Page 2, Portland Observer, November 21,1984
Former Portland student jailed in So. Africa
by BUI Bigelow
I Reprinted from The Oregonian)
When Kate P h ilip , an exchange
student from South A fric a , left
Portland’s Jefferson High School in
1979 she was asked in the school
yearbook what her plans were.
” O o back hom e,” she replied,
“ finish my degrees at the U n iv e r
sity o f Cape Town and after that. I
don’t know.”
Last week Philip, 23, was arrested
under South A fric a ’s sweeping In
ternal Security laws. She is president
o f the white N atio n al U nion o f
South Africa Students.
Her arrest came as no surprise to
her former teachers at Jefferson and
the Kurts family, 614« N. Kerby St.,
with whom P hilip lived for five
months.
Polly Kurtz, Kale Philip's Amer
ican “ m other,” remembers Philip
as a “ warm, kind and caring in d i
vid u al” who was "alarm ed and
anxious that South A fric a ’s racist
government not get its way.” Philip
once confided to M rs. K urtz, “ I f
I ’m true to my convictions I ’ll spend
some time in prison.”
Jefferson High School art and
photography teacher, Henry Sjo-
blom, remembers her as "extremely
intense, very bright. She wanted to
come to Jefferson because she was
tired o f living in white ghettos.”
Did Philip's arrest surprise him?
ü’ Kœ üiSia
Ona of aevsral billboards around town displaying tba work of
vandals.
(Photo: Kris Altuchsrl
illboards vandallized
Cam paign billboards fo r city
council candidates Dick Bogle and
Kay Toran werre defaced recently,
cently.
The two billboards, on N orth
Lom bard in the St. Johns area,
appear to have been specifically
targeted by the vandals. They are
located several miles apart and no
other billboards were found de
faced nearby.
Beards and mustaches were paint
ed on the billboards, along with
p ro fa n ity .
“ Benson
T e c h ,"
“ B H S ,” and " R H S ," were also
prominent, raising speculation that
the defacement was done by high
school students.
David Williams, vice-principal at
Benson High School, said that
if a student at Benson were found to
have participated in the vandalism,
an apology to Bogle and Toran
would be in order as well as some
community service. Vice-principal
at Roosevelt High, Tom Christian,
said the issue might be referred to
the student council.
A spokesman for the American
C ivil Liberties U nion said that an
Oregon law (ORS 166.133) makes it
a class A misdemeanor to attack
another person’s property for rea
sons o f “ race, color, religion or na
tional origin.” Whether a billboard
paid for by a candidate can be con
sidered their properly is open to
interpretation, he said.
The Portland Police bureau's
N orth Precinct said that no com
plaints had been filed regarding
the billboards, and there were no
suspects.
Both Bogle and Toran declined to
comment.
" I ’d been expecting to read about it
any day. She's a fighter.
“ But an odd th in g .” he co ntin
ued. “ She was quite enamored with
her country. She didn't hate it; she
just wanted to change the social
system.”
Philip comes from a long tradi -
lion o f “ rebels,” according to Sjo-
blom. Her father, David Philip, is
an independent publisher in South
Africa. He has published numerous
books critical o f South A fric a ’s
apartheid system, including several
by Alan Paton, author o f Cry, The
Beloved Country.
Ms. Philip was in the U .S. as an
exchange student with the American
Field Service program. She was first
placed in Lake Oswego’s Lakeridge
High School. “ It reminded her too
much o f her whites-only schooling
in South A fric a ,” Sjoblom com
mented. “ But she had to fight to
gel into Jefferson, the AFS folks
didn’t want her to move. ’’
A t Jefferson, P hilip joined the
yearbook staff and became involved
in the T V , music and dance pro
grams. "She was a jo in e r ," S jo
blom said, “ very outgoing, other
kids loved her. She was quite pop
ular.”
When P hilip returned to South
Africa she didn't hesitate in express
ing her defiance to white rule. She
wrote to the Kurtz fam ily that,
"When we came o ff the plane, Theo
(a close Black frie n d ) and I were
holding hands. As we climbed down
the ramp the Blacks at the bottom
who saw us started, and pointed
with exclamations. The whiles in
the luggage vehicles all leaned out
and watched us all the way in.
" It 's not illegal. It's just not
done.
" T h e o 's back in Port Elizabeth
and I'm back in Cape Town But we
definitely got the message we were
home.”
At the University of Cape Town,
Philip involved herself in student
anti-apartheid activities. She joined
the National Union o f South A fr i
can Students and quickly was elect
ed to its National Council.
In her campaign materials she
spoke bitterly o f those students
not trying to change the system
“ Fence sitting is not just a cop-out.
it is an acceptance of the status quo.
I f we as privileged students ate to
to play any role in fundamental so
cial change, it is necessary to lake a
stand now.”
Philip’s arrest comes in the wake
of an extremely successful general
strike launched in South A frica's
Transvaal area. Tw o thirds o f the
country's industry is located there.
The strike was called by student
organizations but "co-directed,” in
the words of a participant, by South
Black prisoners
hold annual
justice forum
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A fric a ’s increasingly strong Black
unions.
The strike is significant because it
reflects a heightened level o f unity
in South A fric a between Black
workers, students and community
organizations. The governm ent's
detention o f P h ilip and close to
1,000 others this year indicates how
fearful the apartheid leaders are o f
these developing alliances.
Philip has been charged with no
crime. Instead the government has
detained her under the country's
Internal Security laws. Accused o f
violating no laws, P h ilip has no
right to a tria l or legal assistance.
Her imprisonment may be extended
indefinitely provided the Minister of
Justice continues to certify her a
threat to state security.
Avel G o rd ly , Southern A frica
program director for the American
Friends Service Committee in Port
land, said, “ Things look bad for
Kate. W ithout pressure on the gov
ernment her family may not even be
told where she is.”
According to G o rd ly, torture is
frequently used against detainees.
As of last year 57 people are known
to have died while in detention.
“ She knew she was taking a
ris k ,” remarked Jefferson High
Social Studies teacher Joel Daniels.
“ Students kept asking her, 'W h y
are you going to go back?' And she
would just say, ’ I t ’s my home. I
want to work for justice’ .”
Those people wanting to protest
the detentions o f Kate P hilip and
others in South Africa are urged to
write:
Louis Le Grange, M inister o f
Law and O rder, U nion Buildings,
Pretoria. Republic o f South Africa.
Secret ary of Stale George Shultz,
Department o f State, Washington,
D .C . 20520.
Send copies of your letters to:
Portlanders Organized for Sou
thern A frican Freedom (P O S A F ),
2249 E. Burnside A ve., P ortland,
OR 97214
And
Detainees' Parents Support Com
mittee, P .O . Box 39431, Bramley,
Transvaal. Republic o f South A f
rica. 2018.
CURLS
Relaxera 417.00
JANAE HAIRSTYLE
4711 N. Interstate
Over the period of e year, many families spend
more on their hot water heaters than on two air
conditioners, two colored TVs, a frost-free refnqer
ator and half a dozen other appliances.
When you wear foundation makeup, it should
match your own skin tone. If you try changing your
color too much, you can end up looking like you re
wearing a mask.
e
More than two-thirds of Canada's population lives
within 100 miles of the U.S. border.
We d o ^ io ^ o business w ith South A frica
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Uhuru Sa Sa welcome the com
munity to the Second Annual Black
Prisoners Forum . This probably
concerns you since 51 V« o f Black
males arc arrested in urban cities at
least once a lifetim e. Friday. N o
vember 30. 1984, the Black Prison
ers Forum will take place at the King
School Cafetoriam.
The issue is racial disparatics in
A m erica’ s Justice System. To ad
dress these issues we have put
together a number of interested par-
lies. Robert Watson; Corrections
Adm inistrator, J. C. Kenney; Sup
erintendent o f the Oregon State
P eniten tiary, Ron Herndon; Co-
chairman of the Black United Front
H alim m Rashsan, and Margaret
Carter. Leading the question panel
will be Ms. Lanita Duke along with
other media members.
There will be presentations made
by inmates from the Oregon State
Penitentiary. Come out November
30, 1984, from 6:00 to 9:00 p .m .,
located at 4815 N .E . 7th, Portland.
This concerns you.
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