Page 6, Portland Observer, June 3, 1987
retraction might entail printing a lot of the article, and those people who
wanted to get all stirred up will only get stirred up and get polarized. It is
very hard for Black adults to get employment in this city. Do you know how
rough this is going to make it for the Black youths in schools and the com­
munity?"
During the two-hour meeting, which was off limits to any other news­
papers, a reasonable understanding was met between the editors and the
parents. Doug Bates, the Guard's managing editor, was the first to con­
cede great harm had been caused.
Bates also pursuaded the group to work with the Guard in hopefully wor­
king out a solution which might be best for the community at large. It was
promised that he and his city editor, Kevin Miller, would deal with the situa­
tion from there and head on.
In an exclusive interview, Miller admitted he should have been more at­
tentive. "Bells should have gone o ff," said Miller. " It was a real unsettling
thing for me personally."
Miller admitted in his newspaper background he had not dealt much with
Blacks or minorities' issues. "Being from Montana, living and working in
Corvallis and Eugene, I've just never been in touch with many Black peo­
ple to know and understand their fears and frustrations," said Miller, "and
it won't happen again to me (mistake) for a long time. The most important
thing you learn in life is when you make a mistake."
In another brief, but positive, exclusive interview, Tim McCarthy, Com­
munity Affairs Director for the Eugene Police Department, defended neither
Hoyer's or Keefer's action for creating the suggestion that any of the youth
in the city may have membership of ties with any criminal gangs from Sou­
thern California.
Con't from Page 1
Chief John Rutledge, and their grievance was aired. Rutledge assured the
parents that he would seriously look into the matter.
After more investigation by the parents, it was established that The San­
chez Brothers was just a group of their kids who hung out at Charlie's (a
recreation and vendor parlor) to shoot pool, and none were Hispanic.
In Rutledges's investigation, inaccurate information about The Sanchez
Brothers being a gang or even being attached to any unlawful activities
promoted by the Crips or the Latino, as officer Verne Hoyer stated to Bob
Keefer, was untrue.
Outside the group of Black parents, other pressures began to mount.
Letters to the editors were received, questioning the articles and Keefer's
resources' statements.
"I was really shook u p," said Irwin H. Noparstak, a white psychiatrist,
who had lived in Eugene for the past 17 years.
On April 30, 1987, his following letter to the editor appeared in the RG:
"R acist N ew s”
"I grew up in an all-white neighborhood in Chicago in the
1940's. There were no Latino peoples around. It was very clear that
any Black woman seen on the streets was a domestic going to w o rk __
for the day. Änd any Black man was dangerous and didn't be­
long. It was very clear—to our ethnocentric perspective.
It took me years to break down that mentality, and I question
the job I have done. Last Sunday (April 12), you printed an inflam­
matory article about "gangs" in Eugene. That's all it took for me.
The next day each Black male I saw was a gang member, danger­
ous, to be avoided, and probably to be reported. My wonderful
white security in Eugene was being threatened.
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Wednesday Prayer Hour...............................................................6:30 P.M.
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"W e have assigned one reporter to do an in-depth, comprehensive look
at the racial climate in this com m unity," says Bates. "There has been
enough racial complaint to warrant this action."
"N ow it becomes the matter of wait and see," says Jan Oliver and Carla
Woods.
article caused, and had the editors for the Register-Guard been aware of
the problems Keefer's story was doing?
Such fears were brought to the attention of a small grass-roots organi­
zation in Eugene called Clergy and Laity Concerned (CALC). It is a multi­
racial and interfaith organization, with a very small staff, which tries to deal
with human rights, racial justice, and economic justice. Its motto reads:
"W e put special emphasis on reaching out to the children and youth."
Under the guidance of Marion Malcolm, a staff person of CALC, a meet­
ing was arranged with the editors and the reporter, and the following Black
parents attended: Carla Gray, Jan Oliver, Ed Coleman, Larry Carter, and
a couple who wish to remain unidentified.
"It was clear by now ," says Noparstak, "that the Register-Guard had
realized it had made a boo-boo. But if they were really concerned, they
would have done something about it."
Noparstak stated further, "W hat the Guard was trying to formulate was
what to do about Keefer's article, if the reporting was unaccountable. If
the article was a mistake, it was a serious mistake."
^ N o p a rs ta l^ d d e c f"^ T ^ u rn g n M h in k in ^ ^ a ^ r ^ h a M c ^ jo ^ ^ ^ g f jQ ja
84 N E. K illin g s w o r t h • 281 0499
GERMAIN on
A LC H EM Y
"W ords are one thing when it comes to our youths," says McCarthy.
"Their actions are another. I know there is a lesson to be learned here,
by all involved."
But it was Bates' interview which might set the precedence for other
newspapers to follow when a journalist's article has brought damage to its
community. Don't be afraid to admit failure or mistake and take the respon­
sibility for it. A newspaper with such influence as the Register-Guard has
taken an historical step due to Doug Bates' editorial, because community
conscience is the real life of any newspaper. (Read Doug Bates' editorial
in this issue of the Observer.)
The Register-Guard has a staff of fifty-four reporters; all are white.
And then I heard some critical news. People who knew exactly
whom the article was written about informed me there were
no Black or Latino gangs. Information taken out of context and
totally distorted led to reporting what is blatantly racist "news.”
The Register-Guard reported it. I bought it.
How many others have bought it? It was easy for me to resur­
rect my prejudices. Am I the only one?
I thought my security was shaken. In reality, it hasn't been, but
now the security of young Black and Latino people in this commu­
nity has been lessened. What hostility and suspicion will they and
their families get? The Register-Guard has done a serious dis­
service to all of us, and I am looking forward to seeing it correc­
ted.
After a series of meetings and minority parents contacting other parents,
tension grew. "The other concern I had," stated one parent, "was that if
these gangs were trying to settle in our community, how would I combat
them when they made an effort to recruit my sons?"
Other questions arrived. If the Crip story was not true, how could a small
group of concerned parents approach such a large newspaper industry
and demand a retraction? What effect was the Crip article having on each
and every police officer on the Eugene police force to make them overly
cautious in their dealing with minority youths? How much damage had the
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