ühvmmmmm »< ♦ U -4 f-1 . •»■ »- May 11, 1988, Portland Observer, Page 7 Anti-Apartheid Groups Held Rally on State Capitol Perkins to Speak at Forum A seni E. Perkins, the new executive director of the Ur­ ban League of Portland, will the guest speaker at City Com­ missioner Dick Bogle's final no­ host forum luncheon of the 1987-88 season, Tuesday, May 17 at the Coliseum Red Lion. Perkins, who assumed his duties in April, w ill discuss, “ Agenda for the 80 s — the Ballot or the Bullet.” U A graduate of George W illiams College with a B.S. degree in group work and an M.S. degree in administration, Perkins came to Portland from the Chicago Urban League, where he was director of social services. From 1985 to 1986, as the reci pient of a Chicago Community Trust Fellowship, he researched alternative programs for troubled youth at social service agencies in Denver, Dallas, Cleveland and New York. He has lectured and taught at numerous Midwest colleges and universities, and has served on the Chicago Board of Education Task Force on Gangs, Governor's Special Task Force on Troubled Youth, Citizens Committee on the Juvenile Court, and Chicago Youth Coordinating Council Persons wishing to attend the forum should call Commissioner Bogle's office (248-4682) by Fri day, May 13. Cost of the luncheon (including gratuity) is $7.25. t noon on Monday, May 9, _ _ anti-apartheid groups held a rally on the steps of the Oregon State Capitol voicing theiropposi- be tion to any ties from Oregon sup­ porting the government of South Africa. The rally coincided with the first day of the hearings by Oregon Insurance Director Ted Kulongoski regarding the hostile acquisition of Farmers Insurance by British American Tobacco, a company criticized for its growing presence in South Africa. Sponsoring groups included Portlanders Organized for South­ ern African Freedom, Oregon Ecumenical Ministries, The Rain­ bow C o a litio n , Black U nited Front, Albina Ministerial Alliance, and students from Oregon’s col­ leges and universities statewide. “ Let us join forces as Oregon­ ians to leave no doubt we find the South African government’s sys­ tem of apartheid an oppression not to be supported or tolerated," said State Representative Mar­ g a re t C a rte r, c o -a u th o r of Oregon’s Anti-Apartheid Act of 1987. "In addition to the issues re­ garding British American Tobac­ co and its proposed acquisition of Farmers, it’s come to light that Oregon's State Treasurer has in­ vested state funds in South Afri­ ca, through an investment in Tex­ aco. We believe that is absolutely contrary to Oregon's Anti-Apar­ theid Act of 1987 and are outraged at its occurrence," continued Carter. Clearing the Air By Commissioner Dick Bogle I want you to know two things — first, that I am dealing in good faith with the music community in trying to find a solution to the By Deputy Chief Dan Noelle postering situation, and second, Operations Branch that I have taken steps to get the Portland Police to ease off while he posting of signs on utility we re negotiating. poles has been the subject of com plaints by business people Here's the message I sent to Mayor Clark on April 27: at various times for several years. "Over the past several months, They feel that their business in­ I have been working with repre­ terests are better served by hav­ sentatives of the local music com­ ing the street in front of their munity to seek solutions to the business, to include the utility problems resulting from post­ poles, clean and litter free. Other ering. The music industry needs small businesses are capitalizing effective, low cost advertising; on putting up the signs in order to the City needs to manage the use prom ote special events, par­ of public right-of-ways and craft ticularly certain music groups. effective laws and law enforce­ Commissioner Dick Bogle has ment strategies. met with some of these groups and feels that there is a potential for a compromise to be worked out. He is hoping that the com­ promise might satisfy the busi­ ness people’s need to have a clean street and allow for the business enterprises conducting the promotional activities. In the meanwhile he has asked for a moratorium on citations through June 1,1988. I am requesting that no cita­ tions be issued for this ordinance (City Code No. 32.16.030) through June 1, 1988. In the meantime, if you receive com plaints about these activities or observe people posting signs please identify the complaintants and the subject in­ volved in the sign posting activity, if available, and forward the infor­ Dick Bogle mation through channels to me. T Spring Talent Show T he Student Advisory Com­ m ittee of Franklin High School proudly presents a Spring Talent Show, Friday, May 13, 7:00 p.m., in the auditorium. «This program will include par­ ticipation from various Franklin students. The goal of this activity is to provide students with an op- GUARANTEED HOME MAINTENANCE Carpets Cleaned Chimneys Cleaned Fences Built and Repaired Painting Yard Work Rototilling Enforcement of City Code: Unlawful Sign Posting portunity to demonstrate creative talents through performing arts, and improve com m unity rela­ tions. Special guest w ill include the Portland Public Schools Honor Gospel Choir, under the direction of Danny Osborne and Ken Berry. This group recently appeared live in the Schnitzer Concert Hall as part of the Kennedy Center Im­ agination Celebration. Admission is $1.00. For more information, contact Ken Berry, Integration Services Coordinator. FREE ESTIMATES Thcfe g»ege»ys (503) 257-6424 BAHAMIAN DIET S IIM -S A IL John Dave Berry ip “ The representatives of the music industry have committed to forwarding a proposal to my of­ fice about the first of June on this issue. In the interim, I have in­ structed the Buildings Bureau to relax enforcement of this code section. “ In light of the fact that a solu­ tion to this problem is being work­ ed on, and that the Buldings Bureau has relaxed enforcement of this section, I request that you have the Police Bureau relax enforcement until I have had time to negotiate a solution with the music industry representatives. Our staffs have discussed this matter and are in agreement that this is a reasonable course to take. Please call me if you have questions.” I hope you will help me spread the word that talks are still in pro­ gress, and that everyone, in­ cluding the Police, have now of­ ficially received the same mes­ sage. Let me know, personally, if there are any further problems. Schools ■ Continued from Page 2 Black children in predominant­ ly c a u c a s o id , m id d le -c la s s schools are no better. By third grade these children are often tra c k e d fo r re m e d ia tio n or general education. This means th a t w hen they reach high school, they w ill not be in the col­ lege preparatory classes. Thus far, I have been discuss­ ing the general economic con­ text in which Black children func­ tion. This alone could explain much of the educational gap. There is another more insidious factor which operates, however This is the daily attack upon the sense of self-worth and com ­ petency that Black students face. M ost of our students are taught by teachers who have been conditioned to believe that Black people are genetically in­ ferior intellectually. The major im plication of genetic inferiority is that no matter how much effort is expended by the teacher or the student, the result w ill be inferior performance. This leads to a lessening of expectations forthe Black child. This would not be so damaging in and of itself, but it tends to be communicated to the child. This results in the teacher actively and/or passively discouraging Black student achievement. Active dicouragement encom­ passes such teacher behaviors as irritability and even punishing curiosity, as well as detentions, suspensions and office visits for behavior that is acceptable for caucasoid students. Passive discouragement en­ tails behaviors such as ignoring the child, not acknowledging good performance, not respon­ ding to questions or statements pertaining to the task and not at­ tempting to establish a rapport with the child. Several studies have shown that these negative behaviors are unconsciously directed toward the Black child, especially the Black male. Studies also show that teacher expectations are strongly related to student per­ formance. ■i M M m i l in.... ............................ . The most insidious psycholo gical factor in these dynamics is that the child internalizes the ex pectation of poor performance. Instead of the c h ild feeling valued, thereby free to take the ris k s to p e rfo rm , he fe e ls devalued and understands that performance w ill only lead to fur­ ther negation. The c h ild at tributes this devaluation to un­ worthy performance, rather than to unworthy teachers. The child s conclusion is that his unworthy performance is because he’s an incompetent person. Usually this c o n c e p tu a liz a tio n has been made by the third grade, and, if the child remains in a hostile en­ vironment, there is little hope of recovery. There is a third factor which separates Black people from all other oppressed groups and which makes the Black even m ore v u ln e ra b le to s c h o o l failure. This is the fact that the Black child has no historicl con­ text of achievement in which to place herself. Black history has been trun­ cated and negated. Most Black people are unaware of our rich and vital Afrikan and Afrikan American legacy. Unlike their people, we do not demand that our children learn of our ac­ complishments. Instead of being inspired and compelled to con­ tribute to the world by the ex­ amples of our forebearers, our children learn to internalize the shame of coming from a wor­ thless people who have con­ tributed nothing but brute labor. Consequently, that which should be a source of stim ulation and pride becomes one more major liability our children must over come. Therefore, unlike all other groups, our children do not have access to the cultural/historical knowledge that would help them rebuff the daily assaults upon their beings. The preceding has been a brief examination of the three major factors that lead to the failure of our children in school. Given the intransigence of the problem, the o b v io u s s o lu tio n is to re ­ establish our own schools, and, thereby, liberate our children into the power of learning. ............................... Kamau Anderson shares warmth and knowledge with children at the 6th Annual Black Women’s Gathering. LINDA SEVIER A safe, scientific program for appetite control and calorie reduction. 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