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
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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
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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
«
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■ 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
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