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PORTLAND OBSERVER
March 4 , 1962
Volume X II, Number 21
250 Per Copy
Tw o Sections
USPS 959-680-855
Rep. Cherry quits
State Representative H o w ard
Cherry has announced that he will
not seek re-election to a seventh
term in the Oregon Leg islatu re.
Cherry, 66, was elected to the House
in 1970 and currently serves a North
Portland district.
Cherry is a former School Board
member and a member o f the board
o f Portland C o m m u n ity C ollege.
During his tenure in the legislature
his major interest has been in educa
tion.
The reap p o rtio nm en t plan ap
proved by the Legislature last sum
mer, which C h erry app ro ved ,
placed much o f his former district in
District 18, the district that includes
most o f the Black c o m m u n ity .
Cherry shares the new district 17,
which encompasses St. Johns to 1-5
with Rep. Jim Chrest.
Chrest has since decided to run
S o u th e a s t A sian c h ild re n rec e iv e a fe w m om ents of English language.
(Photo: Claudia H owell, Oregon Journal}
Living the life o f a refugee
by Harris Levon McRae
Have you ever stopped to think
about what you would do and how
you would feel if you found yourself
on the streets o f a cou n try where
you knew next to nothing about the
language or the culture o f (he people
there? Think and then think again,
for there are a lot o f people in that
very situation today— we call them
“ refugees.”
Leaving one’s country has to be
one o f the hardest decisions a per
son can be forced to make. It means
breaking away from all one knows
about how to earn a living and fit
into society. Even if the change to a
new way o f life is successfully man
aged, for the refugee the shock o f
loss remains.
Refugees are a worldwide “ prob
lem .” and new refugees are fleeing
'heir homelands every day. Portland
has an Indochinese population o f
more than 16,000. T o d ay 's story
will concentrate on the Indochinese
refugees.
More often thatn not, a refugee is
an unwanted person. She or he
needs the help o f others without al
ways having m uch, o r even any
thing, sometimes, to give in return.
A m erica's a ilin g econom y, tight
housing m arket and rising unem
ployment rate all make the refugees'
attempt to resettle even more d iffi
cult. If after resettlement, a refugee
finds a jo b , works hard and be
comes successful, there is the antag
onism from A m erica's own poor
(hat refugees take local jobs and ser
vices from them:
“ These people are the new niggers
— they are taking low-paying jobs
and working long hours."
" I don’t mind them coming over
here— I just wish A m erica would
take care o f its own people first.*’
"Things are already too tight and
tough as it is for us to be bringing
other folks here to feed and shel
ter.”
M any o f the refugees w ith jobs
are working at levels considerably
below those they had held or were
trained in in their homelands. You
find teachers washing dishes, gen
erals working in garment factories—
anything to make a living.
“ Most employers won’t hire peo
ple that they have problems commu
nicating w ith,” says Katie Blachly, a
supervisor for Oregon Slate C h il
drens Services Division. Childrens
Services has a special m ulti-lingual
staff for helping refugees and their
children. “ Refugees are another
group o f Oregonians suffering from
lack o f jobs. They have to compete
with people that have high school
and college in this country. They arc
hard-working people. M any had to
work hard every day in the m oun
tains just to live. Every single person
that I talked to through the in te r
preter says that they want w o rk—
but there are no jobs.”
The Indochinese refugees deal
w ith the lack o f jobs in various
ways. Usually there are two or three
families living in the same residence.
They combine their food and the lit
tle money that they get from welfare
to survive.
"There is a real determination to
survive. There is a lot o f tightness
and helping each other out. I f one
person gets a jo b then they help
everyone else. They have survived
w ar, escaped death, and survived
the Thai camps,” says C arol H a l
vorson, who teaches English as a
Second Language to Laotian refu
gees at Pioneer Methodist Church.
“ They are determined to learn Eng
lish and there is a willingness to
work any job at any hour.”
To add to the economic woes o f
the Indochinese refugees, tw o-par
ent households are being cut o ff of
(Please turn to page 7 column /)
for Labor Commissioner.
Cherry told the Observer that his
main reason for not seeking reelec
tion is that “ it is not fun anymore.
There is too much squabbling and
infighting.”
The job has also become too time-
consuming. The 1981 session lasted
seven months, and because Cherry
is in the Ways and Means C om m it
tee he spent six weeks in Salem for
the special session. “ It is just not
worth it .” Cherry added that many
o f the things he had hoped to do—
especially in education— have now
been accomplished. Cherry is a full
time practicing physician.
Rep. Wally Priestley, who moved
to District 17 from District 18, ex
pects to file for the position. Also
rumored to be interested in the seat
is Michael Burton. Filing deadline is
5:00 pm Tuesday, March 9th.
REP. H O W A R D CHERRY
Community responds to PDC plan
The Northeast community will re
spond to the Portland Development
C o m m is s io n ’ s “ R eco m m end ed
Economic Developm ent Program
for the Northeast Target A rea” to
day, Thursday, M arch 4th , before
the City Council.
Follow ing presentation o f the
proposal to inner Northeast groups
in September, the Northeast C o ali
tion o f N eighborhood O rg a n iza
tions formed an Economic Develop
ment Task Force to study the propo
sals and make recommendations.
C om m unity groups involved in
the Task Force include the Black
U nited F ro n t, A lb in a M in iste ria l
A llia n c e , A .M .A . C h ild C are ,
C R IB , U rban League, N A A C P ,
Fair Share and Portland Communi
ty College-Cascade. Coalition parti
cipants represent King, E lio t, C on
cordia, Piedmont, Sabin, Boise and
H u m b old t neighborhoods. The
Northeast Business Boosters, the
Albina/Killingsworth Businessmen's
Alliance have also participated.
The Coalition expressed its inter
est in being a part o f the city’s plan
ning process. “ W ith o u t the resi
dents as critical partners with busi
ness and government, residents as
well as the C ity cannot anticipate
op tim al results.” Acknow ledging
the work o f the professional plan
ners, they added, “ It is not our in
tention to reject any o f them out o f
hand, but to build on them to more
completely serve our total commu
nity, business and residential.”
P riorities o f the C o a litio n and
participating organizations are:
1) Neighborhood hiring program;
2) Preservation o f existing busi
ness and housing stock;
3) Effective citizen involvement in
decision making;
4) Encouragement o f new local la
bor-intensive biftiness.
Specific criticisms o f the P D C
plan include:
•T h e plan is incomplete and not
sensitive to the actual needs o f the
community.
•V ita l citizens participation and
action are not included in the Plan.
References to “ citizens committee”
are too vague.
• In its current level o f detail there
are not safeguards or points o f ac
cou n tab ility for actions taken by
P D C or agents contracted w ith to
implement actions. There is no re
course or appeal proces built into a
policy which would be adopted as a
City policy.
•T h e budget needs m odification
in order to actually support the ex
pressed objectives.
•D e ta ils and com m itm ents for
hiring agreements and training
mechanisms are lacking.
•Substantial land-use surveying
has been done— fu rth er surveys
need not be funded.
•Expressed support o f existing
business in the target area is only
weakly supported in the action
plans.
•T h e re is no access to funds fo r
businesses not owning land.
Am endm ents to the P D C plan
w ould emphasize h irin g o f neigh
borhood residents, especially non
whites; w ould extend aid to those
businesses that already have a rec
ord o f neighborhood reinvestment;
would emphasize property mainten
ance; and w ould aid B lack-owned
businesses. The effect is to "insure”
rather than "a llo w " benefits to cur
rent residents and businesses.
The C o alitio n advocates “ C om
m unity D evelopm ent” as opposed
to "Economic Development.” This
would address physical appearance,
maintenance, self-image, business—
all dependent on employment.
Decisions that involve economic
investment cannot be made without
considering housing, an area not ad
dressed by the P D C plan.
Spokespersons said the P D C plan
could be made to meet some o f the
com m u nity’ s needs provided the
proposed amendments are made.
Without these amendments the plan
is seen as insufficient and unrealist
ic. Without wide community support
it will meet the same fate as previous
proposals.
Chamber of Commerce editor rebuffs AFSC, visits South Africa
Efforts o f a delegation from the
American Friends Service Com m it
tee (AFSC) to discuss with Chamber
o f Commerce representative Rolv
Schillios his visit to South Africa re
sulted in frustration, charges o f har
assment and even subtle im p lic a
tions o f communism.
Schillios, a C ham ber o f C o m
merce staff member, editor o f the
organization’s magazine, Portland,
and m anager o f pu b licatio n s, is
Honorary Consul for South Korea.
AFSC learned of the pending visit
to South A fric a by Schillios and
State Treasurer Clay Myers through
an anonymous letter.
AFSC representatives David Lan
sky, June U p h o ff and E lizabeth
G ro ff, and Norm Monroe o f the U r
ban League, talked with Schillios on
I
February 10th. Schillios* response
to this visit and the information on
the South A frica regime they fu r
nished him can best be understood
from the exchange o f correspond
ence that followed.
F o llow ing are excerpts from
Schillios' letter written the day o f
the visit, a visit that was tape record
ed by Schillios.
“ I must characterize your visit to
my office as being one o f protest in
light o f your also enlisting the U r
ban League in this visitation and in
making nine phone calls earlier. It
becomes a question as to when such
pressures constitute both an inva
sion of my privacy and harassment,
neither o f which seems in keeping
with the hum an itarian projection
w ith which you seek to be id e n ti
fied.”
Schillios stated that he had been
invited by a p rivate group. “ It
would be discourteous o f me not to
accept such an in v ita tio n from an
o rg an izatio n whose country is a
member o f the United Nations and
an essential trad in g partner for a
West which seeks to remain free o f
C om m unism .. . .
"International trade should be of
concern to every Oregonian: it pro
vides one out o f every 10 jobs for
this state and we can ill afford to in
sult nations arbitrarily because their
internal maters are not in keeping
with the so-called ‘ Friends’ o f Am
erica or others.”
Although Schillios would not ac
cept an article for Oregon magazine
outlining the apartheid policies o f
South Africa, he invited M onroe to
write an article on employment.
"Im p ro vin g employment oppor
tunities is o f concern to the Portland
C ham ber o f C om m erce, which
seeks to create a wholesome climate
for the benefit o f all Oregonians. It
is only in this connection that I in
vited M r. Monroe, as a responsible
head o f an organization, to author
an article on employment needs o f
up to 1 .(MX) words for the A p ril o f
M ay issue o f the P o rtla n d M a g a
zine, if he elects to do so. W e use
photographs o f our authors and bio
sketches supplied by them ."
The AFSC delegation responded:
“ F irs t, why are you, a public
figure in our com m unity, going to
South Africa at the invitation and at
the expense of a South African pro
motional organization? We are con
fused by statements which you have
made to us that at one tim e have
suggested that the trip is political, at
another time business, and another
tim e that it is neither. W e arc
further confused by your acceptance
o f the invitation in relation to your
public role as Dean o f the Oregon
C onsular C orp s, by the fact that
you are accom panying the State
Treasurer on the trip, and that you
have discussed with us the im port
ance o f trade to Oregon in relation
ship to the trip.
"Secondly, you have stated that
the trip has no p o litic a l im p lic a
tions. We disagree. South A fric a ,
because o f its systematic exclusion
o f Blacks, is under heavy political
and economic pressure from nations
around the w o rld and from the
U n ite d N ations to make basic
changes in its structures. As a result,
South A frican institutions spend a
great deal o f money to bring select
ed foreigners to South A fric a to
convince them that South A frica is
humane and deserving o f un d er
standing and support. Such promo
tional visits are, therefo re, highly
political in intent and in results.
“ T h ird ly , you have indicated to
us your personal desire to see South
A frica. As a guest o f the Southern
A frica Forum , a group established
to improve South A fric a ’ s interna
tional image, how can you expect to
see the tragic reality that is South
Africa? What steps have you taken
to go beyond the contacts which the
(Please turn to Section II. page 5)