Page 4 Portland Observer, June 30, 1982
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Middle school best for Adams
The School Board w ill soon determine the
fu tu re use o f the John Adams H igh School
b u ild in g . Some o f the most frequently dis­
cussed options are: reopening the building as a
neighborhood high school w ith a vocational
emphasis; using it fo r C o lu m b ia /W h ita k e r
Middle School; leasing it to Portland Commu­
nity College; renting it or leasing it fo r non­
school use.
Adams is by far the d istrict’ s best building
and is considered by many to be one o f the fin ­
est school buildings in the nation. It must be
retained for public school use.
Portland Com m unity College continues to
express interest in a cq uiring the b u ild in g ,
promising to expand and enhance vocational
programs now housed at the Cascade campus.
There is no doubt that John Adams HS would
provide beautiful facilities fo r PCC, but we
believe that the current Cascade Campus can
accomodate facilities for their new program.
Also, there is a serious question regarding the
commitment to the former Model Cities com­
munity made when the college accepted nearly
three-quarters o f a m illion dollars to establish
the Cascade Campus. This money was given at
great sacrifice to other programs and projects
with the belief that the vocational programs to
be provided by a community college would be
an asset to the community’s young people.
There has been much discussion over the
years about how w ell that com m itm ent has
been kept. The general consensus o f commu­
nity and students alike is that it has not— that
Cascade has been the orphan o f the PCC sys­
tem. H o p e fu lly , w ith a new president, that
trend has been reversed. But the commitment
to o ffe r q u a lity educational program s fo r
Model Cities residents and to be a positive in­
fluence in the com m unity should be carried
out at the existing campus.
The best use fo r the Adams bu ild ing is to
house C o lu m b ia /W h ita k e r M id d le School.
This school is now located at tw o campuses,
both in dangerous, industrial areas far from
the c h ild re n ’ s homes. Placing the schools at
Adams would allow most children to walk to
school, would elim inate high transportation
costs, would avoid the shuttling o f staff from
one campus to the other, and would provide
an excellent facility fo r the middle school stu­
dents.
This building, w ith its shapes, auditorium ,
playing fields and adjoining park would be the
perfect site for C olum bia/W hitaker—a middle
school that has been neglected. W ith a facility
like Adams available children should not have
to go to school amid trains, trucks and indus­
trial plants.
Whether the building w ill ever be used as a
high school again is pure speculation, but the
need fo r facilities fo r C olum bia/W hitaker is
real and immediate.
Congressman Ron Dellums of
California will ba the featured
speaker for the Observer'»
Achievement Awards Banquet
on July IBth at tha Hilton Hotel.
Honorees are: Earl Wantland,
president. Tektronix; V.F. Book­
er, president. American State
Bank; Harry Qllckman. execu­
tive vice-president of the Trail­
blazer«; Cora Smith, owner of
Cora Smith Hair Design; State
Representative Gretchen Ka-
foury; County Executive Don
Clark; City Commissioner
Charles Jordan; Edna Robert­
son, Coordinator for the North­
east District Neighborhood Of­
fice. Woman of tha Year: Linda
Williams, The Oregonian; Msn of
the Year. Ron Herndon, co-
chairman, Black United Front;
Outstanding Community Ser­
vice: Ruth Haefner.
The banquet will be held at
7:00 with no-host cocktail hour
preceding
T ictaets are available at tha Obser­
ver office, Stevens & Sons. Meier
and Frank, and Houee of Sound.
CONGRESSMAN RON DELLUMS
The debt trap
Athletes sacrifice for liberation
Much ado is being made about the South
A fric a n athletes c u rre n tly v is itin g Oregon
State University wrestling coach Dale Thomas.
South A frica is barred from all recognized
amateur sport and any athlete that competes
with a South A frica n is barred from amateur
competition for life. Thomas, as a representa­
tive o f our state and o f OSU, has repeatedly
insulted all o f us by his relationship with South
Africa.
Now that some South A frica n athletes are
visiting Thomas, there is great sympathy ex­
pressed for the black athletes. Now that blacks
are allowed to participate on some teams, they
are being punished along with the white play­
ers. F irst barred by apartheid in th e ir own
cou ntry and now by a U nited Nations rule,
they seem to get it both ways. The fact that
young people cannot be allowed to compete
fu lly is a sad commentary on society.
The answer is not to l i f t the ban against
South African participation, however. As long
as apartheid is the law in that nation the rest o f
the world must find every way possible to pro­
test. The ban on athletic competition is an im ­
portant protest.
Those bla ck South A fric a n athletes who
fin d themselves in the middle must sacrifice
the joys o f international competition but their
sacrifice is small when compared to the sacri­
fice o f those in South A fric a and throughout
the world who give their lives for freedom and
justice.
Letters to the Editor
Jewish group opposes Lebanon invasion
To the editor:
As a local chapter o f a national
Jewish progressive o rg a n iza tio n ,
P o rtlan d New Jewish Agenda
wishes to respond p u b licly to the
new crisis in the M id d le East. W e
wish to add our voice to those call­
ing for a comprehensive negotiated
settlement o f the Israeli-A rab con­
flict.
The fo llo w in g statem ent was
adopted at the chapter’s last general
meeting, June 27th.
We are uncom promisingly com­
mitted to the survival and flourish­
ing of the Jewish State o f Israel and
believe that all fair-m inded people
must support its existence and se­
curity. We believe that a just peace
in the M id d le East can be possible
only with the mutual recognition o f
Israeli and Palestinian n atio n al
rights and the co-existence o f the
Jewish State and a Palestinian Arab
State. No less than Israel, the Pales­
tinian people has the right to self-de­
termination and an independent na­
tional existence.
We think the invasion o f Lebanon
and the continued aggression in and
around Beirut lessens the prospects
by strengthening those on both sides
wno believe a negotiated Israeli-Pal­
estinian peace is neither possible nor
desirable. We do not condone ter­
rorist acts against Israelis, but such
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actions in no way justify the current
Israeli response. The terrifying toll
o f this massive invasion in lives and
suffering will perpetuate the cycle o f
mutual mistrust and violence, add­
ing obstacles to a negotiated peace
settlement.
Although the short-term security
o f Israel has no do u bt been en­
hanced by the destruction o f P L O
centers in Lebanon and the partial
destruction ~ f the Syrian air force,
we see this invasion as contradictory
to the long-term security o f Israel.
T he long-range repercussion o f
these acts will mean greater hostility
towards Israel, the continuation o f a
catastrophic arms race between Is­
rael and the surrounding A ra b
countries, and the prolongation o f
tension and a disasterous economy
that have made life in Israel so d iffi­
cult in recent years. A lth o u g h Is ­
ra e l’ s desire fo r safe and secure
borders is understandable, a truly
secure bord er cannot be attain ed
through m ilita ry means, but only
through the establishment o f peace­
ful relationships with neighboring
states and the Palestinian people.
Even the strongest and most a d ­
vanced o f armies cannot deter a
people questing for a homeland.
Recently a prestigious study mis­
sion to the M id d le East which in ­
cluded Philip Kluznik, former presi­
dent o f the W orld Jewish Congress
and form er B’ nai Brith president,
issued a report which stated: “ In
our view, there can only be a d u r­
able peace with a negotiated settle­
ment, and there can only be a nego­
tiated settlem ent i f there is a fa ir
com prom ise between the Israelis
and Palestinians. A winner-take-all
solution favoring the more powerful
party will perpetuate conflict.”
We strongly concur.
We urge both Jews and non-Jews
who support a peace initiative in the
M id d le East to express themselves
everywhere and in particular to the
Israeli am bassador and the U .S .
State Department calling for an im ­
mediate ceasefire, withdrawal o f Is­
raeli and Syrian troops from Leban­
on and the commencement o f inter­
nationally supervised negotiations
toward providing a national home­
land fo r the Palestinian people as
well as security for the Jewish na­
tional homeland o f Israel.
Portland New Jewish Agenda
F or your information:
Am bassador Moshe Arens, O f ­
fice o f the Israeli Embassy, 3514 In ­
te rn a tio n a l D riv e , W ashington,
D .C . 20008.
The Secretary o f S tate, U .S .
D ep a rtm en t o f S tate, 2201 “ C ”
Street N W , W ash in g to n , D .C .
20520.
Portland Observer
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(
by Manning Marable
“’From The Grassroots”
The current economic recession
has become a depression for black
A m erica. M ost black economists
and C iv il Rights leaders have a t­
tacked the Reagan Administration’s
austere fiscal and social policies for
worsening an already terrible eco­
nomic c o n d itio n fo r blacks. The
majority o f this group targets one is­
sue, unemployment, as the central
dilemma for government action. Yet
even i f C E T A and other jo b p ro ­
grams were restored to former lev­
els, another m ajor problem would
still exist that undermines the stabil­
ity o f black, Hispanic and working
class households. This underpubli­
cized problem is consumer debt.
For all Americans, indebtedness
has become virtually a way o f life.
Installment credit increased $20 bil­
lion in 1981, to $333 billion. When
combined with home mortgages, the
total personal debt is a staggering
$1.5 trillio n . In growing numbers,
thousands o f Americans have been
forced into bankruptcy courts. In
1978, 179,194 declared bankruptcy;
last year, the num ber soared to
456,914. Current estimates for the
number o f persons who are in se­
rious financial debt— on the verge
o f b an kru p tcy— have now passed
4.5 b illion. M illion s o f others sur­
vive by "kitin g credit” — borrowing
from one credit card to pay o ff
another creditor. W ith over 10 m il­
lion Americans out o f work, the im­
mediate prospects for many more
bankruptcies seem likely.
Indebtedness is a special problem
fo r lower income people— non-
unionized blue collar w orkers,
blacks, and single women with chil­
dren. Black families below the pov­
erty level had a median annual in ­
come deficit of $2261 in 1978, com­
pared to median income deficit o f
$1753 fo r poor whites. 261,000
black families owed $3,OOO-$3,999.
146,000 were in debt between
$4,000-$4,999, and another 182,000
were behind by $5,000 or more. For
black families with related children
under the age o f 18 in 1978, the me­
dian income debt was almost four
thousand d ollars. Black fam ilies
with female heads were in debt by
$2,440. 215,000 black female-head­
ed households owed $3,000-$3,999,
and 262,000 were in debt by at least
$4,000.
The Reagan Recession has in ­
creased the necessity for black and
working class households to go into
debt in order to m ain tain fo o d ,
clothing and shelter. In the 1973-75
recession, over 75 per cent of all un­
em ployed workers received some
kind o f federal or state compensa­
tion. Under Reagan, that figure has
dropped to 37 per cent.
Indebtedness has profound social
costs which are seldom explored sys­
tem atically by economists. Debt is
probably the most significant factor
in the creation o f marital strife, and
a prime reason for divorce. Twelve
years ago, only 83 black men and
women were divorced fo r every
1,000 who were m arried. By 1980,
there were 151 black men and 257
black women divorcees per 1,000.
According to some researchers, by
the year 2,000, eight out o f ten black
households will be fatherless.
The short term solution to the
economic crisis is n ot, th e re fo re ,
more federal government jobs for
the unemployed. The strategy must
include a reorganization o f p rio ri­
ties w ith in the p o litic a l economy
and the governm ent. A ll human
beings should be guaranteed cer­
tain economic rights— a good job, a
decent home, free public healthcare,
free education. The debt trap is the
means by which big corporations
saddle the burden o f higher prices
onto the backs o f A m erican con ­
sumers. U n til we have an economy
that places people before p ro fits,
bankruptcies and consumer in ­
debtedness will continue to exist.
Thanks for support
To the editor:
As an update to the community,
the Jazm in C o m m u n ity M arching
Band wishes to thank Band parents
and community residents who sup­
ported and cheered us on Saturday,
June 12th upon our entry into the
G ran d F lo ra l Rose P arade. The
Band received scores o f 10-10-10-9;
although not officially entered. We
would like to share this with you as
we are your community musical per­
forming unit. Our existence in part,
is due to and rests w ith you. A ll
youth who play an instrum ent or
wish to, w ill find us M on d ay
through Friday at the King Facility
(4815 N .E . 7th) from 7 :0 0 a .m . to
12:00 noon. Our goal for 1983 is to
bring a southern trad itio n al band
festival to the northwest. We need
your donations o f funds, in s tru ­
ments, or a number o f resources
that you have more than one o f or
are not in immediate use.
Instrum ents: used, but usable.
Stereo: or parts o f — tu rn ta b le ,
speakers, etc. Tape recorder: reel ,0
reel or cassette. Sheet music: prac­
tice material for brass-woodwinds-
percussion. Records: instrumentals
especially. Reeds: fo r all w o o d ­
winds. Musical repair kit: or parts
of.
Evelyn Crews
Jazmín crashes
Open letter to Rose Festival Association
Gentlemen:
The Jazmin C om m unity M a rc h ­
ing Band, led and directed by M r.
Thara M em ory, provided a superb
performance for the Rose Festival
P arade. The fine music, c o lo rfu l
uniform s and showmanship o f the
band was a key ingredient in the suc­
cess o f the parade.
Residing in the P o rtla n d black
com m unity, I never realized such
talent existed under my very nose.
These are tru ly fine, talented and
am b itiou s young people and I ’ m
sure the exposure from the Rose
Festival Parade will certainly gain
them recognition in future events to
come in our great "C ity of Roses.”
I would like to commend the Rose
Festival A ssociation for another
overwhelm ing success and for the
opportunity o f allowing these young
black people to take part in one o f
the n atio n ’ s m ajo r celebrations. I
truly enjoyed the entire parade in
spite of the rain.
A gain, thank you for a jo b well
done.
Levan Johnson, Sr.
(E d ito r’s note: The Jazmin Rand
was not invited to participate in the
G ra n d
F lo ra l
Parade,
b ut
"crashed. ”)
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