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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1985)
Page 2, Portland Observer, January 30, 1906 OE liV M t ip H f* s i SMOLA V K com » i Been as oij O m a to n «; i r * law EMf<T«tc»*t, ii o frircu EDITORIAL/OPINION ATI IN W U I6 A IC « A H tsN ftci By NV f U S K N T ATVjONXV CM « B A I STU piEPfcPS BALUbOCUHP.. Upgrade Black education For months upon end our news reports have uncovered the d is p ro p o rtio n and discrepancy facing Black ch ildren in the P ortland P ublic School D istrict. N ow, we have another incident which again proves that the educational system is flu n k in g in its e ffo rts to educate Black c h il dren. Since 1980 (he Russell Payton A w ards fo r winning essayists have gone to 15 students from H a rrie t Tubm an M id d le School. Judges fro m the E ducation C om m ittee o f the M e tro po lita n Hum an Relations Commission are given essays to evaluate w ith the c h ild ’ s name replaced w ith a number. The critc'ia utilized by the committee is c o n te n t, fo rm , gram m ar and co m p ositio n . The results have yielded 15 students fro m each grade level — sixth, seventh and eighth. During these five years th* re have been 14 white winning essayists and one Hack. By no stretch r f the imagination are we c riti cizing those winning essayists. We applaude aca demic achievement and com petition. But when we have a judging process that is virtually color blind in a school where the student population is 58 percent Black, one must question if the Port land P ublic Sthools are preparing or expecting Black childrer to compete in the real world. Again, we i re not picking on Harriet Tubman M id d le Scho ,1. These results ju st m irro r the education provided Black children in the school system. Since 1980 Black children have scored two to three grades behind the d is tric t’ s average in Reading, M ath and Language Arts. Early C h ild hood Educational Centers (ECECs) have never approached the d is tric t’ s norm academ ically. So, some o f our children w ill start middle school w ith a handicap that follow s them all the days o f their lives. Created by low expectations and reinforced by in s titu tio n a l racism, Black c h il dren in the school system are having their future picked for them. There was a time when in d ivid ua l counselors recommended to a Black ch ild a fu tu re as a laborer or in a service-related jo b . That overt racism has been replaced w ith a system that graduates Black ch ild re n w ith skills that w ill only take them so far. Instead o f an ECEC plan to bring Black ch il dren up to grade level, teachers and principals focus on behavior and remedial approaches to teaching. They arc quick to sidestep blame by shifting responsibility to the home environment. They fa il to accept that they have created an educational maze o f low expectations and be havior modification. It is little wonder that Black children develop a sense o f a lienation in the schools. M any o f them feel unwanted and insecure. They respond to the classroom setting with hostility. The district w ill say Black children are making gains at rates higher than the d is tric t’ s average. But this claim is deceptive. Gains are being made, but Black children are not catching up to their grade level. The lack o f an ECEC plan to bring Black children up to grade level is an in d ica tio n that the system expects them to stay behind. What happened with the Payton Award is just one item o f evidence that suggests parents are paying money to an educational system that docs not give them their money’s worth. Looking fo r the new Booker T. Along I he C o lor Line by D r. M anning M arable Ronald Reagan has a problem. O f all the social groups in Am erican society, Blacks have opposed his adm inistration on virtually every is sue. Last November, 90 percent of all A fro-A m ericans voted against him. Every day for over two months. Black leaders have led nonviolent dem on strations agains this pro-apartheid policies in South Africa. The Nation al Urban txague, no bastion o f Black militancy, issued its 1985 report last week which charged that Blacks were "sliding back in every area o f life .” W ith Black unemployment at 16 per cent, m ore than d ouble .he white rate o f 6.S percent, it is hardly sur prising that v irtu a lly every m ajo r Black leader is hostile to the admin istration. Reagan's predicament could be resolved if only he could find a more humble and pliable Negro lead ership — in short, another Booker T. Washington. The Black educator and founder o f Tuskegee Institute, A la b am a, became fam ous in 1895 fo r his "A tla n ta Com prom ise" address, which accepted racial segregation and political disfranchisement for Blacks. W a s h in g to n ’ s a c c o m m o d a tio n is t rhetoric acquiesced to lynchings and institutional racism, while cementing an alliance between Black entrepre neurs and conservative Republicans. The President’s most recent effort to create a new accom m odationist Black leadership occurred two weeks ago, when he invited tw enty Black businessmen to the W h ite House. None o f these special guests had any viable political base within the Black community, and even the media criti cized Reagan for this shabby charade. The quest for a new Booker T . must lead elsewhere. Perhaps Roy Innis, national chair man of the Congress of Racial Equal ity (C O R E ), is a possible candidate. Innis has been a proponent o f Black C a p ita lis m , like Booker T . W ash ington. Reportedly, he has also ex pressed sympathy for the "subw ay v ig ila n te " , Bernhard Hugo G oetz, who shot four Black youths in New York. In early December, the C O R E leader spoke before the N a tio n al Black Republican C o u ncil in St. Louis, and urged Afro-Americans to "join the Republican Party as sewn as possible. The successful desegrega lion o f the Republican Party can be one of the most important and healthy political developments o f the Black community and the country at large." Innis' idiosyncratic organizational behavior and Black nationalist a f finities, however, disqualify him from serious consideration. W hat about Clarence Thom as, chairman o f the Equal Employment O pportunity Commission? Thomas performed a noteworthy service for conservatives nostalgic for H im Crow by trying to liq u id ate strict guide lines used to detect patterns o f bias against national minorities and women in employment. In the academic field, o f course, the leading contenders are Thomas Sowell and W aller W il liams. Sowell's recent book condemns the notion that "statistical d ispari ties” in employment im ply racial or gender “ discrim ination.” His previ ous works have applauded corporate initiatives and reductions in federal governm ent program s fo r Blacks. Williams gained prestige in conserva tive circles by condem ning Black support fo r the M o n d a le -F e rra ro ticket, claim in g that " th e election highlights the bankrupt strategy of Black leadership." But after pondering the situation, Reagan might give the nod to his most loyal Black functionary, Clarence M Pendleton, ch airm an o f the U .S . C iv il Rights C om m ission. Pendle ton’s recent speeches have made the origin al U ncle T o m look like M a l colm X. He claims that A fro-A m eri cans have made “ tremendous prog ress" under Reagan, and has even com pared Jesse Jackson, N A A C P L E A D E R Benjamin Hooks and other nation al Black leaders to the m u r derous evangelist Jim Jones. Rea gan's budget cuts and tax policies are "designed to take Blacks on the path way to g lo ry , fro m rags to riches, from poverty to p arity." Hut Pendle ton's hyperbolic posturing and sorry inability to comprehend the deteriora tion of Blacks' socioeconomic condi tions during the past four years negate his potential to lead anyone anywhere The President's frustrated efforts to create a docile Black "leadership" in the image o f Booker T . Washing ton are futile, for two basic reasons. Historically, Booker T . Washington was no Uncle Tom . despite his accom m odationist rh eto ric. Secretly, he lobbied against segregation codes, and he financed Black economic and political institutions which strength ened the Black community. Washing ton cham pioned industrial educa tion for Blacks, but sent his own daughter to elite private schools. He accepted Jim Crow railroad cars, but always travelled in the first class sec tions. Despite legal disfranchisement, Washington and the Tuskegee Insti tute faculty continued to vote in A la bama during the early 1900s. The tragedy of Booker T. Washing ton was that his accom m odationist strategy in the long run could not overturn racial d is crim in atio n and economic oppression. The tragedy for these new Black conservatives is that they lack even the subtle duplicity of W ashington. Thus, we arrive at the second and more decisive factor: so long as Reagamsm remains in power, the political and social response from the vast majority o f Black Americans will be unqualified resistance. — ------- r ... - Letters to the Editor ............■■ Xssoctaiton ■ rounded IMS 283 2486 Bos 3137 Portland. Oregon 97208 A l Williams. General Manager After deciding I didn't need our lo cal paper every day — wasn’ t worth the subscription — I subscribed to the Portland Observer. I commend you, and find the paper excellent. I'm w ritin g , how ever, about the Coors ad in the M a rtin L . King edi tion. I was dismayed that you would accept an ad, no m atter how much m oney, fro m a racist, non-union company. Coors (Joseph) is a favorite of Ronald Reagan If my information is incorrect, please let me know. In the meantime, thousands in this country are boycotting C oors beer!! They (Coors) are part o f the problem this country faces today. Sincerely, V IC T O R IA P L A IS T E D To the Editor, Alleged inform ation on " W h o Is First Black" should be verified with official public documents. Tw o errors have appeared in recent articles O c to b e r 1984: M rs. M cC oy was reported as the f ir s t elected A fro - Am erican (N ote: M rs. M cC oy and Judge D eiz were both elected M a y 1971)} J a n u a ry 1985: M r. Ford was re ported as O reg o n ’s first Black teacher (Note: M r. Robert Ford and Mrs. Leota Stone were both hired in the same School Board meeting and same resolution number July 1945 for the f u l l school year 1945-1946. The School Board authorization number appears on M rs. Stone’s personnel record and longevity accruals. In the interest of fairness and accuracy, M rs. Stone’s name should be added to the plaque at King Neighborhood Facility. Hire Blacks To the Editor, It gives me great pleasure to com mend you on your great e d ito ria l, "Taxation Without Representation,” which appeared in your Jan. 9, 1985 edition. You did the Black commun ity a needed service by pointing out the lack o f a ffirm a tiv e action by M ayor Bud Clark and County C om missioner Gretchen Kafoury. I would J. M G A T E S X Street eat by Lenita Duke and Richard J. Brown .....~ suggest that now is the lim e to start some direct action to assure that Blacks are hired and actively involved on the staffs of these two newly elect ed officials and any others who don't sec the need for Black involvement in the affairs o f the city and the county. S A M JA C K SO N , JR Thanks, Floyd! To the Editor, The membership of U H U R U SA SA would like to publicly voice our ap preciation and thanks for an enjoy able afternoon o f soulful entertain ment. The entire population of O.S.P. was privileged to experience and enjoy the presence o f Floyd Cruse and his Dark Star Revue. Through the combined efforts o f Uhuru Sa Sa, the State Street Jaycees, and a timely donation from the IB M corporation, we were able to make it possible for the men here to enjoy the soulful sounds This performance was dedicated to the memory of slain civil rights leader Dr. M artin Luther King, Jr., We are indeed thankful and appreciative for the in sp iratio n o f this great Black man, and in keeping with his memory we appreciate the solidarity dem on strated by the D ark Star Revue in such an inspiring tribute. Sincerely, R O B E R T W. EENTRESS Coordinator P ortland, Oregon, made national head lines when M ayor Bud Clark selected Penny Harrington as the first female Police C hief in a m a jo r m e tro p o lita n area. The Street Beat team asked, "H o w did you feel about M ayor C la rk’s selection o f Penny H arring ton as our Police C h ie P ” Jan Must Office Manager C Nelson Retired "S u p e r! I think it's great. She is going to do a great jo b .” " It was a smart thing to do. I happen to know her and she’s a nice person. C lark might have started something." »», Subscriptions »15 00 par year in the Tri C ounty area P o s t m a s te r Send address changes Io the P o rtla n d Observer. P 0 A lfre d L. Henderson, Editor/Publisher To the Editor, Verify facts on first Blacks Melinda Whitlow Nurse's Aid « • ' oesi The Portland Observer e r n established in 1970 M W A per Found Coors offensive ! he Observer welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typed or neatly printed and signed with the au th o r's name an d address ta d dresses are not published/. We re serve I he right to edit fo r length M ail to: P o rtla n d Observer, P. O Box 3137, Portland. O R 972OH t h e P o r tla n d O b se rv er rU S P S 959 6801 is pu blish ed «very Thursday by Erne Publishing Com pany, Inc 2201 North Killings w orth. Portland. Oregon 9 7211. Post Office Bos 3137. Portland. Oregon 97208 Srx ond class postage pael at Portland Oregon MEMBER WUAt WCS etUfeNft fcNpc^-tWht C0ULP V0U WANT ? Darryl Johnson Maintenance " I think it ’ s great! W e are all created equal. Women can do a good job as well as men. H arrin g to n had the creden tials. W h y not give her the chance.” Say You Saw It In The PORTLAND OBSER VER Portland Observer •• Ml" ■ ANO (ONCLUOtO THAI THEBE A M NO OBDONpS te e iNthíTiW Ó HMA N a tio n a l A d v e rtis in g R e p re s e n ta tiv e A m a lg a m a te d P ub lishers. Inc N e w Vorh Raphael Peterson Store Owner " I think i t ’s a good selec tion. I ’m glad women are get ting into other Fields.’’ " I t was a wise decision, but I think Clark picked H arrin g ton to boost his career." Jim Laskey Salesperson “ It's great. I think we set a precedent that women as well as men can hold the same office. Bud Clark is doing what we all should be doing: hiring people regardless of their sex. race, creed or colot "
