Portland observer., August 23, 1979, Page 2, Image 2

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Paga 2 Portland Observar Thursday, August 23. 1979
EDITORIAL/OPIIMION
Sithole capitulates again
by N. Fun gai Kumbula
Why not Jordan?
Why not Jordan for Mayor of Portland? Of the
two leading candidates Jordan is by far the most
promising.
Although he has not been on the Council long
enough to become atrophied, he has had the
varied experiences that allow him to know and
understand the inner workings of the City. He
has been responsible for the Fire Bureau, the
Police Bureau, the Bureau of Human Resources,
Manpower and Training, Neighborhood En­
vironment and other bureaus and departments
that give him an insite into a broad spectrum of
issues.
Although not as well known to the business
community as some, he has a knowledge of and
a report with the people.
Jordan needs one more vote to be selected
and we must admit some surprise to see Com­
missioner Schwab voting for Frank Ivancie when
she told us during the last primary campaign that
she would support Jordan should he run for
Mayor.
Compromise candidates are being discussed
by sòme, but why take a has been when a leader
with a grasp of the future is available?
Make room for them
A new atmosphere prevails in the Portland
School Board
with Jonathan Newman gone
and the
Board w o rking
on possible
desegregation plans w ithout Dr. Blanchard's
presence.
Last week the Board acknowledged that the
Black United Front's objections are "a legitimate
and accurate expression of dissatisfaction with
the district's present program of desegregation” .
That is a big step for a Board that has always
steadfastly denied error and claimed its way is
the only way.
Wednesday night a committee of the Board
suggested some policies that address short term
goals, policies that can be implemented this fall.
They recommended allowing this year's third
fourth graders to remain at Eliot. This would
keep one class of students from being scattered
and would demonstrate their intention to ad­
dress the BUF request that all Early Childhood
Education Centers go through grade five, rather
than having some stop at grades two, three or
four.
One recommendation that they failed to ac­
cept was to allow the fifth graders from Eliot and
the fourth and fifth graders from Humboldt to
return to the community. There would be no
grades fo r them in their schools, but w hy
couldn't they attend nearby schools? According
to District figures, which admittedly could be in­
correct, there are less than ten Eliot fifth graders
and fifty to seventy-five fourth and fifth graders
from Humboldt to place.
Probably not all parents would want to return
their children to local schools, but at least they
would have a choice.
Some believe an extra move would not be
educationally sound, but that arguem ent is
countered by those who believe that the damage
done by isolation is greater than that risked by a
move. This is an issue that should be discussed
more thoroughly.
(Continued from page I col. 6)
It is good that Newman quit the
School Hoard Now. it Blanchard
would lease, we eould get down to
some teal negotiations! How can we
reconcile equality when the deck is
slacked with people who don’t or who
are against equal treatment! Everyone
knows or should know that there is
no equality in the whole system In
over 44K) years we are still without
representation. We all need to look
at each other as human beings, not as
white, Black, etc. Clod did n ’ t use
definitions. You can’ t find it in the
Bible He said, ‘ ‘ Go ye in all
nations” ! So, let’ s get on with get­
ting along with each other and do un­
to others as we would like others to
do unto us.
I he same goes for the nation and
the world. How can we reconcile
having so much while some nations
are starving. There is so much that
needs to be done right here. There
is something aw fully wrong when
some groups have everything
and others nothing! So, let’ s start
with the children and teach them that
they are their brothers keeper. Unless
we do these things we are denying
them the education that they so
desperately need for a full life and
happiness!
Reuben A. Lindley
Park change brings concern
( t ontinued from page I col. 4)
product as equal, but neither she nor
Mrs. Duwan were invited to par­
ticipate on that committee.
Mrs. Johnson said the City did not
notify them that there had been a
change and has never advised them
of the specifications ol the equip­
ment purchased on the differences
between it and what had originally
been planned.
W ildw ood Playgrounds claims
that the C ity accepted equipment
with: smaller platforms, lower rails,
narrower horizontal bars, shorter
bridges, no long slides, and a wood
preservative treatment that violates
American Wood Preservers Associa­
tion standards.
Wildwood platforms are 16 or 32
loot square platforms, whereas the
Limber Form equipment has a series
o f 12 square foot platforms. W ild­
wood contends that the longer plat­
form is safer fo r more passive
children and that it is safer to leave a
slide from a large platform than
from a small one.
W ild w o o d ’ s rails are 2 foot 9
inches or 3 foot 3 inches above the deck
while Timberform ’s are 2 foot or 2
foot 3 inches o ff the deck, a d if­
ference of 30 per cent. They maintain
that it is easier for a child to fall o ff a
deck with lower rails and that at six
A
or 8 foot o ff the ground that is a real
danger.
J hey slate that T im b e rfo rm ’ s
horizo n tal rails are 25 per cent
narrower and that the suspension
bridge is 15-20 per cent shorter. Also
ihe Timberform bridge does not have
rubber spaces between the planks as
specified.
Mrs. Johnson states that she has
no preference between the companies
or the contractors, but believes the
City should provide assurances o f
the equipments’ safety . A savings o f
S55O is not worth endangering a
childs’ safety. “ Once the equipment
is installed it will probably have to
stay. We would like to have the
safety problem solved before a child
is injured. It is too late then.”
Another point at issue is preserva­
tion o f the wood structures. Colum­
bia Cascade changed its wood treat­
ment process three years ago to meet
non-toxic requirements and the new
process is not approved by the
Society o f Am erican Wood Pre­
servers, Inc. It also does not appear to
meet U.S. Department o f Agricul­
ture standards. The company
guarantees the product and estimates
a 20 year life expectancy, but since
they began production eleven years
ago and changed the process three
years ago there is no achievement
record. They state that they have
received no complaints o f deteriora­
tion.
Citizens also fear that the equip­
ment w ill not last. Similar equip­
ment in Irving Park is deteriorating,
but the City does not know what
preservation process was used.
Suspensions
(Continued from page I coll 6)
Suspension records show the
follow ing percentages o f m inority
students suspended: Atkinson 15.6;
Boise 4.2; Brooklyn 5.5; Buckman
1.9; Creston 2.7; Glencoe 15.8; Grout
4.6; Lane 10.0; M t. Tabor 10.1;
Normandale 6.2; Sabin 1.7; Wood-
stock 37.9; Applegate 1.4; Beach 7.0;
Capitol Hill 1.8; Chapman 6.0; Chief
Joseph 5.4; Clarendon 2.3; George
1.2; Gray 4.1; Hayhurst 40.2; James
John 19.4; Multnomah 38.5; Ockley
Green 17.4; Penninsula 9.6; Sitton
2.0; Faubion 7.7.
Glenhaven 13.1; Gregory Heights
5.1; Kelly .2; Lent 2.1; Marysville
1.5; Rice 2.8; Rigler 3.0; Rose City
Park 7.0; Scott 6.2; Vernon 8.3;
Whitman 1.9; Woodlawn 19.0.
Suspension records for 1978-1979
school year are currently being com­
pleted.
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Sithole had just been kicked out o f
ZA N U because his leadership had
become suspect. Going along with
this plot seemed the only way left for
him to maintain some semblance o f
political viability.
He contested the elections which
he had bragged he would win hands
down. Before the elections, he had
been ranting and raving about how
“ free and fair they were. Africa had
never seen such an exercise in
democracy.” Just hours after the
results started coming in and he
realized how badly he was losing, he
suddenly changed his tune. Now he
was complaining about the elections
being rigged. He accused the
M in is try o f the In te rio r o f in te r­
ference and intimidating the people
into voting for Muzorewa. To make
his point, he refused to take part in
the government that Muzorewa even­
tually assmbled. Under the system
they had used, he was entitled to 12
Assembly seats. He barred his people
from taking up these seats.
He held out for two months, pro­
testing the “ illegality and the irregu­
larities o f the electoral process” and
had vowed to hold out indefinitely.
A few weeks back, like a dog with a
tail between his legs, he came crawl­
ing back, crawling back to join the
very same system he accused o f so
many electoral discrepancies. I f that
were not enough, he had the gall to
hold a press conference and announce
that he was abandoning his boycott
because he had made his point. What
point had he made? None w hat­
soever. The only point or the only
new knowledge garnered from this
latest farce demonstrated once again
the political impotence that is now
synonymous with the name Sithole.
What had he hoped to achieve by
this boycott? Nobody really knows.
M aybe he expected M uzorew a,
plagued by internal dissent and a
restive electorate, to come and beg
fo r his assistance but Muzorewa
never did. That underscored another
low in S ithole: that he needs
M uzorew a more than M uzorewa
needs him. Why didn’ t he just back
out o f politics altogether instead o f
joining such a bankrupt regime and
destroying whatever credibility he
may have left? The answer lies in his
shameless lust for power, a lust so
all-consum ing that he has ceased
w o rry in g about such things as
respectability, credibility or veracity.
As with everything else, that same
lust for power that, at one point, ?
drove him to the pinnacle o f
authority w ill be the self same lust to
bury him in the abyss o f self destruc­
tion.
Parent endorses demands, opposes boycott
Letters to the Editor
I u the Editor
Reverend N dabaningi S ithole,
former president o f Z A N U (Z im ­
babwe African National Union) and,
fo rm e rly the most feared person
among the whites in Rhodesia, sank
to another record low recently. At
one point, he was jailed for plotting
the assassination o f Ian Smith and
several other high ranking members
o f the then all white parliament. He
was released from ja il when the
whites, reeling from setback after
setback in the six year old war o f
liberation, initiated negotiations with
the Blacks aimed at finding some
solution to the perennial Black-white
problem in Rhodesia.
Those ill-conceived negotiations
resulted in the abortive elections o f
last A p ril that saw the ‘ ‘ installation
o f Abel Muzorewa as the country’s
first Black prime m inister.” Since
then, o f course, the whole world has
seen that this was just another o f a
series o f subterfuges to keep or main­
tain the status quo. A few Black
faces were going to be pushed up
front, window dressing to m uffle the
protests o f a world that w ill not put
up with oppression, discrimination
and racism any more.
Muzorewa, Sithole and a Jeremiah
Chirau rushed in to aid and abet this
nefarious scheme. The rest o f the
people stood back crying: “ F O U L!”
5th Place
Best Editorial
N N PA 1973
Honorable M ention
Herrick Editorial Award
N N A 1973
2nd Place
Best Editorial
3rd Place
Com m unity Leadership
ONPA 1975
3rd Place
Com m unity Leederahlp
ON PA 1979
M l MSI «
year. Ms. P ittm an blames the
problems w ith suspensions that
developed in J e ffe ry ’ s sixth and
seventh grade years on her involve­
ment with the title V II committee.
Ms. Pittman also is involved with
attempting to get her daughter on the
Jefferson rally squad. It took over a
year to get Cassandra into Jefferson,
and this year she will be a full time
student in the dance program .
Cassandra was selected by the
students as a member o f the Senior
rally squad, but was suspended with
other Black girls, due to what were
called inexcused absences.
Ms. Pittman has filed an appeal
and expects Dr. Larry Ayers, the Jef­
ferson principal, to take care o f the
problem but if that fails “ 1 will go to
the Supreme Court if I have to.”
“ So you see I ’ m not against the
boycott because my children have
had it easy. They haven’ t.”
Ms. Pittman explains that there
are some real problems if children
were kept out o f school for several
months or a year. She fears retribu­
tion against child re n who p a r­
ticipate, both in disciplinary matters
and in grades. No matter what Dr.
Blanchard and the boycott leaders
say, there is no way they can keep
teachers from punishing students,
she explained. D iscrim ination by
teachers, which she has felt directly,
is one o f her main concerns. Having
worked in several schools in the
district and dealing w ith teachers
firsthand, she feels that many teachers
will retaliate.
She also worries about the attitude
the children w ill have when they
return to school, the validity of the
classes they attend while boycotting
and whether they w ill receive credits,
the students fa llin g behind their
classes, and students receiving
welfare having problems receiving
their school allowance.
Ms. Pittman has served on the
Title V II committee for five years,
two years as chairman. The purpose
o f the committee is to advise and
m o n ito r the T itle V II program ,
which uses federal funds to assist
Black children who are transferred to
white schools and white children in
those schools who are educationally
disadvantaged.
Two years ago the district was
found in non-com pliance w ith
federal regulations when it was
discovered that Black children were
being suspended and expelled in
vastly greater numbers than white
students. In order to receive its Title
V II money the district agreed to take
certain steps to insure no discrimina­
tio n . Am ong these was that no
student w ould be suspended fo r
more than five days and that person­
nel be assigned to intercede fo r
children a n d /o r insure that steps
were taken to solve the problems in
order to keep them in school.
As a staff member at Adams High
School, Ms. Pittman was aware o f at
least one student who was sus­
pended, never returned and no contact
was made with his parents. She was
not aware o f any one from the area
office being assigned to assist Black
students who were having discipli­
nary problems.
In her own experience, no one
came forward to assist her with her
problems o f keeping Jeffery in school.
Her attempts to get help from the
administration failed.
A lth o u g h the non-com pliance
fin d in g
against
the
d is tric t
threatened the award o f Title V II
funds and the d is tric t is s till
operating under the waiver, Ms. P itt­
man has no recollection o f discussion
o f the percentages o f Black students
suspended a n d /o r expelled at the
T itle V II com m ittee meetings.
F o llo w in g the fin d in g o f non-
compliance two years ago she had
requested information on individual
schools so those schools could be
watched to see i f there are any
changes, but this inform ation was
never received.
A lth o u g h
there
was some
discussion o f reasons for suspension
at various schools at a Discipline
Workshop held by the district and
others, she saw nothing that in ­
dicated the percentage o f Blacks
being disciplined as compared to
whites and no particular discussion
o f dealing w ith the d iscipline
problem o f Black students.
Thoughts on the problem
(Continued from page I col. 3)
educators. This means that in an
equitable and just manner they will
o ffe r education that m otivates
children to learn and stimulates their
interest in scholastic achievement.
The cultural and intellectual back­
grounds o f Black children are to be
viewed as areas to be improved and ’
enriched and not to further establish
notions o f academic unreadiness.
Teacher negligence and incompe­
tence should not be overlooked or
excused. The fact that the Black
population must be especially con­
cerned about such matters is a galling
example o f the racist contempt and
snobbery that prevails at the highest
administrative level o f this school
system.
There is another dimension to the
educational debacle which confronts
School District I. It has to do with
the unembellished disclosures o f
authority and leadership figures con
sistently acting out highly visible
roles as racists over a long time span.
Not one criticism o f this nature is
even forthcoming from any o f their
friends, associates, colleagues, or
adversaries who are presented with
evidence o f these trangressions. The
responses to criticism are always
coached in language that directs at­
tention to errors in judgement, a lack
o f experience, or a poor understand­
ing o f the issues rather than an
acknowledgement that racism was
being exercised. When Blacks assign
these displays o f racism and the
racists the labels that are warranted
by evidence they are invariably d if­
fered with by other whites.
Sophistication in the art o f ad­
m in istering racist education un­
doubtedly will be a prime require­
ment when a new school superinten­
dent for School District 1 is selected.
Because the current superintendent's
preparation in this area is below
average gross mistakes were easily
detected. The social and political
perceptions o f Black analysts have
reached an extraordinary level o f ac­
curacy. They are exceedingly skilful
at recognizing and categorizing white
racists and their brands o f racism,
functional or pathological, overt or
concealed. Black development in
this area is adequate to meet the
challenges that w ill arise from in­
novations and techniques developed
to keep racists education in
o p e ra tio n . Increases in racist
sophistication, the same as in all
other endeavors, is subject to the law
o f dim inishing returns.
One more point, as white racism
becomes more easily exposed the
more d ifficu lt it is to find 'Toms’ to
prop it up.
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