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PORTLAND OBSERNER
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Volume XVII, Number 28
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Monday, May 18, at 1 p.m,, Operation PUSH Cleveland and
the Ohio Association of Beauticians, Inc. "funeralized" the
Revlon Company at the House of Wills Funeral Home. The
serviced began with a processional of religious representatives,
sororities, fraternities, community leaders, etc Following the
"casket" filled with Revlon products, resolutions and an obitu
ary were presented.
The funeral came about as a result of PUSH'S boycott of the
May 20. 1987
25C
BOYCOTT REVLON
Revlon Company. The boycott was initiated after Irving Bott
ner, president of Revlon's professional products division,
stated in Newsweek Magazine, "in the next couple of years,
the black-owned businesses will disappear They will all be
sold to white companies." Additionally, Bottner said, "We are
accused of taking business aw.iy from black companies, but
black consumers buy quality products Too often their black
brothers didn't do them any good
This was taken as an in
suit to the black community, and a projection of white com
panies to eventually take over the black consumer market of
hair care and cosmetics, an estimated billion dollar a year busi
ness.
All persons were asked to come dressed in traditional color
of mourning to symbolize their sincerity in the symbolic funeral
service Mourners were encouraged to bring their Revlon pro
ducts for burial preparations.
College President: A Man of Achievement
Dr
Richard Turner. III. President of Lane C o m m u n ity College
by Tiffany Kell
During a tim e yyhen very few Blacks got an education, academics were
top priority for Dr Richard Turner, III, President of Lane Com m unity Col
lege, in Eugene Neither of Turner's parents received a college education,
m fact his father never finished high school, quitting in the eleventh grade
to become a carpenter
There was never any doubt in Turner's parents' mind that he w ould
create his ow n footsteps
In high school. Turner w a sn 't interested in
sports, music was his first love
Turner was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina A t the age of
five, Turner began studying the piano Through high school his enthusiasm
for music blossomed as he sang w ith the school choir and continued to vigo
rously study the piano. On Sundays Turner played the organ at church.
" I had the opportunity and good fortune of having a good elementary
and secondary sch o o l," said Turner w ho added that, "A ve ry graudates are
very well know n throughout the United States "
By graduation time, 1952. Turner's heart was set on becoming a concert
pianist In fact, because he graduated as class valedictorian, Turner de
livered a speech at his com m encem ent about how he w ould pursue such a
career
Turner stepped directly out of high school and into college w ith a four-
year scholarship at Fisk University, in Nashville, Tennessee, where he s tu
died music.
Academ.cs have never been enough for Turner W hile at Fisk he helped
found a music honorary f ratornity. Alpha Phi A lp h a and w axalso a member
of Phi Mu Alpha Smfoma fraternity serving as President for a year and sec
retary for another
Turner's activities were not limited to the University. He served as a stu
dent deacon at the Fisk Union Church and became a member of the Nation-
al Association for the Advancement of Colored People In fact the list of
associations and com m unity activities that Turner has been involved in
throughout his life reads like a novelette
A bout half way through his career at Fisk, Turnei realized th.it there were
other valedictorians at Fisk and that "th e com petition was very keen " At
this point. Turner, w ith the guidance o, his parents, began taking classes
m teaching |ust in case his career as a concert pianist d id n 't pan out. sard
Turner
Turner's tim e w asn't filled strictly w ith academics and activities He held
a number of jobs to help put him through school " I knew w hat w ork was.
said Turner
Turner and his brother w ould w ork nights helping their father w ith jam
torial work in the business district of C harleston At Christmas time, Turner
worked as a postm an and durin. • » ty .im m e rs he held a variety of jobs
over his college career, including a parking lot attendant, a waiter for the
M ilwaukie railroad and a waiter at a local restaurant
Exploitation was a way of life, says Turner who worked for $3 00 a week
plus tips as a waiter
"Summer jobs were not easy to find, especially for
Black college students, said Turner
There was always a job if you were willing to work at something that was
not in keeping w ith your knowledge said Turner
A lot was accomplished
on the backs of people" in those days
In May 1956, Turner graduates from Fisk w ith a bachelor of arts degree
and departmental honors A t his graduation ceremonies Turner performed
a senior piano recital
The summer after he graduated, said Turner, I was encouraged by my
aunt in Nashville to continue my graduate studies at Indiana University
Turner did so, but only during the summers, because after he had gradu
ated, the chairman of the music department at Fisk highly recommended
him to the President o, Stillman College in Tuscaloosa Alabama to sue
ceed their chairperson of the music department
Turner met w ith the Dean of Academics in Louisville Kentucky, for an
interview and was immediately offered the jot)
Turner accepted, and
w orked a, Stillman for 12 years from 1958 to 1968 He acted as an Asso
ciate Professor of Music where his starting pay was $3100 a year and after
12 years it rose to $7000 a year
During those 12 years. Turner engaged himself in a m ultitude of activi
lies. In ,957 he married Deloras, his wife of tw enty years He avoided the
draft by enlisting in the active army reserves w hich entailed si« m onths of
active duty and five and one half years of inactive duty
The army reserves was also another success story While enlisted at the
Non commissioned Officer Academy, Turner was the only Black man and
finished first in his class of 55 students. Tumor received a letter says that
"although I m ight attend it (the graduation ceremony), they were not going
to recognize m e ." Turner doesn't look back on the denial w ith bitter re
membrance. The im portant part of it all was that he got a letter from his
com m andant that prom oted him to sergeant, said Turner
Turner said that he enjoyed w orking at S tillm an, because, although it
was a "predom inantly Black student body, the faculty and staff w.is well
integrated
It was a "go o d setting for race relations," said Tumer
Turner, himself, was very active in prom oting race integration while at
Stillman He founded a college com m unity concert association " It was an
opportunity, the concert series, for a com m unity that was strictly segre
gated socially, to come together w ithin an integrated setting So it did a lot
to improve race relations," said Turner
Overcoming racial prejudice is a lifetime goal for Turner, as he has work
ed hard amongst w hite professors when the south was in racial turm oil
Turner worked to establish good relationships w ith the faculty and staff
at the University of Alabama, w hich was an all w hite college
From 1963 to 1968 Turner was an active member of the American Asso
ciation of University Professors Ho served as the Secretary Treasurer of
the Stillman chapter and later o f the state chapter By 1967 Turner had
risen to Vice President of the state chapter, serving among m ostly white
professors
In 1968 Turner was offered the position of the chairman o f the Depart
ment o f Music at Fisk. Turner jumped at the opportunity to w ork for his
alma mater.
Fisk had not been accredited for eleven years w hen Turner began work
ing in July, and by December, Turner has elevated Fisk's Music Department
to a four year accredited program
Not having accreditation d id n 't mean that its music school lacked in qual
ity, said Turner, In fact, Fisk was the only Black college that was recog
nized by the National Schools Association of Music
Fisk was also active in bettering race relations, said Turner It held race
relations seminars where "Blacks and whites from all over the state came to
speak In many cases it was the only opportunity for Blacks and whites to
meet on an equal basis," said Turner, "and talk about intellectual topics "
W hile Turner worked at Fisk, he also helped to build on Fisk s strong
ethnic A fro American music department, creating a Ph D in ethno musico
logy the only one of its kind in the U S
By ,9 7 , Turner was receiving o ffe rs to w o rk at o th e r colleges
A t one
tim e he w as o ffe re d the p o s itio n as Dean o f In stru ctio n at H arrisbu rg Com
m u n ity College in P ennsylvania
A fter extensive in te rv ie w s . Turner was
de clin ed the jio s itio n be. ause there was already another Black m an on the
s t.iff and the bo ard o f trustee s d id n 't w a n t tw o Black m en at a tim e, said
T um e r
The racial slap in the face from Harrisburg d idn't squelch Turner's em
ploym ent opportunities, however
He was soon offered the position of
Dean o f Student A ctivities at the Com m unity College of Baltimore Turner
a. cepted the position and worked directly w ith students, often as a counse
lor, from 1971 1974
lt was a rough tim e for students and faculty said Turner, w ho had to
work directly w ith the rampant student unrest
A lot of the starch came
out of my collar, " adm itted Turner
From 1974 to 1979 Tomer worked at the Harbor campus at Baltimore
as Dean of Faculty and Provost, and then at the lib e rty campus, after
whir h he took on the job as President at South Central C om m unity College
in New Haven. Connacht ut. from ,979 to ,985 In 1985 Turner moved to
I.m e Com m unity College to work also as President
Turnei s journey has been an uphill clim b in higher education Never has
he worked below the university level
He says that he never really met
w ith any personal rac i.il obstacles, outside of the one at Harrisburg, during
Ins jirofession.il < areer His qualifications, drive and determ ination moved
him right along
Ttie obstacles that Turner faced were those that anyone m ight face, re
gardless of race
W hen one is attem pting to do things well, he creates
uncertainties in persons w ho d o n 't want to do as well
so you challenge
the people you work w ith and for
Turner doesn't talk as if fie ever host
tated along Ins i limb, but, said Turner, "Som etim es I do feel intim idated "
Non-Removal of
Black Jurors
Passes House
by Larry Baker
Once again. Rep Margaret Carter marie state history by introducing
H B '.1QQ7 and its passage in the House
House Bill 3007 prohibits any party in a criminal trail from exercising per
om ptory jury challenges solely because the challenged juror belongs to a
recognizable group w ith respect to race, color, religion, national origin or
sex
"T h is bill arises out of the sometimes questionable practice where an
attorney may use his or her perem ptory challenges to elim inate from a jury
any person or group of persons from serving on juries w hen a like person
has been on tria l," says Carter
A similar bill during the 1985 legislative session was introduced but never
made it out o f com m ittee
"T ire practice has been used in some parts of the co u n try most notably
to eliminate Black citizens from serving on juries where a Black person is
on tria l," continued Carter "T h is bill w ould codify the prohibition of such
practices under Oregon law "
Carter reminded her colleagues that in 1986, the United States Supreme
Court in a number of related decisions struck dow n this practice
A |ury should be a body o f peers or equals of the person on trial, whose
rights peers are there to de te rm in e," said Carter "The very fact that a per
son is singled out and expressly denied, by practice, a right to participate
in the adm inistration of justice, and in rights given to fellow citizens to serve
on juries, is a despicable practice underserving of Oregon
Carter was questioned by some legislators as to the untairness of such
legislation
It is a practice that has no place in this state or in any co urtroom of
law, said Carter "In no uncertain terms, it is a prejudicial practice
Carter concluded by saying, "S tereotypes of race, ethnicity, gender and
religion do not belong in the justice system It is inappropriate to elim inate
a juror for a God given difference "
H B 3007 passed w ith a m ajority vote, and not it w ill be a task fo r the
Oregon State Senate to tackle