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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1979)
Page 2 Portland Observer December 27, 1979 EDITORIAL/OPINION Chase ends in death whether the capture of the suspect or the protec tion of the police ego is the real objective. A police chase through Milwaukie and Port land ended with a seventeen year old boy dead, a Portland man injured, and several cars demolished. The chase began in M ilwaukie, where the police attempted to stop the youth for a tra ffic violation. It ended at W illiam s and Mason, with the youth's death. This death once again brings up the question of whether high speed police chases through the city should be allowed. Is the capture of one suspected of a minor offense -- or guilty of a more serious crime -- worth the death of that in dividual, police officers or innocent bystanders? This time the Portland police were not in volved - the chase ended before they reached the scene. But prior incidents have involved Portland police - and resulted in the death of a young officer. The Police Bureau should move quickly to eliminate the chase. It is dangerous to the public and is of questionable benefit. One must wonder No more prisons The Christm as Eve disturbance at the Oregon State C orrectional In s titu tio n has renewed the cry for more prisons. The distur bance was blamed on overcrowding and insuf ficient programs. OSCI, built for 476 inmates, holds 737. The prison houses young first offenders, many of whom are imprisoned for non-violent, relatively minor offenses. Many of these men could better be served -- or punished - by community based programs that would provide alternatives to crime and would preserve community and family ties. Many who are guilty of non-violent crimes could better be working to make resititution than sitting in cells doing nothing. The people must resist the pressure for more buildings and look at prevention and diversion rather than at bigger jails and longer sentences. Letters to the Editor Justice reform priority for 1980s To the editor: problems o f overcrowded jails. Recent I hope the 1980s will bring the sig- ,' mficant .changes in this nation's penal .' system that you and others are work- • ing for by creating a bridge between J the free world and the prison world. I Prison reform is a mind-boggling concept. There appears too much to be 1 done, too few to do it, too many to do it for. But prison reform can be bro ken down into a step-by-step analysis, i The longest journey starts with a single step. i Overcrowding is one o f the major problems in prisons and jails today. Overcrowding not only creates con ditions that brew trouble, but also it tends to overstrain the people who work at such places. The problem s o f overcrowded prisons are interw oven w ith the oPa garage. Other solutions can be found for such offenders, don’ t you think? Restitution would be suitable in some cases. Community work projects might be an idea whose time has come. It might even be possible to arrange a community work project where some offenders had to mow lawns fo r elder ly people who cannot afford the lux- ery o f a weekly gardner. Let’s get to the grass roots o f the problem. The first step is to find out what really is going on in the entire judicial system o f this country. There are really only 2 choices: higher taxes for more jails and prisons that don’ t work, or comm unity involvement with a side benefit o f less crime. ly Helel Schulty, a 60 year old woman who lives alone on social security and welfare in Detroit was sent to jail be cause she could not pay a $25 fine nor guarantee the court that the weeds in her yard would be cut. Helen didn’t have anyone to cut her weeds. She was sent to jail. Another solution could have been found, do n 't you think? Somehow, somewhere, someone could have been found to help out a 60 year old woman. A t the very least a boy scout could have been mobilized. Sure ly there still must be somewhere one boy scout among the many millions o f people in Detroit, Michigan. Prisoners sit vegetating in prisons for offenses as serious as breaking into empty warehouses or breaking into a coke machine or stealing a bicycle out To The Editor: Ihe relationship o f Black students with the so-called educational system in Portland has been a “ Tragic ' Romance.” Many Third World people believe that caucasoids controlling the process ■ o f education will assure an inferior , preparation for living to guarantee a subordination o f Black people in- ; definitely "Learning would spoil the ; best nigger in the w orld,” was the 1 Amerikan caucasoid establishment’s I view o f education for Black people in Frederick’s time, and the margin o f caucasoid understanding in this area has not become appreciably improved ■ since. The control and operation o f every institution in Amerika is the handi work ol caucasoid college and univer sity people The banks, churches, legal system, governmental functions, manufacturing operations, in fact Amerika. Through the schools, education is subverted into a training and indoctrination mill from K to Ph.D. The fact today has been modified not very substantially. In order to cast the Black man in the familiar role o f the inferior person, a compatible education with ennobling knowledge must not exist, for education cannot be compatible with racism. It is important today for Black Parents in Amerika to recognize that in every phase o f life in the United States, the source o f solutions does not rest with those who created racism, sustain racism, and presume a capabil ity to objectively resolve racism in Amerika. Let us begin with the desired objec tive ol education. A society determines for itself the ideals, both as to the goals lor which the society strives and the behavior adopted to achieve those goals. And education is a process by which a child acquires the values, beliefs, attitudes and ways o f acting that are socially beneficial. In Amerikan society, however, many o f the values deemed socially desirable are in serious conflict with each other. Since racism is a dominant value o f Amerikan society, the Black student had difficulty realizing his fullest per sonal and social development, because his very self represents something that the society, through racism, has deemed undesirable. And if values are acquired through identification—with deeds rather than words—the Black child must admit to an inferiority, before he can respond meaningfully to the present “ educational" process. It is insane for any people in a dependent and oppressed state to submit their children to the mercy and care o f a society that imposes its will, its contempt, and the mechanism o f pacification and suppression. Black people are entrapped in such a con dition today. Black youth must be taught the truth—they must be educated. They must be given the opportunity to un derstand deprivation and poverty resulting from Amerikan greed, waste, and caucasoid racism. There exist today not only the power to systetnaticallly accord wealth and privilege, but also to perpetuate pover ty and powerlessness for Black people. Those who argue that love cannot be taught, seem to ignore the excellent capacity of so-called Christian caucasoid people to teach hate. And we are persuaded that i f hate can be in- doctrinized by lies, love— through truth—can be imbued. The Black man’ s love for his children must find expression in his will to deny the furtherance o f so- called Christian caucasoid control over the minds o f his children and the psychic debilitation o f a smiling caucasoid teacher who can only be a frustration in a hostile caucasoid world. Black women and men must be the dominant presence in the school life o f Black youth. Our youth needs no more o f so-called Christian caucasoid archetypes— caucasoid he roes—taught them as examples o f men who loved freedom and justice for all. for all. Until Black people control the education o f their children, they will never control their community. There is nothing in either the past or present that suggests to us that there exists either an educational system or the will to produce one in Amerika aimed at producing knowledge that is ennobling o f the human person. Such a system must vacate myths and a predisposi tion to so-called Christian arrogance and must accomodate reason and the propensity o f the civilized man. civilized man. Dr. Jam il Cherovee Eield Director, CORE PORTLAND OBSERVER Th« P o r tio n 1st Place Community Service ONPA 1973 O6w.r w (U SPS T Ub'1’ ! ' ^ 8 C° " ’P«"V Inc.. 2201 North KHI-ngaworth Po” B° * 3 ,3 7 Portl8nd 3 /2 0 8 Second class postage paid at Portland. Oregon T ^ ’o n n i50 2 * ' 'n Tn Coun,v the Portland O h the Portland O b ,error. P 0 « 00 per year s#nd address changes to B o , 3137. Portland Oregon 97208 h0 " " 0 " " only in it , opinion " " V ° ! hW ,h f°«0hou» »he paper , the « r ^ r? « . d 'V’dU<’ W" ,#r 01 and does not neces sanly reflect the opinion of the P ortland Observer N a tio n a l A d v e rtis in g R e p re s e n ta tiv e A m a lg a m a te d P ub lishers Inc NNX per ■ fo u n d e d itM I d | H | i Oregon M I ■ M 9 5th Place Best Editorial ONPA 1973 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadership ONPA 1975 N e w Vorh L 1st Place Best Ad Results ONPA 1973 Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award NNA 1973 283 2486 ALFRED L HENDERSON Editor/Publisher 1979: The year that was PARTI By N. Fungai Kumbula While all (hese good things were happening in Africa, Black America was also a hustle and bustle o f activity. Maybe the biggest news o f the past several months concerned the adven tures o f Andrew Young, the former US Ambassador to the UN. Over a period o f lime, Brother Andy, as they affectionately call him in Liberia and Nigeria, had become famous for his " o f f the c u ff remarks.” These remarks: re: his reference to political prisoners in the US, his char acterization o f the South African government as illegal and his conten tion that the British invented racism had made him quite a hero in the Black world but an arch villain among the conservatives. More than anybody else. Young did a lot to restore some semblance o f American credibility in Africa. Each time Young made one o f his famous remarks, his detractors would call for blood and the State Department would usually come up with an “ explanation” o f what the UN Ambassador "a ctu a lly" meant. Young's detractors finally got their opportunity when he met secretly with a Palestine Liberation Organization official to speak about the PLO-lsraeli issue. The US does not recognize the PLO and so refuses to negotiate with them. Young’s meeting, therefore, was quickly blown out into a major issue and, this time, rather than subject his boss. Carter, to all the heat that was coining down, Young decided to step down. As he explained it, the reason for his meeting with the PLO official was to arrange some form o f dialogue between the warring factions: the PLO and Israel. His question was: How can there ever be peace when the two sides arc not even talking? Young’s departure from the UN triggered a Hurry o f diplomatic ac tivity in the Black community. Re. Jesse Jackson o f operation PUSH led a delegation to the Middle East that talked to several Arab leaders and tried to talk to the Israeli government to get the two sides to open direct dialogue. While the Arabs were recep tive, the Israeli government shunned the Jackson delegation as it did the subsequent SCLC delegation led by Dr. Joseph Lowery. A number o f people then jumped on Jackson’ s and Lowery’ s cases fo r “ flirting with terrorists.” One o f the most stinging attacks came from Rustin Bayard and Vernon Jordan. They blasted “ those Black leaders who would cavort with terrorists and bomb throwers” and hastened to reassure Israel that “ not all Blacks were that irresponsible.” Rustin led a delegation to Israel to per sonally deliver this message. O f course, this particular delegation was received in Israel. Considering that both Black delegations that had preceded Rustin's stressed one theme: peaceful coexistence and condemned violence, th t attacks on Jackson and Lowery were not only irresponsible but also ill-founded, baseless and un justified. The flap over Young aside, this past year also saw Black America lose its sole representative in the US Senate, Edmund Brooke. Legal troubles stemming from a bitter divorce from his wife Remigia gave the papers a field day. Accused, tried and convicted in the papers, by the time he came to court he had already lost the election. An almost identical situation was seen in the case o f the former chair man o f the House A frica subcommit tee, Rep. Charles Diggs Jr. His legal troubles emanated from an alleged kickback scheme which he is said to have initiated to pay o ff mounting personal debts. Though he won re- election to his House seat with a land slide, the House voted first to strip him o f his chairmanship o f the A frica subcommittee and, ultimately forced him to give up his House seat. Curiously enough, one Senator Herman Talmadge (D.-Ga.) who was convicted o f sloppy bookkeeping prac tices and misappropriation o f funds is still in the Senate. The difference bet ween Talmadge and Brooke, o f course, is that Brooke is Black and Talmadge white. Talmadge was simply censored while Brooke was hounded until he lost the election and Diggs was forced out. Elsewhere, the continuing trend towards conservatism saw former Rep. Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke lose in her bid to become C alifornia’s at torney general. She had given up her US House seat to seek the attorney general's post. In the same state, fo r mer California lieutenant governor Mervyn Dymally lost his bid for re- election. His running mate, Jerry Brown, won, however. So now California has a Democratic governor and a Republican lieutenant governor. KKK activity was also up markedly with incidents o f cross burnings and vandalism o f Black homes reported in such diverse places as Stockton, California, San Diego, upstate New York, Chicago, Connecticut, A la bama, Florida, Texas and Virginia, among others. Given this picture, one would have to conclude that it has not been a very good year and the portents fo r the future look, at best, gloomy and, at worst, ominous. As a colleague obser ved one day, the only time that Blacks seem to make any gains at all is when white folks are fighting one another. The only periods o f Black “ progress” have been during the War o f Indepen dence, the Civil War, the two W orld wars, the Korean War and the Viet nam War. Conversely, Blacks have suffered their worst oppression during hard times. The m ajority community seems to have them marked as a natural scapegoat. Sincerely, Donald D anford Solutions not with those who created racism « 4- Newspaper Publishers «1 Association 3rd Place ■ ■ Community Leadership V ONPA 1978 Improved education: Cornerstone of voluntary desegration By Herb I. Cawthorne The C o m m u n ity C o a litio n fo r School In te g ra tio n , in N ovem ber 1978, presented evidence to the Board o f Education that indicated “ quality programs have been established at the p re-kindergarten and kindergarten levels o f the E a rly C h ild h o o d E ducation C e n te rs .. . . In a d d itio n , the q u a lity established at the pre- kindergarten and kindergarten levels could be expanded to include all the elementary grade levels at the schools.” The Black United Front, as a unified expression o f the sentiments o f numer ous groups and individuals, presented objectives in August, 1979, which stip ulated that “ Early Childhood Educa tio n Centers should be m aintained provided every ch ild in the neigh borhood wanting to attend can, and all white children transferring in remain in the E C E C s.. . . ” The Board is now engaged in the de velopment o f a Comprehensive Plan, as pledged to the c o m m u n ity in August. A first d ra ft has been sub mitted at this time to the citizens o f P ortland. Yet, due to a restrictive timeframe, and some hesitation as to the best way to proceed on my part, the preliminary plans do not include substantive and creative ideas on the im provem ent o f the educational quality at the ECECs. The absence o f this kind o f specific discussion has made, and will continue to make, the understanding and acceptance o f the “ voluntary" concept more difficult. In the past, the district has claimed to have a v o lu n ta ry p rogram . We know that in practice it was less than that. A ny "v o lu n ta ry p la n " which does not attempt to acknowledge and, then, dismantle the inequities o f the past program wtR not gam the support o f a large segment o f the black com m u n ity . A m ong the num erous in dividuals with whom I have spoken, this message is clear. During the process o f citizens inves- Obey the 55 mph speed lim it. tigation and community discussion on the Early Childhood Education Cen ters, the follow ing perceptions have emerged: I f plans for a voluntary desegrega tion program are to be successful, in that the deficiencies o f the past pro gram are clearly eliminated, the Board must take immediate initiative to eval uate and develop means to advance quality at the ECECs. E fforts over the past decade to im prove pre-kindergarten and kindergar ten grade levels have been noted fo r accomplishments and should continue to achieve. The grades I through 5 are not supe rior and this leads to higher concentra tions o f white transfer students in the pre -kin d e rg a rte n and kin d e rg a rte n levels. In effect, this limited the num bers o l resident black students able to gam the "head start" that results from these quality programs, since there was not enough room to accomodate all o f them. As space went to meet an ex panding program at the grades below first grade, space fo r upper primary grade children ( I thru 5) was restricted, and increased the need to recruit black ch ild re n o u t o f the n e ig hb o rh o o d school. The high concentrations o f whites at the P-K and K levels also projected an image o f integration in terms o f over all racial balance in A lb in a schools when, in fact, only certain grade levels had been thoroughly integrated. The lack o f quality prompted some black parents to contend that their vol untary options were prejudiced toward transferring because that appeared to be the only means by which to guaran tee a quality educational opportunity for their children. Moreover, white parents who trans ferred children into the ECECs gained the benefits o f the P-K and K programs, but later adversely affected in te g ra tio n by j w ith d ra w in g th e ir a.ivii children, in part because o f inferior in structional programs. Whites left, and this forced even a greater burden on the recruitment o f blacks. This led to the recruitment o f blacks. This led to the unfair charge that whites get free “ babysitting” services, and make no firm commitment to integration, as w ill blacks, if they are substantially upgraded, which I believe they can be. The Board o f Education, therefore, must declare its strong belief that the ECECs should be further upgraded. This should be done at every grade level. They should be so well organized, so well funded and staffed, with unique programs and instruction, that they w ill attract and m aintain blacks and whites in an integrated set ting from the pre-kindergarten years through the 5th grade. To translate this belief into action, I am proposing that the Board direct its Curriculum and Instruction Commit tee to evaluate present resources and programs, identify areas which require im provem ent, and develop recom mendations to achieve improvements in instructional and com m unity in volvement aspects at Huinbolt, Eliot, King, Woodlawn, Vernon, and Sabin. A “ vo lu n ta ry” program w ill not work unless the schools in the black c o m m u n ity are the focus o f the Board’ s analysis and efforts. It will not work unless the black community, its parents and leaders, challenge one another to get involved. Black people cannot set back on the sidelines, as so many are doing, and expect these im provements to be delivered by Santa Claus! The improvements w ill come when the Board is courageous enough to rec ognize the deficiencies o f the past and w illin g to act fo rce fu lly. When the Board is ready to do this, the black com m unity I hope w ill be ready to work with us to make certain that the improvements are soik solid and lasting. vzvtniciiiN arc Subscribe Tod $7.50 per y e a r—T ri-co u n ty Porti.nd $8.00 per y e a r—O th er b °«3137 P o rtla n d NAME ADDRESS CITY_____ STATE
