Economic
development
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PORTLAND OBSERMER
USPS WM»O-«55 • £** M iu lu n i Co. I k
IM J
Volume XIII, Number 31
May 18, 1983
25C Per Copy
____________________________________
Strachan, MHRC clash---------
In a heated meeting o f the M etro
politan H um an Relations C om m is
sion Tuesday, C ity Com m issioner
M a rg a re t S trach an atte m p ted to
ju s tify her a tte m p t to em asculate
M H R C by transferring three o f its
programs to other bureaus and trim
m ing the rem ain in g s ta ff to tw o .
The C ity Council returned the dis
abled program to M H R C and retained
a staff o f three.
Commissioner Strachan gave the
M H R C comm issioners an “ Open
Letter*' explaining her position and
stating. " I n fact, I believe we have
strengthened our ab ility to provide
for effective advocacy and service,"
and advised that the budget action
should b rin g a com prehensive
review o f human relations objectives
and strategies.
S tating that in the tw enty years
since M H R C was established the
laws and conditions have changed,
she advised the Com m ission to re
assess their role. She suggested the
role be discussed, that M H R C seek
a higher p ro file , and th at it seek
wider public support.
Praising the Commission's recent
studies on m u lti-ethn ic train ing o f
teachers and on m inority youth un-
Jaannins P atrick giva» Damasca» M a n a la a , 3, and Zaw dia
Jtnklns. 5, a rida at Immaculata Haart Fastivai.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Forum discusses MHRC
T h e P o rtla n d O bserver and the
Ad H o c C itizen » Advocacy C o m
m ittee w ill present a co m m u n ity
fo ru m on S atu rd ay , M a y 21st, to
discuss the M e tro p o lita n H u m a n
R elatio n s C o m m is sio n 's recent
budget and staff cuts.
Commissioner Margaret Strachan,
the City Council’s liaison to M H R C ,
said this action strengthens M H R C .
The purpose of the forum is to hear
the public's view.
M H R C Com m issioners, inclu d
ing Chairm an Armando LaGuardia,
Vince Deguc, Donny Adair and Sho
D o zo n o , w ill give an overview o f
M H R C ’ s role and activities and ex
p la in the events th ro ug h which
M H R C was stripped o f its staff and
programs.
T h e M H R C budget can be re
stored by the City Council any time
prior to its final vote on the budget
late in June. The M ultnom ah Coun
ty D em ocratic C entral C om m ittee
was the first to call for a reversal of
the budget decision.
T h e m eeting w ill be held at the
Bonneville Power A d m in istratio n
Building, 1002 N E Holladay (small
cafeteria) at 10:00 a.m .
employment, she said that they did
not lobby for actio n . "1 assumed
th at was w hat (he C o m m issio n it
about, but I see no actio n ."
The C om m ission needs to ask
itself: who are they; what is th eir
ro le; who do they serve; are they
advocates?
H avin g been advised o f the
C o m m issio n's ac tio n on those
issues. Commissioner Strachan re
sponded, " D o you perceive your
role as advocacy? M ay b e I d o n 't
have all the in fo rm a tio n on your
commission.”
The M H R C commissioners d is
played no indecision about th eir
role. "Y o u come in and act like we
don't know what we are doing, we
d o n 't know our role, that we have
no
d ir e c tio n ,"
A rm o n d o
LaGuardia, M H R C chairman, said
an g rily . " T h is discussion should
have taken place tw o or three
months ago, b efo re the budget
action," he said.
Sho D o zo n o . ch airm an o f the
M H R C education com m ittee, said
he makes regular reports on his acti
vities to the M H R C and C o m m is
sioner S lrach an ’ s representative.
" W e do advo cate," he said. " P e r-
sonally, being a businessman, I have
ra th e r lim ite d tim e and 1 w ou ld
rather spend time on activities, not
lobbying the commissioners. I f you
are c o m m itte d , you should fin d
us."
Sid L ezak said the budget cut
" re s u lte d in a change in M H R C
w ith o u t adequate discussion or
study." There was "n o opportunity
to have an adequate d iscu ssio n ."
H e added that w ithout such a dis
cussion and w ith a background o f
personnel problems, the motive for
the cuts "w as not entirely based on
a reasonable perception o f r o le ."
H e is deeply concerned th at the
functions o f M H R C cannot be per
fo rm e d w e ll. John H e flin denied
there is an identity crisis, " W e have
a good sense o f what these bodies
d o ." He called the discussion o f role
a "smokescreen" to cover "emascu
la tio n " o f M H R C to solve person
nel problems.
V ince Deguc said, " Y o u are
m ixin g tactics and role . . . W e
know our role; the tactics depend on
the situ atio n ." Regarding the C o m
mission's relationship to the com
munity, " I f we, as citizen volunteers
are not the c o m m u n ity , w hat the
hell are we? It is a m istake to say
th at somehow we have become
government and we need to gel the
community to do something."
Prisoners protest
F o r the past three days, black
prisoners
at
O reg o n
State
P en iten tia ry have been protesting
prison conditions through silence.
T h e men are keeping com plete
silence in the c a fe te ria which
reportedly is unnerving to the staff,
used to a high level o f noise.
Blacks
now
m ake
up
a p p ro x im a te ly 20 per cent o f the
prison p o p u la tio n . T h e protest, a
show o f s o lid a rity , is d irected at
lack o f blacks in a d m in is tra tiv e
p ositio ns, lack o f em plo yem en l
o p p o rtu n itie s fo r black inm ates,
d is crim in atio n in sanctions in the
security unit. They also want access
to tape recorders so they can play
black music w hich is seldom
available on the radio.
The attitude o f correction officers
w ho are not used to d ealin g w ith
blacks in large numbers is another
topic o f protest.
Namibian official
speaks here
Sl^te development future cloudy
H . A sheeje, N a m ib ia 's D ep u ty
Observer to the United Nations, will
speak on "N a m ib ia : A Struggle for
Freedom and In d e p e n d e n c e " at
P o rtlan d State U n iversity F rid a y ,
M ay 20th. The ta lk , sponsored by
the A sso ciatio n o f A fric a n S tu
dents, w ill be held at 7:00 p .m . at
Cramer H all, Room 53.
David G r o ff, Reed College pro
fessor, w ill speak on ap arth eid at
1:00 p .m . at 75 L in c o ln H a ll. A
series o f films: "N a m ib ia ." "South
A fric a Belongs to U s ," and
"N u clear F ire” will be shown from
4:0 0p .m . to 7 :0 0 p .m .
by Charles Goodmacher
Goode wins
W . W ilso n G oode strengthened
his bid for the position o f M ayor of
Philadelphia by defeating ex-Mayor
Frank Rizzo in the Democratic pri
mary election Tuesday.
Goode won more than 53 percent
o f the vote to Rizzo's 46 percent.
R izzo came under heavy fire
d u rin g his term s o f o ffic e , w ith
charges o f c o rru p tio n and police
brutality.
(Please turn lopge 10 col. I )
Oregon’ s legislature is still strug
gling after more than five months to
deliver on their individual and col
lective com m itm ents to economic
developm ent. M o re than 50 bills
pertaining to economic development
have been introduced in this session
o f the Legislature.
The House of Representatives last
week fin a lly m oved fo rw a rd by
unanim ously passing one b ill,
H B 2002, to create a statew ide
C om m unity Development Finance
C o rp o ra tio n . The measure is now
assigned to the Jo in t Legislative
Committee on Trade and Economic
Development.
H B 2002 and a co m p an ion
measure H J R 27 are cu rren tly d e
signed to create a "b ro a d ly repre
sentative" Board o f Directors o f a
C om m unity Developm ent Finance
C o rp o ratio n . The board, aided by
s ta ff members o f the Oregon Eco
nom ic Developm ent D ep a rtm e n t,
w ill use several means for lowering
costs to local governments o f in fra
structure development. Representa
tive Ed Leek (D -P o rtla n d ) is the
primary House sponsor.
I f passed by the Senate in its
present fo rm the C D F C p ro g ram
will represent the first ever attempt
to develop a coordinated infrastruc
ture policy for the state. The C D F C
w ill advance funds and provide ex
pertise fo r the selling o f bonds by
local governments to the state. The
state, in turn, will "package" several
local bond sales together for resale
on the bond m a rk e t. Bonds sold
w ith the backing o f the state w ill
have a higher credit rating and lower
interest rates. In short, the state will
provide " u p - f r o n t ” costs and re
duced interest paym ents fo r local
infrastructure development.
Projects financed through C D F C
"shall only be such as conservative
ly appear to the departm ent to be
not less than 70 percent se lf-s u p
p ortin g and s e lf-liq u id a tin g fro m
taxes and o ther revenu es. . . . ”
“ Priority o f consideration" for proj
ect fin a n c in g " s h a ll be given to
p ro jects located in low incom e
areas, co m m un ities experiencing
economic emergencies and economi
cally lagging areas” under the bill as
currently written.
Public debate in Oregon over the
C D F C concept began in 1982 with
Laurel Paulson's campaign for the
House seat representing District 40
in Eugene. P au lso n, a C itizen s
P arty cand idate, suggested that a
C D F C be created to provide target-
led financial assistance for worker
and com m unity-owned businesses.
T h e o rig in a l version o f H B 2002
contained specific criteria for target
ing infrastructure financing needed
fo r sm all firm s or businesses
"ow ned by its employees, com m u
n ity or members o f a m in o rity
group."
D eletio n o f specific crite ria for
p ro ject fin an cin g is necessary
according to Leek aide Bill Thomas,
" in order to win acceptance" of the
need to create a C D F C board for
co ordination o f infrastructure de
velopment statewide. Thomas notes
that the "most significant thing that
the bill does is to create the board"
which he termed "broadly represen
tative."
Mem bership o f the C D F C board
shall be appointed by the Governor
upon recommendations from asso-
(Please turn to page H column 5/
Integrated education an ongoing commitment
by Dr. Kenneth Clark
Im m e d ia te ly a fte r the historic
Brown decision to desegregate pub
lic schools in the United Stgtes, we
were euphoric. W e were optimistic
in believing that is was just a matter
o f 10 or 15 years before the Consti
tution o f the United States would be
ap p lied to a ll A m erican citizens
without regard to color.
W e saw the tremendous momen
tum o f the c iv il rights m ovem ent
a fte r B ro w n , w ith the n on vio lent
confrontational reaction against the
m ore obvious form s o f racism ,
which it dramatized in the late 1950s
and 1960s. W e thought that
progress was inevitable, that it was
just a matter o f time before segrega
tion in schools and other institutions
in the U n ite d States w ould fa ll
before justice and decency.
I t is now very clear to me that
A m e ric a n racism is m ore deeply
rooted than an im portant decision
could deal with.
A t present we are confronted with
the residues o f backlash, black sepa
ratism and what I have called "a n
a tte m p t at fu n c tio n a l repeal o f
B row n ." We see that it is now fash
ionable for neo-conservatives (who
might have had a little jolt in the last
election, but who are still a force to
be reckoned w ith) to say that these
were starry-eyed dream s; that not
only the civil rights movement and,
s p e c ific a lly , the atte m p t to free
A m e ric a fro m the shackles o f
racism were superficial aspirations
o f adolescent liberals, but that all
liberal, social programs have to be
reevaluated and substantially reject
ed. and that the government must
withdraw in seeking to help human
beings in need. W e have seen the
attempt to interpret as a hard-nosed
and practical approach to govern
m ent the policy and practice o f
abandoning, neglecting and exclud
ing from the promises o f our society
hum an beings who are believed to
be powerless and unable to prevent
their being rejected.
In teresting ly enough, not all o f
these casualties are black. In spite of
the racist m yo p ia w hich seems to
permeate our society, the m ajority
of neglected (both economically and
educationally) human beings in our
democratic society are white. Eco
nom ic in ju stice in A m e ric a , I
repeat, is not restricted to blacks.
T w o -th ird s o f those below the
poverty line in this allegedly affluent
society are w hite A m ericans. The
m ajority o f those receiving welfare
subsidies, in c lu d in g fo od stamps
and school lunches, have been
whites.
In the social science brief which a
num ber o f us p rep ared fo r the
law yers, and su b m itted to the
United States Supreme Court as an
appendix to the legal b rie f, we de
voted a section to the effects of prej
udice, discrim ination and segrega
tion on white children. This section
was alm ost as long as the section
w hich we w ro te on the effects o f
prejudice, discrimination and segre
gation on m in o rity c h ild re n . The
court accepted and referred to what
we said about the effects on black
children, but did not mention this
passage:
Those children who learn the
prejudices o f our society are being
taught to gain personal status in
an unrealistic and non-adaptive
way. When comparing themselves
to members of the minority group,
they are not required to evaluate
themselves in terms o f the more
basic standards o f actual personal
ability and achievement. The cul
ture permits and at times encour
ages them to direct their feelings
of hostility and aggression against
whole groups o f people (he mem
bers o f w hich are perceived as
w eaker than themselves. They
o ften develop patterns o f g uilt
feelings, rationalizations and other
mechanisms which they must use
in an attem p t to p ro tect th e m
selves from recognizing the essen
tial injustice o f their unrealistic
fears and h atred o f m in o rity
groups.
T he re p o rt indicates fu rth e r
that c o n fu s io n , c o n flic t, m oral
cynicism and disrespect fo r au
thority may arise in the m ajo rity
group children as a consequence
of being taught the moral, religious
and d em o cratic princip les o f
brotherhood o f man and the im
portance o f justice and fair play
by the very same persons and in
stitutions who, in their support of
ra cial segregation and related
practices, seem to be acting in a
p reju diced and d is c rim in a to ry
m a n n er. Some in d iv id u a ls m ay
attempt to resolve this conflict by
intensifying their hostility toward
the m in ority group. O thers may
react to g uilt feelings w hich are
not necessarily reflected in more
hum ane attitu d e s to w a rd the
minority groups. Still others react
by developing unwholesome, rigid
and u n critical id o liza tio n o f all
authority Figures — their parents,
strong p o litic a l and econom ic
leaders.
T h e co u rt did not re fer to th at
segment o f our social science brief. I
have o fte n w ondered w hy: was it
to o d isturbin g fo r them to accept
into their consciousness?
It came to my mind again a few
weeks ago when for the first time I
submitted an unsolicited article to
the editors o f the editorial page of
The N e w Y o rk Tim es. I took the
initiative to write a piece in reaction
to the Educational Testing Service
report on the discrepancy between
the average S .A .T . (Scholastic A p ti
tude Test) scores o f black students
and o f w h ite students. I thought
maybe they would send me a rejec
tion slip to keep me in my place. But
two or three days after they got the
article, they told me they would use
it. They printed the article without
m akin g any changes — except to
leave out one paragraph o f the piece
I subm itted. The paragraph reads:
A n im p o rta n t and most re le
vant Finding in this recent College
Board report reveals that other
minorities in Am erica also suffer
from educational deficits, although
(Please turn to page 10 column I )
I