Portland Observer, May 9, 1984 Page 5
Collapse o f Black schools reflect policies
Free rides to vote
by Dr. M anning M arable
"From The Grassroots ’*
Predictably, (he Reagan ad
ministration's response to the out
cry o f Black educators and ad
ministrators has been contemp
tuous. For example, last year (he
U S. Commission on Civil Rights
ordered a study o f eight colleges for
the “ effects o f student-aid cuts on
institutions with large numbers of
Black and Hispanic students.“
President Reagan succeeded in
restructuring the Commission in the
effort to obtain a clear voting
m ajority for his rightwing views on
desegregation and affirm ative ac
tion. As a direct consequence, this
January, the Commission voted 5 to
3 to cancel its study on Black and
Latino higher education. Hispanic
Reagamte Linda Chavez, director of
the commission, informed the press,
“ Unless the commission wishes to
establish (hat federal student finan
cial aid is a civil right guaranteed to
members of minority groups, this
project would appear clearly beyond
our jurisdiction." Since (he results
of the study clearly confirmed the
human destruction created by the
budget cuts o f 1981-83, the ad
ministration callously chose to bury
the truth.
Chavez's role in the attacks
against minority educational op
portunity is more than a little ironic.
Growing up in a poor Chicano
neighborhood in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, she attended the University
o f Colorado, and earned a degree in
English literature while on a federal
education grant. Now Chavez chums
that "th e government policy to
provide student aid on the basis o f
need ...is not a civil rig h t." Her
political backwardness extends into
primary education as well, since her
vocal opposition to public school
desegregation and affirm ative ac
tion hiring policies for school
teachers and administrators elevated
her into her current position.
I f indeed the decline o f Black
colleges was the product of ac
celerated desegregation o f formerly
all-white institutions, one might be
less concerned. Ironically, however,
the collapse o f Black schools and
cutbacks in tenure-stream positions
for young Black faculty are oc-
curing precisely at a time when
white colleges are reducing their
overall numbers o f Black professors
and administrators. A t Princeton
University, for instance, officials
asserted recently that they have
made " a vigorous effo rt to recruit
Black faculty members." In 1974,
however, the number of Black Prince
ton professors was 10, and today
the figure has dropped to 9. By way
o f contrast, the number o f women
faculty at Princeton in the past
decade has increased from $4 to
101.
Similar statistics can be cited
across the country. A t Harvard
University in 1980, there were 34
Black professors out o f 1,746
faculty; in spring o f 1984, the num
ber o f Black professors had declined
to 24, about 1.4 percent o f the total
faculty. A t the Massachusetts In
stitute o f Technology, the Black
faculty total only 2 percent; Cornell
University, 1.7 percent; Stanford
University, 1.6 percent. W hile ad
ministrators are quick to justify
these small numbers o f A fro-
American faculty as a product o f
the relatively small pool o f Blacks
who earn advanced degrees But
since 1974, the overall proportion of
Blacks receiving doctorates has risen
from 3.7 to 4 .4 percent. In 1982, the
proportion
of
all
minorities
receiving doctorates in the field of
psychology
was
8
percent;
mathematics, 9 percent; education,
14.5 percent; economics, 13.4 per
cent; political science. 12 percent;
and sociology, 10.7 percent. Even
after
factoring
out
Hispanics,
Asians and ether people of color,
these figures indicate that the
majority o f white universities are
____ Letters to the Editor
No endorsement
To the Editor:
It has come to my attention that
Ed Leek, State Representative,
District 18, has been distributing
campaign literature that contains a
photograph o f him and me that was
taken sometime during the 1983
legislative session.
I wish to make it clear that
Representative
Leek
used
this
photograph without my permission
and that the appearance o f that
photograph
in
his
campaign
literature should in no way be taken
as an endorsement by me o f his can
didacy.
I am a member o f the House
Democratic
Caucus
Campaign
Committee that's purpose is to im
partially assist all Democratic can
didates in their campaign efforts.
For this reason, it would be im
proper for me to take sides with any
Democratic
candidate
against
another.
It is unfortunate that this letter
has to be written, but I hope it serves
to clarify my impartial position
in Democratic primary legislative
races.
Jim H ill
State Representative
District 31
M ario n A Polk Counties
Applauds editorial
To the Editor:
In recent weeks your editorials
have been excellent. Issues that are
not often given frank and unbiased
coverage in other news sources have
been analyzed with much depth and
clarity. I applaud you for having the
courage to put Britains sancti
monious behavior into historical
perspective (M ay 2) and for saying
what needed to be said about M ilton
D. Coleman (A p ril I I ) .
Your
coverage o f Jesse Jackson has been
superior to any other local news
media.
Continue to educate us with the
facts
and
analysis.
You
are
following
in the tradition
of
Frederick Douglass, John Russwurm,
Ida B. Wells and a host o f other Black
journalists who have exposed those
who have interfered with our pro
gress as a people and praised those
who have functioned in our best
interests.
Joyce B. Harris
Director
Black Educational Center
Back to square one
To the Editor:
The letter in the M ay 2nd Obser
ver, again by some o f Harold
Williams* minister friends who are
all ill-inform ed about their can
didate, stated that no one person or
group should have a monopoly on
District 18. W illiams cry o f foul
play and that he was set up is as far
from the truth as saying that Satan
is G od ’s son.
Actually, the odds were greatly in
Harold's favor; IjT h e setting was
Vancouver Ave Baptist Church; my
church in fact. H arold has a lot of
relatives who are members o f Van
couver. 2,The Christian Brothers, who
are chaired by one o f Harold's best
friends, James Loving, is also a
member of Vancouver. 3)The Mason
Lodge which consists o f conser
vative Black men (who believe
women are only made to have
children, stay at home and keep
their mouths shut). W ith all this and
the fact that Harold has relatives in
all o f the churches in the Black
PORTLAND OBSERNER.- ï ï
Measure J lb K e ^ -'rÔ b ’server bv
f-
1
community who pressure their
minister to support Harold (what a
set up), somehow, those members
didn't come out to the forum , so
Harold lost.
I know o f nothing spectacular
that W illiams has done to upgrade
the lives o f people living in Albina. I
asked Harold to speak out on the
education issue before I even knew
Herb Cawthorne or Ron Herndon.
Harold has not publicly said one
word, nor has he spoken out against
police brutality, which affects us all.
So, lets go back to square one,
Margaret Carter. Harold Williams
hasn’t done anything decisive in
solving any o f the community's
needs.
I am willing to accept a candidate,
not for what he/she hasn't done,
but for their concern, their ability to
stand up when it counts and to
speak out; not be a "spook who
sat by the d o o r." We can't afford
that anymore.
So vote correctly this lime,
please.
«
MEMBER
Association - Founded IM S
JUDITH C.
BAUMAN
♦ INTEGRITY
♦ COMPETENCE
♦ FAIRNESS
Correction
Candidate for State Represen
tative o f District 19, Robert J.
Castagna, is a fo rm e r legislative ad
vocate for the Oregon Environm en
tal
Council
and
Ecumenical
Ministries of Oregon, and is not
currently employed as such.
Also, the second sentence of
Castagna's response to a question
about the criminal justice should
have read:
" I would prefer to deal with
societal problems in a preventative
fashion. Accordingly, I have ad
vocated increased assistance for the
medically needy and for dependnl
children o f two-parent unemployed
fam ilies."
"The quality o f our courts andlodges is important to ma J U D IT H B AUM AN
bos the sk line and temper merit to ba an excellent District Court Judge t will
ba votma tor bar with confidence and enthusiasm "
Margaret Carter
"JU D I TH B A U M A N is comm itted to /ustice and fairness Her background
is one of legal excellence and community activism Her experience as a
teat bar prosecutor and defense attorney makes bar my choice Make bar
your choice tor District Court Judge on May IS th "
Alma Hill
FOR
JUDGE
for one
Libraries for kids
To the Editor:
A ll who are devoted to providing a
positive
environment
for
the
education o f children in our county
must share concern about (he future
o f the M ultnom ah County Library.
The County has placed two
measures on the ballot for the M ay
15th
primary
election— Ballot
Measure »3 asks the voters of M u lt
nomah County to endorse a S9
million, 3-year special levy for
future funding of the library; and
Ballot Measure »4 would create a
public library commission which
would have as its first charge, the
development o f a long-range plan
for fiscal stability.
The success of these measures is
critical to the future o f education in
this area.
I ask all concerned citizens to join
with me in support o f these
measures.
Dr. James Jenkins
Superintendent
Gresham School District
Mr*
MR» •
Rides are available on elec
tion day for those in need.
Please call 227-2426 between 9
a.m. and 6 p.m. at Bud Clark
for Mayor headquarters or the
Committee to Elect Margaret
Carter at 288-8338 or 284-0653.
Vesta Deweese Loving
Subscribe
The Observer welcomes Letters to
the Editor. Letters should be short,
and must contain the writer's name
and address (addresses are not p rin t
ed) The Observer reserves the right
to edit f o r length.
- rswd ’’
making few sincere efforts to hire
Black graduates. Consequently, the
survival o f traditional Black colleges
is o f paramount importance to
thousands o f young Black teachers
and administrators, who have few
avenues o f employment outside
these institutions.
The proverbial bottom line o f the
Reaganites* educational policies is
simply this: higher education is not
a democratic right for the poor.
Blacks,
Latinos
and
other
historically oppressed groups. This
political message is translated by
many white universities into a silent
repudiation o f affirm ative action
hiring policies. Both the current ad
ministration and many white college
presidents might do well to recon
sider the observations o f Black
scholar W .E .B . Du Bois: "H u m a n
culture in its broadest and finest
sense can never be wholly the
product of a few. There is no
natural aristocracy o f man. A
system,
therefore,
of
national
education which tries to confine its
benefits to preparing the few for the
life o f the few, dies o f starvation."
J.E. Bud Clark
Bud Clark has a genius lor making things happen:
• founder, The Neiqhbor newspaper.
• founder, three businesses that generate half a
million Portland dollars annually.
• partner in life with Sigrid Clark, wife, mother of their
four children, violinist with the Oregon Symphony.
Bud Clark has care, compassion and concern for the
young, the old and those who cannot care for themselves:
• United Good Neighbors
• the Area Agency on Aging
• 11 years delivering Meals on Wheels.
Let Bud Clark's genius make Portland first again in
prosperity, in livability, in the joy of living.
Portland Observer
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