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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1978)
1 Especially in degregation Black perspective defines education by Herb L. Cawtborne ago the timber on that 40 acres with minimum maintenance through the years would be today King Tut is back and he is Black. But this has worth more than $40,000 - not to mention the been a highly guarded secret as the treasures of increase in value of the land over the years. A tobacco farmer raising forty acres of tobacco Tutankhamun are shown across the country. The nation has missed a great opportunity to each year would be reaping a small fortune. It can be said that for every forty acre tract of demonstrate to the American people the rich land bought and put into production a job could heritage of its Black citizens. As usual, those who be created for someone. What does a forty acre are responsible for the dissemination of the news — the art community, the educators and the press tract cost in the South? In some places as little as $8,000 ($200), and though it goes higher $20,000 - have white washed Black achievement. could be considered a fair average. The question We have seen that same process take place in then arises: why are not Blacks of modest means American history. Those Blacks who have purchasing land as a way to provide jobs for their achieved have been belittled, or if that is im people? There are many answers to this question, possible they have lost their color. but the key answer lies in the fact that very few More evidence of Tut's Black ancestory: Senagalese historian and scientist Cheikh Anta Blacks of means possess the value system that Diop says (1975), "W h a t is certain is the would enable them to do such. It's the same answer that explains why certain preeminence of the Negro element from the Black athletes w ill spend $18,000 on a beginning to the end of (ancient) Egyptian history. Even thae intensive cross-breeding of the stereophonic sound system (Tony Dorsett) or low periods did not suceed in eliminating the $25,000 on a fur coat (Reggie Jackson). It's the reason behind why W ilt Chamberlain had to Negro characteristcs of the Egyption race.'* About Amenophis III, the father of Tut, the build a $1.5 million home and why Walt Frazier British Egyptologist John G. Wilkinson writes, needs a $40,000 Rolls Royce and why George "The features of this monarch cannot fail to Foreman had to have eleven automobiles when strike everyone who examines the portraits of the he was heavyweight champion of the world — not Egyptian Kings (as) having more in common with to mention numerous other examples. One can only imagine the countless number of the Negro than those of any other Pharaoh." acres this foolishly spent money would have pur German Historian Alexander Von Wuthenau says of Tutankhamun that "the features of this chased had it been otherwise directed. It doesn't have to take too much imagination Egyptian King,whose mother was of pure Black though. All one has to do is witness what white stock, are almost as Negroid as those of his cap athletes are doing w ith thier money. Larry tured Nubian enemies." Czonka has spent the bulk of his football money Rutgers University anthropologist and linguist on buying land in Ohio where he has a farm that Ivan Van Sertima, refers to Queen Tiye, chief queen of Anemophis II as the "Negroid mother of his brother operates. Bert Jonns has put his money in a timber farm and has 1,000 acres plan Tutankhamun." ted in soybeans and runs cows on another farm Knowing that Tut was Black might take away he has. Its common knowledge that Catfish Hun the beauty of the exhibit for some visitors, but for Blacks and for others who are willing to accept ter borrowed $150,000 from Charlie Finley to buy history as it was, it is an opportunity to honor a acreage in North Carolina where he now has 200 head of Black Angus cattle. And these are not great Black king. the only white athletes that are putting their money into land. What one might find interesting about these three is that they were all landless before they signed their first professional con from "Forty Acres and a Mule", Jackson tract. Well, what does all this tell us? It tells us simply A forty acre tract of land is more than adequate this: that a greater value will be placed on land by enough to enable a person to carry on a full time all Blacks when they see the discontinuation of- poultry enterprise or a full time truck farming meaningless ostentatious consumption by those operation. Forty acres of good pasture land will Blacks with means and the investment by those support 20 cows and their calves. If a forty acre Blacks into productive resources whether these tract of land was planted to pine trees 15 years resources be land or other Black people. King Tut is back '?Wlt q Beaumont middle school (Continued from page 1 col. 6) high school. About the Sabin (Black) students already attending Beaumont they wrote: "M any people do not realize that the Sabin 6-8 graders are atten ding Beaumont now. There is no trouble becaue: 1) Students arrive and depan by bus 2) Students are required to remain on campus from the time they arrive until they go home 3) Even though some students this age (grades 6-8) have adjustment problems, most are good citizens and deserve our confidence 4) Alameda 6-8 graders would be a real asset to Beaumont, and would lend a positive balance." The School Board kept its promise and all the white Beaumont students w ill be accommodated at Alameda. Sabin w ill remain majority Black. 1st Place Comm unity Service ONPA 1*73 PORTLAND OBSERVER Published even Thursday by Exie Publishing Company. 2201 North Killingsworth. Portland, Oregon 97217 Mailing address P O Bos 3137. Portland Oregon 9~2l)fl Telephone 283 24X6 Subscription J7.J0 per year in the Tri-County area. M OO per year outside Portland Second Ciesa Postage Paid at Portland. Oregon The Portland Observer's official position is expressed only in its ALFRED L HENDERSON Editor Publisher Publisher s column fWe See The W orld Through Black Eyes) Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the individual writer or submitter and does no! necessarily reflect the opinion o f the Portland Observer National Advertising Representative Am algam ated Publisher» Inc New York le t Place Bast Ad Result* ONPA 1*73 5th Place Best Editorial NNPA 1*73 Honorable M ention Herrick Editorial Award NNA 1*73 2nd Place Beet Editorial 3rd Place Community Leedenhip ONPA 1*75 3rd Piece Comm unity Leadership ONPA 1*78 MiAAMR Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association J $ 7 .5 0 m Tri —C o u n ty A r e a N e I i p A p ER $ 8 .0 0 O th e r PORTLAND OBSERVER P O Box 3137 Portland. OR 97208 a What most educators, particularly the white ones, fail to comprehend intellectually is that being Black in America defines and contorts and deepens and spices one's existence Because the vast m a jo rity o f Am erica's white educators, along with a disheartening proportion of Black teachers, fa il to grasp this brutal fact o f Black life, they also perform less sensitively in the well- meant attem pt to prepare yourg Black ch ild re n fo r the awesome demands placed on their shoulders by the heavy weight o f American prejudice. There is. nevertheless, a bright ray o f hope at the end o f the long corridor o f struggle that represents Black life. The vision is proud and strong. Though more than 75 percent o f America's white population still believes Blacks are suffering, not because of systemic inequities, hut because o f moral deficiencies, we all know better. I f the Black condition today was rooted in our own moral deficiencies, built into our character and unchangeable, then the hope for tomorrow would be sad indeed. But we know better. And our future, we know, holds the bnghtest hope. That is why we work so hard. We work now for an educational system which can foster dig n ifie d Black human beings — each who knows in his heart o f hearts, “ I am some body.” We endeavor persistently now to help foster Black people who demonstrate a commitment to creatively forge the "uncreated con science o f the race.” That is why we must work so hard now to make the P ortland com m unity understand our dissatisfac tion with the present structure o f the desegregation program. The hope that we have for the future depends on a better program. Our dissatisfac tio n is rooted in the kind o f education we must have fo r our children. Education must cultivate in Black children a sense o f the deep roots from which we come. This cannot be accom plished in a desegregation program which scatters children, and isolates them in schools which teach no Black history. Our children can not become proud o f their roots; in stead the unstable atmosphere w ill make them wonder about themselves and their foundation. Black children need to learn the language well. They need teachers who w ill challenge them to learn English. They do not need those who apologize for them, who are afraid to confront their shortcomings, and who lack the sensitivity to bridge the gap between their instinctive speech and standard English. Yet most o f our children have teachers who do not understand. Since the beginning o f the a d m in istra tive transfer program in 1970, only 23 percent o f the teachers have had any training w ith regard to handling a desegregated classroom . Given results, the effectiveness o f the m inim al training provided can be questioned. T o prepare Black children, the educational system we promote must leave a p ro fo u n d respect fo r knowledge. This cannot be done where there is no demand, no challenge, no constant rem inder. Under the present system o f desegregation, where Black children are sent in small numbers to distant corners o f the city, our children will not develop the sense o f respect for knowledge. Because they are misun- derstood, because they are thought to be inferior, learners, they ate not pushed with tender love and care. They are not challenged by the fact (hat their history requires that they respect knowledge, fo r knowledge w ill set them free. Black children need to learn, through continual reminder, that they should not be impressed with shallow symbolism. When we send our children fa r away fro m our neighborhood, without assurances and intense involvement from parents, we send them to teachers and ad ministrators who do not know them well. It is not that we should not send them at all. It is rather that we should make certain that th e ir teachers are not overly impressed with the shallow symbolism which surrounds so many o f them. Their hair styles, their slick phraseology, their cool struts, their expressive bodily movement, their moody facial expression, their sharp tongues, and th e ir fashionable dress arc the shallow symbols and not the sub stance o f their lives. Too many white teachers get hung up in the sym bolism and they miss the substance. This is why we must work so hard now. This is why we must, through our relentless collective effort, fight to develop a desegregation program which is equitable, which is respect ful o f the needs o f a new generation o f Black youth. Near the turn o f the twentieth cen tury, W.E.B. DuBois wrote a charge which we should heed today. " A stubborn determination at this time on the part o f the Negro race to uphold its ideals, keep its standards, and unceasingly contend fo r its rights means victory; and victory a great deal sooner than any o f you imagine." JLfÜMt to tfo, Questions school board process, ethics To the Editor: School administrators, the School Board and middle school proponents at Beaumont created a cluster and then defined the cluster as the neigh borhood. But do they really believe this and are they prepared to make it a reality? Sabin area residents are told by Beaumont parents, “ Come to our school; you are part o f our neighborhood." But Alameda and Beaumont also say in essence, “ God forbid that we be part o f the Sabin school or neighborhood!” Busing to and integration o f Sabin w ill be "o p tio n a l" to Alameda and Beaumont parents. Does the d is tric t push m iddle schools based upon the logic that exists fo r having them? Does it provide citizens w ith facts on programs, figures on costs and in form ation on student achievement levels in existing Portland middle schools? Does it then let citizens decide if middle schools are the way to go? No. The district has few facts and distrusts citizens. The district's primary thrust is that "everyone else is doing it . ” The district decides, we shall have middle schools." Then it proceeds to politic and manipulate until it can demon strate some semblance o f " c o m munity acceptance.” This manipula tio n includes allow ing schools to deteriorate, strip p in g s ta ff and program s and tra n sfe rrin g out children in schools targeted for con version to m iddle schools. Then middle schools are pushed as the only salvation and opponents are labeled with all sorts o f damning epithets. When citizens protest their shabby treatment and question mid dle schools it reinforces the district’ s preconceived image o f the uninform ed public. Meanwhile citizens’ beliefs that government can’ t be trusted and won’ t listen are also reinforced. The whole process o f citizen par ticipation in educational decision making in Portland is designed to be superficial and mampulable. C ourt ed participants are carefully screened fo r appointment at the Area A d visory Committee level by a selection com m ittee hand-picked by one Board member, Jonathan Newman. Area A d viso ry com m ittees set, within administrative guidelines, the procedures fo r selecting local ad visory committees. Usually the prin cip a l appoints them. P ortland Citizens must demand change in this system so that participation can be made democratic and meaningful. Do we get representative govern ment by choosing School Board members? Nationally 50 9 are first ap pointed to vacancies created be’ ween elections. Locally. Ridgely at least removed himself from the process of choosing his successor. In contrast Gladys M cCoy chose to extract commitments from the other Board members who believe, or say they do, that she has Black support. She didn't ask for Black community or general com m unity in p u t. She decided she knew best and choose Evie Crowell. In agreeing to run un der these conditions Ms. Crowell now has a strike against her from the start and w ill have to work hard to prove she wants or needs Black sup port. New Board member Forrest Reike, Ridgely’ s replacement, wanted his appointment so badly that he admits o f having sold his vote to get it, promising, before he even knew who the other candidates would be, that he would support Ms. McCoy’s can didate if Ms. McCoy supported him. A fte r Ms. C ro w e ll’ s appointment and upon seeing a citizen he'd admit ted this to. Reike asked if she wanted to “ kick him .” The answer to that is^ (hat Reike kicked her and all o f us. He and Board members giving com mitments to Ms. McCoy thumbed their noses, as did she, at citizens and applicants fo r Ms. M cC oy’ s position. Candidates went through the farce o f hurried interviews when the decision had already been made. Why can’ t Board replacements be made democratically with meaning ful citizens input into the decision? Finally, in response to a statement made by Ms. M cCoy at her last School Board meeting, I don't expect Board members and administrators to always agree with me. I do expect o f them consideration, honesty and ethics. Some Board members and administrators are far from demon strating any o f these. Claudia Fisher Praises McCoy To the Editor: mentioned above coincide with the thinking of this community. I became greatly disturbed after W’e do not have a Black Com reading three articles in your paper m u nity. We have an integrated o f, August 24, 1978 as follow s: com m unity made up o f Colored E ditorial, "T o o Much Power For Americans of various colors: Black, One Leader” ; article by Herb L. brow n, tan, yellow and other C aw tborne, “ School Board minorities and white. Challenged, Poor Process Insults The thinking in the articles men Community” ; Letter to the Editor, tioned seems to indicate that you by Vesia Loving, "S ch o o l Board want a candidate who w ould Shows Contempt.” represent only a small segment of the / ’ lease grant me permission to district and city at large. We need a reply to these articles in your next candidate or representatives who edition. would represent all o f the people in I am compelled to disagree with the city. each article as* I am a concerned Having been a School Board citizen. member and Chairman for several First I would like to qualify myself years puts me in position to evaluate for this protest the experience of Mrs. Gladys Mc I have lived in the City o f Portland * Coy who having served with distinc for more than thirty years. 1 raised a tion on the Portland School Board fa m ily o f nine children. I have for two terms or eight years. She always been very close to the "grass should be in position to judge the roots thinking” o f this community. 1 type of person who should be able to served as a Sunday school teacher, serve on the Board for the best in superintendent o f the Sunday school; terest ol all o f the people. worked with various PTA groups I think your criticism o f Mrs Mc through the years as well as various Coy was very unfair because she has other community groups. proven her a b ility to get the job I was elected and served on the done. I have known Mrs. McCoy School Board o f the then second and her Senator husband B ill for largest city in Oregon, Vanport City. many years. As a member o f this I served approximately three years as community I have come to a d m ire ^ a member o f the School Board and both o f them as trustworthy, depend most o f that time I was Chairman of able and reliable in their duties to the Board. the public. I am a property owner, taxpayer I am on the Board o f the Portland and ow n several parcels o f real estate Board ol Realtors Political Action in this community. Committee. We interviewed political I am a Realtor and I am very close candidates just before the recent to the thinking o f the people of this Primary Election. We interviewed community. Neither o f the articles (Please turn to Page 3 Column I)
