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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1978)
SPINKS vs. ALI o by Booker G riffin M uham m ad All Muhammad A li is a man steeped in belief o f his own manifest destiny. He truly believes that his fate is a lo f ty one and that he is a man whose mission is beyond the ordinary. That vision does not end within the 464 square feet o f a boxing ring but extends to the far reaches o f om nipotence. His dreams and his visions are indeed far beyond the confines o f the boxing ring but a m ajor foundation o f his existence squarely rests upon his success as a boxer. A li has the spirit o f an eternal champion. His deep and abiding pride stalks stubbornly w ithin him like a brooding phanthom agitating him to pursue the goals o f his percep tions. Those perceptions are often very deep and very personal. PORTLAND O B S E R /E R V olum e 8 No. 37 Thursday, S eptem ber 14,1978 10c per copy He pur sues his goals hardest when there are those who doubt him or relegate him to defeat. He rises to the occasion best when he is the underdog. He is most devastating when his efforts can be worked into a crusade where in with the skills o f a Merlin can work vaunted magic and accom plish the impossible. Thus his rematch w ith young, brawling Leon Spinks, who lifted his crown unexpectedly in February, comes forth amid the kinds o f cir cumstances and atmosphere w ithin which he functions best. One need only to think back to the days prior to the first Liston fight, the Thrilla in Manilla or the days in Zaire to feel and remember that cer tain electricity that flows from and (Please turn to Page 5 Column 1) Leon Spinks Caricatures are to individuals what stereotypes are to groups. When a person from a stereotyped group is presented in caricature, the impact o f the caricature is made stronger by the force o f the stereotype. That is the case w ith W o rld 's H eavyweight C ham pion Leon Spinks. The American media have chosen to present him in caricature, exaggerating certain negatives and ignoring certain positives. W ithin the so-called confines o f “ fa ir and balanced news coverage” there is much la titu d e fo r subjective m anipulation and that subjective m a n ip u la tio n has been u tilize d against Leon Spinks to the fullest. To the extent that America holds certain contrived stereotypes ol Black people, the media imposed caricature o f Leon Spinks has suf fered a greater believability because o f his Blackness and situation in life. Caricatures can be fun when they are humorous and o f light intent. They are then mere cartoons intend ed to help us laugh together but not at one another. Caricatures can be vicious and brutal when they are . aimed at a person. They are then villianous and injurious. Such has been the case o f the assault orchestrated upon Leon Spinks that has discolored him and made him “ colored” in the eyes o f so m any Am ericans and others around the globe. (Please turn to Page 5 Column 2) White contractors turn Black, Whites desegregate white school A feeling o f great satisfaction d rif ted over the blond, blue-eyed con tractor when he realized that at last his 600 member crew had been brought into at least temporary (on paper) racial balance. Now he could qualify as a m inority contractor and get a cut o f the P ortland school district’s business. He explained to his wife at dinner that night that the School Board had recently passed a motion designating any building con tractor with a work force containing the acceptable percentages o f m inority employees as a m inority business enterprise and setting aside a piece o f the action for them. As he turned over in bed the next morning, this conservative middle- class contractor suddenly noticed that his hands had turned black. Leaping out o f bed he saw a dark- skinned face with nappy hair staring at him from the m irror. “ My God, I ’ m B lack” , he exclaimed as he grabbed his hard hat and headed for the office. But as the day wore on the en thusiasm faded. First, his banker had second thoughts about that line o f credit he badly needed. And then his insurance agent called to say the premium has gone up. His bonding agency decided he was a “ high risk” and SBA delayed his Ioan. A fter a hard stare from the policeman on the corner and an insult from the bar tender, he arrived home in a state o f shock. “ Please God,” he prayed. “ Just make me white. I don’ t want to be a ‘ m inority business enterprise’ any more.” A flig h t into fantacy? Perhaps. But it could happen to any unsuspec ting contractor now that the Por tland School Board has decided that any w hite co n tra cto r can be a “ minority business enterprise” . Yes. Last week the P o rtla n d School Board determined that any business which has employees in percentages comparable to the percentages o f minorities in the crafts and trades in the labor m arket is a “ m in o rity business e nterprise.” So look out, M r. Contractor, hire one more Black carpenter and you just might wake up Black. T hat wasn’ t enough fo r one week’s work. The School Baord also decided to desegregate A lam eda Elementary School, which is nearly all white, with white students from Beaumont. One o f the prim ary reasons fo r fo rcin g a m iddle school on the Beaumont com m unity was to aid desegregation. Yet last year, in order to allay the fears o f white parents and entice them to favor a middle school, principal Bill Beck promised that a ll Beaum ont low er grade students could go to Alameda and none would have to go to Sabin. The Beaum ont B etter School Committee (pro middle school) was even more blatently racist, w riting to parents: “ Make Alameda our neigh borhood primary school! Remember that Alameda is only 14 blocks from Beaum ont. It can easily accom m odate every p rim a ry c h ild at Beaumont - no exceptions! Alameda residents are our neighbors. We at tend the same churches, shop the same stores, use the same YM C A, play in the same park, and attend the same pre-schools and share the same (Please turn to page 2 col. 1) State minority employment doubles Robert Philips, chairman of the Greater Northeast Precinct Police Council presents appreciation award to Reverend and Mrs. Jonn Parker of Prison Ministries. Parkers praised for prison work The Greater Northeast Precinct Police Council, a citizens’ advocacy group for the Northeast residents in police matters, during its regular monthly meeting held at the King Neighborhood facility presented a special crime prevention award to Reverend John H. Parker, Jr., and Mrs. Vivian Parker for their work in prison out-reach. The award was presented to the Parkers’ by Robert Phillips, Chair man o f the G reater N ortheast Precinct Police Council. He stated, “ the Precinct Council is presenting this award to Reverend and Mrs. Parker because o f their work, com m itm ent and dedicatio n in in stitutionalizing the Prison Ministries Program and for helping prisoners achieve a sense o f self w orth.” Reverend John Parker, Jr. who is the director o f Prison M inistries, Inc., a non-profit organization, has been involved in Prison Ministries since attending W arner P a cific College as a student in 1964. The Prison M inistries Program has been incorporated since 1975. Since that time Mrs. Parker has ser ved as secretary/treasurer o f the cor poration and also coordinator o f the music fo r chapel services and special programs. Prison Ministries offers counseling services to prisoners and their families and offers preventive coun seling to anyone upon request. Special features o f the program in clude: home visitations, marriage counseling to prisoners and their families, transitional counseling and individua l counseling. T raining is also offered to prisoners interested in the ministry. The Prison M in istrie s, In c ., operates a counseling center, “ Turn ing Point” — located at 3946 N. Mississippi in Portland. Part o f the Prison Ministries Program include special ministry and counseling ser vices to — Oregon State Correctional Institute, Oregon State Penitentiary, Oregon’s Correction Center, Claire A rgow W om en’ s Center, Rocky Butte County Jail, McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary in Washington, W ashington State Prison and Nebraska State Penitentiary. The organization receives support o f its programs from churches o f all denom inations in and outside o f Oregon, fro m businesses and through individual contributions. Governor Bob Straub announced that m inority employment in state positions has risen over 100 percent during his administration, from 815 minorities employed in 1975 to 1,646 currently. O f even greater signifi cance is the increase in positions in the higher levels (19-314) from 170 in 1975 to 311 in 1978. The permanent fu ll-tim e state w ork force is 5.4 minority. “ We’ve made a good start and I ’m proud o f what we’ve done so far. “ I ’ m very pleased that my ad m in is tra tio n developed the firs t legislatively approved affirmative ac tion plan in the United States — and that we did it before there was a federal mandate. “ We have been working hard in Oregon to ‘ close the gap’ and make equality a reality for all our citizens. Equality has been a constant goal o f my administration since I took office in 1975 and w ill remain so as long as I ’ m in o ffic e ,” stated G overnor Straub. Rahs aan files for for King neighborhood asks Crime Prevention funding The Greater Northeast Precinct Police C o u n cil adopted by unanim ous vote the recom m en dations o f the King Improvement Association and the Inner Northeast Area C itizens C rim e Prevention Com m ittee recom m endation that King Neighborhood be selected as the target neighborhood for the first phase o f the C o m m u n ity C rim e Prevention Grant funded by a grant fro m the Law Enforcem ent Assistance A d m in is tra tio n . The grant sets aside $35,000 to be made available to neighborhoods wishing to attempt innovative crime preven tion projects. ‘Target neighborhoods’ are select ed based upon the severity o f the crim e problem in each neigh borhood , the p o p u la tio n o f the neighborhood, the extent to which the neighborhood is organized, its ability to provide volunteer support, and the extent to which it demon strates an interest in participating in an organized crim e prevention program. The King Neighborhood Crime Prevention C om m ittee has been operating since 1977, and neigh borhood residents have met with Police Bureau representatives about neighborhood crime problems, as well as held home meetings about crim e prevention and one block party. Ella Mae Gay, vice-chairperson o f the King Improvement Association, stated in a letter to the Precinct Council, “ our commitment to crime w ill no doubt be strengthened by the news that our neighborhood crime rate per thousand is almost a third higher than any other neighborhood in the city, with the exception o f Downtown and the Burnside area.” Using the figures o f Lt. Tom Pot- ter, who is in charge o f the Police Bureau’ s Crime Prevention U nit, the crime rate in the King area is more than three times that o f the adjacent W oodlawn, Piedmont, and Sabin neighborhoods. A “ small-scale” example o f the new crime prevention methods that may be undertaken by citizens in King if the recommendations are ac cepted by the city-wide Crime Pre vention Board includes escort ser vices to senior citizens and children, in s ta lla tio n o f locks and other security devices in the homes o f neighborhood residents and a wide variety o f educational projects. The Inner Northeast Area Crime Prevention C om m ittee w ill be meeting with the King Improvement Association in the near future to draft a crime prevention plan for the King neighborhood. According to the most recent state statistics there are 244 Black male employees, 68 o f whom are at least 19 or above. There are 316 Black female employees, 33 at level 19 or above. There are 215 Hispanic males, w ith 41 above level 19 and 194 Hispanic females with 12 above level 19. There are 174 male Asians with 68 above level 19 and 228 Asian females with 46 above level 19. There are 128 male Native Americans with 35 above level 19 and 147 female Native Americans with 8 above level 19. Level 19 salary range is $12,000. Harold Williams, who has served as the State A ffirm ative Action O f fice r since his appointm ent by Governor Straub in 1975 has praise for some state agencies and feels less favorable tow ard the e ffo rts o f others. The Department o f Commerce has made the greatest gains in the 1977- 1978 fiscal year. “ I have to credit the adm inistrator, Cornelius Bateson, H A L IM R A H S A A N Halim Rahsaan has filed as a can didate fo r the Board o f the M e tro p o lita n Service D is tric t, position 11. A native o f Portland, Rahsaan changed his name legally from W illiam Earl Cross to Abdul H a lim Rahsaan three years ago because o f religious preference. Rahsaan, the son o f W illiam and MSD w ith the gains the departm ent has m ade,” W illia m s explained. “ Bateson sees the need to employ more minorities and women and has made that a priority. The most en couraging thing is that Blacks are being hired in positions they have not traditionally held. For example, Zoe Wilson is assistant director o f per sonnel. W ilbur Russell is a fire in spector and Lee Harris is inspector for pre-fab modules. “ In the Insurance Commission, which is part o f Commerce, there is Andria M arziti, a Chicano, who is Deputy Insurance Commissioner.” The Forest Service has an active program , seeking m in o rity em ployees. “ They are having a hard time finding Black foresters because Blacks in Oregon d o n ’ t know anything about o p p o rtu n itie s in forestry.” Although forest products is Oregon’s largest industry, most Black students, who live in Portland, are never exposed to this industry.’ (Please turn to Page 8 Column 4) board position Harriet Bell Cross (Paris) graduated from Jefferson High School. He received a bachelor’ s degree in Sociology fro m P o rtla n d State University in Sociology and attended graduate school at Southern Illinois University. As a high schooler he was corner back on the 1961 champion Jeffer son football team. He won two mid dleweight U.S. A AU championships, was a member o f the U.S. Olympic trials team in 1964 and the 1967 In ternational Boxing team. He also ac- commulated a number o f state and Northwest A A U titles. Speaking o f his candidacy Rahsaan said, “ I feel I am the most q u a lifie d candidate to be your district advocate. I want to be your sounding board in bringing to the community the issues that w ill effect our neighborhood, our county and c ity , the changes that effect us socially, p o litica lly and economi cally. I have always had an interest in the political arena because o f the tremendous effect p o litics play in our lives. Most people fail to get involved in politics until it starts to effect us directly and sometimes it is too late to make any m a jo modifications. I certainly w ill keej the people abreast o f the lates developments w hich e ffe c t ou neighborhood as well as our lives This is the only true way I see ol being your District Representative.” Rahsaan worked with Bob Boozer in establishing the State’ s first a ffir mative action project. The federally funded pilot project was designed to bring m inority people into state civil service. Rahsaan then became the firs t Black hired by the Oregon Com mission for the Blind as a vocational developm ent analyst, placing visually handicapped persons in em ployment. Since January o f 1975, Rahsaan has been em ployed by P o rtla n d Community College as a team super visor with the C ETA I program A second jo b is as counselor in a residential drug treatment program. Currant group a ffilia tio n consists o f N A A C P Oregon Jaycees, A d visory Board, Northwestern College o f Business, Kiwanis (Swan Island Branch), M a rtin L u th e r K ing (Please turn to Page 8 Column 4)
