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New Yam
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Farm workers'
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PORTLAND OBSERNER
Volume XV, Number 34
June 26, 1985
25C Copy
Two Sections
Discrimination seen
bv Robert Lothian
(t
'V U u? ñ « j ‘
A Dallas reporter who made an
exhaustive study o f discrimination
in lederally-subsidi/ed public hous
mg projects reports conditions that
arc "a throwback to the days o f the
antebellum South "
Craig Flourney. • reporter with
the Dallas M orning News, spent 14
months investigating projects in 47
cities, including Chicago, Milwau
kee, Seattle and I os Angeles
Flournoy, whose investigation re
suited in a series for the Dallas
Morning News, spoke at the third
annual Fair Housing Conference at
the downtown Red I ion Inn in
Poit land
In virtually every city visited,
Flournoy said he found a consistent
pattern o f "separate and unequal"
federal housing
White projects are superior to
minority projects in location, serv
ice, accommodations and ameni
ties, according to Flournoy. Elderly
white tenants are given housing
before m inority families, and sub
urban communities fight to keep
out federal housing projects as a
way to keep their communities all
w hite," he said
Flournoy said he found white
projects that are like country clubs,
with boat launching facilities, cen
tral air conditioning, computer
i/ed emergency systems, interest
free loans, counseling and libraries
“ Just like heaven" is how one elder
ly white tenant described her build
ing, he said
Projects in Black neighborhoods,
however, Flournoy said, are often
rat infested and crime ridden lire
traps
Residents of the all Black Nicker
son Arms protect in Watts leel like
prisoners, according to l-'lournoy.
I he security system there, he said, is
a 12-foot high, grease coated fence
topped by spikes pointing inward
“ They think we're animals so they
fence us in ." one resident told him,
said Flournoy.
"W e ’re still segregated, it isn’ t
equal and it's not by choice,” he
wax told by an elderly Black resident
o f a project in Bakersfield
H*)
(Photo: Ricky Booker)
It's time to put the
freebase pipe down
GRASSROOT NEWS. N W - I n
the A pril 3rd and 10th edition o f the
Portland Observer, we focused on
the lifestyle and destructive prob
lems associated with freebasing: the
smoking o f cocaine.
Currently, a number o f readers
requested an update and a conclu
sion as they watch some o f their
peers' lives, health, families and
jobs go up in smoke.
Freebasing transcends race, sex,
and class. In the 1960s, the drug
was heroin and in the 70s various
derivatives o f amphetamines be
came the underground consumer
drug. But the 1980s were heralded
by cocaine which experienced an
increase in supply and a decrease
in price. Coke was snorted, inject
ed, and now smoked.
Freebasing was popularized by
freebase kits and received national
attention when comedian Richard
Pryor was reportedly burned while
he was basing.
Freebasing is accomplished by
adding a liquid base to street coke
that separa.es the cut (additives)
from the drug. A solvent is added to
"fre e " the cocaine. Tbi* freed coke
floats to the top and is drawn o ff
with an eyedropper, placed in an
evaporation dish to dry and then
crushed to a fine powder, The result?
A cocaine base more powerful and
purer than the original I he punfied
crystals are smoked and the high is
as intense as it is short-lived The
maximum is two minutes and the
minimum is 15 seconds.
There are a number of functional
Portlanders whose lives revolve
around getting high. In the vernacular
of the drug culture, they are based
out or "sprung.”
Freebasing evokes an enormous
desire to keep on basing to achieve
this superhigh. Therefore, binges re
place the recreational abuse as basers
pursue this rush.
But this rush, or high, subsides
after a few minutes into restless ir
ritability. The residual wired-up state
is intolerable as basers become para
noid, manic and deeply depressed
Thus, with freebasing. the higher the
high, the lower the lows.
The catch-22 or trick bag that bas
ers Tind themselves in is the addictive
compulsion to consume One hit sets
them o ff, they stay up through binges
* l *■ -’
and finally come down HARD be
cause o f physical or financial ex
haustion.
The cycle repeats itself until basers
attempt suicide, get arrested for crim
inal activities to support their habit or
until a relative turns them in to a
system of drug therapy and counsel
ing. The real question remains: Is this
counseling effective?
Freebasing and freebasers arc ex
tremely individualistic.
Although
there are basehouses where one can go
up with someone (pull money to
gether) to purchase a number o f tree
base hits, the norm is smoking the
drug alone as one's health, family,
income and lifestyle deteriorate Irom
this compulsive craving
Traditional therapy may try to
reorder a person's priority, but the
craving may still exist. Those with
weak willpower will either substitute
this abuse for another
Therefore, a certain awareness or
consciousness must exist or be taught
to really give the person a chance to
give up the pipe. Historically, alterna
tive drug treatment programs have
emerged from social change groups
such as the Black Panthers and (he
Nation ol Islam I hey have proven as
effective, if not more effective, than
their traditional counterpart.
The readoption ol traditional drug
counseling is articulated by Dr.
Luther B. Weems of Morehouse Col
lege:
"Traditional metluxls o f increasing
self awareness
by
psychotherapy
and counseling must be supplemented
by systematic instruction about the
nature and acceptance of self."
In other words, Weems suggests a
clear cut procedures for the develop
ment of self reliance." W'e must rec
ogni/e the service needs of the com
mumty where they (basers) live, and
prepare them to fulfill those needs. . .
People who know themselves, love
themselves and will take excellent
care o f themselves."
For the baser, his or her center of
universe must go beyond the pipe and
themselves. He or she must reach a
state of mind where they are not alone
and educated that the consequences
o f their behavior affects others.
It takes extraordinary measures io
' deal with this extraordinary de
pendence. As long as basers stay
sprung, then their individual losses
are subtracted from the community
and society Before you plug a baser
into a number o f adequate drug coun
seling programs, turn them on to who
they are and into what they are rea 'v
smoking up: themselves and us.
» I
Flournoy said he "d id not find a
single locality in which federal rent
subsidy housing was fully integrated
or m which services or amenities
were equal for whites and m inority
tenants in separate projects." Even
though officials confirmed his find
mgs, the government under five
administrations has refused to en
force lair housing laws, he said.
Flournoy did not investigate con
ditions in Portland. Ihelma John
son, director o f rentals for the
Housing A uthority o f Portland,
said her agency has received only
one discrimination complaint " in
the last year or so ." She said that
H AP racially balances local housing
projects.
Other speakers addressed the his
lory o f lair housing legislation and
offered "am m u nitio n ” for w in
ning settlements in housing discrim
ination cases F illy people, many
representing local public agencies,
attended the conference,
H I Belton Ham ilton, adminis
trative law judge with the Social Se
curity Administration, set the tone
lot the day. He described the d if
ference between the "m elting pot”
and the "power p o t": M inorities
aie included in the myth o f the melt
ing pot, he said, while they are left
out o f the power jiot
Hamilton was instrumental in
drafting and passing Oregon’s first
fan housing law as assistant state at
torney general in the late 50s. He is a
past president o f the Urban 1 eague
o f Portland.
Rachel Susz, a Washington, D.C.,
attorney specializing in fair housing
cases, said that several landmark
decisions since the 1968 Fair Hous
ing Act was passed have established
the right o f complaintants to injury
damages when they have been dis
criminated against on the basis of
race, religion or national origin.
Decisions average tIO.OOO for
humiliation and $15,000 for puni
tive damages, according to Susz,
who said a New York jury recently
awarded $545,000 ill a housing dis
crimination case.
Her partner, Avery Friedman,
has tried nearly 500 fair housing and
other civil rights cases, winning
over $330,000 for his clients He is
considered an authority on fait
housing laws.
Friedman said the Title 8 Fait
Housing Act rocketed through Con
gress in just one week after M artin
I uther King was assassinated in
A pril, 1968. It was written by Jacob
Javits and Walter Mondale.
The law traces back to the C ivil
Rights Act o f 1866, written under
the provisions o f the 13th Amend
ment, which abolished slavery and
gave newly freed slaves property
rights. "T he fair housing law is an
anti-slavery law,” said Friedman.
According to Friedman, the real
estate industry fosters racist housing
patterns, and the National Associa
lion o f Realtors, one o f the most
powerful Congressional lobbies, has
fought fair housing legislation con
sistently.
l or instance, a mortgage loan
form used widely has special boxes
for "Am erican, mixed and o th e r,"
he said In addition, M cNulty's
Guide, the Bible o f real estate ap
praisers, lists Swedish people first
on a scale of one to ten, Blacks nine
and Mexicans ten, in a rating system
ol "effects o f skin pigment on soil
characteristics,” said Friedman.
He told the story o f a Harvard
lawyer and apartment owner who
discriminated against a bi-racial
couple and suggested that Blacks
should return to Africa. It cost him
$10. (MM), said Friedman.
New Oregon State
Board president
Alvin R Batiste, Portland, is the
new Oregon Slate Board ol Higher
Education president.
Batiste, the board's 1984 85 vice
president, was elected to the position
during a meeting here on June 2 1
Board members elected James C.
Petersen, l a Grande, vice president
Joining Batiste and Petersen on the
board’s executive committee are Hat
riett J. Flanagan, Ontario, and John
W. Alltucker, Veneta.
All 1985 86 offices are effective
July I
If you have any suggestions or
answers on how to slop basing, write:
Grassroot News, 1463 N.E. Killings
worth, Portland, ( )R 97211.
Project HELP aids
N.E. Portlanders
More than 200 Northeast Portland
families received home heating help
last winter trom Project HELP, a winter
tud assistance program initiated in the
Northwest three years ago by Pacific
Power & I ight Company and adopt
ed by other heating utilities as well.
Pacific Power shareholders con
tribute $100.000 to the program each
scat a seed money to match contri
butions Irom the public The funds
are distributed to the public through
social service agencies in five of the
six states the company serves
"Through the generosity of their
neighbors, more than 200 Portland
families in need o f help were able to
heat their homes this past winter,”
said John Reed, PP&I Portland
district manager "Project HEI P is a
community based and community-
run program, designed to offer tem
porary assistance to those in the com
mumty who need it most.”
In Portland, the Salvation Army’s
family services division received and
distributed contributions from PP&I
and the public Over $19,000 was dis
tributed in grants averaging $125 each
Batiste, a member o f the board
since 1978, is retired as duel ol Bonne
villc Power Administration’s (BPA)
Materials laboratory Branch He
is a University of I’ ortland graduate.
The 11 member board governs the
state publicly support«! colleges and
universities making up the Oregon
State System o f Higher Education.
Appointments to the board are made
by the governor and confirmed by
the Oregon Senate.
Batiste will succeed I ouis Perry.
I’ortland. as board president Perry’s
term on the board ends June 30, and
he did not seek reappointment. Peter
sen will succeed Batiste as board vice
president. Flanagan succeeds board
member Edward C. Harms, Jr..
Springfield, on the board’s executive
committee Harms' term ends June 30
and he is not (by state law) eligible tor
reappointment