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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1980)
• • More Blacks suffer glaucoma, blindness Glaucoma appears to be much more common in Black Americans (han in whites - and it more often results in blindness, the most dreaded com plication o f this disease. This means that the racial d if ferences and its implications should be thoroughly studied, according to participants in the first N ational Conference on Glaucoma Detection and Ireatinent, a symposium spon sored by the N ational Society to Prevent Blindness. Dr. P atricia E. Bath o f M a rtin Luther King Jr. General H ospital, Los Angeles, has studied the “ blind ness registers” in 16 states and found that Blacks outnum bered whites tw o to one, on a per capita basis. What is more, glaucoma was listed as the cause o f blindness in Blacks eight times more often than in whites. “ Nobody knows w hy,” she said. “ What is clear is that Blacks may be at increased ris k ." Glaucoma may be insidious, silent, ‘ th ie f o f sight' in Am erican whites, but that's often not the case in Black patients,” said Dr. Alfonse C 'inotti o f New Jersey Medical School, Newark, N.J. “ Rather, the surgery to relieve the pressures disease developes at an earlier age, building up w ithin the eye. progresses much more rapidly than “ There also appear to be d if- it does in whites, and more often \ ferent and more serious surgical results in blindness," he said. com plications in Black p a tie nts,” He to ld o f a 27-year-old Black said D r. Robert E. Dawson o f hospital w orker whose glaucoma Durham , N .C ., president o f the could not be controlled with drugs - N ational M edical Association. something almost unheard o f in "T h e re may also be social and young w hite women. S im ila rly , a economic c o m p lic a tio n s ,” he ad young Black medical student caine ded. " F o r example, some patients to the doctor because o f a persistent may not fo llo w a prescribed drug headache. This turned out to be an regiment, or they may have trouble early sympton o f glaucoma, a stage getting to and from the treatm ent which should have been easy to center.” treat. Instead, he had to undergo Some o f those attending the meeting were m ild ly skeptical, because most o f the in fo rm a tio n gathered up to now has been on in d iv id u a l cases. The problem may merely reflect less satisfactory treatment, for instance. “ Sound data must be collected before any real progress can be made,” Dr. Bath agreed. “ In fact, there are few really sound statistics on any aspect o f glaucom a,” she said. It is o nly w ith a firm epi demiological base that research can proceed on to studying underlying reasons fo r any racial differences that do exist. It may also be necessary to study d iffe re n t ap proaches to treating glaucoma in whites and Blacks; treatments that work with one group may not be ef fective in another, so alternatives may have to be found. Gathering such statistics may be d iffic u lt because Am erican Blacks are not one homogenous racial g ro u p ,” said D r. Axel Hansen o f M eharry M edical College, Nash ville, Tennessee. “ The m ixture is so diverse that the data may just have to be lumped together as 'w hite' and 'n o n -w h ite '.” N A T lU S iA i PORTLAND OBSERVER ni ws»Af>r n o a * * Volume 10 N u m b s rl January 3 1 , 1900 10C per copy USPS 959 680 School Board presents desegregation plans The School Board has voted to submit to the public fo r discussion two desegregation plans and a series o f suggestions fo r m u lti-c u ltu ra l curriculum , teacher training and a magnet m id d le school program developed by the d is tric t a d ministration. Unable to agree on the concepts or the specifics o f desegregation, the Board has accepted fo r p u b lic discussion two plans moving toward a 50-50 racial mix. Herb Cawthorne, who boycotted the Monday meeting, returned to his seat on the B oard Tuesday. C aw th orn e had declined to p a r ticipate further u ntil allegations o f Black children in “ racially isolated” schools caused by School Board ac tion w ould be in non-com pliance with federal regulations and could lead to a court suit. This was the m ain argueinent in resistance to allowing Black children to return to neighborhood schools, which would increase Black percentages. In response to Board questioning, M cC lanahan said reg ardin g the legality o f allow ing Black percen tages to rise to earlier levels, “ The answer, I guess, is, perhaps theoretically you could return. And anything; that is a mere return and can clearly be seen as that, I think, is p ro b a b ly a ll rig h t, fro m a legal resegregation by Frank McNamara and Superintendent Robert Blan chard were su bstantiated or dismissed. McNamara told the Board M on day night that he was surprised at being accused o f d ire c tin g " i n vidious rem arks" at Cawthorne, but that after reviewing the facts had determined that Plan I (the volun tary plan) is quite viable and his original concerns about resegrega tion under this plan were not fu lly born out. McNamara’ s concern is based on previous opinions o f the B o ard ’ s legal counsel, M ark M cClanahan, that any increase in percentages o f s ta n d p o in t. But w hat is re a lly a return is d iffic u lt to say.” Buel: “ A return to what?” McClanahan: “ Well, pre-1964, I guess.” Plan I B oundary changes: The A rea I I I p o rtio n o f K ing (U n io n to 10th, Fremont to Prescott) would go to Sabin, w ith 6th th ro u g h 8th to Beaumont. The portion o f Sabin that is south o f Failing and west o f 14th, and the portion south o f Fremont between 14th and the Sabin east boundary, w ill be transferred to Alameda. The portion o f Alameda north o f (Please turn to page 2 col. 1) White House Conference sets proposals BOYCOTT PREVIEW. Herb Cawthorne was absent from Monday's School Board meeting protesting unfair charges of radical resegrega tion against voluntary desegregation option. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Board's direction dangerous hy Ronnie Herndon The recent school board discussion about desegregation have produced some o f the most insulting racist, confused rhetoric that this community has witnessed in many years. Instead o f talking about what is needed to develop quality schools in our com m unity, we have been treated to 100 miles o f verbage about boundary changes, clustering, and how to keep the Black student p o p u la tio n below 50*^o in any school. Statements gush forth about not a llo w in g more than 50% Black students in this school, not allowing more than 40% in another school. It sounds as if some board members and a d m in is tra to rs are ta lk in g about contagious beings who cannot be allowed to gather in large per centages fo r fear they might con taminate the populace. Portland has schools that are nearly 100% white, neither the board or administration look upon this as unusual, unatural or dangerous. The assumption is that Black children cannot learn if they make up the m a jo rity o f a s ch o o l’ s p o p u la tio n . This racist m anure is th ro w n around w ith alarm ing ease and frequency. A r th u r Jensen w ould feel q uite at home in these discussions. The shame and pity o f this is the fact that 26 years after the “ Brown” decision, no one can produce any conclusive evidence that the so- called school integration has im proved the academic achievement o f Black children. There is growing evidence that when Black children are sent out o f th e ir com m un ity (that's the way integration usually works) they are placed under a great deal o f stress and they develop lower self esteem, plus lower educational and vocational aspirations!! In view o f this why would sane people con tinue talking about sending Black children out o f their community, or lim itin g their percentages at thier neighborhood school. Academically and psychologically these remedies have been abysmal failures. We are to ld that the B o a rd ’ s current gyrations are being perform ed in the name o f desegregation. How preposterous. Desegregation means that you eliminate a system that denies the privileges o f citizen ship to Black people. Desegregation enables Black people to excercise the same range o f choices as any other c itize n . In the case o f schools, desegregation does not mean that you force Black children to leave th e ir co m m u n ity to supposedly receive a better education. As a mat ter o f fact all this does is introduce a new fo rm o f segregation because you have once again lim ite d the choices o f Black people. White children are not forced to leave their community to receive a decent education, i f they leave their com m unity it is by choice, Black children should not be treated any d iffe re n tly . D esegregation o f schools means that Black parents must be able to send their children to a good neighborhood school if they choose. W ithout a good local school they have no choice - either send their children to a poor local school or send them out to a white school that has not been able to educate Black children. Next we are told that the percen tage o f Black children in schools must be limited because o f federal and state law, regardless if this prac tice is racist and proven to be academ ically and psychologically unsuccessful fo r Black ch ild re n. Black people’ s 400 years o f being denied human rights in this country, makes us all too fam iliar with laws th a t do us h arm ; o u r h is to ric decision has been to challenge un ju s t laws in every way possible. Strange isn’ t it, the schools were closed fo r Dr. King’s birthday but (Please turn to page 2 col. 4) Eugene Jackson, Executive Direc tor o f the Northwest M in o rity Con tractors Association, recently retur ned from the W hite House C on ference on Sm all Business, held January 13-17, 1980 in Washington, D C. M r. Jackson was one o f nearly 2,000 delegates attending the con ference. He had been elected to represent the state o f Oregon at one o f 57 state and regional meetings held all over the country during the past 18 months. The purpose o f the White House Conference was to establish a series o f proposals to chart a course o f ac tion for federal policies impacting small business during the 1980 and 1990 decades. The delegates worked through the issues presented and developed fin a l recom m endations fo r presentation to the President and Congress that should signifi- cantly influence the future o f small business in America President Jimmy Carter made the opening address setting the stage for a vigorous and challenging week o f activities. Other o ffic ia ls who ad dressed the g ro u p were W illia m M ille r , Secretary o f T reasury; A lfre d K ahn, A ssistant to the President on in fla tio n ; L u th e r Hodges J r., A c tin g Secretary o f Commerce; Vernon Weaver, A d m inistrator o f Small Business A d m inistration; Congressman Parren M itchell o f Maryland; and Senator Gaylord Nelson o f Wisconsin. The tw elve m a jo r to p ic areas discussed by the delegates were. • C a p ita l F o rm a tio n and re tention • M in o r ity Business D evelop ment, • Innovation and Technology, • Inflation, • Veterans, • Federal Procurement, • energy • Women in Business • Governm ent Regulations and Paperwork, • Economic Policy and Govern ment programs, • In te rn a tio n a l T ra d e, and Education, • Training and Assistance. Over 325 issues in these m ajor categories emerged from the state and regional meetings held prior to the national conference. Through a group consensus and voting process, the top five issues were identified under each m ajor category. This led to a fin al vote by all delegates to identify the top 15 overall issues and recommendations o f the 1980 White (Please turn to P.2 Col. 4) EUGENE JACKSON Counsellor's adviced based on experience When M arga re t C a rte r o ffe rs career counseling advice to mature, divorced or child - bound Portland C om m unity College students, her advice comes not o nly fro m her professional view as a masters in e du catio na l counseling but also from first hand experience. Ms. Carter went to college while raising nine c h ild re n and going through a divorce and remarriage. “ I t ’ s really hard for women to go to school who don’ t have the total support o f their whole fa m ily ,” Ms. Carter said. When Ms. C arter’s nine children indicated they were threatened by her return to college she said she sat down w ith them fo r a talk about how they could help in her new role as student-mother. The result was a group o f helpful, rather than resent ful children. One 42-year old woman who was taking two classes at PCC lost the emotional support o f her husband when she decided to take fo u r classes, Ms. Carter said. " I went into the home and let the husband know she d id n ’ t want to be free o f him ,” Ms. Carter said. “ She wanted to be a teacher all o f her life, ever since she was a little g irl and that was what she was trying to do - not run away to school or anything like th at.” Ms. Carter said the woman is still married and now the manager o f a real estate firm . Ms. Carter, who was a counselor at the A lb in a Youth O p p o rtu n ity School before coming to PCC seven years ago. has also b ro u g h t 17 women from Pacific Northwest Bell into PCC programs. “ Some o f the women in the phone company group have refused to accept promotions because they could not leave home long enough to take p art in a b rie f tra in in g session in Renton, W a sh in gton ,” Ms. Carter said. She said that confidence is the key to beginning career decisions fo r most people who come into her o f fices at Cascade C enter and at Sylvania Center. "M a n y people come to us seeking careers and they know exactely what they want to d o,” Ms. Carter said. “ But they lack the confidence, the money, the academic skills or the goal o rie n ta tio n to get th a t ac complished.” “ I talk w ith the students about th e ir w hole life and we w ork together to find out how they can accomplish their goals.” Free placement tests and career interest tests are offered by the PCC counseling center fo r students who are interested in their aptitudes in various areas, according to Ms. Car ter. “ Sometimes just a conversation about role models — people who students a dm ire — w ill head a student in a career direction they’ ve never thought o f b efore," Ms. Car ter said. Ms. Carter is at the Cascade Cen ter o f PCC at 705 N. Killingsworth, on Tuesday and Thursday and at the Sylvania Center at 12000 S.W. 49th Avenue on M on da y, Wednesday and Friday. When Margaret Carter offers career counseling advice to mature, divorced or child-bound Portland Community College students her advice is shaped both from professional educational counseling theory and firsthand experience. r ■
