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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1985)
Super trainer Stress management Snap decisions Page 8 PORTLAND OBSERNER u SM m «u au • fa» Volume XV, Number 14 January 30,1985 25c Copy Two Sections Z«M Irvington school parents site institutional racism by l^ n tla Duke G R A SS R O O T N E W S . N W. - Blacks and Jews explore similarities Black and Jaw lah tee n ag er* bagan a dialogua Sunday aimad at braaklng down ataraotypaa and diacovarlng tha aimilarltiaa batwaan their tw o m i nority group*. Tha workahop waa aponaored by the American Jewiah Committee and tha Portland Ur ban League. Above: Darrell Millnar. head of tha Black Studlaa Department at Portland State Univeraity, read* a literacy teat that was used in tha South to keep Black* from voting Below Lailah Danialaon. 14. from Harriet Tubman Middle School and Kabo Draw. 14. from Jefferaon High School, share sweat potato pie and baglas. (Photos: Richard J Brown) Some parenis at Irvin g to n grade school recently requested an urgent meeting with Matthew Prophet, Sup erintendent o f the Po rtlan d Public Schools, to intervene in what they have described as, “ ill treatment of children, the relationship between parents and personnel and a number of peculiar incidents involving teach- ers and Afro-Am erican pupils at Irv ington.“ John Chatwick, principal of Irving ton, said he was aware of some of the complaints and that he would be will ing to speak directly w ith parents. “ There was one that I tried to get in touch w ith and was unable. I d o n ’ t think these are issues appropriate for news." Parents disagree. Some are in the process o f form ing an organization "A frican -A m erican Parents Against Institutional Racism” to find a solu tion to this problem Halim Kahsaan, chair of the Desegregation M o n ito r ing and Advisory Comm ittee, attend ed the first meeting "A s far as I had wick was concerned, the problems these parenis had were resolved But parents think otherwise." A cadem ically, Irvin gto n scores above the School D istric t’s average. The breakdown of how A fro -A m eri can children were achieving, whether they received more referrals from teachers or suspended at a higher rate, remains unresolved Chadw ick was not forthcom ing w ith that in fo rm a tion and District resources could not retrieve data to meet publication deadlines. One problem is clear W ith a Black student pop u latio n o f 50 percent, Irvington has only two Black teachers exit of 33. Chadwick said there are I2 aids and IO o f them are Black Larry Ayers, D irector o f Instruction for Irv in g to n , said he was concerned about the low number o f m in ority teachers, " N o t only at Irvington but district-wide." Ayers said he was aw are o f com plaints and had talked w ith parents who "w ere concerned about the way school personnel dealt w ith kids. W e are in the process o f discussing those concerns with them ." He also noted that the complaints addressed by Black parents may be broader. " I wonder if it is more than one or two parents dissatisfied when. tra d itio n a lly , we received this sup port And the broader comm unity is no longer supportive. I ’ m really not clear on the issues.” Parents Against Institutional Rac ism said they were clear on the issues Veniia Myrick said she inquired if her daughter was treated too harshly by a male teacher. “ She was shook repeat edly when she unintentionally went to the wrong end o f the line. The re sponse I got from the principal was that I should not question the way they handle things." Myrick added that insult was added to in ju ry when the teacher she per ceived as harsh, caustic and am biva lent wanted her child to eat lunch with his class, "s o he could observe her behavior." “ C hadw ick acted like he did not want to listen to me. He treated me disrespccituUy. so 1 will lake my case elsewhere to get it resolved A fte r talking w ith a num ber o f parents, Rahsaan said there was evt- dence o f Chadw ick’s overt disrespect for Afro-Am erican children and par ents." Karen Powell, Director o f Am eri can Lriend Service Com m ittee’s Edu cational M onitoring component, said during the last three years her office had received seven complaints. "Parents were questioning suspen sions, classroom selections, lack o f hom ework and a Black ch ild w ho transferred from another school was automatically placed in a low achieving track." she said. Powell added that parents had some problem s with the a ttitu d e o f the principal and some teachers. In a letter to Prophet, Patty Coxeff, a parent, said, " I have chosen to seek this meeting with you because I have been unable to obtain any satisfac tory response to my concerns fro m John Chadw ick." Irvin gto n has a C itizen Advisory C om m ittee but representatives were unavailable for comment. Seattle Black leaders condemn T/wes article by l am ia Duke GRASSROOT NEW S, N W The Emerald C ity, Seattle, Washing ton, glows with tension created by the white media assessment o f the who, what, when, where, why and how of Black leadership w ithin Seattle's Afro-American community. In this assessment, Seattle's oldest Black newspaper (Z7ie Seattle Facts] was excluded, along with Black busi nessmen and women. On January 20, in the Sunday Seattle limes magazine " P a c ific ,” w riter Elizabeth Rhodes listed who she labeled as Black leaders from an "inform al sampling o f Black Seattle." Under the headlines " l eading the W a y ," Rhodes said Rev. Samuel McKinney. C ity Council person Sam Smith. Eddie Rye, Jr., former Execu tive D irecto r fo r C A M P (C entral Area M o tiv a tio n P ro g ram ), L arry Gossel, C A M P ’ s current Executive Director and Rossland Woodhouse, President o f Seattle's Urban League, were main leaders in Seattle’ s Black community. Many in Seattle's Black community said the selection of individuals con centrated on religious leaders, direc tors o f social programs and p o liti cians. Mrs. Jeamne Holslon wrote in a letter to the editor, " W h ite leader ship comes from the business co m m unity first and politics second. Preachers are spiritual leaders........... yet, our leaders must be people who are dependent on charity fo r their survival or are en tertainer/ath lctes who amuse white folks for a living. Never are our successful Black busi nessmen and women, who are finan cially independent, ever recognized as leaders and should be exalted as role models of Black accomplishment." Jasie Johnson, another irate resi dent, said, "This press (Seattle Times] was so bold as to not only decide for me who I should fo llo w , but also what newspaper to read..............Well, from here on out I think for myself, !Please turn to Page 7, Column J Recent Grenada elections bear stamp "M ade in U.S.A." by Bill Bigelow From start to Finish the recent elec tions in G renada bore the stamp, "M a d e in the U S A .” W hile the U.S. was the global winner, the Grenadian victor was H erb ert Blaize, 66, the new Prime Minister and leader o f the New N ational Party (N N P ). Blaize's party finished w ith 59 percent o f the vote. Former dictator Eric dairy's G renada U n ited L ab or P arty g ar nered 36 percent of the total, and the Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement — remnants o f the deposed New Jewel M ovem ent— ran a distant third with only five percent. A poll o f Grenadians conducted in M a y , 1984, indicated that a large majority wanted elections postponed for at least a year. Nonetheless, the U .S.-installed government, anxious for an elected regime which could restore investor confidence and lure new capital, pushed ahead. But problems developed. By m id summer it appeared that three com peting pro-U.S. parties threatened to split the vote, leaving Eric gairy's far right G U L P or the socialist M au rice Bishop P atrio tic M ovem ent as probable winners. Enter the U .S . A unity pow-wow, widely believed to be Am erican- sponsored, was held on nearby Union Island. In attendance were George Brizan, Francis Alexis and Herbert Blaize, leaders o f the three pro-U.S. factions. Also present was Barbadian Prim e M in iste r T o m Adam s who was in tim ately involved in the co n spiracy leading up to the U .S . inva sion of Grenada. Presto: when the meeting ended the three parties had melded into one with Herbert Blaize at the helm. Billing itself as the New N ational Party, this shotgun-wedding coalition sought and got large amounts o f aid from the U .S . — albeit ind irectly. The N a tio n al republican Institu te, funded by the U .S . In fo rm a tio n Agency, contributed $20,000, and the Am erican Institute fo r Free Labor Developm ent ( A IF L D ) which has links to the C IA , added another $80,000. Also jum ping on the N N P bandwagon was the Council for N a tional Policy, which includes some of the same right-wing behind-the-scenes backers o f the contras in Nicaragua: Jerry F alw e ll, Joseph C o o rs, Jesse Helm s and Phyllis S ch lafly, among others. This private aid to Grenada’s New National Party is indicative o f a Reagan administration trend toward using non-governmental surrogates to avoid Congressional review ar. possible restrictions. R olling in right-w ing cash, the N N P hired 500 campaign workers, ordered tons o f glossy brochures, rented sound vans, gave away T-shirts, caps and buttons, and even hired planes to criss-cross the island trailing ‘vote for us’ slogans. Suffering from a depressed econ omy with unemployment likely hov ering in the 50 percent range, Grena dians were posed with a stark choice: vote fo r the U n ited States-backed N N P , w ith the hope o f opening the U .S . aid and investment spigot, or vote against the N N P and face the likeliho od o f a deeper depression. Given the choice, the surprise is that the N N P received O N L Y 59 percent Seen in this context, the low tally for the M au rice Bishop Patriotic M ovem ent does not appear quite so gloomy. In one parish, St. John’s, an area which had p articu larly active agricultural co-operatives and adult education centers during the 1979- 1983 revolutionary period, the M B P M candidate drew 15 percent o f the vote. This surely w ould have been higher had many people been perm itted to register when the M B P M announced plans to contest in the elections, which occurred afte r the deadline. S till, the left in Grenada will be slow to re build the support it lost fro m the secretive and m urderous battles o f September and October, 1983. But nor do things look so rosy for the N N P . Blaize's coalition is a shaky one, born out o f Am erican coercion and a shared fear o f Eric G a iry and the M B P M , but little else. T o m a in tain p o p u la rity , B laize’s p arty w ill have to move sw iftly to remedy the economic shambles created by the U.S.-ordered dismantling o f the pro grams o f the socialist government o f M aurice Bishop: ag ric u ltu ral co operatives, education centers, militia units, and food processing plants. H o w ever, i t ’ s not likely Blaize's Grenada will be any more successful than Seaga’ s Jamaica in reducing unem ploym ent and w inning a m ea sure o f economic independence. As the Grenadian economy continues to languish, the N N P co alitio n could begin to crumble. I f this were to hap pen, it w ould become a whole new ballgam e. Those in G renada com mitted to reviving the revolutionary social and economic projects o f the Bishop years should be ready to take advantage of new opportunities. I
