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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1981)
Portland Observer, November 5, 1981 Page 5 Congratulations, Mr. Prophet by Ronnie Herndon, Co-Chairman. Black United Front Po rtlan d has a Black public schools’ superintendent. What does it all mean? First, congratulations are in order to Dr. Prophet— he was by far the most qualified candidate ol the three finalists. Before even setting foot in office he is a tremen dous source o f pride for many Black people. We always feel good when we see one o f us demonstrate that when given a chance we can achieve the highest o f heights. Another blow struck against the racist myth o f the lazy, stupid, incom petent d arky. C erta in ly every Black person is painfully aware o f the lonely battles Prophet must have fought to arrive at this point in our lives. We com mend him on his courage and deter mination. Beyond our collective feeling o f racial pride there loom some mighty issues. Our new superintendent’s ul tim ate test will be whether he can make quality education a reality for thousands o f poor Black children. W ill he insist that an excellent edu cation is available for all Black chil dren at their neighborhood schools and throughout Portland? W ill he insist that disciplinary practices are just and remove the despicable at mosphere which allows the expul sion end suspension o f dispropor tionate numbers o f Black children? W ill he insist that the curriculum ac curately reflects Black history and culture? W ill he insist that the hiring process bring in more Black teachers and administrators? W ill he insist that parents be involved in all as pects o f public education? His abil ity to move on these issues will be far more im portant than the color o f his skin. U nfortunately we have seen too many Black people get prestigious positions, then all o f a sudden for get they are Black. All too often we feel called upon to utter nonsense lik e , ’ ’ D o n ’ t view me as a Black school board member, just look at me as a board m em ber.” “ D o n ’ t view me as a Black Senator, look at me just as a S en ato r.” L o rd have mercy! No other ethnic group finds it necessary to deny their ethnicity. Goldschmidt never said don’t view .'Tie as a Jewish m ayo r, Ivancie hasn’t felt compelled to ask not to be viewed as a Catholic mayor. A ti- yeh certainly hasn’t said don’t view me as the Syrian governor. We don’t need Black officials apologiz ing or denying their Blackness. H o pefully Prophet will avoid that self-effacing trick-hag. sabotage every positive move P ro phet attempts. The very board that selected him has a majority o f mem bers who make and break promises to the Black com m unity w ith re markable ease. Their understanding o f what is needed to enable Black children to learn is negligible at best. Prophet is confronted with a host o f problems that beset the entire dis tric t. L astly, he w ill be in a city whose power structure will certainly use him as an example o f its liberal ness and livability while preserving and sustaining one o f the most vi cious climates o f racism no rth o f Johannesburg, South A fric a . The local squirearchy gives less than a continental about Black children or adults. In spite o f the hidden agendas and booby traps, D r. Prophet we sin cerely hope you w ill help bring about a brighter day for our chil dren. D r. Prophet will find most people in the Black community anxious to help him help our children. His job will be difficult: there are people on Dixon Street who have maintained a strict ideological commitment to the way “ Big Red did it’* and will try to T h a Q ra c a C o llin s M e m o r ia l C o m m u n ity C s n ta r announces the sponsorship o f the U S D A Child Care Food Program. Meals will be made available to enrolled children at no separate charge without regard to race, color, or national origin. Contact the Grace Collins Memorial Center, 128 ■NE Russell, Portland OR 97212, (503) 281-6930. PC C w o rk s h o p to n e w ly -s in g le : The one-credit workshop, Single Again, teaches some survival skills to use during this crisis period. Satur day, November 7, 8 am-5 pm, PC C Cascade Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth. Call 283-2541 for more information. __ Ñe wberrysjloydjCenter CouporV GLASSWARE, 40-PIEŒ SET Includes 8 each: sherbets. 7 oz juice. 9 oz. on-,he-rocks. 12 oz. and 16 oz. tall drink tum blers. Crystal clear. ELECTRIC ftlANKETS I DICK BOGLE Justice, "according to state law ," was certainly swift in the case o f 15- year-old Theodore Johnson who pleaded guilty to intentional murder in the k illin g o f Radio cab driver Sidney Billings. Billings was the cab driver who got a call to the area near North M a son and Michigan and when he got there two males were w aiting and one o f them, Johnson, pumped sev eral shots into the helpless cabbie. Within a few days, police arrested Johnson and he was incarcerated in the Donald E. Long juvenile home. Oregon law prohibits any juvenile under the age o f 16 being tried as an adult. I f Johnson had been 16, the District A ttorney would probably have requested a remand hearing be fore a judge. The judge could have then “ rem anded” Johnson to adult court. In this particular case, in all likelihood that’s what would have happened. News stories have quoted Johnson as saying that he and his accomplice had planned on robbing and killing a cab driver. So, all indi cations are that this particular mur der was deliberate, intentional and planned. Also, Oregon law states no juven ile can be held in custody past his 21st b irth d ay . This means that Johnson w ill serve not quite six years for deliberately killing another human being. N ot only th a t, it is possible that a fter spending some tim e at the M ac L are n school for boys in Woodburn, he can be placed in foster care or perhaps even on pa role. However, the sentencing judge in his case has placed a stipulation on M acLaren officials. I f a change in custody for Johnson is contem plated, he must be brought before the sentencing judge before that change can occur. There arc two ways to look at this law that allows some juveniles to es cape full punishment for a heinous crime. Naturally if he was my son, I would be thankful for his not hav ing to be imprisoned in an adult in stitution where he could fall prey to all sorts o f evil. But on the other hand, is it fair for anyone who intentionally kills another to be deprived o f only less than six years o f his freedom? M aybe that law needs to be changed. Perhaps the age o f juven iles allowed to be remanded to adult court should be dropped to an age less than 16 for certain types o f crime. Or instead, maybe the restric tions which don’t allow the Juvenile court to m a in ta in custody o f a person a fter he or she reaches the age o f 21 should be changed. In that case Johnson could have received a more realistic sentence for murder and yet still would not be placed in an adult institution to serve his time. This o f course is not the first case o f its type and it is a tragedy for all concerned, the cab driver, his family and friends, Theodore Johnson and o f course his fam ily and friends. L et’ s all hope and pray the young man will get whatever help he ob viously needs to let him take up a constructive life when he does turn 21. While on the subject o f juveniles and the law, a new law wen, into ef fect this past Sunday which eases de tainment o f kids charged with prop erty crimes. Juvenile court officials had been allowed to hold juveniles charged w ith crim in al conduct up to 72 hours in pretrial detention. Undei the new law, such a kid can be held only if he is accused o f first degree arson, or if the crime charged resulted in serious physical injury or if force or the threat o f a deadly or dangerous weapon was used. Hrs. Mon-Fri 9:30 am-9 pm Sat 9:30 am-5 pm Sun noon-5 pm If you want to stay on top, you have to stay in touch. Ram has the signal that keeps you in constant touch. Providing direct dial, tone alert, tone voice, and mobile telephone service. So, if a juvenile is caught in your house for breaking in and two hours later he is at home across the street, don’t get mad at the police or the ju venile court. The legislature is the body responsible for his new w rin kle. “Scafivi ‘Pcofi&.f 713 S.W. 12th f> we .. Portland. O R 9 7 2 0 5 *74e 226-1547 PORTLAND CLEANING WORKS From the Capitol Dry Cleaner by Rep. Ron Wyden Alterations and repair Q. This week the government re leased a report which shows medical costs have skyrocketed. What does this mean fo r the average consumer — and what, i f anything, can be done to halt these rising costs? A. The implications are very seri ous. According to the report, medi cal costs across the nation shot up to $247 billion last year, the biggest jum p in medical costs in 15 years. That meant that during 1980, Amer icans spend SI ou, o f every $10 on medical care alone. This is clearly more than many people can a ffo rd to pay. And ye, they really have no choice. Regard less o f incom e, everyone gets sick— and everyone needs medical care. The high cost o f medical care also has serious im plications for other programs. A couple o f weeks ago, the Senate passed a bill which would have allow ed the fin a n c ia lly strapped O ld Age and S u rv iv o r’ s fund o f Social Security to borrow from M edicare and the D isab ility Fund. Supporters hoped this mea sure would be sufficient to keep the system afloat at least until the end o f the decade. But with hospital costs up higher than anticipated (to a total o f some $99.6 billion in 1980), Social Secur ity actuaries last week told Congress that M ed icare would have little money to lend to the Old Age fund. I f their estimates prove o u t, (hat means going back to the draw ing board to come up w ith ways to shore up Social Security. There is no easy solution to halt ing the rapid increase in health care costs. Some im p o rtan t first steps however, include encouraging pro grams which emphasize rresentive care rather than the more expensive extra charge • Minor repair - N o charge Knit blocking our speciaiitv crisis care. We can also help keep costs down by developing new prospective reim bursement programs for health care providers. I hope to introduce a bill next week which would do just that. Development o f prospective reim bursement program s means we would stop issuing blank checks for health care that providers just fill in. Instead we would negotiate reason able medical care packages in ad vance. The end result would be to squeeze more from our health care dollars— and still preserve quality care. Jksk about our naw budget service Hour: M onday - Friday B-6 30 Saturday - 9-1:00 p.m . 24-hour Service In today - Out tomorrow 3954 N. Williams Portland, Oregon 97227 282-8361 An Open Letter by Police C h ie f Ron Still The nature o f police work calls for an occasional use o f force. This use o f force, or its potential use, is both a local and national concern. N atio n ally, one o f the most com mon complaints against Portland police o ffic e r is excessive use o f force. I must deal with this issue. I am interested in protecting the citizen and the O fficer. New orders on the use o f physical force have been is- sued that arc stricter than Oregon State Law. The order defines gen eral guidelines in which degrees of force can be used. Training and experience will pro vide the officer with the skills neces sary to make rapid decisions on the use o f force to control any poten tially violent situation. Problems arise when citizens per ceive an o ffic e r using either any force or too much force. I under- BUF support committee meets The C om m ittee to Support the Black United Front invites people who are interested in fighting racism to an open meeting on W ed., Nov, 18, 7:30 pm at M a llo ry Avenue Church, 126 NE Alberta. The purposes o f the com m ittee arc to educate other white people about racism and to support the de mands o f the Black com m unity. Areas o f involvem ent in the past have included welfare cuts, police b ru ta lity , school boycotts, and other education-related issues. The committee encourages people to con trib u te their tim e, energy, ideas and skills to the fight to make Portland a livable city for all its peo ple. There w ill be a presentation about the background o f the group and its past and current w ork, fo l lowed by an in fo rm al discussion. Refreshments will be served. stand that people question the use o f force and its application. 1 do not condone the misuse o f force. H o w ever, it’s beneficial to the communi ty to recognize that an officer needs to be in control o f the situation. Ex perience has shown that the loss of control can quickly escalate into a more serious incident. By maintain ing control, an Officer can often re duce the risk o f potential injury to himself and others. A primary duty o f a police officer is to protect all citizens. W e recog nize it’s critical that the officer dem onstratc good judgment on when to use force and how much is necessary to protect all parties. As previously indicated, our new guidelines have some changes that result in rules that are stricter than the Stale Law. Oregon Revised Sta tutes allow a police o ffic er to use deadly physical force in several situ ations, e.g., to stop a person who is running away, if that person has committed a felony. The Portland Police Bureau guidelines state that deadly physical force can only be used when necessary, to protect the officer or another person. O u r orders on physical force (short o f deadly force) parallel state law. Briefly, those laws say an officer can use physical force when: preventing a person from inflicting an in ju ry on themselves; defend himself or a third party; and to ac complish some official purpose that is authorized by law, by judicial de cree, or is performed in the reason able exercise o f the officer's official powers, duties or functions. The guidelines are m any, all written with the intention Io protect both the o ffic er’s and the citizen's rights. I f you have comments or ques tions regarding the Portland Police Bureau, either send them to the editor o f the Observer or to the P ortland Police Bureau’s Public In fo rm atio n O ffic e , 222 SW Pine. Portland, OR 97204 Where can an airplane fly 1,000 feet BELOW sea level? Part of the border between Israel and Jordan is about 1,300 feet below sea level, so a plane flying just above the surface there would be flying about 1,000 feet below sea level. • The word ''diesel” comes from the German engin eer Rudolf Diesel who developed the diesel engine. a Even though elephants have larger ears than any other animal, they actually have poor hearing. American State Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK Head Ottica 2737 N. E. Union Portland, Oregon 97212
