Jefferson vs Corvallis
---- ---------- - •»«■■paper
U n iv e rs ity Of Oregon L ib rary
tußene, Oregon 97403
Friday, November 0th, Jefferson H.S.
Special
Issue
"Honoring
Renfro
Dr. Reynolds carries
Career Day
the ball
PO RTL4ND OBSERVER
November 5, 1981
Volume XII, Number 4
25C Per Copy
Two Sections
Matthew Prophet selected
1
many years.”
D r. Matthew Prophet was select
Kay Toran, State A ffirm ative Ac
ed from among 100 candidates to
tion Director, said Prophet w ill be
become the new Superintendent o f
excellent fo r the d is trict and for
the Portland Public Schools. A fte r
Portland. "Portland is a district that
an intensive process including visits
to the districts o f the three finalists,
requires a lot o f attention and D r.
Prophet has good experience, intel
D r. Prophet was selected by a six-to-
lect and skills.
one vote o f the board. The dissent
“ D r. Prophet does realize that a
ing m em ber, C h a rlo tte Beem an,
school district is only as strong as
changed her vote to make the selec
the Administration, the community,
tion unanimous.
the faculties and the students. It is
Board C h a irm a n F ra n k M c N a
mara is in the process o f negotiating
an exciting time for Port nd and it
is im p o rtan t that D r. Prophet re
a contract with D r. Prophet, who is
ceive good strong support in the im
currently superintendent o f the Lan
plementation o f his policies.”
sing, Michigan schools.
Edna Robertson, director o f the
D r. Prophet was the first choice
C ity ’s Northeast Neighborhood O f
o f the Citizen and Internal (s ta ff)
fice, said, “ It is wonderful! Parents
Search Committees that advised the
should be aware o f what their chil
board.
dren are doing and D r. P rophet
Norm M onroe, assistant director
o f the U rban League o f P o rtla n d ,
seems eager to meet and com m uni
cate with parents and this is a good
said Prophet is the best choice. " H e
beginning.
has good adm inistrative and m an
agement skills that the d istrict
" T h e Black com munity needs to
needs. D r. Prophet w ill meet with
establish priorities— agenda items—
agencies and in d i viduals w ho arc
and invite public officials to partici
pate.”
concerned about the quality o f pub
Ron H e rn d o n , c o -ch airm an o f
lic education. And this is very posi
tive."
the Black U nited F ro n t, said P ro
phet clearly was the best choice
Lucius Hicks IV , president o f the
Portland Branch, N A A C P , sees the
among the candidates. " W e hope he
selection as an opportunity for the
w ill be able to ensure that fin a lly
Black children w ill receive quality
P o rtla n d c o m m u n ity to u n ify in
support o f the school d is tric t.
education, will increase the hiring o f
“ W ith such broad support from
Black teachers, will address the dis
com m unity representatives he can
proportionate suspensions and ex
become the catalyst that will allow
pulsions, and will deal with the ra
the public to support the school dis
cist environment in the school sys-
tric t in a way th a t it has not for (Please turn to page 3 column I )
DR. MATTHEW PROPHET
Photos Richard J Browr
MHRCasks county make no South African investment
Ofcachchu Okonkwo joins his parents in a protest against pros'
tutiohih the North/Northaast area.
(P
h o to - Rir-harH
i Browr
(Photo:
Richard J.
Business League presents plan
The N atio n al Business League,
O regon C h a p te r, has requested a
unique part in the P o rtla n d
D e v e lo p m e n t C o m m is s io n ’ s
proposed developm ent plan for
N o rth /N o rth e a s t P o rtla n d . " W e
view our role as one o f facilitating
the positive aspects o f econom ic
development as it impacts Black and
other m in o rity businesses and
communities in Oregon.
N B L O C wants to serve as the
“ mechanism to interface w ith the
P o rtla n d D evelopm ent C o m m is
s io n " to plan developm ent in the
C o lu m b ia B oulevard In d u stria l
P ro je c t.
PDC
has proposed
targeting
C o lu m b ia
and
the
¡¿manual Hospital site.
N B L O C asks fo r com m u nity
support in a q u irin g the land,
(Please turn to page 2 co. !)
The M etro p o litan H um an Rela
tions C om m ission has urged that
Multnomah County and the C ity of
Portland not participate in invest
ments with companies that do busi
ness in South A frica, and reconsider
a m erger w ith the O regon P ublic
Employees R etirem ent System
(PERS). I f Multnomah County pen
sion funds are merged with PERS as
proposed, the County funds will be
invested with 86 U .S .-o w n ed com
panies that do business in South A f
rica.
The state retirement fund now has
$222.9 million invested in corpora
tions doing business in South A f
rica. O f this amount, $190 million is
invested w ith com panies that do
substantial business in South Africa
(5,000 or more employees, $500,000
m ore gross ann u al p ro fit from
South A frica, or $500,000 or more
invested or loaned in South A frica).
The money is state funds, withheld
from employees'paychecks for re
tirement benefits.
Although there has been increas
ing pressure on the transnationals to
withdraw from South A frica, many
have used the “ Sullivan Principle”
as an excuse to rem ain. The p rin
ciple, drawn by Reverend Leon Sul
livan, founder o f Opportunities In
dustrialization Centers o f Am erica
(O IC ), includes: Non-segregation in
work facilities; equal pay; equal and
fa ir unemployment practices; train
ing programs for Blacks in technical
jobs and administrators; increasing
Blacks in management; im proving
quality o f life such as housing and
education.
The lib e ra tio n m ovem ents o f
Southern A frica and most support
ive groups in the U .S . oppose the
S ullivan principles w ith the belief
that U .S . investm ent allows the
a p a rth eid governm ent to survive
and that w ithdraw al o f U .S . econ
omic investment would lead to its
fall.
During a tour o f Africa this April,
Reverend Sullivan discovered that
none o f the U .S . com panies that
had signed the principles had fully
complied and he now opposes any
U .S. investment in South A frica. A
team o f U .S . citizens sponsored by
the American Friends Service C om
mittee recently conducted a survey
in South A fric a and found u n an i
mous o p in io n that w ith d ra w a l o f
U.S. investment would be in the best
interest o f South African Blacks.
The growing opposition to U .S .
investment, led in large part by the
N ational Council o f Churches, has
resulted in the states o f Connecticut,
N ebraska, M ich ig an , and M assa
chusetts passing legislation requir
ing disinvestm ent o f th e ir funds
from companies doing business in
South A frica. They were joined by
ten cities including Berkeley and
Gary, Indiana.
The Oregon Legislature failed to
adopt similar legislation.
In February 1981, the Lane C oun
ty Circuit Court upheld the Oregon
State Board o f Higher Education's
vote to sell stocks o f companies that
do business in South Africa.
The corporations doing business
with South A frica in which PERS
invests are:
A m erican Express, A m erican
Hom e Products C o rp ., Am erican
H o sp ital Supply C o rp ., A tla n tic
Richfield C o ., Bankamerica C orp.,
Bell & H o w ell C o ., Boeing C o .,
(Please turn to page 2 column /)
Black Americans seek spiritual roots in Israel
Parti
Entering Israel
by Cleo Franklin
Black men, women and children
identifying themselves as the Origin
al Hebrew Israelite Nation o f Jeru
salem have left America for the sole
purpose o f establishing a "righteous
government” in "Northeastern A f
ric a ” (Is ra e l). (A fte r the break in
the Hebrew Kingdom under Reho-
boam the north ern Kingdom was
called Israel, the southern Judah.
Rehoboam was the son o f Solomon
and the King o f Israel from 937-920
B .C .). I was recently privileged to
visit their settlement o f Dimona.
I left Dulles A irport in Washing
ton, D .C ., and by way o f London I
arrived at T el A v iv ’ s Ben G u rio n
A irport about 14 hours later. After
the plane landed I anxiously sat in
my seat aboard the plane waiting to
disembark. It was time; I got to the
door and the warm dry desert heat
was a great re lie f from the m an
made environment o f the aircraft.
As I stood in the doorway o f the
aircraft, I immediately noticed two
soldiers w ith guns standing at the
bo tto m o f the stairw ay fro m the
plane. The soldiers stood by and
watched as the people descended the
stairs. When my turn came I started
down the stairs with much care and
went into the airport terminal w ith
out incident.
Inside the airp o rt the first stop
was Israeli customs, where inside a
booth sat a young wom an who
asked to see my passport. She then
asked me if I was traveling w ith a
group. M y reply was no. She then
picked up the phone and m ade a
phone call. A few moments later a
man came out from the o ffice and
asked if I would come with him. He
was dressed in a m ilita ry u n iform
and appeared to be a government
official so I asked him if there was a
pro b lem . The man p o litely said,
No, but asked that I follow him
into his office.
A fte r we got inside, the man
asked me to sit down. I again asked
if there was a problem, and his reply
was still no. The airport official sat
down at his desk and began to look
over my passport which he had re
ceived Irom the lady at the customs
booth. He asked me for additional
identification; I gave him my press
card and my O regon D riv e r’ s L i
cense. At that point he began to ask
me a series o f questions. The ques
tions and my replies were as follows:
Q. Why are you here ?
/4. A am a reporter and I am here
to write a story about Israel.
Q. Where are you fro m and f o r
whom do you work?
A. I am from Portland, Oregon in
the United States, and I work for a
newspaper called the P o rtla n d
Observer.
Q. Where are you staying in Is
rael?
A . The American Colony Hotel in
Jerusalem.
Q. Do fo u have reservations and
how long will you be staying?
A. Yes, 1 have reservations at the
hotel and I will be staying about ten
days.
Q. D o you kn o w anyone in D i
mona o r do you have gifts f o r any
one there?
A . No.
Q. D o you kno w anyone in Is
rael?
A. No.
Q. A re there stories in Israel that
you think your readership would be
interested in?
A. Yes.
T h e o ffic ia l then made a tele
phone call and spoke in Hebrew. I
did not understand much o f the con
versation but I did understand him
to say Portland Observer to the per
son on the other end o f the phone.
The o ffic ia l also called the hotel to
verify my reservation at the hotel.
The o ffic ia l then asked to see my
camera. He did not take my camera,
nor did he reach for it. I assume he
concluded it would be reasonable
for a newspaper reporter to have a
cam era and so he was testing my
story.
According to the Jerusalem Post
there have been reported cases that
some Black Americans had been de
nied entry into Israel. Sources from
the Black Hebrew community claim
that the Israelis routinly harass or
detain Black Americans. According
to the Israeli official at the Tel Aviv
a irp o rt, they only question those
Black Americans that arc o f a "spe
cific m akeup." The official declined
to elaborate on that "specific make
up.”
A ccording to sources from the
Black H ebrew com m u nity there
have been reported cases where
Black
A m ericans
have
been
stripped, searched and detained for
hours. I f for some reason you are
not allow ed to enter the c o u n try,
you will be escorted to the firs, de
parting flight. Under these circum
stances in most cases you w ill not
get your a irfa re refu n d ed , the
sources claim.
D uring the 35-m inute interroga
tion session, the government official
repeatedly asked me about Dimona
Dim ona is one o f three cities in Is
rael where the Black Hebrews live.
The other two cities are Mitzpah Ra
mon and Arad. I explained to the o f
ficial that I did not know anything
about Dimona. It was very clear at
this point that the o ffic ia l did not
want me to know about Dimona or
the people who live there. A fte r
about 35 minutes o f questions from
(Please turn to page 13. column I)