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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1981)
tir» Prence» Seboen-’ !e»spaper Ro U n iv e r il t y o f Oregon L ib r a r y bugcne» O rereo 97433 9 f Prevent holiday accidents A Portlander in Israel Human H i Rights Day W r - 1 December 10 PORTWND OBSERMER City misses minority goal 1 ,v-< r i, » - ». >**- r* -< w Recant atorma have not removed the need to rake leavea aa Keith Jackaon, age 18. can teatify. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) Cooperative housing proposal C .R .I.B , a non-profit organiza tion active in the Northeast commu nity, is exploring the possibility of relocating a 14-unit housing struc ture to North Vancouver and Skid more as a housing cooperative for low income families. The Community Estates Project .hopes to move the City-owned building, now located on North Go ing, to property that would be ob tained from the Portland Develop ment Commission and Pacific Power and Light Company. The re habilitated apartment building would then be operated and maintained by the tenants, who would not only work together to op erate the project but would learn the skills necessary for community or ganization and development. Representatives of the National Consumer Cooperative Bank will be in Portland on December 7th to re December 3, 1981 Volume XII, Number 8 25C Per Copy view the project. The public is in vited to attend these meetings which will be held at King Neighborhood Facility. The 9:00 am meeting will involve discussion of possible use of federal Section 8 funds. Representatives of the Housing Authority of Portland, State Department of Housing, and PDC have been invited to partici pate. A, 10:30 am, there will be discus sion of possible City funding for a consultant, with representatives of the City Council, Office of Neigh borhood Associations, Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, M et ropolitan Human Relations Com mission and PDC. At the 12:30 meeting the National Consumer Cooperative Develop ment Bank will explain its potential role; PDC will discuss its feasibility study. The City of Portland, which has continuously been below equity in employment of minorities, reached only 83.3 percent o f its m inority employment goal for fiscal year 1980-1981. During the 1980-1981 budget process, city bureaus set affirmative action goals for minorities and women. These goals were directed at increasing minority and female par ticipation in all job categories, but particularly increasing participation in categories where underutilization exists. U nderutilization is defined as having less representation o f minorities and women available in that field in the metropolitan area, even though that figure might be less than the percentage of minori ties or women living in the city. For example, parity for the category “ technicians" is 7.3 percent for minorities and 23.4 percent for women. During fiscal year 1980-81 the percentage o f m inority workers increased from 7.7 percent to 7.8 percent, a gain o f seven m inority employees. However, the greatest increase was in the category o f “ para-professionals." With the ex ception of “ protective services,” minorities made no progress toward parity in underutilized job cate gories. Progress was made in “ protective services” with the hiring o f nine minority police officers compared to a goal of eight, bringing partici pation from 4.7 percent ti *.2 per cent. As o f July, 1981, .9 new minority hires are necessary to reach parity, which is 10 percent. M in o rity representation in the category “ officials/administrators” decreased from 7.6 percent to 6.8 percent. No minorities were hired in this category. Minority utilization in the “ pro fessional" category also decreased, from 12.4 percent to 11.8 percent. Six minority employees were hired in this category, reaching the goal of six to maintain parity. No progress was made in the underutilized category of technicians." Four m inority employees were hired, not reaching the goal of seven. To reach parity, 23 minority technicians would have be hired during the 1981-4982 fiscal year. Minorities are 3.8 per cent of the “ technicians” category, while parity is 7.3 percent. The category “ skilled crafts” also showed no progress. No minorities were hired although the goal was six. Minorities make up 4 percent in the skilled crafts category. To reach parity, 6 percent, eight m inority technicians would need to be hired during fiscal 1981-1982. In the category "office/clerical” 10 minorities were hired, surpassing the goal o f 10. M inorities are at parity in this category. In “ service maintenance,” the goal was 14 and 14 minorities were hired, making this category also at parity. Minorities working as “ para-pro fessionals” increased from 20.9 percent to 26.9 percent, with the addition o f three positions. This is the largest percentage o f minority employees, significantly above parity, which is 6.1 percent. The city’ s Equal Employment Opportunity Regulatory Committee with representatives from each commission, personnel services and the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission, advised that to increase hiring o f technicians and skilled craftspeople the city should “ consider expansion o f both its apprentice program and use of trainee slots to ensure broader opportunities for both minorities and women to enter underutilized job categories.” In addition to the city’s failure to hire sufficient minority employees, the turnover rate o f m inority em ployees is 50 percent greater than that o f white males. The greatest turnover occurred in professionals, technicians, para-professionals and service maintenance categories. The EEO Regulanory Committee also reminded the City Council that its commitment to affirm ative action be made throughout city government. “ This commitment should be reflected in the city’s citizen advisory committees, commissions, task forces, and in commissioners’ offices. The key to the success of an affirmative action program is the spirit in which it is carried out. The C ity C ouncil, through its appointment power, is in a unique position to further the success of the city’s affirmative ac tion program.” The city achieved 95 percent of its (Please turn to page 3 column J) African speaks on Human Rights Dennis Brutus, a South African poet and activist, will speak at Port land State University on Friday, De cember 11, at 7 p.m . His talk is sponsored by the African Students Association and the Black United Front. __ Drive ends The N A A C P will close out the Holiday Seal Drive Sunday. Decem ber 13, 1981 at 3:00 p.m. at Bethel A .M .E . Church, 5828 N .E . 8th Avenue, corner of N.E. 8th and Jar rett. The main feature will be the “ Holiday Seals Gospel H o u r” in conjunction with the announcing and crowning o f the N A A C P Grandmother of the year. Churches and Grandmothers par ticipating in the contest are: Allen Temple C .M .E . — Mrs. EJIa Mac Gay; Bethel A .M .E .— Mrs. Minnie Scott; Hughes M em orial United Methodist— Mrs. Marie Smith; Mt. Olivet Baptist— Mrs. Thelma Cole man; Vancouver Ave. 1st Baptist — Mrs. Mary Harrison. The public is encouraged to at tend. Brutus has been active for many years in anti-apartheid work in this country. He is now in danger o f being deported to South Africa by the U.S. government. Brutus, a professor of African lit erature at Northwestern University and chairman of the South African Non-Racial Olympics Committee, has been active in the promotion of non-racial sports in South Africa, boycotts o f South African athletes in the U .S ., and disvestment cam paigns. After a number of appeals, Bru tus has been informed by the immig ration service that he will be denied renewal o f his visa and must leave the United States. Immigration officials say Brutus is linked to “ subversive” elements in South Africa, where he was im prisoned and then, in 1966, banned. Brutus replies that, “ If anyone speaks out against the government in South Africa they are subversive. The U .S is responding to charges given by the South Africans." Somehow we survive and tenderness, frustrated, does not wither. Investigating searchlights rake our naked unprotected contours; over our heads the monolithic decalogue of fascist prohibition glowers and teeters for a catastrophic fall; boots club the peeling door. But somehow we survive severance, deprivation, loss. Patrols uncoil along the asphalt dark hissing their menace to our lives. most cruel, all our land is scarred with terror, rendered unlovely and unloveable; sundered are we and all our passionate surrender but somehow tenderness survives. — Dennis Brutus Los desaparecidos December 10th will mark another Human Rights Day, but through out the world there arc thousands of persons who “ disappeared” — pos sibly imprisoned or murdered— for political reasons. For their families the worry and fear is a fate worse than death. Although disappearance has been a weapon of repressive governments at least since the Nazis, the term “ desaparecido," or "disappeared” came into use approximately fifteen years ago when it was used by the Guatemalan press. In Guatemala alone an estimated 30,0(M) persons have disappeared in the last decade. Disappearance takes many forms. Sometimes people are incarcerated without charges or prosecution and the government denies knowledge of their whereabouts; others disappear from their jail cells. In come cases friends or family witness the arrest or removal, but the individual never is seen or heard from again. Some times government officials deny any knowledge of the victim; other times they simply say the person is not in custody. There is of course no count of the people who have disappeared but es timates for the last ten years include at least 1500 Chileans, I5,(MM) A r gentinians. 30,000 Guatemalans, be tween 100,000 and 500,000 Ugandans and perhaps 750,000 Kampucheans have disappeared or been assassinated. Disappearances are known to have occurred in Mexico, El Sal vador, Bolivia, Paraguay, F.quitor- ial Guinea, Kenya. Rhodesia, A n gola, Ethiopia, Zaire, South Africa, Nam ibia, Morocco, Syria, East Timor and Afghanistan. Disappearance reached the level o f an official government tool of oppression with the CIA-aided over throw of the Allende government of Chile in 1973. The new military gov ernment immediately began to con solidate its power and eliminate its opponents through imprisonment, torture and murder. Thousands of trade unionists, members of opposi tion political parties, professors, students, began to disappear and the authorities denied any knowledge of their whereabouts or their fates. Human rights organizations filed writs of habeas corpus bu, these were summarily dismissed by the courts. As time passed, “ desapare cido” became a way of life in Chile. A 1976 military coup in Argentina brought similar activity. Bodies of many o f the “ disappeared” were found in mass graves and some of those who had disappeared lived to tell their stories of violent, usually illegal arrest; torture; secret impri sonment; and in many cases death. In some countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala victims are kidnapped by what seem to be non official agents, with government ap proval and direction. Authorities then deny any involvement but ei ther refuse to investigate or to re port investigation results. In El Sal vador, particularly, many o f the “ disappeared" and murdered have no political ties but are young men who conceivably could jo in the guerrilla forces. Nearly 3,000 Guatemalans have been seized and killed since General Lucas Garcia became president in 1978. In most cases their bodies were dumped in ravines or on road sides, bearing marks o f torture. Death usually resulted from strang ling, suffocation, or being shot in the head. In 1980, 3,000 people de scribed by government officials as “ subversives” and “ crim inals” were shot on the spot or murdered later. At least 344 others have not been accounted for. The govern ment denies having made a single political arrest or taking a single po litical prisoner since Garcia came to power—attributing all abuses to pa ram ilitary groups beyond official control. Witnesses deny the existence of independent “ death squads" and claim the murders and disappear ances are perpetuated by regular (Please turn to page 5 column I)
