1
I
P*QR 2 Portland O b M rvw Thumoay August 1C. 197«
ttaagregatioa adwMstrators: Oaca feeders, aow darks
We see the world
by Herb L. C tw ih o n x
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —— ----------------------------------— -----------<f
through Black eyes
z
Blacks must select own candidate
Blacx community.
Certain Black persons have been mentioned as
possible appointees by School Board members
and several have been contacted by Mrs. McCoy
with the indication that they might be considered
if interested. But as far as we have been able to
determine, no established Black organization, no
so-cailed ‘leader", no person or group that has
demonstrated a special interest in the schools has
been contacted for recdmmendations. Other
then letting the public know the position is
available, no effort has been made to discuss the
appointment with community groups.
It would be unconscionable if the remaining
white board members were to ignore the recom
mendations of the Black community and select
the Black member based on their own precon
ceived notions of what this person should be and
should represent.
Neither can they depend solely on advice from
the resigning Black member, whose rapport with
the Black community has been questioned and
who, at best, is only one individual.
If that should happen, it will be an indication
that the district intends to go its own way and
that the recommendations of the Coalition and
others who are concerned about the education of
Black children will fall on deaf ears. It will be an
indication that redress must come from the courts.
Gladys McCoy will resign from the Portland
School Board on September 11th and some
members of the Board have indicated a desire to
fill the position with a Black person. This is ap
propriate since Black students make up 13.8 per
cent of the school population.
The district has some serious decisions to
make in the next few months, decisions that cen
ter around minority concerns. The Community
Coalition for School Integration will make its
report on its investigation of desegregation policy
and procedures in November and will make far-
reaching recommendations The distnct still has
to deal with a realistic minority business enter
prise program.
Three times in '•ecent years the district has
been found in non-compliance by the U .S .
Department of Health, Education and Welfare —
for segregation of teaching staff; for
discnmination against Blacks in discipline; and
for insufficiencies in the bi-iingual program.
It is clear that the Board needs input from a
Black member, but it is also dear that the mem
ber must be representative of the Black com
munity. He must have close contact with the
community, be able to feel its concerns and be
willing to be an advocate for its demands. This
person must be selected and supported by the
Put up or shut up
from the Gary, Indiana Crusader
H o w ever, it is not true in the case of a
new spaper. W hile w e are only a w eekly
newspaper and there are tw o other weekly
newspapers in this town, why must you continue
to support a racist organization?
Well, you say we only produce a newspaper
once a week, and you want to read a newspaper
every day. W e could produce a newspaper every
day if you would give us your support. You also
say we only have from 12 to 24 pages a week.
That's true, but we could certainly have a lot
more if you purchased our paper, which we
could use as a selling tool, and which would
produce more advertising, number of pages you
desire.
So, Black community, you are part of the case
for this racist newspaper, because with all of its
racism you continue to buy.
So we say to you. "PUT UP OR SHUT UP." If
you don't like its racist attitudes then don't buy it
and support the BLACK PRESS, your press. -
It has been pointed out once again that our
daily newspaper is a racist newspaper. What's
new?
We are not trying to infer that the statement is
not true because we believe it is but we have
some problems with the Black community that
continue to harp on its (the newspaper's) racist
attitudes instead of using a tool that's at its
disposal.
What do we mean by that?
Well, we here at the Crusader are just a little
tired of Black people trying to make white people
act right There are some areas that we must deal
with them in an effort to receive some kind of fair
treatment. For instance, the automobile industry.
W e own no automobile companies, therefore we
have to rely on the existing ones for our purchase
of an automobile. There are other areas of which
this is also true.
Is tP ta c a
Comm unity Serv.es
ONPA 1373
PORTLAND OBSERVER
Pubhshcd c»er> Thundoy by E x « P u b ish in t Company. 2201 North
KUbntswonh. Portland. Oregon »7217. Mailing addrem P .O B o i
3137. Portland. Oregon
Telephone 2S3-24M
Sabacnptrau: 37 50 per year in the Tn-C ounty area, M 00 per year
outside Portland.
Sacond Clean Pontage Paid at P o rtlan d . Oregon
The Portland O b a tn tr 't official position is exprented only m its
Publisher s column (W e See The » o rld Through Black Eyes) Any
other materia, throughout the paper is She opinion of the individual
writer or submitter and does not necessarily reflec- the opinion o f the
Portland Otnervcr
ALFRED L HENDERSON
Editor F u b M w '
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PORTLAND OBSERVER
A d d re s s
P.O. Box 3137
Portland. OR 87208
C » t y ------- --------------------------------------------__
I
I l ts not a carol o f joy or gift,
Bai a prayer that he sends from his
heart’s deep core.
Bai a plea, that upward to Heave»
he flings -
I know why the caged bird sings’
’ ’Sympathy"
Paul Laurence Dunbar
htmed with the 1964 report of the
Committee on Race and Education
and a hag full o f special money,
some adm inistrators in the local
school district began to make ap
pointments with many reputably fine
Black teachers Social pressures and
federal legislation had convinced the
local school system that something
needed to be done about integration,
although the future would show that
they did not know exactly what.
Ses eral years ago. numerous Black
teachers
heard
a
consistent
proposition, which probably began
with a question: “ How would you
like to assist your district in its
desegregation efforts?”
The local white adm inistrator
perhaps elaborated thusly: Due to
T itle V I I o f the Elementary and
Secondary School Act of 1965, and
the Schwab Report of 1964, we have
created some excellent new positions
which, we feel, would be ideal for
selected Black teachers. Our atm is to
lower the percentages o f Blacks in
the Northeast Portland schools, and
we need your help Your salary will
be much better, and you can teach us
all how to face up to the difficulties
o f racially isolated children. The
cause is a good one — an integrated
school system here in the City of
Roses.
One o f the disheartening develop
ments o f desegregation history in
Portland is the reality that a number
o f Black teachers jum ped at the
chance to secure these “ special"
positions. Frequently, after a con
versation and the o ffer o f more
money, the Black teacher was enticed
from the classroom. While the ad
ministration of the “ racial balance“
program got tremendous boost, the
classroom atmosphere for Black
children suffered a destructive dram.
And as a result, the Black com
munity became the victim of a swift
backhanded blow, the sting of which
smarts more today than at the
moment of actual impact.
One by one. several Black teachers
were plucked from the vines of in
tellectual vitality and delivered to the
morgue of desegregation. Some per
ceptive observers in the Black com
munity have lamented that as time
passed
some
A fro -A m erica n
educators in Portland have com
pleted in essence a full transfor
mation from the creative teacher to
the spineless clerk.
From the teacher to the clerk — a
journey a number o f local A fro -
American professional educators
have made in the hope of facilitating
what they undoubtedly believed
initially to be a sincere effort to har
monize the racial elements in Port
land.
Yet, the concerned member of the
Black community cannot help but
question the exodus of some Black
teachers to become arrowheads in a
desegregation
program
which
notoriously deceives the community
by con tin u ally saying busing is
voluntary when it is not. The trans
formation has been dramatic. From
the teacher's vantage point for
shaping the positive images o f
children in the past, several Black
employees have become the pawns in
the deception o f the Black com
munity in the present.
Under the dubious structure of
desegregation here, those who have
opted for a few more bucks and a
vague hope have actually forfeited
their right to self-assertion. They no
longer have the freedom to assert
their influence on the tender minds
o f society's Black children, and their
weakness renders them
only
m in im ally effective at purging
d iscrim ination and prejudiced
outlook from the school distnct
From self-directed teaching to the
mechanics o f desegregation — a
journey which undoubtedly was
begun with the impression that the
teaching o f young minds was less
significant than the opportunity to
forge a new relationship among
professional Blacks and whites in
local education.
Yet, the attentive member of the
Black community finds it hard to
leave
unnoticed
the
lifeless
stagnation and utter complacency of
those
who
adm inister
the
desegregation program. They give no
information; they avoid the Com
m unity C o alitio n for School In
tegration like the plague; they refuse
to unify with Black teachers; and
they continue to implement, without
pause or question, a desegregation
process found in increasing disfavor
by the Black community. In search
o f better salaries and an elusive
notion o f “ racial balance,“ some
have thrown away the rewards of an
appreciative public, substituting a
scornful position whereby they sim
ply sit by the window as the chief
display o f the commitment o f a
generally timid administration.
W hile I am sure some did not
know it at the time of their decision,
the educators who chose to become
the technicians for desegregation
have denied themselves the incom
parable honor of truly sparking the
future o f Black people in this city.
Instead of a focus on a generation of
hope and faith, their visions are
shackled by a limited opportunity for
a fleeting personal security. Instead
o f facing the hungry eyes of children
suffering from the pervasive insult of
prejudice in Portland's society, they
see now only the cold stare of an in
sensitive white supervisor.
From Black progress to white en
trenchm ent — a journey which
clearly began with a genuine hope
has soured into professional disaster.
Because the desegregation effort
has been totally inequitable, because
it has “ iso lated" children from
children, parents from parents, and
teachers
from
teachers,
the
desegregation adm inistrator has
become the most “ isolated" of all.
In order to persuade Black parents to
engage in an unequal process, they
must speak language which degrades
the schools in the local A fro -
American community. And once the
students arrive at schools away from
their neighborhoods, the desegrega
tion professionals are so lack
ing in power, understanding,
unity o f purpose and community
support, they are forced to "blame
the victim” in the face o f conflicts in
the predominantly white schools.
Thus, what began as perhaps a
positive concern for meeting federal
and social pressures toward better
racial understanding has in Portland
turned into a negative drain on the
talent to teach Black children. Sadly,
the desegregation workers no longer
are seen as the creative sculpturers *
who carefully mold the formless
minds of tomorrow's Black wealth.
Now, they are seen as inhibitors of
progress.
Once they were loved for touching
the struggling hearts o f Black
children, now they are seldom
trusted. Once they were teachers,
now they are clerks.
Neo-conservatives and tax policy
by Bayard Rustin
Every time 1 pick up the New York
Times and find one o f those slick
cleverly written advertisements from
Mobil, I gain new insight into the
varieties of conservative thought in
America. Unlike the ratheT crude
and half-baked positions of the New
Right and its allies, the neo-
conservatism o f the M o b il ads is
supremely intelligent and proper.
F or the average reader, the
philosophy espoused by Mobil and
its intellectual disciples appears
moderate and sensible But as harm
less as it appears, it poses a serious
threat to the movement for equality
and justice in America.
In the area o f tax p olicy, fo r
example, the neo-conservatives in
both political parties have already
emerged as a powerful force for in
creased inequality. According to
their model, society is divided into
two broad "classes” , the productive
and unproductive. T o insure con
tinued economic grow th and
prosperity, the neo-conservatives
propose a further redistribution of
income and resources away from the
so-called “ unproductive” elements
of society to the productive sector.
Stripped of its elegant ideological
garments, the neo-conservative
position is little more than a
rehashed version o f classical
economic conservatism, the tame
conservatism made so unpopular by
the disastrous economic policies of
C o olid g e, H o over, and as more
recently, Eisenhower, N ixon and
Ford.
While the New Right engages in
various forms of morality plays, the
neo-conservatives have been busy
transforming their philosophy into
concrete legislative proposals. For
example, on tax policy they have
already produced two highly seduc
tive bills which will almost surely
receive even more attention during
the upcoming Congressional elec
tions. Both bills, I think, would be
disastrous if adopted
In writing the “ Tax Reduction
Act” , Congressman Jack Kemp (R-
New Y ork) has relied on the old
strategy of coating vile medicine with
sweet sugar. To sweeten the effects
o f a S i22 billion loss o f revenue,
Kemp’s bill provides some tax relief
to everyone. But the thought o f
reducing the federal budget by such
an enormous am ount is simply
staggering. Everyone fro m the
poorest pauper to the richest cor
porate president is going to feel it.
Kemp, o f course, has a quick
retort. By reducing taxes by thirty
percent over the next three years, we
w ill stim ulate investment in the
private sector which, according to
the optim istic Congressman, will
create millions of jobs and produce
billions in revenue. As proof for this
highly dubious theory, Kemp points
to the Kennedy tax cuts and the
beneficial results they produced. U n
fortunately, as W alter H eller has
pointed out, the economic environ
ment in the early 1960’s was substan
tia lly d iffe re n t from the dismal
economic environm ent o f today.
Heller warns that the Kemp-Roth
analysis is as misleading as the old
“ Free Lunch” signs in bars.
Kem p's b ill is misleading in
another way as well. Although he
claims to be a friend of minorities,
workers, and middle-class people (all
of them hard pressed by high taxes),
Kemp's bill is a lucrative tax bonanza
for the rich,
that is the tru ly
“ productive elements" o f society.
According to Kemp, our present tax
system “ is strangling the incentive
for investment and savings that are
so necessary to the production of
goods and services.”
I find it difficult to believe Kemp's
assertion when I look at a
Congressional report indicating that
huge corporations like Texaco, A R
C O . United States Steel, Xerox, IT T ,
and Union Carbide all enjoy effec
tive tax rates below twenty percent.
Interestingly enough, M o b il O il.
which provides us with reams o f
brow-beating essays, had an effective
tax rate o f under two percent in
1975!
T o boost production, Kemp
proposes massive tax reductions for
those who already enjoy a high stan
dard o f living. Under the Kemp bill,
44.5 percent o f the $122 billion in
lower taxes will go to the richest
tenth o f the American population. A
family with an income of $100,000
will receive $8700 in tax reduction,
more than many working people
earn in a full year. By contrast, a
family earning $15,000 will receive a
mere $500 or $600 in tax savings.
This same type o f "welfare for the
rich” is provided in a companion bill
known as the Hansen-Steiger amend
ment. Like the Kemp-Roth bill, this
legislation — which drastically
reduces the capital gains tax — is
aimed at “ stimulating" investment
by providing even more wealth to the
rich, and shifting the tax burden even
more heavily on those least able to
bear it.
If we accept the political line so
b ea u tifu lly summarized in the
M o b il ads, we should greet the
Kemp-Roth and Hansen-Steiger bills
with humble gratitude. For accord
ing to the neo-conservative, we —
meaning Blacks, workers, and mid
dle-income people — are the lucky,
but unworthy, beneficiaries o f the
great wisdom and generosity of the
“ productive elite,” those who own
and operate the great corporations. -
But if we reject this new corporate
paternalism, we and our allies must
present rational and creative alter
natives aimed at increasing economic
equality in A m erica. By doing
anything less than that, the moderate
gains achieved after years o f struggle
will be swept away by the rising tide
of business conservatism. *