M r s . F r a n c e s S c h o e n -N e w s p a p e r
U n i v e r s i t y o f O re g o n L i b r a r y
E u g e n e , O re g o n
97403
i
Have a safe
Fourth of July!
PORTLANÖ
Volume XX, Number 24
"The Eyes and Ears o f The Community"
Legislature’s Task Force Says "Minority Teachers Don’t
Need Know Nuthin’--Look Who They is Teachin"’
By Professor McKinley Burt
Under the heading “ Task Force
neo-primitives who wished to intro
Calls Teacher Test A Failure” , last
duce “ Black English” or similar de
Tuesday’s Oregonian reported that in
generacies into an already defective
the opinion of a legislature task force,
curriculum.
“ Oregon should scrap a basic skills test
The oldest of canards has been
for teachers.” Their findings lead to
trotted out: “ But because the exam,
the conclusion that ‘ ‘The Cali
fornia Basic Educational Skill-
Test is not a test that will deter
mine whether or not you would
make a good teacher.” The
spokesperson was LaVonne
Lobert-Edmo, a Salem student
resource specialist and chair
man of the Minority Teacher
Task Force.
Oregon’s Teacher Stan
dards and Practices Commis
sion voted in May to SUSPEND
THE BASIC SKILLS TEST
FOR 180 DAYS. Now it is
suggested that a permanent edu
cational travesty may be in
flicted upon the “ minority”
students of this state-for it is
quite certain that school prin
cipals will not allow teachers
G eneral Electric Co. engineering
who fail the test to teach other
apprentice; Do you think that a "skills
than minority pupils, when I
test" failure taught her?
refer to these persons as half
literate I use the term advis
edly as you can determine for yourself
like most standardized tests, is 'biased
from the following statistics (multiple
against minority groups’, teachcr-train-
ing schools are looking for'other’ ways
choice questions, yet).
“ During the 1988-89 school year
to assess a teacher’s basic skills...”
in Oregon, about 55 percent of the 152
WHAT THE TESTS ARE BIASED
minority persons taking the California
AGAINST IS IGNORANCE!-An ig
test passed. Eleven of 25 black test
norance of the basic skills and tech
taers passed; 19 of 47 Hispanics passed.
niques (math and language) necessary
By contrast, 2,413, or 80 percent, of
to decode the elaborate data base of
knowledge which supports ourcon tem
3,027 white test takers passed.”
That makes it quite obvious what it
porary culture. And whose fault is that?
is exactly that the test does determine;
There is little need to cite again the
large numbers of our populations have
litany of educational debacles and in
suffered educational disabilities which
equities that have brought about this
have assured them a listing among those
horrendous situation-this newspaper and
who will be unable to compete or other
other media across the country have de
wise effectively interface in today’s
tailed the problem ad infinitum. Par
world of technology and increasingly
ents, taxpayers and a “ minority ” of ef
sophisticated workplaces. But, it would
fective educators have screamed al
seem that we have those who would
most in vain for too long-ever since
empower these failures to transfer their
that Catholic priest in Chicago wrote,
disabilities to yet another generation.
“ Why Johnny Can’t Read” , and that
And it seems like only yesterday that
was decades ago (to be followed on
we had to put down the assault of the
ERVER
years later by his second book, “ Why
Johnny Still’ Can’t Read” ). The book
“ Cultural Literacy ” is an excellent ex
ercise in middle class polemics (intel
lectual masturbation), but hardly ad
dresses the problem of a seriously flawed
delivery system for providing a
decent educational product to
our children.
Rather than continue
the * ‘litany of inequities” , I pre
fer to re-emphasize the “ Suc
cess Models” which were de
scribed in last week’s front page
article and in the “ Perspectives”
column. We were told of the
exemplary accomplishments of
22 nationally-recognized prin
cipals who are successively edu
cating African American chil
dren at the same level (or bet
ter) as white pupils in their cit
ies (“ National Association of
Schools of Excellence” ). Fur
ther, we saw that this quite fea
sible methodology had been
packaged into a manual and video
and delivered to every school
principal in the state of Oregon:
“ Partners For Success: Busi
ness and Education. ’ ’ National
distribution will follow.
And it was in the Perspectives col
umn that we described the one hundred
year-old model of Bishop Daniel Payne’s
“ classic curriculum” for 'free Negroes’
in the antebellum South. And the fan
tastic accomplishments of the Black
Catholic priest, Father Clements, whose
classic school is the model pursued by
hundreds of thousands of African Ameri
can parents in revolt against the educa
tional travesty imposed upon them by
an uncaring and inept school district.
I know that this week I promised
“ specific science models and role
models, but this local travesty required
our immediate attention. On page nine
of this issue be sure to see our feature on
Miss Tara Louise Johnson, a high-achiev
ing African American student who ob
viously was not taught by teachers who
failed the California Basic Educational
Skills Test.
nated to restructure the value systems
of gang involved youth.
Over the course of two years the
Multnomah County demonstration
project evolved during a series of meet
ings AuCoin held with juvenile coun
selors and outreach workers.
The Congressman pointed out that
there are a number of excellent pro
grams in the Portland area designated
to combat the growth of gang violence.
“ While studying Portland ’ s gang prob
lem, it became clear to me that what
was needed in Multnomah County was
a coordination of efforts and a devel
oped comprehensive approach to fight
ing gang activities.”
The Multnomah County project’s
focus is on restructuring the value sys
tems of gang-involved youth, restrain
ing them in healthier alternatives to
drug and alcohol abuse and addiction,
building positive, socially acceptable
behavior patterns by providing skill de-
velopment activities, and providing
isolation from other gang members.
Young people are attracted to gangs
for the support and feeling of impor
tance which is missing in their lives,
AuCoin explained. ‘ ‘Putting kids in jail
or throwing them in McClaren does not
solve the problem. It only delays it. The
goal o f this program is to give these
kids the intensive training and support
they need to make the decision to walk
away from gang activity,” he added.
Addressing the bill’s approval on
the floor of the House, Jimmy Brown,
Mu Itnomah County JuvenileCounselor
and co-author of the demonstration
project said, “ This is the federal help
we’ve been looking for. W e’ve been
working with Congressman AuCoin on
this project for the last year, and it’s
great to see these results.”
Sharon McCormack, chairperson
of the Youth Gang Task Force, said
“ the Youth Gang Task Force is terribly
June 27. 1990
Twenty Thousand Rotary International
Conventioneers Visit Portland
The Four-Day Convention Draws People From Around the World
by Angelique Sanders
Twenty thousand people, from
varying regions of the world, converged
in Portland this week for the Rotary
International Convention, promoting fel
lowship as well as boosting the local
economy.
Numerous worldwide cities bid
on the privilege of receiving the 81st
annual Rotarian convention; “ Port
land Wonderland” (as a Rotary pam
phlet refers to the Rose City) won the fi
nal verdict.
The Rotary Club’s purpose is
to spread fellowship and goodwill
through enlisting members/volunteers
and, through fundraising, to “ takeon”
various humanitarian projects on a com
munity level. Recent projects of the
Portland-area chapters of Rotary Inter
national include Meals on Wheels (which
supplies meals to homebound elderly
and otherwise restricted persons), Read
ing Tree (a summertime reading pro
gram to encourage youth literacy), and
Village Corps (a block of residence
intended to fight drugs and other com
munity nuisances).
The first Rotarian project was
in Chicago in 1905: the objective was
to install “ comfort stations” (restrooms)
in the City Hall. The Rotary Club,
though their efforts were only partially
successful at that venture, set a prece
dence for future Rotarian projects, as
well as offshoot service programs.
Four years ago, an RI project
was to make the polio vaccine more
readily available to those in need in un
derdeveloped nations. Through the ef
forts of the club, the single vaccination
cost dropped from $2.00 to $0.20, and
distribution increased dramatically. Last
year, at the Albina Sring Festival, the
41 Albina chapter members raised
Robert Butler, President-
Elect of Albina's Rotary Club
enough money and volunteered their
time to serve free hot dogs and ham
burgers. It went over well; they served
over 1,000 to hungry festival-goers,
and the City of Portland invited them to
display a float in 1989’s Rose Festival.
Despite the Rotarians’ decision to de
cline (due to low policing funds), this
year they have opted to accept
Additionally, last Saturday
found 700 Rotarians servicing as air
port “ greeters” , welcoming an esti
mated 8,000 people into Blazer home
town.
The first (and only other) time
Portland hosted the annual convention
was in 1911, while the club was still on
a national level. Only 149 Rotary
members made it here, but the friend
ships that sprang up en route proved
fortunate: that same year, the Rotary
Club became an International organi
zation. Today, the 85 year-old RI has
20,000 members spread throughout over
100 countries worldwide.
This year’s activities included
fellowship meetings to unite members,
sightseeing excursions, social lunch
eons, as well as a festival at the South
Park Blocks downtown on Tuesday.
Next year's convention sight is Mexico
City.
“ I haven’t seen a frown yet,”
beamed the president-elect (one-year
president as of July 6) of the Albina
chapter, Robert Butler. “ It’s really a
good thing for Portland.”
This year in Portland, the lo
cal chapters are hosting a foreign ex
change student from Brazil, and giving
a U.S. student the opportunity to cross-
culturize in a one-year Brazilian stay.
Robert Butler encourages new
Rotary members. If you live and work
in the Albina district and are interested
in joining, contact any Rotary member
or call Butler at 287-1745.
Local Photographer Earns Trip
to Washington, D.C.
years in the service, which took him all
over the world, he concentrated on
photographing people.
His commitment to portraying
people as they are, unreliant on stere
otypes, has marked his work since that
"Brown's commitment to
people has extended to
active participation in his
com m unity's
political
life."
At Least $500,000 for Metro Area Gang Prevention Approved
Representatives, Aucoin Announces
At the request of Congressman Les
AuCoin (D-First District), the House of
representatives today approved at least
$500,000 for Multnomah County gang
prevention efforts. The funds were part
of a $5 million appropriation for such
programs nationwide.
“ The Crips and Bloods from Los
Angeles travel up 1-5 to our neighbor
hoods to recruit vulnerable young
people,” AuCoin said. “ So finally, at
long last, Congress is starting to see this
for what it is-a national problem. This
$5 million nationwide is a recognition
that we’ve got to pay a heck of a lot of
attention to prevention so that we can
change the conditions that allow gangs
to get their hooks into our kids.”
The action by the House today will
expand juvenile justice and delinquency
prevention programs dealing with ju
venile gangs, drug abuse, and drug traf
ficking. At least $500,000 is recom
mended for Multnomah County’s
demonstration project which is desig-
25<P
Richard Brown, selected by
Smithsonian to be honored in
America's capital
Portland photographer Rich
ard Brown has been selected to attend a
two-week Folklore Summer Institute in
Washington, D.C., July 2 to 19, spon
sored by the Smithsonian Institutions
Office of Folklifc Programs.
Brown was bom in Harlem,
New York in 1939 and attended the
School of Industrial Arts in New York
City where he studied graphic arts and
photography. In 1956 he left school to
join the Air Force. During his twenty
time. This commitment is obvious in
his photographs of Black people which
show Black American experience and
life in a positive light not often in media
images.
Since 1979, Brown has been a
freelance photographer in Portland,
Oregon. His work has appeared with
us, as well as with the Oregonian. W il
lamette W eek. The Oregon Magazine.
Clinton Street Quarterly. The Skanner.
The Catholic Sentinel. C1SPES Alert,
and in national publications such as
Ebony. Newsweek. Black LhtSipriSfi.
and The Guardian.
Brown's commitment to people
has extended to active participation in
his community's political life. This
involvement allows him to maintain a
fresh perspective on a wide range of
subjects.
In 1985 Brown travelled to
Nicaragua representing the Portland
Rainbow Coalition and applied his
humanistic approach to photographic
documentation in that country. The
settings in which they find themselves.
Although avoiding die "blood and guts"
photos typical of photographic reports
from war-tom countries, his work is
profoundly moving and enables people
to remain open enough to question the
circumstances surrounding the people's
lives he depicts.
Brown won an "Excellence in
Journalism Award" in 1985 from the
Society of Professional Journalists for a
photographi essay on Black life in Oregon
in the Clinton Street Quarterly. His
work has been included in several group
shows with the Black Artists' Guild, of
which he was a founding member. His
work has been included in several group
shows with the Black Artists' Guild, of
which he was a founding member. His
work has also been displayed in shows
in the Photographic Image Gallery, the
Federal Building, Victoria's Nephew,
the White Gallery, the Camerawork
Gallery, the Portland Building, the
Mayor's office and the Interstate Fire
house Cultural Center. Brown serves
on the Executive Photographers' Fo
rum.
The Portland Observer is the Official
Newspaper of the African-American Festival