..._.a~ o.,,,.,., .,_ 11. 1111 Farewell fine friends from fellow fighter Fungai EDITORIAL/OPINION Twenty-seven Suit opens Pandora's box A civil rights suit against the Portland School Oi1trict by board member Herb Caw- thorne is long overdue and would have far reaching effects. In its various findings of "non-compliance" against the Portland district by the office of education, there has never bean a legal deci1ion on whether the Portland district ever discriminated against Black children as a mane, of policy. Of course it is clear that discrimination has been the policy of the Portland School District at least since the 1950s. The district segregated Black children into certain schools and refused to even acknowledQe this until 1964. But Eliot and Humboldt were built in areas that would result in segregation over the protests of the community. The remedies un- til a year ago consisted of moving Black children out of their schools and into white schools, with no attention to what happened to them . The various methods of dispersal are now wall known : removing grades from neighbor- hood schools; inticing and forcing children to other schools; denying access to neighbor- hood schools; replacement of pre-school and elementary children with white children ~ ~~ -has come to our attention that Robert Phillips, who currently works in the Governor's . . action . o ff' ice, h as come un d er per- a ff 1rmat1ve sonal attack for his participation in the process and that his participation is being interpreted as the Governor's "intervention". . . Phillips was asked by the Observer to present the plan developed by Legislative Research as being the district including the highest percentage of Black res·1dents and still closely following natural neighborhood boundaries, to the forum held at King Facility. • , ,m nd f , m off Zimbabwe a h 1 little fellow born to a hur blc ouplc by name: Mandincm gerwc Kumbula Ninctcc I lier he ldt Zimbabwe t Ider brother, Tenday, tu 1 mg in Los Ansel 1 lcs proved to be too , , too fast, too craz , " •• C n ducive to scr, •u hip (at leas, for one F un11 So Fungai de, t ' IC rainy, sleepy r, n September 1976 ' dcd with his few belor 1 1ckcty old jalopy that , , 11 f di apart at ever 1 ur 'r reptitiously shpr, in fl R" City. Not know , >UI, he did not sec an 1h,1 I >Ut the Rose City red when he read 1e 1 1 'flOfl Jo11rnal to be • In 1 C>rcgon a quiet liUlc villa forcing Blacks out; etc. Only when threatened by a boycott did the School Board agree to allow students to remain in their own neighborhoods. Other agreed upon remedies have been slow and in- adequate. Now, a year later, the Board has closed Washington / Monroe (41 percent minority) and plan to close Adams (35 percent minority) in direct violation of its own policy. Thus, the same children who have been scattered and scorned throughout their school career will be forced to move again . Pleas to morality and sensibility have failed - all that remains is a federal suit. A suit would have additional benefits . A judge could order that additional resources be used to compensate for past injury; he could order the hiring and promotion of Black staff. A court order could result in a monitoring group responsible to the court, not to school district staff. A law suit and a court order would be the best solution. The seating of a new School Board and the behavior of some of the old members indicate that little has bean learned over the past three years. Those who finally said : "We did it and we ' re sorry, " are preparing to do it again. The fruits of victory The Reapportionment Conference Commit- tee -- appointed to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions of reapportionment h111s voted to retain the new District 18 designed by the House, which creates a new "inner northeast" district with 44 per cent Black population. We take this opportunity to thank Rep. Glen Whallon, who brought his House Committee to King Facility to hear the opinions of the citizens , and who responded to those opinions, and to the members of his commit- tee. We also thank those Representatives and • Senators who en d orse d an d supporte d t h 1s By F11n1oi K11mbtlla The plan was one of four presented. The plan came to be called the "Phillips plan" as op- posed the "Mason Plan", the OABA Plan " and the "Bauman Plan" -- each named after it's presented . Phillips continued to be the spokesperson for the plan throughout the House hearings and committee meetings . Following the adoption of that plan, with some variations , Phillips was "muzzled " by the Governor's office in response to angry protests by some Democratic members of the Legislature who opposed the plan. w e th an k R o b ert Ph'II' f h' 1 1ps or 1s par - t· . t' b h If f h' . . f 1c1pa 10n on e a o 1s community ,n risk o h is emplo_yment. He ha~ demonstrated , as a_ 1 ~~ys, his deep commitment and respon 11b1hty. . . We also th ank the. ~overnor • ":'e reah~e t_hat his su~po_rt for Phillips and his con~mumg neutra!1t~ in the face of angry accusation has been d1ff1cult. The citizens and the organizations that took the time to study the issues and to come out and express their opinions are the ones responsible for what is truly a great political victory and they will be the benefactors. "Hallmark" The Portland Subecrtp1ICIN ,10.00 per yea, in Tri-County ,,.... ftottmnter · Send add,_ changee to the Port'4nd a , I TI 1,, m man ,d tn !n sec, wa I \I, j I lUn • not j I < weekly colurr Would v u declined the n not think I "' material r \I, r h played with, lau1hed with, an1uished with, reminisced with, kidded with, dined with, stayed with, studied with, talked to, talked with, tau1ht, learned from; these arc people who have made my 1tay not only bearable but actually quite excitin,. It could probably be said that I have done a lot of thin11 whale I have been studyin1 over the past five years but I believe in 1ivin1 credit where credit is due: it was pouible for me to do what I did because so many people reached out to me and placed enouah trust and confidence in me. That confidence and that trust arc what inspired me to go on and do all that is mentioned above and more. I can honestly say I have 1rown mentally and am now more mature, wiser and happier person than the innocent youn1 man who slipped into town so Iona aao. Everyone I have worked with I have learned from; I have made so many friends over the past half decade that as I prepare to leave Portland, I have the shadow of a tear because some of these friends I may never sceaaain. I am almost certain I have made my fair share of enemies too and I would hope when next we meet we will be speaking the same languaac. Life would not be complete without at least some mention of the trials and tribulations of sweet-bitter love and I, too, have had my moments of heartbreak and my moments of ec- stasy. I 10 away with memories of Portland hopins that someday all these different people will once asain cross my path and we can talk about the 1ood old days. I have deliberately refrained from mentionina any names because if I had to list all the people who have contributed to my growth and made my stay that much more meaningful and exciting, I probably would need another page as Iona as this. To all these people, I now sa y, in the revered ancient African tradition: "I am glad I took the time out to break bread with you." Will l be back? Will I continue to write for The Observer? What am I 1oin1 to be doing once I lea ve here and get back home to civilization? For answers to these questions and more, tune in next week . P .S. Happy Birthday dear Funaai. He is 27 years young today! the Editor New Scho Organiza The Portl4nd 06:wrwr IUSPS 9!i9 6801 11 pu'-hed ft9fV Thul'I ~ by hie Publiahing Compeny, Inc 2201 North K ~ . Portland. Oragon 1n11. Poet Off1C1 Bo• 3137 Portland o,agon 972011 Sec:onct c._ PC>Sf-ut PHI II Ponlend. Oregon • , med 1 >lhng 10 To the Editor This letter , 11 r printed in \ , I I, ttllcd rnembers make mocker, of process rd To the Editor After hour , arduous deli testimony, th School Boar Washington 1 and plans ha , its program School facilit This dccis 1 laincd, and the • , of relocation being addrcs ' H uman Rela11 n Education ,m, believes that the lions will bench Conscquen I cons1crna11on It Committee re UJE KILLED THAT ONCE . WHY 00£SN'T ff£ BUTT OUT? Portland Observer , I b a , former Holly\1< 1 Ronald Reagan \I, t 1 the virtues of non mer dictator, I rn acror from Death Bonzo Goe 1 \ saying m csse , a blessing 10 lh· babwe because, he was keeping h • nihilating one ar ,, r I nearly had -1 ing whether I I to the Dark Ages my int roduct I r less than au 1 1 disappointed \I, statement of rt (literally!) and i 1 tcr-cditorial \I, published th that wa the 1 of my "Noh , of individua door, ask mg this or that P< 1111 found my American Ir 1cc, Pon I"' Racism. rhe Student Bia, I wa~ rcq ie 1 week after week? How wron1 I was and how "naive" can one 1et7 In lime I was introduced to the Black Educational Center and the Talkina Drum Bookstore and, ultimately the Black United Front. Here it seemed I had at last found a home; no lonaer did I feel like an outsider lookm1 in. Involvement in the African Liberation Day activities and other community concerns combined to make Portland home at last. Meantime, contact with the Port- land State University's Black Studies Departmen t had led to another and most unexpected honour an invitation to teach a class on Southern African politics. For two years I played the dual role of student and instructor and that helped broaden m y horizons im- mensely. In between I was squeezin1 m spcakin1 cngaaemcnts at almost all the local hiah schools and collcaes as well as community 1a1hcrin1 and church aroups. The Portland Public School system decided to put up a play based on the life of the late South A fr1can civil riahts leader , Steve Biko, and I was asked to work with the Oral History Committee which was charaed with the task of puttin1 the play toacthcr. To better inform Portland of the happcninas on the continent, Funaai was asked to be a guest commentator on a public TV program called TCB and this con- tinued until the no torious budaet uts yanked it off the air. From time to 11mc, however, guest appearances on the same station (KOAP) on H orld Press In R,view have con- 11n ucd at least for the ti me bcina . The latest one will be this Saturday, unc 20, al "l;J0 p.m. la t Sunday, June 7t h, Funaai finally graduated from Portland ate l niversity aetting a dearee in Medical Biolol)' and Biochemistry with minors in En vironmental 1ences and Public Health . The ta k for which Funaai came to >rcgon gctti'lg an educatio n• is 1w completed and he must bid you II adieu That is the purpose of this ,1 11 reminiscing: I a m now I •king back on what my stay in 1 tland ha meant to me. II has urn :d out to be quite a n cxcitin1 I because of all the wonderful ,>rlc I have met, made fr iends \1<1tl v.orkcd with, argued with, l h 1 ,bhc C >I I ll h " ' e •I 1 tan l>n n ' n the Sun,tyS I 8 5 per Ni"II H sitivity and commitment. There is no room for capriciousness, in- transiacncc or aamc playing when the future of our children -- and throuah them, our own -- hanas in the balance. The Metropolitan Human Relations Commission Education Committee urges each member of the board to dispense with all ruminations and develop firm commitments to citi zen par- ticipation and quality education for the aeneral aood. Respectfully, Sho G. Dotono, Chairperson Education Committee Metropolitan Human Relations Commission • h re housing costs le r11 1 l • How,.' There 1 erroncou, me provided to , 11 1 While it 15 f , ii Hall Masonic Ten I by ENDA r, SJ6 1 ti a ml nth dictated th , Community all likely hood S.361.1 1 The statcmcn• Urban League Project ha no• ENDA see, and( •, a project wh citizens arc lnc:orre.:t The l. Center,~ h well publicized statements of the Chair~rsons of the board and two board members-elect rc1ardin1 their intent to close the Adams facility once the two new board members arc seated. 1 he MHRC Education Commit- tee feels that these statements arc in- appropriate and that the intent of the "new" board is objectionable. The eminent board's intent to close Adams m July, scans a public man- date to do so, makes mockery of the illlcn input process and diminishes the public's perception of the board's commit ment and leader- ship C,1ven the fiscal temper of the times and the educational crisis before us, the public looks to the hool board for leadership, sen- ' r I lln Prince I cd n I I ,n ue •ill, in I that the ' cd for emor , II nior " and has been in existence since 1975. The "lack of an Urban Lea1ue's cmor C'itizens buildin1 (.riC') has not hindered it in providin1 various, onsistcntly hi1h quality, activities for N E area scr1iors. Thank you for your covera1e of ,m portant community ac- livi11cs/scrvlcea. We look forward to a resolution of this matter and a conlinuin1 workin1 relationship. Sincerely, Jo~ 0-ns-Smith Director, Community Services Project, Urban Leaauc of Ptld. (Editor' s Note: We have been in- formed that the Prince Hall Masons and the Urban leaaue Senior Ci t izens' Project will share the housin1 costs.) -------------------------~ I SU'BSCRIBE TODA YI ONLY $10 PE:R YEA1R l I I I .. --.. . ·---·--------...... ·----- -·-- _ ... -........ - ---~ I I Addreu- ------------------·-···-------------- ----------------·--··-- I Cltv----·---lt11e I I '°'111nd, Oft fflDI I Portiand ObNI "9f Zip . 1o. 3137 --------------~---------~ Dt we", Pres cuts, nor have: deva have At prep year, Tt, posel the s1 Cou1 fede1 inert loca, mini1 three has I June some -ifm Ye thcr will rcsid not I: rcdui Nort Of redu Servi birth una~ ~ Q. Hou. befo redu1 Jedei to ht this i A. that • suffc Hou1 pcrcc level Fo is ap will I scrvi P rcv1 Th be sr You hole child ill, I Co Mt Don that citizc Ch cil; C viso,