Pag» 2 Portland Observer Thursday. Septam bar 13. 1979
EDITORiAL/OPINION
NBC TV in center of African storm
by N. Fünften Kumbula
Bass extradition shows insensitivity to racism
When Victor Atiyeh took office he was an un
known quantity in the Black community. He had
never established any significant ties in this
community and as a conservative Republican did
not receive many votes from Black citizens.
There still has been little evidence that the
Governor has given attention to the special prob
lems that face Black and other minority citizens.
But the Governor has made some effort to gain
confidence of minorities, appointing Blacks to
the Parole Board and to the office of Ombuds
man and, after his first appointee resigned, to the
Affirmation Action office.
What ground the Governor has gained will be
lost if he persists in his plan to return Alabama
prison escapee Carl Bass to that state. Regard
less of promises made by his "brother governor"
Fob James, once Bass is within the prison wails
there is no reason to believe that he will be pro-
tected from racist guards and administrators. Will
the element that punished him for a prior escape
by allow ing his legs to decay while denying
adequate medical care treat this escape with any
less vengeance?
Bass is the product of a racist community en
vironment, a racist police and court system, a
racist prison. Whether or not he is guilty —and he
says he is not —does he deserve to be returned to
the inhumanity of a prison in a state where even
now the Kian is marching?
The Bass case does much to demonstrate our
Governor's lack of knowledge, understanding
and sensitivity to the unique position of Black
people in American society and his inability to
relate the laws, regulations and processes of
government to their impact on the lives of indi
viduals.
Investigate controversial murder
For the last year a prisoner at Oregon State
Penitentiary —Floyd Forsberg —has been attempt
ing to get the authorities to believe that he com
mitted a murder for which another man was con
victed.
Forsberg has an extensive criminal record in
cluding bank robbery, narcotics and burglary. He
also claims to have been an informer for the FBI
providing information on his current and former
gang members. He is fully capable of having
committed the murder he is attempting to claim.
Forsberg says the local District Attorney's o f
fice has refused to fully investigate his story.
Although DA Harl Haas says a thorough investi
gation was made, Forsberg wonders how that
was done without talking to him and witnesses
he says can verify his story, and without allowing
him to reveal evidence he says will tie him to his
accomplices.
Although we have no way of knowing whether
Forsberg is guilty of the murder or whether Rod
Addicks, the man convicted of the crime, is in-
nocent, thus far all the information provided to us
by Forsberg about his other activities has been
reliable and most is documented.
Considering the fact that a man who could be
innocent is serving a life sentence for this crime it
does seem than the utmost effort would have
been made by now to determine whether Fors
berg’s claim is true. The fact that no one from the
Multnomah County District Attorney's office has
obtained his statement and that no grand jury has
been called to investigate his story is incredible.
If the District Attorney's office still believes
Rod Addicks to be guilty there should be no
hesitation to attem pt to disprove Forsberg's
claim. There might be no way of proving whether
he planned and committed the murder, but if his
story was concocted in the prison yard as is
claimed by Haas, it should be easily disproved.
Since Haas seems le lu cta n t to pursue this
case. Governor Atiyeh should ask A ttorney
General Jam es Redden to co n d u ct an in
vestigation.
Letters to the Editor
Urban League investigating Grigsby charges
To the editor:
Your editorial o f September 6th,
"Everyone’s Problem ." carried an
appropriate indictment o f the Urban
League and other organizations re
garding the Kevin Grigsby incident.
The Urban League did get the ap
prenticeship. However, our respon
sibility does not stop there. In the
case o f Kevin Grigsby, the LEAP
staff did follow through immediately
to investigate the issue along with
union officials. Several counseling
sessions were held with Grigsby, and
since he does not want to go back to
the Boardman site, we are working
to locate another apprenticeship
position for him. We are also work
ing with the appropriate organiza
tions regarding this specific incident
to ensure against a repetition. This
incident does point out a need to
review, again, the procedure and
manner in which we prepare clients
for new job opportunities and in
which we follow up with problems
they are faced with.
The Urban League o f Portland
was founded to create a better
climate o f interracial understanding
by improving the working conditions
and opportunities for Blacks and
eliminating discrimination and segre
gation. That goal is as important and
relevant to our organization now as
it was then.
Sincerely,
Lreddye Petett
Executive Director
Urban League o f Portland
Audit Haas, not Corrections Division
To the editor:
Harl Haas, Multnomah County
DA, asks for a performance audit of
the Oregon Correctional Division.
He seems to feel that there are too
many escapes by men he has sent to
prison.
One o f the main reasons fo r
escapes is the overcrowding of the
D ivision's facilities. The Division
would have a lot more room if Haas
did not send so many men here for
breaking in to coke machines, or
driving without a license.
The goal o f imprisonment seems
to be revenge It seems that six months
to a year in the county jail would
satisfy all the requirements illegal
drivers, i.e., the illegal driver would
lose his job, most o f his friends,
possibly his wife, and the illegal
driver would be permanently scarred
for life, not only by his crim inal
record but also by being subjected to
the Multnomah County Jail.
It has been estimated by know
warehouse burglars and illegal
drivers are being sent here. The audit
might show that Haas appears more
interested in revenge by imprison
ment where restitution could have
been made, than he is on working
on the problems that generate crime.
(One o f the biggest problems in the
state is in his county: it’s called Rocky
Butte).
The audit might show that while
aspiring politicians are claiming there
is a lessening crime rate in county or
state, more people are being im
prisoned than ever before, and this is
straining the state’ s facilities until
they are bursting at the seams. The
audit might also show that some per
sonnel w o rk in g fo r M ultn om ah
County have been accused of worse
crimes than the men imprisoned by
Multnomah County. And the only
reason they occurred is that there
was not a thorough performance
audit.
Sincerely,
Donald Danford
ledgeable experts that there are
almost as many rapes and assualts
happening inside this jail controlled
by employees o f Multnomah County
as are happening on the streets of
Portland. Rocky Butte, as this jail is
commonly referred to, is one o f the
most n o to rio u s county ja ils in
the nation. The newspaper coverage
o f abuses at Rocky Butte has often
surpassed the coverage o f both state
prisons.
A perform ance a ud it o f H arl
Haas, his o ffice, the M ultnom ah
County Jail, might be much more
pro du ctive in understanding the
escapes o f Oregon’ s C orrections
Division.
The audit might show conclusively
that: I) hundreds o f prisoners suf
fering severe psychological problems
are being sent to O.S.P. and released
in much worse shape years later to the
streets o f Portland; 2) O.S.P. is over
crowded because too many coke
machine bandits, bicyle thiefs, empty
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(Continued from page I Column 4)
the ill-housed. On the other hand, it
could well happen that the guilty party
tn order to lighten his uncom fort
able moral burden, w ill finally begin
to rationalize his sins and a ffirm
them as virtues.
Ms. Miller asked that a system be
devised to include from the require
ment teachers who are proficient in
Black History and that teacher repre
sentatives be involved in all nego
tiations on this policy.
School Board member Herb Caw-
thorne expressed his astonishment
that a representative o f a major pro
fessional organization could be op
posed to the "in clu sio n o f ethnic
cultures in the curriculum and the
mandatory development o f teacher
sensitivities in this area.
the maintenance o f racial and ethnic
barriers.
2nd Place
"W h e n a Board o f Education
Best Editorial
moves to communicate its educa
3rd Place
Community Leadership tional imperatives that every child
ONPA 1975
receive the most sensitive edu
cation possible, which may include a
3rd Place
special focus to develop the staff ex-
Community Leadership
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mistake o f stumbling on the ghettos
o f Soweto, Sophiatown, Dube or
Alexandria where the true Africa is.
The cameras will never focus on the
poverty prevelant in the ‘ ‘ home
la n d s " in sharp contrast to the
alm ost s in fu l a ffluence evident
everywhere in the white suburbs. No
one w ill get to see the Black kids
running around h a lf naked with
distended bellies and cracked lips,
victims o f kwashiokor (a nutrition
deficiency disease). If the cameras
wander at all, they will be allowed”
to wander in the right direction,
to show one affluent Black busi
nessman or one Black apprentice
or one Black college student. And
this one "prom inent” Black would
be used to show the "progress” that
Blacks have made. Thanks to our
“ brother” John Tate and his ‘ boss’
Bob Arum, the world will get to see a
very ‘ beautiful South Africa, filled
w ith the happiest’ Blacks in the
whole wide world. With friends like
this, who needs enemies?
NBC Television has expressed an
interest in televising this fight via
satellite from Pretoria so you too
might get to see "b e a u tifu l” South
Africa. Already a lot o f groups and
individuals have started to bombard
NBC telling them not to televise this
nefarious fight. Probably the largest
and most vocal as well as the most
influential group to contact NBC
and tell them to ‘ forget about
showing the fight or face the conse
quences’ is the Supreme Council for
Sport in A fric a , an um brella
organization governing virtually all
sport in Africa. With a membership
in excess o f 40 countries, it boasts
representation o f over 300,(XX),000
people It was the Supreme Council
for Sport in Africa that was respon
sible for the very successful African
boycott o f the 1976 Montreal Olym
pics.
At that lime, the controversy was
over C anada’ s (the host nation)
refusal to bar New Zealand from the
O lym pics. New Zealand had in
curred A frica ’s righteous wrath by
maintaining rugby ties with South
Africa. For a number o f years, the
African sport governing body had
been pressuring countries around the
world to cut o ff all sports ties with
the apartheid regime u ntil such a
time as all people in South Africa
have an equal say in the running o f
their government. This pressue had
resulted in the expulsion o f South
Africa from most international sport
governing bodies such as FIFA, the
International Football Federation
that oversees the World Cup (soccer)
matches, and the In te rn a tio n a l
Olympic Committee that is in charge
o f the Olympics.
The Supreme Council for Sport in
Africa had approached New Zealand
several times urging her to terminate
her rugby matches with South Africa
but New Zealand had adamantly
refused. Come the '76 Olympics, the
C ouncil approached Canada and
told her that if New Zealand partici
pated, all African countries would
w ith d ra w . Canada hedged and
hawed but did not expel New Zea
land so the Africans walked on the
first day o f competition. This was a
bitter blow and a major setback to
the Olym pic contests because, in
withdrawing, the Africans removed,
among others. Filbert Bayi, the Tan-
zani “ miracle m iler” , John A kii-
Bua, the world record holder o f the
400 meter high hurdles, the Kenyans,
K ip Keino, steeplechase, Henry
Rono and Samson Kimombwa 800
meters and M iru Yifta, Ethiopia’ s
ageless steeplechase wonder. A ll of
these athletes were expected to
provide most o f the excitement and
their non-participation robbed the
Olympics o f a great deal o f prestige.
A lot o f questions which sports buffs
had been looking to the Olympics for
answers were never answered and
never will be.
Some people were none too happy
w ith this approach used by the
Africans and charged that ‘sport and
politics should not m ix.’ I agree; it
would be nice to divorce sport and
politics if it could be done but, it
cannot. If you watched the Olympic
Games or any other international
meet (or even college football and
pro football) you will no doubt have
heard the national anthem o f the
winners being played. Now, how
much more political can you get?
Why play the national anthem o f
France or Malaysia? Why not play
the winning athlete’ s favorite tune,
like “ Good Times” or “ No Woman
No C ry .” Why don’ t the athletes
come in simply as Maria Perez or
Delwyn M adkins and not M aria
Perez o f Venezuela and Delwyn
Madkins from the USA? And why
was it necessary to keep harping on
the fact that the Soviet Union had
won 50 gold medals and the US 33?
Remove the flags, the national an
thems, the country o f origin and the
Olympics and all sport can be made-
apolitical. Right now, a group of
people are planning to demonstrate
at the Moscow Olympics against the
jailing of Soviet Jewish dissidents. Is
that any different than the action
taken by the African sports body?
The Supreme Council for Sport in
Africa has warned NBC which will
be televising the 1980 Olympics from
Moscow that, if they go ahead and
televise the Tate-Coetzee fight, then
the African athletes w ill refuse to
gran, NBC correspondents any inter
views at all. This would put a big
hole in NBC’ s Olympic coverage. If
NBC heeds the African warning and
w ithdraw s its o ffe r, that would
lessen the impact o f this latest sneaky
South African propaganda scheme.
On the other hand, if NBC remains
hard-headed and shows the fight
anyway, there w ill be a big
showdown in Moscow. Chances are
the Africans would solicit the sup
port o f other Third World and sym
pathetic Western countries.
If we cannot get through to Tate
and Arum, the next best thing is to
make sure that their ‘victory’ turns
to ashes; that they not be allowed to
reap any rewards from this act o f
treason against all our brothers and
sisters. The stakes are getting higher
and we're playing for keeps because
we are playing for survival.
Teacher rep disputes history value
He said, "Since its earliest begin
283-2486
llE llp flP E R
Reverend Jesse Jackson who
headed a campaign to stop the
Knoetze-Sharkey lig h t and has,
lately, been in the forefront of cut
ting o ff sport contacts with South
A frica , is again trying to get the
Tate-Coetzee fight stopped. So far,
Tate has turned a deaf ear and is
already in South Africa training for
the fight. This fight promises to give
the apartheid regime the most wide
spread favorable publicity to date.
Bob Arum, who is promoting the
fight and who has become the top
promoter o f South African boxers, is
bragging about the fact that the
boxing arena w ill be "in teg rate d"
for this fight. That is what the world
press w ill zero in on: Blacks and
whites sitting shoulder to shoulder
yelling at the fighters, urging them
on. The cameras will never make the
Honorable Mention
nings, the American public school
Herrick Editorial Award system has been deeply committed to
NNA 1973
National Advertising Representative
Amalgamated Publishers. Inc
New York
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
Last March I was livid with rage
when I learned o f local boxer Mike
C o lb e rt’ s planned tr ip to South
Africa to fight an Afrikaner named
Mike Weir, or was it Charles? I went
to town denouncing the trip and ex
plaining why I opposed it. Only a
few short months later, 1 again hit
the roof when 1 heard o f the (white
South African) Kallie Knoetze-Bill
Sharkey (American) fight in Miami.
Then I took one Leon Spinks to task
for agreeing to fight and subsequent
ly losing to another A frik a n e r,
Gerrie Coetzee in Monte Carlo. This
paved the way for Coetzee to take a
crack at the WBC version o f the
world heavyweight championship.
That fight is scheduled to take place
in P re to ria , South A fric a next
month.
The Knoetze-Sharkey, Spinks-
Coetzee and the John Tate-Knoetze
fight(s) which took place in Bophu-
tatswana, one o f the “ homelands"
in South Africa were all part o f a
series o f elimination bouts to deter
mine the successor to Muhammad
A ll’ s title now that the People’ s
Champ has finally retired. Against
the advice o f his brothers and sisters
both here and in Africa, Tale went
ahead and fought Knoetze. Some
misguided fo ol at J E T exercising
abysmally poor judgm ent, adver
tised the light in the TELEVISION
section o f JET.
In the past several months, Tate
has shown a lot o f promise in the
pugilistic world, working his way to
the point now where, if he beats
Coetzee next month, he will be the
next W B t heavyweight champion.
In the cerebral department, however,
he has shown a disturbingly high
degree o f deficiency. It's understand
able he wants to be the new champ
and earn the big bucks and accolades
that come with the title but, is that
reason enough to embrace, shuffle
and grin at the number one enemy of
Black folk anywhere on this planet?
All was offered $50 m illion to stage a
number o f exhibition fights in South
A fric a but, after ta lk in g to the
Africans and other Americans, Black
and white, who are opposed to apar
theid, he turned it down. Besides,
there are other alternatives for Tate
to have gotten to that heavyweight
championship
pertise necessary to produce on that
co m m itm e nt, it h ardly seems
p roductive
that
professional
organizations o f teachers should
speak in a way that maintains the
wrong perspectives o f racial order.”
The intent o f the Board, he said, is
to positively recognize the values, the
experiences, the realities o f social
and p o litic a l life in Am erica. In
noticing these realities, the Board has
wisely chosen to demand that its
teachers understand the children to
whom it impacts the values and in
formation o f education.
Cawthorne quoted Earl Conrad’s
" T h e In v e n tio n o f the N egro” :
"Negroes are now viewed variously
as crim in a ls , cowards, comics,
congenital rebels. Uncle Toms
W hites believed that blacks had
special anim al fa c ia l,ies, more
rhythm , fo r example, than white
people. They could sing and dance
better because these were primitive
gifts. Most o f these ideas sprang
directly from professional racists.
Others were invented by the press.
"T h e final specific task is for the
white citizen to undo his diabolical
inventive genuis, to transcend an un
conscionable trad ition ."
The only way to change old at
titudes, Cawthorne explained, is ,o
challenge them , and ways to
challenge them is through requiring
teachers to learn Black history and
culture, and through a commitment
o f the administration and Board to
demand changes in perspectives that
w ill allow children to receive better
education.
" T h is better education comes
when the stereotypes, the false
images, the negative perceptions, the
d e b ilita tin g characterizations o f
Black people are eliminated
"T he Black community has asked
for a positive reflection o f its cultural
identity; no less than we would want
fo r every c h ild th ro u g h o u t the
district.
"T he teachers o f this district will
have to accept a much stronger re
sponsibility to carry out the task o f
education. The requirements o f the
Board w ill regard to the desegrega
tion program it intends to develop is
a reflection o f that need. It seems
appropriate, and beneficial, that
teachers be exposed to information,
perspectives, world views, cultural
identities, that w ill enhance their
capacities to com m unicate w ith
young children. This needs to be
uniquely focused upon in working
with Black children or other ethnic
groups "