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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1979)
Fontanel Ob— ever Thursday Juna 7.1171 ' EDITORIAL/OPINION 'Voluntary' doesn't work "W e need to amend the Fair Housing Act to remove the burden end expense of enforcing the lew from the shoulders of the poor victims of housing discrimination. We have to realize the promise of equal opportunity in housing if we are to make the educational benefits of the Brown decision as available to the northern poor as they are becoming in the South." Those words were spoken by President Jimmy Carter during a White House reception commemorating the 25th an niversary of the Brown decision. Congress is considering amendment to the Fair Housing Act (S. 506 and HR 2540), which would give the Department of Housing and Urban De velopment authority to enforce the act. Current ly enforcement of the Act is voluntary. Expecting the real estate industry to abide by voluntary agreements is about as realistic as asking employers to hire minorities without en forcement or expecting school districts to volun tarily desegregate. It only happens with laws and with the threat of economic reprisal. Discretion would help There have been numerous reports on drinking, smoking and fighting at the Rose Festival Fun Center, which led to extra police patrols, each consisting of four uniformed of ficers. There were calls for stronger police enfor cement and even for closing the fun center. Many persons who observed the action Friday and Saturday night blame the crowd unrest on police action. It is hardly appropriate for a plain clothes policeman to wade into a gang of young people to nab a pot smoker, when the smoker is surrounded by supporters and the identity of the police is questionable. People walking around with beer on a hot night is hardly a reason for arrest and violence, unless those persons are harassing or intimidating others. After all. beer drinking is allowed and even encouraged in that same park during Neighborfair. Drunkedness and pot smoking are not to be condoned, but the police should be able to deal with these problems in a restrained and product ive way without starting the violence they are supposed to prevent. Witnesses observed uniformed police bullying the crowd. Bystanders watched the police arrest and beat a drunk, who was doing nothing except appear repulsive. Others were asked to leave when they were doing nothing but watch. If Portland is to have carnivals and others mass activities, its police will have to learn to deal with crowds in a more reserved and respectful man ner. A little sass won't hurt them. They are sup posed to be professionals - trained to control themselves. Squads of police, looking for trouble, are hard ly condusive to "fun". Rose Festival still white Those who are waiting for the first Black Rose Festival queen will have to wait another year — or another twenty years. Maybe we should lower our expectations and just hope for at least one Black official driver. Surety in this day of the automobile there must be at least one Black student at Benson High School who can drive a carl LUTHER By Brumsic Brandon, Jr. A ‘ m ilesto n e’ in the to rtu re d history o f Zimbabwe passed almost unnoticed this past week. A t mid night on T h u rsd ay, M a y 31st, a "Black** for the first time took over o ffic ia lly as p rim e m inister o f Rhodesia (o r, is it ‘ Z im b a b w e - Rhodesia?). An event that we have been waiting for for over 8H years passed with very little fanfare and a whole lo t o f dissension. W hen Bishop Abel Muzorewa stepped up to the microphone to “ address the nation,’’ flanked as he was by two white security guards, it was the strangest birth o f a nation the world has ever seen. When he ‘ took over*, the level of opposition to his ‘ leadership* had never been higher and the number of other problem s c o n fro n tin g him couldn’t have been any greater. I f this opposition were only coming fro m the freedom fig h ters, that would not have been too surprising. But, it was a lot broader than that and, continues to grow with each passing day. As expected, his erst while ally in the in te rn a l sellout agreement. Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole. who has been crying “ F O U L ” since the election, has now turned into another full fledged foe. Recently, several o f his supporters were arrested fo r p lo ttin g the assassination o f Muzorewa. Sithole himself was not arrested but it ’ s questionable how long he will remain free. Supposedly also, several arms caches were confiscated at the time o f the arrests. O f the 72 Africans elected to the N ational Assembly, only 60 are p a rtic ip a tin g in the government at the moment. Sithole is still boycotting the M u zo rew a governm ent and has th erefore prevented his 12 Assembly persons fro m ta k in g p a rt. H e has also Boise gains Another Point o f View Crumbs from Sears fro m the San Francisco Sun Reporter Sears, Roebuck is launching a twice-a-month adver tising campaign consisting of 66 inches of advertising in 150 Black newspapers throughout the country. One hearing of this new thrust by Sears might be prone to say Hallelujah! But beware: this is Sears' maneuver to emasculate the strong national coalition determined to fight back in the marketplace against Sears attempt to destroy the ten years of U .S. federal affirmative action program. In 1978 Sears spent 9625 million in advertising, making it the world's biggest advertiser For the past ten years a Black publisher stockholder in Sears has been urging Sears to take the leadership in returning to Black America some portion of its advertising dollar derived from Black pur chasing power, which in many instances exceeds 30 per cent of the total patronage in certain Sears outlets. This every other week gesture to the Black Press is an insulting handout, not a decision on the part of this giant multi national corporation to use the Black Press consistently as it uses the metropolitan white press of the nation, to move goods and services. The Black Press has never wanted handouts: it has only sought to effectively serve the adver tiser and 26 million Blacks in the nation. Undoubtedly many Black publishers walking the tight line of economic survival will be tempted to accept this Sears handout In the process of taking crumbs from Sears' table, remember that the price of freedom comes high. This initial pittance from Sears would not have come without the current growing natiowide boycott of Sears by the An ti Bakke C oalition, th e N atio n al A ffirm a tiv e A ction Coalition, the Delta Sorority, a few courageous churchmen and a growing number of college students. Sears advertises every day over radio, television and the white press. If Sears really meant the Black Press well, it could have at least offered weekly advertising, semi-weekly advertising or daily advertising, so that the Black Press would become competitive in delivering goods and services to its constituency. Black leaders deriving their leadership roles from religion, education, labor, civil rights activities or mass social organizations are faced with important decisions about their individual contributions to the survival of Black youth, the endangered species Political action can make a dif ference. However, political action buttressed by economic direct action is required for the movement of insensitive racist governmental and business institutions which will not yield to logic and conversation alone. The Black Press of America is on trial as never before, and we remind you of the important words of Fanon: "If the leaders of a historical period fail to articulate the needs of the masses . . . these false leaders will be swept away . . and from the masses itself a new leadership will emergel" Blacks lost in the Bakke decision; we are waiting timidly tor the Supreme Court to decide the Weber case Affir mative Action in the marketplace rests in the hands of the Black masses, who by virtue of their 9100 billion income in 1978 can bring any international corporation to its knees, if we would but persevere and boycott our enemies, while responding favorably to the acts of friends who understand our struggle for human rights and human dignity as it relates to the marketplace. Frederick Douglass was correct in his final advice on the struggle for Black survival: "Blacks must agitate, agitate, agitate I" le t Place C o m m u nity Servie» O N P A 1973 PORTLAND OBSERVER Th» Portland Observer IUSPS 96B-660I a publiahec «vary Thura- dav by Ex» Pubtahmfl Company. Inc . 2201 North Krtlmgaworth Portland, Oregon 97217, Poet Office Box 3137. Portland. Oregon 97206 Second d ie s pottage paad at Portland. Oregon ALFRED L HENDERSON Editor/Publisher le t Place Beat Ad Reeulta O N P A 1973 Subechptione »7 50 per year in Tri-County area. »8 00 per year outside Tri-County Area P oetm eeter Send eddreea change» to the Portland Observer, P.O. Box 3137, Portland Oregon 97206 5th Place Beet E ditorial N N P A 1973 The Portland Observer's office! poertion « expreaaed only in ita Editore! column Any other materai throughout the paper ta the opinion of the individual w riter or aubm ittar end doea not neceeaanty reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer H onorable M e n tio n Herrick Editorial A w ard N N A 1973 2nd Piece Beet Editorial 3rd Place C o m m u nity Leaderahip ON PA 1975 N ational Advertising Repreeentative A m a lg a m ated Publiehera. Inc N ew York 3rd Place C om m u nity Leadership O N P A 1978 MtMBM vt Mei a H e J I p J I p EP Aesotiohers ■ fou nded I9 M 1 (Continued from page 1 col. 2) teachers have always preferred to have small classes rather than having larger class and then having a specialist take some students out for a few minutes a day Next year we have a small increase in funds, and we will get either another full time teacher or two full time aides.” Boise’s structure is divided into the low er grade u n it, grades one through four, and the pper grade unit, grades five througu eight. The 190 students in the first four grades are divided into nine classes, with an average o f 21 students per class. The unit, supervised by M orry Saka, also has six full time aides. The upper grade unit is supervised by Jerry Simnitt. There are two 5th grade classes, each with 24 students; two 6th grade classes with 22 and 23 students; a class with 9 6th graders and 11 7th graders; tw o seventh grade classes with 25 and 23 stud ents, and two 8th grade classes with a total o f 48 students. This unit has three fu ll tim e aide positions, assisting with reading and math. There are only four non-teaching staff - the principal, administrative refused to appoint any o f the four cabinet appointees that he was en titled to. So, at the moment there are only 16 Cabinet positions filled as opposed to the 20 vacancies avail able: M uzorewa’s eleven and the five whites. Smith is a minister without Portfolio. M u zo re w a h im s e lf heads the M inistry o f Defense but has con ceded Finance, Justice and Agricul ture, among others, to the whites. Justice? The rift that had simmered between Muzorewa and his deputy, James Chikerema, one o f the found ers o f Z im b ab w ean n a tio n alism , widened even further with the an nouncement o f Muzorewa’s cabinet. In the in te rim g overnm ent, Chikerema had been the coM inister o f Transport; in the new cabinet, his nam e was not even m en tion ed . Lately, even before the cabinet was chosen, he had been accusing Muzorewa o f “ blatant nepotism and tribalism *’ . So, the break between them is rumored to be im m inent. Should that happen, that could very easily splinter their party, the U A N C (U nited A frican N ational Council) right down the middle. Even as he “ addressed the nation” , the war was raging on all around him. There were reports that as many as a hundred people were killed that same day alone. Both leaders o f the Patriotic Front have spurned his call o f amnesty and vowed to fight on till Zimbabwe is finally and fully liberated. None o f the neighboring A frican countries have responded to his call fo r cooperation and coexistence. B ritain, which had promised to recognize the “ new” government is now moving a lot more cautiously due to rumblings from the African countries. Nigeria, now a very in fluential nation due to her oil clout, assistant, the tw o team leaders. There is a librarian who also teaches, and a full time physical education teacher. Boise has two half-day kindergar ten classes but does not have the all day kindergarten or the advantages o f the programs for four and five year olds th a t the o th er A lb in a schools (th e E a rly C h ild h o o d Education Centers) do. Contrary to what might be expec ted according to current theory that Black children fail to learn do to cultural language problems, Boise students score highest in language - Social Work staff (Continued from page 1 col. 6) N IM H . Bohanan believes it to be unique among the group because it works with students from Alaska as well as the “ lower 4 8 .” Bohanan was raised in a rural c o m m u n ity in Southeastern O k la h o m a . H e served w ith the Marine Corps in the m id-I960's, in cluding a tour in Vietnam. He earned a BS in physical education from Southeastern O k la h o m a State University. has threatened to impose sanctions on B rita in i f she recognizes the M u zo rew a regime and lifts sanc tions. In the U .S ., conservatives in the Senate prevailed and the Senate voted 75-19 to lift sanctions. They also obligated President C arter to make a decision within 30 days in which to make a determination o f what this country will do. Carter had so far resisted efforts to lift sanc tions, but, lately, the pressure on him to do just that has been relentless. W hite exodus, o f which we have heard very little lately, has been going on almost unchecked. Latest figures show that somewhere in the neighborhood o f 1,500 o f them fled Rhodesia in the month o f M ay alone. The war is costing in excess o f $1 million a day and tourism, once a thriving business, has fallen by over 75% in the past year alone. T h e independence celeb ratio n dancers have now left the streets and gone back home to wait . . . to wait for Muzorewa to deliver on all his promises. Very soon those very same dancers and celebrants will be back in the streets again but, this time they w ill not be dancing, they w ill be demonstrating. They will be shouting something a whole lot less flattering than praises. So now the good bishop has the impossible task o f trying to keep his own p a rty to g e th e r, fo il assas sin atio n attem p ts fro m fo rm e r allies in crime, reach some form o f accord with the freedom fighters, win international recognition, have sanctions repealed, reassure the already edgy whites that he is still behaving, and show supporters and detractors alike that his brand o f freedom is really free. Miracles may still happen but. this is one 1 would like to see. a p p ro x im a te ly tw o years behind grade level when compared to the school district average. In math, all grades gained about one year in the seven months bet ween the October 1978 test and the M ay 1979 test, except the 8th grade, which d ro p p ed . T he sixth grade made the greatest gain. The 8th grade is at 5th grade level, the 7th grade at 4.5, the 6th grade at 4.5 and the 5th grade just below fourth grade level. Reading scores improved in all but the 5th and 8th grades. The other grades gained one year or less. The 8th grade average is at 5th grade level; the 7th graders are at 4.5 grade level; the 6th graders below 4th grade level; and the 4th grade below 3rd grade level when compared to the district average. In most cases, when only those «■ students who have been at Boise the entire school year are compared, the gain was larger. For example, the eighth graders gained one year in math. Although still two to three years behind the district average at every grade level, Boise is making some small progress while other schools are falling further behind. PUBLIC NOTICE School District #1 will hold a public workshop on selling goods to and contracting with the Portland Public Schools at 10:00 a.m., Friday, June 15, 1979. Workshop will be held in the Board Room, 620 N.E. Halsey Street for all interested parties, particularly Minority Business Enterprise. An Equal Opportunity Employer