Uro Francea Schoen-^awspj
U n iv e rs ity of Oregon Llbr
tu g e n e, Oregon 97403
31
Was King Tut Black?
2
PORTLAND
O B SER /ER
Volume I No. 38 Thursday. September 7,1978 10c per copy
OSPIRG study finds bank 'redling’
By com paring the num ber o f
mortgage loans in different districts
o f the metropolitan area. OSPIRG
found that, in 1976, certain areas
were receiving a disproportionately
low number o f loans. For example,
in Northeast Portland, no mortgage
loans were made by W illam ette
Savings and Loan Company which
has a branch o ffic e on N .E .
Killingsworth with deposits o f about
$5 million.
To help keep P ortland livable
OSPIRG is asking the City and the
area financial institutions to do the
following:
— Banks and savings and loan
organizations should eliminate ap
praisal and underwriting standards
which discriminate against inner city
housing.
— M inim um loan amounts and
age of housing requirements should
be eliminated.
— Membership o f the Portland
Metropolitan Loan Review Commit
tee should be increased and the
authority and activity of the Com
mittee should include looking at
terms of loans as well as granting o f
loans.
— The C ity o f Portland should
deposit its money in financial in
stitu tio n s which have a proven
record of serving the needs o f the
community.
— Loan production offices should
be located where regular banking ac
tivity takes place.
— Loan production offices should
be located where regular banking ac
tivity takes place.
The OSPIRG results and recom
mendations follow a two-year study
during which lending activity o f eight
financial institutions in nine residen
tia l d istricts o f the P ortland
m e tro p o lita n area were studied.
OSPIRG compared the number o f
Ioan banks and savings and loan
companies made in each area to the
number o f houses sold in those same
areas.
“ People
who
have
been
discriminated against when applying
for a home loan may never know the
reasons their loan was denied,” ex
plained C h a rlie H a rris, form er
OSPIRG attorney who did the study
w ith M ichelle Haynes. Most per
sons don’ t realize they have some
recourse when they are turned down
such as review o f their application by
the P ortland M e tro p o lita n Loan
Review Committee.”
Harris said existence o f the Review
Committee should be more widely
publicized and lenders should be
required to inform persons who have
been denied loans that their ap
plication may be reviewed by the
Committee.
However, the OSPIRG represen
tatives said that the Committee needs
to be expanded to include more
members o f the community. Present
ly, the Portland Metropolitan Loan
Review Committee includes seven
representatives o f lending in
stitutions, one non-voting member
o f the Portland Office o f Planning
and Developm ent and tw o non
voting citizen representatives. The
loan review com m ittee now has
authority to consider loans that have
been denied but does not review terms
o f loan agreements that may be
discriminatory such as a shorter time
payment or the charging o f a higher
interest rate.
Harris said another way fo r the
C ity to encourage more lending
within Portland would be to have the
M e tro p o lita n Hum an Relations
Commission monitor bank loans. I f
a lender is not meeting its legal
obligation to meet the credit needs o f
the community, the City could with
draw its deposits from that particular
bank or savings and loan company.
The Community Reinvestment Act
o f 1977 requires that financial in
stitutions serve the convenience and
needs o f the communities in which
they are chartered to do business.
Section 804 o f the Federal law says
that institutions w ill be judged by
their record o f meeting the credit
needs o f “ the entire community, in
cluding low - and moderate income
neighborhoods. . . ”
O SPIR G said the C ity should
require banks to make underwriting
c rite ria and appraisal reports
available to loan applicants and
other interested parties, and that
they should also make available to
the public the number o f loan ap
plications by neighborhood. These
requirements are currently in effect
in Seattle. In California, a law was
passed in 1977 which allows the state
to force a bank to make a loan where
the state finds that the borrower was
turned down because o f geographical
or other discrimination.
Out o f eight banks studied, only
one, Oregon Mutual Savings Bank
(OMSB), came close to making the
expected number o f loans in Port
land inner city neighborhoods. For :
exatnple, during the tim e period ""*■
studied, OMSB made 42 home loans
in Inner Northeast Portland when
their expected share o f the financial
market would have been 31 m ort
gages. On the other hand, F irst
National Bank o f Oregon, with an
The School Board is scheduled to
expected 65 loans for that area, ac
reach a decision on whether
tu a lly made only th irty loans to
Beaumont Elementary School is to
homebuyers. In contrast to loans
become a middle school next Mon
made in the city, F irst N ational
day, September 11th. The Area III
wrote mortgages for 480 homes in
C itizens A d viso ry C om m ittee
W ashington C ounty d u rin g that
recommended a middle school last
same time period. The number o f
June, follow ing the advise o f the
loans First National might have been
Beaumont Local Advisory Commit
expected to make in Washington
tee. In a community vote, parents
County was 335.
narrow ly favored a middle school
The six other banks studied
and residents voted overwhelmingly
showed lending activity sim ilar to
to keep a Kindergarten through 8th
First National. In the Inner North
grade school.
east section o f Portland Far West
The Advisory Committee recom
m endation came a fte r several
Federal Savings and Loan made 52
m onths o f c o n flic t in the com
out o f 61 expected loans; Equitable
Savings and Loan, 26 out o f 50; The
munity, several heated mettings, and
Oregon Bank, 1 out o f 3; Willamette
o rg anizatio n o f groups fo r and
Savings and Loan, 0 out o f 16; Fred
against a middle school.
Meyer Savings and Loan, 3 out of
John Beck, then principal, warned
12; and U.S. National Bank, 14 out
the parents that if Beaumont were
o f 50.
not reorganized into a middle school,
Lending a c tiv ity fo r a ll those
declining
enrollm ent
w ould
necessitate drastic cuts. Among the
financial institutions was much more
changes to be expected were to be:
active outside the c ity lim its .
W ashington C ounty loans made
larger classes, sp lit classes (tw o
during the study period were Farwest
grades in a room ), reduction o f
Federal Savings and Loan, 382 out
physical
education,
home
o f 311; Equitable Savings and Loan,
economics, shop, music; elimination
400 out o f 255; The Oregon Bank, 10
o f science and math specialists;
elimination o f algebra; limited op
out o f 16; Willamette Savings and
Loan Company, 80 out o f 83; Fred
p o rtu n itie s fo r high achieving
Meyer Savings and Loan, 87 out o f
students and reduced instruction for
61; and U.S. National Bank, 288 out
students with learning problems.
o f 256.
Charles Kakvasil, Beaumont’ s new
principal, does not see such drastic
problems. Nakvasil, who is in his
first year as a principal, views his
role at Beaumont as th re e fo ld :
bringing unity to a divided com
munity; upgrading curriculum o f
ferings; and improving discipline.
Nakvasil explained that dropping
Miss Mary Holden, age eighteen,
enrollment has necessitated five split
was crowned Miss Tan at the Tenth
classes this year. One second grade
Annual Miss Tan Pageant, Sunday
room has three fourth graders; a
night, September 3rd, in the presence
fourth grade room has four third
o f an enthusiastic audience o f about
graders. Another class is more evenly
300 supporters at the H ilton Hotel.
divided with ten fourth graders and
Miss Holden is a sophomore it
seventeen fifth graders. There are
Lewis and Clark College majoring in
also classes split between grades 6
English and Drama. Miss Holden is a
and 7 and 7 and 8. Most classes have
native o f Pottscamp, Mississippi.
27 children, with the first grade the
She w ill receive scholarships amount
largest currently with 29 students.
ing to $1,000, a TV set, and a cloth
W ith in a few weeks N akvasil
ing certificate.
hopes to upgrade the curriculum o f
T hirteen young women p ar
fered the 6th, 7th and 8th grades, ex
ticipated in the Pageant. First run
plaining that it is a concern o f the
ner-up was Miss Dana Easly. The
com m unity that the upper grade
event was sponsored by the Jimmy
“ Bang Bang” Walker Youth Foun
program be strengthened. He plans a
dation.
fu ll time home economics teacher, a
School Board addresses Beaumont
Holden crowned
Miss Tan
Loa Angeles Dodgers superstar Reggie Smith named National He
Chairman of the National Association for Sickle Cell Disease.
Sickle Cell names Smith
LOS ANGELES . . . The National
Association for Sickle Cell Disease,
Inc., has named Dodger superstar
Reggie Sm ith as its N ational
Honorary Chairman for 1978-79.
In m aking the announcement,
NASCD Executive D irector, Ms.
Dorothye Boswell said, “ We are
delighted that Reggie has joined our
team at the national level in our an
nual public awareness campaign
about sickle cell disease.”
Ms. Boswell added that Smith’ s
appointment marked the first time
that the National Association has
named a national honorary chairper
son. “ He is a true superstar with an
exemplary character both on and o ff
the field and is truly admired for his
concerns in the com m unity. His
association with us, and ours with
him, will prove highly beneficial at
local and national levels in advancing
(Please turn to Page 6 Column 4)
shop teacher, a rt and band and
possibly a foreign language. This
would be provided with the existing
staff and supplementation with extra
personnel due the school since
a recent staffing policy change.
In a July 13 memo to Dr. Blan
chard, Area Superintendent Ray
Steed cautioned, “ W ith the flight in
search o f better education, racial
balance at Beaum ont is tip p in g
though still within policy guidelines.
While the school as a whole remains
well under 30V#, the upper grades
may be moving to m ajority black.”
A p p ro x im a te ly fo rty students
living in the Beaumont area have
transferred to other schools - Sabin,
Alameda and M t. Tabor, which is to
become a middle school. Although
the transfer o f the children deprives
Beaumont o f at least one teacher,
Nakvasil expressed the opinion that
parents should be allowed to send
th e ir ch ild re n where they wish.
Although contrary to school district
policy, which states that parents
tra n s fe rrin g th e ir children fo r
reasons other than fo r racial
desegregation must provide tran
sportation, a bus is provided fo r
those students who attend M t.
Tabor.
Between 70 and 80 Black students
from Sabin attend the 6th, 7th and
8th grades. W ith the closure o f
Sabin’ s upper grades, Beaumont has
become
th e ir
“ neighborhood
school” . N akvasil estimates that
from 20 to 25 tier cent o f the students
in the upper three grades are Black,
but he does not know at this time the
effect o f the tranfers on racial
balance.
Steed has recommended that,
because o f community opposition to
a middle school, Beaumont become
an “ upper grade center” with grades
Kindergarten through eighth grade.
Additional personnel and resources
would be directed to the 6th, 7th and
8th grades. This w ould involve
recruitment o f upper graders from
Alameda as well as encouraging
Beaumont parents to send younger
children to Sabin and Alameda.
This is the option granted to the
Wilson district, after parents rejected
plans for a middle school. Gray and
Bridelmile became upper grade cen
ters, while they and the other schools
w ill maintain their lower grades. In
discussion o f the m iddle school
throughout the school district, as
well as in Beaumont, many prents
have preferred that their schools
retain the early grades rather than
transferring younger children.
The School Board faces a dilemna,
having already determined that mid
dle
schools
provide
better
educational opportunities. Yet the
Board has maintained a policy that
middle schools w ill be initiated only
with community acceptance. Board
members have adm itted th e ir
preference that Beaumont become a
middle school — yet they are unsure
as to how to procede in the face o f
oppostion.
The School Board w ill make its
decision on Monday night and the
bets are placed on Beaum ont
becoming the district’s next middle
school.
The Portland School Board has
scheduled several meetaings of
special importance to the Black
community.
On September 7th at 6:30 the
Board will consider a "M inority
Business Enterprise" program of
fered by Gladys M cC o y. The
proposal is opposed by the Nor
thwest Minority Contractors and
the Associated General Contrac
tors.
September 7th at 7:30 p.m. the
five finalists for appointment to
the School Board w ill be in
troduced. will speak and will be
questioned by the Board. They
are: Dr. D arrell M iljn e r, Ben
P ad ro w , Evie C ro w ell, Father
W illiam
W etzel and
Dean
Gisvold.
Septem ber 11th at 7:30 p.m.
the Board w ill consider the
proposal to make Beaumont a
middle school.
September 11th. following the
regular meeting, the appointee to
the School Board will be selec
ted.
Septem ber 12th at 7:30 p.m .
the newly appointed Transpor
tation Advisory Committee w ill
meet.
All meetings are held at 831
N.E. Clackamas.