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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 1979)
I-C3 »Trnceg Schoen-’.'etr-n»n «per fooa " =• — en L ib rary Cawthorne joins School Board, Newman resigns f a U /t h f \r m A —* -----— - -1 A _ V _ Herb Cawthorne was elected to the Portland School Board to f ill the vacancy created by the death o f Phyllis Wiener by a 4 to 2 vote. Voting fo r Cawthorne were Frank McNamara. Steve Buel, Bill Scott and W ally Priestley. Cawthorne's selection was greeted by a standing ovation from the large audience. The audience swelled th ro ug h ou t the evening as others who had heard the news rushed to the administration building to be present. The ceremony installing Cawth orne on the Board was followed by an e m o tion al resignation by Jonathan Newman, who credited his decision to the fact that the six mem ber all-male Board had failed to ap point a woman. The resignation was effective immediately and Newman a took a seat in the audience for the remainder o f the meeting. Newman is the author o f most o f the district’s desegregatin program, which has been under fire from the Community Coalition for School In tegration and now from the Black U nited Front. C urrent e ffo rts to change the desegregation effort to a more equitable plan began with the announcement o f the controversial "Newman Plan” which would have barred some Boise and King students from Jefferson High School. Cawthorne credits his a ppoint ment to the united e fforts o f the Black community on the desegrega tion issue. He told the Observer: “ Deep down, the success o f the appointm ent was a shock. I had originally applied to place the issues o f inequity and discrim in atio n a- gainst the Black community before a Board o f Education that had hereto fore refused to listen. “ 1 thought my presence would in sure a progressive candidate, hope fully a Black woman. As it turns out, the appointment is symbolic for the Black com m unity o f P ortland. It proves that we can attain political o f fice without backdoor dealings and denying our heritage and our com m itm ents to a c o m m u n ity -in struggle. “ I hope people in our community w ill help me speak with understand ing and authority. 1 w ill continue to speak my mind and lay before the community a clear vision o f the best kind o f education our children can receive. My vision w ill have to be supplemented, sharpened and in formed by the willingness o f others to get involved and stay involved. "W ha t has happened in the last three weeks is a great testimony for what unity can do. This community can no longer tolerate Black leader ship that separates its e lf - that thinks it ’s better than the people in the community. “ In light o f this new realization, there w ill be many Black leaders who are going to have to rethink their posture and redefine their philoso phy. This community w ill no longer allow them to gain their positions because o f their Black heritage and then deny the community that gave them strength.” Cawthorne said his appointment is not the School D istrict’ s answer to the threat o f boycott. " I t is absurd to think that my appointment w ill, be itself, stop the boycott just as it has been absurb fo r some people in the Black community to think that the boycott was being used to gain my appointment. It has been said again and again - the only thing that will stop the boycott is the absolute w ill ingness o f the Board to develop a comprehensive plah that w ill alter the present ine qu ities, meet the demands that have been expressed.” The Board voted to send M c Namara to the BUF leadership to begin talks toward dealing with the demands. The Board’ s desegregation committee - Cawthorne, Joe Rieke and McNamara - w ill meet Thurs day evening. The Black United Front w ill also PORTLAND OBSERVER meet Thursday night to continue boycott plans. W*e are very happy and pleased,” Ronnie Herndon, co-chairman o f the BUF, said. "H e rb ’s appointment is a success fo r the com m unity. He is there because o f the com m unity’ s unity around the issues. It is also a personal victory; it shows what we can achieve by taking a strong stand. W*c don’ t have to compromise our convicitons in order to gain political o ffice.” C aw th orn e ’ s a ppointm ent does not automatically stop the boycott, Herndon said. "T h e re has to be policy changs by the Board. I am pleased that four members voted for Cawthorne and I hope that this in dicates a willingness to move to a more equitable system.” Volume 9 No. 32 Thursday. August 16. 1979 IOC An open letter to the Church Community Dear Brothers and Sisters, You have boen following the developments of the Black United Front, an organization with wide support in the Black community which is planning a boycott of schools for this Septomber. While none of us wants to boycott the schools, it is imperative that we express our unequivocal dissatisfaction with the present system. We seek the reduction of scattering, resulting in a 40 per cent enrollment of Black children in the schools involved in desegregation. We want a two way transfer system, equitable to both Blacks and whites, and we are calling for the establishment of two middle schools in the Black com munity. These demands are fair and just. They are supported by a series of other demands which, we are certain, will go far in improving the quality of education for our children. Newly appointed member. Herb Cawthorne. takes his seat with the Portland Public Schools Board of Education. Herb Cawthorne swears to uphold the Constitution and perform his duties as a member of the Portland School Board. NAACP Founder's Day draws Rosa Parks Rosa Parks w ill be the featured speaker for the NAACP, Portland Branch, Founder’ s Day Banquet. Ms. Parks began the Montgomery Boycott by refusing to give up her seat to a white man, a boycott that launched Dr. Martin Luther King into national leadership and led to the Civil Rights Act o f 1964. The Banquet w ill commemorate the 65th Anniversary o f the local branch, which was chartered on Sep tember I, 1914. It will also serve as a vehicle for rededication to the goals o f civil rights and to work to meet the needs o f the Portland community especially in the areas o f education, em ploym ent, housing and youth leadership. Special guests w ill be Judge Charles Johnson o f Seattle, national board member; Theresa H all Pit- tinan; Verna Canson, Director o f the Western Region; A tto rn e y Don Haley, President o f the Northwest C onference o f Branches; and NAACP branch presidents. The Banquet w ill be held on September 1st at the Red Lion Inn -- Jantzen Beach, C o lu m b ia Ball Room, at 7:30 p.m. A no-host cock tail hour will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Some thoughts on the problem by Wm. H. McClendon "B lack intelligence should be viewed as the ability o f Blacks to defend themselves attains! their environment in general and white people, in particular, and the pur pose o f such intelligent behavior is to insure the survival o f the race. ” Marcus Garvey For the first time in over 70 years o f direct appeals to this school district Black people may be about to observe the School Board give some measure o f positive attention to matters that w ill b ring about concrete im provements in the education o f Black children. This may happen because Black people have persist ed whenever possible in demon strating that they really do know more about the needs o f their people than those highly vaunted authorities o f the dominant popu lation. The operation o f this school system using policies o f conceal ment, connivance, deception and evasion in its accommodation of Black students are without merit. It is a widely held belief in the Black community that this modis operandi is attributable to the man agerial style o f the Superintendent and his cohorts. It is the deter m ination o f the Black U nited Front to bring about recogniz able beneficial changes. At the most recent Board meet ing there was an extensive utiliza- tio n o f imprecise and flexible rhetoric in the adm inistration's response to inquiries made about the inequities suffered by Black children. Prior to this, apprenhen- sions were voiced about the ada mant stands white parents would take against having their children p articip a te in cross-busing schemes. The BUF never intended to interfere with these parents’ rights to choose. Its commitment is to obtain the same rights for the Black p o p u la tio n . This means that the unequal and troublesome facets o f student dispersal and middle school facilities for Black children w ill be corrected, no more, no less. Analysis The response to this initially was " it could lead to separatism.” The fact is that this school administra tion under the guise o f pursuing the mythical and impossible objec tive, integration, allowed segrega tion to become crystallized. Now, Blacks know as well as whites that integration is not the opposite o f segregation! The Black c o m m u n ity must give careful thought to reading o f the signals that have been sent out by the remainmg School Board member who did not vote fo r Herb Cawthorne. The concern here is that the candidate whom he supported is quoted in another publication, in an interview, as saying, " I think change works behind the scenes, and I consider myself very effective in behind- the-scenes a c tio n ." Such a position raises serious questions about the candidates’ sense o f identity and indicates a confused and unreliable state o f politiciza tion. It can also be viewed as a low-level, unremarkable attempt to be thought o f as useful by whites. I f so that is to be deplored with out reservations. Black people com m itted to struggle learned long ago that if the principles un derlyin g their struggle were correct then there must never be any concealed or esoteric arrange ments entered into with the oppo sition or the oppressor. The only result from such activity is that Blacks will be either the victims or co-conspirators in a lousy bar gaining, compromise or sell-out. Most o f the dilemmas and con troversies o f this period have their roots in the unbridled latitude that some SATS had in th is com munity over the past 40 years to play their sick, sterile, little games o f "w h ite boss favor h unting." These wierdos created many frus tratio ns fo r Blacks seeking to acquire autonomy over their own lives. The special problem ele ment in relation to all o f tl is that whites who display any af finity for Black people who give such performances are bad news. The Black c o m m u n ity should view them with skepticism. l ickets can be obtained from Mr. Hicks (229-4422) or Bethel AM E C hurch (288-5429). M r. H icks, President o f the Portland Branch, urges corporations, clubs, agencies, etc. to purchase tables o f ten, which w ill provide them a savings o f $50. Tickets are $25. Chairman o f the Freedom Fund Committee, which is presenting the Banquet, is Mrs. Grayce Kennedy. The Black United Front, as the chief body which is leading this fight, needs your support Long before the movement was announced the Black United Front held a luncheon for ministers to discuss the ideas. Later there was a breakfa«' to further refine the issues. The BUF realized that "a spiritual beginning” was the best way to kick off such an important movement. I would like to call upon each of you to lend a helping hand and to support our community, for we are asking only for that which the white community enjoys without struggle, without sacrifice. On Sunday, August 19th, we are asking every church to take up a special collection, funds will be used to print the program for the boycott, to buy food, and to purchase special instructional services. I am making a personal appeal to your church to participate in this w or thy collection. Also, on Friday, August 31st, 7:30 p.m. we are holding a rally at Vancouver Avenue Baptist Church to demonstrate our unity. It will be a rally to put our religious principles into action for the good of our children Please spread the word and support this beautiful effort to bring the entire church community together for achieving a better quality education for Black children. Yours, in the brotherhood of Christ, Reverend John H. Jackson Board hears desegregation report The Portland School Board heard Superintendent Robert Blanchard’ s report on his activities to respond to the recommendations o f the Com- minity Coalition for School Integra tio n and the School Board's resolutions adopted in January. The discussion was a prelude to dealing w ith the demands o f the Black United Front. The m ajor concern o f the Coalition and the BUF is that Port land’ s “ vo lu ntary” desegregation program places the .greatest burden on Black students by m andatorily transferring them from their neigh borhood schools while white children move only voluntarily; that Black children who are bussed are widely scattered; and that the absence o f mandatory transfers o f whites leaves the Albina elementary schools segre gated. Dr. Blanchaid, along with Dr. Er nie Hartzog, responded with an at tempt to demonstrate that w hite children bear equal burden fo r desegregation. He reported that because of m iddle school reorganization across the city 5,049 white students have had to move from one school to another while 1,774 Black students move because they have no local school with their grade level. Also 802 m in o rity children accept v o lu n ta ry ad m in is tra tiv e transfers, w hile 828 white children volunteer »o attend the Early Childhood Education Cen ters in Albina. Jonathan Newman attempted to explain that middle school reorgani zation is directly related to desegre gation. "T h e point we have never been able to get across is that middle school reo rg an izatio n is d ire c tly related to integration and that far more m a jo rity children are man datorily transferred than m inority children.” The middle school, he ex plained, is the basis for an integrated cluster. The co ntrove rsy, in his opinion, is where the middle school is located. The District has located them on the borders o f Albina rather than in the heart o f the area, where he believes they would be majority Black. He cited Fernwood, Beaumont (1979), C o lu m b ia /W h ita k e r and Ockley Green (1980) as directly ef fecting desegregation and creating integrated clusters. Among the mid dle schools to which Dr. Blanchard referred as having caused w hite children to be m andatorily trans ferred are Binsmead, Sellw ood, Hosford, and Markham, all located fa r fro m A lb in a where the o nly Black students involved are those who are bussed in. Blanchard also pointed out that Albina schools are not the only ones w ith o u t upper grades. There are several other primary schools from which students attend adjacent upper grade centers or K-8 schools. These were compared to Eliot and King (Area I) where students are bussed across town to numerous schools. D r. Blanchard adm itted that although he speaks about " t w o way” busing, this refers to white children transferred from one white school to another because o f reorganization and that no white children are assigned to a majority Black school. He admitted that in clusters such as Sabin-A lam eda- Beaumont, no white children had been assigned to the Black school and that an opportunity for desegre gation had not been used. Dr. Blanchard made a distinction between " t w o w ay” busing and "cross busing” , stating that Por- tlandhas “ two way” busing. Newman stated that a ll w hite transfers to Benson and Washington/Monroe could be con sidered as "integrative" since those schools are also attended by m inority students. The Jefferson magnet draws 104 white students in full and part tim e program s, w hile 293 m inority students attend Benson and Washington/Monroe. Students who attend other than their neighborhood school, not including Benson and W ashington/M onroe, number 652 minorities and 65 whites. Early Childhood Center» Dr. Hartzog reported that due to increased re c ru itin g more w hite children w ill attend the ECEs this year. W hite child re n attend Pre Kindergarten and Kindergarten in seven A lb in a schools and are in- (Please turn to page 2 col. 4) F or Colored Girls .. w ill play at Cabell Center this weekend rather than an Opening N ig h t Cabaret as previously announced. (Please see Page 5 column I .) «
