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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 1990)
* • - ** PO R TL ERVER April 4, 1990 ’’The Eyes and Ears of the Community" VOLUME XX NUMBER 14 The New Immigration, Part IV: Quotas Begin With The Mayflower President Bush Praises Hometown Heroes In Their War Against Drugs by Prof. McKinley Burt Washington, D.C., April 3 , 1990-Presi- dent Bush recently honored 28 Ameri cans whose personal initiatives have provided hope and inspiration for com munities ravaged by the drug problem. This luncheon event, hosted 6y W'rffiam J. Bennett, National Drug Control Pol icy Director, was held on March 7th, in the Indian Treaty Room in the old Ex ecutive Office Building, adjacent to The White House. The occasion offered the President a rare oportunity to recognize people on the front lines, whose heroic, unher alded work is making a difference. The results of this 200th anniversary- count by the U.S. Census Bureau (began in 1790) are sure to provoke a range of emotions--from a chorus of I told-you- sos to absolute consternation. Before that happens, let me pull together the principal points I have made in respect to the real or fancied threats to African Americans posed by a rapidly accelerat ing immigration to these shores. As said last week, we must examine that ‘‘loaded deck” of racial ‘ ‘quotas’ ’ (de facto or de jure) that began with the first Immigra tion Count of 1820. The firs t‘‘official” Quota Act was enacted May 19, 1921. It is easily determined from the chart I provided to show from the geographi cal origin of these new citizens that a very racially-biased quota system was at work (White Europeans were not spared). For the total influx of 32,557,418 immi grants between the years 1820 and 1920, the averages were, A. Northern and Western Europe 76.6%, Southern and Eastern Europe 10.4%, Western Hemi sphere 6.4%, and all other parts o f the world, 6.6%. Clearly revealed is the “ pecking order” imposed upon the world by American racism -a caste system an tedating that of South Africa and which early structure presaged today’s social and economic traumas. All of the tongue- in-cheek euphemisms a biased estab lishment can muster cannot disguise the reality of the quotas it claims to abhor: “ preference, allocations, assignment, in ratio to, needed skills, family priority, etc.” We see that America’s immigration laws reserved the largest quota for Re gion A; Great Britain, Ireland and Ger many. Obviously, neither the founding fathers or their successors ranked the populations of Region B very highly on their scale of evolution (Eastern Europe in particular), since its allocation of “ huddled masses, yearning to be free” was barely one seventh of that for the “ superior” Anglo Saxon, Celtic and Germanic contingent. Polish jokes may have begun quite early on. The litera ture, textbooks, and even the “ scien- When B.P. Oil Company assumed operations from Mobil Oil in May, 1989, it brought with it a commitment to do more than tojust sell gas and oil. As the “ new kid” on the block, B.P. decided to return some of its investments to the communities in which some of its sta tions were located. And they have done so through neighborhood involvement, mainly its (communities) most valu able resource-youth. One such B.P. station has under taken a project involving youth that has some families and organizations ex cited about its prospects. The B.P. station at N.E. Broadway and Union/Grand has availed its facil ity to pre-screened teenage groups, offering space and equipment to hold carwashes for fundraising, as well as part time and full time employment op portunities. The brainchild of station manager Ray Sutton, this fundraising activity fic’ ’ annals of this hundred-year period sflected the virulent assessments of the ntelligence and cultural level of peoples rom Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czecho- lovakia, Russia and elsewhere in this egion. The first generations of these immi- ;rants suffered from many social preju- lices and employment discrimination, mt of course, nothing like that inflicted ipon African Americans after their ‘emancipation” . These people, in turn, >ecame as a group the most racist and violent of those who fought against Black inion membership and desegregation in lousing and schools. By the turn of this :entury they had succeeded in ousting Hacks from most of the craft and skilled rade unions—and had instituted the “ For Vhite Males Only” clauses. All along, hey were nurtured and buttressed in heir prejudices by the same type of ;anards, lies and denigrations earlier used igainst themselves. The assaults upon the intelligence tnd capabilities of nonwhites in this ;ountry has in no way subsided. “ The lustification for ranking groups by in- jom worth has varied with the tides of Western History . . . biological deter minism.” That quote is from a book by Stephen J. Gould, “ The Mismeasure of Man, 1981.” It is a must reading for Lhose who fight against the pseudo-sci- jntific diatribes of racists like William Shockley (the physicist turned geneti cist), or against the flawed assumptions predicated upon the techniques for ‘in telligence’ assessment developed by Lewis Termin (the putative inventor of the I.Q. Test). Mr. Gould discloses the entire scope of the 18th and 19th century dogmas of hate and intolerance that pervaded (and shaped) science, philoso phy, literature and most of academia. Did you know that the full title of Char les Darwins’ famous work was “ The Origin of the Species by Means of Natu ral Selection or The Preservation of the Favored Races in the Struggle forLife” ? The world took this literally. So we have it-a n d it needs to be understood by all-th at quotas employ ment discrimination, intelligence con cepts. educational disabilities, poverty, urban decay, and just plain garden vari ety racism are all inextricably intertwined in the fabric that has cloaked this repub lic from day one. These are dangerous times when even the courts of last resort fail to recognize this fact, and yield to the pressures of a striden majority who were once the victims. The pressures of a strident majority who were once the * victims. The government itself is often suspect, as witness the mindset of the U.S. Public Health Service which per- ; formed the infamous Nazi-type experi ment on African Americans at the facil ity of Tuskegee University. Their physi cians permitted people of color with syphilis to go untreated (and unwarned) for twenty years while they wrote papers and tracked the progress of the disease- until death intervened. If the U.S. Public Health Service had no morality, certainly the U.S. Army has shown no sense of history-nor does it read its own records. In the U.S. Army Intelligence Tests of World War I, the African Americans of Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois and Ohio led the whites of Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia by one to seven percent. Corre spondingly the rates of illiteracy for these same whites were much higher-though not as high as for their region of origin in Europe (American Journal of Sociol ogy, vol., 33, pg 256, September, 1927). Now, here we are working on a correla tion that even Ray Charles could see, as we futher proceed to relate the conse quences of failures to educate at home or abroad. The same study also determines: “ The Negroes of California, Minne sota, New York, Nevada, South Dakota, Oregon and Washington are less illiter ate than the Native whites of white par entage in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkan sas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. New York, Minnesota, Oregon and South President Bush and William Bennett Pictured in the leftphotograph is Port land, Oregon’s E. Ray Leary, co-direc- tor of the Self-Enhancement Program. Self-Enhancement is a comprehensive support program which operates within the school curriculum to instill a sense of purpose and belonging into the lives of elementary and high school youths. Lis tening to Mr. Leary (photo on right) are Drug Policy Control Director William J. Bennett and President George Bush. The luncheon was underwritten by a generous grant from ADT Security Sys tems, in conjunction with the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC). In 1985, ADT Security Systems, the world’s leading provider of electronic security systems, joined the crusade against crime by providing financial sup port for the NCPC. BPN’s Second Anniversary Reception Black Professional Network will hold its second anniversary Reception this Sunday, April 8th, between 2:30 and 4:00 p.m.,in the Community Service Room of Pacific Power & Light’s Dis trict Office, 3535 N.E. 15th Avenue, Portland, Oregon. As special guest, Black Professional Network will be welcoming the new CEO of the Portland Urban League, Mr. Darryl S. Tukufu. The whole community is welcome to come out and meet the Urban League’s new president and celebrate the 2nd An niversary of Black Professional Network. Photo Courtesy of White House Ray Leary, Co-Director of the Self-Enhancement Program New Board Members At Garlington Center LaVerne Hampton and Theresa Williams-Stoudamire tCnntinued nn nave 5) B.P. Oil: Returning An Investment To The Community Sam Pierce of MYCAP Chats With Ray Sutton (left) and Lute Reiprich (center) has so far helped to send a group of teenage girls to Seattle, Washington for participation in Big Sistcr/Little Sister “ I think you are America s home town heroes-unconventional warriors,” commented President Bush. “ You are the stars in America’s war on drugs. You shine through the dark, you give hope in the night. And we’re here today really to say that someone noticed.” activities and provided funds for the United African Americans Organiza tion to continue its youth gang diver- sion project. The project has gained so much popu larity that the Portland Urban League Youth Program, churches and other youth organizations are investigating the pos sibility of possible involvement “ We are building a business out of neighborhood involvement” states Sut ton. This is a project that should be addressed not just by B.P. Oil but by any concern centrally located in com munities that seeks employment outlets for its youth. Once this project is completely set-up, we (B.P.) hope to encourage independant B.P. operators to get involved as well,” he added. Mostly a weekend project, youth are required to have a work permit and must be referred by an organization and be pre-screened. The project is wholeheartedly en dorsed by District Manager Lute Reiprich, who is seeking community input on other meaningful projects. The Garlington Center for North/ Northeast Community Mental Health has selected two new members for its Board of Directors. LaVcme Hampton is branch man ager of the First Interstate Bank of North east Martin Luther King Blvd. She has 25 years of experience in banking. Theresa Williams-Stoudamire is a health plan coordinator for Multnomah County She is a member of the African American Health Coalition. The Garlington Center, 4950 N.E. King Blvd., with an annual budget of more than $2.2 million, serves nearly 2000 clients each year. Its facility in North and Northeast Portland provide residential and day treatment for chil dren and for chronically mentally ill adults. CREED OF THE BLACK PRESS Th e 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 creed, h ill human and legal righto. Hating no person, Tearing no person, the Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief that all are h u rt as long as anyone C O M I N G S O O N !’ ! On April l l l l i , 199«, tlw Portland Observer newspaper will publish a speeial section featur ing hair care products and hair %t \ les. \\a tcb tor this fascinating issue. i î (Nr fe's ;