Page 4 Portland Ofa—r v r , Dacambar 8,1962
Music Maker
EDITORIAL/OPINION
by Herb L. Cawthome
NAACP faces crucial choice
The N A A C P faces its most important election
in a decade and the membership has a very clear
choice.
Since the early 1970s the Portland Branch has
been largely inactive. It has sold memberships,
held fundraisers, hosted conventions, but has
not been on the cutting edge of the struggle.
The N A A C P did not participate in the Coali
tion for School Integration and did not lead the
struggle to bring equity to P o rtlan d 's black
school children; the N A A C P did not lead the
fight to stop the d ilu tio n o f black votes; the
N A A C P did not lead the fight against police
b ru tality and to keep the police out o f the
schools.
The role o f the N A A C P , Portland Branch,
for the past 10 years has been to remain silent or
to support other organizations who are taking
the lead.
There is a great need for an N A A C P in Port
land. The work o f the N A A C P is far from over
—quality education, fair housing, jobs, justice,
voter education.
Hazel G . Hays has a history o f activity. She
has been on the picket line, in the boardrooms.
She is aggressive, intelligent, articulate. She can
negotiate and she can fight. She can work with
other organizations such as the Black United
Front or the U rban League. She can support
and she can lead.
With Hazel Hays at the helm the N A A C P will
make news again. The N A A C P will come to life
and take its rightful place in the community— in
the forefront o f the civil rights/hum an rights
movement.
Require professionalism
Herm an W ashington, principal o f Tubman
Middle School, is under fire from his staff. High
among their complaints is Washington’s desire
that teachers dress professionally, his opinion
that jeans and tennis shoes have no place in the
classroom.
W e agree with Washington. Last spring the
Observer was invited to make a presentation to a
class. W hen we arrived in the early afternoon,
their teacher was dressed in shorts, T-shirt and
tennis shoes. He apologized to us for his appear
ance, saying he had gone jogging at noon. We
wondered if he had apologized to the children.
The classroom was in complete chaos, with no
discipline and no respect. We d id n ’ t wonder
why.
Teachers arc important role models for chil
dren; their job is to help pass on our culture to
our children. A teacher’s slovenly appearance
tells the child a lot about that teachers opinion
o f himself and his profession, o f the students
and his community.
I f they had any pride in their profession and
any regard for the example they present to their
students, teachers would act and dress profes
sionally in the students’ presence.
Last weekend, 1 heard life coming
out of a horn. The mind, body and
spirit—all working in harmony for
one purpose: to make music.
Thara M em ory is a musical won
der. W ith every clement o f his being
he plays. His trumpet seems a natur
al part o f his an ato m y. W hen you
listen to him b lo w , you w onder if
the soft breeze o f a summer origin
ates in the horn o f T hara M em ory.
The cool wind wisely steps aside to a
superior force when he makes (hat
trumpet sing.
A t D e le v a n 's , the place where
good jazz can be heard consistently.
M em ory produced his "sounds full
o f life .” A t the trum pet sang, you
could see that his eyes actually wrote
out the music. In the expression,
you could tell that he was in love
w ith the music he made. H is love
seemed consuming and private. A ll
listeners were welcome, yet distant
observers, free to enjoy w hatever
pleasure they could, but fully aware
that they would never know the true
intim acy o f the bond between this
man and his lady. W e marveled at
the love affa ir, even at a distance. I f
this man and his lady can make such
p o w e rfu l music, w hat d iffe re n c e
does it m ake that we cannot know
the inner workings o f the relation
ship.
One wonders why such a talented
musician remains in Portland, o f all
places, a dry desert o f jazz apprecia
tion. Here he's not respected nor re
w arded fo r his a rtis try . N ickles
here, dim es th ere, he can h ard ly
keep body and soul together.
Maybe it's not important where
he lives. All that matters is the lady
he loves. Wherever they go, so long
as they go together, they make
music. And the music sustains them,
together. We should all be so luckyl
As I watched him do his thing last
Saturday night, I recalled that sever
al months ago, T h a ra M em ory did
som ething th a t a t firs t glance
seemed o u t o f c h a ra c te r. H e a p
peared before the Board o f Educa
tion. T hat scene was also unusual.
The Board was meeting in a tiny se
cluded room upstairs in the A d m in
is tra tio n B u ild in g . D o w n s tairs ,
members o f the black co m m un ity
were occupying the regular Board
meeting fa c ility , loudly protesting
the decision to reverse a fo rm e r
agreem ent on the lo c a tio n o f
H a rrie t T u b m a n M id d le School.
The atmosphere was a circus o f con
fu sion . It was tense, as the Board
pretended that the disruption would
not prevent it fro m co n du ctin g
“ business as u su al.” S till, T h a ra ,
like his music, seemed composed,
confident in his own world.
Thara had come to argue for the
Jazzm in C o m m u n ity M a rc h in g
Band. “ There are no A fr o -A m e r i
can children in the symphony. W ith
7 ,5 0 0 students in the c o m m u n ity
and most o f those in the pub lic
schools, there should be 400 or 500
in the music programs. Music is an
im portant part o f the A fro -A m e ri
can cu ltu re. I f you take away the
music, you have taken away a vital
part o f the com m unity."
T h e questions fro m the Board
were insulting, demeaning and in
questionable taste. The Board mem
bers did not necessarily intend to be
mean and in s u ltin g , but they just
c o u ld n 't help them selves. T h e
blacks d ow n stairs w ere creatin g
havoc. T h e ir r ita tio n show ed, a l
though the issue was completely un
related.
The discussion proceeded like a
cross-examination, as though Thara
was on trial. Is it true that you criti
cize the District's music programs,
he was asked. D o you tell black chil
dren to stay away from some music
teachers? Is (his p ro gram just fo r
black students? Som eone to ld us
that you went into a classroom and
wrote “ this is c r a p " on the b la c k
board o f one o f the music teachers
in the district, is this true? Thara re
mained cool, handling the questions
as though each was simply the chal
lenge o f a difficult series o f notes in
a new tune.
In fa c t, he was o u ts tan d in g : A
teach er, w eaving bits o f c u ltu ra l
perspective, history, and advocacy
fo r a p ro gram to gether lik e he
weaves the notes o f his horn in to
beautiful music. F in ally the Board
agreed to "lo a n " the Jazzmin C o m
m unity M arching Band "s u rp lu s ”
instruments. Thanks to this e ffo rt,
the young people could now get to
work learning the techniques o f the
famous Southern M arching Bands.
Thara M em ory was now in a better
position to pass his love on to the
younger generation.
The moral o f the story is simple:
Love, true love, makes music. And
Thara Mem ory is a music maker.
Letters to the Editor
Racists not needed at Tubman MS
Parents support Tubman principal
As parents o f students at Harriet
M r. Washington also has the sup
port o f parents in demanding that
the s ta ff dress ap p ro p riately. It is
Tubman Middle School, we would
the oaivc auumpticr. on the part of
tike to voice o ur support o f the
school's p rin c ip al. H erm an W ash
ington, and to protest the public at
tack made against him by a small
group o f teachers in last Sunday's
Oregonian.
M r. W ashington has the support
o f most o th e r parents as w ell as
teachers, but none o f those persons
was interviewed by Kathy Durbin.
As parents, we have specifically
requested that the principal tighten
up the discipline in the classroom. It
has been the co n ten tio n o f many
parents that some teachers refer too
many students to the o ffic e on the
slightest p ro v o c a tio n ra th e r than
learn to manage their classrooms e f
fectively.
many teachers, especially the young,
inexperienced ones, that the way to
relate to poor or minority students is
to dress the way they perceive those
children dressing. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
W e realize that M r. W ashington
may be d ifficu lt to work fo r. H e is
idealistic, h ard -w orking and cares
forem ost about the children under
his care. But teachers, i f they are
professional, should learn to w ork
under people who make demands on
them.
It is unlikely (hat the complaints
o f a sm all group o f em ployees in
another school or in any business
would warrant all the space and at
tention that was given to (he T u b -
man story. A ny in s titu tio n has its
To the editor:
group o f malcontents, who would
love the attention and publicity that
the T u b m a n group was accorded.
They arc seldom given that oppor
(unity, however. The recent dismis
sals o f principals o f C a tlin Gabel
and H ille l, both p riv a te , upper-
income, west-side schools, was giv
en little or no a tte n tio n . O ther
schools that have had similar inter
nal problem s are not given w id e
spread, one-sided stories. Tubman
does not need further negative pub
licity when so little is given to the
positive things that are going on
there.
Fin ally, the credibility and judg
ment o f the teachers w ho would
damage their school by cooperating
in such a public attack on the person
they w ork under must be scru tin
ized.
A concerned Tubman parent
Herman Washington provides role model
To the editor:
In mid-September a friend had a
ch ild in fo ster care placed in her
home. Becaue of my background in
w orking w ith school aged children
and developing m ulti-cultural, non
sexist p ro g ram s , she asked me to
find a good m iddle school to place
the child in. As a m other who had
vowed never to place my child in a
public school I expressed my bias
and checked out schools.
Based on in fo rm a tio n about the
cu rricu lu m , the racial m ake-up o f
the s ta ff, and reco m m en datio n s
from people I know in academ ia I
chose H a r r ie t T u b m a n M id d le
School.
O n the day I enrolled the child I
met with the counselor, the adminis
trative assistant and the principal.
A fte r m eeting w ith the three o f
them, I not only felt like I had made
the right choice fo r the ch ild o f a
frie n d , but hoped th at when my
child reached middle school age the
three o f them would still be at Tub-
MHMI *
man.
What W ill Fletcher identifies as a
co m m un icatio n problem between
the tw enty w h ile teachers and the
p rin c ip a l in the a rtic le , “ R ift
Develops at T u b m a n Between
Teachers and Principal,” is a cultur
al d iffe ren ce , better know n as ra
cism.
A ttitu d e s about black c h ild re n
like Ron Evans "Rewards should be
provided to counteract stress, Tub-
man is a m inority school which has
more severe educational problem s,"
is what makes me fearful o f putting
my black child in a public school.
O th e r than his paycheck I c a n 't
im ag ine w hat o ther rew ards M r .
Evans and those who support his at
titude think they're entitled to, com
bat pay perhaps? I w onder i f M r .
Evans were working in Beaverton he
would expect additional "rew ards."
Evans and the other white teach
ers at the school who oppose M r .
W ash in g to n ’ s discipline policies,
ideas about professionalism in how
teachers dress, exemplifies their ig
norance about black cultural histori-
cally relevant to effectively teaching
black children.
The very attitudes and style they
are opposed to in M r. Washington's
ap p ro ach have been used to give
people lik e M a r tin L u th e r K ing,
Z ora Neal H u rston , Roy W ilkin s,
Barbara Jordan, M alcolm X , Phyl
lis W h e atley and m any o ther fa
mous blacks who have made contri
butions to this country.
T h e O reg o n ian has a responsi
b ility to its readers and the black
c o m m u n ity , to present w hat the
black co m m un ity feels about M r.
W ash ing to n's approach (a fte r all
Tubm an was created for the black
com m unity) as well as the point of
view o f the s ta ff members who
d o n 't agree w ith the other twenty
(which Ms. Durbin neglected to in
clude in her article).
T he role m odel and im age M r.
Washington portrays for black chil
dren is long overdue in P o rtlan d
Public Schools.
Elizabeth A . Waters
Portland Observer
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To the editor:
It is very u n fo rtu n a te that some
teachers at Tubm an are dissatisfied
and ready to te rm in a te th eir em
ployment.
I as one parent want it made clear
to you, when you want to be else
where it's probably best for every
one concerned that you are. State
ments m ade to the press help to
point up the problem s we all face
every day we live— racism. T o the
teacher who made the anonymous
statements as to her feelings about
the students (" T h e w hite stuuents
have no respect for M r. Washington
and the black students say man, 100
fights and no suspensions"), you're
a racist and should go teach where
you feel safe, secure, unchallenged
and where everyone you see from
m o rn ing to night is o f a race you
d o n 't d islike. I as a parent resent
your statement and hope surely you
are one, along with M r. Evans, who
has resigned. A women such your
self cannot be trusted to be fair with
my beautiful daughter who is black,
there to be educated and not judged
by bigots upon seeing her face. M r.
Evans, I'm hoping you w ill find a
school where leach in g is easy.
Judging from your statement to the
press you should never have taken
your position at Tubman which you
knew had a high percentage o f m i
nority students. You feel stress be
cause o f it, you feel teaching black
students should be rewarded above
the usual. The severity o f the educa
tional problems are o f course caused
by minority students only and as the
teacher who stated "w h ite students
have no respect for M r. Washington
and the black students say man, 100
fights and no su sp e n s io n s ," you
must also feel white is right so please
before taking your next jo b , make
sure (here are no m in ority students
present or y o u 'll have another ex
cuse to cause havoc there also. I
wish you w ell in some new jo b
where h o p e fu lly yo u r views w ill
never have to touch another m inor
ity student.
M rs. K o b litz, it is often stressful
to deal with disciplinary situations
in the class but where else should
they be dealt w ith? Teachers who
c a n ’ t handle problem s in th eir
classes have for too long sent stu
dents to the office. This has resulted
in students being branded and sus
pended for trivial matters and if you
are honest, you’ ll admit it. I ’ m sorry
to see you go but if it is as you say
adm inistrative m atters branded as
racism why did you not keep them
ad m in is tra tiv e and out o f the pa
pers. I p erson ally know o f w hite
principals whose s ta ff did not like
th em , were happy as larks to see
them leave the p ositio n but they
never did what you have done. You
talk about being there for the stu
dents, not w anting to w ork in the
c o m m u n ity any lon g er because
some say in te g ra tio n has not
worked. But let's face it, M rs. K o
blitz, if things are not on your terms
they’ re no good— that is wrong it
self. Integration , o f course, cannot
work if white people who don't get
their way are always willing to turn
and ru n . Teachers have w orked
hard to m ake the school w o rk .
Teachers are not the only ones. I
fought fo r T u b m a n eight years o f
my life. O ther people, even longer.
But you should know what I know:
the princip al runs the school, w ith
the help o f teachers, parents and
students. Please don't take all your
frustration out on M r. Washington.
Rem em ber, there have been three
other principals before him which
helped to cause this dilemma at the
school. I f I have concerns, it is that
the students have not helped to
m ake school rules as they should
have.
T o those teachers who are stay
ing, thank you— you are appreciat
ed very much. It would also help if
you who don’t feel the school is h or
rible would speak up.
Sherrian H agg arW arrcn
Wants NAACP presidency
To the editor:
The purpose and aim s o f the
Portland Branch of the N A A C P shall
be to improve the political, educa
tional, social and economic status o f
minority groups; to eliminate racial
prejudice; to keep the public aware
o f the adverse effects o f racial dis
crimination; and to take a lawful ac
tion to secure its elimination, consis
tent with the efforts o f the national
organziation and in conformity with
the articles o f incorporation o f the
Association, its constitution and by
laws and as directed by the national
Board of Directors.
The national priorities, and there
are many, here in P o rtla n d , under
my leadership ( if I'm elected), w ill
focus on political action, economic
d evelopm ent and m em bership.
These are a few issues approved at
our national convention this year in
Boston.
I am seeking the o ffic e o f the
president of the Portland Branch of
the N A A C P
At present I am employed as the
Director o f C ivic Relations, Public
A ffairs Department, Portland G en
eral Electric C o. A t present, I serve
as a com m ission m em ber o f the
Slate o f Oregon's Juvenile Services
Com m ission, vice-president o f the
Board o f D ire c to rs , T ri-C o u n ty
Youth Services C onsortium , mem
ber o f the U rb a n League o f
P o rtlan d , co o rd in ato r fo r the Lou
Rawls Parade o f Stars (a fund-rais
ing special) to b en efit the U n ite d
Negro College fund, member o f the
N A A C P Board C o m m ittee on en-
ergy and economic development.
O n Sunday, December 12, 1982 at
4 p.m. at Vancouver Ave. First Bap
tist C h u rch , the P o rtlan d Branch,
N A A C P w ill hold its biennial elec
tion o f officers. I seek the office of
president to carry out the purposes
and aims o f the N a tio n a l Associa
tion fo r the A dvancem ent o f C o l
ored People.
Bernard Richardson
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