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C r jr o n &74 j 3
Dr. M artin Luther King, Jr.
Observer
1981 Citizen
Achievement
Awards
Skating
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Page 1 & 3
PORTLAND OBSERVER
January 14, 1982
Volume XII, Number 14
January 14, 1982
Two Sections
Dr. King's dream fading
••I
. we must sue
“ I believe we —a
can,
ceed, we must continue to replace
despair with hope in those who have
been and continue to be the victims
o f d is c rim in a tio n ," C iv il Rights
Commission Chairman A rth u r J.
Flemming told a Portland audience
Monday.
The chairman, who was recently
fired by President Reagan fo r his
strong support o f civil rights, said
the nation is at the crossroads with
respect to the human rights and civil
rights movements. We are " c o n
fronted with a icgressivc movement
in the era o f civil rights."
1 4
DR ARTHUR J FLEM M IN G
Following the C ivil War and the
adoption o f the 13th, 14th and 15th
Amendments, Congress passed laws
that recognized the responsibility
and obligation o f the federal gov
ernment to take the lead in imple
menting these rights. Soon a fter—
during the post-reconstruction peri
od—the government turned its back
on its responsibilities and obliga
tions and the nation accepted "sep
arate but equal."
This period lasted until the 1954
Brown decision, which was follower
by a series o f civil rights legisla'ior,
including the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
"T h e nation has reasonably good
laws and very good court decisions,
but now is engaged in implementing
those laws and court decisions."
"Y ou can't implement civil rights
■
. . . .
laws and decisions without disturb
ing the status q u o ," Flemming ex
plained. “ When you disturb the sta
tus quo you create opposition be
cause some persons have a stake in
preserving the status quo. They
want to preserve it at all costs.”
It is out o f this opposition that re
gressive movements develop. The
opposition has a well-defined strat
egy that involves id e n tify in g the
methods needed to implement civil
rights laws and then to do every
thing possible to weaken or elimin
ate those methods.
The strategy o f the regressive
movement includes placing riders on
appropriations bills. For example,
"anti-busing" riders are attached to
education bills to prevent courts
from ordering busing—one o f the
necessary moves to providing for
desegregation.
In past years this strategy has
been unsuccessful because it was op
posed by the a dm inistration. In
1980, President Carter vetoed an an-
li-busiug measure. The Reagan ad
ministration supports anti-desegre
gation and anti-affirm ative action
legislation.
Evidence o f the Reagan adminis
tration leadership in the regressive
movement is a recent decision by the
Internal Revenue Service that w ill
allow non-profit tax-exempt status
to schools that
for
rea
---- -- discriminate
------
.wi IM-
sons o f race or religion. "Taxpayers
who support the federal government
w ill be supporting discrim inatory
policy in private schools___Now if
a private school wants to follow a
policy o f segregation it can enjoy a
tax-exempt status."
The executive board also has indi
cated it is considering a suit to re
verse the Weber decision— an im
portant Supreme C ourt decision
that supports voluntary affirmative
action plans. The adm inistratio n
has expressed its opposition to a ffir
mative action as a tool to achieve
equal employment opportunity.”
Flemming emphasized that the
people do not have to accept the
idea that the nation is going into a
"p o s t-re c o n s tru c tio n " era again.
“ There is a tremendous opportunity
to generate grass-roots support and
Washington w ill liste n ." This sup
port should come from the thou
sands o f citizens who have exper
ienced the benefits o f school deseg
regation and from employers who
have successfully and a ffirm a tive
action.
Flemming, who continues as
Chairman o f the Civil Rights Com
mission until his successor is named
and approved by the Senate, has ac
cepted a position as director o f the
C o a litio n fo r Q u a lity Integrated
Education—a broadly based organi
zation that w ill organize opposition
to anti-desegregation moves.
Flemming was informed by tele
phone that he was to be removed
from the Commission. A ll Commis
sioners serve at the pleasure o f the
President. He was o rig in a lly ap
pointed by Richard Nixon and
served during the Ford and Carter
administrations.
This summer, under his direction,
the Commission published a study
o f the effects o f Reagan’s proposed
budget on civil rights and programs
designed to implement equal oppor
tunity. The report included the im
pact on personnel costs in the en
forcement agencies such as the
Equal Employment O p p o rtu n ity
Commission and the Labor Bureau;
the impact o f budget cuts on pro
grams related to opening opportun
ities fo r minorities such as CETA,
Legal Services C orporation, Com
munity Health Centers, education,
federally subsidized housing, etc.,
and the impact o f block grants. " I n
stitutio n o f block grants to states
without strict federal guidelines will
have a serious impact on T itle VI
which makes it illegal to discrimin
ate in the delivery o f services."
Flemming spoke to approximate
ly 360 persons who gathered to hon
or the 1981 Peyton Award Winner,
Father Bertram G riffin o f St. A n
drew Catholic Church. The annual
award is sponsored by the M etro
politan Human Relations Commis
sion.
sion.
Observer
Annual
Citizen
Achievement
Awards
Woman of the Year
Man of the Year
Long Service
Linda Williams
When Linda W illiam s came to
Portland from Mtssissipppi in 1979
lor a reporting job at the Oregoni
an, " I 'd heard it was a progressive
city and a progressive stale." Since
then she’s changed her mind.
" I have been unpleasantly sur
prised by some things. Portland is
more conservative on social things,
like racial relations, than it likes Io
a d m it," she says. "A n d I did not
expect to be called names on the
street."
Williams has also run up against
criticism o f her professional work in
Portland. As the Oregonian’s City
Hall reporter, she was smack in the
middle o f the mayor's reaction to
the 'possum incident and the result
ant reinstatement o f two policemen
temporarily fired for their involve-
Please turn Io page V
Ronnie Herndon
Ronnie Herndon, 36, was raised
in t oftccville, Kansas by his grand
parents. A fter high school he spent
three years as a Vista volunteer in
l ast Harlem . W hile considering
plans to complete his college educa
tion, an older sister advised Hern
don to attend the best school he
could find—perhaps a small college.
At that time Reed College had
scholarships for Black students so
Herndon applied and was accepted.
" I was quickly disappointed. They
glorified Europeans, saw no need to
study anyone but Europeans, and
then there was the usual institution
al racism.”
Herndon, with others, fought to
have a Black Studies program at
Reed. Their efforts included a build
ing takeover.
Please turn to page V
Ruth Haefner
At 88, Ruth Haefner is supposed
to be retired. But she’s too busy. A
founding member o f the Oregon
Gray Panthers, she joined national
president Maggie Kuhn and others
in picketing the W hite House Con
ference on Aging last fall in W ash
ington. D C .. charging the Reagan
adm inistratio n w ith stacking the
delegation.
" I hey weren't doing anything
and the administration isn’ t doing
anything. In fact they’ re going to
take things away,” she succinctly
declares.
A ttacking Reagan's policies
toward seniors is only the most re
cent in Ms. Haeliier's long lifetime of
social activism. Starting with her
1937 move to Oregon from Iowa
(her birthplace), she was a home
Please turn io page 9