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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 1979)
ì'.:'3 F r e n e r à Sr U n i' Parents, community determine boycott fate The Black United Front will pre sent the desegregation policies adop ted by the School Board to the com munity Thursday evening to deter mine whether the planned boycott o f the public schools will be cancelled or postponed, or if it should go as scheduled The boycott was planned as a protest against the school district's racist desegregation prac tices. In spite o f opposition from Superintendent Robert Blanchard, the School Board moved to meet most o f the BUF demands. Blan chard told the Board that the short term proposals to return Black children to neighborhood schools “ can cause resegregation o f several A lb in a schools which w ill make much more d iffic u lt the accom plishment of the goals o f integration addressed by the long-term recom m endations.’ ’ He warned that "charting new policy directions in this manner” (under threat o f boycott) “ may prove to be pre carious.’ ’ Ronnie Herndon, co-chairman of BUF, toll? the Observer, "F o r the first time the School Board has grap pled with decisions to insure that Black citizens enjoy the same rights as other citizens. The primary reason this is happening is because of the unity Black people have demon strated. I am hoping the Board will make decisions that will begin to give Black people the privileges that other parents enjoy in the Portland school system, the privilege o f choice, and that they can create quality education for Black children. " I am disappointed with Dr. Blan chard's statement Monday which in dicated to me that he would prefer that the Black community's choices be limited. Apparently he still feels that to give choices to the Black com m unity somehow would be viewed as illegal. I am disappointed that his v iew o f citizenship is that one com m unity can have choices available while another’s choices are limited. “ I have serious question whether he can carry out the new policies, which apparently run counter to his philosophy o f what q ua lity education should be fo r Black children, in the same spirit in which they were developed.” Board Chairm an Frank M c Namara said, following the adoption ot the policies, that although they were passed in response to the BUF demands the policies are in the best interest of the District in the long term. Adm itting some element o f personal prejudice, he said he is sorry that some o f his statements o f fended people, especially those referring to the reluctance o f whites to bus their children. He credited Ronnie Herndon with pointing out some o f the institutional racisim in his own beliefs and pledged to try " to make changes so that the destructive effects o f inbred prejudice can be changed." Herb Cawthorne told the Obser ver that he is generally pleased with the policies and looks forward to the development of the long term plan. "A s everyone knows, my struggle with this problem'goes back a long way and I believe that the Board has demonstrated a commitment in the short run to provide equal choices and in the long run to redesign the PORTLAND OBSERVER desegregation program in a com prehensive manner. " This is for the most part what we have been asking for. It is a new Boardathere is no doubt about that. The first major action o f this new Board has been to alter its approach to desegregation. "The Black community should be proud o f what it has done on behalf o f Black children. I f we had not stood together, we could not have made this progress." The Board also voted to send the BUF a letter thanking it lor bringing the destructive aspects o f the desegregation program to its alien tion. Thu rsday, A u g ust 30. 1979 WC USPS 959 680 Freedom of choice New policy allows Black student return Che Portland School Board agreed Tuesday night, after fourteen hours o f deliberation, to prepare a com prehensive desegregtion plan by January 31st, to be implemented in the fall o f 1980. Short term policies to be in effect this school year were also adopted. The m ajor effect o f the short term policies is to allow each Albina area youngster to attend his neigh- borood school if that is his parents choice. Children who have been transfered out for desegregation purposes can be relum ed to the schools in their attendence areas. Children who live in attendence areas where their grades no longer exist can attend nearby middle schools, if they are in the sixth, seventh or eight grades, or can attend nearby elementary schools Children from Eliot who are in the fourth grade and Humboldt students who are in the third grade will be provided classes at those schools I he o n ly s iiju la t io n is (ha, ho additional school will be allowed to excede 50 per cent m in o rity enrollment. A ll children in the Albina area who are adm inistrative transfer students, or who are eligible to be adm inistrative transfer students, may continue in the school o f their choice. New school assignments might be for this year only, depen ding on the allignment o f schools in the new comprehensive plan. To enable parents to make choices, fu ll inform a tion on the policies and on the various schools is available at the administration o f fice. I ransportation will be provided to students who attend school outside thier own attendence area or who live one or mile from school. All children can be picked up at their neigh borhood school and shelter and supervision will be provided. As in previous years, additional pick up points are available but no super vision will be provided. Although ., .peeific cut o ff date might be designated, it is anticipated that changes in school assignments can be made u ntil approximately October 1st. The short tern, policy includes: The district will establish a fourth grade class at Eliot and a third grade class at Humboldt, thus giving the parent ot resident students in those attendance areas the o ptio n to remain in or return to their neighbor hood school. It will provide to fifth grade students resident at Eliot and fourth and filth grade students resi dent at Humboldt the option to at tend a nearby school. Notices to parents w ill be fo r warded immediately by district staff. I he district will move immediately to make appropriate staffing and space arrangements. The superintendent may provide time limits for the ex ercise ol these options created by this resolution. I he options provided above will be made available in such a way that no new " ra c ia lly isolated” (over 50% m in o rity ) school w ill be created? The d istrict w ill imm ediately notify all parents o f children in the Administrative Transfer Program of the board’ s long-established policy that gives any child the right to return to the neighborhood primary, middle, or high school. This notification shall be given in a clear but neutral manner so as not to advocate withdrawal from or con tinuance in the Administrative Trans fer Program . A t Jefferson, the district will aggressively enforce the requirement that white students who under existing policies should attend Jefferson do attend Jefferson. (Please turn to page 2 col. 4) A benefit showing o f the film River Niger will be held at Clinton Street Theater on September 5th at 9:00 p.m. I he feature, starring James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson and Lou Gossett, will be preceded at 7:00 by Hingo Long. The Clin ton Street Cheater is located at 26th and S.E, ClinlQn (.2JB 8»99). donation $1.50. Racial discrimination brings life-long effects Late night School Board m e etin g took its toll as Board m em bers s tru g g le d u ntil 4 0 0 a m to m e e t Black U n ite d Front d em a n d s Ja m e s Loving took ad va n ta g e of ex ten d e d discussions of proper w o rd in g to 'a k e a short nap Kenneth Henson, a man who has spent most of his life in the service of his country, finds himsell in the same position as many o f the nations' oldet Black citizens—relegated to early retirement at minimal benefits because o f past discrimination. Henson, who has sought his retire ment benefits since I968, finally filed a suit in U.S. District Court, but the suit was dismissed by Judge James Some Thoughts on the Problem bv W .H McClendon " H ’e are much more wary o f the system than most whites are. He have, ajter all. been squelched by it. H e have, after all, been denied its many benefits. Be have centuries o f distrust to unlearn, and we are not likely to forget easily or quickly. " —Sterling Tucker, 1969 Part T il The dominant population’ s politi cians and public authority figures here have erected strong barriers (real and artificial) to prevent the appearance of any valid content in institutional settings o f Black life, experience and culture. The Portland Public School system is no excep tion. Consequently, one of the major thrusts for the Black United Front is to assure that the thought processes o f teachers (Blacks and others) will be opened up to study and interpret a heretofore obscurred dynamic in tellectual phenomena. America is comprised o f several non-dominant ethnic populations each of which has a heritage, history and culture that is the unerasable foundation o f their respective social systems and the basis which allows for selfhood to be preserved. The truth of this is irrefutable. There is at this very moment no widespread acceptance o f Black studies and in most instances its pre sence is indicative o f tokenism a nd /o r an example o f repressive tolerance. The battle fo r social equality, p o litica l freedom, economic justice, academic acces sibility and unbiased legal structures represent an outright war that has been in some form waged by Blacks against whites lor all o f this nation's existence. Therefore the major task Blacks must carry out to counteract the ravages of white mal-education is to remain unwavering in their in sistence that the rights ol Black people are not to be sublimated to, or buried in the quarrelsome rhetoric that is implicit in the term minority. For too long unthinking Blacks have allowed the semantics o f white racism to misdirect their struggles. A nalysis In America the theme o f all social relationships is domination and there is at this time, as over the past 200 years, one dominant population, white. All other ethnic populations are non-dominant. The first step that Black people must take is to reform and restructure the education o f their children to the degree that the degrading aspects of white education w ill be minimized and ultimately eliminated. This is a Black struggle and if it is won then all o f the other non-dominant populations will find that their problems, in this respect, w ill have been solved by this ir revocable precedent. The BUF has brought into focus some realities that have escaped acknowledgement for some time Valid complaints effectively com municated publicly are capable of arousing the concern o f a large por tion o f the general public and this can lead to the remedying of grossly immoral and unjust practices. The BUI has provided an example of the power inherent in being Black and knowing what this means. It has proven viable. The role o f collective leadership provided by an assort ment of persons with various skills and expertise is now shown to be far more effective and rewarding than the worn out custom o f having a ‘ leader.’ The integrationist/assimila- tionist orientation o f school board arid administration advocates is un derstood by Black people to be an in correct ideological direction. It is clear that the professed attempts at integration were smokescreens to hide the intellectual devastation of Black children that occurred because the real policy was sophisticated selective segregation. The superintendent o f PPS con tinues to defend racist education as though it is o f superoordinate value and graced w ith unquestionable social sanction. The Black population must remain alert to criticize and expose at every level those facets o f public school operation that reflect racist policy. This administration requires close scrutiny and there are no justifications for the Black com munity to have confidence in any refined language that may be easily just a new wave o f evasion and manipulation. School Board members M c Namara, Priestley, Buel and Caw thorne inspire confidence among a wide assortment o f people in the Portland community. It is easy to re cognize that they have integrity and will give serious and sincere atten- ( Please turn to page 5 column 3) M Burns because it was not filed within the statutes of limitations He blames many ot the m isfor tunes that have befallen him since he left the Bonneville Power Adminis tration in 1927—including the loss of his career and income, deteriorat ing health and the suicides of his wife and son on alleged discrimination by that agency. Henson states that Ins entire life has been moved by racial discrimina tion. Alter high school, he wanted to be a doctor but could not save the money to go to college from his rail road wages. In 1942 he joined the Army with the understanding that he would serve in the medical corps but was assigned to a labor battalion with the Signal Corps. Serving in Burma he witnessed first hand the favored treatment provided while workers in the areas o f health care, rest, food and safety. As a result o f tro p ica l diseases and deterioration o f high school knee in juries, he was honorably discharged. A fte r considerable time in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Minnesota, he enrolled in pre-med under the t i l Bill. Due to problems with his health he had to withdraw from school. In 1947, Henson moved to Port land, obtained a position as a clinical lab technician at the Veterans Ad ministration Outpatient Clinic and attended night classes through the University o f Oregon. By 1952 he had become a registered lab tech nologist. Henson says he again was (Please turn to page6 column I) Vaughn manages Benjamin Franklin branch Gresham resident Noble I . Vaughn has been named branch manager at Benjamin F ra n klin Federal Savings & Loan Association’s new Walnut Park o f fice, according to Robert H. Hazen, association president. The new office, scheduled to open in late September, will be located at 5775 N .t. Union Avenue, at the cor ner o f N.F. Union Avenue and N.E. Jarrett Street. Vaughn joined Benjamin Franklin in 1972 at the Stark Street office and worked in the loan and customer ser vice departments. In November 1973 he transferred to the Hollywood o f fice and was promoted to branch loan officer in January 1974. In March 1977 he joined the Hawthorne office as a loan officer where he worked prior to his most recent promotion to branch manager at W alnut Park. The new branch manager served as the Benjamin Franklin loaned-executive for the 1978 United Way campaign. A resident o f the Portland area since 1956, Vaughn was graduated from Jefferson High School in 1967. He attended Mt. Flood Community College and has completed courses through the Institute o f Financial Education. In his spare time, Vaughn, 31, en joys working with children. He was an active participate in the Albertina Kerr Big Brother program for more than a year and has served as a base ball coach for the Meadowland I ittlc League for two years. NOBLE L. VAUGHN
