page 2 Portland Observer Thursday. September 7, 1978
In integration process
We see the world
through Black eyes
An eight year record
children's academic achievement or their social
adjustment. The district still has no adequate
multi-cultural curriculum and teachers still do not
receive adequate training in human relations and
in croes-cultural communications.
Stand together for equity, understanding
hv Herb
Ht»rh L.
I Cakilhnrni»
by
Cawlhurne
After nearly ten months o f con
tinuous research, the Com m unity
Coalition for School Integration has
released its preliminary findings. The
“ discussion document" lists several
items which are revealing. It also o f
fers a set o f possibilities for change.
The list o f facts w ill remain stable,
while the possibilities arc subject to
alteration.
For the next tw o m onths, the
C oalition w ill strive to fu lfill its
commitment to return to the com
m unity w ith rough ideas and
preliminary options. The discussion
process w ill involve several com
m u n ity fo ru m s , lik e tow nhall
meetings, w hich w ill be held in
seven d iffe re n t high schools
throughout the C ity. In addition,
presentations w ill be made to all
o f the C o a litio n 's 38 member
organizations, as well as to the
media, special interest groups, and
concerned citizens.
It is important that citizens in the
Black community take part actively
in this process. We have now a chance
to be heard. O ur voice has been
stifled before. We have here an op
portunity to learn. Inform ation has
been kept from us before. We have
in this procedure a wonderful means
to influence the treatment o f our
children. This should be sufficient
motivation.
But i f it is not, the preliminary
findings o f the Coalition's research
committee should be the last bit o f
persuasion required.
1. Racial Segregation S till Exists
in Portland's Public Schools. Seven
schools in the Black community have
more than fifty percent m in o rity
e nrollm ent; and, perhaps more
noteworthy, eighty percent (36,000)
o f the district's white students are
“ racially isolated" in that they at
tend schools w ith less than the
average minority enrollment in the
district.
2. Portland Is N o t In Compliance
W ith State B oard o f E ducation
Guidelines. The guidelines stipulate
that schools with more than fifty
percent m in o rity enrollm ent are
“ racially isolated." Even with such
massive changes as the removal o f
grades and the offering o f magnet
W hy are Black citizens so angry with Gladys
McCoy? W hy are they fighting the popular image
No one would hold Ms. McCoy solely respon
that Ms. McCoy speaks for Blacks? In 1970. while
sible for the district's failures. But has her pre
running for the School Board position she now
holds. Ms. McCoy told the Oregonian of her can sence on the Board had a positive effect? Ms.
McCoy has not served the "watch dog" role that
didacy: "I want to state that my most urgent
reason is to represent on the School Board a one might have expected of the only Black mem
ber and she has not provided leadership on the
voice for the community, therefore unheard and
too little acknowledged."
Board in any of the areas of special concern to
Black citizens.
Has the Black community been heard and
acknowledged through the efforts of Ms. M c
Two issues face the Board this week and in
Coy? Judging from the facts about the education
both cases, Ms. McCoy's role has been negative.
of Black children reported last week by the
The Board will appoint an individual to fill a Board
Community Coalition for School Integration, one vacancy. Ms. McCoy's role has been to select the
would have to say no. Judging from the hostile appointee and extract from the other Board
and flippant attitude of certain School Board members their agreement to appoint her can
members and administrators during the past year didate. With the Board agreeing that a minority
— a year marked by controversy over racial would be desirable, Ms. McCoy did not seek
issues — one would have to say no.
the advice and guidance of Black citizens who
It was in 1970 th at a Coalition of Black have expressed an interest and concern in the
organizations called a boycott and filed a court schools, but chose to speak for them — behind
suit charging discrimination in discipline. This ac closed doors.
The other matter of immediate concern is a
tion led to some policy changes, but in 1977 the
Minority
Business Enterprise proposal that Ms.
U .S . Departm ent of Health, Education and
McCoy
has
presented to the Board for its accep
Welfare found that the district was discriminating
tance.
Although
she met with minority contractors
against Black students in suspensions and ex
pulsions and threatened to w ithdraw federal to hear their ideas, the proposal she submitted has
funds if the situation was not amended. This year, no resemblence to their request.
This proposal, however, does not deal with the
1978, information provided by the school district
to the Comm unity Coalition for School In need for the district to adjust its contracting
tegration shows that during the last school year procedures to allow for inclusion of minority con
in some schools with minority percentages of less tractors and vendors. It defines "m in o rity
than tw en ty percent, half of the students business" as any business with fifty percent
minority managers, or six percent minority crafts
suspended were minorities.
In 1970 Dr. Blanchard told the City Club that he men, so does not deal with minority o w n e d
would recommend the closure of inner city business. Now "Minority Business Enterprise" is
schools and that the buildings be used for Early defined by the federal and state government, as
Childhood Education Centers and other pur well as others, to mean businesses that are fifty
poses. Over the objections of Black parents, percent or more o w ned by minorities. So in af
schools have now been stripped of their upper fect what Ms. McCoy is attempting to do is use
grades and the children living in those school minorities to make it look like the district is doing
areas scattered throughout the district in num something for minorities that it is not.
The factual information gathered by the Com
bers so small as to isolate Black children in white
m unity Coalition fo r School Integration is
schools.
It was in 1970 in response to Dr. Blancnard's shocking in its indictment of the school district.
"Schools for the City" program, that the NAACP One can only wonder why the Board's only Black
protested the district's plan to allow continued member has remained so silent.
It can be said that Ms. McCoy has done no
segregation in grades one through five in Albina's
worse
than many other Board members. That is t
elementary schools. In 1970 seven schools were
true. But when she was elected, Black people
A quiet revolution has been taking
over fifty percent Black. And in 1978, seven
hoped
she
would
have
a
special
sensitivity
to
the
place
in American politics over the
schools are over fifty percent Black in grades one
past few years. This revolution has
problems
of
Black
students,
that
she
would
be
through five.
tended to be overshadowed by such
How much progress has been made in the last close to the com m unity — hearing and ex hotly debated issues as C alifornia’s
eight years, and what has been the effect on pressing its concerns, that she would ask the tax lim itation measure, the Bakke
right questions to reveal inequities, that she case and the resurgence o f the so-
Black students? After fourteen years of desegre
would be a bold voice speaking out on behalf of called New Right.
gation, the district has no information to assess
U ntil a few years ago, Africa was
the im pact of its desegregation effo rts on a community that is still "unheard and too little
still pretty much a mystery continent.
acknowledged."
program s fo r early childhood
education, seven schools arc above
that percentage.
3. Desegregation in Portland Is
N ot Equitable. Nearly 33 percent of
the Black students are getting on
busses every day to attend a school
outside their neighborhood. Only
two percent o f the whites do so. O f
the 900 whites involved, 400 are
enrolled in the E arly C hildhood
Education Centers (ECEC). And
most o f these arc concentrated in the
Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten
classrooms at Eliot, Vernon, Hum
boldt, King, and other schools in the
predom inately Black com m unity.
However, “ the d r o p -o ff rate o f
bused in white students produces a
s itu a tio n where the upper grade
levels at these ECECs still remain
highly segregated,” asserts the
Coalition. For example, at the Pre-
K indergarten grade level, King
school is fifty percent whites. They
are bused. At the third grade. King
has only two percent whites who are
bused. The C oalition found that,
w hile the creation o f ECECs
displaced 800 students from the
Black com m unity, the magnet
program has also “ increased the
educational options for the white
community while reducing those op
tions for the Black community.”
4. Desegregation Is N ot Totally
Voluntary. Although it is promoted
as though it is, the voluntary transfer
program is not voluntary for many
Black students No grade level exists
in neighborhood schools for more
than 800 Black students. W ith no
grades to attend, they were forced to
transfer. That’s not voluntary.
5. Desegregation Scatters and
Isolates. Black students are bused all
over the system. Even to the person
most sympathetic to the management
problems school personnel have, it is
hard to excuse the scattering and
isolation o f Blacks. The desegregation
workers, who claim to be the ad
vocates fo r Black students, have
been silent. One wonders what their
advocacy is worth. The children iron
King, for instance, are scattered to
39 different schools. The 44 children
from Eliot attend twenty different
schools. Clearly some are scattered
by grade level. Third grade students,
for example, from Humboldt go to
thirteen different schools. Indeed,
Coalition research indicates that “ a
sig n ifica n t number o f transfer
students
fin d
themselves
fn
classrooms with no friend or peer
from their neighborhood."
6. A D is p ro p o rtio n a te ly H tg h
Numbei o f Transfer Students Are
Suspended or Expelled. In a survey
conducted by an independent research
organization, 33 percent of the Black
transfer students indicated they had
been either suspended or expelled.
Admittedly, suspension is less drastic
thun expulsion. It may be unwise to
speak o f the two in the same breath.
Nevertheless, there is reason to be
alarmed, even though the district has
tightened its procedures a fte r a
recent investigation by the U.S. O f
fice o f Civil Rights.
This constitutes only a brief listing
o f some o f the findings. There are
others which deserve your attention.
They focus on a variety o f concerns,
including
those
in vo lvin g
achievement, white flight, teacher
training, affirm ative action, along
with legal and legislative constraints.
The “ discussion document” also
contains possibilities fo r an im
proved program. It is worth your
time to read it.
The history o f desegregation
reveals that a special burden has been
placed on the Black com m unity.
Consequently, in this discussion
process, the Black com m unity
shoulders a unique obligation to rec
tify a situation which does damage to
our children. What has been found is
extremely detrimental. In some cases,
it's disgraceful. The C o a litio n 's
discoveries serve to prove that a
passive people gain very little .
Schools have been changed, grades
removed, children disbursed and
scattered, and teachers separated.
Now is the time to participate in
the dialogue. The Board o f
Education is listening. They have
been cooperative throughout the
Coalition's development. The school
administration needs to hear your
thoughts. The time is now to insist
on equity and on a better oppor
tunity for interracial understanding.
America’s quiet revolution
The o n ly news we ever got was
p ro b a b ly an occasional, one
paragraph story on page 27 about a
coup d'ete somewhere in A frica .
Even today, very few people can
1st Place
p o in t out Benin, Rwanda or
Community Servies
Swaziland
on the map. This was
ONPA 1*73
because the all powerful media had
la t i
decided that A fric a was small
Beet Ad Resulta
potatoes.
ONPA 1*73
Come 1974 and 1973 and the
Published every Thursday by E x it Publishing Company, 2201 North
P A IO C
in
Guinea
Bissau,
Kilhngsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. M ailing address: P .O . Box
Sth Placa
3137, Portland. Oregon 97208 Telephone: 283-2486
F
R
E
L
IM
O
in M ozam bique and
Best Editorial
M P LA in Angola threw out the Por
NNPA 1*73
Subscriptions $7.50 per year in the Tri-County area. $8 00 per year
tuguese and suddenly the w hite
outside Portland
Honorable Mention
power structure was threatened.
Herrick Editorial Award
Most o f us African affairs fanatics
Second Claes Postage Paid et Portiand. Oregon
NNA 1*73
are w ell aware o f the n otorious
NSSM memorandum No. 39. What
The Portland Observer's official position is expressed only in its
2nd Place
Publisher’s column (W e See The W orld Through Black Eyes). Any
is said, in a nutshell, was that the
Beet Editorial
other material throughout the paper is the opinion o f the individual
W
hite regimes in Southern A frica
3rd Placa
writer or submitter and does not necessarily reflect the opinion o f the
were there to stay and that what the
Community Leadership
Portland Observer
ONPA 1*76
U.S. should do is pay lip service to
the liberation movements while con
National Advertising Representative
3rd Place
tin u in g to support the m in o rity
Amalgamated Publishers. Inc.
Community Leadership
New York
regimes economically.
ONPA 1*78
The defeat of the Portuguese less
six months after this memo was
released put a hole in this theory the
MEMMk
size
o f Clackamas county. The
Oregon
‘domino theory’ whereby the fall of
Newspaper
Publishers
one country would trigger a chain
AMOciaben - founded 11
Association V
reaction was back in vogue again.
Now nobody doubts the fact that
both Zimbabwe and Namibia should
be able to throw o ff the colonial
-solves within a year, at most. Even
South A fric a , w hich somebody
in Tri —County A re a
O th e r
called the “ go d fa th e r o f the
m in o rity , racist re g im e s", is no
longer regarded as invincible.
A ll this activity has spilled over in
PORTLAND OBSERVER
to the U.S. o f A. where, since the an
P.O. Box 3137
ti-w a r and c iv il rights dem on
Portland. OR. 9720U
strations o f the 60’s, there has been a
kind o f vacumn. The victories o f the
Africans have triggered a whole new
wave o f support. Once more, Blacks
across the country are rallying to the
aid o f their brothers and sisters
PORTLAND OBSERVER
ALFREDL HENDERSON
Editor/Publia her
X NêWAp
$7.50
Nam e
Address
City
$ 8.00
by N. Fungai K um bula
across the big water.
A num ber o f A fric a support
groups have sprung up all across the
country from Seattle to Los Angeles,
San Francisco to New York, Chicago
to M obile and they are becoming
very active. The American Friends
Service Committee just concluded a
Southern A frica Summer program
w ith a conference in Allenspark,
Colorado and all the participants in
the program agreed that the ter
mination o f the program would by
no means mean the end o f their
Southern African involvement.
Hcte, in the Portland area, we
have just had a summer that seemed
to be w h o lly devoted to A fric a .
There was the very successful Africa
Liberation Day May 27th (successful
in spite o f the rain!). It, for the first
tim e, was planned, organized,
publicized and carried out entirely by
the Black com m unity. Then there
was the Oregon investment Council
hearings at which several people
urged the OIC to divest itself forth
with o f all OSBHE stock in com
panies that continue to cooperate
with apartheid.
Also there was the rigorous op
position to the visit to Portland of
the South African ambassador in the
U.S. In this, even though the Black
and white groups involved worked
from different angles, they had the
same goal and their strategies com
plimented. Such classic Southern
A frica n film s and slide shows as
'Last Grave at Dimbaza,' ‘ A Luta
Continua,' ‘ South Africa: Freedom
Rising,’ 'South Africa: The Rising
T id e ,’ 'T here Is No C ris is ’ and
'Banking On Apartheid' were shown
over and over again.
A t the government level, the City
C ouncil voted and passed a
resolution discouraging the sale of
the Kruggerrand in Portland. When
the NAAC P came to town, one of
their resolutions it considered was a
call for economic sanctions against
South A fric a — a p o sitio n the
organization had never endorsed
before. The last activity o f the sum
mer that I participated in was South
A fric a n W om en’ s Day, an event
which everyone agreed was the high
point o f the whole summer.
The group, P o rtla n d Citizens
Against Racism, has worked very
closely w ith AFSC on all our
Southern African Summer programs
and has also been the m ainstay
behind our “ C lothing D rive” —
collecting clothing for the refugees
displaced by the wars in Southern
Africa. They are now living in such
financially strained countries as Bots
wana, Zambia and Mozambique.
Similar activities have been taking
place throughout the summer in such
places as Seattle, San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Mobile,
P h ila d e lp h ia ,
K a la m a z o o
(M ich ig a n ),
Greensboro
and
C harleston (South
C a ro lin a ),
Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Youngstown
(O h io ), D e tro it, etc. Not to be
overlooked are the efforts o f the
Congressional Black Caucus.
In Los Angeles, one Musekiwa
Kumbula, a student from Zimbabwe
is forming a Pan African Students
Union which would be focusing its
attention on African affairs as they
relate to the U.S. I have been invited
to help launch an A frican Study
Group in Portland and this would be
“ A frican” in its broader sense when
it refers to all people o f A frican
o rig in . N ot only w ould this
organizatio n focus a tte n tio n on
events in the M otherland but it
would also look into such local issues
as housing, redlining, jobs, police —
community relations, the family, etc.
etc.
This is one area where the Africa
support groups need to strengthen
themselves — building local ties and
dem onstrating that the struggle
taking place in Africa is not at all
removed from the struggle in which
we are all involved right here. The
enemy’ s m o tto is: “ D ivide and
C onque r” — Ours should be:
“ Unite and Trium ph.”
P.S. And we all heard about the
Vanderbilt (Texas) University Davis
Cup matches between South Africa
and the United States which were so
disastrous — there were more
demonstrators than spectators —
that the Vanderbilt University o f
ficials really admitted they would
never do it again. Not only was it a
financial disaster, it was also very bad
publicity and who needs that???