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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 1978)
Page 2 Portland Observer Thursday, August 3,1978 Determined w ill strengthens coalition impact We see the world by Herb L. Cawthorne through Black eyes Corrections program needs support The recent study of the justice system in M u lt nomah County by the Comm unity Corrections Advisory Board found once again that Blacks and other m inority people are discriminated against by the police and by the court system. The process, w hich results in nearly tw enty percent of the prison population being Black in a state that repeatedly has less than three percent Black population, begins w ith the police depart ment. Although Oregon law allows police officers to issue c ita tio n s rather than arrest persons charged w ith m inor crimes, only seven percent of the Blacks charged are cited and 93 percent are jailed. This jailing can be fo r a few hours, if the person is fortunate enough to be arrested during the daytime, or can last through the trial. Blacks are less apt to be released on their ow n cognizance because they are less likely to have jobs, references and other criteria necessary fo r th is kind of release. W ith less access to bail m oney, they remain in jail. The study also states that persons com ing to trial while still in jail are more likely to be found guilty by a jury. Since m inorities are more often confined in jail prior to their trial, this fact alone increases the percentage o f convictions. Add to this the lack of access to adequate legal counsel, the absence of Blacks in juries, and the racism that is prevalent in society and therefore m ust be present in jurors. This high percentage o f convictions, along w ith longer sentences, makes a highly dispropor tionate prison population. The C om m unity Correction's program adopted by M u ltn o m a h C o unty w ill a tte m p t to keep persons w ho com m it m inor offenses out of jail by diverting offenders — both before and after trial — in to alternative program s th a t address the causes o f crime. This is an am bitious program and to be s u c c e s s fu l w ill need th e fu ll cooperation of the police, the District A ttorney's o ffic e , and th e c o u rts . W ith th e p o lice in discrim inately arresting m inorities, the D istrict Attorney calling for bigger and better jails, and the judge imposing longer and longer sentences, this program doesn't stand much o f a chance. The County Commission (w ith the exception of Don Mosee and Alice Corbett, w ho voted against the program ) are to be commended fo r taking this step. But the hard job o f selling it to the public and to the justice system is still ahead. Money goes to wrong pocket This is called a tim e of tax-revolt, when tax be reduced because of lack of money, does the payers are getting so tired of paying more and superintendent really need a raise? more taxes that they are threatening to endanger A t w hat point does a "p u b lic servant" reach a even the basic services provided by local govern salary where he doesn't need a cost of living in m ent. crease? Can we look forw ard to paying $60,000 in City councils, county commissions and most another year or two? public bodies are trying to determine where they W hen the President is calling on labor and can cut costs and save money. They are being business to hold the line on wages and prices, careful not to give the appearance of flagrant when social security and welfare recipients are spending. denied "in fla tio n a ry " increases, is it reasonable Yet at its last m eeting the Portland School to give a substantial raise to a school superinten Board gave Superintendent Robert Blanchard a dent? $3,000 per year raise. Already one o f the highest W e believe this action provides a degree of paid public adm inistrators in the state, and in a ju stification to those w ho are denouncing the district where the children's school days had to public schools and local governm ent in general. SORRY KIDS...W E HAD TO CUT sack on your education for our AbMtNtSTRATWF M ises — 'fou understand v IH ich PWfTLÄNO IS more important ! ' / PU BLIC « e 1 \X Zl\ 4 For the whole o f fourteen years, the Black community o f Portland has endured a massive process o f reorganization o f its schools. Child ren have been sent to the far corners o f the city. It was only after continued instances o f abuse, o f children being left standing in the cold rain at bus stops, o f teachers being disbursed, o f the expulsion rate soaring that the reality o f the devastation began to crack the thick complacency o f Black residents. And dissatisfaction fin a lly found ex pression in stronger voices — voices no longer afraid, no longer willing to call such policies equitable when they are not. A coalition formed. It seemed as though the Black community stood firm to say, “ We w ill study; we w ill think; we w ill recommend; we w ill embrace our supporters and per suade our enemies; we w ill stand up for our children." One thing was sure; Few were willing to allow the Board o f Education to continue to make decisions and to determine the fate o f our future for us. The C om m unity C o a litio n fo r School Integration was born last August 24th when nearly 60 in dividuals fro m a ll over the c ity gathered at P ortland C om m unity College’s Cascade Campus. Much to the credit o f the Black community, the Coalition grew to include more than 100 individuals, 36 organiza tions, and raised more than $56,000 to conduct its work. A research committee was created. Its focus was determ ined by a to le ra n t, open decision-m aking process. The beginning stage in- volved a series o f com m unity forums. Held all over the city, these forums gave the Coalition a chance to listen, to share, and to create from community concerns a preliminary framework for the research effort. A total o f 15 forums were conduct ed. Over 400 citizens participated. It was an extensive dialogue, something many had written o ff as virtually im possible. The C o a litio n ’ s research process was launched w ith a con sideration o f the fo u r m ajor con cerns which arose during the com munity forums. Those concerns were (1) inequity, (2) interracial under standing, (3) quality education, and (4) neighborhood integrity. The C om m unity C o a litio n fo r School Integration w ill present its report and its recommendations to the public and the Board o f E ducation in Novem ber. The document w ill be comprehensive, a thorough record o f the past and present s itu a tio n w ith regard to desegregation. Recommendations w ill be specific and far-reaching. No process o f com m unity par tic ip a tio n in P ortland public education has been so complete, so open, so carefully managed. And no process has seen the Black com m unity so to ta lly involved in the review o f the school system’ s re sponse to the desegregation movement here. In spite o f its competent work, the Coalition w ill not maximize its im pact w ith o u t a consolidated w ill within the Black community to in sure that, fo r once, the Board o f Education w ill not ignore our wishes and use our children as pawns, and thrust upon us the lonesome burden o f integrating this city’s schools. Admittedly, there have been some criticisms o f the development o f the C o a litio n — some are founded, others are not. Too many whites hired as staff, too many white people involved, Black members not representative, a useless and wasted effort, a cluttered process, that in tegration is unworkable - these in clude some o f the criticisms voiced time to time. However, the present circum stances call for the Black community to stand together, to minimize the minor criticism and rally around the cause o f better education fo r the children who constitute our hopeful future. The impact o f the C o a litio n ’ s report, I believe, depends on the p o litic a l w ill o f the Black com munity. The Board w ill not act out o f goodness, but out o f political need. The great majority o f the white community w ill not act from a set of high m oral ideals, but out o f a political need. It is the contention here that the consolidated will, the uncompromising drive, o f this com m u n ity can create the proper political need or atmosphere to in sure an equitable response to the Coalition’s report. To project his determined w ill, and to demand and obtain equity, the criticism s and disagreements must for the time being be forgotten. We must focus on the chance to maximize a better opportunity for Black children in this city. The stakes are too high to do otherwise. Full representation for Washington DC by Vernon Jordan The Congress is considering a proposed constitutional amendment that w ould fin a lly give fu ll Congressional representation to Washington, D.C. Such a move is long overdue. There can be no ju stifica tio n for depriving the people o f the District o f so basic a right. A nation whose founding revolution based on the principle o f no taxation w ithout representation can no longer refuse representation to citizens o f its capital. A long w ith the o ve rrid in g philosophical principle o f represen ta tio n , there are im p o rta n t argu ments supporting an amendment that would end the colonization of Washington, D.C. Its size is one. Home to 760,000 people, the District is already more populous than ten states. Its people pay well over a b illion dollars in taxes — more than was returned from nineteen states. Its per capita tax payments were higher than all but three states. So the argument that giving the District two Senators and a voting representative would be unfair to the states, whose voting pow er in Congress would be diluted slightly, is meaningless. States w ith sm aller populations and states generating fewer tax revenues have been admit ted to the Union and receive their share o f two Senate seats and one or two Representatives. The D is tric t has always been treated like a political colony. It has not had a voting representative in Congress since 1800. Since 1970 it has had only a single non-voting Representative. It wasn't until 1964 that District citizens had the right to vote fo r Presidential and Vice Presidential electors. For a hundred years, until 1974, its local govern ment was appointed. That’ s a disgraceful record, made the more disgraceful by the con tinued disenfranchisem ent o f its citizens who are taxed but have no say in how their taxes are used. The blatant unfairness o f this situation makes voting rights for the District a major civil rights question. And that aspect is heightened by the District’s large Black population — about 70 percent o f the total. T hir teen years after passage o f the Voting Rights A ct, Black and w hite, Washingtonians are still deprived of basic electoral rights. Some may fear that the District's tw o Senators w ill be Black and liberal. But such an objective is too base even to surface into the open. Simple fairness demands change, and Blacks and liberals have never objected to the right o f represen tation for areas that are all white or predominately conservative. The House o f Representatives has already passed a resolution calling fo r granting the D is tric t tw o Senators. House members and Presidential electors based on population, and participation in the ratification o f Constitutional amend ments. The Senate is considering a slightly different measure, but both agree on the substance o f Congressional representation for the District. It is important that an amendment draft be passed for consideration by the states. Three-fourths o f the states have to back it for the measure to become part o f the C onstitution, making voting rights for the District effective. The 23rd Amendment, which gave District residents the vote in Presidential elections passed swift ly, which indicates that a new amendment extending the right to vote would also be backed. The Senate should not allow itself to be sidetracked by com peting proposals to make the D istrict a separate state or to make it part of Maryland. Those suggestions deny the D istrict’s special character and are complicated, tortured means of a rriv in g at the basic end — Congressional representation. As befits a major civil rights issue, there is a broad consensus behind voting rights for the District. Both parties endorsed the rig h t to Congressional representation in their 1976 platforms and the fight for the amendment is a bi-partisan effort. It should succeed. JjftíatA, to tho Edito,- Prison open house To the Editor: PORTLAND OBSERVER Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company. 2201 North Killingsworlh. Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing addreu P .O Box 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208 Telephone 283 2486 Subscriptions $7.50 per year in the Tri-County area, $8.00 per year outside Portland Second Claes Postage Paid at P ortlan d. O regon The Portland (J b s tn tr ’s official position is expressed only in its Publisher's column (W e See The World Through Black byes). 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 Otnrrver A L F R E D L H E ND E R S O N E d ito )/P ublisher N ational A dvertisin g R ep resentative A m a lg a m a te d Publishers. Inc. N e w York 1st Place Community Service ONPA 1873 1st Place Best Ad Results ONPA 1*73 6th Piece Beet Editorial NNPA 1673 Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award NNA 1673 2nd Place Beat Editorial 3rd Piece E D D Y V IL L E , K E N TU C K Y — For the first time in the 91 year history o f the prison here, the iron doors were opened to allow the 850 prisoners met w ith their families. Approxim ately 1,200 visitors, in cluding wives, children and other relatives, stepped inside the caver nous institution during the recent holidays. Corrections officials said they opened up the iron doors to the state’ s only maxim um security facility to show they mean business w ith a new incentive program designed to make prisoners want to live better lives. The open house visitation permitted visitors to enter prisoner’ s cells as well as roam the prison's grounds. “ I can’ t say how I feel,’ ’ prison Superintendent Don Borden Kircher said afterwards. “ I ’ m choked up, and I'm not supposed to choke up. We’ve watched history.” “ I saw a man pushing his little boy across the yard on a tricycle. I f that won’ t make a man want to get out o f this place, what w ill? ” said Dr. Davis Bland, C om m issioner o f C orrections, a fte r w atching the visitation. Reginald I. Cox #38332 Provides service To the Editor; C o m m u n ity L e a d e rs h ip ONPA 1676 $ 7 .50 3rd Place Community Leadership ONPA 1676 ,n Tri —C o u n ty A re a N am e _ __ ______ $ 8 .0 0 __ Aaaociaoen - FounOtd City O th e r _ PORTLAND OBSERVER A d d re s s I I e G I p A p ER Congratulations, again. Sincerely, Laurie Foster for A Woman’ s Place Bookstore Congratulations on the award that you have won! You certainly do perform a valuable com m unity • MtMgtP |! Oregon || Newspaper Publishers Association service by getting out the news and commentary we can’ t get elsewhere. The Book center fills the same kind o f need — we try to be a resource fo r all women. Besides selling books by and for women, non-sexist ch ildren's lite ra tu re , records by women and periodicals fo r women; we have a lending library, a joint monthly newsletter with the Women’s Resource Center that lists women’s events and carries news o f local women's projects, and referral and reference info'm ation. Our lending library includes sub scriptions to women’ s newspapers and magazines from all over, over. _____ _ __ P.O. Box 3137 Portland, OR 97208
