Page 2, Portland Observer, June 8, 1988
OPINION
EDITORIAL
OREGON S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established in 1970
The Lost Science Of Africa
An Editorial From A Student-At-Large
P O R TL
Alfred L. Henderson
ERVER
Leon Harris/Gen Manager
Publisher
PORTLAND OBSERVER
is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company. Inc.
5011 N.E. 26th Awe
Portland. Oregon 97211
P.O. Box 3137
Portland. Oregon 97208
Phone Number: (503) 288 0033
Nyewusi Askari
News E ditor/S taff Writer
Gary Ann Garnett
Assistant General Manager
Joyce Washington
Sales ' Marketing Director
Arnold Pitre
Rosemarie Davis
Sales Representative
Sales Representative
Ruby Reuben
Danny Bell
Sales Representative
Sales Representative
Mattie Ann Callier-Spears
Steve Adams
Religion Editor
G raphic/Layout Designer
Richard Medina
Lonnie Wells
Photo-Composition
Circulation Manager
Anti-Defamation League
Expresses Concern On
New Report
The Anti-Defamation League has expressed concern with
“ what appears to be the pessimistic tone” of the new report “ One-
Third Of A Nation,” which says the United States is moving backward
in efforts to promote equal opportunity for minorities.
In identical letters (dated May 27) to former Presidents Gerald
Ford and Jimmy Carter, honorary co-chairmen of the Commission on
Minority Participation in Education and American Life, which issued
the report, the League said that while it “ spotlights important and dif
ficult problems faced by minorities" and while we "generally agree
with the thrust of the panel’s findings, ADL’s monitoring of human rela
tions and civil rights activities in the United States leads us to some
different and more hopeful conclusions.”
The letter, signed by ADL national chairman Burton S. Levinson
and national director Abraham H. Foxman, said that “ while the equity
and civil rights gap remains, minorities have made progress (albeit not
enough) in the important areas of jobs and housing. In the last year we
have seen the development of community coalitions — involving
media, public and private schools, community groups and corporate
life — working together to diminish racial and religious prejudice.”
The ADL officials also pointed out that local and state
legislatures across the country have enacted statutes prohibiting acts
of harassment and violence against racial and religious minorities.
“ Law enforcement agencies now have added tools to deal with the
social and psychological manifestations of prejudice,” they said.
Regarding education, ADL said it shares the Commission’s
“ profound concern," noting that “ poor student performance and high
drop out rates are indicators of problems in our system at a time when
an educated citizenry is most needed.”
The letter went on to say that ADL “ is a participant in the
reform movement that is now sweeping the nation and revitalizing
school systems everywhere” and assured the two former Presidents
that the agency remains “ resolute and positive" in its efforts toward
“ closing the gap, and insuring a healthy and strong democracy.”
by Jim Lazakioues
I
n these days of political mudslinging. No institution has been
spared. Even C.C.C. (Clackamas Community College). Faith Taylor
as a president, has been recently cast into this arena of rumors and
discrimination.
In the beginning, Faith had to break down the initial barrier of
a Black women running for ASG (Associate Student Government)
president in a predominately white student body. When she started,
she only had 3 days in which to turn in 100 names, so her name would
be included on the ballot for the ASG April 22-23 election.
Diligence and charisma — Faith's strongest traits, brought
here from the dream of being president to the reality of winning the
election. Then the trouble began. Rumors surfaced that Faith, bought
her votes, and used unethical practices to be sure of a victory, even
more disturbing was the fact that the administration of C.C.C. believ
ed these mudslingers, and called a recall vote.
Faith, being totally disgrunted at this action considered all the
factors being presented and decided on a strong stand on her right to
run for office, with this resilliance she with stood the barrier of
jealousy and kept her title of president.
Faith, being a deeply religious person couldn’t, because of
consience, think of being unfair.
The thought of being accused of acting unfairly, greatly
disturbed her. A scholarship for track and other admirable ac
complishments even put Faith, higher on a integrity scale, but this
rarely discourages people trying to put people down because of their
own prejudice and bigotted ideals.
In all, Faith Taylor (ASG president) has proved herself worthy
of the position she holds and has the internal fortitude to get the job
done.
(tRemembering Our Fathers”
In our continuing efforts to provide the community with a
viable outlet for information and community services, the
Portland Observer will be offering our readership the means to
commemorate our fathers.
This special feature will focus on individual achievements,
expressions of affection and gratitude for the things these special
men have brought to each of us.
To participate in this special tribute, just call the sales staff at
the Portland Observer at 288-1733.
Perspectives
by Professor McKinley Burt
Technological Caper
Racism: At Home
And Aboard
PART II
ow many readers saw the June 3rd article and picture in the Port
land Oregonian’, “ OMSI Displays Pair of Gym Rats?” The travel
ist, often referred to as “ the
ing exhibit depicted a pure white rat as Larry Bird, and a predominate
kindly
and passionate abolition
ly BLACK RAT as Dr. J (Jr.), no less. Though the scientific community
ist,
but
we have come to know
has never been extolled for its ‘sensitivity courses' at the Oregon
this
man
better." Last week I re
Museum of Science and Industry.
vealed
the
full title of his major
If they are interested in exhibits with ethnic significance, one
work.
"...
AND
The Preservation of
would think that at their main site they would have a highly visible
the
FAVORED
RACES of Man
display of Black scientists and inventors. There are some available
kind."
He
also
‘hoped
for a future
sources of information on the subject, if not at the Smithsonian (See
with
a
greater
gap
between
hu
my article here — (Perspectives]). In the meanwhile, the community,
mans
and
apes,
powered
by
the
Black and white, is mounting increased displeasure at this cutey-cute
anticipated extinction of such
‘technological’ caper.
INTERMEDIATES as chimpan
zees and many African Tribes’
(see Darwin, ‘The Descent of
Man’).
In the European tradition of his
time (19th century), Darwin ig
nored the facts he must have
known, that his Europe was filled
"The Eyes and Ears of the Com m unity”
with intelligent, superbly compe
288-0033
tent Africans: Mathematicians,
philosophers, university profes
sors, artists, writers, composers,
generals, and others. In 1970, the
Bonn Federal Republic (West Ger
many) paid special homage to
William
Henry Amo, the 18th cen
PORTLAND OBSERVER
is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company Inc.
tury African mathematician and
5011 N.E 26th Ave
philosopher who showed such
Portland. Oregon 97211
brilliance by the age of 14 that he
P O Box3137
was
introduced to Leibniz, the
Portland, Oregon 97208
greatest
of mathematicians. Amo
Phone Number: (503) 288-0033
went on to become a full profes
D»«dlines for all submitted materials
sor at the German universities of
Articles Monday 5 p m . Ads Tuesday 5 pm
Halle and Wiltenberg.
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly
It is extremely important for
labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope
Black Americans to understand
Subscriptions 115 00 per year in the Trl-County area
that the racist themes underlying
The PORTLAND OBSERVER - Oregon s oldest African American Publication — is a member of The National
American culture today were de
Newspaper Association - Founded in 1885 The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and The National
veloped by men such as Darwin,
Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, tnc Naw *orh
H
PORTLAND OBSERVER
8
♦
?.4-; * t
(
»
ix k
Broca, and other “ great thinkers,”
who paralyzed a single, irrelevant
discovery into a grand scheme for
racial dominance -The 'Manifest
Destiny' of Darwin’s "Favored
Races.” With a built-in mandate
to justify slavery and discrimina
tion, the Europe-worshipping
Americans (inferiority complex)
who structured our educational
and political infrastructure in
sured that racism would be in
place even today. It is not surpris
ing, then, that the Kian, The Or
der, Skin Heads and other riff-raff
can find philosophical comfort in
much of the 'scientific' literature.
Be sure to check the relevant
definitions in the ‘authoritative’
Encyclopedia Britannica -will
blow your mind.
Steven Jay Gould in his price
less book, ‘The Mismeasure of
Man' (W.W. Norton, 1981), tells us
that as late as 30 years ago the
famous ‘Hall of Man’ in the Amer
ican Museum of Natural History,
“ still displayed the characters of
human races by linear arrays run
ning from APES TO WHITES.” He
also states that until very recently
the standard anatomy illustra
tions in our medical school texts
“ depicted a chimp, a Negro, and a
white, part by part IN THAT OR
DER" (select your doctor with
care). In the same ‘scientific’
mode we find that the prestigious
Smithsonian institution in Wash
ington, D.C. — that storehouse of
American treasures in tech
nology— does not feature the
magnificent contributions of any
BLACK INVENTOR: They never
heard of the Third Rail, the Refri
gerated Box Car or Truck, the
Traffic Light, the Automatic Lubri
ca to r, the A ir Brake, and
infinitum.
But take hope, there maybe re
lief from another part of the world.
Last week some of the nation’s
newspapers reported the re
search by Japanese scientists
who established that the strain of
AIDS VIRUS found in AFRICAN
MONKEYS is NOT THE SAME AS
THAT FOUND IN HUMANS! Well
now, disposing of the racist and
shaky proposition of an African
Source', we may return to the ori
ginal and more probable conclu
sions - those based upon the
astute observations of the noted
African Explorer, Livingstone;
“ THERE WAS NO SYPHILLIS OR
TUBERCULOSIS IN AFRICA BE
FORE THE WHITE MISSION
ARIES CAME” (or before ex
plorers and colonialist?).
by Dr. Jamil Cherovee
In 1978, anthropology pro
fessor, Peter Schmidt, and pro
fessor of engineering, Donald
Avery, both of Brown University,
announced to the world that, bet
ween 1,500-2,000 years ago, Afrl-
kans living on the western shores
of Lake Victoria, in Tanzania, had
produced carbon steel.
The Afrikans had done this in
pre heated forced-draft furnaces,
a method that was technological
ly more sophisticated than any
developed in Europe until the
mid-19th century. “ We have
found,” said Professor Schmidt,
“ a technological process in the
Afrikan Iron Age which is ex
ceedingly complex ... To be able
to say that technologically super
ior culture developed in Afrika
more than 1,500 years ago over
turns popular and scholarly ideas
that technological sophistication
developed in Europe but not in
Afrika.”
There were Afrikans still living
(The Haya people, for example)
who, although they no longer pro
duced steel, remembered, down
to the last identity of detail, the
machine and the process their an
cestors used and were able to re
construct the furnace and carry
out a successful smelt.
When Schmidt and Avery be
gan excavating near Lake Victoria
and dug up 13 Iron Age furnaces,
they found that “ the construction
of the furnaces and the composi
tion of the steel was essentially
the same.”
The temperature achieved in
the blast furnace of the Afrikan
steel-smelting machine was high
er than any achieved in an Europ
ean machine until modern times.
It was roughly 1,800’ C, some 200
to 400°C higher than the highest
reached in European cold blast
bloom eries. The record For
Europe was in an experimental
2nd century Roman shaft furnace
where scientist recorded a tem
perature in the combustion zone
of 1,600’ C.
The Afrikan superiority was due
to the fact that they preheated the
air blast by inserting blowpipes
into the base of the furnace. This
not only led to the extraordinarily
high temperaturs but also to
greater fuel economy. This was
importnt since, in the areas where
the Afrikans produced steel, there
is evidence of a severe depletion
of forest resources, demanding a
fuel-saving technology.
The machine they devised and
the resourceful way they made
use of available materials, is in
itself fascinating. For example,
the pit they dug beneath the fur
nace was lined with mud made
from a termite mound. The ter
mite mound was an excellent
choice since termites make their
hills of materials that won’t ab
sorb water, bits of alumina and
silica piled up grain by grain. The
Afrikan also introduced a process
in their smelting that was very
original and in advance of their
time, making iron crystals rather
than by ‘the sintering of solid par
ticles" as in European smelting.
Civil Rights Journal
T h e S tru g g le In N a tc h e z
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
ictories come in many forms, some of them unexpected. That’s
the way it was recently in Natchez, Mississippi in Adams County.
Back in January we reported to you on the boycott of downtown
businesses which had been started there around the situation in the
schools. The boycott began because a white principal grabbed a little
Black child and ejected him from the cafeteria for sitting next to a little
white child.
That incident prompted the African American community to ex
amine other problems in their school system. They formed the Con
cerned Citizens of Natchez and demanded not only the ouster of the
principal but other changes as well. Though the school system in 70%
African American, the school administration is 87% white. The group
asked that 50% of the instructors be African American and that the ad
ministrative staff be fairly representative of Natchez’s African
American population.
When the town’s power structure refused to negotiate in good
faith, the African American community began a boycott of all
downtown stores. It has been effective. As Rep. Barney Schoby, the
town’s African American state legislator told us, “ The boycott has had
a tremendous effect. When I viewed the sales tax collection figures it
became clear that the Natchez businesses are not doing as well as
they did last year — they are suffering. And they have admitted this.”
There have been other successes, too. When the community first an
nounced the boycott, the white Mayor of Natchez, Tony Byrne, didn’t
take it seriously. Then he tried to say that the boycott was being
mounted for political reasons. He tried to put the blame for failed
negotiations on Rep. Schoby and sent a letter to some of the Black
leadership denouncing him.
The African American community asked for the mayor’s
resignation. They reminded him that back in 1982 he had opposed ex
tension of the Voting Rights Act. They reminded him that when the
Federal Government released a study in 1979 saying that Adams Coun
ty was on a list of the 15 most segregated school systems in the na
tion, he replied that it was untrue. They reminded him of all this, and
still he didn’t take them seriously.
On May 24 the African Americans of Na :hez voted Tony Byrne
out of office after 20 years as Mayor of that city. Now he takes them
seriously.
More importantly, this victory has renewed the struggle. The
Concerned Citizens of Natchez are continuing to support a court suit
to desegregate the schools as a means of improving the educational
opportunities of their children. They are continuing their demands that
30% of the $20 million which the Adams County school board spends
each year be used with minority firms. They are continuing therr
legislative struggle to have their school board members elected, not
appointed. They are continuing their struggle for empowerment at
every level.
The African American community of Natchez understands that,
like the Montgomery bus boycott, this could be a long struggle. As
Natchez Alderman George Harden explained when we spoke with him
back in January. "Wherever there's a cause, there's sacrifice. The peo
ple knew that when we took this thing on.” State Representative
Schoby recently reaffirmed this when he said, “ We re in the trenches
and we re set to stay in the trenches for as long as it takes. And if it
takes until hell freezes over, we'll be here."
With this kind of commitment and strength, the African
American community of Natchez cannot help but win their struggle.
V
¥*»•*»»' ♦ 1* •» *.» ***
■ ’■
’ • •
•
• '•