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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 1978)
Mrs Fra n ces Schoen-Newspaper Room U n iv e r s it y o f Oregon L ib r a r y Lugene, Oregon 97403 Discrimination found PORTLAND Black wins Fred Meyer complaint OBSERVER V o lu m e 8 N o . 30 T h u rad u y, J u ly » . 1 8 7 8 j1 0 c p *tc o p y ___________________ J Dana E. Hayes, who worked for Fred Meyer, Inc. as a 16-year-old youth, has been ewarded $4,000 for “ h u m ilia tio n , rid icu le , and em- barassment s u ffe re d ," by the Oregon Bureau of Labor. Investigating Hayes' complaint of racial discrimination, the Bureau of Labor found that Fred Meyer, Inc. failed to maintain a “ racially neutral environment” as required by Oregon law and thereby fostered the “ racial abuse and harassment directed against Hayes by two supervisory personnel.” The company was also ordered to pay $388.00 in back pay, to post the order for 120 days and to provide every employee with a copy o f the order. Complimenting Hayes for having the courage to File a discrimination com plaint at the age o f sixteen, Labor Commissioner Bill Stevenson said, "T h a t a young person should encounter such a racially hostile en vironment in his initial venture into the world o f work is outrageous. Those individuals who Dana Hayes looked to for leadership and guidance became his tormentors. In circum stances such as these an award for hum iliation and mental distress is not only appropriate, but fu lly within the intent o f Oregon law.” The case goes back to 1972 when Hayes worked for Fred Meyer as a "stockboy” for two short periods. After being tormented the first time he was reinstated through his union representative. Terminated again, he filed a civil rights com plaint charging “ con tinued racial harassment and abuse.” When Fred Meyer, Inc. refused to concilliate the case, a hearing was held. Findings by the Bureau o f Labor include: W hile employed at the D ivision Street store, Hayes was treated differently from the white stockboys, and his supervisor, Mr. Fetters “ acted with the intent to discriminate against the complainant because of his race and color.” Fet ters several times asked Hayes if he was a member of the Black Panthers, and asked why he (a Black) lived in a suburban neighborhood and attend ed a suburban high school. Another supervisor, M r. Bonk, asked if he liked Cadillacs with white sidewall tires and upholstery; in the presence o f other employees and customers told Hayes "Black Sam bo” jokes and asked if he liked Sam bo’s food preferences and if he was lazy like Sambo; compared paint color to Hayes’ skin color and asked i f colors excited him. M r. Bonk walked in an exaggerated manner and called Hayes “ Shaft” , Moham mad” and “ Uncle Tom” . Bonk also commented on Hayes hair several times and tried to touch it. On one occasion, Bonk entered a room where a white woman, married to a Black man was and asked, "H ow do you kill a nigger?” (accord ing to Hayes’ testimony) or “ How do you beat a nigger?” (according to Mrs. Butler’s testimony). The Labor Bureau found that Fet ters was aware o f the treatment given Hayes by Bonk and observed some o f the incidents. The findings state, “ I find that virtually every contact that the complainant had with Mr. Bonk, one o f his supervisors, amounted to an exposure to M r. Bonk’s pointless racial inquiries, or racial "h u m o r” and that the distress, humiliation and embarassment this exposure caused complainant ad versely affected his work p e rfo r mance.” During the period M r. West, the assistant variety manager, became aware o f the harassment and ad vised Bonk to stop but took no steps to stop him and did not report to his supervisors. Hayes was then terminated by the manager, M r. Bowman, who said fifty percent o f his decision was based on the evaluation o f the other three supervisors. Hayes was reinstated through his union and transferred to another store where he stayed about a month before being terminated and return ing to school. Oakland school* seek academic excellence Portland Observer staff members, Al Williams, Debbie Mishler, and Helen Hendrix, discuss awards received this week from the Oregon Newspaper Publisher's Association end the Greater Northeast Police Precinct Council for community service. Observer wins service awards Good things come in twos. The Observer won two awards this week — for Community Leadership and Journalism Excellence. The Observer took third place in the Oregon Newspaper Publisher’ s A ssociations' Better Newspaper awards in the Community Leader ship category based on reporting o f the Newman Plan/School desegre gation issue. The judges said, "H ere is an example o f a newspaper uniting a community toward a d if fic u lt goal, and winning a large measure o f success. A special feature o f excellence is that the newspaper is best serving its readership com munity, those who depend on the paper for information and opinions . , . and leadership." Taking firs t place in the large weekly category (over 2,700 c ir culation) was the Beaverton Valley Times for its successful e ffort to raise community funds for twelve railroad crossing protection drives. W illam ette Week won second place for its investigation o f OLCC; the Springfield News also placed third fo r initiating a successful bond drive for a Senior Citizen Center. Winners fo r daily papers were: Oregon C ity Enterprise C ourier, Eugene Register Guard, and Salem Statesman/Journal. Small weekly winners were: Monmouth Polk Sun, Creswell C hronical and Heppner Gazeth-Times. Judges were members o f the Nebraska Press Association. The Observer was honored fo r “ Journalism Excellence" by the Greater Northeast Police Precinct C ouncil fo r service to the com munity, reporting on matters o f con cern to the Precinct Council and reporting on the Outsider/Brothers Free motorcycle club conflict. The Precinct Council, made up o f com munity members and representatives o f neighborhood associations, ad vises the Police Bureau and serves as an advocate for the community. Also receiving an award from the Precinct Council was Nick Barnett, executive d ire c to r of the M e tro p o lita n H um an R elations Commission. The awards were presented by Council president Bob Phillips. Alumni honor Grey Panther leader Ruth Haefner was honored by the U niversity o f Iow a w ith the "Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.” Ms. Haefner was a 1918 graduate, with a degree in home economics. Ms. Haefner has been co-convener o f the Oregon Gray Panthers since 1973 and constantly attends meetings and workshops to discuss the problems o f the aged. Ms. Haefner joined the NAACP, Portland Branch in 1938 and became a Life Member in 1958. For many years she was at nearly every com m unity meeting displaying books and distributing literature on Civil Rights and related subjects. She is currently a member o f the Western Gerontology Society, the League o f Women Voters, the American Association o f University Women, and the Women’ s Inter national League fo r Peace and Freedom. Speaking to the alumni luncheon when she received the award, Ms. Haefner said: " I have had the most creative and jo yfu l life since I have been 80 years old. I was the average senior citizen, participating in the programs o f the community, such as the League o f Women Voters, the Am erican Association o f University Women, the National Association for the Ad vancement o f Colored People, and the Social Action Program o f Church Women United and purposefully avoiding all Senior Citizen Groups. "F o u r years ago next December, Maggie Kuhn visited Portland and 1 became a Gray Panther. Nothing is as stimulating as the Gray Panthers. It taps sources o f energy we did not know existed and develops latent talents. It seems to create energy. It even overcomes the horror stories of the nursing homes. The opportunity for reform, the curbing o f the usurp ed authority o f the Bureaucrats, housing, transportatio n, medical F ig h tin g to keep its program together after the Proposition 13 tax cuts, Ruth Love, superintendent o f the O akland Public Schools, is determined that teaching staff w ill not be cut. " I have had to lay o ff 45 administrators and eliminate suppor tive programs, but we w ill not cut the teaching staff,” Ms. Love told the Observer. Visiting Portland for the NAACP Convention she said teachers are the most im p o rta n t com ponent o f education. " I am not discounting the influence o f the home and the en vironm ent; the home and school must work together, but most impor tant is the teacher.” A fter ten years o f declining achievement scores, Oakland has reversed the trend and this years’ scores showed a decided improvement. Although many Black educators fear that competencies w ill be used to force out Black students, Ms. Love has fo und competencies useful. "Competencies, to be valuable, must be directly related to teaching. Our compentency standards measure the teacher as well as the student. I f a teacher is not doing the job I know The B o lea/H u m b o ld t N eig h borhood Clean-up w ill be held Seturdey, July 22nd. Refuse cen be taken to Unthank Park, Boise School, Albertson's, More 4 Less and Jefferson High School be tween 8:00 a.m . and 6:00 p.m. for free pick-up. A “ N eighborhood Enhance ment Party" will be held at Un thank Perk at 4:00 p.m. with bands, refreshments and Commissioner Chartee Jordan. A real community effort, the public Is urged to participate. it, and I hold the building principal responsible.” As fo r the current trend o f blaming lack o f learning on "learn ing disabilities” Ms. Love believes nearly a ll children w ill learn i f properly taught. A very small per centage of children have emotional or physical problems severe enough to keep them from learning and most classroom teachers could not even recognize true “ learning disabilities.” We cannot allow the child who fo r some reason isn’ t taught to be labeled with "learning disability” as an excuse not to devise better teaching methods,” she ex plained. Oakland has several alternative schools, which are enjoying great success. One school centers its educational program around the arts; another, uses a “ contract be tween teacher, student and parent. Ms. Love is interested in bringing business into closer contact w ith schools — perhaps having a business “ adopt” a school or provide special programs. Oakland has strong citizen par ticipation in programs, each school having an advisory council to plan for that school. The School Board has several advisory committees, in cluding a budget committee. These committees are involved in designing programs, writing the budget, and taking real responsibilities. Ms. Love feels that bringing citizens into the planning process provides com munity support for the schools. A lth o u g h many policies are presented to the Board by the Superintendent, "T he Board is no rubber stamp. They are extremely ac tive and represent a diversity o f opinion. They ordinarily w ill make changes in policies before they finally are passed." Ms. Love ap preciates the differences o f opinion on the Board, which she believes makes a stronger district once a decision can be reached, as well as pro vid in g a broad spectrum o f educational philosophies. W ith an 83 percent m in o rity enrollment, Oakland schools have no desegregation program and this has never been an issue. “ This is something I would like to begin to study this year, since I believe in in tegrated education.” W ith only 17 percent white, the plan will call for ingenuity to desegregate without un do hardship on the white students — reverse o f most desegregation plans. One extra bonus the Oakland students have had is a Black Mayor. Mayor Lionel Wilson visits the students regularly, as do other Black elected o fficia ls. “ It really helps Black children to see the Mayor o f their city _ who is Black — and to know that there can be some benefits to academic achievement. Black role models are extremely important to our children.” Federal funds threatened The Portland Public Schools have been found in non-compliance with regulations governing teaching o f children whose language is other than English. The Office o f C ivil Rights found that the district has not id e n tifie d a ll children needing bilingual educationa and that course offerings are not adequate. Failure to make necessary correc tions w ould threaten $45,000 in federal Title V II funds. Last year the district was also threatened with loss of tunds when it was found in non- compliance because of discrimination against Black stud ents in discipline. Brazil host* 1978 Afro-American festival Ma. Ruth Haefner shows award from her alms mater, the University of Iowa, given for distinguished achievement. services, flexible retirem ent, and adequate income. The anticipation o f the success o f these projects brings us great joy. I like the word JOY. We should have more o f it. The association o f many like-minded people — on the same wave length — is a great experience. “ M y life has been enriched because o f the opportunity I have had fro m my aslociations w ith people o f many cultures. I have gained many staunch friendships from my life membership in the National Association for the Advance ment o f Colored People.” The idea o f a new world festival is not new. Many noble attempts have been made and the periodic Carifesta is now well-established. W hile working as a member o f the U.S. Z onal C om m ittee fo r FESTAC , Professor Richard Long o f Atlanta University conceived o f the idea o f h o lding frequent B i-N a tio n a l Festivals which w ould bring the boundless c re a tiv ity o f A fro - Americans into direct contact with the achievements o f their brethren in the various sectors o f the western hemisphere. Hence, the F irst New W o rld Festival o f the African Diaspora is now scheduled to take place in B ra zil. W ith the aid o f a distinguished advisory committee and utilizing its own experience and resources, the Center for African and African-Am erican Studies — which has had ten years o f program m ing experience — w ill select and present in Brazil outstand ing individua ls and groups representative o f the c u ltu ra l achievement o f Black Am erica. Counterpart Afro-Brazilian groups and individuals w ill be featured as an integral part o f the festival. The occasion o f the festival w ill make it possible for many persons to visit Brazil economically and under excellent conditions. In addition to attending the festival a ctivitie s, visitors w ill have the glorious oppor tunity to come to know the Legen dary City — Salvador da Bahia — with its deep African accents as well as the fabled Rio de Janeiro, one o f the w o rld ’ s most b rillia n t and beautiful cities. A ccording to R ichard Long, African Diaspora Forum: “ The pur pose o f the Forum is to permit fru it ful academic and cultural contact between Am erican scholars and professionals and their Brazilian counterparts, as well as to provide an opportunity for Americans to under take professionally useful activities during the Festival.” While each sec tion o f the Forum w ill determine its own program, activities w ill nor mally include lectures, visits, and in terviews. A variety o f topics w ill be treated by B razilian and U.S. experts. Topics include: A fro -A m e ric a n origins; Afro-Am erican and A fro - Brazilian art, literature, and music; folk traditions, theatre, and history. Lecturers include: Maya Angelou, Romare Bearden, M argaret Burroughs, Ben F. Carruthers, John Henrik Clark, Eugenia Collier, Hoyt Fuller, Johnson Hubert, Helen A. Johnson, J. Fletcher R obinson, Eleanor Taylor, James Turner, and Wendell Whalum, Ivan Dixon, and the p rogram ’ s co o rd in a to r, D r. Richard Long. The Festival w ill open officially in Salvado da Bahia on August 7th and continue for five days. On Saturday, August 12th, transfers to Rio de Janeiro w ill be made. The Festival w ill resume on August 13th, and con tinue to August 17th. Plans are under way locally to arrange a special tour for fifteen per sons to attend the Festival. For fu r ther inform ation, call O.B. H ill, Portland Coordinator at 221-0537. i I
