Mrs Frances Schc
U n iv e r s it y o f Or
Black community presents legisla
The House Comimitee on Aging
and M in o rity A ffa irs met at kin g
N eighborhood F a c ility Tuesday
night to hear concerns o f Black
people.
C hairm an W a lly Priestley ex
plained that the purpose o f the
meeting was to set the agenda tor
the committee’ s work this session.
Those present at the meeting iden
tifie d and discussed a number o f
concerns. Those endorsed to r
potential legislation were:
Hlack Com m ission - Those
present supported the establishment
o f a Black Commission and its fun
ding by the legislature but there
were concerns about the member
ship o f the comm ission, how it is
chosen, and whether it represents
the “ grass ro o ts ” . There were
suggestions that a m a jo rity o f the
members reside in Albina.
Racial harassment - The Gover
n o r’ s b ill m aking racial in tim i
dation a Class C felony, punishable
by one year in jail and a $2500 fine,
was endorsed. The bill delines " i n
tim id a tio n ” as to cause “ tear o f
im m inent
physical
h a rm ” .
Suggestions were made that the
d e fin itio n
should
include
psychological harm and that there
should be a minimum penally.
Reapportionment - The group en
dorsed the creation o f a legislative
d is tric t inclu ding the Black com
m unity.
M a rlin L u th e r K in y b irth d a y -
M aking M artin 1 uther k in g , J r .’ s
b irth d a y a state holida y was
Washington D C . Amendment -
Approval o f the Amendment to the
U.S. C o n s titu tio n to give DC
residents a vote in Congress was en
dorsed unanimously.
endorsed unanimously.
South
A fric a
-
Proposed
legislation that would preclude the
State from investing in corporations
that do business in South Africa was
endorsed.
Death Penalty - Oregon’ s death
penalty law was declared uncon
stitutional by the Oregon Supreme
Court. Those present opposed any
move to reinstate a death penalty.
Juries - Legislation that would in
sure a just proportion o f Blacks on
juries was endorsed.
Set-asides - The group supported
requiring the State to set aside a per
centage o f the personnel service con
tracts for minorities as is now done
o r Poca
cerns
with building contracts.
Econom ic D evelopm ent - The
Econom ic Development C om
m ission w ill be asked to include
Black business and businesses in the
Black community it its program.
Those present supported reduc
tion o f property tax relief. Currently
persons w ith homes valued at
$150,000 to $250,0<X) can receive up
to $800 in tax relief from the state
general fund. The group endorsed
low ering the m axim um refund to
$500 and using the money saved for
social programs including welfare
and school support.
PORTLAND OBSERMER
Farmer John ’s: Dream realized
By Pam Smith
fa rm e r Johns is a Black-owned
fast food restaurant located on the
corner o f Vancouver and k illin g s-
w orth streets. I t ’ s a young store,
only tw o years o ld. However,
fa rm e r John and his wife pursued
their restaurant interests more than
tw enty years ago. This interview
captures the philosophies that lead
to their success.
Observer: Parmer John, how did
vou and your wife yet started in the
restaurant business?
Parmer: I started w ork early in
life as a kid, and I ’ ve always been
active. I just can’ t sit s till. I got
m arried and we were low on f i
nances. I was still in the Air f orce at
the tim e and incid en tally, I was a
cook. This was a far cry from what I
had planned or wanted to do at the
time.
So we started out about 20 years
ago in a little building. It was called
“ Draynet Drive-in. ” It was a small
place and you couldn’t even come in
and we had to hand food out o f the
window. This was long before tlie
D rive -in and Reach-in windows
came to Portland. We started selling
foot long hotdogs and hamburgers.
These became our specialty. We
made our own c h ili too. Then we
went from there to a place on
W illiam s Avenue and had a fo rty -
four flavor ice parlor and restaurant
combination. These were about live
years apart. After that we went out
o f the restaurant business for awhile
because I was doing so many other
things I was a longshoreman and I
had a farm.
But there’ s something about
being in the restaurant business...it
kinda grows on you, and you say
that you’ re going to give it up, but
then you find yourself right back in.
So a ll the tim e I was out o f the
business, we were still looking for a
good location, a good prospect to
go into. This p articula r place had
been closed for five years.
Observer: What type o j monetary
assistance were you able to yet, and
do you feel that even today. Blacks
are yiven a touyher time startiny a
business than whites?
Parm er: Before we b u ilt the
restaurant, we had to get a small
(Please turn to page 5 col. I )
Dr. Darrell Millner recommended
that school districts be required to
offer stipulated m ulti-ethnic educa
tion and teacher training to receive
basic school support. Ruth Spencer
asked the committee to look into the
use o f state disadvantaged funds by
the P o rtlan d School D is tric t.
Raising the m andatory school age
from 16 to 18 was recommended.
The C iv il Rights Division and its
history o f neglect ol racial discrim
ination complaints were discussed.
l egislators present were Priestley,
Vice-chairman John Schoon, and
Max Rijken.
V olum e XI Num ber 14
January 22. 1981
25Cper copy
Phillips joins Governor's office
Robert P h illip s , P o rtla n d , has
been named deputy director o f A f
firm ative Action by Governor Vic
Atiyeh’ s office.
P h illip s , 30, was appointed by
A ffirm a tiv e A c tio n D ire ctor kay
Toran, to replace Bill McClendon,
Portland, who retired December 3I,
1980.
" I am interested in getting in to
a ffirm a tiv e action we need to
demonstrate that affirm ative action
programs are creditable and needed
in this state,” Phillips told the Ob
server. “ Some o f the things I w ill be
doing is looking at the recent report
on a ffirm a tiv e action that shows
deficiencies in some agencies, to
determine how department heads
are addressing the issues and to
provide technical assistance fo r
them.
“ I am interested in appraising
upward m o b ility program s and
w o rk in g on recom m endations to
im prove s k ills. This is one o f the
areas in which the state is lacking.
“ It is also important to have con
tact with the metropolitan area and
to m aintain the outreach program
established by Bill McClendon.
“ I t ’ s hard to leave A d u lt and
Fam ily Services in terms o f
developing programs and keeping
up with the issues o f the elderly and
welfare clients in relation to services
provided by the State. I ’ ll continue
to watch how the State and com
munities address, these issues.”
The new deputy director, a mem
ber o f the state board o f C lin ic a l
Social Workers, w ill begin his work
I ebruary I. His duties w ill include
outreach activities and acting as a
liaison with state agencies. He w ill
also be responsible for research. His
salary will be $I9,176 a year.
A ffirm a tiv e A c tio n recruits
women and m in o ritie s in to state
government jobs and issues a
statewide plan to state agencies
directing them in this effort.
Em ployed as social w orker 2 /
(Please turn to page IO col. I)
Education, action for rights
The mandate o f the Metropolitan
Human Relations C om m ission -
established and funded by the L ity
o f P o rtlan d and M ultnom ah
C ounty - is com m unity education
and resolution o l racial, ethnic,
religious and socio-economic con
flicts and tension. Or as (. hairman
Armando l aguardia puts it, "T o be
a catalyst for things to happen."
The Com m ission has fo u r
w orking com m ittees: E ducation,
Housing, Equal Justice, and Em
ployment. The Housing Committee
has a checking service that in
vestigates d is c rim in a tio n com
plaints, and has evaluated and made
recommendations fo r the housing
and land use policies of the City, the
County and the M etropolitan Ser
vice District.
The Education C om m ittee is
loo king at schools in M ultnom ah
C ou nty, other than the P ortland
district, regarding the education and
treatment o f m inority children.
The Justice Committee is looking
into pre-trial release practices and
criminal record expungement.
L.aguardia is m oving the C om
mission beyond its traditional areas
o f involvement and is emphasizing
its role o f defining and researching
issues, exposing problem areas,
coordinating the efforts o f agencies
and organizations w ith sim ilar in
terests, p ro vid ing in fo rm a tio n to
public officials and institutions, and
alerting the public when they find a
v io la tio n
of
human
rights.
“ Basically we are the C ity’s and the
County’ s commitment to protect the
rights o f people.”
One o f the new projects is the
M in o rity Youth Employment Task
Force, which brings together
representatives o f governm ent,
business, education, co m m un ity
and m in o rity groups to study the
employment problems o f m in ority
youth.
“ We are working with the Cham
ber o f Commerce and the small
businesses to identify jobs and then
to link them to the organizations -
COSPO, the Urban League, POIC,
and others - that serve m in o rity
communities. We also want to en
courage young people into the types
o f jobs that can be permanent - not
just summer jobs.
“ M ost im p o rta n t though is to
study the causes o f the high rate o f
unem ploym ent among m in o rity
young people. We need to point out
that this is an in s titu tio n a l and
social p roblem , w hile we tend to
blame the unemployed youth h im
self. I f tnere are structural changes
that need to be made in the
economic system we need to point
this out. We need to make a realistic
projection o f the job market o f the
future. The picture is bad now and it
might get worse. I f it w ill be worse,
we need to say this and at least let
minority people know what they are
facing.”
l.aguardia is enthusiastic about
the project. “ I am sure we w ill get
some jobs, and if we do then it w ill
be worthwhile. There are employers
who w ould hire young persons i f
they could see the benefits, i f it
w on’ t hurt business. There are tax
incentives and federal programs that
many businessmen d o n ’ t know
about. We can help them find ways
to hire more young people.”
Another role o f M H R C is coor
dinating the many groups that have
similar concerns. “ There is no real
coalition o f groups - they don’ t meet
regularly and set out an agenda and
priorities. They get together at times
o f crisis - in ’ ad h oc’ groups - to
work on specific problems. I hope
the Commission w ill take a position
o f coordin atin g these groups. An
example is the response to the in
creasing
racial
harassment.
( Please turn to page 4 col. I )
NAACP challenges ruling
The National Association for the
Advancement o f Colored People
ase opposing white medical school
'rofessor D r. Dante G. Scarpelli
vas heard on appeal by the kansas
■upreme Court in Topeka, kansas
>n January 13th.
The lib e l case in vo lvin g fo ur
Black physicians, popularly known
is Scarpelli vs. Rempson, stems
irom a $1.4 m illio n suit brought
against the former students by Scar
pelli. The appeal is based on a
chancery court judgem ent that
found the fo u r form er students
guilty o f libelous action and resulted
in the aw arding o f $10,000 in
punitive and $1,000 in compen-
atory damages to Scarpelli.
A tto rn e y James Meyerson,
Assistant General Counsel for the
National Association fo r the A d
vancement o f Colored People and
hief counsel for the case said, “ The
Scarpelli case brings together issues
affecting freedom o f speech, a ffir
m ative action and academic
freedom fo r students. Above a ll,
this case represents a significant ef
fort to preserve the rights o f Black
Am ericans to seek redress fo r
wrongs which they believe and per
ceive to have been committed again
st them solely because o f their race.
The ram ificatio ns go well beyond
the rights o f Black Am ericans,
however touching upon the basic
rights o f all Amricans.”
The suit, based on a im p la in t
the students filed agair
scarpelli
charging that his conduct under
mined the university’ s a ffirm a tive
action program and violated laws
such as the kansas A ct Against
Discrimination and the C ivil Rights
Act o f 1964, was filed five vears aen
and included the university's a ffir
m ative action o ffic e r, Chester J.
Rempson. The circu it court ruled
last year in favor o f S carpelli,
former chairman o f the University
o f kansas M edical S chool’ s
Pathology and O ncology d ep a rt
ment, who is now chairman o f the
pathology departm ent at N o rth
western U nive rsity
M em orial
Hospital.
The defendants. Dr. Ernest T u r
ner, Dr. Charles Lee, Dr. Charles
F loyd, and D r. N oland Jones, in
their former capacity as members o f
the Student N atio na l Medical
A ssociation, file d th e ir o rig in a l
co m p la int back in 1973 w ith the
university's vice chancellor accusing
Scarpelli o f discrim inating against
Black students fo r the purpose o f
“ system atically e lim in a ting them
from the s c h o o l." The university
called a hearing the follow ing year
but the four students walked out o f
the meeting when it was discovered
that Scarpelli was represented by the
u n iv e rs ity ’ s legal counsel. The
school subsequently dismissed the
charges against Scarpelli.
D r. Ernest T u rn e r, form er lec
turer and instructor at the Univer-
( Please turn to page 4 col. I)
M AR TIN LUTHER KING'S BIRTHDAY was celebrated at Oregon State Peniten
tiary w ith po etry, music and an appearance by Taj M ah al.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)