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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1982)
Page 4 Portland O bserver, A pril 2 2 , 1982 EDITORI A L /O P IN IO N ® ™ ■ *■ Racial diacrim lnation ia illegal In all U.S. housing The Civil Rights Act o f 1866 pro vides that: “ A ll citizens o f the U nit ed States shall have the same right, in every State and T e rrito ry , as is enjoyed by white citizens therof to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal prop erty.” In the case o f Jones v. Mayer, de cided on June 17, 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the 1866 law prohibits " a ll racial discrimina tion, private as well as public, in the sale or rental o f property." that should be pressuring the Board and the in dividual School Board members to mediate in good fa ith —to reconsider a decision that can only divide and destroy. The elected o ffic ia ls — the C ity C ouncil, County Commission, Legislature— have a re sponsibility to attempt to avoid a tragic situa tion. The business com munity—which was so quick to come forward to oppose the termina tion o f the form er superintendent and to at tempt a recall—also has a responsibility. C onflict—which could easily become racial conflict—will leave a mark on the city that can never be erased. Not only w ill children suffer— 1968 Fair Housing Law, as amended, by the Housing and but so will business. C om m unity Developm ent A c t of The time has come for the real power struc 1974 ture to give the signal that it is time fo r the In T itle V III o f the C ivil Rights School Board to give in on this one and get on Act o f 1968 (the Fair Housing Law), Congress declared a national policy with operating the School District. Good luck, Blazers Portland’ s basketball entree in the National Basketball Association did not make the playoffs this year. Many people feel let down because o f the ir fa ilu re to make the second season. Portlanders should be proud o f their franchise and should note that there are many teams in other cities that have never won a cham pionship and hardly ever get in the playoffs. In ju rie s and retirem ent hu rt this year’ s progress and rookies take time to adjust to this level o f play. But the Blazer management w ill rise to the occasion and w ill d ra ft or buy additional players to fit into their plans and with the city’s support we w ill see a champion ship banner raised again soon. Good season guys, we know we’ ll make it next year. Next season w ill p roba bly fin d James W orthy, Ralph Sampson, Clark Kellogg and maybe even Pat Ewing on some N B A team. The game gets better and better. Make sure you keep your season ticket. I t ’ s your addmission to excitement. Good luck. Blazers. um i*o ukc* r o c c e tmosa T U R K e rc PISRMPT O U R M C C T lM fr THIS T I K C t Recently I had a conversation with a close friend about the viru lence o f anti-wom an, anti-poor, anti-Black, etc., attitudes and ac tions on the part o f the men in power in the White House and Con gress. She said to me that these peo ple, if allowed to do as they wish, would reinstitute slavery. I said the people o f this country would never let that happen again. I am writing this letter to inform you and your readers of proposed federal regulations which would bring us a form o f slavery. Reagan’s budge, would save 5700 million by doing the following: Once a child turns 16, take the mother o ff the ADC grant. Reduce A D C grants dollar for dollar by the amount of any energy U P « U w Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association =4 ■' ■ ™ cause slave labor would undercut the regular work force. This unpaid labor would not even come near present minimum wage standards. A two-person household on ADC receives less than $300. What we need in this country is an economy o f fu ll em ploym ent, w ith parent controlled, non-racist, non-sexist child care. Not slavery. The $700 m illio n supposedly saved, by the way, is one o f the figures proposed by Reagan for aid to the repressive government o f El Salvador. Please, while the federal budget is being considered, write or call our Senators, Packwood and Hatfield, and our Congressmen, AuCoin and Wyden (in the Portland area,. We must speak out now. peh Attoclallon - Founded 7M5 arrests. Sixty per cent o f Portland ers killed by police in the past 10 years have been black. Most o f the brutal, abusive officers are still on the force. With only 5 per cent o f color and 7 per cent women, the "n e w ” chief and mayor oppose affirm ative ac tion. More than ever, people of col or, women, lesbians and gays, poli- I t ’ s about time Portland Police were watchdogged by some sort o f Citizen review board. Mayor Ivan- cie assures us, after a year o f police scandal over racist possum in c i dents, illegal drug busts, and $50 m illion in anti-police lawsuits, that miraculously since the mayor took over the bureau, i t ’ s "responsive and conscientious,” without need for civilian review. The U.S Department o f Justice is now investigating police abuse o f black citizens beaten, falsely arrest (Continued fro m page I col. 6) ed, and racially slurred by Portland jection o f society, serious personal police. A 1982 Portland M etropoli problems, depression or family cri tan Human Relations Commission sis. Every year one m illio n young study showed that Blacks, Latinos, sters run away from home. The Native and Asian Americans, and teen-age suicide rate increases each women are discriminated against in year. •Eleven per cent o f the students in grades 7-9 and 15 per cent in grades 10-12 sufier from alcoholism. Sev enty-two per cent o f high school stu Portland Observer The P o rtla n d Observer (U S P S 959 6801 is published every Thursday by E«ie Publiehing Company, Inc . 2201 North Killing« worth. Portland. Oregon 97217. Post Office Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97206 Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon. A . Lee Henderson, Publisher A t McGilberry, Managing Editor A ! Williams, Advertising Manager Ih The e C O complaint IIIp lil may be referred by HUD to a State or local agency that administers a law w ith rights and remedies which are substantially equivalent to those o f the Federal law. I f (he State or local agency does not commence proceedings w ithin 30 days and carry them forw ard with reasonable promptness, HU D may require the case to be returned. In any case, the complainant w ill be notified o f the type o f action to be taken. Upon receipt o f a com plaint, HUD will furnish a copy to the per son charged with the discriminatory act. The person charged may then file an answer in w ritin g , which should also be notarized. Court action by an individual A person may take a com plaint directly to the U.S. District Court or State or local court under Section 812, within 180 days o f the alleged discriminatory act, whether or not a complaint has been filed with HUD. In appropriate cases, an attorney may be appointed for the complain ant and the payment o f fees, costs, or security can be waived. I f H U D or the State or local agency is unable to obtain voluntary compliance, the complainant may file suit in the appropriate U.S. Dis trict Court. The court can grant permanent or temporary injunctions, temporary restraining orders or other appro priate relief. It may award actual damages and not more than $1,000 in punitive damages. The courts are also directed to expedite cases under Section 812 and assign them for hearing at the earliest practical date. Court action by the attorney general Inform ation about possible dis crimination in housing may also be brought to the attention o f the A t torney (general. I f the resulting in vestigation indicates that there is a pattern or practice o f resistance to fu ll enjoyment o f rights granted under Title V III, or that a group of persons has been denied such rights and the denial raises an issue o f gen eral public importance, the A tto r ney (iencral may bring court action to ensure fu ll enjoyment o f the r,^ht> granted by Title VII. How the 1866 Civil Rights Law is enforced The 1866 C ivil Rights Law p ro vides a quick, direct method o f ob taining a remedy against racial dis crim in a tio n in housing: the com plainant may take the case directly to a Federal court. The court could stop the sale or rental o f the desired housing to someone else. It could make it pos sible for the complainant to buy or rent the desired housing. It could award damages and court costs or take other appropriate action o f benefit to the complainant. NfwyiM* / 1961 I H , 283 -2 4 8 6 National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. New York tical dissidents and striking worke need citizen control o f police. Mo than the "auditing commission” o dinance now before C ity Counci we need a board selected by groui in the harassed communities wit the power to discipline, hire an fire, and set humane police policy. Adrienne Well« Portland Radical Worn« M ilitary spending harms poor Rose Gangle Subscriptions: 910 00 per year in the Tri-County area Post- m e etar Send address changes to the Portland Observer. P.O. Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208. MEMBER M M A This last proposal amounts to un co nstitu tio n a l in vo lun ta ry servi tude, or by its better known name, slavery—with the owner being the government. I t ’ s anti-w orker, be and/or; discriminatory advertising is used; Single-Family houses not owned by private individuals; Single-Family houses owned by a private individual who owns more than three such houses or who, in any two-year period, sells more than one in which the individual was not the most recent resident; M u lt(fa m ily dwellings o f five or more units; M u ltifam ily dwellings containing fo u r or fewer u nits, i f the owner does not reside in one o f the units. Act not prohibited by the 1968 Fair Houeing Law The follow ing acts are not cov ered by the Fair Housing Law. It is im portant to remember, however, that these acts are covered by the 1866 C ivil Rights A ct when discrim ination based on race occurs in con nection with such acts. The sale or rental or single-family houses owned by a private individu al o f three or fewer such single fam ily houses if : a broker is not used; discrim inatory advertising is o f providing fair housing through not used; and, no more than one out the United States. This law house in which the owner was not makes discrimination based on race, the most recent resident is sold dur color, religion, sex, o f national o ri ing any two-year period. gin illegal in connection w ith the Rentals o f rooms or units in sale or rental o f most housing and any vacant land offered for residen owner-occupied mulfidwellings for two to four families, if discrim in tial construction or use. atory advertising is not used. A cts prohibited by the Fair Limiting the sale, rental, or occu Housing Law pancy o f dwellings which a religious The Fair Housing Law provides organization owns or operates for protection against the fo llo w in g other than a commercial purpose to acts, if they are based on race, col persons o f the same religion, if or, religion, sex, or national origin: membership in that religion is not Refusing to sell or rent to, deal or restricted on account o f race, color negotiate with any person; discrim or national origin. inating in terms or conditions fo r Lim iting to its own members the buying or renting housing; discrim rental or occupancy o f lodgings inating by advertising that housing which a private club owns or oper is available only to persons o f a cer ates fo r other than a commercial tain race, color, religion, sex, or na purpose. tional origin; denying that housing How the Fair Housing Law is is available for inspection, sale or enforced rent when it really is available; D iscrim inatory acts covered by "b lo c k b u s tin g ” — fo r p ro fit, per suading owners to sell or rent hous the Fair Housing Law can be report ed to: Fair Housing, c /o the nearest ing by telling them that m in o rity groups are moving into the neigh HUD Regional Office. borhood; denying or making d iffe r The com plainant may state a ent terms or conditions fo r home complaint in a letter or use a com loans by commercial lenders, such plaint fo rm . The com plaint form as banks, savings and loan associa may be obtained from the nearest tions and insurance companies; HUD Office. Complaints should be denying to anyone the use o f or par notarized, if possible, and must be ticipation in any real estate services, sent to HUD within 180 days o f the such as brokers’ organizations, mul alleged discriminatory act. tiple listing services or other fa c ili I f the d iscrim in a to ry act is ties related to the selling or renting covered by the law, H U D w ill o f housing. investigate the co m plaint. I f the Housing covered by the 1968 Fair Secretary decides to resolve the Housing Lew com plaint, H U D may attempt in Prohibitions contained in the Fair formal, confidential conciliation to Housing Law apply to the following end (he d iscrim in a to ry housing types o f housing: practice; or, inform the complain Single-Family housing owned by ant o f his or her right to seek imme- private individuals when: a broker d ia te co urt action. In appropriate or other person in the business o f cases, HUD may refer the complaint selling or renting dwellings is used to the Attorney General. To the editor: Federal regulations affect Oregon families assistance received. This in effect means no energy assistance for mothers and children on ADC. This is not proposed for low-income el derly. O bviously the elderly s,ill- have some advocates. Please, would people advocate fo r women and children too? Freeze funding for school lunch programs. Combine child care and school breakfast programs and refer them to the states for block grants, with 20 per cent less funding. Require m andatory work, without pay or benefits, by ADC re cipients for public agencies or p ri vate non-profit agencies. a n d / o r - d i s r r i m i n a t n r v a d v e r ti« in a Portland Police need watchdog committee Letters to the Editor To the editor: April A pril is is hair Fair Housinu Housing Month. Month. The The follow ing is an explanation o f the two major Federal laws dealing with d iscrim in atio n in housing in the United States. Thank you, Jackson! The students o f Jackson High School, who staged a one-day boycott to support the Black community and to protest the closure o f their own school, took a step that should be followed by Portland’s white community. The School Board has made an arbitrary deci sion that is opposed by the Black community. It refuses to reconsider. It has sent its Superinten dent out to begin meaningless mediation—one way mediation that recalls the one-way busing it forced on the community for years. It has re quested a court injunction to deny the commu nity its only voice— peaceful, non-violent pro test. Where is the white community? Where is the League o f Women Voters, the Ecumenical M in istries, Schools fo r the C ity, the Jewish Womens’ Federation, the unions, the PTA, etc., etc.? These, and others, are the organizations Live where you want to live Register and Vote. dents drink, 34 per cent smoke mari juana, 12 per cent take stimulants and 5 per cent use cocaine. •According to the FBI every two seconds a crime is committed; every 8 seconds an assault or robbery; every 28 seconds a car theft; every 48 seconds an assault and battery; every 58 seconds a holdup; every 6 seconds a rape; and every 23 seconds a murder. S ubscribe to d a y l R eceive yo u r O bserver by m ail. O n ly $10 per year N am e _ A ddress C ity_____ S ta te P ortland O bserver Box 3137 P o rtlan d , O R 97208 Zip I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I