P«fl« 2 Portland Obaerver Thursday. Septem ber 27,2879
EDITORIAL/OPINION
In their place!
Members of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) who visited the Middle East
last week have disturbed a lot of white Americans
who would like to see Blacks stay in their place.
Oregon's largest daily refers to SCLC: W it
ness the Southern Christian Leadership Con
ference, a conspicious example of a miniscule
civil rights organization that has leaped beyond
its regional boundaries to intervene as a self-
appointed international peacemaker.'’
The newspaper further advises SCLC to take
advice from Bayard Rustin who warned them not
to forfeit the "long and noble tradition of non
violence" and Black Americas' "moral prestige"
by meeting with the Palestinian Liberation Orga
nization.
Apparently the editors have forgotten that this
"miniscule organization," founded by Dr. Martin
Luther King, had influence well beyond its
numbers when it forced the United States to
redefine the civil rights of its citizens.
It is suitable that this organization fill the void
created by a government that refuses to com
municate publically with the Palestinian Libera
tion Organization— a government that cannot
possibly bring peace to the Middle East while
ignoring a major factor in the dispute.
Who better than Black people who have en
dured the brutalities of American racial op
pression can understand and in te rp re t the
inhuman conditions under which three million
Palestinian people live?
What arrogance leads the white press to praise
the occasional United Nation visits and peace
proclamation of the Popes, while ridiculing the
peace efforts of Black ministers? Is it because
they still believe the place for Black people is
w ithin their "regional boundaries” — or in the
back of the bus?
Cold feet, runny noses
P o rtlan d's elem entary ch ild re n w ill face
another hazzard this year —their classrooms will
be kept at a 65 degree temperature.
The School Board chose not to take advantage
of a exception to federal regulations that would
allow the temperature to be kept at 68 degrees.
President Carter's mandate to conserve energy
requires that most buildings be maintained at 65
degrees but allows exceptions for elementary
schools, child care centers and hospitals.
Children who walk to school or wait for buses
in the rain will arrive at school with wet clothing.
Some will be inadequately dressed. Cold hands
and feet, and general discomfort, cannot add to
the learning ability of small children.
The school district did not obtain the advice of
physicians or other health specialists on making
its determination that cold rooms will not adversely
affect the health, attendance or learning of the
districts' children.
It is incumbent on the district to keep careful
records of illnesses and absences. An assessment
of the effect of learning will be more difficult if
not impossible.
We believe the district has made a mistake in
placing the savings of $100,000 and a few barrels
of oil above the com fort of students. W hy not let
the young children have a com fo rtable and
pleasant place in which to learn?
VOICES OF REVOLUTION
struggle
Violence
voices o f steel in the sun
setting fire to a landscape already hot
and dreams
dispersed
against a wall o f bayonets
A new wave rises
and longings dispersed
over unburied bodies
And a new wave rises for the struggle
and yet another and another
until there remains o f violence
only our pardon.
Here in prison
rage contained in my breast
I patiently wait
for the clouds to gather
blown by the wind o f history
No one
can stop the rain
LUTHER
E arlier this m onth, Eleanor
Holmes Norton, head o f the Equal
. Employment O pportunity Commis
.¿on, told a conference o f federal
civil rights offices that the federal
government has a worse record o f
p ro v id in g jo b o p p ortu nities to
minorities and women than private
To our mines o f diamonds
business Is this any less true for the
gold, copper, oil
we must return
State o f Oregon?
Many slate workers feel that the
same can be said about the State o f
To our rivers, our lakes
to the mountains, the forests
Oregon. And certainly, Blacks feel
that they are getting less o f an oppor
we must return
tunity for job o pportunity now in
state government. Q u a lific a tio n s
To the coolness o f the mulemba
have very little to do with it. Black
to our traditions
college graduates are said to provide
to the rhythms and bonfires
a higher unemployment rate than
we must return
white high school dropouts.
“ Recent appointm ents to key
To the marimba and the quissage
positions in state government reflect
to our carnival
that the demand is for white males
we must return
w ith
a
fiscal
management
To our beautiful Angolan homeland
background,” one state personnel
our land, our mother
worker noted. While many Blacks,
we must return
trom around the state, are observing
that no Black males have been ap
We must return
pointed to any key positions in the
to liberated Angola
\tiye h Administration, regardless o f
independent Angola
their qualifications.
When candidate Victor Atiyeh spoke
at the Oregon Assembly for Black
A ffairs meeting on October 28, 1978,
8 * Brumsic Brandon. Jr.
he stated that he would not be op
posed to h irin g Blacks and other
racial m inorities in key cabinet or
line positions in his administration.
M a tte r-o f-fa c t, he was quoted as
saying, “ I w ill not be opposed to it.
. . .Yes, I w ill
1 w ill try. Matter-
of-fact, I w ill encourage it . ” A fter
his election, Govenor-elect Atiyeh
stated, “ Finding the right person for
the right job is one o f the highest
p rio ritie s durin g this tra n s itio n
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283 2488
N a tio n a l A d v e rtla ln g R e p re s e n ta tiv e
A m a lg a m a te d Pub llahera Inc.
N e w York
M{ m M *
M l M a ia
tinuing the same liberalization trend,
there were elections recently in
Nigeria to choose a civilian govern
ment to take over after 12 years o f
successive m ilitary regimes. Ghana
also chose a civilian government in
elections conducted within the past
three months. She, too, had lum
bered under one m ilitary regime after
another for the past ten years. These
two countries have paved the way for
what we hope will be a continuing
trend all over Africa: returning the
vote to the people.
Southern A fric a has not been
to ta lly left out o f all these good
tidings: the wars in Mozambique and
Angola resulted in the overthrow ot
five centuries o f Portuguese
domination. Over in Rhodesia, alter
eight decades o f white intransigence
and defiance the war o f liberation
has forced the whites to put forward
a few Black faces to carry on their
dirty work. However, with the war
intensifying rather than slackening,
the whites have once again been forced
back to the bargaining table where,
at th is very m om ent, they are
agreeing to the abolishm ent ot
almost all their privileges.
Both South Africa and Namibia
continue to simmer and, it is a fair
assessment to say that the days o f
colonial domination in the south ot
the Motherland are, finally drawing
to a close. W ithin the next five to ten
years, look for a truly independent
Zimbabwe and a free Namibia as
well as tremendous progress in the
struggle to free South Africa.
by Calvin O.L. Henry
To our lands
red with coffee
white with cotton
green with maize fields
we must return
PORTLAND OBSERVER
Aaaociairen - founded »888
schoolchildren ranging in age from
eight to sixteen, simply because they
had refused to wear school uniforms.
The revelation caused a lot o f coun
tries, among them France, then her
largest aid provider, to cut o ff aid to
the Bokassa regime. Iro n ic a lly ,
Bokassa was overthrown by the very
same man he had overthrown 14
years previously. In 1965, Bokassa
had seized power from David Dacko,
the Central African Republic’ s first
popularly elected president following
independence from France.
Bokassa was a source o f constant
embarassment to all A fric a . Two
years ago, he had squandered $30
m illio n on his own ‘ c o ro n a tio n ’
when he converted the then Central
A fric a n Republic to the ‘ C entral
A fric a n R egim e.’ In a c o u n try
ranked as one of the 25 poorest in the
world, this was fully 25 per cent o f
the total budget. Over the years, his
penchant fo r cutting o ff theives’
hands, beating prisoners to death
and slicing o ff various parts o f the
anatomies o f whoever incurred his
wrath cowed the whole country into
helpless submission while his extra
vagance (am ong his countless
possessions he boasts nine palaces,
and several private jets) plunged the
country further into the throes o f
poverty.
That’ s three dictators gone all in
one year and, in each case, it has since
been revealed, other African coun
tries lent the support and the means
by which their brothers and sisters
o verthre w the m urderers. C on
To the houses, t our crops
to the beaches, I our fields
we must reiurn
Here in prison
1 would recall Hikmet
where I to think o f you Marina
in that house with grandmother and child
ALFRED L. HENDERSON
Edltor/Publlaher
One o f the sad things about Africa
in the past few years has been its
preponderance of dictatorships. For
many who were beginning to look to
Africa as the Motherland, this was a
glaring co n tra d ic tio n ; w hile they
tried to speak up for Africa, it was
impossible to overlook the dictator
ships, one p arty states, m ilita ry
governments and a gross disregard
for human rights. In some cases, sad
as it sounds, some countries were
worse o ff after ‘ independence’ than
belore.
In the past few years, particularly
the last two, there seems to have been
an accelerated shift away trom this
unhappy state o f affairs. So much so
that the last O A U conference, held in
June in L ib e ria , even set up a
“ human rights watchdog com m it
tee.’ ’ This was a far cry from the
days ol “ non interference” in the af
fairs of other member states. This ac
tion by the O AU seems to have ac
celerated the dismantling o f some o f
A fric a ’ s most notoriouos dictator
ships Since June, Macias Nguema,
iron listed d icta to r o f l.q u a lo ria l
Guinea has been overthrown. His
reign o f terror had forced fully 25
per cent o f his citizens into exile.
I he ouster o f Idi Amin in Uganda
made headlines the world over and
:
ins something to bite
into for several weeks. The latest
despot to bite the dust is the self-
proclaim ed Em peror lean Bedel
B
i sa I of the < entrai A frican
Empire. He hit the headlines recently
when it was revealed that he had
k ille d
about
100
to
200
w e m ust retur
here In prison
Here in prison
I would recall the saints
were I to forgive them
the torments and lies
with which they shatter our happiness
by N. Fungai Kumbula
Affirmative Action and the Governor
Agostinho Neto
Agostinho Neto, president o f the People’s Republic o f Angola and leader in
the struggle fo r liberation, was also a poet. Below are some o f his poems, many
o f which were written while he was jailed by the Portuguese.
Here in prison
1 would recall the heroes
were 1 to sing joyfully
the war songs
with which our people crush slavery
Africa: The housecleaning continues
1st Place
Community Service
ONPA 1973
1st Place
Best Ad Resulta
ONPA 1973
5th Place
Best Editorial
ONPA 1973
Honorable Mention
Herrick Editorial Award
NNA 1973
2nd Place
Best Editorial
3rd Place
Community Leadership
ONPA 1975
3rd Place
Community Leadership
ONPA 1978
TOO LATE TO
CLASSIFY
STAFF ADVOCATE
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attorney’s assistant. Du
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Submit re
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Portland. OR 97206.
period. The search must be statewide
and impartial, with competence and
integrity the overriding criteria.’ ’
Govenor Atiyeh has made three
appointments o f Black women in
highly visible positions w ithin his
adm inistration, but they are not in
cabinet or line positions. These ap
pointees came from the Department
o f Human Resources and they were
replaced w ith white males w ith a
fiscal management background.
Maybe A tiyeh is keeping his
promise, but are his departm ent
heads still acting like those o f the
past administration? A case in point
is the process o f selecting the per
manent Regional Manager fo r the
M ultnom ah Region o f A d u lt and
Family Services Division.
The former Regional Manager o f
the Multnomah Region o f Adult and
Family Services Division was Hazel
Hays, who was, at that time, con
sidered the only Black in a high line
position in state government. She
was appointed to the State Parole
Board by Atiyeh, and was replaced by
a white male as the acting regional
manager. The acting regional
manager is Dick Rova.
The recruitment fo r the regional
manager was open and eight names
were finally certified with scores o f
100 on the exam ination. Two o f
these applicants are Black males;
however, on the initial certification,
one o f their names was left o ff. The
current acting regional manager is
not one o f these eight.
The position was initially adver
tised on July 17, 1979, and closed on
July 31, 1979, as not being in the
executive service. Now this position
is being changed to executive service
so that the administrator o f Adult
and Family Services will not have to
hire o ff o f the certification list from
the Personnel Division.
However, D irector J.B. Beding-
field. State Executive Department,
requested in his letter o f August 28,
1979, that all state agencies lim it
their transfer o f those who qualify
with the executive service status to an
absolute m inim um . And there are
some questions in the d ivision
whether this p a rtic u la r regional
manager p osition or ail regional
manager positions should be in exe
cutive service. Then, in this change
by A d u lt and Fam ily Services
D ivision being made to prevent a
competent Black with integrity from
being appointed?
This may be o nly one example
among many in state government
where job opportunities for Blacks
and other racial m in orities are
becoming increasingly more d ifficu lt
and few. One would not have to look
very far to see how blatant racial dis
c rim in a tio n on the jo b in state
government has increased. M any
people are saying that aura o f state
government is becoming more like
the Nixon administration and Water
gate.
Norton said equal employment ef
forts have been more successful in
private business because firms that
lack adequate a ffirm a tiv e action
plans can lose lucrative federal con
tracts, while the federal government
faces no such penalties. What about
the states?
Atiyeh has said many times that he
is fo r bringing more q u a lifie d
minorities in his administration, and
he is creating a name bank o f
qualified individuals. But it appears
that the translation o f his position on
m in ority hiring to actuality by his
department heads is lacking. W ill the
State o f Oregon record o f providing
jo b o p p ortu nities to m in orities
become worse than Oregon private
business?
Perhaps it is tim e fo r state
government to take affirm ative ac
tion.
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