Un î V
School Board hears cross-bussing opposition
The P o rtla n d School Board's
second meeting on the report and
recommendations o f the Community
C oalition for School Integration,
brought an abundance o f comments
against the most controversial
recommendation — school pairing
— but not the great outpouring o f
opposition that had been expected by
many.
Making their comments in response
to the exerpts o f the recommen
dations read to the Board at the
November 27th meeting by Research
C om m ittee co-chairm an Herb
Cawthorne, but without access to the
w ritten research findings, recom
mendations and rationale, many per
sons spoke to points that w ill be
mute i f the C oalition’ s recommen
dations are accepted.
The Coalition has recommended
the pairing o f each o f the seven
schools that currently have majority
Biack enrollment with one or two
white schools. A ll o f those children,
grades K through 4th, would attend
one or two schools together. A ll 5th
to 8th graders would attend one or
two schools together. In this way,
each student w ould attend tw o
schools during his elementary school
career, one for the first four grades
and another fo r the upper fo u r
grades. One school would be in his
own neighborhood, the other in
another neighborhood.
The Coalition recommended that
the white schools selected be in mid
dle-class neighborhoods, with trans
portation time kept to a minimum. If
this recommendation is accepted it
PORTLAND
OBSER/ER
Volum e 8 No. 49 Thuraday, D ecem ber 7,1978 10c per copy
First N ational Bank o f Oregon
named Jim Mayes manager o f its
26th and E. Burnside branch.
Mayes joined First National as an
executive trainee in 1969, shortly af
ter he graduated fro m L in fie ld
College with a degree in business
a d m in is tra tio n . He was named
assistant operations officer at the
S.E. 121st and Division branch in
1970, was transferred to the Sixth
and Morrison branch in 1971, and
returned to the S.E. 121st and
Division branch with a promotion to
operations officer in 1972.
He entered the bank's loan
training department in 1974, and was
named commercial loan officer at
the Montavilla branch in 1975. He
was promoted to credit analyst at the
bank’ s headquarters in 1976, and
moved up to analytical coordinator
in the credit department in 1977.
City seeks minority input
The City o f Portland is holding an
open forum on Thursday, December
14th, at 7:30 p.m. in the King School
Cafeteria, 4815 JJi,E. 7th, to discuss
m inority involvement in economic
development in P o rtla n d . The
discussion w ill focus on how to make
the C ity ’ s economic development
program more responsive to the job,
business and incom e needs o f
minorities, including women.
Crowell files for School Board
Evelyn (Evie) Crowell, who was
appointed to the Portland School
Board in September in the position
vacated by the resignation o f Gladys
McCoy, has filed for election to that
position.
Ms. C ro w e ll is an associate
professor at Portland State Univer
sity, in charge o f inter-library ser
vices. She formerly was a reference
librarian fo r the Library Association
o f Portland, an associate librarian at
L in fie ld College and director o f
readers’ services at Fisk University
Library.
Ms. Crowell is a graduate o f Port
land State University and received
her master’s degree in library science
from the University o f Washington.
She attended Boise Elem entary
School and Girls Polytechnic High
School.
She is a member and past president
o f the YM C A o f Portland, a board
member em eritis o f the M a rtin
Luther King Scholarship Fund, and a
member o f the boards o f Fam ily
Planning Advocates o f Oregon and
Northwest Oregon Health Systems.
She is a member o f the Urban
League o f Portland, the N AAC P,
the C ity C lub, the P ortland A rt
. . . Next we’ ll be forced to go to
a certain church.”
A nother co m p la in t was that
children would be isolated from their
own neighborhoods. Ms. Georgia
Spencer tearfully told how her son,
who had voluntarily been bused to
Eliot to receive the benefits o f a good
program, had become isolated in his
own neighborhood and rejected by
neighborhood
children.
The
C o a litio n recom m endations o f
p a iring schools addresses this
problem — faced by hundreds o f
Black students who are scattered
th rougho ut the d is tric t — by
re q u irin g th a t students go to
school with their neighborhood class
mates.
W .F. Brown o f N.E. 18th said
parents have lost the ability to par
ticipate when students are bused
across tow n. Bob Peterson o f
Skyline School area, who has been
active in school affairs, said he could
not fully participate i f his children
were in two or three schools.
The C oalition’s recommendations
would eliminate much o f the current
busing and cut expenses. For exam
ple, 72 buses pick up children at King
each morning. Each o f these buses
makes several stops in Northeast
Portland picking up children, then
The School Board w ill hear tire
re c o m m e n d a tio n s o f S u p o rin -
te n d e n t R o b e rt B lanch ard and
h e a r p u b lic c o m m e n t on th e
C o m m u n ity Coalition for School
Integration recom m endations on
M o n d a y , D e c e m b e r 11th , 7:30
p .m . a t Benson High School.
several stops in Southwest or
Southeast P o rtla n d delivering
children. Pairing King with a nearby
school would require fewer than ten
buses to take children from King to
the other school — a ten to fifteen
(Please turn to Page 2 Column 1)
NAACR election: The vice presidency
Mayes heads Burnside Branch
JIM MAYES
would rule out the schools where
most o f the opposition is located —
Skyline, West Sylvan, Marquam and
Robert Gray.
Samuel Weiss o f S.W. Seymour
Court said all students should have
an equal opportunity to learn, but
pairing will not fit in a middle school
reorganization pattern. (Jackson,
Wilson and Lincoln attendance areas
have requested the middle school
reorganization, although Jackson
has one middle school.)
Wesley Post o f the Robert Gray
district said, “ We moved to South
west to get quality education in our
own neighborhood . . . wc don't in
tend to have our children bused
across town to a school in a neigh
borhood we moved out o f.”
Bob Furgeson, S.W. Vista, op
posing pairing, said, “ 1 don’t see it
as a racial issue at all.”
Phyilis W hite, a public school
teacher, said although she favors
desegregation, “ it shouldn’t be forced
EVIE CROWELL
Association, W orld A ffairs Council,
Oregon Women’s Political Caucus,
Oregon C o u n cil fo r W om en’ s
E quality, and Delta Sigma Theta
Society. She is a past officer o f the
Catholic Daughters o f America.
Ms. C row ell has tw o adopted
children — Russell, tw elve, and
Kymberle, eleven.
Candidates for the position o f First
Vice President o f the Portland Branch
N A A C P are Robert Boyer, D r.
Clarence Pruitt and Rozell Gilmore.
Bob Boyer, who was nominated by
the Nominating Committee, spoke
o f his desire for election.
“ As Vice President o f Portland
NAACP I w ill continue to work for
its success. I worked as Chairman o f
Budget & Finance with the National
Convention and those duties have
been increased as C hairm an o f
Labor & Industry for the Portland
Branch.
“ I have the time to work with the
President to help him carry out his
goals and objectives for the Branch.
My involvement in the community is
one o f reaching goals, and com
pleting tasks. To be a good and out
standing leader you must first be a
follower. You judge a tree by the
fru it it bears, you judge a man by his
work.
“ I f you want action, vote for Boh
Boyer.”
Dr. Pruitt said o f his candidacy,
“ I f elected I w ill serve you as First
BOB BOYER
Vice President in terms of: increased
active membership; a voice in the
community among Black people for
U nity o f purpose; Togetherness in
action; Love and Respect for each
other; q u a lity education fo r our
youth, regardless o f the task; equal
access to employment; active interest
in motivation o f every young Black
boy and girl in the community to not
CLARENCE PRUITT
only jo in the N A A C P and par
ticipate in its present programs but to
initiate new and useful, educational
and social ones fo r them; to insist
that adult N A A C P ’ers show by their
action and involvement that they are
concerned and care about the
future o f our Black youth; to U nify
the Youth and Adult members into a
H arm onious fu n ctio n in g chapter
ROZELL GILMORE
o f NAACP; and finally, to try and
set as a goal to be completed in two
years in the P ortland Branch o f
N AAC P a membership from every
Black person in the Portland area.
This is M r. Lee’s dream.
To set about doing this task 1 need
your vote. 1 need your help! Believe
in me! Please, give me a chance to
(Please turn to Page 6 Column 3)
King, Sabin neighborhoods schedule cleanup, ball game
Something new in neighborhood
cleanups w ill take place this Saturday
December 9th, as the King and Sabin
neighborhoods jo in w ith area
businesses and the Bureau o f Neigh
borhood Environment to clean up
the neighborhoods, and to celebrate
their efforts with a King vs. Sabin
basketball game. Featured starters in
that game w ill be former Trailblazer
Greg Sm ith and local star B ill
Nickelberry.
Neighborhood residents are asked
to warm up for the game by dunking
th e ir old newspapers, unwanted
lumber, yard clippings, broken ap
pliances, furniture, and just plain
ju n k in to drop boxes at five
locations: King School Playground;
corner o f Union and Jessup (next to
Church’s); Wash Wash Laundromat
parking lot at 15th and Prescott;
corner o f Union and Mason; and the
Tradewell parking lot at 15th and
Fremont. These drop centers w ill be
in operation from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00
p.m. this Saturday only. Bulky items
and materials suitable for recycling
w ill be accepted at the King School
o n ly. C all G ail at 248-4575 fo r
recycling information.
Senior citizens and the disabled
who are unable to haul their refuse to
one o f the five drop sites should call
Gail no later than Friday, December
8th to arrange to have their unwant
ed items picked up on Saturday.
Free door prizes from area mer
chants, free refreshments (featuring
fried chicken), and a limited number
o f free t-shirts for the kids w ill be
given away at the neighborhood
no-grudge basketball game, with the
tip - o ff scheduled fo r 4:00 p.m .
A ll neighborhood residents, but
especially those who have dunked
their junk, are urged to attend and
cheer their neighborhood team on to
victory.
F n B B S
ItZ Z jB B S
ZZI i_1L J EEEÎ EE3 0
i
DROP CENTERS
o r. 3
:
n r n .. ’
r □C ZZI I
... . \\ i
King School Playground
Corner of Union & Jessup
(next to churches)
Wash Wash Laundromat
(Parking lot on 15th & Prescott)
Corner of Union & Mason
Tradewell Parking Lot
(15th & Fremont)
Ku Klux Kian rides in Mississippi
by Boyd Lewis
O K O L O N A , M ISS. (PN S) —
When the Ku Klux Kian resurfaced
in its bedsheet battle regalia in this
northeastern M ississippi farm ing
com m unity last spring, a m ilitant
new breed o f c iv il rights leaders
discarded the nonviolent tactics o f
M artin Luther King, Jr. and began
returning bullet for bullet.
Scores o f shooting incidents and
beatings involving both Blacks and
whites have flared in Okolona since
last February, when marches, rallies
and boycotts o f merchants and the
local high school were called to
protest charges o f police brutglity
and jo b d is c rim in a tio n . Marches
organized last summer by a relatively
new m ovem ent group called-the
United League o f Mississippi were
fo llo w e d or co n fro n te d by Kian
rallies. In Tupelo, twenty miles to the
north, both sides, heavily armed, ac
tually marched from opposing sides
o f a dow ntow n street in to one
another without incident at a Labor
Day confrontation.
But Tupelo, nine times larger than
Okolona and the industrial nucleus
o f upper Mississippi, has taken the
face-off between the Kian and the
United League as a challenge to its
somewhat smug re p u ta tio n as
Mississippi’s most racially “ liberal”
city. As a result the people o f Tupelo
have begun signs o f authentic soul-
searching and apparent progress.
In Okolona though, a siege men
tality is as real as the metal fence
around Okolona High School, closed
I
and locked each school day to keep
the gun-bearing Klansmen and
United Leaguers o ff campus.
“ I f any person fires upon us, we
aren’t going to tuck our tails and
ru n ,” says the a p tly named Dr.
Howard Gunn, Okolona organizer
for the United League. “ We’ re going
to retaliate w ith every available
resource we have. I f any person ever
fires upon any Black person in this
com m unity, we’ re going to blow
their doggone head o ff.”
Dr. Gunn made that statement the
night o f October 18th at a rural
church some ten miles south o f
Okolona after a carload o f whites
had fired on Donald Pack, a Black
bricklayer and Leon Lowery, a Black
fillin g station operator, on U.S.
Highway 45. The 100 or so persons
who had gathered to hear a progress
report on the school boycott knew
Dr. Gunn was not engaged in mere
rhetorical flourish.
Only a few weeks earlier he was in
his station wagon with his son and
friends when a group o f Klansmen
opened fire w ith shotguns and
pistols. Dr. Gunn fired back and an
estimated 100 rounds were ex
changed. M iraculously, there was
only one casualty, a white teenager
treated and released at the county
hospital.
Dr. Gunn, a minister, said a pat
tern has emerged in recent months o f
Klansmen following League demon
strators wherever they appear.
Similar Kian tactics were reported
this fall at Cullman, Alabama where
rallies were staged for Tommy Lee
Hines, a retarded Black man on trial
before an all white ju ry fo r the
alleged rape o f a white woman.
Skip Robinson, the director o f the
U nited League o f M ississippi,
believes these clashes are signaling
the end o f thd nonviolent civil rights
movement. “ We still believe very
deeply in what Dr. King meant when
he said that love and understanding
can overcome hate and killing. But
we d o n ’ t feel he meant that we
should be cowards.
“ I f the Kian moves into my neigh
borhood and shoots at my neighbor,
shoots into my house, I ’ m not going
to fall on my knees and say *O Lord,
stop him .’ God stops man through
man.
“ I f the Kian shoots into my home,
i f I do anything I ’ m going to say *O
Lord, help me to aim straight.’ ”
Skip Robinson is seen as the out
side agitator in Okolona and Doctor
Gunn is perceived as a malcontent by
many o f the tow n’ s whites, especially
the merchants who have been suf
fering significant economic damage
as a result o f the Black boycott.
“ The press, even reporters from
the Tupelo D a ily Journal, or the
Jackson Clarion Ledger are roundly
despised in Okolona for covering the
troubles o f the community.
Okolona’s weekly newspaper, The
Messenger, carried o n ly o ffic ia l
statements, curfew announcements
and court decisions. Like most white
Okolonans the paper’s editor refused
to be interviewed.
One resident who would talk was
(Please turn to Page 4 Column 1)
i