Black kids can learn to read!
This headline should not be
necessary in 1980, but in Portland,
Oregon it is. For the past ten years
the adm inistration and teaching
staff o f the Portland School District
have been to ld that poor Black
children cannot learn because o f
their socio-economic condition.
In the last published listing o f test
scores by school, M a rtin Luther
King Elementary School was
significally below the test scores o f
all other schools, and the other
m a jo rity Black schools were
grouped at the bottom l.eRoy
Moore, principal at King fo r ten
years, told the Observer that the low
scores were to be expected, based on
the neighborhood environment.
For many years the school
d is tric t's school achievement re­
cords were published w ith socio­
economic data on the school area,
relating test scores to "e xp e c­
tations*' based on socio-economic
status. An im p o rta n t tenet o f
Superintendent Robert Blanchard's
educational philosophy as demon­
strated in his "Blanchard plan" was
that poor children can only be
educated in pro xim ity to middle
class students. He recently told a
school board "w a tc h e r" that low
achievement by poor Black students
was to be expected.
This theory was blasted by Bar­
bara Sizemore, former Superinten­
dent o f Schools in W ashington,
D .C ., and cu rre n tly w ith the
University o f Pittsburgh, at a Friday
teacher workshop.
"There is nothing in being poor
and Black that makes a child unable
to learn. The teachers have got to
take the responsibility to teach and
stop laying the blame on the parents
or on the children themselves," she
told the Observer
As for the theory that poor Black
children cannot learn, Sizemore
said, "1 just considered that a bit o f
inform ation that people made up
who were inherently racists. It was
meant to keep me from teaching
these children who they obviously
did not want to learn. I never had
any problem teaching the children;
it was the adults who always
bothered me.
" T h is included my fellow
teachers who didn't want to teach
the children and didn’ t want me to
teach the children for obviously if I
were to teach, someone would look
at them and wonder what was
wrong with them.
" M y principals couldn’ t under­
stand how I could teach these
children how to learn in school
when they had 42 other teachers
who couldn’ t do it, and who ob­
viously didn't want to take on the
responsibility o f making them do
what they didn't want to d o ."
To prove that poor Black children
could learn, she asked her Chicago
school p rin cip a l to give her the
children not wanted by other
teachers. She got 28 boys and one
girl, o f all different grades. This was
the first time most o f them has been
in a class where the teacher wanted
them.
"Y o u must set boundaries - you
must say what it is you want them to
do and you must show them what
you want. I'm talking about hard
core cases. There are cases that the
school system has convinced that
they are bad. They didn’ t come like
that, but over the years o f our rejec­
ting them, they’ve accepted it, and
they say, " O .K . I ’ m this kind o f
person. They have to have boun­
daries set for them and you have to
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PORTEND OBSERVER
USPS 959-680-855
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Minister charges police 'apathy'
Reverend Robert G. W alker,
pastor o f the Church o f the Living
God on Northeast Tenth Avenue,
charged the Portland Police Bureau
with apathy and indifference to the
safety o f children in the Woodlawn
neighborhood. "W hen community
members control the powers that are
authorized to protect them and
there is no response, the community
begins to react," he explained. “ We
d on’ t want th a t, but those w ith
authority must act."
On September 27th, a Saturday,
Sgt. Robert Dean, who is stationed
at the A ir National Guard Base,
threw a hand grenade simulator into
a group o f children playing on an
empty lot next to the church. The
police were called to examine the
pieces o f the missle. They talked to
the churches and adults who had
gathered; they talked to Sgt. Dean.
He admitted that he had thrown the
grenade simulator and that he had
previously exploded an explosive in
front o f his house a week earlier.
Sgt. Dean was not arrested; his
house was not searched. The parents
were advised they could file a com­
plaint. They were also advised that a
citation, would be issued.
The fo llo w in g M onday, the
parents attempted to file a com­
plaint but the police report could
not be found, Reverend W alker
said. It took approxim ately two
weeks for the papers to be prepared
so a complaint could be filed. As a
result o f the complaints, Sgt. Dean
has been charged with "recklessly
endangering."
Reverend W alker and neigh­
borhood parents are not satisfied
that they have received adequate
protection or that a proper in ­
vestigation was made. Reverend
Walker said there have been several
explosions in the neighborhood, in­
cluding one during church services
on the preceeding Sunday, and that
children have alleged that Sgt. Dean
has called them " n ig g e r " and
threatened them.
Reverend Walker contacted the
A ir Force to attempt to cut o ff ac­
cess to explosives, but called the
response "less than apathetic. They
said it was like rock throwing.”
"T he police failed to search the
house for more explosives, and even
after seeing evidence that a devise
had been exploded they failed to
make an arrest. "They did not feel
they had probable cause to make an
arrest.
"Although we were told a citation
would be issued this was not done,
and it was only because o f our
pressure that the papers were
prepared for us to file complaints.
Lack o f police action is a class
problem, Walker said. "T h is is a
poor neighborhood, with lower to
low er m iddle class people. The
response and attitudes o f the police
to this kind o f neighborhood are
different. In turn, the community
would respond better to the police if
protection were given.”
The hand grenade sim ulator is
used during m ilitary maneuvers and
training, to produce a battlefield ef­
fect. The simulator " is considered
dangerous at distances up to 50 feet
and the flash and burning card­
board fragments may ignite leaves
and dry grass within a radius o f 30
feet from the point o f detoration"
according to material supplied by
the A ir Force.
CETA meets
The T ra in in g and Employment
Division o f the City o f Portland is
sponsoring a Town Hall Meeting on
" C E T A ; P ortland Em ploym ent
Strategy for 1981” on October 21st,
7:30 p.m ., at 1819 N .W . Everett
Street.
The meeting w ill be chaired by
Joseph Gonzales, Manager o f the
department, and the floor w ill be
open for comments, questions and
answers.
Court upholds 'mental suffering' award
Mrs M ary O. Richardson shows her quilt at "An
Exhibit of Quilts M ade by Afro Am erican W om en
Residing in Portland. Oregon" at the U S. National
Bank Plaza. Quilts w ere also shown by; M rs. Eddie
Butler. Mrs. Gertrude Crow. Mrs. O.J Gates. Mrs.
Lucille Glass. Mrs. Carrie V Nolan, Mrs Isaac S.
P a yn e , I I I , M rs . C .A . W h ite and M rs . P erry
W h itlo w . Exhibited w ere a quilt made by the late
Mrs A m andie Rae and quilts made by groups at
the Senior Adult Service Center and LIFE Center.
The event was coordinated by Mrs. O.J Gates.
(Photo: Richard Brown)
Take time to meet candidates
As the November 4th election
draws near there are many oppor­
tunities to meet the candidates for
public o ffic e and to debate the
issues. Some o f these are lifte d
below:
A candidates’ fair w ill be held on
October 29th at King Neighborhood
Facility, 4815 N.E. 7th Avenue, at
7:00 p.m. The Candidates' Fair is
sponsoicd by the Northeast
• Coalition o f Neighborhoods, Inc.;
the Oregon Assembly for Black A f­
fairs; the NAACP; and the Albina
Voter Registration and Education
Committee (AVREC).
The N orthw est P ortland Grey
Panthers will hold a candidates’ fair
on October 18th from 10: 31 a m. to
12:30 p.m. at the Northwest Service
Center, 1819 N.W. Everett There
w ill be no speeches but candidates
will be present to talk with voters
Beverages and “ deserts" w ill be
served.
Montavilla Methodist Church will
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In a precedent setting decision,
[he Oregon Court o f Appeals has
a ffirm e d Labor and Industries
Com m issioner
M ary
Wendy
Robert’s award o f $2500 for mental
suffering in a civil rights case in­
volving a ra cially mixed couple
denied entrance to a Portland night
club.
Vanessa Rogers Duncan filed a
civil rights complaint against the
Keyhole Supper Club (now known
as the Great Gatsby). Ms. Duncan,
a white woman, attempted to enter
the club with her Black male friend,
(now her husband) but was stopped
by a security guard who said her
four pieces o f identification were
inadequate proof o f age.
The guard to ld Bureau in ­
vestigators he had been instructed to
carry out the proprietor’ s policy o f
limiting entry o f mixed couples and
Blacks.
In arguing the appeal, Guadry’ s
lawyer did not deny discrimination
had oceured, but contended there
was in s u ffic ie n t evidence that
Rogers was harmed by the incident.
He further contended that no injury
would have occured had Duncan
not protested the guard’s decision.
The court stated the evidence was
sufficie n t to support the Com ­
missioner’ s findings, and that Dun­
can was entitled to protest and to
persuade the management to let her
enter.
Commissioner Roberts said the
Court o f Appeals decision sets pre­
cedent fo r fu tu re public accom­
modation cases in Oregon, since it
upholds, for the first time, mental
suffering damages in such a case.
“ It demonstrates a recognition by
the courts that although public ac-
commedation discrimination often
involves a brief contact, the anger,
h u m iliation and fru stra tio n that
follow s can cause substantial
h a rm ,” Com m issioner Roberts
said.
In a final order issued on the case,
Com m issioner
Roberts
said,
"P ublic accommodation law strikes
at the very heart o f discrimination:
an effort to impair a person’ s basic
right to move about freely in society
and to be recognized thereby as a
part o f his or her com m unity.
Denial or abridgement o f that right
conveys in a particularly pervasive
way the fra g ility o f the v ic tim ’ s
position as a functioning member o f
society."
The court also a ffirm e d Com ­
missioner Robert's requirement that
Gaudry post in the club copies o f
state civil rights statutes along with
a notice that persons who believe
they may have been discriminated
against by a place o f public accom­
m odation may com plain to the
Bureau o f Labor and Industries.
The court rejected as not proven
necessary the C om m issioner’ s
requirement that Gaudry put similar
notices in his other business
establishments.
'Minority voters' presidential election deciding factor
By Mary Ellen Leary
The evident concern in both the
Republican
and
Dem ocratic
Presidential campaigns over the
outcome o f this year’ s Black and
Hispanic vote is a telling reminder
that Jimmy C arter’ s 1976 victory
was incontestably a "m in o rity ” vic­
tory. The President's huge margin
among Third World voters was the
one clear factor that sent him to the
White House.
This year it is equally incontest­
able that a wholesale minority turn­
o ff on election day could send the
President packing back to Georgia
So could a significant minority shift
to the Republican colum n, a
possibility that cannot be ruled out,
given the demonstrated appeal o f
Ronald Reagan's positions on such
issues as fa m ily and economic
re vita liz a tio n among Black and
Hispanic voters.
But the growing clout o f minority
voters appears to have changed
focus this year. M ore than ever
before, say leaders in the minority
com m unities, voters fro m those
communities w ill be drawn to the
poll booth on election day not by
the presidential candidates, but by
their own self-interest in local issues
and local minority candidates.
"There are enough Blacks on the
ballot to pull our community into
the voting booths," said the popular
San Francisco state legislator, Willie
Brown. ‘ They’ ll vote for us. And
then they’ ll reach up and cast a vote
at the top o f the ticket. That's how
the minority vote is going to go this
year.”
I f Brown is rig h t, then the
dilemma for Carter and Reagan is
not how to get m inority voters to
turn out on election day, but how to
position themselves on ’ he coattails
o f Black and Hispanic city coun­
selors, state legislators and school
board candidates. It is an historic
topsy-turvy in tra d itio n a l voting
patterns.
Though it is too early to project
voter turnout, there are always some
signs that the minorities will not sit
out this election, as some experts
have predicted. In heavily Hispanic
Los Angles, registrar Leonard
Panish notes that a " n o r m a l"
100,000 new registrations have oc­
cured since June, "n o t a big growth,
but not a decline, cither."
Since any growth normally tends
to favor the Democratic Party, this
fact alone could be crucially im port­
ant to Jim m y C arter, who lost
California, for instance, by a mere
one percent in 1976.
In fact, 10 states with a total of
139 electoral votes were in
Republican colum ns in 1976 by
margins o f less than two percent o f
the state vote. Another seven states,
including such key blocs as Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Texas, were in the
Democratic column by equally slim
margins.
Since the New Y ork Liberal
Party’ s endorsement o f John A n­
derson threatens to put that key
state into Republican columns this
year, President Carter is concen­
trating on the South, the Southwest
and the West to find minority sup­
port -- especially C a lifo rn ia ’ s 45
electoral votes. The Dem ocratic
vote hunters are keenly aware o f the
17 m illion legally eligible Blacks and
11 m illio n Hispanics. And so, o f
course, are the Republicans.
Consequently, both parties are
expending tremendous e ffo rt
toward getting their man aboard the
increasingly independent m inority
bandwagons.
In California, Senator Ted Ken­
nedy has promised a visit on behalf
o f the President, and G overnor
Jerry Brown, who is still "numero
u n o " among his state's Hispanic
voters, has com m itteed his own
political aides to work directly in the
vote ra lly in g e ffo rt. G overnor
Brown has appointed 417 Hispanics
to state posts, and Wally McQuire,
a recent Brown aide, is mustering
Brown supporters among the
minorities to set up a strong volun­
teer corps for election day.
These operatives are ce rtainly
aware o f the tra d itio n a lly lower
voter turnouts among Hispanics
(some 68 percent did not vote in
1976, according to the Census
Bureau); But they are also aware
that Hispanics are emerging this
year into cohesive political forces,
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Strangthaning tha atarotypaa
...T h e Observer has received
numerous calls about the above car­
toon, published on the front page o f
the October 14th Oregon Journal,
expressing concern and anger that
this stereotype is being perpetuated,
particularly in light o f the murder of
Black youth in several cities in this
nation, and o f local harassment o f
Blacks.