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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1981)
_,z " r l * ’» f * » ’ > P'* *•**•* * ’ - n . '*y * - M Wear black ribbon for Atlanta's Black children T w o leading n a tio n a l Black o rg a n iz a tio n s have called fo r all A m ericans to wear a Black or co lo re d rib b o n as a gesture o f respect and universal empathy fo r the bereaved families o f the murder ed and missing children in A tlanta until the case has been solved. The C oalition For Black Colleges and the N a tio n a l Black C h ild Development Institute have joined forces to launch a nationwide Black C h ild re n ’ s Cam paign on behalf o f the slain and missing children. The slogan o f the C am paign is, “ We Must Do M o re !” Its objective is to focus as much p u b lic a tte n tio n as possible on A tla n ta ’ s c h ild re n so that A m e ric a w ill respond to th is crisis w ith the deliberate speed that it demands. “ We in the national Black com m u n ity have a c o lle c tio n respon s ib ility to do everything we can to eradicate a ll fo rm s o f in ju s tic e against them. This assault on Black lives, reminiscent o f a bygone era o f k id n a p p in g s and ly n c h in g s , challenges A m e ric a ’ s m o ra l c o n science w ith a g ra v ity th a t is u n p a rallele d in m odern A m e rica n h is to ry ,” says T ony B row n, fo u n der and c o -o rd in a to r o f The C oalition For Black Colleges. He continues, "A m e ric a is being held hostage to the suspicion and fear which besieges not only Atlanta and B u ffa lo , but every A m e rican c ity u n til the k ille r or k ille rs has/ have been brought to justice. White A m e ric a , th e te fo re , indeed a ll Am erica, has a great i f not greater stake in solving the A tlanta murders o f children and the B u ffa lo murders o f Black men i f the great Am erican ideals em odied in the D ecla ra tion and the C onstitution are to be main tained.” S adly, the deaths and d isa p pearances o f A tla n ta ’ s Black c h ild re n coin cide w ith a perio d in w hich n a tio n w id e c o n d itio n s fo r many Black c h ild re n have reached deplorable and disgraceful levels. In a recent s tu d y , the N a tio n a l Black C hild Development Institute c o n firm e d th a t v a s tly d is p ro p o r tio na te numbers o f Black child re n face in e q u ita b le and unnecessary obstacles to th e ir d e ve lo pm e nt in virtua lly every sphere that can affect their lives. “ I f both the situation in A tlanta and the incredible fact that 42 percent o f Black children live in poverty are viewed in a larger con text, it becomes inescapable that we c a n ’ t a ffo rd to w a it any lo n g e r. O n ly the concerted and consistent m o b iliz a tio n o f the B lack com - (Please turn to page 4 col. 1) Governor Atiyeh on the Black agenda By Nyewusi Askari G overnor V icto r A tiyeh pauses to discuss issues of special con cern to the B lack c o m m u n ity . (P h o to : R ichard J . B ro w n ) On M a rch 9, 1981, Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh spoke at P ort land State U n iv e rs ity . H is to p ic , " B ig o try in the State o f Oregon, ” was delivered in the S m ith C enter B a llro o m . The G o v e rn o r was in vited to the campus by PSU’ s Black C u ltu ra l A ffa irs Board. Later that same a fte rn o o n , G overnor A tiye h granted the Observer the fo llo w in g interview. Observer: Governor, why d id y o u purpose the Racial Harassment B ill.' Governor A tiyeh: Well, I was just p la in a n g ry ! I have said several times, as a m atter o f fa ct, ju s t re cently as to da y, that I rea lly hate bullies. I d o n ’ t know why. I guess it ’s a combination o f things. Bullic in tim id a te and make people feel bad, and o f course racial harassment o f the Black fa m ily i M ilwaukie, where the fam ily had t ■ fear fo>- »h«r lif e . „ it ’ s an emettioru» reaction. I was angry. I was asked could I send the State Police just to cruise the area. I called them up rig h t away, and was d e lig h te d at the response. There was no hesitancy. It was more than the Governor calling the State Police. O bserver: Has there been a n o tice a b le change o f a ttitu d e to w a rd yo u, since the tim e yo u announced the p ro p o s e d R acia l Harassment Bill? G overnor A tiye h: No. I think we are a little more alert security wise. 1 d o n ’ t have a very high regard fo r some o f these people. They are liable to flip or something, and there is always someone w ho w ants to shot a Governor, not a Vic Atiyeh, but a G o v e rn o r, a M a y o r, a President o r w hatever. So we are more alert. There is no reason fo r it o th e r than we are a little more concerned. I have g otten some m a il, u su a lly anonym ous; have had some things directed at me from the N ationalist S o cialist W h ite Peoples P a rty or som ething lik e th a t, but 1 am not fe a rfu l. M y pulse beat doesn’ t go up. O bserver: A re yo u agreeable to amendments that would A ) require the D A ( D is tr ic t A tto rn e y ) to present racial harassment cases to a G rand Ju ry and BI the a d d itio n o f civ il penalities? Governor A tiyeh: Yes. I ’ ll look at it. I ’ ll look at anything that might be an improvement o f the bill. Observer: What is y o u r p o s itio n on the South A fric a n D ivestm ent Bdl? Governor A tiye h: I don’ t see any positives in it. My attitude clearly is, i f I th o u g h t it w o u ld have any salutary a ffe ct, I would be suppor tive. But at the present moment all I can see is, it returns less to public- employees, and I am ta lkin g about pub lic investm ent. O ur pub lic em ployees w o u ld s u ffe r because the return would not be as great as the returns o f the funds. I ’ ll take it a little bit farther. I f the U n ite d States were suc cessful in a b o y c o tt, I th in k i t ’ s going to hurt the Blacks down there (S outh A fric a ), because we are talking about their economy. I think we are going to hurt the people we w ant to h elp. Now th is doesn’ t mean that I ’ m supportive o f a pa rt heid. I have talked with a represen ta tive fro m South A fric a . He has indicated some very positive steps fo rw a rd . There have been a recent change in governm ent p o lic y , and from what I understand, things are m o vin g in the rig h t d ire c tio n in South A frica , but they are not there yet. It looks like to me, a no win deal a ll the way. W e’ d be better o f f by stating the public position or say we d o n ’ t fin d th is type o f system ac ceptable or have the leadership o f the U n ite d States a p p ly m ore pressure, I th in k , is far more mean in g fu l and w ill not hurt the people o f South A fr ic a , o r the people in O regon. In th is case, I ’ ll give you another " f o r instance.” It relates to something that already happened. President C a rte r said to Ira n , “ We are going to b oyco tt. We are n ot going to send you anym ore wheat unless you set o u r hostages free.” Well, our hostages did n ’ t get o u t, and the o n ly ones th a t rea lly s u ffe re d were the U n ite d States wheat farmers, including Oregon’ s. And then the President said to Russians, “ Unless you get o ut o f A fg h a n is ta n , we are g o in g to b o y c o tt the O ly m p ic , and a ll we h u rt were o u r A m e ric a n O ly m p ic athletics. Out o f those boycotts, the only ones I can tell were h urt were A m e rican s; not Ira n ia n s or Russians. I f it had a p ro d u c tiv e re s u lt, I w o u ld say, g re a t! It w o rk e d ! I c o u ld n ’ t th in k th a t the Russians were g oing to get o u t o f A fg h a n is ta n because they wanted A m e rican s to p a rtic ip a te in the Olympics. So I just try to be realistic about it. I want to achieve the same results that most people want, but I th in k there are better ways o f doing it. O bserver: B ills have been in troduced to require State agencies to in c lu d e th e ir A f fir m a t iv e A c tio n re c o rd a nd g oals in the budget process. A n o th e r re q u ire s p e r form ance evaluation o f managers to in c lu d e A f fir m a t iv e A c tio in . D o you support these bills? G o v e rn o r A tiy e h : The fir s t one looks like a quota type o f thing, and I d o n ’ t s u p p o rt q u o ta s. I can say that now because, we have a record o f a p e rfo rm a n c e th a t I th in k is m o vin g in the r ig h t d ire c tio n , so people can u n d e rsta n d th a t th a t doesn’ t mean that I don’ t want A f firm ative Action. I ’ m getting it, but not on a quota basis. I fin d it interesting th a t the A n nual Report o f Kay Toran and our A ffirm a tiv e A ctio n o ffice , that our percentage o f employment and state em ployem ent was ju s t a b o u t at ta rg e t, as to the n um be r o f m in o ritie s that are invo lved . That was not a goal o f ours. I mean, we did n ’ t say we had to hit this percent. We d id , b ut we d id n ’ t do it on a quota or percentage basis. We are constantly reviewing A f firm ative A ction from Kay’ s office. She is constantly w orking w ith state agencies and division heads. She has good com m unications w ith them. I have a great sense th a t there is a com m itm ent, in the state agencies, by department and d ivision heads, and I th in k we are m o vin g in the right direction. O bserver: W hat are y o u d o in g w ith y o u r budget process to guard the interests o f the p o o r, i.e ., w elfare, e d u ca tio n , a nd e m p lo y ment? G overnor A tiye h: I ’ ve said many tim es, and I personally w orked on my budget myself, that we’ ve made some changes in H um an Resources (Please turn to Page 11 Col 3) Sarah Newhall seeks school board position SARAH NEWHALL Photo: Richard J. Brown Sarah Newhall, appointed a year ago to fill a vacancy on the Portland School Board created by the resignation o f Jonathan Newman, is seeking to retain that position in the March 31st election. A c o m m u n ity organizer fo r the past ten years and currently director o f the C ity o f Portland’ s Youth Ser vice Center, Ms. Newhall has been involved in extending services and program s in the N o rth -N o rth e a s t area o f the City. M s. N ew hall jo in e d the Board d u rin g the c o n flic t over desegregation, and as a Board member su pported the m a jo r elements o f the Black U nite d F ront’ s proposals. " I supported the establishm ent o f Tubm an M iddle School and voted fo r parent in volvem ent in sta ffin g - although I want it extended to all schools,” she said. She has taken an advocate p o s itio n on the School Board - w o rk in g w ith o th e r agencies to c o o rd in a te and enhance th e ir services with the school district. She played a leading role in b rin g in g together com m un ity fo ru m on the problem s o f the Southeast Asian refugees and the local communities' response to them. She is available to students and families to assist them w ith in d ivid u a l problem s w ith the school district. “ A n o th e r area o f concern is d iscip lin e . H erb C aw thorne and I went o ut in to the co m m u n ity and ta lke d w ith parents to learn th e ir expectations. I have worked closely w ith the Am erican Friends Service Committee School Program and the M e tro p o lita n H um an R elations Commission, especially w ith regard to the d isp ro p o rtio n a te number o f Black students being suspended. We have adopted a new discipline plan and are targeting those schools that seem to have p ro ble m s. We are collecting data that was previously never available - so we can identify the problems more specifically.” A ffir m a tiv e A c tio n : “ I am a strong advocate o f A ffirm a tiv e Ac tio n fo r m in o ritie s and w om en. There have been some sp ecific changes - E d ith H a rris o n is p r in c ip a l o f T u b m a n ; H a rrie t A d a ir heads the Desegregation u n it; B ill Gerald is at King; A lthea Chavis is director o f personnel. There has not been much progress in h irin g per sonnel, but that is something I plan to look at more closely." The d istrict is cu rren tly involved in a training program w ith the City, which provides C E T A tra in in g o f aides so they can become ce rtifie d teachers. T h is p ro g ra m was promoted by Ms. Newhall W ork experience: ” , am involved now in a tte m p tin g to im p rove the q u a lity o f the w o rk experience p ro gram s. I have w o rke d w ith o rganized la b o r and P o rtla n d C o m m u n ity C ollege to pursue an o c c u p a tio n a l s k ills center th a t would be an alternative to Benson. It w ould provide a good academic edu catio n along w ith v o c a tio n a l skills.” School Closures: "T h e Board has to look closely at the criteria used by the closure com m ittee, especially w ith high school closures. We need to make sure that the impact on the to ta l c o m m u n ity is e qual. The decisions are not cast in stone." B lanchard’ s te rm in a tio n : “ I am one o f the four Board members who voted to term inate the Superinten d e n t’ s c o n tra c t. T his was not a single issue decision - I felt the need fo r a Superintendent who could be more responsive to the wide range o f c o m m u n ity in p u t, in c lu d in g Blacks; who had personnel manage ment skills; w ho could involve the c o m m u n ity in crea ting a c o m prehensive plan fo r school funding and e d u c a tio n a l p ro g ra m s; and w o u ld be able to p ro v id e in f o r m ation to the pub lic and prom ote public support and confidence.” Levy: “ I support the M arch 31st school levy. I f the levy fa ils many programs o f great signifinance w ill be je o p a rd iz e d . F or exam ple, I believe we need kindergartens and support programs in the elementary schools. The levy is to replace lost state and federal funds - not to add to the current programs.” “ M y goal, as a Board member, is to p ro v id e e du catio n o f equal q u a lity in the schools th ro u g h o u t the d is tric t. I am p a rtic u la rly con cerned about student achievement. The education offered by the district sh o u ld enable every gra du ate to have the skills and the experiences to to get a jo b and to c o n tin u e education, as they choose.” Or. A u Hilliard autographs a book for Chariaa Myrlek during Blaek History gatharlng. (Plaasa saa story on Paga I Co, 1). (Photo: Richard Brown, r
