I
A
Page 2 Portiani1 Observer Thursday, January 4, ’ 979
America! Blacks: Stay eat of Sooth Africa
We see the world
through Block eyes
Avoiding the issues
grade. Where is the evidence that w hite parents
will voluntarily send their children to schools in
the Black community?
The fact that seven elementary schools remain
majority Black is evidence that w hite parents w ill
not voluntarily bus their children. But then, Black
parents did not bus their children either until they
were virtually pushed out of their schools. Yet the
Distict had no com punction against forcing Black
children out of their neighborhoods fo r the pur-
nose of desegregation. W hy not whites, too?
Neither Newman nor Blanchard addressed the
Black c h ild re n s till a tte n d in g m a jo rity Black
schools. Both have le ft desegregation to the
"good w ill” of w hite parents - w ho hopefully will
som etim e in the fu tu re decide to send th e ir
children to King, Sabin, Vernon, etc.
Newman's statement, "B u t the inequity which
exists is not the result of the efforts o f the Port
land School Board to eliminate desegregation .
It is the result of the seoreqation we seek to
elim inate", is misleading.
The in e q u ity is th e re s u lt o f th e S ch o o l
District's unwillingness to inconvenience white
parents even when that failure places a great
burden on Black children and families.
N ew m an d id say, "R a c ia l s e g re g a tio n in
schools is wrong, educationally and morally. No
democratic com m unity should tolerate a school
system that does not affirm atively seek to bring
about the conditions in which w hite and Black
children share the same classrooms to g e th e r."
Those who thought the School Board would
act wisely and fairly when the inequities were
demonstrated and so worked w ith or supported
the Coalition agree w ith Mr. Newm an. Those
who thought the Coalition's w ork w ould be a
futile exercise and so stood aside can agree w ith
M r. N ew m an. Those w h o knew th e S ch ool
Board to be incapable of reacting positively to the
educational needs of Black children can agree
w ith Mr. Newman.
It is because of this agreement that the next
steps w ill be taken. As in the past, when the
political system fails to react positively the only
recourse is w ith the courts. The D istrict has
drawn the lines and the challenge w ill be accep
ted.
There was no surprise as School Board Chair
man echoed Superintendent Robert Blanchard's
claim that the call of the Community Coalition for
School Integration for a more equitable desegre
gation program is "excessive." Dr. Blanchard
had earlier told the Board that the Coalition's
recom m endations fo r school pairing was an
"over reaction."
Newman, as had Blanchard, relied heavily on
the middle school reorganization to justify the
District's desegregation methods, claiming that
"as a result of the gradual and persistent middle
school reorganization, the burden of transfer to
accom plish in te g ra tio n is in creasingly being
sh a re d ." Neither Newman nor Blanchard ex
plained that no white child has been transferred
to a m ajority Black school as a result o f this
reorganization. Also, in all but three cases the in
creased number of Black students in the new
middle schools is the result of cross-town bussing
lone way).
Newman's second point was the success of
the Early C h ildhood E d ucation C enters in
prom oting desegregation. "W h a t we believed
and have found in fact is that parents, both Black
and white, will send their children, by bus if
necessary, and w ith o u t m ajor c o m m u n ity
upheaval, to schools outside their immediate
neighborhood, if the educational programs at the
end of the bus line are g o o d ." Newman failed to
add that white children are transferred to ECEs to
desegregate the pre-kindergarten and kindergar
ten programs, but that these children do not
remain through the elementary years.
Last year 68 per cent of the pre-kindergarten
students at Humboldt, the District's most suc
cessful ECE, were white. By the second grade
only 32 per cent were white. The third grade has
been eliminated to make room to import enough
w h ite pre-kindergarten students to bring the
m inority percentage to 57 per cent.
The other ECEs have been less successful. For
example King's and Eliot's third grades are 69 per
cent m inority.
Whereas 240 white children transferred to the
1977-1978 pre-kindergarten classes in the five
ECEs only 100 white children transferred in to the
first grade and only 13 transferred into the third
Who will benefit?
Governor-elect Victor Atiyeh has revealed the
skeleton of his tax reform package. S till bare
bones, there is hardly enough substance to the
plan to determine its results. But some general
conclusions can be drawn.
The basic elements of the plan are: 11. A 22 per
cent rebate of 1978 personal income taxes; 2). A
12.5 reduction in personal income taxes; 3). A 1.5
lim it on taxation of owner-occupied residences;
4). ty in g the increase o f assessed value to
statewide increase in personal income; 5). renter
relief; 6). ability to vote for levies exceding this
lim it; 7). revenue sharing to make up tax losses to
local governments.
These measures would result in a loss to the
state of approximately $570 million in taxes — or a
budget cut of $570 million.
W ho w ould benefit? $170 m illion w ould be
refunded to 1977 taxpayers at 22 per cent of their
taxes paid. A person who paid $200 in state taxes
would receive $44. A taxpayer who payed $1,000
would receive $110. It m ight sound good, but the
low-income worker who pays little tax w ill receive
little if any benefit.
The 12.5 per cent reduction in taxes paid would
have the same effect - doing little fo r the small
taxpayer but benefiting those w h o have high
incomes and pay high taxes.
W ould greater benefits be derived by the state
keeping th a t $170 and using it fo r education,
health, mental health and all of the other needs
we are told the state can't afford?
W ho will suffer for the $570 million budget cut
- the persons dependent on the state for ser
vices. The e ld e rly w h o need d e n tu re s and
glasses, children w ho need psychiatric coun
selling or foster homes, parents w ho need job
training.
As this plan and others are discussed by the
Legislature and the people it will be im portant to
seek the best tax relief plan - the one that will
provide relief fo r those who need it most while
retaining necessary state and local services.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
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Edltor/Publisher
The Portland Obtrrver's official position is expressed only in its
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writer or submitter and does not necessarily refleci the opinion of the
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Second and probably more impor
tant, when these people return to the
U .S ., they are almost always inter
viewed by the various media about
their experiences in South A fric a .
Generally, the bigger the name, the
more the media exposure. A li will at
tract more attention than ‘ S h a ft.’
So, when they are in South Africa
the “ authorities” w ill bend over
backwards to minister to them. They
w ill agree to tem po rarily lift the
racial barriers so the Americans can
perform before mixed audiences, be
accomodated at ‘white’ hotels and be
allo w ed to go anyw here and
everywhere.
When they come to the U .S ., they
will be asked whether they saw any
signs o f discrimination, whether they
were barred from certain facilities
and if they witnessed any instances
of police brutality. O f course, to all.
these questions they would have to
answer “ N o .” which is just what
apologists fo r a p a rth e id w ill be
waiting for. Then they can say: ‘ We
told you so.’ A ll these horror stories
about Sharpeville, Soweto, etc. are
pure fa b ric a tio n .’ T h e fact is,
whether we like it or not, the word of
one o f these “ leaders” carries more
weight than yours or mine. This is
what the conservatives would use as
ammunition to attack any anti-apar
theid action the U.S. might consider
taking.
So, to a ll Black en tertain ers,
athletes etc.: the word from your
brothers and sisters is: ‘Stay out of
South Africa. Do not be used by the
enemy to undermine our struggle to
be free We feel bad enough when
white Americans speak up in defense
o f this modern day slavery but, it
just kills us when we see our brothers
and sisters join the enemy ranks. If
you want to come to A frica, come to
B otsw ana, L esotho , S w a zila n d ,
Zambia or the rest o f the motherland
where slavery has now been
abolished.
As fo r forcing apartheid to in
tegrate theatres and hotels for the
duration o f a tour, what good docs
that do when, the moment you leave
the th e a tre , the sign “ N o Bantu
(Blacks) A llow ed.” goes up again?
Do those few hours o f “ integration”
make up for the damage you do to
the cause o f Black liberation? We
have no quarrel with anyone trying
to make a living but, we strongly ob
ject to our brothers' and sisters' par
ticipation in an act detrimental to the
cause. As I conclude this, I have ju st
gotten word that a Holly Maxwell,
female singer, is planning to tour
South Africa next year. I f you see
her, please give her a copy o f this ap
peal.
Ii is now a well known fact that
South A frica deplores any form o f
Black advancement. For that reason,
the regime discourages or prevents
prominent Blacks from visiting the
country since they would set a ‘bad’
exam ple: South A fric a n Blacks
seeing their brothers and sisters in in
fluential position would thus find
more ammunition, more inspiration,
more determination to do away with
apartheid so they too can set up a
system where they w ill play their
rig h tfu l roles, a system based on
meritocracy rather than race. The
only outside Blacks that would be
welcome in South A frica are those
engaged in menial jobs who would
thus reinforce the apartheid doctrine
that this is the ‘ natural order o f
things.’
Over the past few years, there has
been a slight m odification o f this
policy. As racism has been denounced
and, in some case discarded the
w o rld o v e r, a tte n tio n has been
focused on South A fric a and the
regime has found itself the center o f
controversy in several areas. In fact,
it has created so much controversy in
the U N , the Olympics, professional
o rg a n iza tio n s and o th er in te r
national bodies. C urrently, South
Africa is barred from participation
in the Olympics, F IF A (the inter
n atio n al soccer governing body),
IL T F (In te rn a tio n a l Law n Tennis
Federation), all U N agencies such as
W orld Health Organization (W H O ),
and U nited Nations E ducational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
(U N E S C O ).
The initial response was one o f
defiance: the ‘go it alone policy’ but,
as pressure m ounts, the regim e
realizes that even some o f its staunch
est supporters are having difficulty
defending apartheid. Apologists for
apartheid have always stressed the
m ineral wealth (g o ld , diam onds,
uranium , etc.), her professed op
position to com m unism and her
‘strategic position’ — straddling the
oil routes from the Middle East to
Western Europe and the U.S. A p
parently, racism is more tolerable
than communism. These arguments
have, however, grown thinner and
thinner over the years as anti apar
theid groups apply the heat. What
South Africa is worried about is that
these apologists may no longer be
able to m uster enough votes to
prevent the imposition o f economic
sanctions against her. They, (the
apologists) have already failed once,
in 1963 when the United Nations im
posed an arms embargo.
These developments have forced
apartheid strategists to think o f new
ways o f improving South A fric a ’s
image abroad. They have bought full
page ads in New Y o rk and other
Eastern
c ity
papers,
lobbied
Congress and have been making ef
forts to contact the Black community
directly. They know that Congres
sional actions and A d m in is tra
tio n policies vis a vis Southern
A fr ic a are g enerally a result o f
pressure from the Black community.
This is where Black entertainers and
athletes come in.
South A fric a has been reaching
out to Black entertainers, athletes
and other such public figures to
come visit South A frica. A number
have already either taken up the o f
fer or gone there o f their own voli
tion. Dobbie Gray who, a few years
back recorded the very successful hit,
‘ D rift A w ay’ went to South Africa
early in 1978. Percy Sledge, until a
few years back, a fairly successful
R&B singer (often taken as the flip
side o f W ilson Pickett during his
heyday) visited South A fric a and
Rhodesia in 1972. Not too long ago,
the Supreme« were thrown out o f
South A frica after they ran afoul o f
apartheid.
A t this moment, Richard ( ‘Shaft’)
Roundtree is over there working in a
movie about the liberation struggle.
The fact that he has been allowed in
to the country to do this particular
movie indicates to you the movie can
o n ly be k n ockin g o u r struggle.
In itia lly , A rth u r A she, the 1973
W im bledon tennis champion, used
to urge Black athletes to go to South
A frica as a way o f weakening apar
theid. He played there once or twice,
I th in k , but is now one o f the
strongest advocates o f severing all
sport contacts w ith th at unholy
nation. Lee Elder golfing great, has
also been invited to play over there
on a number o f occasions. Earlier
in 1978 there was a lot o f excitement
when it was announced that M u
hammad A li was going to fight in
South Africa.
Several things are involved when
Blacks go to South A fr ic a fo r
whatever reason. F irst, they are,
though a p a rth e id adm its it only
grudgingly, citizens o f what they
consider the ‘ leader o f the free
w o rld .’ The U .S. carries a lot o f
clout in world affairs. As past events
will attest, it is the American veto
that has saved South A frica from
being expelled from the U N , from
economic sanctions and from an oil
embargo. These Black entertainers
are regarded as the leaders o f the
Black community — the very same
community that has been pressuring
their government to get tough with
apartheid. I f the “ leaders” o f this
community could be persuaded to be
a little less hostile, U .S . pressure
would diminish.
to tke, &¡jduoe
Conflict of interest not serious problem
T o the Editor:
I have received a copy o f Larry
Baker’s “ Behind the W all” column
which was printed on Thursday, Oc
tober 19th. Because I direct the
American Bar Association program
which has been providing funding
assistance for the Prisoners’ Legal
Assistance office since 1976 I am
w riting to respond to some inac
curacies.
It is true that A B A funding for this
program has term inated, but not
because we are disinterested. In fact,
our original funding commitment for
P L ^ was to have been for only one
year. Due to what we believed was
the excellent o p e ra tio n o f the
program we received authorization
fro m our N a tio n a l M anagem ent
Board to make an e x tra o rd in a ry
second year grant. This was followed
by a second “ extraordinary” year o f
funding as a continuation grant from
the A B A . In other words, we funded
the project for nearly two years in
excess o f our original commitment.
The reason that we are unable to
support the program any longer is
that the funding on which the A B A
has relied is no longer available.
Some serious questions ware
raised in the column about the con
flicts o f interest which may be
inherent in the funding o f a prison
legal services office by a state correc
tions departm ent. U n fo rtu n a te ly ,
funds for such programs throughout
the country are very lim ited and
p io g ram sponsors and operators
must go where they can to obtain the
money necessary to sustain their
projects. Similar conflicts o f interest
can also be said to exist with state
funding o f public defenders or tax
supported “ public advocate” o f
1
fices. A fter all, in a criminal case the
State is the plaintiff, the prosecutor,
the judge, and in many cases the
defense counsel. While a funder may
exert some influence over categories
o f matters that an office may handle
(p u b lic defenders w o rk only on
criminal matters, legal aid offices do
only civil case work), the individual
attorney bears full responsibility for
deciding which cases he or she will
take and how they will be handled.
No government agency — even the
Department o f Corrections — can
offset those decisions.
As you know, in Bounds v. Smith,
the U.S. Supreme Court decided that
prisoners have a Constitutional right
to court access. Despite the Supreme
C o u rt’s decision states have been
slow to provide the financial support
necessary to allow inmates adequate
access to law libraries and the ser
vices o f attorneys. About the only
place that legal service operators can
go for the necessary wherewithal! un
til general state funds are appro
priated is to the corrections depart
ment. I f no other state agency is able
to support legal services fo r
prisoners, the corrections depart-
ment must do so. It is, after all, that
department to which the Supreme
Court in the Bounds case spoke most
directly.
Sincerely,
David J. Linden
Project Director
American Bar Association
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