^ 8 * 3 Portland Ob— rv T Thursday. February 8. 1979
Willamette Week's 'Prostitution'
EDITORIAL/OPINION
China beware!
Who Will Suffer?
The Environmental Protection Agency has
bowed to the pressure of the nation's oil,
chemical and auto industries and will relax its
standard for urban smog.
After nearly a decade of fighting clean air stan
dards and EPA itself, industry seems to have won
again. The reason given for the change is that
EPA has been unable to enforce smog standards
because the industries refuse to comply. They
say protection of the public's health costs too
much. Now White House advisors have stepped
in on the side of industry calling for an end to
regulations that would worsen inflation.
There is no assurance that EPA can enforce the
new standard, which allows a fifty percent in
crease in pollution over the old standard.
Only two urban areas in the United States meet
the current health standard for smog set in 1971
— Honolulu and Spokane. The relaxation of the
standard will mean that twenty cities, rather than
two, already meet the standard.
Air pollution is a major health hazard in this
country. Research has proved that pollution
amounts even lower than the current standard
increase susceptibility to disease, and cause
headaches, coughs, and lung problems. Higher
amounts cause serious heart and lung ailments,
leaving impairment and even death.
Who will suffer from the new regulations?
Black people and minorities are the people who
live at the core of the major cities where air is
polluted. Minorities tend to occupy the areas
nearest heavy industry — areas that are changing
from residential to industry.
Portland does not meet current air pollution
standards and who knows how much of the in
crease in lung cancer and other heart and related
diseases can be attributed to smog.
Can China remain socialist while encouraging
economic investment from the United States?
Can China control its own economic destiny
while allowing incursion by the multi-national
corporations?
Reportedly the government of China has nego
tiated with foreign countries for at least $40
billion in investments. Although China is, at least
initially, insisting that this be in the form of joint
ventures, with the Chinese holding at least 51
percent of any company, the power and influence
by the foreign investors could soon overcome the
good intentions of the Chinese.
The multi-national companies have spread
throughout the world — putting up factories and
plants, using cheap labor, exploiting the re
sources of the nation, and taking billions of
dollars in profit home. Although this brings physi
cal development — factories, mines, oilwells,
skyscrappers — little if any benefit trickles down
to the people. Instead, the little money that
remains in the country is used to corrupt the
government to such an extent that all freedoms
are lost.
The dangers are not only to the people of
China. China provides a huge untapped labor
market — four billion people who work at wages
from seven to fourteen cents an hour. It is a per
fect opportunity for American companies —
faced with paying adequate salaries, benefits and
maintaining health and safety standards — to
move their operations to yet another "undeve
loped” country, leaving Americans behind — un
employed.
A lthough the political recognition of the
Peoples Republic of China, and the market
potential and cultural exchange possibilities this
offers, is a good move — one that should have
happened years ago — the potential for exploi
tation of both the Chinese and the American
public is enormous.
FIRE!
A sign of deeper problems
by Herb L. Cawtborne
Those foggy-eyed Black people
who continually deny the damages of
the thoughtless scattering o f Black
children by the school system ought
to pause a minute.
A recent a rticle in W illam ette
Week should give them something to
think about. The article was about
prostitution in the public schools.
The picture on the fro n t page,
naturally, showed a crowd o f Black
children. The unmistakable implica
tion of the picture and the story was
that Black children are involved in
this prostitution.
To me, the article points up one
o f the central problems o f desegrega
tion in Portland. The problem in
volves our inability to know what
our own children are doing.
I am not admitting that a high per
centage o f our young people are in
volved in this degrading prostitution.
I am saying there are more Black
children involved in more undisci
plined activities now than would be
the case if they were in schools in
which their adult community was in
volved.
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had better not find out what I was
doing in school. It was something I
knew and it brought self control.
This is one of the primary reasons
why we must not allow the recent
mismanagement o f the desegregation
issue by the School Board to slow us
down. While a court case will take
tim e, a u n ifie d com m unity can
produce faster change.
Because
this
desegregation
program is so poorly run, a unified
community can be achieved if people
will look at the facts. Look at the
discipline figures. Look at the grades
o f Black children in English and
math and college preparatory courses.
Look at the “ brain drain” in the
Albina schools. Look at the teachers
in Black schools. Look at the figures
on Black hiring. Look at i t * d if
ficu lty we have bringing cultural
programs to our children.
Our first task, then, should be to
get every Black person in this city,
and as many whites as possible, to
look at the facts o f desegregation.
Once Black people see the facts,
unity is next.
The Church and Apartheid
by N. Fungai Kumbula
A lot has been w ritten or said
about apartheid lately, though not
nearly enough 1 w ill be the first to
adm it. W hat has been largely
ignored, however, is the role o f the
church. After all in every other in
stance where people fight for their
God given rights, the church has
usually been a very powerful force. It
has lent the m oral and spiritual
backing, the financial support or, in
certain cases, provided the leader
ship. Since all religions preach and
exhort the pursuit o f good and the
abandonment o f evil, most church
leaders have found themselves in the
forefront o f the civil rights struggle
in various countries around the
world.
In South Africa, the story is all
turned around, it seems. Maybe it
was only to be expected but, it
should by no means be excused. Un
tenable as it sounds, the church in
South Africa has actually provided
the apartheid regime with the moral
backing it needs to 'ju s tify ,' i t ’ s
inhuman policy o f apartheid.
I f you ask any A frik a n e r the
reason for their apartheid practices,
you arc most likely to get the stan
dard answer: ‘ we are trying to main
tain Western c iv iliz a tio n and
Christian democracy.’ They actually
believe that segregation and exploita
tion o f man by man are in accordance
with the laws o f God! The history o f
the church in South Africa is rather
strange, to say the least.
The D utch Reform ed C hurch,
South A fric a ’s dominant church,
was established around 1656-57 as an
adjunct o f the parent church in
Holland. For the first two hundred
years, it ministered to all races but,
in 1857, it suddenly split the flock
according to color. When most o f its
counterparts in the ‘Christian’ world
began to criticize South Africa for
her racial policies, the South African
DRC stood stolidly alone. In 1961, it
Inside South A fric a itse lf,
the Reformed churches are split up.
Actually, there are three Dutch Re
formed churches in South Africa and
the largest o f these is called the
Nederduits G ereform eerdc Kerk
(NG) which claims 1.5 m illion mem
bers out o f the total Afrikaner popu
lation o f 2.5 m illio n . Both P.W .
Botha and John Vorster, his prede
cessor, are among its members as are
the majority o f South A frica ’s politi
cians. Consequently, the NG church
is the most powerful body outside o f
the Broederbond.
The Broederbond is a super secret
clan o f 12,000 ‘ leading’ Afrikaners,
the architects and ‘ enforcers’ o f
apartheid. It is the one organization
that maps out apartheid strategies
and is considered to be even more
powerful than the Parliam ent. A
recent Sunday Times story indicated
that about 750 Afrikaner ministers
or fully 40 percent o f the clergy are
Broederbond members. No wonder
the church not only condones apar
theid but actually actively supports
all segregatory tenets, backing them
w ith “ a p p ro p ria te ” quotations
from the Bible. Unfortunately, just
about anybody can quote the Bible
to justify just about anything.
Due to this misinterpretation o f
the Bible, the NG church is split up
into four separate entities: the white
“ parent” church and a separate
“ daughter” church for each o f the
other three ethnic groups: Blacks,
Coloureds and Asians. A proposal to
Letters
Parent-Child changes its name
To the Editor:
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O N P A 1973
Desegregation in Portland scatters
and isolates. It brings ten or twelve
or twenty Black children together
from several different parts o f the
city. The children don't necessarily
know each other, it's a good bet
their fam ilies have never met.
Among the transferred children and
their families, there is not the kind of
rapport that helps people in a com
munity help each other bring up the
children well.
This problem may be most acute at
the high school level. I f my neigh
bors had children in the same school
as 1 did, then maybe I would get the
word when my child started acting
up.
Perhaps I w ould overhear
someone talking about my child's be
havior. Maybe my friend and neigh
bor would hear the information from
his child and pass it on to me. It
would be more d iffic u lt fo r our
children to be involved in drugs or
prostitution or skipping school or
fighting.
1 was a mischievous child myself.
But I knew one thing: My mother
I was appalled to hear about the
“ Jailhouse rape” that occurred
above the Commissioners’ offices in
the Courthouse. We have not yet re
ceived the full report on the incident.
However, the public should be
assured o f my concern. I expect to
get all the particulars and as a M ult
nomah County Commissioner w ill
do all I can to see that this kind of in
cident does not happen again.
Gladys McCoy
Multnomah County Commissioner
POIC
(Continued from page I col. 6)
downtown area will hinder outreach
to low-income and minority commu
nities.
h) The city’s reorganization to
be able to emphasize “ First Source
E m ploym ent” — tra in in g fo r
specific jobs for specific employers
— ignores the fact that OIC was first
organized on that principle, with its
founder, Dr. Leon Sullivan, going to
the employers o f Philadelphia for
quit the World Council o f Churches,
o f which it had been a member,
because the WCC had been openly
critical on the question o f apartheid.
This year, the major Afrikaner church
severed its last remaining outside link
when it broke with the Protestants in
Holland because the WCC had de
cided to provide financial aid to
African revolutionaries.
(Continued from page 1 col. 6)
There w ill be a ninety day proba
tionary period for enrolled families
for the purpose o f allowing staff and
families to assess program — family
computability.
Families will come to the center on
one o f four days, Monday through
Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30
p.m. Transportation to the center
will be provided where necessary. An
effort will be made to gather families
from the four areas o f the city. On
Monday families w ill come from
N orth and N ortheast P o rtla n d ;
direction to train for existing jobs.
The City Council w ill consider the
changes on the CETA program at its
informal meeting, Tuesday, February
13th at 9:00 a.m.
Volunteer
(Continued from Page 1 Column 4)
Many persons could remain out of
ja il i f they could receive mental
health care. Currently judges have
the choice o f sentencing to prison or
reunite the church was turned down
by the white church for fear that
Blacks m ight get into a position
where they could have a say in
secular governmental affairs.
The one demand that was honored
was the creation o f a single govern
ing body that sets out the guidelines
on doctrine, discipline, and “ issues
o f general concern” . It, however,
rejected the other demand that
would have had the “ daughter”
churches renamed “ sister” churches.
The white church has to remain
above the others! An E .P .J.
Kleyhans,
who
was
elected
moderator at the last synod regards
in te g ra tio n as an “ indefensible
policy” and takes pride in the fact
that the “ church has been two cen
turies ahead of state” in developing
apartheid.
At this same synod, they did not
discuss the endless violations o f the
human rights o f South A fr ic a ’ s
Black citizens nor their appaling
living conditions.
They did not touch on police bru
tality and a professor who asked
about Black political detainees was
shouted down. Needless to say, the
rift between the white church and its
“ daughters” is widening fast. Talk
o f secession has been heard a lot of
lately. The one problem is (hat the
white church provides the bulk o f the
“ daughters” $10.3 m illion annual
budget.
These internal pressures coupled
with rising Black nationalism will no
doubt provide the impetus to secede.
Both Reverend E. Buti, moderator
o f the Black ‘ daughter’ church and
A. Boesnak o f the Coloured church
feel that secession is inevitable.
‘ Black churches are tired o f being
associated with an apartheid church.’
I just wonder how Christiandom
feels about the DRC portraying
Jesus as the champion of segrega
tion.
Tuesday will be Southeast; Wednes
day, far North; and Thursday, North
west and Southwest areas. The idea
behind sectioning o ff the city is that
this w ill build a sense o f community
which could grow into “ clusters” in
some central location, for example,
in Southeast Portland.
Recruitment is in progress. Any
persons who are interested in joining
or who wish information regarding
the program should contact Parent-
C hild Services, 284-6267, Monday
through Friday between 8:30 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m.
probation, with no alternatives, “ not
enough money is spent on care and
treatment o f individuals. Those im
prisoned eventually return to society
with the same mental or emotional
problems as before. The same people
return to the courts again and
again.”
The Professional Voluntary Ser
vices program was designed by Judge
U nis; D r. Edward Colbach, a
psychiatrist; and Dr. David Myers, a
psychologist. Numerous psychiatrists
and psychologists have volunteered
to participate.
91