B lack H istory M onth • F ebruary 1 9 9 0
P O R T L fl
ERVER
VOLUME XX • NUMBER 9
FEBRUARY 28,1990
“No Man Is An Island Unto
Himself”: Neither Is An Island
inland be set aside for the benefit of freed
slaves--as well as most of the adjacent
islands. General Sherman issued Special
Field Order No. 15, andmany formerslaves
purchased land and began life anew. But,
these had been the fabulously wealthy plan
tations of supple, silky sea island cotton
sold in European markets for more than
twice the price of ordinary cotton. Blacks
would not be allowed to persevere.
As with the Pacific Islands scenario,
the assault began almost immediately—this
by Professor McKinley Burt
That famous quote effectively connects
the diverse, yet common, traumatic experi
ences of people o f color that have been
described in this three-part series. For
comparative appraisal, this final chapter
will emphasize similar distresses sustained
by those of African descent on the islands
and coastal provinces of the Atlantic Ocean:
Specifically America. Ironically, ancient
and medieval maps describe this great body
of water as the “ Ethiopic O cean"--just as
they refer to today’s Persian G ulf as the
“ Ethiopian Sea.” Why is that, do you
suppose?
Never in my years of writing for this
newspaper has a series of my articles gained
so much attention—not only from local
readers but from out of state (Beginning
February 14, 1990 with “ Hawaii: Amer
ica’s Best Kept S ecret. . . ” ). I am grateful
for that wide and favorable response from
Blacks, whites, Hawaiians and South Sea
Islanders, whomever you may be. Because
of space limitations much had to be omitted
here but I have included a substantial bibli
ography (My heart felt thanks for your
response and approbation).
Margaret Mead: Before we leave the
beautiful blue Pacific for the stormy
Council For Prostitution
Alternatives
Seeks Volunteers
The Council for Prostitution Alter
natives (CPA) is seeking volunteers to
work with women wanting to leave
prostitution and achieve a legal and
self-sufficient lifestyle.
CPA was
awarded money recently to open a safe
haven which will enable the organiza
tion to provide additional housing for
survivors of prostitution. Volunteers
are being recruited immediately with
training scheduled for the week of
February 26. The haven is scheduled to
open on March 8,1990.
Interested parties should call Jas
mine at 238-1219
Sea Island lad.
Atlantic, you should be aware of a very
important fact. There can be no meaningful
discussion of the Pacific Islands without
reference to those exotic tales o f a tropical
sexual Shangri la put upon a gullible world
by a naive, neophyte anthropologist, one
Margaret Mead. Though she has been thor
oughly repudiated (by all but some Ameri
cans), her one-stop, one-interview travesty
inflicted upon the people of Samoa in 1925
led to a book (‘ ‘Coming of Age in Samoa” )
that became the launch pad for America’s
Sexual Revolution.
Subsequently, experienced research
ers who immersed themselves into local
societies and families soon discovered a
virtuous people with an ‘ ‘entrenched moral
code” (Derek Freeman, Chief of Anthro
pology, The Australian National Univer
sity at Canberra) A recent television spe
cial exposed the entire sordid, made-up
story before an Australian audience, but the
damage seems irreversible. American
Anthropologists refuse to posthumously
recant the slanderous myth propogated by
Miss Mead, their hero in -fo r the racist
underpinnings of the entire exotic libel
against island peoples of color would col
lapse. But, Travel Agency Anthropology is
alive and well.
Sea Islands: These fabulously rich and
beautiful islands off the coasts o f South
Carolina and Georgia have seen within a
century several successful assaults upon
Black ownership and occupancy. At the end
of the Civil War, President Lincoln di
rected that land from the sea 30 miles
G ullah Preschooler
The African-American Health Coali
tion would like community residents to
know that recently the State of Oregon's
Adult and Family Services Division was
successfully sued by the Multnomah County
Legal Aid Service. The lawsuit affects persons
applying for a welfare medical card under
the State’s Medically Needy program.
Medically Needy provides a welfare
medical card to persons whose income
exceeds welfare limits, but whose medical
expenditures are great enough to allow
them to ‘ ’spend dow n’ ’ to the income level
which would qualify them for the welfare
medical card. Meeting the” spend down”
requires the clients to meet with a welfare
case worker to determine if the client’s
income exceeds the welfare limit. If the
client is over income for welfare, then the
W h o w ill be A m eric a ’s scientists and
mathem aticians in the 21st century? A n
O regon M useum Science and Industry a f
ter-school program for urban youth in north
east Portland is helping today's students
discover that they are this country’ s hope
fo r the future.
Science fo r Kids
(A .S .K .) center in St. Andrews C o m m un ity
School, 4 9 1 9 N E 9th St., is designed to
introduce inner city students fro m grades
one through 12 to the m ajo r areas o f science
in a fun, non-threatening e n v iro n m e n t T h e
center’ s goal is to provide an interactive,
m u lti-d iscip lin ary approach to learning by
integrating w ritin g , the arts, computers,
careers, and cultural awareness into each
science area. T h e center’s life-oriented
science, m ath and com puter programs are
designed to be both fun and educational.
O ne area o f study A .S .K . center par
ticipants are currently researching is their
"G o ld e n Legacy o f Scientists and M ath e
m a tic ia n s '*-a look at the past and present
achievements o f A frican heritage peoples
fro m ancient A fric a to Portland, O R . O ther
activities now underw ay include the dis
section and m icroscopic study o f frogs,
creating newsletters w ith computers, par
ticipating in career-oriented m ath and sci
ence classes, m aking w eekly trips to O M S I
and em barking on an overnight science
excursion to O M S I ’ s Hancock F ield Sta
tion in central Oregon.
Those wishing to register fa r the A .S .K .
center’ s ongoing schedule o f science pro
grams m ay do so anytim e the center is
o pen,M on day through Thursday, 3:3 0 p .m .
to 6 p m . T he annual enrollm ent fee is $ 15
per child. Each additional child per fa m ily
is $5. Fam ilies w ill not be required to pay
more than $ 2 5 in total fees.
Additional inform ation can be obtained
by calling the A .S .K . center at (5 0 3 ) 2 8 4 -
«37.
(Continued to Page 7)
African-American Health Coalition
Announces Successful Law Suit
NE Portland Youth Center Offers
Introspective Views Into 21st Century
O M S I ’s A lberta
time with the assassination of Lincoln, where
upon President Andrew Jackson allowed
the former slaveholders to return and re
gain most of the land by force and violence,
and corporate financing. Some Blacks re
tained small tracts, and many, fearful, re
fused to officially record their deeds for
fear of reprisal from whites. For a hundred
years county and state administrations made
sure there would be little change; it was
only in the 1950s that the public school
systems began to address the secondary
education needs of the Black children. By
this time, of course, most of the incredibly
valuable heritage had been lost—the indige
nous population, insufficiently trained to
mount a defense, began to lose even more
property through trickery and taxation. More
disillusioned generations went off to the
big cities. More land was bought earlier by
southern senators and by South African
corporations (Wall Street Journal, 1972).
An excellent demonstration model is
that of the fabulous Hilton Head Island (Sea
Pines Resort), today’s playground of the
rich and famous. Originally one third-owned
by Black farmers and fishermen, that 9,000
acres was valued at only $100 an acre.
Former Combat Hero
Sworn In As Judge
AlbertoScience for Kids student Awenlue Kante peers through a microscope
in a biology session at the center. Students this Spring are dissecting and
studying frogs as part of their A.S.K. OMSI center science program.
worker determines how much medical
expenses the client needs to be billed for
before the client can obtain his/her medical
care.
The lawsuit challenged the method that
AFS used to calculate the “ spend dow n"
amount. This successful challenge should
result in more people qualifying for the
Medically Needy program. These changes
should take effect on February 16th but if
you have applied for the Medically Needy
program prior to this date, you may qualify
to have your "spend dow n” recalculated
under the new guidelines. To do this or for
more information regarding these changes,
contact Darcy Norville or Lorey Freeman
at the Multnomah County Legal Aid Serv
ices at 224-4086.
City Commissioner
Dick Bogle Respond
To White Supremacist
Richard Barrett
The appearance of white suprema
cist Richard Barrett in Portland re
cently should remove any doubt that
racism is involved in the campaign to
rename Martin Luther King Blvd.
At his news conference, Barrett said
his only reason for flying here from
Mississippi was to meet with Walter
and Rosalie Huss, and congratulate them
on their successful petition drive.
Barrett is a racist who recruits and
trains skinheads in military tactics and
the use of weapons.
He heads an organization, The Na
tionalist Movement, which has brought
skinheads into its so-called “ self-de
fense strike force.”
He is described as a “ mainline white
supremacist” in the tradition of the Ku
Klux Kian by the director of the South
ern Poverty Law Center’s Klanwatch
section.
This man with this background com
ing to Portland at this time for this
purpose should open the eyes of many
well-intentioned Portlanders who have
bought into the ’ ‘big lie’ ’ that this is an
issue of City Council process, or the
cost of reprinting stationery, or the his
torical significance of Union Ave.
Racism is the motivating force be
hind Richard Barrett. Racism brought
him to Portland for his visit with Walter
and Rosalie Huss.
There’s an old saying that begins,
“ Birds of a feather . . . ”
From the office o f
Commissioner Dick Bogle
District Court Judge Ancer Haggerty
District Court Judge Ancer Haggerty,
45, selected twice for college football's
All-Coast lineup, and for 20 years the most
highly decorated black officer in US Ma
rine Corps history, will be sworn in as a
Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge on
Thursday, March 1, 1990. The ceremony
will beheld at 8:15 am in H aggeny's cham
bers with Circuit Judge Donald Lender
administering the oath of office.
Ancer Haggerty hasn't worn a Marine
uniform for years and these days he doesn't
knock down opponents at football. After a
long day as a District Court Judge he can be
found cradling his 2-year old, Phylicia,
rocking her to sleep to gentle Beethoven.
W hat remains the same is the determina
tion to do his very best. The conviction that
compelled a badly wounded First L l Haggerty
in Vietnam to lead his unit to the rescue of
a group of trapped Marines lives today as
loving stepfather who urges his stepson to
"try harder, be more concerned. D on't just
do it, do the best your can.”
According to Multnomah County Dis
trict Attorney Mike Schrunk, that is pre
cisely what Haggerty brings to the bench.
Schrunk, who has known and worked with
Haggerty for more than 20 years, describes
him as, * ‘One of the best our profession has
to offer."
Until recently, Haggerty was the only
black partner in a law firm in Oregon.
Although his life is a history o f firsts,
Haggerty is concerned that everyone in our
society have the opportuni ty and the will to
succeed. This concern extends beyond the
walls of his courtroom. Growing up on N.
Buffalo Street and graduating from Jeffer
son High School left Haggerty with a knowl
edge of what comes from making the right
decisions.
He is committed to education as a
means of both personal and professional
success. His wife Julie, 40, currently at
Alameda Grade School, has taught elemen
tary school for 18 years. She says that
without Haggerty assuming large share of
the chores with their three children and
household, it would not have been possible
for her to have completed a Masters degree
in education. Whenever she thinks about
leaving teaching, a profession she loves,
Haggerty urges her to stay where she can
make a real difference.
Haggerty says leaving behind his work
as a corporate attorney at Schwabe, W il
liamson, and W yatt to serve as a judge was
worth the financial sacrifice. Beyond the
appeal of a judge's regular schedule which
allows more time for family life, the oppor
tunity for service made the decision easy.
Ever since his days as a public defender,
Haggerty has viewed the courtroom as a
place with important consequences for
society. Haggerty says, “ I take the respon
sibility solemnly and have made a com
mittment to insure that victims, witnesses,
jurors, parties, attorneys and everyone af
fected is treated justly.”
Dr. Darryl Tukufu and Ron Herndon
Featured on Sunday Northwest
Dr. Darryl Tukufu, the new Executive
Director of the Portland Urban League, will
be featured on KATU-TV’s Sunday North
west at 8:30 A.M.
Donnie Griffin, Chairman of the Urban
League Board of Directors, will also appear
on the half-hour television program.
Dr. Darryl Tukufu
Also, Ronnie Herndon, Co-Chairper
son of the Black United Fund will be fea
tured in the third segment. Dr. Tukufu and
Mr. Griffin will be interviewed during the
first two segments.
The show is hosted by Rick Meyers and
produced by Ullysses Tucker, Jr.
Ron Herndon