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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1979)
AFSC continues Cambodia relief effort The Portland Area Program office o f the A m e ric a n F riends Service C om m ittee is c o n tin u in g its fu n d ra isin g e ffo rts in O regon and Washington as part o f a nationwide campaign for the relief o f the Cam bodian people. Portland office sta ff said that the group has received over $12,000 in the last tw o weeks fo llo w in g the placem ent o f appeals in the O re g o n ia n and the V a ncouver Columbian. “ We have also had many phone calls and inquiries about C am bodia" said Terry SoRelle o f AFSC, “ we are very glad for any op p o rtu n ity to ex plain and interpret recent events in In d o ch in a ." N a tio n a lly $100,000 has been collected and the first shipment o f food-about 400 tons o f rice; sent by American Friends Service C om m it tee, has arrived in the Cam bodian p o rt o f Kam pong Som, part o t a 2000 io n O X I A M c o o rd in a te d shipment o f food, seeds and tools fo r that desperate country. "S u pp lie s arc getting th ro u g h ," said David Elder, coordinator o f the A F S C ’ s Southeast A sia p ro g ra m . "P e o p le sh o u ldn 't be contused by the Cambodian rejection o f the U.S. proposed, "la n d -b rid g e " route from T h a ila n d . Supplies are a rriv in g in K am pong Som, C a m b o d ia ’ s o n ly deep water port, almost daily. Elder said that (he 41X) tons, which arrived by barge w ill feed 30,000 persons fo r one month in Cambodia. I he organizations N ational Board o f Directors has authorized an a irlift o i $100,000 w o rth o f m edicines, vitamins, and other urgently needed supplies to the Cambodian capital o f Phnom Penh. Elder said that international agen cies operating in Phnom Penh report excellent cooperation by Cambodian authorities. " M in is try o ffic ia ls in the C a m bodian government are going out o f the way to help, and are giving bi w eekly re p o rts to the agency representatives on precisely where the d o n a tio n s are g o in g . Agency people are a llo w e d to go to any d istribution spot to observe." A n AFSC delegation o f five per sons, visiting Cambodia in Septem ber found a country devastated by war and famine. Edward F. Snyder, who chaired the d e le g a tio n , to ld the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington on October 31 that, " E ffo r ts must be made to develop a viable p o litic a l solution even as the food crisis con tin u e s." " If the U n ite d States co u ld develop a m ore ne u tra l stance on c o n flic ts in the re g io n between C h in a /P o l P ot and U S S R /V ie t Nam, it might be able to play a more active role in food d istribution and in the search fo r an acceptable solution in Kampuchea. ______ (Pleae turn to page 10column 1) PORTLAND OBSERVER Volum e 9 N um ber V D ecem ber 13, 19/5» 100 per copy USPS 959 680 De Preist named Music Director Gerry Newhall Newhall: Peyton Award recipient Hy Stephanie / Michael Hus year's recipient o f the Russell A. Peyton Human Relations Award has been selected by the Metropolitan Hu man Relations Com m ission. Gerry Newhall, a M ultoinah County com munity coordinator for the West/North Quadrant will be receiving the award at the annual Peyton Award luncheon m Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1624 N .l . Hancock, at noon Dec. I3. fhe award will be given in correspon dence with the celebration o f Human Relations W eek in the Metro area. Each year the Peyton Award is be stowed to a person recognized as giv ing outstanding contributions to human rights and interracial relations in Port land. Newhall has been active as a com munity volunteer for some 40 years. She has worked as a long time advo cate w ith school desegiegation and community relations in Portland for 25 years. During the l960's she was a member o f a Portland steering committee for the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee, file SNCC group sent used Portland schoolbooks to “ freedom schools" in Mississippi. She was also active m 1964 with the "Schwab Re p o rt", a citizen’ s movement that re sulted m a report on school desegrega tion in the Portland school district. Newhall in 1972 was a founder o f Schools for the City, a citizens’ watch dog and support group for the school district, and served in the Community Coalition for School Intergration. The 60-year-old advocate has worked as chairwoman for the Oregon Program Council, the advisory council o f the Burnside Consortium and the C om m unity Relations Committee o f the Northwest Regional American friends Service Committee. Gerry G. Newhall, the mother o f five children says she believes in the philos ophy o f non-violence and works as a community volunteer to help facilitate understanding. She feels as long as a constant open line o f communications is maintained, things between disputing parties can be worked out. " I believe in what M a rtin Luther King, Jr. spoke o f— we must learn to live together as brothers or perish as fools. I think basic legislation is essen tial in this society, but we as individuals must take very seriously some o f the functions we can do to improve existing laws and attitudes. It is our jo b to do the small things that w ill improve the q u a lity o f relationships, regardless where we are." “ Bringing people together and ena bling folks to work out a better quality o f life for themselves is what it's all about. Desegregation and integration have been long term interests o f mine. Early childhood education plays such a significant part in the lives and a tti tudes ol all children. I he way I look at things is il you don't do soinehimg, then who is going lo do the jo b ." Through the years o f struggle lor human relations and c iv il rights, Newhall says there have been b ille r limes o f discouragement. But, she says through it, ii has brought something lo her life that is priceless. " I would like to wave a magic wand and tlx the world the way 1 see things. But progress w ill o n ly be achieved through working interests. People will have to learn to work with folks o f like interests and that common cause will bond new friendships and fellowships. It may be a small thing if Blacks in the com m unity and I can get together; what makes a difference in the quality o f life is solving those problems or at least coming to a compromise." "S o o f course, I get discouraged at times, but I believe in a long term com inittment. You can’t do something lor two or three years. I think during the first ten years you begin to learn the facts and the ropes around and through 'Please turn to page9 column 3) C o n d u cto r James D ePreist w ill assume the post o f Music Director o f the Oregon S ym phony O rchestra beginning with the 1980-81 season, it was announced today in a meeting at ihe Portland H ilton Hotel. DePreist signed a three-year con tract w ith the Oregon Sym phony Association, according to president P h illip R. Bogue H is selection followed an intensive tCQ-inonth sear ch by the Oregon Symphony conduc tor search committee, chaired by Port land State University president Joseph R Blumel. Other committee members were W illia m E. C ra ig , J. Pierre Kolisch, Dr. Tim othy Mahoney, Peter F. Opion, Mae Priestley, Ariel Rub- stem and Mary A . Tooze. “ We reviewed the qualifications o f well over 125 applicants, nominees and other possible candidates,” Blumel reported. " T h e co n d u cto r search committee was concerned w ith each candidate’ s musicianship, repertoire, experience, national and international reputation, commitment to orchestra b u ild in g and respect in the com m unity. It is the judgement o f the committee that M r. DePreist is the best person to carry on the outstanding work o f our current Music Director Lawrence S m ith. O ur recom m en dation is unqualified, unanimous and enthusiastic.” Smith announced last January (fiat le 1979-80 season, which ends June 30, 1980, would be his final year as Music Director o f the Orechcstra. He has not yet announced future plans. N orm an Leyden w ill co n tin u e as Associate Conductor. DePreist w ill also continue in his position as Music Director o f L 'o r- chestre syinphonique de Quebec at least through the 1980-81 season, a post w hich tie assumed in 1975 fo llo w in g a three-year tenure as Associate Conductor lo Antal Dorati at the N a tio n a l Sym phony in Washington, D.C. I lie Quebec orchestra, which was virtuality unheard o f in musical circles before 1975, has since attracted lop soloists, increased subscription sales, com pleted a successful to u r to Washington, D.C., and amassed other opportunities including an invitation to go to Spam, to Washington once again, possibly to Carnegie Hall and a tour o f Canada. A frequent guest conductor o f im p o rta n t orchestras th ro u g h o u t the James )e Proist world, DePreist has just completed a three week, fifte e n concert engagement w ith the Israel P hilhar m onic at the in v ita tio n o f Z u b in Mehta. His other guest conducting engagements fo r the 1979-80 season include Helsinki, Finland; Goteborg, Sweden; W in n ip e g , M a n ito b a , Canada; Seattle, Utah and Oregon, where he w ill conduct subscription concerts with pianist John Browning at Portland Civic A uditorium , March 16, 17 and 18, and in Salem on March 19, 1980. DePreist s entry into the conducting field did not follow the usual pattern. Having grown up in a middle class Philadelphia fam ily, he earned a B.S. degree in economics, a B.A. degree hi Him and planned to go to law school. Along the way, he was sidetracked into the Philadelphia Conservatory where he studied co m p o sitio n w ith noted composer Vincent Persichetli. In 1962 he was scheduled to make a State IX'partmenl-sponsored lour to a number o f Eastern countries where he was to conduct a wide variety o f local ensembles. Before Ins departure. Ins aunt, the famous singer Marian An derson, arranged fo r him to meet Leonard Bernstein who persuaded him that the Eastern tour might help him choose his career. A nd, as Bernstein had predicted, DePreist found that he was a natural conductor. “ It was as it I ’d been doing it all my life ," he said. " I he music just took hold o f me and I knew exactly what I wanted from the players." Il was during this tour that DePreist contracted polio, but fie recovered suf ficie n tly to make a second to u t in 1963. The follow ing year he gained national attention when he won first prize in Ihe prestigious D u n itri M itro p o u lo s International Conduc 'Please turn to page l() column 3) Affirmative Action: The vehicle for social change Herbert Aptheker, Marxist scholar w ho had w ritte n e xte n sive ly on W .E .B . D uB ois, to ld students at Reed College that affirm ative action is a necessary ingrediant o f social change. O n ly by in c lu d in g those groups now excluded from the labor force - m inorities and women - can the united working class necessary to make fu n d a m e n ta l econom ic changes develop. Aptheker explained that opponents ot a ffirm a tive action use five main arguem ents, but each o f these argueinents can be demonstrated to be false; O p p o sitio n : Racism is someting that existed in the past. The need f o r a ffir m a tiv e a c tio n has been eliminated. A ptheker called this argum ent "alm ost in s u ltin g . T h is n o tio n is steeped in racism . It is an in- . stitutionalized feature o f the U.S. social o rder and every sig n ifica n t component o f life reflects this fact.” For example: - The u n e m p lo y m e n t rate o f Blacks is three tim es the ra le o f whites; Chicanos and Puerto Ricans also have significantly higher rates o f unemployment. - The average annual income o f B lacks is 40 per cent lo w e r than whites. - The average le n g th o f liv e is seven to eig h t years s h o rte r fo r Blacks Blacks make up 2 per cent o f doctors in the nation; 2 per cent o f dentists; 2 jser cent o f attorneys; 2 percent o f state police; 2 per cent o f all college graduates. " T h e repressive c h a ra c te r o f racism is in te n s ify in g . " Recent Supreme C ourt decisions have the ef fect o f moving the nation backward toward Plessy vs Ferguson. - The Southern Regional Council, in a study o f 16 southern cities — found patterns o f city employment virtu a lly unchanged since 1964. - The Am erican Bai Association C o m m is s io n on H o u s in g in 1978 determined that since W orld War II “ Urban grow th is accompanied by severe ra c ia l and econom ic polarization.” Regulations and laws have prevented equal access, courts and legislatures have done too little. " W it h o u t basic changes a great number of Americans will be denied housing choice, cities w ill decline, ra c ia l and e co m o n ic g ro u p s w ill become segregated." - fhe Urban Laguc in 1978 found the Black to white income ratio fell from 62 per cent in 1975-76 to 59 per caent in 1977-78. The gap between Black and white unemployment per centages is highest ever. The precen- tage o f Black families w ith incomes over 24,(XX) has declined. C urrently 27 per cent o f B lack college graduates are unemployed, while 22 Per cent o f w h ite h igh school dropouts are unemployed. C a llin g the 41.1 per cent Black unem ployem cnt rate o f youth a “ figure o f catastrophe,” Aptheker pointed out that the facts prove that institutionalized racism is very much a part o f American life today. O p p o s itio n : A ffir m a tiv e a ctio n penalizes merit. "R a c is m is an in s tru m e n t fo r penalizing m erit W hy d id n 't Paul Robeson sing in the M e tro p o lita n Opera? Why did we wait u n til 1947 before a Black could play second base for the Dogers? Racism is an in stitutional device to deny m erit, so to argue th a t a ffir m a tiv e a c tio n penalizes merit is disgusting. A ffirm a tiv e action seeks to knock dow n b a rrie rs created by racism . “ Opponents speak as though in this society, with its racism, sexism, and general c o rr u p tio n , m e rit re a lly ch a ra cte rizes the selection o f its leading figures.” O p p o s itio n : A ffirm a tiv e A c tio n picks groups where selection should be based on individuals. "Racism asserts that an entire people is innately inferior to other people. It is the special oppression o f a people as a whole. Blacks were not enslaved as in dividuals, Blacks as a people were en slaved.” The whole system is aimed at vic tim ized people as a w hole. One demand o f the victims is to be con sidered as individuals and to be dealt with accordingly. M o tiva tio n is irrelevent to social investigative in q u iry except in the in q u iry in to the motives o f courts and legislatures to understand what O pposition: A necessary element in p r o o f o f racism and discrmination is Ih e presence o f in te n tio n — m otivation. they meant when they made and in terpreted laws. M o tiva tio n is irrelevent; the result o f the act is w h a t is im p o rta n t. Racism is not an idea; it is a practice. The problem is to transform realtiy — to change what can be measured in h e a lth , lo n g e v ity , e m p lo ym e n t, h o u sin g , etc. " C o r r e c tin g the problem o f discrim iniation does not m eant E q u a l O p p o r tn ity E m ployment; it means eqality o f life .” O p p o s itio n : A ffir m a tiv e a ctio n involves a quota system. Some oppose quotas because the old q u o ta system was designed lo keep people out; the new affirm ative a ctio n q u o ta system w o u ld be to bring people in. " A ffirm a tiv e action is not ’ reverse discrim inatin’ ; it is a way to reverse discrim in a tio n .” W hat does a ffir m a tiv e a ctio n mean to the white man? The crucial p ro b le m s fa cin g the n a tio n - in fla tio n , housing, unem ploym ent, e d u c a tio n -a fflic t a ll and ca n 't be solved w ithout solving the problem o f racism. The opponents o f a ffirm a tive ac tion - the corporate structure - arc welded to an economy o f scarcity. Everyone competes fo r a slice o f the pie. P roponents o f a ffirm a tiv e ac tion reject that and are not satisfied w ith a lim it on th e n u m b e r o f schools, jobs, hospitals, homes. The fig h t fo r a ffir m a tiv e a c tio n seeks justice and in its quest brings forth the need for a shift in national prior- tics and purposes. To build a new social order — one where all can share in the benefits - there must be a shift in the political orientation. The one-class, tw o-party system must be replaced by a mass people’ s party. It is im possible to forge a unified people’ s party w ith 50 m illio n oppressed m in o rity people excluded. Aptheker said the struggle against racism and sexism are in te g ra lly related. The fight for affirm ative ac tio n w ill un ite men, women and minorities. A united working class will result-and that could transform the quality o f life.
