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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1981)
Portland Observer, December 3, 1981 Page 5 Later for Thanksgiving by Ronnie Herndon, Co-Chairman, Black United F ront For many years I fell Thanksgiv ing was one o f the m osl b a rb a ric and paganistic ritu a ls ever p ra c ticed. According to the story white people landed in A m erica and nearly starved to death. In dians stepped in, shared food and taught the Pilgrims how to plant crops. To show their appreciation the Pilgrims held a Day o f Thanks on which they had a big feast with the Indians and thanked God for their survival. A fte r the gracious P ilgrim s got the w rinkles out o f their stomachs and half-way knew where their next meal was coming from , they began murdering and stealing from the In dians. These early white settlers be gan enthusiastically taking part in the age-old European custom o f scalping. Yes. scalping was started by whites; as a mutter o f fact those so-called great purveyors o f civiliza tio n , the G reeks, were one o f the earliest practitioners o f scalping. Scalping got so good to early A m erican settlets that they began to put a bounty on each Indian scalp. Gov ernor K ic fl o f New Ncthcrland orig inated the idea o f paying for human scalps, and w ith this p ro fit motive, the Dutch v irtu a lly cleared what is now southern New Y ork and New Jersey o f Indians before the English move in . By 1703 the c o lo n y o f Massachusetts was paying the equiv alent o f about $60 fo r every Indian scalp. In the m id -I8 th century Pennsyl vania fixed the b o u n ty fo r a male Indian scalp at $134; a female’ s was worth $30. It was only in the mid-to- latc 19th century that Indians them selves began scalping, and this was in response to massive e xte rm in a tio n e ffo rts by w hites. T his was a c e n tu ry -a n d -a -h a lf a fte r the firs t white man had scalped the first In dian. A ll o f this can be found in Peter barb’s book, M a n ’s Rise To C iviliz ation. When Farb wrote the book he was c u ra to r o f A m e rica n In d ia n C u ltu re s at R iverside M useum in New York City. In view o f this history that recks with the stench o f murder, massacre and mayhem, I found Thanksgiving Io be the epitome o f hypocrisy. Now I learn the true h isto ry o f T hanks g iv in g is fa r m ore satanic than 1 th o u g h t. A U .S. C om m ission On C iv il Rights p e rio d ic a l, The C iv il Rights Q uarterly Perspectives, dis cusses an article w ritten by W illiam B. Ncwall, a Penobscot Indian and fo rm e r head o f the U n iv e rs ity o f Connecticut’ s anthropology depart ment. Newall recounts wh9t really happened at P lym o u th C o lo n y in 1637. E nglish and D utch m ercenaries came upon a group o f Indians d u r ing one o f their religious rites— the annual green corn dance. Ordered out o f the b u ild in g in w hich they had gathered the Indians were shot down as they ran. Those staying be hind were burned alive. “ The very next day the Governor [o f the Mas sachusetts Bay C o lo n y] declared a Thanksgiving Day [and] for the next 100 years every Thanksgiving Day o rd a in e d by a g o ve rn o r [was] to h o n o r a bloody v ic to ry , th a n k in g God that the battle had been w on.” Most white Americans w ill pro b ably continue celebrating this Indian massacre; since its in c e p tio n th is country has all too often wallowed in sanctim o n io u s falsehoods and tric k e ra tio n . Black people should call a halt to taking part in this ritu alistic abom ination. W ould we par tic ip a te in T h a n ksg ivin g i f it ce l ebrated murdering Black people? One alternative is using this h o li day to celebrate Black Family Day, a practice developed locally by the Black Educational Center. They felt this tim e could be used fo r us to come together and give thanks and show special a p p reciatio n fo r o u r families. We do fight so very hard to stay to g e th e r; m ost i f not a ll we achieve is because o f the strength, courage and intelligence we learned from our immediate fam ily and our extended fa m ily , the B lack co m munity. Use this day to reflect upon how hard our ancestors struggled keep ing just the concept o f fa m ily alive w hile th is c o u n try condoned o u r m others’ being raped and treated lik e brood mares. T h e ir c h ild re n were snatched screaming from their arms and sold like livestock. In spite o f this hell on earth our ancestors m iraculously clung to the notion o f fam ily. O ur thoughts and sincerest thanks should go out to m illions o f single Black women w ho today by themselves care and provide fo r a l most h a lf o f a ll Black ch ild re n in America. A ll too often we take their daily heroism for granted. N ow we ca n ’ t say we d id n ’ t know, hope most o f us w on’ t con tinue ce le b ra tin g a w h ite h o lid a y that m arked the beg in n in g o f the end for m illions o f Indians. From the Capitol by Rep. Ron Wyden Á Q The news out o f Washington this week was devoted almost solely to one issue— the debate over the governm ent spending h ill and the president's veto o f that bill. What is vour reaction to the whole affair? 4. My reaction, and that o f many o f my colleagues, is embarrassment and outrage I'm embarrassed that we put the Am erican people in the position o f having to w orry about whether they w ould have access to the necessary services— and o u t raged that the rules kept being changed from moment to moment. In many ways, it was a b it lik e having the goal posts moved con stantly during the middle o f a foot- b all game. A t several p o in ts , we seemed to have reached an agree m e n t— and then the goal posts would be moved again. Clearly, no one can operate e ffe c tiv e ly in a situation like that. A nd as one o f my colleagues noted, one might reasonably think that a fight was being staged just to divert attention from the economy. W ith unemployment and high inter est rates devastating the P a c ific Northwest and the rest o f the coun try, what better way to keep people o ff balance than to pick a fight? I'm especially outraged at where the lines were drawn. Although the W hite House called fo r increased social cuts, it was unw illing to tig h t en the belt on foreign aid abuses and m ilita r y cost o ve rru n s. As one senator reportedly put it, this adds up to “ a p o lic y o f ta k in g and c u ttin g fro m (he tr u ly needy and giving it to the truly greedy.” We simply cannot ask disadvant aged children to go without a decent meal w hile we continue to finance huge m ilita r y cost o verruns. We cannot ask poor working mothers to give up the money they depend on to help them stay o ff welfare while we continue to subsidize industries such as svnfuels that can easily make it on their own. I was not surprised to read in the m orning papers that the Am erican people are up in arms about the econom ic policies c u rre n tly being promoted in this country. O ur eco nom y is o b v io u s ly stagnatin g through a recession— and i t ’ s not going to get any better i f we waste o u r lim e w ith th e a trics and oneupsmanship such as we’ ve seen this week. Forum on E m p lo ym en t Issues and S trateg ies fo r In n er NE P o rt land. The Training and Employment Division o f the City o f Portland, Human Resources Burea, will hold a community forum on December 8, 1981,6:43 pm-8:3O pm at the King Neighborhood Facility (Cafetorium). For further information contact Jimmy Brown at 248-4914 or 248-4474. Public Hearing on Aging. The Area Agency on Aging will hold a public hearing on the C om m unity Discussion D ra ft o f the Aging Policy for Portland and Multnomah County, Dec. 4, I pm, at the M att Dishman Com m unity Center, 77 N .E . K n o tt, 287-1460. Both oral and written testimony will be received at the public hearing. Written testimony c»n also be sent, until Dec. 4, 1981 to: Erma E. Hepburn, Executive Director, Hu man Resources Bureau, 322 S.W . 3th Avenue, 8th floor, Portland OR 97204. For further information call Cilla Murray, 248-4752. HOW DOES HOUSE TIGHTENING AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT? Help us to Identity the ra n g e of actions, alternatives, a n d Im p acts to b e co n sidered In the environm ental Im p a c t statem ent (IIS) on BPA's proposal to e x p a n d Its re g io n w id e residential w eath erization p ro gram We invite you to com m ent a t a p ub lic m eeting or to send your com m ents In writing Bonneville Power Administration proposes to expand its current weatherization pro gram to include energy-conserving house tightening" measures for more electrically heated homes Only about 30 percent of the homes under BPA's current program qualify for measures such as weatherstripping, caulking, storm win dows. storm doors, or outlet and switch- plate gaskets The EIS will evaluate tighten ing of the other 70 percent which are excluded due to potential problems with indoor air quality Written com m ents that will help defer mine the scope of the EIS will be received until Dec 14,1981 Comments or questions regarding the EIS should be directed to Anthony P Morrell Acting Environmental M anager BPA PO Box 3621 - SJ. Portland, OP 97208 tele phone (503) 234-3361. Ext 5137 For further Inform ation on the scoping meetings, contact our Public Involvement Coordinator, PO Box 12999. Portland. OP 97212, telephone (503) 234-3361. Ext 4261 Toll-free numbers for persons outside the Portland calling area are in Oregon 1-800-452 8429 in Washington Idaho Montana. Utah. Nevada Wyoming or C a l ifornia, 1-800-547-6048 Rem em ber. What you say counts. A public m e etin g on the scope of the EIS is scheduled for 7 30 p m Wednesday. Dec 9. in the BPA Auditorium. 1002 NE Holladay St Portland Registration will begin at 7 p m □ □ □ □ ALL NEW FUEL EFFICIENT CARS LOW DAILY RATES - FROM »19« WEEKEND RATES - ‘15°® MAJOR CREDIT CARDS OR CASH G e ttin g o u r econom y back on track w ill require the combined e ff orts o f the Congress and the A dm in is tra tio n . I ju s t hope th a t we can quit playing games and get on w ith the business o f achieving that end. From the Boardroom by Gladys McCoy, County Commissioner How I wish the fo llo w in g in fo r mation could be more pleasant, but it isn't. However, I would be remiss il I did not tell you the way it really is fo r M u llh o m a h C o u n ty . M u lt nomah C o u n ty governm en t, lik e other government units, faces hard lim es d u rin g the 1982-83 budget year I ederal and State budget cuts w ill reduce County dollars substan tia lly. M ultnom ah C ounty w ill not be able to continue to provide the same level o f services to the public as in prior years. As your County Commissioner, I am deeply concerned about overall budget cuts in C o u n ty services. However, as a Human Services ad vocate, I ant especially concerned about the proposed cuts in Human Services and Justice Service budgets during these hard economic times. It is anticipated that over $4 m illio n w ill be cut fro m the 1982 Federal/ State block grant allocation a ffe c t ing H um an Services program s alone This means some program s to be w ithdraw n fro m the C ounty Human Services budget include: Re h a b ilita tio n Services, Fam ily P lan ning, Venereal Disease C ontrol, and Im m u n iz a tio n . O f course in econom ic hard tim es, p u b lic demand for Human Services w ill ex ceed the supply o f resources because o f reduced programs. In addition to my concern for the serious reductions in H um an Ser vices. my concern fo r an improved Justice Services program is im pera tive . The C o u n ty co n tinue s to be saddled w ith overcrow ded ja ils . ( rime continues to soar some 26 per cent over 1980. A d d itio n a l C ounty dollars must be spent to make space available to house public offenders fro m a budget that is stretched as tight as it can be. Yet we must pro vide fo r the safety o f our citizens. Los desaparecidos (f ontinued from page I column ft) m ilitary and security forces. Amnesty Internation al, a v olun teer organization dedicated to free ing political prisoners, has taken the “ disappeared" as a special project for the coming year. E fforts w ill be made to publicize the fate o f in d i vidual “ desaparecidos” as well as to expose governm ents w ho practice this form o f torture. I he Portland chapter was estab lished in 1974 and through the years has been assigned fifte e n p o litic a l prisoners. Members w rite letters to the government involved always a government other than the IJ.S.— in an attem pt to have Ihe prisoner freed. I hey w rite the prisoner, rel atives, and when necessary provide financial support for relatives. I he tw o prisoners c u rre n tly as signed Io the P o rtla n d group are from Paraguay and Ethiopia. Ihe Paraguayan had been a mem ber o f the t iirnmuntst Parly, which at the tim e was legal but fo llo w in g the m ilitary coup became illegal. He also was a trade u n io n m em ber, which is often considered "s u b v e r s iv e " in nations ruled by m ilita ry d ic ta to rs h ip s . T h is man was sen fenced to five years in prison and has recently com pleted Ins lim e so P o rtla n d members o f A I hope he w ill soon be released. In the mean tim e they have helped support his mother and niece. I he Ethiopian woman is a former o ffic ia l w ith the cu rre n t g o ve rn ment's m inistry o f education but is a m em ber o f a d iffe re n t p o litic a l patty. She was imprisoned, but has “ disappeared ” I he local chapter continues to inquire o f the govern menl about her whereabouts, but do not know if she is still alive Ms. lane K ris to f, a local volun leer, invites persons who are inter esled to attend a m eeting or ca ll. Volunteers come from all walks ol life and share varied s k ills each doing what they can to bring free To do this means cutting or e lim in ating some County programs. Proposed budgetary solutions for M u ltnom ah C ounty rem ain uncer ta in since a d d itio n a l budget cuts have been proposed at both the Fed eral and State levels. A t the local level, Multnomah County must find a continuing funding source to o f f set its deficit. Possibly, revenues w ill need to be increased. Revenues can only be increased by an increase in fees or taxes. The County must find new ways to solve old problems with less dollars. You. the public, can help me find solutions I welcome public input re garding your C o u n ty d o lla rs and how they can best be managed d u r ing these hard econom ic lim es. M ultnom ah C ounty begins its bud gel process for fiscal year 1982-83 in January, 1982. I w ould appreciate receiving your suggestions, recom mendations, and comments now. It dom to a citizen o f another country. Meetings arc held al Sm ith Center, Room 230, at Portland State U n iv ersity on the firs t F rid a y o f each month at 7:30 p.m. Inform ation can be obtained fro m chairm an A llen Kingston at 773 6578. /D ra w in g : Rode M o r, fr o m A t SC "G lo b a l U pdate") City hiring ( i 'ontinued from page I column ft) lining goal lot women. H iring goals were met ot exceeded in the “ tech n ic ia n s " and “ s k ille d c ra fts ” categories with 26 technicians and 2 skilled craflsw om en hired. These categories are s till u n d e ru tiliz e d w ith 15 and 12 hires necessary to meet p a rity. A lthough women are s till u n d e ru tilize d in five categor ies o fficials/adm inistra tors, tech nicians, protective services, skilled crafts, and service m aintenance- success in hiring women and a lower turnover rate allowed net progress toward panly in all live categories. would be most helpful to me during the decision-making process. Folks, we have to get by with less! Please get involved by w riting to me direct, calling my o ffice (248-5219), or dropping by. Fred Meyer S h o p p in g C e n t e r s Æ Super Shopping Centers Help Lower Your Cost of Living . . . Your nearby Fred Meyer Super Shopping Center i. tilled with " >plp Pleasing” services to make your shopping more pleasant. Wide, spacious aisles fnendlv Helpful cletKS anu uo dc’cover parcel loading are just some of the People Pleasing sei vices to you Plus everyday low prices on thousands of items you use anu need everyday help lower your cost of living. Because we re open 9 a m. to 10 p.m daily, including Sunday, you can shop whe” von WANT to, not when you HAVE to. Come in anytime and "funshop' in a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere • Walnut Park N t . K illin g s w o rth at U nion • Interstate N Lom bard at In te rs ta te • Peninsula 6850 N Lom bard Plenty of Free and Easy Parking O pen 9 am to 10 pm d aily, in clu d in g S u n d ay. I
