Page 6 Portland Observer Thursday, July 13, 1978
Convention discussions relevant to local action
The banner headline o f the Mon
day, July 10th Oregonian broadcast
the American Nazi Party March in
Chicago's Marquette Park. A few
pages later, a photo o f a mounted
K larsm an, dressed in a tailored
cerem onial nightsheet, paraded
across the top o f an article about the
Tupelo, Mississippi chapter of the
racist organization “ monitoring*' a
march by Black demonstrators in
that city.
Analysis
Ironically, the papers of the week
before were replete with coverage of
the NAACP 69th Annual National
C onvention held here July 3rd
through July 7th.
This paradox brings to m ind
queries as to the im pact the
organization’s conference w ill have
on Black and white organizations,
and, particularly the NAACP Port
land Branch.
It is no secret tnat the local branch
has, fo r the most part, been so
smothered in p o litic a l m othballs
that, p rio r to pre-convention
publicity, many persons had either
never heard o f it or had forgotten
that the oldest chapter west o f the
Mississippi (1914) even existed.
Those who know may be hard
pressed to think o f it as anything
more than a social club for political
want-to-bes and has-beens, neither
o f who really is . . . active, that is.
However, real or imagined, this is
a sad state o f affairs considering that
in times past even less than a decade
ago, the Portland branch o f the
NAACP was well in tunc with the
civil rights movement, combating
racism on whatever front it dared to
raise its ugly head; a valiant crusader
challenging red-necked dragons
spewing the fires o f inequality and
race-hate.
Indeed, many still remain from the
“ glory’ ’ years. . . too many to be ef
fective some o f the younger officials
and members may think.
But power-plans, schisms board-
ered by divisions o f age, lack of
leadership, or any other reason is not
a justifiable excuse for inactivity. I f
there is a time for the local branch to
re-ascend to the forefront as the
vanguard o f civil rights, that time is
NOW, in the wake o f the National
Convention.
Billed as a “ working” convention,
the confab schedule included a num
ber o f workshops — sixteen to be
exact — aimed at issues the
organization deemed to be in the
forefront o f m inority concern; em
ploym ent, education, housing,
the media, among others, including
FORMERLY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
O f MULTNOMAH COUNTY
ANNOUNCES
THE OPENING O f HIS OFFICE
The workshops provided a forum
wherein delegates and interested par
ticipants could focus direction in
addressing issues in their respective
locales. Indeed, branch represen
tatives were challenged, in the words
o f EEOC C hairperson Eleanor
Holmes Norton, " t o choose your
weapons’ ’ in the struggle for equality
on the local front.
Many o f the issues discussed at the
convention have particular relevance
to N AAC P Oregon branches: the
impending presence of the Whittcn-
burg (Jarvis/Gann) Property Tax
Lim itation initiative on the Novem
ber
general election
b a llo t;
d is p ro p o rtio n a te ly high Black
unemployment; the possible impact
o f the Supreme C o u rt’ s Bakke
decision on state educational in
stitutions and the educational status
o f Black youth in general, among
others.
Unfortunately, attendance figures
for local Blacks were low and those
for whites, who might have benefit-
ted from the experience as well, were
microscopic. Poor Black attendance,
however, dictates more o f what has
to be done than what hasn’ t.
Alyce Marcus, City of Portland
Affirm ative Action Officer, got the
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Dr. Killian of Alabama rises to
protest
resolution
favoring
redevelopment of cities. Dr. Killian
fears Black business will be pushed
out of the better business areas
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depend on programs developed by
the branch leadership through which
the energy of youth and experience
of age can be channeled. “ You can’ t
tell what the effect w ill be right
now,” said C.A White, a 3(J-ycar
member of the NAACP and veteran
o f many national conventions, " i t ’ s
going to take some time . . . but
something's in planning."
As Hicks noted previously, many
people are watching, and waiting to
see if the convention was merely a
rom antic interlude. Tom orrow s
headlines will tell.
struggle, once current leaders come
to the ultimate realization o f man’ s
mortality.
The A fro -A ca d e m ic C u ltu ra l
Technological and Scientific Olym
pics program addressing the issue on
the national level. “ We need in the
future increasingly not only to call
on your strong arms and strong
hacks but your strong minds as
w e ll.”
Emphasized
Georgia
Legislator Julian Bond in his speech
to the convention youth delegation.
By no means, however, should the
emphasis on youth imply unwarrant
ed blanket displacement o f the
“ old guard” who, despite a bit of
“ snow on the roof, still have a fire
in the furnace." For without the
knowledge and experience o f history
can the present exist, or the future
hope to become.
The residual effects o f the conven
tion on Blacks in Oregon and the
local branch o f the N AAC P w ill
the controversial energy concern.
These workshops featured panelists,
each recognized as an expert in one
o f the represented fields, who were
to present the facts o f each issue and
interpretations as to the impact o f
these issues would have on Black
America.
by Gregory Gudger
A p p o in t m e n t N e e d e d
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Alabama delegates cast their votes.
what happens.
“ A lot o f people are ready to get
involved with some sort o f positive
program,” Hicks explained. “ That
suggests to me that there are lot o f
people out there with skills but need
to be informed . . . and directly by
the agency," he said, adding, “ This
is where our task lies.”
Representatives o f the local chap
ter and national office agree that
more young people need to be
brought into the fold, to carry on the
chance to take some o f her staff to
hear EEOC Chairperson Norton “ to
get that push, that drive you need to
stay in and fig h t,” adding. “ We
Blacks still have to spend most of our
time fighting racism.”
Convention attendance figures for
Blacks don't clearly reflect the in
terest generated by the convention.
For some, earning the daily bread
took precedence but, according to
vice president Lucious H icks,
"M a n y people are waiting to see
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Woods advocates pressure
(Continued from page 1 Column 6,
York and Washington are given large
budgets to represent South Africa as
a stable, anti-communist, western
ally that only needs “ time” to solve
its “ complex problems.”
Time? The present Nationalist
government has been in power since
1948 and during that time, apartheid
has grown worse, not better. In that
same thirty years, it has enacted over
300 statutes for the sole purpose o f
dividing the people according to race
instead o f uniting the people into one
nation.
“ Every anti-B lack measure in
South Africa is an insult to every
Black man in the world.
“ And it calls fo r the condem
nation o f every white man in the
world because it is done in the name
o f white interests.
“ As I see it, the only legitimate
peaceful American reaction to apar
theid should be severe economic and
d ip lo m a tic
pressure
through
divestitute, cessation o f loan. And
next time the U.N. Security Council
considers m andatory sanctions
against South Africa, let it not be the
action o f Jefferson, Lincoln and
M artin Luther King that protects
apartheid with a veto."
in closing. Woods said that unless
the Vorster government is severely
pressured into negotiating with Black
leaders instead o f jailing, murdering
and banning them, there w ill be a
ghastly racial war within a few years
and this would definitely affect race
relations the world over. The U.S.,
as leader of the ‘ Free W orld’ should
take the lead in heading o ff this
potential disaster.
“ So there, as I see it, are two im
3
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