For the children o f Atlanta and fo r
all children who are hungry, suffer
and live in fear.
Racial harassment défendent called 'not guilty'
By Nyewusi Askari
A M arion County C ircuit Court
ju ry has acquitted a Salem white
man, accused o f dousing a Black
man with gasoline in a Salem bar.
Richard R. M o rriso n , 43, was
found innocent Monday, o f third-
degree assault and recklessly en
dangering the life of another person
after only 70 minutes o f deliberation
by an all-white jury.
The defense contended the
November 19th incident was pro
voked by M aurice H arm on, o f
Salem, when he was accompanied to
Mr. D’ s Tavern by a white woman.
M orrison claimed that Harmon
became angry after being told by
Morrison and the bartender to stop
caressing his companion and kicked
a can containing gas, spilling it on
both men.
But Maurice Harmon, 28, has a
different version. “ I had just left a
PTA conference with my wife and
son. A fte r I dropped them o ff, 1
arrived at M r. D's Tavern at ap
proxim ately 5:30 p.m ., and upon
entering the Tavern, saw a white
lady frie n d . 1 sat down and we
greeted each other with an embrace.
A few moments later, the lady bar
tender said, ‘ We don't allow that in
here. This is a straight bar.* I re
sponded that this is a public place,
and I ’ m not doing anything wrong.
“ D uring the conversation w ith
the bartender, M orrison began to
talk about how much he hated
‘ niggers.’ He continued to direct
these racial slurs at me, but I turned
so 1 wouldn’ t have any eye contact
with him. It was my way o f telling
him that 1 wanted no confrontation.
A pproxim ately fifte e n to tw enty
minutes later, M orrison came up
behind me and started pouring
gasoline on me.
“ I turned, in an e ffort to knock
the can from his hand, but couldn’t
and Morrison started hitting me in
the head. He must have hit me four
or five times. The funny thing about
it is, he was able to walk to the rear
o f the Lounge, attack me, and no
one said a word, no one warned me
or gave me any help."
H arm on says he was offered a
$500
c iv il
com prom ise
by
M orrison's attorney Neil l.athen,
but refused the o ffe r. Present
during that meeting were prosecutor
Michael Brown, and Mary Annada.
Brown told l.athen that what hap
pened to H arm on was “ a com
munity concern" and that they were
going to prosecute Morrison.
Harmon charges that the defense
used unfair tactics to win the case:
1) l.athen was allowed to introduce
witnesses and testimony unrelated
to the case, in an effort to prove that
he (H arm on),
possessed an
assaultive personality. 2) the selec
tion o f an all-white ju ry and 3) the
suggestion that an alleged knee in
jury suffered in the altercation with
M orrison was in flic te d during a
1977 automobile accident.
"1 suffered the knee injury upon
being knocked to the flo o r by
Morrison. The injury I suffered in
the 1977 accident was a back in
ju r y ! ” Harm on said angrily. In
1979, H arm on, who has a
Bachelor’ s Degree in C rim in a l
Justice, won a discrim ination suit
against the Department o f Correc
tions. The Departm ent o f Labor
tound the D ivision gu ilty o f
discrim ination involving a physical
attack upon H arm on. H arm on’ s
supervisor at the tim e was a Sgt.
Schijpler who, ironically, testified
as a character witness in the “ bar
in c id e n t" to H arm on’ s assaultive
behavior, altho it was the Division,
not Harmon, who was found guilty.
At the trial, Morrison admitted he
was highly intoxicated at the time o f
(Please turn to page 8 col. 1)
PORTLAND OBSERVER
May 7,1981
Volums XI Number 29
26Cpar copy
TWO SECTIONS
USPS 959-680-855
African leader speaks here
, Portland w ill be host to Johnny
M a ka tin i, representative o f the
African National Congress (ANC),
the leading South African organiza
tion struggling against aparthied
and for majority rule.
M a ka tin i has been the o ffic ia l
representative to the United Nations
and to the U.S. since 1978. A fo r
mer law student, high school
teacher, and A N C organizer,
M a katini was forced into exile in
1962. Since that time, he has served
as representative o f the AN C to
Morocco and to Algeries. In 1967 he
became a member o f the National
Executive Committee o f the AN C
and was made Deputy D irector o f
International Affairs.
Johnny Makatini w ill give a talk,
open to the public, at 3:00 p.m., on
Tuesday, May 12, at Portland State
University, Smith Memorial Center,
Room 338.
The talk is being sponsored by the
A frica n Students Association o f
P ortland State U n ive rsity, the
American Friends Service Commit
tee and the National Anti-Apartheid
Campaign.
M a ka tin i w ill speak on the
current situation in Southern Africa
and the status o f the boycott cam
paign and proposed United Nations
sanctions against the Republic o f
South Africa.
At a time when Southern Africa is
once again in the headlines, this visit
by a representative o f Black South
A fric a takes on a special s ig n ifi
cance.
Community united
Legislative district approved
Duane P eck, Susan A n gelo n e and Frank T u r
ney g a th e r s ig n a tu re s fo r p e titio n a sk in g fo r
release from Rockey Butte of parole violator Kurt
Angelone. w ho suffers from a rare form of cancer.
(Photo: M igel M endoza)
Governor receives petition
By Nathaniel Scott
More than 1000 Portlanders have
signed a petition that w ill be pre
sented to Governor Vic Atyieh, for
the release o f Kurt Angelone.
The petition drive was initiated by
the Northwest Ex-offenders Associ
ation, after Angelone has surgery
fo r cancer (plasm ocytom a o f the
throat on January 19, 19 8 1), and
returned to jail.
Angelone spent II months in the
Rocky Butte county ja il, and after
the diagnosis and surgery fo r can
cer, was returned to Rocky Butte
ja il, w hile appealing extradition
proceeding fo r an alleged parole
violation to the State o f C alifornia.
The appeal is in the Oregon court of
appeals.
The petition is to be presented to
the Governor, Friday, May 8, in a
demonstration that w ill indicate the
concern o f the many people who
signed the petition.
Susan Angelone, Kurt’ s wife, said
his
last
check
up
show
plasm ocytom a cells in his blood.
The alleged parole violation is for
six additional weeks o f supervised
parole.
Ms. Angelone is preplexed, hurt
and confused. She said, “ I d on’ t
understand how they can put mur-
ders and rapers on close supervised
program s, and tell Kurt he isn’ t
eligible fo r release on those same
programs.
“ I d o n ’ t see how they can
economically ju s tify holding Kurt
(w ith his medical bills, etc.) when
they can’t afford to return Oregon’ s
fleeing criminals.”
Frank Turney, liason officer for
the ex-offenders, said, “ because o f
Angelone’ s co n d itio n and the
psychological effect confinement
has on one, he should not be incar
cerated; especially in a place that
does not have the proper medical
facilities.”
Police officers meets citizens
A third o f a series of police/com-
munity forums will be held Saturday
m orning. May 9, 9:30 a.m ., at
Bourbon Street restaurant. Police
officers w orking in the area have
been invited to participate.
The firs t meeting provided an
opportunity for community people
to discuss an array o f complaints -
language, harassment, b ru ta lity ,
lack o f Black officers, inadequate
training, lack o f response to com
plaints.
Last Saturday, the subject was
citizen complaints. Present to hear
the vic tim s ’ point o f view were
Deputy C hief Phil Smith, Lt. Rod
Achly, head o f Internal Affairs and
Stan Peters, president o f the police
union. A lso speaking were Mike
Bailey o f the Public Defenders o f
fice, which hears many complaints
o f police abuse, Barry Sheldahl,
from the District A ttorney’s office
and DA Mike Schrunk.
L t. A ic h ly said there is a
disproportionment number o f com
plaints from the Black community -
mostly consisting o f excessive force,
harassment and verbal abuse.
Although many persons say they are
not notified o f the outcome o f their
complaints, he said there is a "rigid
p o licy” to n o tify . Regarding
charges that persons who call to
make complaints are treated rudely,
Achley said, “ Being polite has
lim itations. When people call with
outrageous, unreasonable com
plaints” it is impossible to be polite.
He denied that police officers are
given all o f the testim ony o f the
com plaintant
p rio r
to
be
questioned, but admitted that they
are provided a summary o f the
complaint so they can respond to it.
Stan Peters denied that police
have full access to the testimony and
added that the union contract does
not prevent release o f inform ation
to the public. He would like to have
com plaints made under oath to
elim inate “ harassment” against
police officers. He claims police o f
ficers have fewer rights than anyone
since they must answer complaints
or be terminated.
M ike Bailey said in his opinion
the only way to stop police abuse is
through com m unity organization.
“ Justice don't live in the courts no
m o re ." He said there is a double
standard - what would be called
m isbehavior by an upper class
woman, becomes disorderly con
duct and resisting arrest when a
poor Black woman is involved.
"T h e misconduct is in the racism
and class s tru ctu re .” He said 30
percent o f the persons defended by
the Public Defender are Black.
DA M ike Schrunk said the im
portant thing is “ to let those in
government know what the hell is
going o n ." The people have a right
to open communication w ith their
elected officials. He said his door is
open and he will accept complaints.
Sheldahl said four police officers
have been convicted o f crim in a l
behavior.
Chief Smith said he w ill pass the
complaints expressed at the meeting
to C h ie f Baker and Captain M c
Cabe o f North Precinct and recom
mend adm inistrative attention.
“ The fact that people are here with
complaints means we aren’ t meeting
people needs.”
Some o f the problems discussed
were:
Linda Madsen: Repeated arrests
fo r the same alleged v io la tio n .
" Y o u can’ t go down the street
without being arrested.”
Black man: It took three hours
for the police to come when called
because wife was threatening with a
gun. When they arrived they said
they couldn't do anything.
Vesia Loving:
A man was
beaten by police, then taken to
Rocky Butte with no medical care.
Joe Harris: His door was kicked
(Please turn to Section II P. 3, C. 3)
After hearing overwhelming sup
port fo r m aking one legislative
district in the inner northeast com
m unity, the House Committee on
Election and Reappointment voted
unanim ously to one d istrict that
would have approximately 44 per
cent Black population, 47 percent
white and 9 percent others.
The com m ittee held a form al
hearing at King Neighborhood
Facility last Thursday night.
Testifying in favor o f division o f
the area among three legislative
districts, with the theory that Blacks
could impact three legislators, were
C alvin O .L . H enry, President o f
Oregon Assembly for Black Affairs;
Pina (W illia m s) Bonner, Gail
Washington and Bobby Gary.
Calvin Henry, saying, "Those o f
us who know must teach,” said the
one-district proposal might not
serve the best interest o f the Black
community.
Robert P h illip s presented the
"one-district plan" that was drawn
by Legislative Research to include
the greatest possible number o f
Blacks and is called the “ P hillips
Plan” follows the I-5 freeway on the
West and includes the Eliot, Boise,
Piedmont, Woodlawn, Vernon and
King neighborhoods and portions o f
Concordia, Irvington and Sabin.
He associated the com m unity’ s
request fo r one-district w ith the
Am erican revolutionaries “ who
struggled for identifiable represen
tation.”
Ron Herndon, speaking fo r the
Black United F ro n t, said no
minority group had ever asked to be
divided in order to gain power. Fur
ther, all the successful Black
legislators in history have been elec
ted by and responsible to large
Black populations.
“ Blacks must consolidate their
strength rather than divide their
s tre n g th ," he said, charging that
those who would divide are ignorant
o f Black History.
Bruce Broussard, publisher o f the
Observer, explained the history o f
the neighborhood associations and
their w orking re lationship , the
U nion Avenue re-development
project and new economic develop
ment plans, demonstrating that the
federal, state and city governments
consider this as an integral com
munity. He asked the committee to
fo llo w their own rules that say a
com m unity o f common interest
cannot be divided.
James H ill, calling him self a
“ disenfranchized c itiz e n ,” asked
fo r “ enpowerment o f my com
munity.”
The applause, shouts and mood
o f the crowd demonstrated support
for the "one-district” plan. Among
the speakers were Walter Braxton,
Bob Boyer, Judy Knawls, represent
ing the A. Phillips Randolph and
Union Organizations; James H ill,
Joe Harris, Brent Hamilton.
A t the com m ittee meeting in
Salem the next morning. Rep. Jane
Jam«« Hill testifies before the House Commit
tee on Elections end Reapportionment at King
Cease, who had attended the
hearing the previous evening pre
sented a new plan. It would have
formed a district reaching from the
W illam ette River, through central
A lb in a , through the C oncordia
neighborhood and surrounding the
airport. She stated that she did not
believe the hearing in Portland was
representative because the Urban
League and NAACP had a banquet
that night and could not attend.
Chairm an Glen W hallon ex
plained that the hearing was held on
Thursday because a school district
meeting on the possible closure o f
Jefferson was on Wednesday, the
only other night available to the
committee. He added that he had
received a phone call from the
N AAC P during the previous week
saying the organization was for one
district, then received another call
Monday saying they had changed
their m ind. He had not received
testimony from either organization.
Robert Phillips told the com m it
tee that he had sent letters -- and
copies o f the four proposed plans -
to several organizations including
the NAACP and Urban League ex
plaining how they could submit
testim ony in w ritin g or in person
urging them to make their thoughts
known to the committee.
Most o f the committee members
considered the testimony Thursday
night to be a strong message fo r
“ one-district* and after some
discussion the vote was unanimous.
(Please turn to Section II P. 4 C .I)
Neighborhood Facility.
(Photo: Richard Brown)