Portland Observer May 8.1980 Page 9 America’s prisons are Black, Hispanic and Tense CAN YOU BEAT THEM 7 Come to the 4-H Junior Olympics and find Out.JHrst through eight graders will compete for trophies and ribbons on May 9th at Jefferson High School, from noon to 4:00 p.m. Rowdie goalie trips Timbers By David O ’Toole Not since 1977 have the Timbers defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Much to the dismay o f the 13,615 fans, this fact remained after Satur­ day’ s 0-1 North American Soccer League loss. “ P ortland should’ ve had this one,” it could be heard Saturday night and rightly so, for Portland dominated every important statistic except for one, the score. The Timbers remained scoreless after a seemingly endless, but evidently in su fficie n t number o f opportunities. This is attributed to Rowdies goalkeeper, W instron Oubose, who came up with 12 saves. One o f those saves was John Bain’s penalty kick with 4:38 to go in the game, Portland’ s big chance to tie. The kick was a result o f Dubose’s interference with Bain in­ side the box. The w inning goal came 11 minutes into the second half when Peter Anderson, after an assist by Mike Connell, kicked the ball over goal keeper Mick Poole. The loss brings the Portland Tim ­ bers to an undeserving standing o f 1-4, the poorest start in the team’s six year history. The Timbers go on a three game road trip to Washington, Minnesota and Edmonton. Howard honors Howard University w ill confer an honorary degree on Sen. Mark O. H a tfie ld at its 112th annual commencement exercises May 10 at 10 a.m. in the Howard University Stadium . A p p ro xim a te ly 2,500 graduates w ill participate in the ceremonies, and A. Leon Higgin­ botham, judge for the Third Circuit o f the United States Court o f Ap­ peals in Philadelphia, will give the commencement address. Sen. Hat­ field will receive the doctor of laws degree. Other honorary degree recipients at the cermonies w ill be W. Mon- Hatfield •Continued from page 1 col 6) commit street crimes. The oppor­ tunity for Blacks in crime is more limited and they commit ones for which they are more likely to be prosecuted, convicted, and sent to ja il.” “ There’ s a greater likelihood that you’ ll go to prison i f you have a juvenile record,” adds Michigan State Appellate Defender Jim Newhard. “ And thanks to the economic and social problems which causes their fam ilies to deteriorate around them, many young Blacks get into trouble when they are kids. Later on they simply graduate into the felony system. When they become adults, they are apt to be w ritte n o f f as un­ s a le a b le , given harsh sentences, and put on the shelf in prison.” Many studies support Newhard’ s charge. In Georgia, the number o f Blacks serving more than 30 years is more than double the number o f whites. An analysis o f sentence lengths in M ich ija n last year showed that in most categories o f offenses. Black consistently received longer sentences. A survey o f six southern states turned up evidence o f similar sentencing differences. M oreover, reports D etroit criminal attorney Neil Bush - whose firm fought cases related to the A t­ tica prison revolt all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court - judges in rural districts often send felons to county ja il, rather than to state prisons. "T h e y know the state penitentiary is full ot Black inmates, and they are afraid to send whites there.” H alf o f the defendants convicted o f felonies in New York City wind up in prison — almost twice as many as those convicted o f similar crimes in upstate, rural or suburban areas. As a result, the prison population remains urban -- which means Black, Hispanic and poor. According to Newhard, the same problems which means s tiff sen­ tences for non-whites reduce their chances for early release. "Parole boards ask whether or not an ap­ plicant was raised in a fatherless home, it he had a jo b , a stable marriage or a m arketable s k ill. From beginning to end, the criminal justice system favors articulate, well-educated, well-groomed -- and white defendants.” Other factors in the growth o f the non-white prison population include the effects o f the Omnibus Crime Control Act ot 1968, and new man­ datory or determinate sentencing laws, which have been passed in 41 states. A ll o f these measures have been aimed at street crimes which more frequently involve non-white Americans. The combined weight o f im ­ prisonment and the inequitable conditions which brings non-whites into it, and keep them there longer, serves to highlight their differences with white America. For the quarter of all Black men who taste life in a penitentiary, for instance, the ex­ perience o f being shut away in a cage which appears to be m ain­ tained especially for Blacks will be part o f a common education. the lesson it otters is reinforced by signs o f unfair treatment outside ol the prison walls: segregated residential housing patterns, 65 per cent unemployment among Black youth in cities, schools which track non-white Americans into guaran­ teed failure. CITY CO U N C IL PO SITION #1 “ M any government agencies that begin lean, mad and hungry, grow u n til they are f a t and lazy. We must reverse this trend. ” Jim Gates The lesson, ultimately, is that the non-white world is a separate and unequal world, and it is most in­ structive in the picture o f a white- dominated legal structure creating a p rim a rily Third W orld prison population. We don t do it to our own people, we do it to other people,” observes Frank Dunbaugh, a white, M aryland c iv il rights attorney. Prison isn’ t there to rehabilitate, it’ s there to hold in check the tensions which society finds threatening. COPYRIGHT PNS 1980 Jim Gates as executive director of the City- County Commission on Aging has pioneered nearly every program now serving the elderly in this com m unity. Loaves and Fishes, low cost transportation to r seniors during n on­ rush hours, the RSVP Program and the Senior Citizen Employment Program. T h i* In fo rm a tio n fu rn ish ed by the c o m m itte e to e le c t Gates, Dana W inga cam p aign coordinator. (ague Cobb, distinguished professor emeritus o f anatomy at Howard; Marva N. Collins, director o f the n a tio n a lly acclaimed Westside Preparatory School in Chicago; and Howard Hamilton Mackey, former professor and head o f the School o f A rchitecture and Planning at Howard. H ow ard U niversity is a predom inantly Black university located in Washington D.C. with 17 schools and colleges and more than 75 undergraduate, graduate and professional program s. Annual enrollment is approximately 11,000 students. BOB DÜNCAN SAYS: “ Seniors — like any other segment of society — simply want the means, and the opportunity, to be active and healthy. Any­ thing less is unacceptable. ’ DÜNCAN DOES: ■ Duncan has been an outspoken proponent of Multnomah County's Project Health, an innovative system of health care delivery, now being considered as a model form of health insurance. ■ Duncan — a leader for programs like Loaves and Fishes and Meals on Wheels — stopped cold a plan that would have dismantled those proven, volunteer programs. ■ With Rep Claude Pepper, activist for senior citizens, Duncan has co­ sponsored more than 50 amendments to the Older Americans Act — each of them a direct concern to Oregon's seniors. ■ Duncan has supported door-to-door transportation service for the elderly and handicapped. ,017 S W Washington Portland, Oregon 97205 Phone 224-8883 Save S113.50 off one-way Coach. United can lake von to the Windv City lot just $128.50 each wav w ith a round (t ip Night ( oaeh Super Saver ticket. 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