w w «
1 aRe 2 • Portland, Observer
March 7, 1990
E ditorial / O pinion
African-Americans History in Oregon:. .
Eventually, these provisions were le
gally superceded by the passage o f the 14th
amendment to the federal constitution fol
lowing the C ivil War. But the social climate
and environment which these earlier laws
reflected did NOT change after the 14th
amendment. These portions o f the original
Oregon constitution were not officially
This article goes on to describe this first
“ Give Us This Day Family Services.”
removed from that document until N ovem
large gathering o f the clan, 375 members in
Motivated by her own experiences after
ber 3rd, 1926. The race relations these ear
all, including those with a surname devia
being widowed and left eight children to
lier laws sym bolized has not yet disap
tion who were discovered through careful
raise, she has led the way in several Oregon
peared from Oregon life - nor has the head
research ( “ H yche” ). Very important here
communities in implementing the horizon
start they provided for the white population
is the concept o f pre-m eetings to establish
tal Extended Family. “ Phillips would like
o f the state.
newly identified links, arrange transporta
to see more homes open to children within
In many ways the war years o f WWH
tion modes (especially children, the handi
the Black com m unity--thousands have no
represent a watershed o f Oregon race rela
capped and the elderly). Family patriarchs
roots, she said.”
tions. Prior to that time, Oregon’s African-
were consulted ahead for the chronicalling
There is much else going on this vein,
American population was too small to ne
the traditions and exploits o f the extended
and w e wish we had room to tell it all. The
cessitate great concern on the part o f the
clan. Several found that they had crafts or
following is anew s accountof June 1,1988:
white majority. The state's white popula-
professions in comm on, and established
"The Black Family Reunion C ele
tionin 1940w a s305,394. "T h eB lackpopu
w orking com m ercial relationships.
bration, widely view ed as the m ost sig
lation w as 2,565 . . . ” 1,931 o f whom lived
Schultz Family Reunion (several Se
nificant live event in Black Am erica in
in Portland. The pioneer objective o f Afri
attle and Portland Newspapers, July 1987):
recent years, returns in 1988 with an
can-American exclusion from Oregon as
"About 1 0 0 fam ily m em bers from
expanded program , it was announced by
desired by earlier pioneer whites had not
numerous states including N ew York,
D orothy I. Height, president o f the N a
been 100% effective, but it had certainly
Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Texas
tional C ouncil o f N egro Women. C alled
been close enough to assure white domina
and California w ill spend fo u r days,
"a show o f strength" by Newsweek Maga
tion.
socializing, sightseeing and conducting
zine, the Black Family Reunion C elebra
It is generally true however, that in the
business a t the Seattle M arriott Hotel.
tion has attracted over one m illion p a r
pre-war years an “ accomm odation” be
Comm ittee meetings tofin alize plan s fo r
ticipants during its fiv e previou s events
tween the races had evolved. African-
the fa m ily scholarship fu n d as w ell as
fro m Septem ber o f 1986087. P hiladel
Americans knew their “ place” and grudg
other business w ill be interspersed with
phia w ill be added this yea r to the list o f
ingly accepted it while envisioning an im
banquets, a vocal concert art exhibit by
cities hosting annual Black Family R e
proved status for their offspring. Whites, for
fa m ily mem bers, and extensive geneal
union C elebrations, including Atlanta,
their part, tolerated African-Americans and
ogy display an d a dance with music by
L os Angeles, D etroit and Washington,
created an environment in which African-
"House Blend." A trip to the Tillicum
D C ."
Americans could expect, with occasional
village Salmon Bake on B lake Island w ill
And so w e have it; it is about financial,
exceptions, to be safe from the extreme,
end the fo rm a l activities on Sunday.
commercial and educational networking as
overt physical dangers o f racism as prac
George Shultz, b o m in Africa around
well as the filial--Bibliography follows.
ticed in other parts o f the country.
1810, was brought to America at the age
Bibliography for Family R eunion
The labor demands o f World War II
o f four. He and his wife, Julia Ann Hawker,
Emma J. W isdom, Planning A Family
destroyed the elements o f this accomm oda
had 11 children. The offspring o f those
Reunion, Post Oak Publications, P.O. Box
tion. Portland became a west coast center o f
children com prise the "His' ’ p ortion o f
8455, Nashville, Tenn. 37207-0455, $8.95
wartime ship building. African-Americans
the fam ily tree. James' second wife who
plus $2.00 postage (a must!)
in large numbers were recruited from other
had been m arried to his brother, Hollis,
Beard, Timothy Field, with Denise
parts o f the country, to work in the Kaiser
w as the aunt o f first wife, Joanna. With
Demong, H ow To Find Your Family Roots.
ship yards in the Portland area. The African-
their first spouses having d ied at an
New York, NY, 1977.
American population in the Portland-Van
early age, Jam es Schultz and Elizabeth
Blockson, Charles L. and Ron Fry. Black
couver area peaked at approximately 21,000
Katherine Doolin Schultz married, added
G enealogy, Englewood C liffs, NJ, Pren
in 1945.
fiv e children o f their own and treated a
tice-Hall, 1977.
The real estate practices o f this era had
to ta l o f 16 children. The loving, caring
Doane, Gilbert H. and James B. Bell.
a large part to play in creating the patterns of
sp irit o f that big, happyfam ily carries on
Searching For Your Ancestors. N ew York,
race relations present in Oregon today. The
to this day. M arion Sch u ltz Sutherland,
N Y, Bantam, 1982.
old Black community centered around the
the 1987 N ational V ice P resident o f the
Greenwood, Val D. The Researcher's
railroad station on both sides o f the W illam
Link, Inc. w as the key person in the
Guide to American Genealogy. Baltimore,
ette River. This was a reflection o f the fact
logistics o f the gathering."
M D, 1973.
that practically the only employment avail
There seems to be som ething for ev
Helmbold, F. Wilbur. Tracing Your
able to adult African-American males was
eryone in these expressions of ethnic consa-
Ancestry: A Step by Step Guide to Research- •
shinning shoes or working on the railroads
guinity. In the May 5 ,1 9 8 6 edition o f “ This
ing Your Family History. Birmingham, AL,
as porters, luggage handlers, etc.
W eek,” Maggi White has an excellent and
Oxmore House, 1976.
This pattern o f African-American resi
inspiring article on a strong African-Ameri
Newman, Debra L. L ist o f F ree Black
dence was not accidental, it was aproductof
H eads o f Families in the First Census o f the
can woman, the biological mother o f eight
deliberate policy as had been the case in the
U nited States 1790. Special List No. 36,
who also has adopted. The article, titled
pioneer period . . . re-enforced by such
Washington, D.C., 1974.
"The Plight o f the Black Family: Serious
widely accepted real estate practices as the
Breakdown Leads W omen to Build Ex
U.S. National Archives, G uide to G e
‘ ‘restrictive covenant’ ’ based on race which
tended Fam ilies," is based upon an inter
nealogical Research in the N ational A r
was included in many deeds and real estate
view with Dr. Virginia Phillips, founder o f
chives. Washington, D.C., 1964.
transactions o f the era, i.e. the Ladd District.
Typical language can be seen in a deed for a
home in the Grant High School District
from 1934 which stated:
". . .N o building th ereof sh all be
used or occupied otherwise than fo r strictly
residence purposes, an d shall not be
used or occu pied by Chinese, Japanese,
o r N egroes, except that person s o f such
races may be em ployed as servants upon
said prem ises."
Enforcement o f such restrictive co v e
nants was not made unconstitutional until
1948 by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in that
year. The covenants them selves were not
made nationally illegal until passage o f the
Fair Housing Act in 1968. The first suit to
* Lack o f appropriate promotional
tor to meet with inmates that have been
enforce this ban was not filed by the federal
opportunities for African-American correc
released and are living in the Portland m e
government until 1984. In Oregon, such
tional staff.
tropolis.
covenants were made illegal by the state's
* Lack of appropriate facilities to ac
Based upon information gathered from
adoption o f a fair housing law in 1957.
commodate large number o f participants in
community representatives, and the prison
The restrictive covenant was not and is
Adult Basic Education program.
population, the Special Investigator would
not the only barrier non-whites experience
* Lack o f access to G.E.D. and Voca
have concrete information to facilitate a
in real estate concerns. The practice o f red
tional training programs for African-Ameri
comprehensive investigation. We would
lining by lending institutions continues to
can inmates.
expect a detail report stating the plight o f
plague African-American property seekers.
* Absence o f effective cultural aware
African-American population. W e would
Under this practice lending institutions treat
ness training and follow-up for all correc
then expect specific recommendations to
loan applications for property in identified
tional administrators and on-line staff.
eradicate the inequities that exist in the
districts more harshly than in other areas.
Because o f these concerns, we are call
Oregon Correctional System.
An even more formidable obstacle in
ing on Governor Neil Goldschmidt to ap
W e call on the Governor to take imme
earlier periods was the code o f ethics o f the
point a Special Investigator. Among the key
diate steps to address the pressing issues
real estate industry itself. As late as the
responsibilities o f this position, w e would
that confront the African-American inmate
1950s such language as the follow ing, ap
expect the Special Investigator to meet with
population in the State of Oregon.
peared in the industry's real estate hand
members o f African-American community
Halim Rahsaan,
book [this passage comes from the 1948
based organizations as w ell as with African-
Chairperson, Prison
edition in use in Portland]:
American inmates currently in the system.
Outreach Committee
PART 111
We would also expect the Special Investiga-
Black M en's C oalition
RELATIONS TO CUSTOMERS
AND THE PUBLIC
A rticle34. A realtor should n ever be
instrum ental in introducing into a neigh
W esbecker massacre o f his co-workers in
Our organization has documented hun
borhood a character o f p ro p erty o r o c
Louisville, Kentucky, the killings o f school
dreds o f insane and unpredicted violence
cupancy,
mem bers o f any race or nation
children
by
James
W
ilson
in
Greenwood,
perpetrated by persons who had been sub
ality, o r any individuals whose presen ce
South Carolina, and others.
jected to pschiatric drugs and other treat
w ill clearly be detrim ental to p roperty
It is obvious that the psychiatric infor
ments. N ow that psychiatrists have more
values in that neighborhood.
mation given to the court w ill only lead to
power to force their deadly drugs on others,
The objective o f this section could not
more
death
and
destruction
in
our
society
as
w e can expect to see the crime rate soar, and
be more clear. Under the practice known as
more o f their killers are unleashed to rape
the number o f psychotic killings to sky
"B lock-busting,” the rewards for partici
and murder again.
rocket
pating
real estate agents could be quite
Tanya Whitman,
We have seen the effects o f psychiatric
lucrative.
When an agent moved a non
R
egional
D
irector
drugs in the Patrie Purdy massacre o f inno
white into a formerly all white area, then
C itizens Comm, on
cent children in Stockton, California, (prior
sought to benefit from panic selling of nearby
Human Rights in O regon
Sandy, Oregon resident), the Joseph
homes by whites which would be re-sold to
in-moving non-whites at greatly inflated
CREED OF THE BLACK PRESS
prices, the damage to race relations was a
The Black Press believes that A m erica can best lead the world away from social and
national antagonisms when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color, or
high price to pay for this individually prof
creed, h ill human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person, the Black
itable behavior.
Press strives to help every person In the firm belief that all are h u rt as long as anyone
For example , the issue o f school inte
Is held back.
gration which has been o f central concern in
Spring Planting Time: A Well-Planned
‘Family Reunion’ Can Be A Cash Crop
by Prof. McKinley Burl
The family is the foundation o f society.
And the E xtended Fam ily concept, espe
cially, has been a special and significant
factor in the African-American experience.
Contrary to some opinion, interest in this
historic structure did not begin with Alex
Haley and ‘‘R oots,” although his research,
publications and m ovies undoubtably gave
great impetus to the search for a continuity
of identity (among as many whites as Blacks-
if not more).
And contrary to many other opinions
(emphasis on the establishment), a great
number o f African-American families are
alive and well. More importantly, a greater
number are quite busy, not only at research
o f the past, but are actively engaged in
revitalizing and restructuring a priceless
heritage. What they are about is promoting
the Fam ily R eunion concept across the
country, well organized assemblages o f Kin
that som etim es span five generations. It was
Carter G. Woodson, the noted Black histo
rian, who said, " If a race has no history, if
it has no worthwhile traditiom, it becomes
a negligible factor in the thought o f the
world, and it stands in danger o f being
exterminated.”
W hile I have included a working bibli
ography at the end o f this article, I do wish
to introduce som e relevant concepts that
may prove useful in escalating the social
and econom ic im pactof the Family Reunion
institution. Further, borrowing a phrase from
Emma J. Wisdom, an author listed here, this
m ethodology is ‘ ‘easily translatable toother
functions.” It has been especially advanta
geous in building files on this subject, to
have access to most African-American
newspapers from around the country.
Hitchye Family Reunion (The Okla
homa Eagle, September 1, 1988):
"It all sta rted with Papa G eorge.
He was an Alabama grocery store owner,
and a cotton gin an d a small m ill on the
540 acres where he made his fin a l p a y
ment in 1907.
Some say he became too big fo r a
Black man in a southern state during the
early 1900's.
P apa G eorge Hitchye and his fam ily
movedfrom Tuscaloosa, Alabama, headed
fo r the territory, known now a s O kla
homa. The fam ily w as Papa G eorge, his
wife, Susan, and their tw elve children-
G eorge Jr., M ernervia, Eddie, P ea r lie,
Goldman, Percy, H ayes, M attie. Fannie,
C ora, Roosevelt and Katherine."
Continued Next Week . . .
Prison Outreach Committee Met With
Administrators and African-American Inmates
D ea r Editor:
In February and March o f 1989, mem
bers o f the Prison Outreach Committee met
with Oregon State Correctional Adminis
trators and the African-American inmate
population. Based upon these m eetings, and
other observations, it was decided that it
was necessary to establish dialogue between
the Governor’s office and representatives of
African-American community organizations.
On September 26, 1989, at Portland Com
munity C ollege, Cascade Campus, a m eet
ing w as held. In attendance were the Correc
tional Director, Fred Pearce, the Governor’s
Legal council, and Kathleen Sadaat, the
Affirmative Action Officer for the State of
Oregon. In addition, there were approxi
mately ten representatives from the Afri
can-American community.
The following concerns were presented
to the Correctional Director, Fred Pearce,
and other State Officials:
D ea r Editor:
Today's Supreme Court decision al
low ing psychiatrists to forcibly drug prison
inmates indicates that full information on
the destructive nature o f these drugs must
not have been provided to the Court.
Reports in medical journals have clearly
show n that pspychiatric drugs can and do
make people hostile and aggressive and can
turn them into killers. One well-known study
showed that prisoners given psychiatric drugs
are more aggressive, violent and harder to
rehabilitate than those not on psychiatric
drugs.
There is emerging information that these
powerful psychiatric drugs can create states
o f insanity which persist long after the drug
is withdrawn, and which in some cases are
permanent.
t
(
r>4.-<5*A
- i . - / ‘V :
Portland since the 1960s until today, is not
at the bottom o f an educational issue. It is, in
fact, a real estate and residential issue. Few
people o f any color dispute the value and
preference for neighborhood schools.
In the Portland experience during the
1940s and early '50s, this negative reality
took visible and prominent forms. Quintard
Taylor in his article “ The Great Migration
o f the Afro-American Communities of Seattle
and Portland during the 1940s” provides
examples o f the legacy o f social conditions
that African-Americans in Portland faced in
1950:
' 'Throughout the w ar years, many
white businesses refused to serve Blacks,
and a ll public parks an d playgrounds
outside the Black community either barred
Blacks entirely o r allow ed them to utilize
the recreational fa cilities only one day a
week. B lack autom obile owners p a id a
fifteen percen t surcharge on their insur
ance, a p ra ctice which w as not elim i
nated until 1948."
Another reflection o f the acceptance by
the majority population o f this institutional
ized racism was the presence in Portland of
a popular restaurant called the Coon Chicken
Inn, specializing in Southern fried chicken.
To enter the restaurant customers walked
through the open mouth o f a gigantic Black
Sambo character which dominated the front
o f the building. Once inside all utensils,
plates, cups, etc. were emblazoned with the
Sambo m otif. The restaurant operated from
the middle 1920s until approximately 1946
when a mysterious fire caused it to close,
never to open again.
Gradually, African-Americans in Ore
gon, Portland in particular, were able to rise
above the legacy o f early disadvantages and
participate more fully in Oregon life.
By the m id-1970s—slow ly, through
appointments and election victories, Afri
can-Americans began to fill seats on public
boards and governmental bodies. While the
22,155 A frican-A m ericans livin g in
Multnomah County at the time represented
a significant figure, it was not enough to
sw eep African-American office seekers to
victory without significant white support.
But African-Americans were able to
gain appointments in several elective o f
fices and parlay that incumbency into later
election victories. Such was the case in the
election to the Portland City Council o f
Charles Jordan in 1972 - the first modem era
African-American to win such a seat. Other
African-Americans during the '70s and '80s
were able to gain elective office or gamer
highly sought after appointments. W illiam
M cCoy was elected in 1972 to the Oregon
A ssem bly, becoming the first African-
American to hold that position.
Gladys M cCoy, his w ife, formerly the
first African-American school board mem
ber, was first elected to the Multnomah
County Com m ission in 1978. In 1980, a
young African-American woman, Robin
Marks, became the first African-American
to be selected as Portland's R ose Festival
Queen. In 1984 an African-American woman
was selected as Miss Oregon. African-
Americans are now represented by D ick
B ogle on the Portland City Council, Dr.
Matthew Prophet as the Superintendent o f
the Portland School District, James De-
Priest as the Director o f our state’s sym
phony orchestra, and W illiam Hilliard as
managing editor o f the Oregonian, as ex
amples o f the contributions African-Ameri
cans now make in Oregon life.
W hile these accomplishments and
remarkable individuals represent real prog
ress in Oregon race relations, their presence
does not, unfortunately, mean that the prob
lem s o f race have ended in our state.
N ow in addition to the battle against
institutionalized reflections o f past race
discrimination, it seem s the battle must also
be waged against a resurgence o f grassroots
racism from violently hostile elem ents in
the young and disadvantaged white comm u
nity. The Skinheads, N eo-N azis, and KKK
elements have identified the Pacific North
west - much as their antecedents in the
pioneer period did - as the location o f a
future "whites only' homeland.
These dual dangers o f right wing reac
tionism and hate group terrorism act as a
lightning rod to further polarize, or at best
impede, progress in Oregon’s race rela
tions.
N o better example o f that difficult fu
ture is necessary than a review o f the current
controversy over the naming o f "Union
A venue.” The basics o f the confrontation
are simple.
A group o f African-Americans began a
campaign in the late 1980s to have the city
rename a street after Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Originally, the request was for
Front Avenue to be re-named. Downtown
business and econom ic interest groups put
heavy pressure on the city council not to
adopt such a change. The council bowed to
the pressure. To avoid the appearance o f a
direct rebuff to the African-American re
questing group, the council adopted a com
plex process thru which any street renaming
proposal was supposed to go. This was in
fact only a transparent though indirect way
to avoid the Front Avenue issue and to cloak
their refusal with a cover o f objectivity.
The council, when pressed further by
the requesting African-American group,
revealed what can most charitably be called
I
. (Continued from Front Page)
t t
a benign expression o f "paternal racism,"
by agreeing to the near instantaneous re
naming o f Union Avenue to Martin Luther
King Boulevard, without even a gesture of
applying the process criteria originally
developed for the consideration o f Front
Avenue.
In this sordid episode, there is ample
blame in which all the major participants
can wallow. What the council thought to be
an easy and expedient escape from a sensi
tive issue, was in fact shortsighted and ill-
conceived, lacking integrity at the very least
and political courage at the worst. The w ill
ingness o f the original African-American
requesting group in truth failed the same
test.
The proper response o f this group should
have been to refuse to cooperate with the
council's shortcut and insist on a full blown
and complete application o f the process
which had been created to thwart their re
quest for Front Avenue. T o do otherwise
was to willingly conspire in the shallow
pretense o f their original rejection. That
they were willing to do so was an inexcus
able miscalculation. Perhaps the rarified
experience o f being on the plus side o f a
backroom political power-play, rather than
being the traditional victim o f such maneu
vering, was too unusual and overpowering
to resist. In any case, because they were
willing to eagerly grab the proffered prize,
they too contributed to the present predica
m en t
The combined result was to present the
opponents o f the change a sure win proposi
tion. It forced those who might have op
posed the change for legitimate, w ell-con
ceived reasons, and there are such reasons,
to climb in bed with those w hose motives
were much less admirable. It gave the hate
mongers and racists a mantle o f legitimacy
they should never be able to enjoy in re
spectable society. If current pre-election
polls have any reliability, they also will give
the opposition a decisive victory.
What is the lesson to be learned here?
There are plenty for all.
For the city council, they should know
that no amount o f late day posturing and
public relations preening can be a substitute
for w ell-conceived and courageous action
when appropriate, in the first place.
Inevitably, Portland w ill receive an
embarrassing and highly visible national
black eye when the election results are in. It
is not inconceivable that w e w ill suffer the
same kind o f national public relations and
economic punishments inflicted recently on
Arizona when its former Governor rescinded
K ing's Holiday in that state.
For the original requesting African-
American group, the lesson is different but
equally as clear. The seductions o f power
politics must be resisted when they come
into conflict with the demands o f sound
politics and fair play. If Dr. King stood for
any thing, it was the need to do the right thing
for the right reasons in the right w av. Any
thing less does not honor his memory.
A s I suggested before, the roots o f this
issue go deep into Oregon racial history.
They are particularly sunk in the real estate
and development policies long directed at
that location and general area.
A recent article in the Oregonian (2/19/
90) highlighted the development successes
o f downtown Portland as an inspiring testa
ment to what effective urban planning in
combination with farsighted economic
development can achieve. What that article
did not reveal was the disparity between that
downtown success and the dismal record of
planning and development that is the story
o f the inner Northeast/Union Avenue area.
The history o f developm ent in the inner
northeast is one long song o f ill-conceived
notions matched only in magnitude by the
exploitive and manipulative suppression of
African-American community livability and
econom ic activity in the area.
Over the years many opportunities to
support and encourage true and longlasting
econom ic and real estate developm ent in the
Northeast Corridor have been fumbled of;
bypassed without consideration. A prime
example com es to mind in how the avenue;
was disfigured w ith a center dividing barrier -
in what was supposed to be an economic-
development project The barrier produced;
no positive visual or econom ic benefits to;
the avenue. Instead it dislocated the very
parking spaces that made many struggling
or marginal business enterprises able tq
survive, at all, along that street. Further*;;
more it created a very real physical barrier
that tended to balkinize the heart o f the
African-American community, fragment
ing an already fragile area.
Such are the real issues o f importance,
to the Union Avenue/Martin Luther King-;
Blvd. area, creating not a sym bol but the-'
substance o f econom ic growth and coomu-; •'
nity cohesiveness there. Until the city and;
all the currently squabbling parties are ready;
to engage in that debate-all else will remain
superficial and unchanged.
They who give have all things
C
(
they who withhold have nothing.
The hardest thing to open is a
closed mind.
J
A
J