Page 2 Portland Observer AUGUST 10,1989
EWTOSHTT^PIRKS.
Vantage point
Waiting for Freddye to be Yunkered
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
It did not take a soothsayer to predict that Mrs.
Pettet would not return to her office in the AFS
by Stephen E. McPherson,
Special Correspondent
M rs .F re d d y e Pettet decided to
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step aside “ tem porarily” fo r sixty
days as D irector o f the A d u lt and
Fam ily Services D ivision. She did
so in order to protect her biennial
budget that was being considered in
the S late Legislature at the time. This
column observed then that such an
exercise was a very poorly disguised
attempt to immolate a sacrificial lamb.
It d id n ’ t take a soothsayer to predict
that Mrs. Pettet never w ould return to
her office. We still stand by that
statement
Every thing Jon Yunker has done
since the governor commissioned him
to study the accusations made against
the leadership o f the A dult and Family
Services D ivision has been carried
out in such a manner which w ould
preclude even the remotest possibil­
ity that Mrs. Pettet could resume her
vacated position and maintain any
sense o f credibility.
The fo llo w in g actions M r. Yunker
took in his short tenure were under­
scored by certain curious machina­
tions which suggested that he did not
enter into this evaluation w ith an
open and objective mind. He had not
assumed his position more than one
week before he called a press confer­
ence to announce several m ajor
changes w ith regard to the proce­
dures established by M rs. Pettet
A very telling tale emerge in Bend,
Oregon portended more ominous
changes to come. Tom Water, the
regional director o f that area had
been under continual attacks from
Beverly Clarno, the m averick and
conservative freshman legislator from
that area who made no secret o f the
fact that she perceived people on the
dole to be less deserving o f public
funds. A ll along Mrs. Pettet had de­
fended the manner in w hich M r.
Waters pursued his responsibilities.
C uriously, M r. Waters was the first
person to be excluded from govern­
ment service. His ouster was rem i­
niscent o f Mrs. Wanda W rig h t de­
parture from government service after
having been castigated by one o f the
local weeklies.
It became quite obvious that M r.
Yunker was pursuing an agenda which
deviated suspiciously from his purely
investigational process. In short order
the manager o f public affairs resigned
under a cloud and some o f the staff
were redistributed to functions out­
side the central office. By then it
could not escape any thinking person
that several other key persons w ould
leave government service before the
end o f the year. It became clear that
a process which was initiated as an
investigation for the purpose o f evalu­
ation had deteriorated into a mass
slaughter.
It is now two months and ten days
since Mrs. Freddye Pettet “ voluntar­
ily stepped aside, tem porarily.” The
final report to the governor that was
to be forthcom ing at the end o f tw o
months w ill now be presented to the
public at a press conference in Salem
on Friday m orning. In the mean
time, by his own admission, Jon
Yunker w ill not relinquish his pres­
ent function and return to the office
o f Budget management, he w ill con­
tinue to function in some unspecified
capacity in his “ temporary assign­
m ent.”
Mrs. Freddye Pettet who held down
an office in the Justice Department
where she had been studying federal
welfare reform , recently moved over
to the accounting division where her
assignment is untitled.
There is little wonder that the vo t­
ing constituents here in the lower
Northeast sector o f the C ity o f Roses
are quite perplexed because they feel
deceived by the very person in whom
they placed so much trust. It is d if f i­
cu lt to challenge such a pessimistic
view given the fact that the voters are
expected to accept and to believe so
many implausible happenstances, dis­
tortions and misrepresentations. This
most recent incident leave no doubt
that the process o f black execucide
continues unabated.
I f Mrs. Freddye Pettet had any
faults, it was because she took her
jo b so seriously and made every e f­
fo rt to discharge her duties in a pro­
fessional and humanely e fficien t
manner. I f that were so it was a
grievous fault and grievously has she
endured the consequences.
V irtu a lly everything Jon Yunker
has done so far was cosmetic and po­
litic a lly expedient. He has not ad­
dressed the real problem o f the recal­
citrant in government who would
deny the indigent and the poor those
basic consideration which a compas­
sionate and abundant society would
dictate.
M r. Y unker’ s egregious approach
to his perception o f the problems in
the A d u lt and Fam ily Services D iv i­
sion w ill only create create numer­
ous false expectation from the public
w ith regard to Mrs. Pettet’s replace­
ment. This in turn w ill engender an
extreme reluctance on the part o f any
sane and competent person to want
to step into that hotbed o f contention.
It is rather obvious that Mr. Yunker
is in charge o f the whole show and
w ill remain so fo r some time. M r.
Concannon docs not plan to be pres­
ent at F riday’ s press conference.
It is tru ly unfortunate that G over­
nor N eil Goldschm idt scheduled
elective surgery to repair an old high
school in ju ry at such a crucial jun c­
ture in these very important delibera­
tions. W e are quite happy to note
that he required only tw o stitches to
repair his aching, tom tendon. It is
very lik e ly that his recurring dis­
abilities w ill preclude his participa­
tion in pursuing the very rigorous
and demanding responsibilities o f a
United States Senate. W hat a tre­
mendous loss this is going to be to the
State o f Oregon.
FREE AFRICAN YOUTH: USA
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
PARENTAL NETWORKING; REAS­
SUMING RESPONSIBILITY FOR
REARING OUR YOUTH
As a National African-A m erican Com m unity we need to reassume
responsibility fo r the rearing o f our youth. Far too many African-Am erican
youth appear to be on their own to raise themselves. In the process basic
values like respect fo r adults or the elders, and a sense o f com m itm ent to
self, fa m ily and com m unity have eroded. The problem is that in poorer
neighborhoods parents, in many instances single female heads o f fam ilies,
are often devastated by the sheer struggle to survive. In more affluent
neighborhoods parents arc frequently loo busy doing that w hich is required
to maintain “ success” to be adequately involved in m onitoring the growth
and w ell being o f their children and other youth in the neighborhood.
Indeed w ith parents/adults in the African-Am erican com m unity there
has been gradual deterioration o f the values that helped us to survive as a
people on these hostile Am erican shores. Com ing out o f the rural south into
urban comm unities in the south, north and m idwest we brought w ith us a set
o f values that uplifted the extended fa m ily, promoted caring and sharing fo r
neighbors and the com m unity, and a kind o f collective responsibility fo r
c h ild rearing.
As a general rule there were no motherless children and no fatherless
children. Every adult and parent fe lt the responsibility and obligation to look
after the children and young people in the neighborhood. Teachers com m u­
nicated w ith parents, and parents communicated w ith each other. There was
an inform al system o f A D U L T /P A R E N T N E T W O R K IN G which helped to
bring some measure o f stability to the child/youth rearing process despite
hard times. I f a child/youth got into trouble several blocks away from home
the news o f that event would lik e ly greet the offender when they entered
their home.The A tlanta child murder crisis o f a few years ago could not have
happened in m y old neighborhood in the H ill D is tric t o f Pittsburgh. In that
neighborhood everybody knew everybody on my block, and everyone felt
a responsibility to look after the kids.
We need to recapture some o f the principles, values, and mechanisms
which helped us to survive and m aintain as a people in the past. O N E
PLA C E T O S TA R T IS B Y C O N S C IO U S LY R E IN S T IT U T IN G T H E
P R A C T IC E OF P A R E N T A L /A D U L T N E T W O R K IN G .
I have a middle son who is quite out going. About 20 young boys his age
are constantly coming over or are on the phone. Occasionally a bunch o f
them get together to go to the m all, the movies or a party. One day I was
reflecting on how many o f the parents o f these 20 or so young men we knew.
W e only know the parents o f 4 out o f the 20 young men who frequent our
home and vice versa.And the comm unications w ith the parents that we
know is really inadequate. Our situation o f inadequate acquaintance w ith
our sons friends, and inadequate com m unications/networking w ith their
parents points out the kind o f flawed com m unity youth rearing arrange­
ments (or lack o f them) that have become far to prevalent in our com m unity.
As a matter o f internal policy and p rio rity African-A m erican
churches, civic associations, civil-rights organizations, community based
organizations, and fraternal orders should be pushing the concept o f parent/
adult netw orking as a means o f re-assuming the collective responsibility o f
rearing African-A m erican children/youth. O f course in the final analysis the
p rio rity o f parcntal/adult networking must be implemented by groups o f
individual fam ilies agreeing to come together to begin the process.
In the case o f m y own fam ily fo r example we are m oving to do two things:
First we have asked fo r the names, addresses and telephone numbers o f all
the parents o f the young people w ho frequent our home. W e intend to be in
touch w ith them to begin the netw orking process. Secondly we intend to
advise the parents o f our interest in organizing some back yard “ rap
sessions’ ’ among the circle o f youth that v is it our home. W e hope that these
rap sessions w ill evolve into a youth leadership club where these young
people can w ork together to engage in com m unity service projects, and
cultural, social, educational and recreational projects.
H opefully some o f the parents w ill agree to play supportive roles fo r such
a youth undertaking. B ut at m inim um the parental netw orking can help to
re-establish some o f the basic values w hich provided some stability to the
com m unity child/youth rearing process in the past.
We should feel secure in know ing the parents o f our children’ s friends
and feel com fortable in calling them to discuss problems, m isconduct,or the
need to w ork together on activities fo r our sons and daughters. Common
agreement on such things as rules fo r social activities, curfew times, conduct
in public, respect fo r adults and elders and rules on alcohol, smoking and
drugs etc. can be an effective counter to peer group pressure by establishing
a collective set o f dos and don’ts.
M ost o f all parenting networking may help to prevent our youth from
fa llin g through the cracks and turning to crack. Lets get back to doing it the
“ old fashioned w ay” . It worked!
NISSAN AWARDS 25
FELLOWSHIPS TO PROFESSORS
AT HISTORICALLY BLACK
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
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OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established in 1970
Leon Harrle/General Manager
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Gary Ann Garnett
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PORTLAND OBSERVER
is published weekly by
Exie Publishing Company. Inc
525 N E KUHngsworth St
Portland, Oregon 97211
P O Box 3137
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Deadlines lor all submitted materials:
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T M PORTLAND OBSERVER (WtcornM Ir^ la n c s •u b m n io n » M anuiofCU and pbotojfaphi mould ba daa/ly
ldt>«i«d and will be '«turned 4 acoompaned by a seM-addressed envelop« All created designed display ad»
become the »ole property of the r«wspaper and can not be used m other publication» or personal usage, without
the written consent of the general manage* uniats the client has purchased the composition ol such ad 1969
PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT
PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED
Subscriptions. $20 00 per year in the Trr-County area
The PORTLAND OBSERVER
Oregon s oldest Afncan-American Publication >s a member of The National
Newspap«' Association - Founded m 1885 The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, and The Natonal
Advert.» ng Representative Amalgamated Publehers. inc., Naw V o *
T o encourage the development o f
Black scholars teaching at H is to ri­
cally Black Colleges (HBCs) and
universities, the Nissan M otor C or­
poration in US A has selected 25 pro­
fessors from H B C ’ s to attend the
Nissan-HBC Summer Institute. This
is the First year the fellow ship and
Summer Institute is being offered.
The Nissan fellow s w ill take part
in an intensive study o f finance-ori­
ented topics at the John E. Anderson
Graduate School o f Management at
the U niversity o f C alifornia at Los
Angeles from July 30 through A u ­
gust 4. Sponsorship o f the Institute is
part o f Nissan’s overall program to
support improved educational oppor­
tunities fo r m inorities. H istorically
Black Colleges graduate approxi­
m ately 70 percent o f a ll Black men
and women w ith baccalaureate de­
grees in the United Stales. The N is­
san fellow ships and the Summer In­
stitute were established to support
the Educational Testing Service o f
business adm inistration faculty de­
velopment at H istorically Black C o l­
leges. Nissan is joined in its e ffo rt by
Princeton,N.J., the Graduate M an­
agement Adm issions C ouncil, and
the Riordan Programs o f the A nder­
son School.
Funding for the program is pro­
vided by Nissan M otor Corporation
in USA, the sales and m arketing sub­
sidiary in the United States fo r N is­
san M otor Co., Ltd., o f T okyo , Ja­
pan, the w o rld ’ s fourth largest auto
manufacturer. The Institute’ s spon­
sors arc the Riordan Programs, a group
o f projects at the Anderson School
founded by Los Angeles Attorney
Richard Riordan to encourage m i­
nority interest in business careers.
The Graduate Management A dm is­
sions C ouncil (G M A C ) consists o f
representatives o f 83 graduate schools
o f management
Educational Testing Service is
America’s largest private educational
measurement institution and a leader
in educational research. ETS has been
w orking w ith H istorically Black
Colleges since 1983 when the ETS-
H B C collaboration was initiated.
D uring the last tw enty-five years, I have consistently advocated the
establishment o f a uniformed national organization o f youth in the United
States in concert and in dialogue w ith the growing organization o f youth
throughout the w orld, particularly in A frica. We have commented tim e and
tim e again about the d ifficu ltie s and the opportunities that challenge A frican
American youth as w ell as other racial and ethnic youth in this nation.
It is w ith a sense o f pride and diligence that I am able to report that
recently in the small rural village o f Manson, North Carolina, at Oak Level
United Church o f Christ, a new movement and a new youth organization
was established. I believe this new organization: “ Free African Y oulh:U SA ,”
has great potential fo r providing a positive educational, cultural, p olitical
and nurturing alternative experience fo r African American and other youth
who desire leadership development and involvement.
We receive numerous requests from young people all over the nation
yearning for an opportunity to be involved in something positive and
u p liftin g at the local level. One o f the great tragedies o f this present age is
the lack o f outreach by national organizations to involve the youth o f today
in something positive.
When the Young Pioneers o f Angola learned o f the existence o f the Free
A frica n Y outh:U S A young pioneer organization in North C arolina, an
invitation was extended fo r a group to travel to Angola to stay for tour weeks
o f fellow ship and a range o f youth activities. O f course, the group in North
Carolina accepted the invitation. One o f the leaders o f the Free A frica n
Y outh:U S A is the dynamic and eloquent eight-year old W ilc tra B u rw e ll
whom we have w ritten about in other commentaries.
I witnessed W iletra and four other members o f the free African > oulh:US A
board a A ir France je t plane at Kennedy A irp o rt to fly to Angola. They were
accompanied by W ile tra ’ s mother, Mrs. D ollie Burw ell, who serves as one
o f the founding adult advisors to the group.
They were a ll excited about going to A frica and in particular to Angola.
They carried their organizations’ s red, black and green flag as w e ll as the
United States flag and the flag o f the State o f North Carolina. I am sure that
this group o f young pioneers w ill represent the African American com m u­
n ity w ell.
It is our hope that the enthusiasm and determination and sense o f purpose
o f the Free A frica n Y outh:U S A now emerging out o f NOrth Carolina w ill
soon spread throughout the nation.
PERSPECTIVES
by McKinley Burt
I le ft o ff last week w ith a v iv id de­
scription o f today’ s tragic economic
situation o f Blacks in D etroit where
the massive layoffs o f Black autowoik-
ers have wreaked havoc w ith the
fam ily structure. Thousands o f homes
are being lost, kids pulled out o f
college, m ounting suicides and d i­
vorces, increased alcohol and drug
abuse, not to mention overcrowded
jails. I also documented that this situ­
ation should have been anticipated i f
one could read or think.
I am as fa m ilia r w ith the genesis
o f this situation as anyone who has
not lived in D etroit, only visited there
several times. In the early 1970’s I
spent many scores o f hours talking
w ith a Black engineer there, David
N. Crosthwait (1891-1976), the Black
In v e n to r whose 34 U.S. patents and
80 foreign patents reflect his genius
in designing the heating and aircon­
ditioning systems that are standard in
a ll high rise b u ild in g s in the w o rld
today. Our conversations often be­
gan w ith technology and the Black
m an’ s pioneering contributions from
day one. Especially he loved to cite
the jobs and wealth created and how
there should be a structured tech­
nique designed to avail ourselves o f
this economic largesse.
It is not surprising then that Mr.
C rosthwait spent so much time b it­
terly com plaining about “ Darky
Blockers” (sic), the “ gangs o f bel-
ligcrent-but helpless-poverty pimps”
who had taken over the comm unity
by the late sixties. He said they de­
scribed themselves as the “ only le­
gitim ate organizations representing
the nation’s grassroots network work­
ing to combat poverty” . And went
on to say that i f you disagreed, there
were a number o f thugs and hoods
available to change your mind; espe­
c ia lly when the g ra n t monies came
in ;T e ll me about it.
W hat our poor, naive M r. Crosth­
w ait had done was to offer to assign
many o f his valuable patents to Fi­
nance a project fo r supporting new
(and com petitive) m inority-owned
technical enterprise, fo r training our
youth in the new technologies (in ­
cluding automatic and computer-con­
trolled systems fo r heating and air-
conditioning), and for retraining those
Black autoworkers w ith marginal
skills. As the man was later to re­
mark, even a fool could sec that the
latter group w ould always be the first
to be laid o ff when there was any
retrenchment in the industry.And that
it was already evident that foreign
vehicles would severely affect the
market Our man was blocked, laughed
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certainly support in the com m unity it
is a photo-development planL I admit
that the most depressing thing in this
area is the ina bility to communicate
w ith many o f those involved in the
process-that is on a m eaningful or
serious level.
Further, whether it is deliberate or
not on the part o f the establishment
(dcsigncd-to-fail syndrome), the
preponderance o f access to the sys­
tem-resources, Finances—are given
to those who arc either too young to
have developed the experience o f a
learning curve, or too arrogant to
consult or to research. And it s till
docs not occur that there arc many
competent and experienced Black
businessmen in other parts o f the
country who could be brought in to
operate viable busincsscs-Such as the
former Fred Meyer Shopping Cen­
ter! I f whites can finance it w ithout
money (and don’t even own it), then
surely Blacks can. M o re on Devel­
opm ent o r lack o f it next week.
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at or just plain ignored by galloping
hordes o f Black elected o ffic ia ls ,
rhetoric-loaded social engineers and
poverty pimps. None seemed to real­
ize that America is a capitalist coun­
try.
In the context o f m y last week’ s
comments on the constant repetition
o f errors and the e x tin c tio n o f the
dinosaurs, 1 believe it appropriate to
remark that I did not always fare that
much better m yself in Portland. I
discussed w ith Mr. C rosthw ait m y
error in supposing that my book on
Black Inventors (1969) w ould have
an immediate and galvanizing effect
on the com m unity-” technology is
where i t ’ s at and we are good at it. “ I
spoke, too, about my failure to sell
the Portland School D is tric t on m y
innovation o f placing O n -L in e and
Stand-alone computers in elemen­
tary school rooms. Other cities did it
and doubled the students’ interest
and capabilities in mathematics and
communication skills (The Dalles,
Oregon and Birm ingham , Alabama).
And this is not to m ention the career
preparation and direction into g row ­
ing and viable fields that resulted.
For me it is not sufficient to just
hope that my new innovations or
projects for the 1990’ s are going to
succeed sim ply because I now have a
realistic learning curve in the p u b lic
sector as w ell as in industry. E xam i­
nation o f the current activities and
data bases in many areas o f com m u­
nity development reveal may o f the
past errors-or just plain lack o f inno­
vative ideas. The yellow section o f a
large out-of-town phone directory w ill
cite many types o f new enterprise. I f
there is one business Blacks could
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