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Oregon
and apartheid
Winning essayists
Russell Peyton Awards were presented this week to three outstand
ing students from Harriet Tubman M iddle School. (L-r) 8th grader M ike
Stanley. 7th grader Marah Danielson and 8th grader Ralph Schuplng. Pre
eending the awards is Sho Donro. chairperson of the Education Com
mlttee of the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
PageS
PORTLAND OBSERVER
C ¿>SrPfc¿/ttA«Jwa». f e
Volume XV, Number 12
January 16, 1985
25c Copy
Two Sections
/8M
Refugees arrested in raids
by B ill Collins
A wave o f arrests swept U .S . cities
M o n d a y , January 14, as the Reagan
A d m in is tra tio n a n d the Justice D e
partment cracked down on the church-
led ‘ ‘ S a n c tu a ry M o v e m e n t” w hich
provides support and shelter to scores
o f undocum ented C e n tral Am ericans
seeking refuge fro m violence in G u a
temala and E l Salvador.
T h e Justice D e p a r tm e n t in d ic t
m ents n am ed 16 p e o p le in c lu d in g
C a th o lic priests a n d nuns, a P rotes
tan t m in is te r as w e ll as lay p eo ple.
O ver 60 C entral Americans have been
arrested in Phoenix, Seattle, Tucson,
P h ila d e lp h ia . R o ch ester, a n d o th e r
cities.
T h e 16 ind ictm ents handed d ow n
by the Justice D e p a rtm e n t resulted
fro m evidence gathered by fo u r u n
filt r a t e d the c h u rc h fro m w ith in .
W e expect that to happen in Russia,
terms “ an ideological in te rp re ta tio n
Eastern E u ro p e , and in to ta lita ria n
countries.”
o f refugee status” by federal agencies.
B rady claim s refugee status is easily
T h o se in d ic te d a re c h a rg e d w ith
granted to people leaving Com m unist
countries but denied to people fro m
c o u n trie s such as E l S a lv a d o r o r
Am erican refugees, describes what he
smuggling illegal aliens into the coun
try. Organizers in the sanctuary move
m ent d en y w ro n g d o in g a n d charge
that U .S . agencies are breaking fed
G uatem ala.
Claim ing that only three out o f 100
e ra l law s by n ot g ra n tin g re fu g e e
status to C e n tr a l A m e ric a n s w h o
o fte n face d e a th o r “ d is a p p e a r-
a n c e " upon returning to th eir cou n
G u a te m a la n s receive re fu g e e status
a fte r a p p ly in g . B rad y e x p la in s th a t
they are fo rc e d to seek re fu g e here
w ith ou t going throu gh fed eral ch a n
tries.
nels.
o rg a n iz e r,
T h e P o rtla n d S a n c tu a ry C o a li
D a v id B rady, points out that G u a te
m a la n s a n d S a lv a d o ra n s are given
tio n h eld a press c o n fe re n c e at S t.
P o rtla n d
s a n c tu a ry
A n drew s C a th o lic C h u rc h on T u e s
d ay , J a n u a ry 15, w here the p a ris h
protected refugee status in H onduras
by a U nited Nations charter signed by
the U nited States but demands, “ W h y
ioners have given sanctuary to G uate
malan ‘ M aria * and her fam ily . Sanc
dercover agents operating in Tucson,
A riz o n a , w ho had in filtra te d church
meetings. The New Yo rk Times q uot
ed the Reverend John F ife o f Tucson,
one o f the defendants whose church
are they then dented refug ee status
tuary organizers Father Jim Colem an
here?”
T he Reagan A d m in is tra tio n claims
these C e n tra l A m e ric a n s are “ eco
nom ic refugees,” not “ political refu-
and R e v e re n d D o n B a rn h a r t r e a f
firm e d the " r ig h t o f re lig io u s c o m
m unities to practice sanctuary“ and
pledged to c on tin ue this practice de
was the firs t o f the now m o re than
geess,” hence they do not q u a lify fo r
spite the recent wave o f arrests. P o rt
200 churches providing sanctuary:
“ T h e g o v e rn m e n t has p la n te d
refugee status.
bod y-b ud s on its agents and has in
b o th w ith V ie tn a m e s e a n d C e n tr a l
land's sanctuary c o m m u n ity has yet
experienced no arrests.
Brady, an attorney who has worked
A s k e d w h y she le ft G u a te m a la .
‘ M a r ia * res p o n d e d th a t she had
friends in an organization, “ the name
o f w hich I cannot even re m e m b e r."
K n o w le d g e by g o v e rn m e n t forces
o f these frie n d s h ip s p ut her u n d er
susp icio n a n d in d an g e r o f d e a th .
'M a r ia * d es c rib e d h e rs e lf as “ P o
litic a lly u n e d u c a te d since I c a n n o t
even read or w rite .”
A sked w hy the c ra c k d o w n on the
s a n c tu a ry m o v e m e n t o c c u rre d so
suddenly a fte r a prolonged period o f
to le ra n c e , T e r r y R o dg ers o f the
Portland Sanctuary C o alition had this
sim ilar to th at of South A frica. C ity C om m issioner
M a rg a re t S tra c h a n and C o u n ty C o m m is s io n e r
G retchen K afoury w e re in vited in to w a it fo r Van
Pelt. They rem ained for an hour, then m ade an ap
pointm ant to see him.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
S. Africa protestors denied trials
by I amtu Ih ik e
o f O regon's A F T .-C IO ; Lynn P a rk in
G R A S S R O O T N E W S . N .W . —
T he first wave o f defendants recently
son, local a tto rn e y ; Jim D ra p e r, re
tired businessm an o f C o rv a llis ; and
arrested fo r c rim in a l trespass in the
business o ffic e o f C a lv in V a n P elt,
E d F e rg u s o n , p ro fe s s o r at O re g o n
S ta te U n iv e r s ity , w ere a rra ig n e d
H o n o ra ry C o n s u l to S o u th A fr ic a ,
had th e ir d ay in c o u rt and pleaded
Thursday. January 10.
K a th le e n H e r r o n , o n e o f tw e n ty
attorneys fro m the N a tio n a l L aw yer
G u ild rep resenting the d e fe n d a n ts ,
said, “ O u r first fight is to get them
"N o t guilty.”
District C o u rt Judge Charles G u i-
nasso heard (heir plea and referred
the case to trial. Controversy is brew
ing because the " F re e South A fric a "
defendants requested a ju ry trial while
District Attorney Nancy Pokins wants
to re-classify the violation o f crim inal
to “ p la y d o w n the m a g n itu d e ol
what we are trying t o d o ."
" W e need to be able to educate the
public through a ju ry trial so we can
m ake a p p ro p ria te statem ents to let
people know what we are doing. This
is not a m a rg in a l g ro u p o f p e o p le
airin g gripes. W e are ta lk in g ab o u t
the lib e ra tio n o f a m a jo r section ot
h um an ity," said Purcell.
(th e d e fe n d a n ts ) in fro n t o f a ju r y .
T h e D A . is jo c k e y in g to m a k e it a
non-issue by changing the violation
I f we end u p w ith a ju r y t ria l the
crim es o f S o u th A f r ic a w ill be
Rep. Burton said V an P e ll, a pub
lic official representing a government,
denied access to tw o elected o ffic ia ls
Jackson, co-chairs o f the Black U n it
ed F ro n t; D ic k C e ls i, c h a ir o f the
O regon D e m o c ra tic P a rly ; M argaret
defense. “ A n y violation of a status in
the U nited States — short o f m urder
— would be justified, given the enor
m ity o f atrocities com m itted in South
tral A m eric a n policy and this recent
C a rte r, R epresentative - D istrict 18;
M ik e B u rto n . R e p re s e n ta tiv e - D is
trict 17; T re v o r P u rc e ll, professor at
A fric a ." she added.
P u rc e ll, o ne o f th re e d e fe n d a n ts
who appeared in court, said he viewed
— h im s e lf an d Rep. C a rte r. “ T h a t
m ig h t be th e w a y th e y d o business
in South A fric a , but it is not the way
we do business in this cou ntry. II we
take a passive approach, we arc c o n
doning South A fric a ," he added
Rep. C a rte r said P o rtla n d is not
alone in her p ro test. " W e jo in e d 15
o th er c itie s , w h ere 487 p eo p le have
been arrested W e feel these opp res
escalation.”
Reed College; Bob Baugh. Secretary
the denial o f a ju ry tria l as an e ffo rt
sive measures must s lo p ."
to say. " T h e Reagan A d m in is tra tio n
is o p e ra tin g u n d e r the a s s u m p tio n
that it has a mandate. This is why we
are c a llin g fo r a v ig il o n T h u rs d a y ,
January 17, to protest this action and
dem onstrate o u r unity and strength.
(L-rl Rev. J im C o le m a n , “ M a ria " (p seu do n ym ) fro m G u a te m a la .
Tarry Rogers. Rav. Don Barnhart and David Brady reaffirm the right of
re lig io u s c o m m u n itie s to p ra c tic e s a n c tu a ry a t press c o n fe re n c e
Tuesday.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Bobbi Gary (I) and Russ Farrell (second from right)
ware im m ediately arrested and cited for trespassing
following their attem pts to see Calvin Van Pelt. Hon
orary Consul to South A frica. The same day, In an
action that has bean described as a double standard
W e need to let R e a g a n k n o w th a t
there is a lot o f opposition to his C en
trespass to a tte m p te d trespassing to
avoid a ju ry trial.
R o n n ie H e rn d o n an d R ev. Joh n
a ire d ."
H erron plans to use a justification
Key Cawthorne campaigners analyze City Council election results
by Bob L othian
W e can't keep crying
O r singing the blues.
Because even if we did n't win
W e could never lose.
The day was when
T he tension high.
The thought o f loss was just passed by
This is the end,
A nd I ’ m almost done.
But I'd bke to say, we've just begun.
Thirteen-yearold Justin Lowe wrote
this poem and gave copies o f it to Herb
C aw thorne and members o f his cam
paign staff gathered for a reunion last
week
Justin, one o f the youngest C a w
thorne volunteers, put in over 100 hours
campaigning after school and on week
ends. H e was sometimes left in charge
o f an office full o f adults, and he even
erwked for the campaign crew. The spe
cial quality o f Caw thom e’s campaign is
resealed in the roles and responsibilities it
allowed for young people like Justin.
After the poetry reading and between
hugging and kidding around, the cam
paigners talked about the vote results
1 8 ," said C a w th o rn e, "w h ic h means
that Black people and white people in
District 18 joined together and came out
in significant numbers."
and some of the high and low plants o f
the campaign
What came across was that the C aw
thorne campaign grew fro m the grass
roots w ith a spirit influenced by the
Cawthorne won agamsi Bogle in inner
outgoing personality o f the candidate It
brought together a huge group o f vol
unteers fro m diverse racial, econom ic
and age backgrounds. It was a c a m
paign o f fun and excitement for those
northeast, and fie also did well in north
west Portland and surpnsingly, in areas
o f Portland’s southwest hills, upsetting
predations " W e won on the west side
o f Pistland.” said Stein
Where C aw thorne d id n 't do so well
was in areas remote from the issues o f
a ty politics where the campaigners felt
that Dick Bogle's name familiarity from
years on television made the difference
— far north Portland and the vast while
suburban neighborhoods stretching
involved, a cam paign free o f " d ir ty
tricks” that, am azingly, ended free o f
debt. T h e C a w th o rn e cam paign,
said those who put it together, showed
that a rainbow coalition aimed at get
ting out the inner city vote can make a
visible impact on city politics. The coali
tion is still there, they added, ready to be
m obilized fo r other candidates and
issues.
out in southeast Portland "T h e y knew
who he was,” said Stein.
The Cawthorne campaign just didn’t
have (he tim e and resource to m ake
Cawthorne well know n in those areas.
Cawthorne campaign manager Bev
erly Stein said that months o f ground
w ork, including aggressive voter regis
tration, paid o ff in Cawthome's strength
in Northeast P o rtla n d , p articularly in
District 18, where voter tu rn o u t was
over 26 percent, higher than the city
" E v e ry place we canvassed and tele
phoned we w o n ," said cavass coordi
nator Steve Rudman, "but we just could
not canvass all the precincts in the innet
average
" I think what's important is to rein
force the progress that's been made in
terms o f a 26 percent turnout in District
C a w th o rn e c a m p a ig n e rs (l-rl P am S m ith .
Heidi D urrow . Virginia Harris, Tarry Anderson.
Justin Lowe. Herb Cawthorne. Steve Rudman.
Jaana W ooley and Beverly Stein discuss elec
tion results at recent reunion
(Photo Richard J Brown)
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city.’’
Icuna Woolcs. » h o handled press re
lations fix the campaign, said that with
m ore tim e, the charism atic candidate-
(Please turn to Page f. Column 4)
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