June 3, 1983. P ortla nd O bserver, Page 3
One-Third Of A Nation
Continued From Page One
B la c ks A n d T h e C o n s titu tio n
by David M. Maxfield
Smithsonian News Service
John Hope Franklin, Duke
University’s eminent professor of
legal history, cannot forget the
experience. In a recen; talk at the
Smithsonian Institution on "Race
and the Constitution,” the pro
fessor recalled a painful time in
his life — a 1945 train trip during
which he and 44 other blacks
were “ crammed into a half-coach
designed for 20 passengers."
Ahead was a full coach occupied
by six German prisoners of war,
who, he remembered, “ took much
delight in our discomfort."
8 Dismayed by “ cake and ice
cream” celebrations of the birth
of the Constitution in light of the
country’s historic treatment of
black people, Franklin and other
noted legal scholars set off fire
works of their own at a national
symposium called to examine the
impact of the 201-year-old docu
ment on American minorities,
b The symposium was jointly
organized by the Smithsonian and
the Joint Center for Political
Studies, a W ashington-based
public policy organization con
cerned with black affairs. The
two-day gathering of history and
c o n s titu tio n a l law scholars
addressed issues of the highest
^Im portance to m in o ritie s —
matters of civil rights, hous
ing, employment, education and
family life related to constitu
tional decisions.
racism honed by white Ameri
cans, not with slaves, but with
free black Americans." As the ac
count of his train trip revealed,
this treatment has been insidious
for blacks.
• In 1640, when three Virginia
indentured servants — one black,
two whites — ran away and then
were caught, the local magistrate
“ set the stage for racial discrimi
nation that would persist for more
than three centuries,” Franklin
said. To punish the white ser
vants, he added one year to their
indenture. The black was inden
tured for life.
Franklin
• M a ssa ch u se tts, iro n ic a lly ,
taxed free blacks but barred them
from voting. And at the outset of
the Revolutionary War, Gen.
Washington preferred not to en
list blacks at all — until the going
got tough from King George’s
firepower and 5,000 men were
called.
Racism’s Roots
r Franklin, however, believes an
other factor is central to explain
the lingering difficulties of his
people. “ I have come up with the
proposition that it was racism, a
• Before the Civil War, Franklin
continues, "one looks in vain” for
any indication of national policies
of citizenship and equality for free
blacks. The first U.S. Congress
that met in 1789 barred free
blacks from becoming naturalized
citizens; the next Congress re
stricted the m ilitia to white men.
That policy, Franklin noted, “ not
only lacked in grace but in gra-
tituoe” for blacks’ contributions
to independence.
• The states’ records were no
better. From the admission of
Maine in 1819 until the end of the
Civil War, every new state wrote
a constitution that barred blacks
from voting, just when the vote
was being extended to many
whites. Tennessee, North Caro
lina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
and Connecticut actually disen
franchised blacks.
• And after the Civil War, despite
the promise of Reconstruction
amendments, racial discrimina
tion ruled the land. “ Whites could
not bring themselves to believe
that blacks were entitled to the
Same rights they enjoyed," Frank
lin asserted. “ This was tne oasis
for the policy and practices that
persisted” in the 19th and 20th
centuries.
A fundam ental question —
"why blacks have had such d iffi
culty rising to a status of
equality” in the land that pledges
allegiance “ to liberty and justice
for a ll” — was addressed by
Franklin and Mary Frances Berry,
a University of Pennsylvania his
tory professor and member of the
U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
■ The unemployment rate for
Blacks in 1986 was 14.5 per
c e n t-m o re than twice the rate
of 6.0 percent for whites. Among
Hispanics, 10.6 percent were
unemployed.’ As of April 1988,
unemployment for whites had de
clined to 4.6 percent, while the
rate for Blacks stood at 12.2 per
cent and for Hispanics at 9.3 per
cent.”
■ M inority group members
are far less likely to have a college
education. In 1986,20.1 percent of
whites over 25 had completed
four years of college or more. The
rate for Blacks was 10.9 percent,
and for Hispanics only 8.4
percent.”
■ As of 1986, Black life expec
tancy at birth was 71.4 years — ex
actly four years less than for
whites.”
■ In 1985, the mortality rate
among youngest Black infants
(under 28 days) rose nationally for
the first time in 20 years. By itself
our black infant mortality rate
would rank the U.S. 28th in the
world in keeping babies alive in
the first year of life.”
■ The immunization status of
nonwhite infants has grown sub
stantially worse in recent years.
The proportion not fully immu
nized against polio rose by 55 per
cent between 1980 and 1985. The
percentage not fully immunized
against diphtheria, pertussis, and
tetanus (DPT) increased by 68 per
cent. In the same period, rates of
immunization against various dis
eases among white infants either
improved or worsened only slight
ly.”
■ Of the 1.05 million high
school seniors who took the
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in
1985, just over 70,000 (9 percent)
were Black and few more than
17,000 (3 percent) were Hispanic.
Furthermore, of the black stu
dents, 73 percent scored below
400 on the verbal section and 64
percent scored below 400 on the
math portion. Of the Hispanic
students, 59 percent had verbal
scores below 400 and 45 percent
had math scores below that level.
For whites, only 31 percent had
verbal scores below 400 and only
22 percent had math scores that
low.”
Rapid progress in eliminating
these disparities may prove more
difficult for the dsiadvantaged
among the new one-third of a na
tion than for many of whom Presi
dent Roosevelt spoke. Minority
Americans are burdened not by a
sudden, universal, yet temporary
economic calamity, but by a long
Cleo’s
cruiting personnel reflect society
in general. For example, there is a
serious shortage of skilled Black
personnel.
With regard to signals eman
ating from the White House on
racial harmony, Mr. Phillips in
dicated much confusion has been
generated. The executive man
date is the driving force that in
fluences the interpretation of
policies and court decisions in
the area of civil rights. Recently
the tendency has been directed
toward a negative impact. Out of
that dilemma has emerged chal
lenges from white males who feel
threatened by any activity that
would enhance employment op
portunities for Black people.
Iß
Dick Bogle
Kathleen Saadat heads up the
state affirmative action program.
In addition to that, the handicap
initiative has also been added
recently to her responsibility.
Miss Saadat acknowledged that
she gets a tremendous amount of
cooperation from participating
agencies. It is the function of her
office to ensure that each activity
complies with the laws of the
State of Oregon regarding affir
mative action. To this end she
must maintain consistency in the
overall guidelines and goals
among the various departments.
At the same time she must pro
mote affirmative actic with a
zeal that gives it a t /minent
highlight in the functioning of all
groups. She is concerned with the
number of persons filling the
v
? f-
w?
i
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Chitterlings • Meatloaf • Mix Greens • Beef Stew
Catfish • And Many Other Southern Dishes
Including: Cleo’s Zesty Ribs In Sauce
— HOME COOKED DESSERTS —
Come See 'Luberta' F or Some Down Home C ookin’!
MEMBERS & GUESTS
S 7
'
0
/
\
INNER-CITY
\
*
%
SWAP MEET
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/V
June 17th, 18th, & 19th — 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
1834 N.E. Alberta (formerly Y.O.A. Club)
California Style Shopping Arena
• Vendors Needed •
NEW or HAND-CRAFTED ITEMS ONLY
CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION:
(503) 288-4527
®
numerous career slots and also
with their promotional oppor
tunities. Miss Saadat and her
small supporting staff of two
other persons get involved with
developing goals and programs
for the various protected groups.
Rather than wielding a big stick
she assists the affected agencies
to overcome those barriers which
would interfere with their achieve
ment of certain affirmative action
goals. The numbers are impres
sive. About two per cent of the
total state work force is Black.
That statistic reflects a greater
per centage of the state’s Black
population in general. Miss
Saadat hastens to caution that
those numbers are biased be
cause they do not reflect the
specifics of the distribution. She
cites, for example that 31% of
white females are clustered with
in the upper income bracket while
at the same time the represen
tation of Black women is less
than one per cent. This is a
disparity that has commanded a
lot of attention from her office.
Further, Miss Saadat emphasiz
ed that there is an open door
career tract for Black people at
the state level. She is not in the
r> 'f i f i n g business but urges in-
t
ted parties to monitor offer-
ii
through the state employ-
m it offices and to submit ap
plications for any position of in
terest.
No responsible survey would
be complete without a look at the
police department. I was curious
to know what adjustments had
been made since the days of
“ Don’t choke them, Smoke
them !” mentality. I talked at
length with David Simpson, the
public information officer. I was
at first skeptical about a profes
sional whose very livelihood de
pended upon how good the police
department looked in the eyes of
the public. I addressed those
issues that could not be conceal
ed. He was forthright and candid.
Minority recruiting has been em
phasized. Even with the freeze im
posed on hiring since 1987, the
numbers still look good. About 25
new officers will be hired in 1988,
two of these will be Black.
3140 N. Williams • 284-7150
Ethnic Cuisine Southern Style
OREGON: Status On Human Rights
f l Continued froqi Front Page
history of oppression and discri
mination. They remain largely
segregated in minority neighbor
hoods and minority schools. For
many, full participation in the
dominant culture imposes a pain
ful choice: to dilute or abandon a
rich and distinctive heritage.
Above all, they are marked by the
color of their skin as different,
and therefore more vulnerable.
Yet, minority citizens are not
separate. They are, in a real
sense, the new America. In a few
years they will comprise one-third
of the nation's children; soon af
terward they will be one-third of
the nation’s adults.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
* "The Eyes and Ears of the Community”
Ask for Steve or Blanche
288-0033
Also Open Bidding For Concessions Will Be Held On
Monday, June 13 At 12:30 P.M.
\ ------------------ ----------------------------- ---------------------------------------/
S O U L
S
V
L
f f V
O
f
THE ROSE CITY
RHYTHM ROLLERS
the is t
Gladys McCoy -
Recruiting will extend outside of
the state in order to attract the
kind of professional that Portland
requires. Among the 700 police
officers 22 are Black. There is on
ly one lieutenant and one detec
tive. The need for the dual
recruiting system has diminished
because of vigorous recruiting ef
forts. It will be abandoned in the
future.
As far as the public sector is
concerned, the state of the State
is relative ly o p tim is tic , but
everything is not a bed of roses.
Gregory Gudger of the Munici
pal Human Relations Commis
sion summed it up rather succinc
tly. “ There is a lot of work to be
done with regard to inter-group
relations. Employment, housing
and services continue to pose
pressing problems with regard to
our multi-racial society. We must
learn to function effectively and
to recognize that our bountiful
resources, including people, are
an asset rather than a detriment.”
How far has Oregon come
since the repressive territorial
code of 1841? You decide! Next
week we will take a look at the
problem plagued private sector.
■ Continued Next Week
/ m n u a l
THE RECKLESS
REXERS
PRESENT:
"CLOSING FOREVER
” CELEBRATION
AFTER 25 YEARS AS A RECREATIONAL CENTER IN THE ROSE CITY COMMUNITY OF
PORTLAND, SILVER SKATE ROLLER RINK WILL CLOSE ITS DOORS FOREVER, JUNE
16TH 1988.THIS IS A MOMENTOUS OCCASSION AND HISTORIC EVENT NOT TO BE
MISSED. SOUL SKATE OF AMERICA, THE RHYTHM ROLLERS AND THE RECK
LESS REXERS INVITE YOU TO HELP US SAY "THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES" ON THE
FINAL NIGHT, JUNE 15TH, 1988, FROM 8:PM UNTIL 2:AM.
•
•
•
•
WE WILL SHARE SKATING, DANCING - DOOR PRIZES -
TWO GRAND PRIZE
GIVEAWAYS - ARTIFACTS & MEMORABILIA - GREAT MUSIC - FRIENDS, OLD
AND NEW AND A GOOD TIME!!!!
COME ONE & ALL - BRING YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND JOIN THE FUN
AT THE 1ST ANNUAL "CLOSING FOREVER" CELEBRATION.
TWO GRAND PRIZES: A 19" COLOR TELEVISION &
A CD RECORD PLAYER ($600.00 VALUE
BE GIVEN AWAY. (YOU NEED NOT BE
PRESENT TO WIN) JUST COME AND
R EG ISTER .
*
DON’T MISS THIS HISTORIC EVENT IN
THE NORTH EAST COMMUNITY - SIL
VER SKATE ROLLER RINK IS CLOSING
AFTER 25 YEARS OF DEDICATED REC
REATIONAL SERVICE TO THE CITY OF
PORTLAND AND THE ROSE CITY COM
MUNITY
us and CELEBRATE!!!
GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY, FAMILY
join
n ik ii
O A III
C IZ A T C
8:PM UNTIL 2:AM - SILVER SKATE RINK, 1210 N.E. 102ND,
ADMISSION $6.00 -- BE THERE!!!