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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1980)
School Board rejects 'selective' middle school At 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night, after two nights o f discussion, the Portland School Board moved from lengthy debates on the “ Preamble” , “ P o lic y ’ ’ and “ G o a ls’ ’ o f its desegregation proposals w ith o u t a d o ptin g them and moved to a discussion o f the proposed middle school. The only specific that was adop ted is that a middle school w ill be established w ith o u t adm ission requirements. A site for the school and whether students w ill be assigned or it w ill be a "m a g n e t" school were not decided. C ha irm an B ill S cott proposed that H u m b o ld t 6 th th ro u g h 8th graders be assigned to Ockley Green and King 6th through 8th graders to C olum bia/W hitaker; that a middle school be established at Eliot with selective enrollment. Steve Buel and Herb Cawthorne proposed that a m iddle school be established at Eliot with 6th through 8th graders from King and H um boldt assigned. Cawthorne explained that he w ill not support assignment o f King to C o lu m b ia /W h ita k e r because not enough space exists fo r them . Saying he w ill not support an "o v e r flo w p h ilo s o p h y ” , C a w th o rn e asked: “ F ind a place in the c ity where you have students assigned to a middle school where they cannot g o.” Cawthorne had supported a m id d le school in the Adam s b u ild in g and a magnet m id dle school at Eliot or Monroe. I f only one new school is established, it must be on an assigned basis fo r children who now do not have a middle school. “ You assume kids fro m w hite schools w ill attend C o lu m b ia /W h it aker but you depend on Blacks not to go there, to go to a magnet. . . Overflow some white schools so you have to recruit white kids out. The kids you have to re c ru it o ut are Black. I f w hites le ft C o lu m b ia / W h ita k e r and a ll the Blacks assigned decided to go there, you w o u ld n ’ t allow th a t because the percentages it would create. You are depending on drawing o ff Blacks; it’ s required that Blacks go.” Joe Rieke advocated a magnet school at M onroe or Adam s. He opposed m oving E lio t because parents are “ ecstatic" over E lio t. He would not support any middle school program that removed the selection criteria, since that is the only part that interested whites and w ould entice them to e n ro ll th e ir c h ild re n . “ I cannot endorse the program because o f what lies ahead — fa ilu re .” Rieke warned about litiga tion should desegregation not be successful: “ 1 d on ’ t want the federal governm ent m aking the decisions fo r us.” Rieke explained that A lb in a schools are overcrowded because they have programs fo r four-year- o lds th a t are n ot a vailable elsewhere and are desired by Black parents.” (In some schools, nearly 80 per cent o f the children served are white transfer students.) W ally Priestley said i f the selec tion basis — which would keep out all children below average -- is why w hites w o u ld a tte nd it , th a t is disturbing and “ is very telling about our city or about us.” Priestley op- (Please turn to page 2 col. 1) HA T ION A I PORTLAND OBSERVER Volume 10 Number 10 March 13,1960 IOC per copy USPS959 680 is s o is s i NAACP opposes TV program N A A C P ’ s E xecutive D ire c to r, Benjamin L. Hooks, has requested top executives involved in produc tion and airing o f the T .V . m in i series, Beulah Land, to deal with the serious objections being raised by many people. Beulah Land, scheduled for airing in May by NBC, is a 6-hour m ini series taken fro m a book o f the same title written by Lonnie Cole man and published by Dell Books. The Beulah Land script depicts slaves as being happy at being slaves, raises the age-old spectre o f Black men being over-sexed studs and demeans the role o f Black women, as well as that o f Black men. In telegrams to Fred Silverman, President o f N BC , David Gerber, G erber P ro d u c tio n s , and L a rry W h ite , President, Television fo r Columbia Studios, Hooks said: “ The N a tio n a l O ffic e o f the N A A C P has received num erous phone calls concerning the produc- D errick A Bell Jr. a national exp ert on school d e s e g r e g a tio n , w h o w ill b e c o m e D e a n o f th e U niversity of O regon School of Law in January of 1981, urged tf.e P ortland School Board to ignore so c a lle d racial b a la n c e and to le t p a re n ts ch oo se schools w ith a m a jo rity of B lack students (P h oto. R ichard B row n Bell asks 'academic remedies' Derrick A. Bell, Jr., member o f H arvard Law School fa culty and Dean-elect o f the U n iv e rs ity o f Oregon School o f Law, advised the Portland School Board to forego ef forts at numerical desegregation in fa v o r o f enhanced academic programs. Bell said the Brown vs Board o f E d u ca tio n decision o f 1954 was never intended to require specific m inority percentages, but addressed subjugation o f Blacks by whites. Before Brown state laws required assignment o f Black students to separate schools w hich were not provided equal facilities. Separation was not the real evil, he said, the real e vil was subor dination. F o llo w in g the B ro w n decision H EW and the federal courts im posed percentages because school boards used every conceivable method to delay. Bell, who was ac tive in those decisions and their im ple m e n tatio n, believes they were necessary at the time to break down the established dual system. In the North, when in large cities Blacks make up large percentages o f By Benjamin M. Priestley Indeed, racism is alive and well in the City o f Portland, but can it be eradicated? G oing out west to prosper has been preserved “ fo r whites only” (a fam iliar inscription know n by Black men, w om en, c h ild re n born b e fo re /d u rin g the 1950’s), but for Afrikan-Am ericans it has simply meant for most o f us going out South. P e rcep tua lly, Black residents o f P o rtla n d are aware ot overt and covert form s ot racism which extend fro m the in d ivid u a l to the in stitu tio n a l treatment ol us. One is remindful o f Whitney Young’s description o f in- iiv id u a liz e d racism as — m ain lin in g a posture o f racial ip e rio rity /s u b o rd in a tio n o f one oup o f people over another accen te d with arrogance, and Messrs, •rmichael and H am ilton view on titutlonal racism as -- policies and actices w hich syste m a tically 'ties a group o f people a n d /o r the school population, efforts have been made to make schools less than fifty percent m inority because when schools become 60 percent or more m inority, whites - and many middle class Blacks - leave. The results o f desegregation have been poor, Bell said. Some Black students do a little better, some do a little worse. The pattern o f Black students falling behind their white co u n te rp a rts rem ains; there are early dropouts; discipline problems. Bell sees as the cause o f failure the fact that in desegregated programs the e ffo rt is not to educate Black children, but to satisfy white parents th ro u g h d ire c tin g e du ca tio n a l programs and procedures to white middle class children and severely disciplining Black children to guar antee the proper environment for whites. The real purpose o f the Brown decision was to guarantee equal op p o rtu n ity , and th a t must be measured by achievement, he ob served. M in o r ity c h ild re n and children o f lower socio-economic must be provided the programs that w ill enable them to achieve at the person rig h ts /p riv ile g e s due to "c o v e r t in d iv id u a l a ttitu d e s o f racism which receive little public condemnation.” In light o f the fact that racism exists, the Portland Public Schools is an interesting case in point. O f equal interest as to how racism manifests itself. The PPS Board o f Education meeting on M arch 10, 1980 should and must be o f grave concern o f the A frika n-A m erican community o f Portland. Obviously a slip o f the tongue by a Board member, a question was raised in reference to the Black U nite d F ro n t's p o s itio n paper d u rin g A nalysis testimony given by A tty. Derrick A. Bell, Jr. who supported the B U.F. position. The question raised used the word “ split” (quickly changed, same high level as others even it this means d iffe r e n t m e th o d o lo g y , special teaching techniques, and programs to get parent involvement. D ro p p in g the Black ch ild o r the poor ch ild in a school where his special needs are not addressed is “ like dropping them into M a rs ." Bell urged that the Black United F ro n t’ s plan - w hich calls fo r academic remedies - be given con sideration. Referring to other school districts that have successfully (both le g a lly and a c a d e m ica lly, used similar plans, he advised the School Board to get several persons who have been successful in teaching Black students to assist them in designing a plan. He pointed to good principals and parent involvement as the keys to good education. R e le rrin g to the coersion s till pra cticed as Black students are forced to move by whites in power, Bell said forcing children to go to schools out ol their community is as damaging as requiring segregation, when the decision is made by a white group with power. in reference to the Black com m unity s support or non-support o f the B.U.F. position. Eloquently an swered hy A tty . Bell, but never theless another question comes to mind. That is, what caused the so- called split? F or sure, the Black U nited F ro n t's position has con sistently espoused unity especially among Black P o rtla n d residents, and has welcomed support from hum ane w hites w ith guts. The B .U .F . position ot course, causing a dilemma for the bulk o f Portland's w h ite c o m m u n ity is: q u a lity education not subscribing to fo r mulas and fears which have been shown not to work in the best in terest of Black children on any large scale basis. As a result, given equal o p p o rtu n ity , Black c h ild re n can learn in an environm ent they are most fa m ilia r w ith - the one in which they live. Thcretore, one can sec racism lu rkin g around the corner on the (Please turn to page 2 col. 4) tion o f the T .V . mini-series, Beulah Land, scheduled for airing on NBC. "P e rs o n s whose o p in io n s and judgements I respect have decried the film ’ s depiction o f Blacks in de meaning, racially derogatory roles in scenes with no historical integrity. "W h ile I have not had a chance to review the entire script and am not able to make an independent assess ment, I believe that the producers and responsible T .V . broadcasters should deal with the serious objec tions being raised about the p ro duction. “ I th e re fo re urge th a t befo re proceeding further with the produc tio n , that you sit down w ith the Black artist and local N A A C P rep resentatives to discuss how the p ro j ect can m ore a ccurate ly and tastefully deal with the cruelties o f slavery and life on a plantation. “ This subject can be handled with taste and grace. It ought to be. " I plan to assign a sta ff member to look into this fictionalized ac- count o f an ugly and barbaric part o f the Am erican history so that I might be better able to advise direct ly in the near fu tu re .” Mrs. Virna M. Cansón, Regional Director o f the West Coast Region N A A C P , said the campaign against the a irin g o f Beulah Land in its present fo rm is being jo in e d by N A A C P chapters throughout the Western Region. M rs. Cansón said, "T hose who are producing this series need only to put themselves in the Black per son’ s shoes and be sensitive to how they would feel. "C a n we expect an Indian to ap preciate being projected as a savage who enjoyed the white man’s brutal ity? "C a n we expect a Japanese to ap preciate being projected as enjoying the lile in America's concentration camps? "W e call upon others to step fo r ward and jo in in this struggle fo r the preservation o f our d ig nity.” Carter heads Port police, fire The Port o f Portland has named Roosevelt C a rte r o p e ra tion s manager for Portland International A irp o rt. Carter w ill be responsible to r the P o rt’ s Operations D epart ment, the Port Police Department and the A irp o rt Fire Department. He w ill be concerned with the day- to-day management o f the airfield, public access areas, and airport con struction projects. Carter has been a Port employee for six years. He joined the Port in 1974 as an intern planner, before moving to the Research Department as a research assistant. He was named o p e ra tio n s te ch n ica l assistant at P IA in 1975, and ad m in istra to r o f programs and p ro jects early in 1978. He held that po sition at the time he was appointed operations manager. Carter holds degrees in geography and urban studies fro m P o rtlan d State U n iv e rs ity . He is c u rre n tly studying fo r a Master’ s Degree in public adm inistration, also at Por land State. A native o f Louisiana, Carter hi always been interested in aviatior Before coming to Portland, he wa in the A ir Force. He served as an ai o perations specialist, responsibl fo r scheduling a ir crews fo m issions, d is p a tc h in g a irc ra fts scheduling aircraft maintenance am handling various airfield operation responsibilities at Bittberg A ir Fore Base in West Germany. Police request volunteers V olunteers are needed to help form a "S peaker’ s Bureau fo r the elderly.” Jim Nelson, elderly coor d in a to r fo r the P o rtla n d P olice B u rea u ’ s C rim e P re ve n tio n Division, says recruitment o f volun teers w ill begin this month. Nelson is looking for persons who would be w illing to speak to elderly persons at casual g atherings. Speakers w ill be p rim a rily utilized d u rin g the daytim e to give short talks at luncheon meetings. Volun teers w ill be asked to commit them selves fo r approxim atley six hours each m onths fo r a period o f six months. A ll ages and backgrounds w ill be considered. Each applicant m ust s u b m it to a c rim in a l b a ckg ro un d check to assure m inimal standards o f suitability. A ll checks w ill be kept confidential and limited to crim inal background. V o lun te ers w ill receive ap p ro x im a te ly 16 hours o f in-class training in the theory and practical application o f crime prevention for seniors. Areas covered in the training sessions w ill include a num ber o f topics. Some o f the topics w ill be v ic tim iz a tio n rates and vulnerability o f the elderly to crime, preventive techniques and in f o r mation and public speaking. Other topics can be discussed in training classes upon request. Speakers w ill be providing short, relaxed luncheon talks or demon strations at centers such as Loaves and Fishes, senior citizen facilities, housing authority centers and other elderly group locations. F o r m ore in fo rm a tio n on becoming a speaker fo r the elderly, contact Jim Nelson, elderly coor d in a to r, at the crim e prevention division, 248-4126. Mrs. Marie Smith gets a hand from Commlaaioner Charles Jordan as she cuts the ribbon at the dedication of the Walnut Park Senior Citizen Apartments. (Photo: Richard Brown)
