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Page 2 Portland Observer OCTOBER 26, 1989
0PÍÑI0N
EDITÖRiÄt
Hypocrisy Haunts U.S. Policy In Panama And
Latin America
Will Johnny Ever
Learn To Read
by Professor McKinley Burt
We continue on from last week's
reference to the early 'N orm al School'
or Teachers College. 1 mentioned that
both my motherand aunt graduated from
such an institution-providing me with
an early childhood introduction to the
educational process. This was in St. Louis
and until World War II, this excellent
school system organized by German
immigrants (Busch-Budweiser) was
preeminent in the nation.
Even with the racist salary differen
tial for Black teachers and administra
tors in die segregated schools, the aca
demic standards for ghetto youth far
surpassed those of today. How about the
following requirement for high school
graduation: Geometry I & II, algebra I &
II, general science I & II, Biology I & II,
physics and chemistry. Also, there was
English all the way through, social sci
ences, geography, and a mandatory for
eign language-French or Latin.
You did all of this or you sat there
until you were big enough to be a line
backer for the Chicago Bears (you really
didn't want to mess with the truant offi
cers of those days). 1 attended high school
during the 'g reat depression' and it is to
be noted that we had a lot more disad
vantaged and hungry kids than n o w -
teachers fed and sheltered many!
My resurgent interest in the educa
tion process and teacher training began
in the 1960s when positions in industry
brought me face to face with some fright
ening revelations. The 'college grad u
ates' whom I hired or worked with showed
increased disabilities in ability to read,
write or count. For the first time I was
really hearing that Catholic Priest from
Chicago who wrote the book, "Why
Johnny Can't Read'. Later, he was to
write, Why Johnny Still Can't Read'.
Seeking answers, I was upset enough to
return to St Louis to visit former teach
ers and a teacher college.
Using my favorite mode of exposi
tion, I present two relevant and experi
ence-based models. First, the local
'Adams High School Experiment' of
the 1970s (an absolute disaster, and
indicative of more problems to come).
After reading in Time Magazine that
two young, white yuppie professors from
Boston had been funded to implement
their "new wave" education approach
here in Portland. I visited them at their
staging area in the basement of Jefferson
High School and found that their middle
class, prep school-type demeanor and
ethusiasm was impermeable to any real
istic input. They were not to be deterred
from offering a potpourri of student-
selected, wimpy courses in 'cafeteria
style'.
These illogical pedants, trained in
the new "Great Society" format of the
socio-economic teacher college, could
not be told that the majority of their
students would come from feeder schools
ness." Several Central American nations
including El Salvador, Costa Rica,
Honduras, and Guatemala were converted
already exhibiting a disaster syndrome-
-the same with transfers. They were to
completely ignore the traumas only re
cently being addressed by the 'Desegre
gation Process': Remedial basics, dis
cipline, absenteeism and dropouts. I can
comment favorably on the 'new look'
from Boston, having met and talked at
length with two of the city's successful
urban educators-recently listed among
the top 25 in the nation. There may yet
be hope of Black children achieving the
standards advocated by E.d. Hirsch in
his 1988 book, 'C u ltu ral Literacy'.
It was to be expected that, later, in
my classes at Portland State University,
I would encounter many unprepared and
tragic victims o f the 'A dam s C aper'.
But let us turn to a more inspiring model,
one of inspired correction. We have the
'W indsor Hills Elem entary School'
which several decades ago became a
95% Black miracle in West Los Ange
les. At first this area was exclusively
white, but in the 1950s a flood of up
wardly mobile Blacks of a new middle
class changed the demographics to a
predominately minority community. As
cited in the Black press, the "good teach
ers" and acceptable standards were part
of the 'white flight'. A school that had
ranked among the best now ranked 40th.
The Black community responded
with a memorable surge of anger and
energy, declaring war on the school board
and the teacher unions. A determined
cadre of aerospace engineers, account
ants, lawyers, doctors, computer pro
grammers, bankers and college profes
sors, filed law suits almost daily, staged
sit-ins at the school board and assaulted
the "mediocre, sandal-wearing, low cle-
vage, hippie broads alleging to be teach
ers" as the Black press described them
(The school district had begun to use the
school as a dumping ground for all the
misfits in the system). Many of my friends
and in-laws were parents there.
Within months the community had
won lawsuit after lawsuit, ousting the
weirdos and racists, upgrading texts and
curricula, and upscaling laboratory equip
ment, within three years we find the Los
Angeles Times newspaper announcing
that the Windsor Hills Elementary School
ranked tops in the city amoang 400 ele
mentary schools. First in two majorcate-
gories, 'M athem atics and R eading'. As
in Washington, D.C. (Hobson vs. Board
of Education), it was demonstrated that
the people can win against the establish
ment.
However, the battle is never fully
won-Educational excellence requires
'eternal vigilance'. Black parents all
over the Los Angeles area tried to get
their children enrolled in the school-by
every subterfuge, even bribing some resi
dents to secure an address in the area.
This influx of mostly unprepared stu
dents soon saw a substantial drop in the
schools ratings. Be aware and be pre
pared, the chasm is wide and deep.
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Intervenuon level reached a fren
zied pitch recently when the pariah of
Panama, General Manuel Antonio Nori
ega, alluded a possible Coup by dis
gruntled officers within the Panamanian
Defense Forces. Angry Senators, mem
bers of Congress, policy analysts and
commentators within the media de
nounced the Bush administration for not
directly intervening to topple and cap
ture the drug dealing dictator. You didn't
really have to read between the lines to
get the point that there is a sizeable
segment within the American populace
that feels that the U.s. government has
theright to do whatever it pleases in
Central America. It's like the United
States owns this hemisphere, and its
awesome military might can be used at
will to make anything "right.”
America needs to stop meddling in
the affairs of other nations, particularly
the developing nations of Africa, Asia,
the Middle East and the Western Hemi
sphere. America is the most feared and
dispised nation in this hemisphere. The
U.S. gained that distinction because it
has a history of using its power, not to
aid and assist the developing nations of
central America, South America and the
Carribean, but to suppress the aspira
tions of these nations in the interest of
U.S. Corporation; Corporations seeking
to exploit the cheap labor, raw materials,
and cash crops of the region to enrich
themselves at the expense o f the masses
of workers and peasants.
African-Americans must be clear
about whose interests we are prepared to
defend as it relates to U.S. foreign policy
if we are to remain the moral conscience
of this nation and its best hope for a
creation of a new society. That clarity
must not be clouded by the fact that a
Black face, in the person of General
Colin Powell, now sits at the helm of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. Black faces in old
places do no necessarily translate into a
change in perspective or policy. And so
the beat goes on in Central America.
Nothing has changed in more than a
century.
Between 1823 when the U.S. claimed
Latin America as an area of influence
under the Monroe Doctrine, to 1983
when the U.S. invaded the tiny island
nation of grendada, U.s. troops inter
vened in the regionb more than 40 times.
While professing to favor democracy
and self-determination, in reality U.S.
foreign policy functioned on the dictum
"the business of government is busi-
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Each Otfice is Independently Owned and Operated
Speaker Willie Brown To Keynote
Black Women Physicians Eighth
Annual Fall Benefit
LOS ANGELES-The Association
of Black Women Physicians (ABWP)
will hold its Eighth Annual Fall Benefit
themed, "Honoring our Past, Investing
in our Future," Saturday evening, Oct.
28, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Ange
les. The Black tie optional affair begins
with a 6:30 p.m., reception and dinner at
7:30 p.m.
Dr. Anitha Mitchell, president of
ABWP, stated, "Our membership is
extremely delighted to welcome Speaker
Willie L. Brown, Jr. as Keynoter for our
benefit. He is not only one of the most
erudite and charismatic orators in the
country, he is alos a respected and influ
ential leader."
Under Mr. Brown's Speakership,
California has enacted major reforms in
the Medi-Cal system. He has authored
several landmark medical bills includ
ing legislation establishing the Child
Health Disabilities Program.
Presiding over the evening's pro-
ceedingsas Mistress of Ceremonies, will
be Ms. LaRita Shelby, radio personality
of KGFJ-AM in Los Angeles. Entertain
ment will be provided by The Fantasia
Band.
According to Dr. Mitchell, "ABWP
is looking forward to presenting its an
little planning or no planning.
While these problems do exist, this
is a city that still attracts industry and
other businesses (especially tourism)
because of its natural beauty and strong
and progressive leadership in some
quarters.
Asa former politic ian and respected
spokesperson for this community, one
can only assume that with his aggressive
and commanding leadership, Mr. Jordan
just may find too many "layers at the
top," and seek out new ventures.
Commissioner Lindberg and the
mayor’s statement that Mr. Jordan will
not be a candidate for the mayor's office
in 1993 is not only "luke warm" but
borders on the threshold of illcgallity.
Thus, for any office holder to seek
to muzzle or place restrains on him as a
condition of employment is wrong. Mr.
Jordan has the constitutional right to run
for any office he so chooses and at any
time one becomes available.
While this city does need new lead
ership, that leadership must come from
those who have a demonstrated capacity j
for far-reaching vision.
Such vision almost always comes
with stability. If Mr. Jordan docs some
day decide to seek out elected office
once again, hopefully he will be more
considerate of his supporters then be
fore.
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nual Rebecca Lee, M.D. Scholarship
Awards to deserving, dedicated, Afri
can-American women in medical school."
S he continued, "We will also honor three
well known and respected Black women
physicians w ith our Association of B lack
Women Physicians Lifetime Achieve
ment Award. The honorees this year are:
Marguerite Lewie, M.D., Mary McCoo,
M.D. and Anna Smith, M.D."
ABWP was founded in 1982 with a
mission to improve the health and wel
fare of its community and humankind in
general, through education, guidance and
service. In addition the philanthropic
organization provides needed monetary
support for individuals and projects re-
latcdto fundamental health issues im
pacting the Black oemmunity. Since 1983,
ABWP has awarded more than $50,000
dollars in scholarships to African-Ameri
can women studying to become physi
cians.
Along with Dr. Mitchell, the slate of
officers includes: Natalie Sanders, M.D.,
president-elect, and Jasmine Bowers
Obioha, M.D., vice president.
For dinner reservations and further
information, you may contact the ABWP
public relationsfirm of Alescia Buford
and Associates at (818) 995-6545.
ATTENTION RENTERS
Charles Jordan Must Show Stability
The return of Charles Jordan as
parks bureau chief poses many ques
tions for Portlanders. His defection in
1984 after winning re-election as City
Commissioner left many of his support
ers disillusioned, frustrated and in some
instances, angry.
Mr. Jordan was elected by a con
stituency that poured time, effort, and
money into his campaign only to see the
candidate abdicate before being sworn
in, even though the campaign was suc
cessful.
Word has it that upon his return,
Mr. Jordan should concentrate on ap
pointed positions for any support he seeks
for an elective office would be hard to
come by.
Voters in Portland take their poli
tics very seriously. They support a can
didate who demonstrates leadership and
genuine concern for this city's problems.
Given the history of the past, Port
land has many:
Racism is at an all time high. Police
morale is at its lowest ebb since the days
of former Chief Penny Harrington. Eco
nomic development is prosperig through
out most of Portland, but the inncr-North-
Northcast section is conspiciously ab
sent from reaping any benefits due to
M IS
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Portland Oregon 97203
Business (503) 286-5826
Fax 286-8675
Residence (503) 281-8976
OREGON
Portland Observer!
Gary Ann Garnett
by Ron Daniels
into virtual neo-colonies by the infa
mous United Fruit Company. They be
came "Banana Republics."
Multi-millionaire banker J.P. Mor
gan conspired with the U.S. government
to take the Panama region from the
soveriegn nation of Colombia under the
pretense of "liberating" Panama from a
repressive Colombian government.
Panama quickly became a U.S. Colony
and the canal which the U.S. wanted to
construct could now be built and owned
(on Panama's land) by America. For
decades the United States backed ruling
oligarchies or elites headed by dictators
who were willing to allow U.S. business
interest to profit handsomely from the
exploitation of the resources of the re
gion. Hence democracy was never a real
issue as long as the dread dictator Samoza
and his family ruled in Nicaragua. Nor
were the dictatorships in Haiti or Cuba a
problem as long as U.S. business inter
ests reined supreme. In fact U.S. troops
invaded the Dominican Republic in 1965
to thwart the democratic election of Juan
Bosch, and the U.S. was directly in
volved in the overthrow of the demo
cratically elected government of Allende
in Chile in 1973.
In the more recent history of Pan
ama, Noriega appears to have been just
fine as long as he was co-operating with
the Reagan-Bush administration in fun-
neling illegal aid to the Contras in Nica
ragua. Noriega was on the U.S. payroll
as was revealed by the Iran-Contra scan
dal. No doubt Reagan, Bush and com
pany were aware that Noriega was deal
ing in drugs then. Apparently they were
willing to look the other way as long as
Noriega was their boy. Something went
sour in the whole affair and their boy
became the bad boy, subject to U.S.
indictment, economic sanctions, diplo
matic pressures, and even invasion. Now
the threat is that if the Panamanian people
don't get rid of Noriega, then the U.S.
may refuse to give them back their can-
cal!
1 don't like General Noriega. But
that's beside the point. The United States
because of its checkered history of self-
serving intervention, big stick diplomacy,
greed, and hypocrisy has lost the moral
authority to lead in this hemisphere. The
Panamanian people must solve there own
problems. Thus far U.S. sanctions, threats,
and covert C.I.A. action have simply
rendered a bad problem worse. Mean
while we hear no clamor for tougher
sanctions against South Africa, or "inter
vention" to bring about democracy and
Black majority rule to end the dictator
ship of apartheid. U.S. Foreign policy
continues to be filled with hypocrisy and
contradictions.
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