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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1979)
. I nait«» F rsr.crs Pcho :n-" I n ’ v e rg ity of Cr • 7cr '. i ’ 3 I ■ " , ■ '•-•••> United Black Front poll Black community supports school boycott The Black United Front announced overwhelming support for its boycott of the Portland Public Schools, based on a poll of parents attending the first in a series of community meet ings held to discuss the philosophy and logistics of (he boycott. “ Due to the negative impact Port land Public Schools Desegregation Plan has had on their children, 97% o f the Black parents are willing to boycott Portland schools this fall, according to a parents survey con ducted by the Black United Front and reported on last Thursday at its community forum,*' Ronnie Herndon, chairman of BUF told a press con ference Wednesday. In addition, 98.5% of those who responded to the poll expressed over all dissatisfaction with the District's desegregation program. "These figures are significant in that they reflect a view that is very different from that which Portland Public Schools has been projecting. These figures represent overwhelm ing Black disenchantment with the policies and practices of the District. They also indicate that Black parents have reached the limits o f tolerance with respect to the control that the District exerts over their lives— espe cially since that control is not in the best interest of those who have will fully abrogated some of their authority in good faith. "T he fact that 85% o f (he parents with children in the District’s pro gram feel that their children are being discriminated against significantly reflects that the good faith shown by Black parents has been betrayed. “ The use o f the word 'betrayed' is very appropriate because 24% o f the parents surveyed actually requested that their children become a part of the District’s administrative transfer program. Another 29% agreed to do so after being convinced by the Dis trict that it would be in the best in terest of their children and, in the long run, society.’’ The survey demonstrates that 89.8% feel their children’s achievement has not improved or has gotten worse and 82.3% believe the quality o f their children’s education has not im proved or has gotten worse. The negative effects o f scattering Black children to numerous schools is apparent by the fact that 93.7% of the parents feel their children’s cul tural identity has not improved or has suffered. "F o r all Dr. Blanchard’s protesta tions to the contrary, we believe that it is very clear that Black parents are dissatisfied with a program that has created more problems for Black children than it has solutions,” Hern don said. "T h e ultimate indignity is that the Federal Government has done nothing, and apparently will do nothing, al PORTLAND OBSERVER though it acknowledges that the District’s program is discriminatory. " I t is now up to Black parents to find solutions fo r th em selves... become more involved and take a more active role in the education of our children. " D r . Blanchard attempts to have the community believe that a boycott o f Portland Public Schools would be damaging to our children. His brand of education and social policies are evils which Black children need to be protected against." (Please turn to page 8 col. 2) Volume 9 No. 28 Thursday, July 19,197810C USPS 969 680 Black United Front Boycott Demands No retribution against any individual participating in this expression. Acknowledgement of inequities and discrimination which lead to poor quality education for Black students. Willingness to create comprehensive plans in relationship to these objectives and to discuss the plans with the community. QUALITY EDUCATION 1. Strengthen general academic programs at both Jefferson and Adams, and insure that neither school is closed. 2. Establish the per cent o f minority students 20% as the per cent goal for minority hiring for teachers and all other staff in the district. A. Establish specific timeframe to accomplish this with yearly milestones. B. Establish goal for administrative staff at 20% minority. 3. Establish a mandatory teacher training program in multi-ethnic education, Black history and culture, etc., for all teachers and staff employed in integrated school settings. 4. Establish a plan for teacher placement that addresses current inequities and discrimination against minority teachers. 5. Establish annual achievement improvement goals for each school involved in the desegregation program, and demonstrate to the public progressive im provement in achievement scores. 6. Include better, more representative teaching of minority cultures, parti cularly Black culture, in the curriculum. EQUITABLE BUSING ARRANGEMENTS 1. Reduce scattering and isolation of Black students. 2. Minimum minority enrollment of 40% in schools engaged in transfers for desegregation. 3. Two-way transfer system must be used to achieve the minimum minority enrollment in desegregated schools. 4. Early Childhood Education program should be maintained provided every Black child in neighborhood wanting to attend can, and all white children transferring in remain in the ECE's feeder patterns. DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES 1. Establish a plan to correct inequities in disciplinary procedures for Black students. 2. Implement immediately the Coalition's recommendations on discipline categories. 3. Implement uniform and consistent rules/regulations for conduct on buses. No student should be put o ff the bus until their destination is reached. 4. Establish goals to reduce the disproportionate per cent o f Black students suspended and expelled and demonstrate progressive improvement in this area by reporting quarterly to the public. E8TABLI8H MIDDLE 8CHOOLS-BLACK COMMUNITY Establish a minimum o f two middle schools from among the schools in the Black community. Some thoughts on the problem by W.H. McClendon* When temperatures reach 100 degrees, everyone goes to the park. Eric Owens tries out a caterpillar at the Peninsula Park playground. US Bank cuts South Africa tie The U.S. National Bank has an nounced that it will divest itself of its financial interest in South Africa. Bank officials have determined to sell their holdings in the Private Ex port Funding C orporation (P E F CO), which is the nineth largest len der to South Africa. The decision to sell was prompted by lobbying and demonstrations by the People for South A frican Freedom. The organization picketed U .S . N ational banks and asked customers to close their savings and checking accounts. The bank lost an estimated $300,000 in deposits because o f the campaign. In a letter to People for Southern A frica n Freedom, bank president Robert M itchell said, “ U.S. Bank does ot intend to make any loans to or in South Africa so long as con ditions in that country remain un changed.” The bank has informed PEFCO o f the decision and asked assistance in selling the stock. PARTI Representatives of the Black United Front in their press conference July 18th presented in more specific detail the concerns o f the truly responsible Black population over the sinister and blatant racist deter m inations made relative to the Analysis busing programs arranged for Black students in the P ortlan d School District. At the center o f this Black expression is the commitment to per sist unwaveringly to end the social abuse, maltreatment and intellectual crippling of Black children who at tend the Portland Public Schools. A boycott o f Portland Public Schools Black woman charges brutality Mrs. Mary Young and her sister were driving down Fremont last Wednesday afternoon on their way to the hospital to visit their brother— “ As we crossed Williams Avenue the light was green, then it turned yellow and red as we went through the inter section." Mrs. Young saw a police car ap proaching from Vancouver, pass by and make a u-turn behind her. When the police came up behind to pull her over, she drove down Vancouver, looking for a place to stop. She knew better than to stop in the first block where there is no parking. Her son, James, and his girlfriend were stop ped on Vancouver Avenue— by the same o fficer who stopped M rs. Young—and the girl was so startled by the siren that she pulled over into a no parking area. She never was given a driving ticket but the car was ticketed for parkin« ar.d towed away, and the girl taken to jail So Mrs. Young stopped on the left side of Vancouver, near Cook. Two policemen jumped out o f the car—one going to each side of her car. She asked officer Scott Ander son, "W hat do you want?” She said Anderson asked for her driver's license so she handed it to him He then asked for her address and she said it was on the license “ He said I had to tell him my address so he could mail the ticket and told me anything 1 said could be held against me.” A fter a few more minutes had passed, Mrs. Young said she decided that she had done nothing wrong, and they had not given her a ticket, so she would leave. She told Ander son she was going to leave and start ed the car. " O ffic e r Anderson reached through the window and grabbed my wrists and twisted them against the door until he could get the door unlocked. Then he pulled me out of the car and twisted my left arm up behind my back in a hammer lock." He reached in the car and took the keys, but left the motor running, she said. " H e stood there talking to me telling me he was going to take me to jail for resisting arrest. I told him to take me.” Mrs. Young said when Anderson pulled her out o f the car. Officer (ireg Clark came around the car and Anderson handed him the keys, which he put in his pocket. " W h ile Anderson kept talking about taking me to jail. Clark snatch ed my purse from the car and took it behind the car and went all through it. When he got through he threw it in the back seat and everything fell out. Even my coin purse fell out and because he had opened it, the money i fell all over the floor.” Clark also threw the keyring into the back seat, Mrs. Young said, and all of the keys fell off. Clark had dropped some of her credit cards auu papers on the ground and told her to pick it up. “ He patted his gun and told me to pick up my mess. I said I didn’t put it there and I wouldn’t pick it up. I told him to go ahead and shoot.' ’ Clark did pick up the credit cards and Anderson put a ticket in Mrs. Youngs’ car. They got in their car and drove away, leaving Mrs. Young standing in the street scared and crying. Mrs. Young, who is 60, has lived in Portland for 40 years. She is em ployed, and is an active member of Macedonia Baptist Church. Her de ceased husband was employed by Oregon Steel Mills for 30 years. “ I ’ve had two tickets in 40 years,” M rs. Young said. " I d id n ’ t go through a red light, but even if I had there was no reason for two police men to treat me like that.” M rs. Young's shoulder is still swollen and painful. She has to seek medical care and also has talked to her attorney about filing suit. Officer Clark said in his opinion the incident was a routine traffic stop, but he is not permitted to discuss it because o f the possibility o f a suit or investigation. is planned. Since 1949 (30 years) there has been a running record o f uncon scionable and capricious disregard for the academic needs o f the Black child in this school district. Many of the school district people who give support to and collaborate in these practices have been around a sub stantial portion o f those years. Often there have been added extraneous bits and brands o f racism to com pound the problems which beset Black students. At issue this time is the matter that the school superin tendent and the D epartm ent o f Health, Education & Welfare have in usual racist fashion agreed that the victims (Blacks) are and must remain responsible for their victimization. This of course perpetuates the hu miliations and embarrassments the Black parents endure as they try desperately to acquire equitable education and treatment for their children. The point has now been reached th at Black people are demanding that policy changes and practices in the physical dispersals of Black children be brought into com pliance with principles o f fairness and justice. On this point the Black United Front is determined not to compromise. A distinguished U.S. Superior Court Justice stated many years ago in a momentous legal opinion that "L ocal customs, however hardened by tim e, are not decreed in Heaven.” Blanchard is perceived by some Blacks (those responsible to other Blacks) as a plantation overseer held over in the image o f white authority as it functioned in an era o f unparal- leled national disgrace. Many facets of his Education For The Seventies proposals in their operation have been appalling abominations aca demically and horrendous traumas for Black children. This stands out now in bold perspective for all to see. H ow ever, this does have a negative value for the entire Black population o f this nation. The Port land School situation is a proven example of what can happen when Blacks put faith in the tricky, fickle, mythical good-will o f white racist educators. The loss o f confidence in educational policy makers by Black people that has resulted from the district’ s defenses o f special privi leges, advantages and accommoda tions for white students over Black students is one o f the most important political developments to take place in this decade. (Please turn to page 8 col. I) Ratepayers win suit, reject deal The Ratepayers Union and the Southwestern Oregon Com m unity Action Committee, who successfully sued the Oregon Public U tility Commissioner to halt a utility rate h ik e jh a v e turned down a com promise o ffered by P U C C o m missioner John Lobdell. Lobdell had granted a seven per cent rate increase to Pacific Power and Light without holding public hearings. This increase, effective June 5th, was granted by Lobdell as an alternative to full public hearings leading to a projected 11.5 per cent increase in Novem ber. Lobdell argued that the smaller, but earlier, increase would save the rate payers the cost o f hearings while giving PP&L ther rate increase he believed it needed. The Ratepayers Union, arguing that L o b d e ll’ s decision was a violation o f the people’s right to due process and that it set a dangerous precedent, filed a suit in M arion County Circuit Court asking that the seven per cent rate increase be set aside. Last week Judge C larke Brown ordered Lobdell to withdraw the rate increase and begin pubic hearings. Lobdell then o ffered a com promise. He would continue the in crease while the hearings were held. Then, if necessary, he would refund the overage. A ccording to Bob Baugh, a spokesman fo r the Ratepayers Union, this was the same 1 compromise offered by PP& L a week before the suit went to court. "A fte r considering all the options, we decided not to accept the com p ro m ise,” Baugh said. " T h e decision was a matter o f principle, that the public hearing is an impor tant process.” Also, the Ratepayers Union and SOCAC belive they can prove that even a seven per cent rate increase is not justified. " W e believe a thor ough investigation o f the corporate management will show that the rates are too high now ." Baugh pointed out that PP& L is one o f the nation’s most profitable corporations and that it is spending money on various corporate acquisitions. He expects the intervenors in the hearings to ex plore not only the rate structure, but corporate management, purchases from subsidiaries, investments, cost effectiveness of nuclear power and other issues. PP&L had originally requested a 15 per cent rate increase, and the P U C staff recommended 11.5 per cent. The Ratepayers U n io n , an organizatin o f residential energy users, advocates public ownership of utilities, utility rate structure reform, conservation and development of renewable resources and elimination of nulcear power. School Board selects new The process for selection of an in dividual for appointment to the Por tland School Board to complete the remaining two years o f the unexpired term o f the late Phyllis Wiener, con tinues this week. A total o f 29 per sons, including six Blacks and twenty women, applied for the position. Candidate interviews were held July 17th and 18th. Interviews were conducted by a screening committee consisting of Jonathan Newman, Joe Rieke and Bill Scott. The screening com m ittee w ill select at least three candidates to present to the School Board for con sideration. A special board meeting will be held at noon on August 6th to announce the finalists. A t that meeting additional persons can be added by a vote of three board mem bers. The board w ill meet again on August 9th, at 7:30, to interview the finalists. Selection o f the new board mem ber will be made at that meeting, with a vote of at least four current board members. All of the meetings will be held in the Board Auditorium an the new Education Service Center, 501 North Dixon Street. All meetings are open in accordance with the Oregon Open Meeting Law. (Please see page 3)