Page 2 • Portland Observer • January 17, 1990
E ditorial / O pinion
To Your Good Health III -
More From
African-Americans
by Professor McKinley Burt
There have been so many Black giants
in the field of medicine that it is almost
impossible to assign any rank among them -
or any priorities to the many achievements
that have alleviated the pain and suffering
of mankind. As we approached February,
Black History Month, 1 began this medical
series as a prelude to some full scale articles
during that period. I spoke last week of the
need to motivate and to present role models
to this generation of African-American youth
for the purpose of directing a number into
the health sciences.
In 19871 was able to institute a Minor
ity Health Sciences Job Program for Afri
can-American high school seniors at the
Providence Medical Center. The first two
students worked in computer sciences, one
carrying out a sophisticated program for
evaluating blood components and the other
implementing financial controls in the
delivery of medical specialties. Both youths
successfully completed their assignments,
paving the way for others to follow and
receiving applicable school credits while
earning above minimum wage.
However, I was to note that despite
extensive media publicity (Northeast
Community included), no African-Ameri
can student, parent or high school coun
selor made any inquiry-cxcept one mem
ber of their peer group. But scores of white
students and p arents did so (including
Aslans). It may be revealing that 15 years
ago there was a somewhat better response
from Blacks (only somewhat) when I se
cured the large scale government grant for
training Portland State University minority
students in medical specialties. It is sug
gested here that at the very time African-
Americans are in the greatest need of edu
cational support in the sciences and tech
nology, there is in this community an abys
mal lack of comprehension or direction.
I have no trepidation at all in referring
to most of the establishment efforts to
correct this situation as a potpourri of unco
ordinated, misdirected B - S - . The well
over a quarter million dollars of funding I
have secured and put to work in the medical
field alone has been achieved without staff
or other aid. And the last segments have
been accomplished while on Social Secu
rity, without an automobile, riding Tri-
Met, and using the pay phone on the comer.
What can I say? A few years ago I went to
the School District with an experienced-
based plan for a real time, workable Tech
nical Center with the necessary and struc
tured ties to industry and other types of
infrastructure employers.
To date these frightened people have a
merry-go-round for you if what you pro
pose is actually functional. Nothing at all
like The Dalles, Oregon where, 25 years
ago after one speech to a service club and
one talk with the school district, I was
provided with the resources to contact and
involve industry, government agencies,
professionals, teachers, ranchers and oth
ers and put together a technology and
computer program that won a National
Science Award (I'll be back this year by
invitation—Another top program here will
bring in enough resources that others will
take note. Right now, I’m looking on my
shelf at that famous old book by Carter G.
Woodson, The M iseducation of the Ne
gro. Before I ’m allowed to perform for the
Portland establishment I'm sure 1 will have
completed The Dalles' Project and several
of those requested by members of the Na
tional Association of Black Educators who
recently met here.
Dr. Louis Tompkins Wright (1891-
1952): ‘The MOST PRODUCTIVE,
most important and most distinguished
Negro physician yet to appear on the
American scene," says the famous an
thropologist Dr. IV. Montague Cobb.
He was speaking of Dr. Louis T. Wright,
a true pioneer in medicine--the first
black physician to be appointed to the
staff o f a New York municipal hospital,
the first black surgeon in the police
department o f New York City, thefirst to
experiment withAureomycin, an antibi
otic, on humans, the first black surgeon
to be admitted to the American College
o f Surgeons since its inception, and the
first black physician in America to head
a public interracial hospital. In recent
years, his daughter became the first
black women to be named dean of a
medical school (New York Medical Col
lege).
Louis Haber, Black Pioneers
of Science
Experiencing the same predudices as
Dr. Charles R. Drew of blood plasma fame.
Dr. Tompkins graduated from Harvard
Medical School cum laude, fourth in his
class, only to be denied internship at white
hospitals. Finding a position at Black Freed
man’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., he did
a pioneering work demonstrating that the
Schick Test for diphtheria was valid for
African-Americans as well as other races.
In 1917 as an Army Surgeon, he introduced
the intradermal method of vaccination against
small pox that was adopted by the U.S.
Army Medical Corps. After the war he was
appointed to the staff of Harlem H ospital-
at the time he was the first Black physician
to be appointed to the staff of any New Y ork
City Hospital (4 white doctors quit in pro
test).
Many of today’s athletes (and victims
of industrial and traffic accidents) do not
know how much they are indebted to him.
Tompkins developed a neck brace for frac
tures that is still in use today and he devel
oped the special blade plate for fractures
above the knee. He is the authority who
wrote the chapter on H ead In ju ries for
Scudder’s classic “ Head Injuries.’’ Dr.
Wright published scores of papers on his
work with both aureomycin and tcrramy-
cin, two drugs that have saved the lives of
so many humans on this planet. 6,000 years
of medical contribution.
The trouble with opportunity is it
comes disguised as hard work.
CREED OF THE BLACK PRESS
The Black Press believes that America can best lead the world away from social and
national antagonisms when It accords to every person, regardless of race, color, or
creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person, the Black
Press strives to help every person in the firm belief that all are hurt as long as anyone
is held back.
C ’ O 'M ’M ^ E 'N ’ T ’A 'R ’ Y
Guest Editorial
Is It The Process Or The Man?
All White Folks Are Not B ad. . .
by Leon Harris, Portland Observer Editor
by Ullysses Tucker, Jr.
The Citizens for Union Avenue claims
they have enough signatures to force re
naming Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. hack
to Union Avenue. The group states they are
angry with the process the city used to
change the name from Union Ave. to Mar
tin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. last April.
The group charges that the city failed to
follow its own street re-naming policy in
approving the change.
That policy called for approval by a
majority of the neighborhood associations,
as well as, district associations on Martin
Luther King, Jr. Blvd. But, the city council
acting upon a city attorney’s opinion that
the process did not necessarily require
approval by a majority of the associations
voted on the name change which went into
effect last April. Immediately after the
ceremony, anti-Martin Luther King, Jr. forces
set into motion a petition drive to re-change
the name back to Union Avenue.
The group also met with some success
with some African-Americans who claim
they signed the petition because they do not
want a street which is a haven for prostitu
tion, pimps, and drugs. As most of Portlan
ders may recall, a similar proposal to re
name Front Avenue in downtown Portland
was met with opposition from businesses
on that street also, who cited the costly
factor of changing stationery, notifying
customers and other economic reasons;
Understandably so, im one mentions
■Marlin Luther King. Jr as the reason for
non-support.
All opposition claims they believe in
what King did and truly support his cause.
What they fail to realize is that thirty six
cities around the country have embraced
the Martin Luther King, Jr. street naming
process and so for, none have recalled his
name.
According to Channel Two News, a
call in poll conducted on King's birthday,
72% of approximately 34,000 polled fa
vored Union Av.. If this holds true, Oregon
will once again make history in a negative
vote.
Racism, murder and harrassment of
minorities has thrust mis state to the fore
front of racial hostility.
It is most unfortunate that Dr. King
commands more respect abroad. Then, in
the country’ that he lived and died trying to
bring about equality for all.
If the forces aie successful in their
efforts to re-name Martin Luther King, Jr.
Blvd back to Union Avenue, this city is
going to see more media coverage on a
national level then it will welcome. This
coverage will unquestionably focus on
uncovering additional racial problems here
in Oregon. And as Phil Stafford said in his
column in the Oregonian recently, “ Folks,
w e’ve got a real problem here!”
Letters to
the Editor
Black Business Expo ’90
February 24, 1990
D ear A frican-A m erican Business
Owner:
’
F òt' th'c fH it',tlHi‘fc'J gcvcrai’ African-
A
rz-1-
, , 'trrVw>-Trnil7 hjr'JRY
American affiliated business groups, m
eluding the Black Professional Network
(BPN), Oregon Business League (OBL)
and Oregon Association of Minority Entre
preneurs (OAME) are joining resources
with the Black History Committee of Port
land Community College (PCC) to sponsor
“ Black Business Expo ’9 0."
We all want to enlist your support,
enthusiasm, volunteer spirit, and coopera
tion to ensure a successful “ Black Business
Expo ’9 0.”
We are asking members of B PN, OBL,
OAME, and members of PCC's Black History
Committee to help in solicitation for ven
dors to participate in EXPO '90 and to
promote this Black History Celebration
event by distributing flyers and posters.
Please join our effort to include every
eligible Black business and to publicize
this event as acelebration of Black History.
If you know of other African-American
business owners who would be interested,
please contact them and share this informa
tion.
• • -r-n-rT" r r : . ,, .
.
•
“ Bla^Wb+rir*-«“- + n '‘XU -wAll be
Iield at Cascade Campus, Portland Com
munity College on Saturday, Feb. 24, from
10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Wi expect tremendous
attendance from die community.
file first Venders’ Meeting is sched-
uledr for 7 p.m on Tuesday, January 16,
199(j at Çascad
f PCC which is
locàted at 705 N. Killingsworth. This ses
sion is open to all interested, eligible busi
nesses. We will meet in the lecture hall.
Room 122,7 erre 11 Hall. Our goal is to make
this EXPO 90 a great success for each
vendor. Therefore, everyone’s participa
tion is vital.
With cooperation from rnembersof the
African-American community, we can
guarantee a truly g c at ce le bi at ion of Black
History. Please contact “ Black Business
E x p o ’9 0 ' coordinators m l ask what you
can do to help.
The Medicare Catastrophic Coverage
Act: What Have We Learned?
An Opinion by Martha A. McSteen, President
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
"What did you learn today?” my mother
would ask when I came home from school.
To this day. I’m still asking myself the
same question.
During the time I spent working on the
Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, I asked
myself several times what we should learn
The
Portland Observer
Newspaper
4747 N.E. Martin Luther
King Jr., Blvd.
(Formerly Union Avenue)
fforn die rapid pa sat and repeal of what
was called by some die greatest expansion
of Medicare benefits since the program’s
inception.
The first, and perhaps the most impor
tant lesson, is that the political system
works. You can light City Hall- and win!
T hat’s a wonderful lesson for all Ameri
cans Congress does listen to constituents,
¿specially when they speak with one loud
voice And Congress is willing to acknowl
edge its mistakes and take steps to correct
them.
A second lesson to be learned about the
system: it is better to g > a little slower and
do a better job. Surely if Congress had not
moved so swiftly, the members would have
realized the weakness of the financing
mechanism, especially of a large income
surtax aimed at a small segment of the
population That spi cial surtax would have
resulted in a higher marginal tax rate for a
significant group of seniors than for anyone
else in our population By 1993, Medicare-
eligible taxpayers who otherwise would
have had a 28 percent marginal tax rate
would have faced a 35.84 percent tax rate.
So, when 1 reflect on my mother's
question about what I ’ve learned and I
apply it to the Medicare Catastrophic C ov
erage Act, I can honestly answer, " I teamed
slot. We all did.” Seniors and members of
Congress learned the right questions to ask
the next time around. Armed with these
lessons, seniors now exp , t Congress to do
nothing less than is decent, right anddoable-
tliat is, finally to pu: V.urrr a'x long-term
care crisis to bed. at last
Growing up in Washington, D.C., the
only lime I saw white people was when the
police came to the neighborhood or when
my partners and I went down by the monu
ments to break into cars, snatch pocket
books, or mug Boy Scouts.
Everyone in my neighborhood hated
white folks. They were the reason for the
poverty I lived in, the unemployment, the
rats, roaches, and everything else wrong in
my community. He was the "blue-eyed
devil’ ’ the Muslim brothers preached about
on the streets and the race that killed off
Malcolm and Martin. The white man, ac
cording to my southern raised family, was
the sign of the burning cross and the hang
ing tree. I had never sat in a classroom with
a white or had a white teacher until I was a
freshman in college. With these precon
ceived notions about white people, it should
be no great revelation that I had an attitude.
Better still, I was beyond attitude, I had an
altitude!
Nebraska was a bitter experience. I was
called ‘ ‘nigger’ ’ in the daytime and cheered
for at night at basketball games. I can
vividly recall being run off the road during
track practice by cars traveling in the oppo
site direction. I can also remember no more
than three Black players being on the court
at the same time even though all of us
scored in double-figures and received All-
Region or All-Conference honors. Need
less to say, it reinforced my “ D.C.” atti
tude.
Mad at my east coast past and my
midwest experience with whites, I ran west
with my baggage and perceptions about
white people. It came as a total shock to me
that I encountered friendly white people in
Portland while attending undergraduate/
graduate school. I withdrew socially, won
dered why they did not called nigger, and
questioned to myself their motives for friend
ship. I was scared and very confused.
Eventually, I had one of the greatest
revelations of my life. I learned that some
white people are good and that others are
bad. By the same token, there are some
good black people and bad black people.
It’s all about giving Black or white people
the chance as oppose to stereotyping an u
individual or race of people. There is noth
ing worse than not giving a person a chance
to be who they are. If they turn out to be a
racist, criminal, jerk, or whatever, then so
be it. You know where they stand. Stay
away.
As oppose to classifying a white bad
because of his or her skin color, I gave the
ma chance. It is so easy and comfortable to
maintain existing attitudes as people. Be it
good or bad, our environment shapes our
values, perceptions about the world and
other culture. At some point, people need to
re-evaluate where they are in terms of race
relations and get rid of the baggage that has
affected potential communications over the
years. Since this revelation, I am so much
happier, emotionally healed, and open to
all people.
Wait, don’t get me wrong! Sure, there
is racism in Oregon and all over the U.S. A.
for that matter. In a social, economic, and
political system that was built on racist
principles, chances are that it will always
be here. However, that docs not mean we
have to fall victims to such cancer. It is
never too late for change.
I am reminded of a questioned directed
to me by a student last week at Whitaker
Middle School in Keizer, Oregon. I spent
last Friday speaking with 700+ kinds in
classes and in keynote address about Mar
tin Luther King, Jr., keeping his dream
alive, careers in communications, and grow
ing up in D.C. “ Mr. Tucker,” she said
softly. “ With all the stuff Dr. King and
other black people had to go through, have
you ever wished that you were w hite?”
I smiled and said no. Ironically, one
white student (only three black students in
the entire school) wished that he was black
so that he could be “ M agic” Johnson,
Michael Jordan, or David Robinson.
I went on to tell her how much J loved
being black and my experiences in spite of
the adversity. The problem is not so much
being black. The problem is how I am
perceived as a black man by the great
majority of society and how the system
deals with black people. I'm black by na
ture, proud by choice.
This is why we must continue to reach
out to youths in culturally isolated environ
ments, like Keizer, Oregon, who need to be
exposed to positive black role models and
causes. We need to encourage our young
people of all races to question injustices, be
proud of who they are, and, expose them to
activities or people from all w alk so f life.
We have too.
The people of tomorrow are the chil
dren of today. If the world is to be a better
place, we must give them something to
work with.
So Proudly We Hail” To Air
On CBS
by BUI Wassmuth,
Executive Director
Northwest Coalition Against
Malicious Harrassment
On January 23rd, 1990 at 9 p.m. (EST),
CBS will broadcast a documdrama about
Skinheads entitled ‘ ‘So Proudly We Hail.”
This film is by Lionel Chetwynd who is a
member of the American Jewish Commit
tee in Los Angeles. An AJC review says
that it is a powerful film and an opportunity
for productive local discussion and action
regarding supremacist groups, bigotry in
general and skinheads specifically. In Mr.
Chetwynd’s words “ This film probes the
psyche of modem Americans, some of wham
are experiencing financial problems, oth
ers of whom are frustrated at failed careers.
As the story unfolds, we gain insight into
the process by which our neighbors and
even our loved ones can be seduced by the
darkest of forces. From the helpless who
are exploited, to the modem day Faust who
would sell his soul to the devil far a women's
fame, the film demonstrates in simple terms
the variety of character types who get in
volved in hate movements,”
I have done some checking around the
region and the following stations plan to
show the film:
KREM - Spokane, 9 p.m., Bob Melisso,
News Director, Meg Antonius, Program
Director; KBCI - Boise, 8 p.m.. Dawn
Joslin, Program Director; KSL - Salt Lake
City ,8 p.m., Mr. Mansolin, Program Direc
tor; KOIN - Portland, 9 p.m., Steve Currie,
Program Director.
You may want to utilize this opportu
nity in your local area tocall attention to the
problem of bigotry. You know what works
best in your area; here arc several sugges
tions, some of which come from a memo
randum sent by the National American
Jewish Committee office to its regional
directors.
1. ) Call a press conference on January
23rd along with others in the community
concerned about bigotry in general or skin
heads in particular. Note that the media
might not be interested in promoting a
program on a specific TV station; some
newsworthy item other than the TV show
might be necessary to make this option
work.
2. ) Arrange a news interview for the
January 23rd evening news as a promotion
for the film and a positive promotion for
your and others who are working against
bigotry and violence.
3. ) Suggest that your local CBS affili
ate schedule a "Tow n H all” type program
about bigotry with local groups, religious
leaders, educators, law enforcement per
sonnel, etc. (If the station might invite
skinheads or other supremacists to such a
program, the impact could be negative.
However, if the program will let people
know what the bigotry problems in your
area are, and who the people are who work
to counteract racism and racist violence,
the impact could be very positive).
4. ) Use the film as an occasion for
discussion with school officials and stu
dents at the high school level.
5. ) Pull together a group of faculty
students and administration personnel from
the local college to discuss the campus
response to problems of bigotry, or plans
that are in place to address the problem
should it arise.
Barbara Hunt from the American Jewish
Committee in Seattle and Bill Wassmuth,
executive director, are working on some
activities in the Puget Sound area. We will
involve as many (Northwest Coalition
Against Malicious Harassment) NWCAMH
members as possible.
MEN
u T ' “ Ï ' . S
■*»tW sXforA ID S .C U
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No one wiB ask for your name, call now and ask for information
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