Vernon Jordan shot
(See below)
Black United Front end supporters file through
School Hoard meeting in silent protest, celling on
the S ch o ol B oard to k ee p p ro m is es m ed e In
A u gu st. Issues include: p aren t in v o lv e m e n t in
"
s ta ff sele ctio n . In crease of B lack s ta ff, m u lti*
cultural curricu lum , teach er training , a second
*
m id d le sch o o l in th e c o m m u n ity , e q u ita b le
disciplinary procedures.
,o **‘
NAT ION A l
PORTLAND OBSERVER
Volum e 10 N um ber 20
M ay 2q. 1980
100 per copy
M W$RAAfR
¿NQA' '9-£
U S P S 959 680
Principals attack Black United Front
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J a m ie A v ln g to n , crossing guard for Boise school, breves the
volcanic dust to help students cross the street safely.
The Portland Elementary School
Principals Association came to the
defense o f Superintendent Robert
Blanchard and school principals
who have been criticize d by the
Black United Front.
B ill Beck, president o f the
organization and p rin cip a l o f
Creston
School,
said
the
organization "fin d s it necessary to
enter the political arena to speak out
on the recent attacks by special in
terest groups on the P ortland
School System, specifically, the
Superintendent, Dr. Robert Blan
chard, the Board, and most recen
tly, two o f our colleague principals,
Mildred Wait and Leroy M oore."
C alling Blanchard a nationally
recognized leader in education,
Beck credited hint with initiating the
three area system that "marked the
beginning o f real citizen in
volvement in the Portland school ,”
with wise budgeting o f public funds,
and o l improving curriculum and
instruction.
Beck advocated the retention o f
Blanchard as superintendent in the
light o f two im portant issues the
district faces - desegregation and
school closures. "D r. Blanchard has
demonstrated quality leadership and
a true understanding o f the breadth
o f this city. We can ill afford to lose
these qualities in a school superin
tendent at this, a more c ritic a l
time.”
While deploring the “ attack” o f
the BUF on the superintendent,
Board and principals, Beck laun
ched his own about the Board. "The
new Board o f Education has had
Jordan addresses Urban League banquet
(Grassroot News, N.W .) Friday,
May 23, The Portland Branch o f the
Urban League held their annual
dinner. Among the guest speakers
was Vernon E. Jordan, J r.,
President o f the N ational Urban
League. Jordan has been the
executive officer for eight years. He
previously served as executive direc
to r o f the United Negro College
Fund.
Jordan contends that America
has gone through periods o f reform
and periods o f apathy. He believes
that Am erica is in one o f her
regressive moods. "T he gains that
Blacks and other m inorities have
__
made is on an insecure shaky
toehold, deeply vulnerable to social,
political and economic factors on
which Blacks and other minorities
have minimal influence. For all the
progress some o f us has made, more
than halt o l all Black people in
America are boat people without
boats.”
Jordan believes that the social
problems that were formed in the
1960s were labled Black programs
and were soon demolished when this
country turned right, although these
programs helped more whites than
Blacks. “ It put white families into
better housing, white kids into job
tra in in g programs and white
mothers on the food stamp rolls.”
He went on to say, “ The current
battle o f the budget illustrates the
problems facing white and Black
poor today. In the name o f fighting
in fla tio n the a d m in istra tio n has
revised an already tight budget. It
has given up major new programs
while congress wants to cut Urban
Aid, Public Service jobs, and even
food stamps.”
There are many who believe that
the Urban League has lost touch
with the urban masses and whose
policies are in accord with the status
quo. whether or not the implemen
tation o f some national and local
policies border on neutrality.
a
difficulty in bringing itself together
ihe important educational issues o f
the D istrict. It appears they have
'Jegun to realize how complete and
challenging the situations are and
will, increasingly be able to see that
all the problems facing the District
cannot and should not be blamed on
a superintendent who is following
Board orders.”
with the school system and declined
to comment on whether Black
parents believe they receive respect
from the school administration.
Beck, who was formerly principal
at Sabin and Beaumont, in response
to questions about the poor
academic perform ance o f Black
students in the school system, said
there are a great number o f
program s in the A lb in a schools
"and attempts to do as effective job
as we can.
1 he receiving schools
also have a number o f programs to
assist minority transfer students, in
cluding the McPhearson Aw ard
Program. "W e need to be critical
but we deserve credit for the job we
do and the efforts we make.”
The meeting referred to by Beck
was attended by school ad-
ministators and representatives o f
the community. Ronnie Herndon,
co-chairman o f the BUF. said he
declined the invitation because, "w e
w ill not participate in an unjust
process. Those who did attend
overwhelmingly called for a Black
principal and you see how much
good that did. They appointed the
person they wanted without regard
to what the parents said.”
Beck called the BUF call for the
resignation o f p rin cip a l Leroy
Moore from King and Mildred Wait
from her assignment to the new
Eliot middle school, "insulting that
two
principals
who
have
distinguished themselves as effective
educational leaders over a period o f
many years should be asked to
resign, solely because one is white
and the other may have made a
remark about the potential length o f
fa future boycott o f the Portland
schools.”
He said it is unfair to principals to
have their performances publicly
judged "on the bias and opinions of
special interest groups based on
their own political needs.”
Beck said he believes it is time for
all parties to sit down and discuss
the issues and reach a compromise
or settlement. The BUF, he said,
In the Thursday night BUF
were invited to a meeting to discuss
meeting
H erndon called fo r the
the criteria and traits o f the person
resignation
o f Mrs. Wait from the
needed fo r the new school but
refused to attend, then they
criticize d the selection. W hat is
needed is mutual respect.
In response to questioning by the
Vernon Jordan, executive direc
press. Beck declined to comment on
tor o f the National Urban League,
the dissatisfaction o f Black parents
was shot in Fort Wayne, Indiana,
follow ing a speech there. He was
struck twice in the abdomen.
The Southwestern W ashington
A ccording to Bob W illiam s,
M inority Contractors Association,
spokesman for the Fort Wayne U r
which opened o ffic ia lly in A p ril,
ban League, there were no known
was recently awarded $800,000 in
threats on Jordan’ s life and the
contracts for m inority businesses.
m otive is unknown. He said the
According to director Nate Proby,
speech was "n o n co n tro ve rsia l"
the association w ill have approxim
and well accepted. Police have no
ately $1.8 m illio n in contracts
suspect or motive.
available in the near future. The
Fort Wayne mayor W in frie d
Corps o f Engineers has n o tifie d
Moses said there have been no racial
Proby that minority businesses will
incidents in Fort Wayne and Jordan
be involved in the St. Helens
had
spoken there before.
clean-up.
Jordan has been executive direc
Am ong the contracts currently
tor o f the Urban League since 1972.
available are highway construction
He spoke in Portland last Friday.
related jobs o f from $25,000 to
As the Observer goes to press,
$500,000 in southern Washington.
Jordan is still in surgery with his
For information call Proby at 206-
condition reported as "critical but
256-2317.
stable” • .
-------
Eliot position (not from the school
district) to clear the way for the ap
pointment o f a person acceptable to
the community. He also called for
the resignation o f Leroy M oore
trom King because the remarks he
made to the press regarding the
boycott showed insensitivity.
M oore had previously been
charged with insensitivity by many
parents when he was quoted in the
press as saying he sometimes won
dered i f there were any "n o rm a l”
children.
Beck, who was p rin cip a l o f
Beaumont during the controversy
over whether that school w ould
become a middle school, also caught
the attention ol Sabin parents when
he promised in a letter to Beaumont
parents that there would be room
for all Beaumont K-5th graders at
Alameda - that none would be fo r
ced to attend Sabin.
The " o l d '’ School Board kept
that prom ise, assuring that all
Beaumont children could attend
Alameda, thus ignoring an oppor
tunity to desegregate Sabin.
Several principals contacted by
the Observer said they had not been
contacted by the nine member
PAESP executive comm ittee and
knew nothing about the press con
ference or the o rg a n iz a tio n ’ s
statement.
Jordan condition critical
Contracts available
ve n m u n JORDAN
VERNON
Behind Black urban rumblings: An economic no-man’s-land
By M artin Brown
(PNS) The twin eruptions o f Mt.
St. Helens and in Miami have more
in common than one might expect.
The earthquake which blew the
lid oft the volcano was merely the
final step in a complex senes ol
geological tensions which had been
building lor many years. Similarly,
the acquittal o l lo u r policemen
charged with killing a Black man
was, like the earthquake, only the
spark that ignited long-standing
social building in M ia m i’ s Black
community. In neither eruption was
there a clear understanding ol what
those tensions really stemmed trom.
In the case o l the M iam i n o t,
however, certain economic trends
underlay the overt racism which
sn a rke d th e r io l. A n d it is rlp a r
sparked the rio t. And it is clear
those economic realities are not
unique to Miami; they are heating
up the social magma in every
American City.
The tact is that after decades ol
struggle toward social and economic
well-being, real progress for a large
proportion ol Black Americans has
been halted, or even reversed. Ihe
setbacks stem not only Irotn per
sonal and institutional racism, but
are deeply imbedded in profound
structural changes that are re
shaping the national economy ol the
1980’ s. Chief among those changes
is the rapid dism antling ol the
American m anufacturing sector,
which fo r decades o l struggle
toward social and economic well
being, real progress fo r a large
__ ■ w J
proportion o f Black Americans has
been halted, or even reversed. The
setbacks stem not only from per
sonal and institutional racism, but
are deeply imbedded in profound
structural changes that are re
shaping the national economy ol the
1980s. Chief among those changes
in the rapid dism antling o l the
American m anufacturing sector,
which for decades served as a vital
pathway for Blacks to the American
promise o f a well-being jo b and
economic security.
II few people understand the
economic changes, the Black urban
poor o f Miami and other cities do
understand the results: The yawning
gap between poverty and affluence
is increasingly d iffic u lt to bridge.
Where once -- even recently - there
was hope and aspiration, today
there is increasing frustration and a
sense ol betrayal.
The reversal o f recent gains for
Blacks follows a time when the old
barriers to lull social and economic
integration were being battered
down and the future looked en
couraging. The ratio o f Black to
white fa m ily income im proved
steadily for Blacks during the 1960s,
according to the census bureau. But
by the mid-70s the ratio had peaked
and gone into decline.
Sim ilarly, the ratio o f Black to
w hite unem ploym ent im proved
during the 1960s, but by 1978, Black
enemployment was again more than
twice as severe as w hite unem
ployment. And while Black employ
ment in blue collar industrial work
im proved d ram atically between
Ihe massive decline has left
1940 and 1977 (Irom 38 per cent ol
behind what many economists call a
the Black working force to 59 per
tw o-tiered economy -- one tie r
cent), it was precisely those kinds o f
featuring high-level, high-paid
jobs which were slated to disappear
prolessional/iechnical workers and
with the decline and exodus o f the
the other ottering low paid jobs in
manufacturing sector.
the booming service sector, with
Indeed, the manufacturing sector,
little or no opportunity lor advance
which provided Blacks with their
ment.
m ajor employment and income
The best jobs continue to be held
gains during the mid-century, is still
primarily by white Americans whose
vanishing at an alarm ing pace.
geographic m o b ility , educational
Thirty years ago half o f all workers
credentials and network ol personal
were employed in manufacturing,
contacts provide their entry into the
m ining, co n stru ctio n , tra n sp o r
upper tier ol the economy. Fully 40
tation and utilities. By 1978, only
per cent ol all white working men
about one-third o f all workers were
are employed in professional,
employed in this sector. According
managerial or a d m inistrative
to the United Auto Workers Union,
positions. Only about 12 per cent of
some 15 m illio n blue collar jobs
the Black male labor force is em-
have been lost in the last eight years.
(Please turn to page 10col I)
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