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.