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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1979)
Page 2 Portland Observer Thursday. Septem ber 6. 1979 EDITORIAL/QPINION Ivancie strikes back Boycott lessons A Sense of Victory Monitoring essential by Herb L. Cawiborne Frank Ivancie made a smart move when with one vote he eliminated a strong candidate who would have opposed him for Mayor next spring and stole the role of "king maker" from Mildred Schwab. Realizing that he could not win the three votes necessary for appointm ent as Mayor, Ivancie voted for Connie McCready, along with Charles Jordan, giving her that office. Thus Ivancie eli minated the possibility of Lloyd Anderson, Tom McCall or another prominent politician receiving the appointment and being put in a position where to run against Ivancie from a position of power. He also denied Commissioner Schwab the opportunity to select one of her favorites- Anderson or McCall for the office. Ms. Schwab, it should be remembered, cast her first vote for Ivancie, thus preventing Jordan from receiving the three votes he needed. This was apparently the purpose of that vote since she then deserted Ivancie. She also is reported to be angry with Ivancie for giving the appointment to McCready and has threatened to run against him next spring if a strong opponent doesn't surface. Commissioner Schwab's main accom plish ment in this intrigue was to prevent the appoint ment of Charles Jordan as Mayor of Portland. Everyone's problem Last spring a young m a n -a high school senior stood before a group of Boise Elementary School students and told them how they would have to work hard to do well in high school, but "if you try there's always someone out there to give you a hand." This summer the same young man —Kevin Grigsby went to Boardman, Oregon to start an apprenticeship with the Boilermaker's Union, still with high expectations and hopes of success. The next day he returned home, full of disap pointment and fear. While at the Portland General Electric con struction site he was called "nigger," threatened, ignored, and refused food by men at the con struction site and at a restaurant along the high way. Now no one seems to think they have any responsibility for what happened to Kevin, or any authority to remedy it. The Urban League just helped get the apprenticeship; the Boilermaker's Union just placed him on the job; the Labor Bureau just oversees the apprenticeship pro gram, the construction company is just building the plant, and PGE just owns it. Discrimination is against the law in Oregon. We call on the Governor to order a complete in vestigation of what happened to Kevin Grigsby at Boardman, leading to the prosecution of those involved. The leading question in the Black community The power could be felt through this week is whether the current school adminis out the auditorium. The joy was ap tration can lead the district to an equitable deseg regation program? Can the superintendent put in parent. as 800 or more Black citizens gathered at the King Neighborhood to operation a plan he has always called impos f acility to consider the work o f the sible? Board o f Education regarding deseg Dr. Blanchard has repeatedly said that no regation/integration. The sense o f victory was in the air, neighborhood children are turned away from the and the leadership o f the Black Early Childhood Centers because of lack of space United Front was ready to acknow if they register by the beginning of the school ledge what had been achieved by a year. As late as August, he reported to the community working together. School Board, "Students living in the attendence The boycott o f the public schools areas of the early childhood education centers was called, not because some fringe have priority to attend that school." He told the leadership wanted to vault itself into Board that" all students who registered this year the spotlight o f public opinion, but w o uld be accepted, although space could because the Board o f Education had become a problem in future years. coldly refused to acknowledge the LeRoy Moore, principal of King, said 50 neigh legitimate grievances of Black resi dents. The board had dismissed with borhood Kindergarten students had been turned cavalier arrogance the massive report away from King. Since the Board passed its new o f the C om m unity C o a litio n fo r desegregation policy those students have been School Integration in November, allowed to attend King and new classes were 1978. C ontrary to its pronounce established for them. If the policy had not been ments, the board was closed to true discussion—it was "o p e n " to discuss specifically changed, they could not have only w ithin the framework o f its remained at King. Moore also said that about 50 inequitable and discriminatory ap neighborhood Kindergarten children have been proach. turned away each year. Where is the District's credibility? While a boycott was a drastic step to some unaware o f the energy As the school year begins it is even more ob already devoted to solutions, it was vious that the strong monitoring committee the an appropriate move to many, many Black United Front requested is essential. The in the community. school board decided to allow the establishment Those people were present on of a monitoring committee and allow it access to Thursday, August 30th, and they know that their unity, their support, the information it needs, but provided no fund their quality ol commitment had ing. The BUF had requested that the committee brought about meaningful change. be provided a full time director by September 1st The Hoard ot Education, working and a more extensive staff by January 1st. many hours through d ifficult resolu Examples of reported incidents that point to the need for a monitoring committee include: A Black m iddle school student denied a language class until his parents threatened to call a School Board member. The school claims let ters were sent to parents last spring but this family received none. Surprise: No other Black students in language classes at that school. Statements by Humboldt's principal that space will be made for returning Black children even if At the C om m onw ealth prim e they have to be put in the halts’ How about send m inisters’ conference in Lusaka, Zambia last month, alter a lot o f ing home some of the cross-town white 4 year jawboning, Britain was tinallv forced olds to make room for neighborhood third to concede ground to the demands o f graders? the Africans. Before coming to this Students stand in the rain all around King conference, Margaret Thatcher and School w aiting for buses Last year Mike her government had hinted on more Mathias said it was because 72 buses couldn t than one occasion that they were ready to recognize the govern stop at the front door, all in an hour. What is the ment of Muzorewa and io lift sanc problem this year and w hat about the school tions which would open up trade be board s promise of shelter and supervision? tween Rhodesia and Britain again It is unreasonable to expect a volunteer com legally for the first time since 1968. m ittee of interested parents and com m unity I he Africans, fresh from their highly successful Organization of African people to monitor the school system. It requires Unify summit meeting in Monrovia, paid staff — selected by and responsible to the flexed those si ill bulging muscles and citizen committee. Another Rhodesia Parley forced Thatcher to do a complete about turn. Thus Britain has forced to concede that the Muzorewa regime that she was going to recognize had certain very serious deficiencies. She was further forced To the editor: o f American prisons and wanted no makes little difference if one dies by to accept the African demands for a part o f sending a man to one o f the, an overdose o f aspirin, by fire or by whole new round o f talks that would I agree with your stance that Carl if not the, most degenerate prison hanging, in the final analysis: death lead to new elections in which all Hass should not be returned to Ala systems in the world. is death. Zimbabweans would participate and bama But I lake exception to your This doesn't mean K e ntucky's In the fin a l analysis prison is which w ould be m onitored by statement that Alabama's prison is prison is better or worse than prison and to say one is worse, one is Britain. “ .one o f the nation's most brutal Alabama’ s, or that southern prisons better, is to defeat the purpose of On September 10th, this particular prisons." are better or worse than eastern or reform. meeting will take place in London. It may well be worse than some western prisons. The Swedes had Vour editorial deals with why Carl The participants will be a delegation prisons, but once anyone interested heard o f Am erican prisons as a Bass should not be returned to Ala from Robert Mugabe's ZAN U (Zim in the plight o f prisoners begins to whole and that is how American bama’ s prison rather than reform, babwe A fric a n N ational U nion), compare and to label prisons as some prisons should be considered. Once but the reason he should not be another from Joshua N kom o's better, some worse, the very act o f the argument ensues that Arizona’ s returned is because o f what goes on ZAPU (Zimbabwe African Peoples com parison defeats the goals o f prison is worse than Washington's, behind the walls in Alabama. And Union) and the third delegation will prison reform. or that Oregon's prison is better than that should be the concern o f every come from the clowns in Salisbury, This year the Supreme Court of Iowa’ s, the attention that should be one. Everyone pays for the results, the so-called Muzorewa government. Sweden refused to extradite a man directed toward reform is diffused. whether it is Alabama, Kentucky, As with everything else connected who had jumped his appeal bond Granted, some prisons are worse Attica, Oregon . with that charade, this delegation and had been sentenced to 59 years than others, but all prisons in Sincerely, promises to be just as ridiculous. in Kentucky The Swedes had heard Am erica are n o to rio u s ly bad. It Donald Danford Even though Muzorewa still claims to be in charge. Smith has demanded 1st Piace to be included in this delegation. The Community Service British had expressed the hope that The Portland Observer IUSPS 969 680' « published every Thurs ONPA 1973 day by Ex« Pubhshir.y Com pjn, inc 2201 North Xillmgsworth Smith would stay home in the in Po-tland Oregon 97217 Post OMice Bo» 3137 Portland Oregon terests o f giving the Muzorewa dele 1st Place 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland Oregon gation some credibility. Best Ad Results Ndabaningi Sithole's group and Subscriptions $7 50 per year m Tn County area $8 00 per year ONPA 1973 Outside Tri County area Postmaster Send address changes io James Chikerema, the latter, a fo r the Portland Observer. P O Bo« 3137 Portland Oregon 97208 5th Place mer deputy to Muzorewa, are also Best Editorial demanding to be included in the The Portland Observer* official position is e»pressed only in its ONPA 1973 Editorial column Any other material throughout the paper is the delegation from Rhodesia A ll this opinion of the individual writer or submitter and does not neces makes for a very interesting con saniy refect the opinion of the Portland Observer Honorable Mention ference because you will have Smith Herrick Editorial Award pulling for the whites. Nkomo and NNA 1973 National Advertising Representative Mugabe pulling for the Africans, ALFREDL HENDERSON A m algam ated Publishers. Inc Muzorewa and Sithole straddling the Editor/Publisher 2nd Place N ew York fence and Chikerema somewhere in Best Editorial the confusion. This will be the first 3rd Place i « »a Community Leadership time that such a conference where ONPA 1975 the Zim babw e problem w ill be sought through negotiation since the Oreqn'i 3rd Place New »paper abortive attempt at Geneva in 1976. Community Leadership Publishers Then, the whole exercise broke down Aaaoc,ar.cn • Foumsed f*M A ssociatio n V Assi» itmn ONPA 1978 over the intransigence o f the Smith Letters to the Editor All prisons are 'worst' PORTLAND OBSERVER N 9 /A tions, did make substantive policy who are afraid ol Black freedom and changes. First, for the short-term, growth could not stop the thrust the Board gave Black parents choices forward. which most whites in the community The lessons we have learned are have always enjoyed—the choice to im portant ones. First, unity can send children to schools close to produce results, whereas the home. Secondly, in the long-term, begging, hat-in-hand approach will the board made the commitment to give us nothing except a few silent develop a comprehensive plan voices in high places. Second, a The comprehensive plan will speak willingness to combine community to the demands o f the Black United action with institutional politics can Front, the Coalition, and many other produce change, whereas activism in groups. It will include plans for a the com m unity that ignores the middle school in the Black com reality o f "power positions in insti munity, as well as an equitable way tu tio n s " drains our spirits by an to integrate all grade levels in the in a b ility to construct solutions. Black community. This is a major Third, the threat o f aggressive action victory for those who want quality is positive, whereas the mealy- education fo r our children, along mouthed acquiescence that never with an integrated experience when wants any kind o f conflict keeps the possible. The gains are tangible and community in a lifeless coma worthy o f support! One lesson which we must not At the N A A C P Freedom Fund forget: Those who joined in the Banquet Saturday, September 1st, movement made positive contribu the famed civil rights catalyst, Rosa tions, those who did not come for Parks, said, "W ’e must realize that ward with support were negative. not only must we light to change The pressure o f those who had the prejudice and discrimination, but we courage to come forward was felt by must light to gain rights for Black the Board o f Education. The people who will not fight with us.” pressure produced the will to find a Her comment was aimed right at the solution. The solution prevented the heart o f some Black people in Port boycott. land. When the Black United Front an On the other hand, those organiza nounced the boycott, some Black tions and individuals who refused to folks screamed, " N o ! " When the speak out in favor o f the boycott movement gained momentum, some dissipated the pressure and, in fact, Black people tried to cut the cords of contributed negatively to the motiva unity with razor-sharp lies, distor tion to find a satisfactory solution. tions and hall-truths. The threads of Let's not forget who was positive unity, much to their chagrin, were and who was negative in this move made o f steel; and this chicken- ment. It will help us keep our eyes breasted betrayal by Black people wide open next time! jjB S s r I by N. f-ungai Kumbula delegation. At the moment all indica tions are that nothing much has changed. Smith may no longer be the titular prime minister o f Rhodesia but he still manipulates everything as much as ever. The demands the Africans made in 1976 have not been met and so they will be presenting not merely a sim ilar package but even more ‘ radical’ demands. The Africans are in a much stronger position now than they were in '76 and Smith is in a more desperate position. Muzorewa, who came to Geneva boasting the largest popular fo llo w in g ot any Zimbabwean leader, comes to Lon don cutting a very ridiculous figure. A ll his pretensions to be ‘ in charge’ in Rhodesia have been exposed time and time again to be mere preten sions. He comes to London, not as a Black leader as he so often claimed, but is seen for what he is: a stand-in for the whites. While the British would very much like to see Muzorewa continue as prime minister o f Rhodesia because he has proved to be the "good boy” , they are also painfully aware o f the ridicule in which all A frica holds him. After Lusaka, Britain seems in no particular hurry to confront the Africans again. To avoid any further Anglo-African standoff from which Britain might once again be forced to back down, Britain will therefore be playing her cards much closer to her chest. Gone are the days when they could " t e ll these natives what to d o !” Given this scenario, it's highly unlikely that there w ill be an early resolution at this upcoming con ference. One demand the Africans w ill be pressing and which both Sm ith and Muzorewa w ill very strongly resist is the dismantling o f the entire Salisbury regime; the ‘ government,’ the army, civil ser vice, the police, everything. The Africans are proposing that all this would be replaced by a government o f the people which w ill then in stitute a national army, choose a proper c iv il service and a more responsible police force. This, Smith w ill resist because without the armed forces in their present make-up, he can forget it. Once a Zimbabwe national armed forces take over, all those outrageous white privileges w ould also be swept away. The wealth o f the nation would be more equitably distributed and all Z im babweans can then enjoy the fruits o f true citizenship in their own land. This is all that Smith is afraid of; that soon, very soon Africans would have access lo all the opportunities h ith e rto reserved exclusively lo r whites. The fro n t Line states ot Mozam bique, Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania and Angola would like to see a quick solution io the 15 year old Rhodesian deadlock and B rita in is just a- anxious io be rid of this problem once and for all. For the Front Line slates, an acceptable solution would mean a normalization o f relations with Zim babwe, an acceptance o f the "prodigal son" back into the told for the first time since 1964. The liberation war has been costly to all o f southern A fric a not only in terms ot money but also in terms of human lives, ruined economics, deterioration o f social services and interruption o f international trade as well as disruption o f communica tions. II the Zimbabwe situation could be amicably settled, all those refugees who have Fled to Botswana. Zambia and Mozambique can return home to Zimbah*ve;>Jambia, which suffers perennial corn shortages would have a ready market once again and ease her dependence on South A fric a ; M ozambique can proceed w ith her reconstruction, unhampered by the fear o f frequent cross-border raids from Rhodesia, and Botswana would have access to Black Africa for the first time On the other hand, if this latest diplomatic exercise fails, it will be back to the battlefield Neither side is likely to give up. And the chances of a solution through the barrel o f a gun? I l ’ s not something that can be expected to take place tomorrow It could take six months to a year but, with as many as 50 people getting killed each week, the price will be horrendous. In the end, when it's all over and done w ith, the task o f reconstruction will be something else again A ll the conferees will be aware o f this and we would hope thaï for once, common sense will prevail. Subscribe Today ir: r
