would take the offen
sive to achieve progress.
Ms. Wilson said that the federal
government should take the same
type o f funding approach to cities as
it does with military and highway
allotments and should not regress to
those strategies like those which
depicted and destroyed Model Cities
programs.
R e fe rrin g to her previous in
volvem ent w ith M o d e l C ities
programs, Ms. W ilson recounted
that the programs were funded tem
p o ra rily n oting th at d u rin g the
N ix o n ia n era, the g o vern m en t,
“ carefully did not give us enough
money. Just when the thing was
about to fly , it was called to a
screeching h a lt.”
Ms. Wilson noted that the Carter
Administration is not as vicious as
the N ix o n ia n co u n te rp a rt, “ M r .
Nixon refused to acknowledge that
twenty million Blacks existed in this
country. M r. Carter knows that we
are here; he just gets kind o f con
fused about what to do about the
fact.”
O th e r points covered by M s.
Wilson includes; . . . the N A A C P
favors the withdrawal o f American
corporatee interests in South Africa.
. . . It is more important now than
ever before that ’ Blacks participate
in the electoral process.’
Assistant Secretary o f Labor E r
nest Greene told media represen
tatives Monday that revised C E T A
regulations would be strictly rein
forced if C E T A legislation is re
enacted and funded to the tune of
11.4 billion dollars by Congress, ex
pected in late August or September.
Greene followed Ms. Margaret Bush
Wiison at the opening press con
ference for the 69th Annual N A A C P
National Convention.
Stating that “ Blacks never ought
to take their continued progress for
g ranted, M a rg a re t Bush W ils o n ,
chairman o f the N A A C P National
Board o f Directors opened the 69th
Annual Convention in Portland.
Referring to the belief o f some
that American capitalism w ill never
concede more than the m inim um
reforms needed to insure its tem
porary survival, M s. W ilson said,
“ . . . One o f the greatest challenges
we face today is the widespread at
tempts to destroy our faith in the
ability o f this nation to develop the
programs and means to permit all o f
us to enter the m ainstream o f
society. The roads over which we
must now travel is not as direct as is
the past when we fought the battles
against Jim Crow and other forms o f
blatant racism. Instead, it is com
plex and interw oven w ith m any
currents that cannot be directly
linked to racial discrimination.”
Proposition 13
A good example o f this changing
te rra in is P ro p o sitio n 13, which
C a lifo rn ia n s overw h elm in g ly ap
proved only a month ago. W e should
be aw are th a t P ro p o s itio n 13 is
p rim a rily a re v o lt against the
spiraling burdens o f property taxes
and the costs o f government services.
Its passage is the expression o f per
ceived self-interests by C alifornia’s
taxpayers, more so than racism or
class bias. Racism is involved. W e
cannot escape that reality. But let us
not be too consumed with this reality
n ow . In s te a d , it behoves us to
recognize that Proposition 13 has
sent shock waves through every state
and local governm ent o ffic e and
every public employee union in the
nation. N o t the least among these are
the A m e ric an state, county and
m u n ic ip a l employees u n io n , the
Am erican Federation o f Teachers,
the National Education Association,
the Sanitation Workers Unions, the
F ire m e n ’ s U n io n s and Police
Bargaining Agencies.
W e should understand that many
Americans are aware o f the adverse
prospects o f a spreading tax revolt.
This, therefore, is the time for all
o f us to look at the ways in which
state and local governments assess
and level one o f the most basic forms
o f taxes tnat fund mos» public ser
vices.
This, my friends, is not a white or
a Black problem. It is an American
p ro blem in w hich o u r N A A C P
branches must be involved. One clear
lesson that Proposition 13 has taught
state and local government leaders
alike is that taxpayers will no longer
tolerate inefficient waste. A ll o f us
can p r o fit fro m this lesson by
working more vigorously for better
g o vernm ent.
Our
challenge,
therefore, is to seek enlightened
(Please turn to Page 2 Column 4)
Priestley protests IRA policy postponement
Since defeat o f the m otion to
restrict school district travel funds to
only those states which have ratified
the E qual Rights Am endm ent in
March o f this year, Representative
W ally Priestley has discussed with
other board members his desire to
place this same question before the
board when a member voting against
the motion were replaced. It was
know n at the tim e th a t R ob ert
Ridgley would not serve beyond
June 30, 1978. In March o f this year
the motion failed on a four to three
vote with resigning Ridgley voting
against the motion.
Priestley said he was notified July
Rally protests SA
On Monday, July 10th, Portland
w ill host D a v id B. Sole. South
African Ambassador to the U .S. A
rally will be held at the Portland
Chamber o f Commerce, 824 S .W .
5th and Taylor, on Monday at 11:30
a.m. in protest.
The P ortlan d C itizens Against
Racism, which is sponsoring the
rally, condemns “ this closed and
highly secretive visit” sponsored by
the Chamber and the W orld A ffairs
5th in a letter from Chairperson Ms.
Beverly Y o rk , who had opposed
adoption o f the boycott policy, that
the agenda for the coming meeting o f
July 10th was too crowded and that
consideration o f this question would
not be allowed.
R epresentative P riestley said,
“ This delay means that those citizens
who have been notified to be present
to present their views will be denied
this opportunity. Further, this means
this important question can not come
before the board until the meeting o f
August 24th. (There is no regular
meeting later in July due to vacations
and the first meeting in August is at
noon and limited to business mat
ters.)
“ This delay postpones the adop
tion o f such a policy well into the
1978-79 fiscal year, it further stalls
much needed m o m en tu m now
needed i f ra tific a tio n is to be
achieved prior to the March 1979
deadline.
“ Perhaps as im p o rta n t, is the
question that should be raised in the
minds o f Portland taxpayers about
public control o f the public schools
through i t ’s elected school board
members when they can not bring
im portant public questions to the
agenda without such stalling tactics
and without a fight.”
bassador official visit
Council.
Charging that South A frica is the
only nation with legalized racism,
R C A R points out that;
• Fifty percent o f Black children
die before age five.
• Black unemployment is over
twenty-five percent in urban areas
and as high as sixty percent in ban-
tustans.
• Per capita income for whites is
fifteen times that for Blacks.
• S ixty-fo u r percent o f Black
families live below the official poverty
level.
• Eighty-seven percent o f the
country's land is reserved for the
small minority o f whites, and only
thirteen percent for the majority of
Blacks.
• Over 1,000 people are arrested
each day for pass law “ violations” .
• Opponents o f apartheid are
subject to house arrests, bannings,
imprisonment, torture and outright
murder.
I