Page 2 Portland Otmrvw. Juty 4,1984
Black bicentennial planned in '88
by Lam ia Duke
G R A S S R O O T N E W S . N . W .—
A week prior to Am erics’i Indepen­
dence D a y , D r. D a rre ll M illn e r,
Head o f the Blsck Studies D epart­
ment at Portland State University,
laid the fo undation fo r an Oregon
Black Bicentennial celebration in
1988
T w o hundred years o f A fr o -
A m eric an life in O reg o n can be
summed up in the title o f Elizabeth
M c L a g a n ’ s book on the O regon
Black Experience fro m the W agon
T ra in days o f the 1840’s to W orld
W a r I I . For Blacks, O regon has
been a "Peculiar Paradise".
A cco rd in g to the 1980 Census,
Blacks m ake up 3 7 ,0 6 0 o f the
2,633,10) total population in Oregon.
In Portland, the total population is
3 6 6 ,3 8 3 , w ith Blacks com prising
27,764 o f thai total figure. M illner
said the sm all num bers o f A fr o -
Americans in the C ity and State are
not accidental. "There are historical
reasons for this."
M illner said Blacks were excluded
from settling in O regon during its
pio n eer p erio d . T h e law read ,
" W h e n any free negro or m u latto
shall have come to O reg o n, he or
she, shall remove from and leave (he
country . . .he or she may be arrested
upon warrant issued by some justice
o f the peace, and i f g u ilty shall
receive upon his or her bare back
not less than twenty nor more than
thirty-nine stripes.”
(Setting reedy for 1MB celebration ere (l-r) PSU Preeident Joseph C.
Blumel. Dr Dorrell Mlllner. PSU Blech Studies; Commissioner Charles
Jordan; end Superintendent of Portland Public Schools. Dr. M atthew
Prophot.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
M illn e r p o in ted to an o ther law
w hich excluded Blacks fro m
hom esteading. T h e governm ent
gave, " E v e r y w hite settler ...th e
quantity o f one-half section or three
hundred and twenty acres of lan d ."
A lth o u g h O regon did not ex ­
perience segregation to the degree in
the S o u th , it had its share by
p ro h ib itin g in te rm a rria g e o f the
races, lynching, theater and public
accom m odations segregation and
Real estate practices w hich said,
“ N o persons or person o f A fric an
or Asiatic descent shall be permitted
to own or purchase the above
described property.”
Ironically, M illn er added, the in­
direct influence o f Blacks in other
parts o f the w o rld led to the
discovery o f O reg o n th ro ug h the
Louisiana Purchase. Napoleon sold
Thomas Jefferson h a lf o f the west
side o f the United States because the
slave revo lt in H a iti ate up his
resources and dam pered his a m ­
bitions.
M illn e r balanced the negative
treatm en t Blacks received in the
City o f Roses by introducing history
which proved Portland to be more
progressive than her fellow states.
In 1930, P o rtla n d passed a co m ­
prehensive C ivil Rights Ordinance,
but it was overturned by referendum
in the next general election. Oregon
passed a F air H o u sin g A c t, real
estate practices changed and Oregon
was fin a lly on the way to entering
the 20th century in the 1930‘s.
Some o f (he significant positions
currently held by Blacks in Oregon
are a C ity Com m issioner, Dean o f
the U n iv e rs ity o f O regon Law
School, C o n d u cto r o f the O regon
Symphony and the Managing Editor
of The Oregonian newspaper.
M illner wants to document Blacks
im p act on O reg o n by u tilizin g
existing organizations such as the
Oregon Historical Society, Portland
P u b lic Schools, P o rtla n d State
University and the local media.
T h e ten tative structure o f the
Black Bicentennial commemoration
is a saturation o f events during the
Black H isto ry M o n th — F eb ru ary,
1988, and a M a rk u s Lopeus Day
com m em oration August 16. 1988.
Lopeus was the firs t Black to set
foot in O regon and who was later
murdered.
Grace Collins
Memorial Center
Day Care
• Kindergarten
• Pre-School
'Latch Key Program'
Children 6 wks.
M em orial Center learn how to
make cooklee.
to 11 yrs.
• Brrskhot
•H o t Lunches
•S o uks
Moo-rn
6.30 am 6.00 pm
Call
2 8 1 -6 9 3 0
128 N.E. Russell St
6_V
Mr old k,d*et Qr,ce Co,l,n’
atudy hard on achool w ork
before going outside to play.
In 1942, M ay o r Earl Riley said,
" P o r t la n d can absorb only a
minimum o f Negroes without upset­
ting the city's regular life ." In 1984,
D r. D a rre ll M illn e r said, " I t w ill
never be the same and we are still a
part o f the process."
«,-yÇk Grace Collins
Memorial Center
Commissioners activate minority hiring
said they would call for im plem en­
ta tio n o f several M H R C re co m ­
m end atio ns, in c lu d in g the im ­
m ediate re-estab lish m ent o f the
C ity's Equal E m ploym ent O p p o r­
tunity (E E O ) Regulatory Committee
and an overall review o f the C ity ’s
A ffirm ative Action Plan.
Strachan and Lindberg said they
would ask the C ity Council to hold
an informal Council session to reaf­
firm the C ity's com m itm ent to a f ­
firm ative action and to reassess the
role o f the C ity ’ s A ffirm a tiv e A c­
tion Office.
Strachan, who oversees M H R C ,
said she has instructed her Bureaus
to hire q u a lifie d w om en and
m in o ritie s w ho reach the top
positions
on
C iv il
Service
examinations, or to "m eet with me
prior to selection to ju s tify 'w hy a
w om an or m in o rity w ill not be
hired.
" I am g rea tly d istu rb ed by the
r e p o r t ," S trach an said in a
m emorandum issued to her Bureau
C ity Commissioners Margaret D.
S tra ch an and M ik e L in d berg
jointly announced, this week, an ef­
fo rt to im p ro ve the C ity o f P o rt­
lan d's hirin g practices for women
and m inorities, and Commissioner
Charles Jordon met with the Direc­
to r and a Board M em b e r o f the
M e tro p o lita n H u m a n R elations
C o m ission
to
discuss
th eir
evaluation of the City's Affirm ative
Action hiring practices.
As evidenced by the re p o rt, the
C ity is far from attaining its hiring
goals fo r w om en and m in orites
w hich has resulted in u n d e ru til­
ization in all but two categories o f
jobs, para-professional and clerical.
Paragraph three o f the report in­
dicates that the City has had oppor­
tu n itie s to hire w om en and
minorities and did not. Availability
was not always the issue.
In response to a c ritic a l report
fro m the M e tro p o lita n hum an
R e la tio n s C o m m is sio n , C o m ­
missioners Strachan and Lindberg
”
%
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33
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looquo* Sobs C M c f c T w r b o y
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10.3 to
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WAFFLES
PRAIRIE MARKET
I I tOM
FRI
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LOMBARD 7411 M lie t e r
PORTLAND
- 14410 $.1. Diviste«
roa
POBTLANO
rot
JOSS S.l. r»w«a (i«4
^latt IAFAIL M IO M l Iu « 4
I
I
i
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1 Molalla Avo
HtllSBOM «40 S
1.1 Oak
FOatJT M O V I
t SJI
i l l P a tii« Avo I
PORTLAND 74H) and Gliien
I
I
managers. "T h is is an unacceptable
situ a tio n . T h e C ity should be an
exam ple fo r the rest o f the co m ­
m unity in fairness o f hiring p rac­
tices.”
The annual M H R C a ffirm a tiv e
actio n review concluded th at the
C ity was well short o f its goals in
minority and female hires. M inority
utilization for the City is 6.9 percent
and 20 .7 percent fo r w om en,
M H R C found.
Com m issioner Jordan said in a
mem o to Park Bureau m anagers
that "effective immediately, women
and minorities who are certified for
positions in your B u reau , w ill be
Hired, w hether there is an u n ­
derutilization or not in any specific
job category.
" I f , fo r w hatever reason, you
conclude that a certified woman or
m in ority should not be hired, you
w ill subm it fo r my a p p ro v a l, the
ju s tific a tio n
fo r
yo u r
con-
sid eratio n (s) b e fo re fillin g the
position."
Lindberg, who oversees Person­
nel Services and C iv il Service, said
he is “ extremely concerned” about
the findings.
Under C ivil Service rules, the top
three or five candidates fo r a
p o sitio n are considered equ ally
qualified for a position. Any one of
them can be hired subject to the
judgement of the hiring official.
Nearly 90,000 signatures suppor­
ting the C itizen s U t ilit y Board
in itia tiv e were delivered to the
Secretary of State's office in Salem,
M o n d ay m orning. The signatures
were turned in shortly after jubilant
supporters held a small celebration
on the steps o f the capital. Suppor­
ters said the 89,029 signatures en­
sure that (he measure will appear on
the Novem ber ballo t. O nly 62,000
are required.
Eric Stachon, chair of Oregonians
for C U B and U tility Program direc­
tor for the Oregon State Public In ­
terests Research G roup (O S P IR G ),
said tw o c ritic a l lessons emerge
from the initiative campaign for the
C U B "T h e firs t.” he said, "is that
grassroots campaigns are alive and
well in O reg o n." He added that the
petitions were circulated by close to
600 individuals without pay and that
a wide range o f consum er, senior
citizen, environmental, civic, labor,
relig io u s, p o litic a l and other
organizations support the effort.
The second lesson, continued
S tacho n , " is fo r the u tility co m ­
panies whose total disregard for the
consum er in te res t, and com plete
p reo ccu patio n w ith short-term
profit has contributed to the current
need fo r C U B " He described the
signatures as "ind ividu al responses
to the current system," and predic­
ted the measure will pass with more
than 60 percent o f the vote in
November.
Stachon added, " u tility company
credibility is so low that no one will
believe th eir m u lti-m illio n d o lla r
Day Care
MRS. C’s
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M a n y w i g i p r ic e d ot B6, BIP b B16
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$4“
Utility watchdog
measure on ballot
by Chuck Goodmacher
4- year old klda at Grace Collina
media campaign."
L illia n H e rzo g , G ra y P anthers
representative and chief petitioner
for the measure, said, "T h e re 's an
old saying, ' I f it a in 't broke, don't
fix it .’ W ell, believe me, the system
of setting utility rates in Oregon sure
is 'b ro k en ' and it's time to ‘ fix it'.
T h a t’s where C U B comes in .”
I f passed by the voters in Novem­
b er, C U B w ill be a statew ide
o rg anization representing residen­
tial consumers o f telephone, elec­
tric, and gas utilities. It w ill be sup­
ported by voluntary contributions
o f S3 (provisions are included for
those on low- and fixed-incomes to
avoid this requirem ent) which w ill
e n title
consumers
to
vo ting
privileges and support the hiring of
fu ll-tim e experts to stand up fo r
them when rates and policy are
being set. C U B will not be a part of
the government and will not receive
any tax dollars.
A unique fe a tu re o f the C U B
proposal w ill be the a b ility o f the
consumer group to have notices in­
cluded in u tility bill mailings along
w ith the usual u tility com pany
p ro m o tio n s. K e rry B arn ett o f
O S P IR G said this pow er w ill
elim inate a m ajo r obstacle to con­
sumer organizing; tens o f thousands
o f consumers w ill be able to know
that the organization even exists as
well as what it is doing in their in ­
terests. He said the fact that 92,000
in d ivid u als in W isconsin have
joined a C U B there shows this to be
tru e. C U B supporters say the
W isconsin C U B has saved c o n ­
sumers there $283 m illio n since
1980, when it was established.
Ben
Proprietor
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