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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1983)
* • jt ,«î « ; -fc —» Page 2 Portland Observer, December 14, 1963 ED1TORIAL/OPINION Love real kids not cabbage kids Twenty million children die before they reach the age o f four years. Millions more are stunted physically and mentally and can never hope to reach their potential. Millions are continuously hungry, lack medical care, have no homes and will never be educated. While his horrible situa tion exists— and is becoming worse— in many parts o f the world American adults are going crazy over “ Cabbage Kids.” A ll over the country and even in Britain, adults are hysterical over the dolls— spending enormous amounts of time and money trying to acquire one. The 18-inch one-of-a-king dolls come with "adoption papers” and a parenting booklet. The Cabbage Kid might have its own “ personal ity” but it is still just a toy. We must wonder what is happening to the American people, who will go to any means to obtain a doll to love, while millions o f children are starving and while millions are homeless. Yes, it does take more commitment and love to raise a child. He can’t be locked in a drawer or thrown in the garbage can when a better toy comes along. But those who are looking so desperately for something to love would find that a child can re turn that love. And for those who can’t adopt a child, there are many helping organizations that could use money or volunteer help. Nixon henchman on the loose Henry Kissinger is bursting on the scene again — being drug out of hiding by President Ronald Reagan. His glamour was somewhat tarnished when he was found to be deeply involved in Nixon’s crimes and he slipped out of sight for a while. It is rumored that Kissinger is being primed to take over as Secretary of State during Reagan’s second term. Reagan recalled his great expertise in foreign policy— which included his complicity in the violent overthrow of Salvador Allende and Allende’s murder— when he sent him on a oi, mo / - j&se jMdsow is E eailv 6aw6 To rum Foe msioewr “ fact rinding” mission to Central America. That the people of the U.S. should ever be ex pected to believe anything Kissinger says about Central America is simply amazing. Then we saw him on A B C -T V , following “ The Day A fter," advocating the “ limited nu clear war” theory that the entire world rejects as suicidal. The sight of Henry Kissinger, so frequently on T V and considering his sordid past, points out even more how crucial it is that Reagan be de feated next November. < ASKtD HM MOT TÓ DO IT BECAUSE tuic TWS COULD- r n tii lack children scrooged again During holiday seasons our thought* frequently center on chil dren and the special joy we want them to share. Thousands o f Black children attending Portland Public Schools will find little joy in their future seasons because they will not have been taught necessary skills to meet the challenges o f an increasing ly technological world. A t the ripe old age o f ten these children are a l ready two or three grades behind white children. Their adult lives are almost guaranteed to be Tilled with suffering and abject poverty. Future seasons contain prospects o f low- paying jobs if any, welfare, little if any health care, the penitentiary and an early death. Portland Public Schools could help Black children avoid this horror; it is the institution capable o f providing children with the academic and technical tools which could enable them to lead productive lives. Unfortunately the school system is not doing this, only making excuses for their failure. For those who faithfully embrace the racist notion that poor Black children can't learn, please read the countless reports written by D r. Asa H illiard , chief desegregation con sultant to Portland Public Schools for the past four years. He has pro vided documentation o f public schools all across the country in which Black students are perform ing at grade level and above. Dean Derrick Bell and other eminent edu cators have also made reference to these schools. In spite o f this evi dence, far too many administrators, principals and teachers in Portland THIS COULD Letters to the Editor White for Jesse Jackson Miss America misses boat To the editor: To the editor: I f I have the opportunity, I'm going to vote for Jesse Jackson. I am old, white, widowed— a member o f a minority that is probably the most disadvantaged in the country. I am a retired union member, and during my early years I believed that labor would lead the way to eco nomic and social justice. But labor, through years of prosperity, seems to have forgotten its roots. I'm pre sently convinced that Black people ore the only ones to have the guts and the gumption to challenge the wimps and Strangeloves that dom i nate the two old parties. I f Blacks, politically aware w om en, Chicanos and other minorities should united behind Jackson, and even if he didn't win, we could at least scare the hell out o f that old crowd o f bunglers, and probably make them change for the better. I have read the Portland Observer for many years, and have always found your newspaper to be an in formational source of personal and professional current events, in and outside our Black community. The importance o f having a newspaper in the community is unquestionable. Recently I read an article— in your Nov. 23, 1983 issue, in the Observa tions section, (subtitled "F ro m the Sidelines")— that I was disappoint ed in. After reading the article I was confused about whom the article was reporting on. Was the article reporting on the first Black Miss America or was it an advertisement? Being a native o f Portland, over the years I ’ve read o f and seen many positive actions we can attribute to the prominent family o f the late L u cius W illiams. I would have been proud to read about Ms. B.J. (W il- liams) Thompsons' future business ventures in a separate article but cer tainly not upstaging a historical event such as the visit of Miss Am er ica to Portland, Oregon. Being a parent o f three teenage children in our current economic status, I would have enjoyed read ing a little more about the young Miss America and to what experi ences she attributes her success. M ore detail on her background, and her future goals, would have been nice. I think we missed an opportun ity to give something more positive in negative times to our young peo ple. Jacqueline M . King The Observer welcomes Letters to the Editor. Letters should be short, and must contain the writer's name and address !addresses are not print ed). The Observer reserves the right to edit f o r length. M ay B. Du Bins —- ■ ■ lO 'P iJ ii" ^ H Ne«s .| iin" Pulii. U m H K iH Portland Observer T h . P n rtla n d O bserver IU S P S 959 M O I is published *»•> » Tbuisdav by f .»a Publishing Company, Inc 2201 N inth Killings worth, Portland Oregon 9721 7 Post Ottice B o . 3137 Portland Oregon 97208 Second class postage iia.d at Portland Oregon Grenada (Continued from page I column 6) Since the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 and the U .S. victory in the Spanish American W ar in 1898, the trend has been for the U.S. to step into the shoes o f Spain, England and France as the colonial power in the Caribbean. Between 1898 and 1965, he said, the U .S. intervened 34 times in Central America and the Caribbean to “ restore order,” stay ing as long as 18 years in the case of Nicaragua in the early part o f this century. The process involved set ting up rulers from those countries sympathetic to U .S. imperial inter ests, hence leaders like Tom Adams, Eugenia Charles, Eric G airy and Anastasio Somoza. The Grenada invasion constitutes the first incursion of the U.S. into a this struggle. I want you to know that I have rolled my sleeves up. I am ready to work with you. We are all in this together. Black people suffer together, wherever we may be. Our destiny lies in our hands. O ur survival, our freedom, our lib eration is in our hands. Together we can succeed. You are all attractive to me. You arc all wonderful. But we have work to do. The future o f oui children in education, the future o f our youth in employment, we all must come together to find solution to these problems to ensure the future is a bright one It is an African saying that the future belongs to the chil dren and that we must prepare them for what lies ahead. I do not want to sound paternalistic. This is from the bottom of my heart— that you are all good people. I am glad to be part o f you. We must work together. It does not mean we are not going to disagree hut our disagreement should not divide us but rather be an incentive to bring us to a closer understanding o f one another. Unity is a must. Thank you very much. former British colony, Purcell ob served, and could be a model for things to come as the U .S . tries to step into England's colonial role Repression and the U.S. might make it likely that revolution is not imminent in countries like Jamaica and H a iti, however, said Purcell. The conditions are there, he said, but the leadership is not. So what do energetic young people do? “ These countries have never really belonged to us, so we leave," said Purcell. And many, like Purcell himself, come to the U .S. Purcell migrated to the U.S. in 1968 at age 20 after a childhood of extreme poverty in an agricultural area of Jamaica. Tw o years spent in the U .S . A rm y, including 13 months in Korea, "was an extreme ly good education for m e,” he said. " I t was in the army that I learned about American racism. I started reading about history, racism, and so o n .” After the army Purcell entered Brooklyn College and eventually earned a Ph D. in anthropology from Johns Hopkins University. His odyssey, leading from impover ished Jamaica to his job as one of two Black professors at Reed, has not been without stress, he said. Being a Black instructor teaching Third W orld subjects in a predom inantly white college with a curricu lum "biased toward western Eu rope" has left him feeling alienated. "Since I come from a poor back ground, I don't want to appear like I'm educating the elite . . . I am someone who cannot separate my academic and my political life. M y anthropology must have relevance to the people." I P " " " " o r Hand Tlarhes^daiT-ownl’Tnewspaper. S News fo r Subscribe today! I Yaa. I w o u ld Ilk a a aubacription to th a Portland Observer. and about I have enclosed my check or money order for 1,5. for a one-year aubacription. sal • * • • • « • !you^ 283 2486 | ! B o . 3137, Portland Oregon 97208 A lfre d i. Henderson. Edilor/Publisher A l Williams. Advertising Manager Association - founded 7885 I have been in Portland for about six months with my wife and kids and I want to thank most o f my Black brothers and sisters who have received us so well. When these people knew that I was in need of a job, there was a great pronounce ment to the community leaders. These people rallied around me to see that I found a job as soon as possible. I want to thank Commis- siner Jordan and his wonderful staff, George Rankin o f Urban League, Commmissioner McCoy, Ronnie Herndon o f the Black United Front, and Shirley M inor o f City H all's A ffirm ative Action o f fice. M any o f you that I did not mention have spoken to me to show me the corners to cut and the Baro metric changes to be aware of, to the extent that you educated me so well that within a short time I be came a Portlander. Although I felt a great sense of unity on my behalf I have not seen that unity in facing the problems of the Black community in Portland. As a Hum an Relations Specialist for the M etropolitan Human Relations Commission, I have had the expo sure to the low achievement ratings o f the Black children in the school systems. It is very sad and discour aging as is the high rate o f unem ployment among Black youth. All these things have become o f great concern to me. I am a Nigerian by birth but have spent my adult life in America. I specialize in Black affairs and Black political systems. But if one were to look at all the Black communities all over the world, credit must be given to the Black Americans. They have been struggling for the last 200 years. They have a sense o f purpose and a sense o f direction. I f one were to have watched CBS' 60 Minutes program on Nigeria, West Africa, on Sunday, November 27th, 1983, one would have sensed the hopeless ness o f over 100 million people, a nation with tremendous potential, both in manpower and natural re sources. Ghana is another tragedy. Zaire is in a state o f despair. One can fel that the Grenadians have be come a subdued people. I am appealing to all o f you that I am your brother here to join you in I PORTLAND OBSERVER The Portland Observer was established m 1970 Subscriptions 115 00 per year m the Tri County area Post m aster Send address changes to the Portland Observer P 0 MEMBER room. T o make matters worse, princi pals recently received a memo from administration stating. "Principals are not directly accountable for the achievement o f their students----- [Principals! should not and will not be evaluated directly on the basis of their building's achievement test score levels or gains." The memo further states that teachers are not responsible for the achievement of their students and will not be evalu ated directly on the basis o f their class's achievement test score levels or gains. Like modern-day versions o f Pontius Pilot, all have washed their hands o f low-scoring Black children. Contrast all o f this with various School Board policy state ments about quality education being available for all children. “ Three card molly” at its best. It is clear— Black parents, organi zations and concerned citizens must step forward now; if we don’ t, Black children by the thousands will be continually sacrificed on the twin altars o f gradualism and political expediency. An appeal to the Black community by Dr. D apo Sobomehin TMlS COULD... perately in need o f help. D r. H il liard's recommended math program guarantees a minimum o f two grade levels o f gain for each year of in struction as well as teaching algebra and geometry. Dallas. Texas, has tried it and is so pleased it is now moving to expand the program sys tem-wide. Portland principals and teachers have not been taught how to imple ment programs and strategies that can reverse this case o f pervasive child abuse and neglect. “ Do your own thing," reigns supreme from school to school, classroom to class still spout this nonsense about "so cioeconomic m ake-up" being re sponsible for Black children's poor academic performance As one dis tinguished educator so aptly ob served, "Schools’ response to fam ily background is the principal de terminant o f pupil performance Schools teach those they think they must, and when they think they needn't, they don’t . " D r. H illiard recently referred to the November 28. 1983 San Francis co Chronicle report that the average eighth-grader in Sausalito, C alifo rn ia public schools reads at the elev enth-grade level. This school system is 42 percent Black, most of whom are poor. This success could be rep licated in Portland. Failure to do so again validates Dr. Kenneth Clark's analysis that, "These children are perceived and treated as if they were uneducable. From earliest grades they are programmed for failure." Correcting this shameful situation is not a priority for Portland Public Schools. I f the majority o f while children in Portland's schools per formed below grade level, it would be viewed as a crisis and concrete steps would be taken immediately. Portland Public Schools has no systematic approach to free Black children fro m this educational out house. In spite o f Dr. H illiard's re peated recommendations o f math and reading programs proven effec tive in other cities, Portland has adopted none o f them; however, the same local educators who have failed to educated Black children claim to have programs as effective as H illiard's. Not only is this un proven, but even those so- called e f fective local programs have not been systematically placed in schools des by Bon Herndon Co-chair. Bloch United Front N atio n a l A dvertising R ep resentative A m a lg a m a te d Publishers Inc N e w York ■ " | PLEASE PRINT Mail to Portland Observer Box3t37 Portland Orwoon 97200 N a m e ------------------------------------------------ A d d res s _________________________ C ity___________________ State Z i p _______ »■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ » . •• , * * f * ' * • ’ • - ' X** ri* > • «' “ 4 ' , ir ■ âC“ «V aT*- >4 «. ** I I I I I I I I I I I I I I J sz- *rt '.A J ’ * »
