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Volume XVI. Number 17
PORTLAND OBSERVER
March 5. 1986
25cC opy
TwoSections
Prisoner Support Group Struggles for Family Visit Law
by B ob Lothian
Oregon People lor Prison Altern.i
lives is gearing up lor another legisla
In c assault Ihe support and lobby
group lor prisoners and their families
plans to try once again this session to
get a fam ily visit h ill passed
Ihe legislature has turned down a
family visit hill sponsored by the group
lor the last two sessions During the last
session, Governor Vic Ativeh withheld
his support o f the bill
"T h e governor hadn't read the hill,
he didn’ t know what was in it and he
probably didn’t care." said OPPA
spokeswoman Jackie Holmes
Holmes, a Northeast fAirtland rest
dent, said the h ill's purpose is " to hold
the family unit together" by guarante
emg extended family visits and other
privileges Ihe OSSP supported an in
novative 72 hour visit policy where
whole families could gel together in a
trailer on prison grounds lo r 72 hours
Before the bill was tabled, the visit
length had been cut to 24 hours, she
said
'' I married behind the wall It's a real
strange relationship sometimes," said
Holmes, whose husband has two years
remaining in an Oregon institution
" I'v e got two teen agers at home who
still need that kind ol bonding," she
said about the importance o f keeping
ihe family unit together
Oregon does not have a family visit
law even though C a lifo rn ia and
Washington have had such laws lor
years, she said Holmes said Ihe group
w ill continue to lobbv lor more rational
visitation rules, so that arbitrary treat
mem can lx- avoided "Iro m whoever on
ihe front desk may not have had the
right amount ot coffee that morning "
Holmes repotted that even though
the bl.uk population in Oiegou makes
up about 6r r ot the total. 49'» ot Ore
gon prison inmates are bias k
Yet. " I find that bl.uk women are
not meeting in gioups sux h as these
we need to lx- m eeting." she said
Holmes also reported that Ihe
superintendents ol the loui state prisons
have ollered Io meet with the < >I'PA Io
discuss a unities! proposal lot a bill to
present to the next legislature
Ihe group w ill hoist a statewide
meeting. Saiuistay March 22. I p in at
Jason l ee Chinch in Salem Holmes
can be reached at 2H4 6422
Another group, Waiting Outside,
which operates under Ihe umbrella ol
lbs- Society ol St Vincent slel’aul, ol
lers weekend titles to Salem lor prison
ers' families Van shiver I aura I event
said Ihe rules leave Sunday s at II a m
Irom Ihe Justice Center, at the comer sif
S W Main aiul Madison .Streets
St Vincent slel’aul director ol sixaul
services I inda Hunter said that in addi
lion to the rules. W ailing Outside oilers
a suppssrt network toi prisoners'
families
On the ageiula now. she said, is an
effort Io stop prison guards Irom
punishing families along with the pris
oners with arbitrary rules
What we
need iodo is bring these people together
to lobby lor some new law s," Hunter
said Watting < >utsistc also needs a large
van or used school bus, she added I he
group can be contacted at 215 7K37
Educator Says Quality Schools Are
Key to School Integration
b y Jerry G arner
"O nce quality education becomes
the priority, yo u 'll find that parents
who put their children in private paroc
hial schools w ill place their kids back
into the public schools " Ihese state
ments were made by l.aval S W ilson,
superintendent o f Boston public
schools Wilson, who is a graduate ot
the University o f Chicago and North
western University, is the first Black to
head the Boston school system, which
is the oldest in the country
Wilson believes that integration can
be achieved by toe using on quality edu
cation "T he fixu s should be not on
Irving to attract parents and students
bac k into public schools, but on provid
ing the hest possible program for young
people attending public schools,” said
W ilson W ilson said once schtxil ad
ministrators do that, "w e enhance the
image ol the schools It becomes well
known that the young people in the sys
tem are achieving and are receiving the
best program that money can buy . "
On the topic ot high school dropout
(one o f tour high schtxd students drops
out before giaduation), Wilson said
schools must identify which youngsters
have the potential tor dropping out He
believes such students need to spend a
lot more time in school than others
"Educators may need to require stu
dents who are substantially below level
to stay in schixtl an extra tew hours or
even on the weekend to improve their
s k ills ," said Wilson
Wilson also commented on the
Reagan's administration proposed plan
to abolish the Department ol Education
and merit pay for teachers He said that
Io dismantle the education department
would he a travesty and trying to im
plement a merit pay plan for teachers
would be very d ifficu lt and com pli
cated
Black Male Joblessness,
Destroying Black Families
by Jerry G arner
I ately there has been a great deal of
discussions on the state o f Black
America Unfortunately the majority of
it has been negative The focus o f the
disc ussions has been the social decay of
many Bl.uk families and their com
munities One ot the main causes tor
this is the high rate o f joblessness
among Black males
Black males arc becoming increas
ingly useless to their spouses (both
legal and common law j; children and
communities the overall unemploy
ment rate tor Blacks over the past quar
ter o f a century has been generally more
than twice than that among whites
Black teenage unemployment nation
wide is around fifty percent
Joblessness has resulted in many
Black males taking unemployment as a
routine part o f their life They become
disconnected from the dominant soci
ety . that preaches the virtue o f a honest
day s work, " fo r an honest day’ s p a y ."
This cycle o f joblessness has resulted
in the increase in the number o f Black
families headed by women Mmost
half of all Black households are headed
by a female Many Black males grow
up in such families without ever seeing
a traditional fam ily o f father and
mother Lacking positive role models
and their exclusion from the labor mar
ket, many turn to crime as a mean of
economics Others stand on street cor
ners, consuming alcohol or drugs this
scene can he observed in Portland and
other communities across the nation
Despite the seriousness o f Black
males joblessness, the federal govern
ment has done little in addressing the
problem In fact, the critics blame the
increase in Black male unemployment
on the domestic policies o f the Reagan
administration They alledgc the ad
ministration has abandonad civil-rights
enforcement, affirmative action prog
rams and reduced job training prog
rams
The Reagan administration has
shown little concern for the plight of
unemployed Black males On the other
hand, he has lobbied for an increase in
funding for military and the Contras
Tighting in Nicaragua The President is
asking Congress for $100 m illion for
the Contras this year and a military
budget o f $3116 billion for the next
fiscal year
African .Market held Io benefit the Black Educational Center was
rnjoyable Io all who participated in the lively event. Vendors sold food.
African a rt, arts & crafts, and hooks to name a few. I he B .E.C . hopes Io have
other African Markets.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Albany Busby, 6 years and Maco Hamilton, M years, enjoy the Black United
Eront's Annual Gospel Concert at M t. OHvet Baptist Church. The concert
was held Saturday. Ehe B l'E also took Ihe occasion to present appreciation
awards to Rev. John Jackson, Vessia Mixing, Karen Powell. Richard Brown,
Charlotte latwis, l.anita Duke and Bobbi Gary.
(Ptmto: Richard J. Brown)