Hage 6 -The Portland Observer -August 8, 1990
What Are the Prospects for Blacks
in Rural Northwest?
I t ’ s rather hard to say, isn’t it?
I f past experience is any indicator, I
would say that the answer is 70% posi­
tive. This proceeds both from my per­
sonal experience over the years and from
numerous visits and interviews w ith
A frican Am erican workers and business
operators in rural areas o f Oregon and
Washington. O f course yo u ’ ll find that
a good personality and good skills make
the difference.
The July 25 Perspectives ar­
ticle ( “ Loggers are H urting, T o o ” )
detailed some positive personal experi­
ences o f my o w n -p rim a rily represent­
ing a m ajor governmental agency, the
U.S. Forest Service. But what about the
Black ‘ ‘on his o w n ” ? The experiences
I cited were 100% positive and, actu­
a lly, even though this agency’s “ A f ­
firm ative A c tio n ” sessions were in i­
tia lly provocative and viewed w ith sus­
picion, the “ rural” responses soon aimed
favorable w ith very few exceptions. L et
us look at a historical pattern, fo r many
o f the A frican Americans liv in g in this
m etropolitan area have not the slightest
idea o f life in these other e n viro n s-
except fo r a few negative commentaries
they’ ve heard.
When I came to the Northwest
for the firs t tim e in the late 1930s as a
teenage high school dropout, it was to
w ork in various parts o f rural Oregon,
Washington and Idaho as a laborer on
railroad “ extra gangs” . Even that “ late”
there were remnants o f scattered settle­
ments o f Blacks in rural areas. In Idaho
I found a group o f Black wheat farmers
near Lewiston. N ot too far away were
surviving fa m ily members o f coal m in ­
ers who had come up from Alabama at
the turn o f the century to w ork in the
“ Fourth o f July Canyon” mines. In
both cases the younger generations
married into the w hite co m m un ities-or
for the most part migrated to the larger
cities o f the Pacific coast
In the state o f Washington there
were sim ilar encounters. On the Snake
River near the Idaho border there was
the town o f Riparia, Washington where
around W orld W ar I (1917) a Black
Pullman porter on the Seattle run had
been stranded when huge snow drifts
blocked the main line. Fascinated by
the new perspectives and promises o f
the area, he returned to Chicago to bring
his fam ily out and went to w ork as a
ranch hand. When I got to the town in
1939, he had re tire d -b u t adm iring resi­
dents recounted how through the years
he had worked up to rancher and busi­
nessman, holding at various times the
offices o f Grange Master and Mayor. In
this case too the generations had either
married into the comm unity or gone o ff
to the big cities.
These were common experi­
ences, too numerous to m etion-w hen
whites would bring their small children
down to the railroad crossings where we
Black laborers were w orking. They
w ou ld p o in t at us and e xclaim ,
“ TH E R E ’ S O N E !” M ost small c h il­
dren in many o f these small com m uni­
ties had never seen an A frican American
except in books or magazines. H ow ­
ever, in many other small towns, one
would encounter all sorts o f craftsmen
and entrepreneurs: barbers, blacksmiths,
agricultural workers, harvest laborers,
loggers, farmers, ferry boat operators,
bridge tenders, cowboys, mechanics, and
operators o f hardware stores, grocerys,
gas stations, garages, and other enter­
prises.
On my second round o f experi­
ences-w e’ 11 call this the current era in
which we are interested h e re -I found
many innovative Blacks who have made
the most o f opportunities often unique
to rural areas. In Spokane, Washington
during the 1970s I met C lif f Ritchie
operator o f a HELICOPTER SERVICE
who contracted for tree spraying w ith
the U.S. Forest Service and fo r crop
dusting w ith the sugar beet growers. His
father operated the largest Ford garage
in the com m unity and the son on return­
ing from the air force B U IL T THE FIRST
HELIC O PTER FROM M IX E D PARTS
B O U G H T F R O M A S U R PLU S
D E A LE R IN LOS ANG ELES.
In Oregon the experiences o f
A frican Americans in the rural areas are
extremely interesting, especially in light
o f the fo llo w in g . During the 1970s, I
devised a number o f W ork Study and
Cooperative Education Programs for the
U.S. Forest Service and many students
in my classes at Portland State U niver­
sity participated, m in ority and white.
For many o f the m inorities those First as­
signments to rural areas proved to be a
traumatic cxperience-especially the
A frican Americans. In most cases these
cultural problems were resolved, some
o f the encounters having some rather
comic overtures: “ Get me another job.
I can’ t stand that h illb illy music on the
radio and on the jukeboxes in those
'h o nky jo in ts ’ ! This big redhead dude
grabbed me at the dance and almost
broke my bones w ith that w ild stom pin’
those folks do. M y mother told me
never to sleep in no house w ith white
fo lk s .”
A ll in a ll it was the Blacks
raised in the south who made the easiest
adjustment. This follow s a pattern, fo r I
noticed during m y w ork w ith the U.S.
Forest Service that in most cases the
spouses o f A frican Americans hired by
this agency and were from the south
found ready employment in even the
most remote areas. Also, they readily
entered the cultural m atrix o f the com ­
m unity. For instance, in the Roseburg
area the w ife o f the A frica n Am erican
soil scientist fo r the agency was hired as
director o f the area’ s largest childcare
center. Both were active members o f
and held high lay positions in the com ­
m un ity’ s largest church.
continued next week
UNCF GETS BOOST FROM JESSE, JR.
AND MCDONALD S BLACK EMPLOYEES
...And Justice For All
by Angelique Sanders
Responding to the Iraqi Takeover
Welcome to my new column,
"..And Justice For A ll" . I hope you
enjoyed my previous column, "This Week
in H istory". M y attempt o f this column
w ill be to point out injustices and other
disruptions we as citizens may experi­
ence, as w ell as an analysis and hope­
fu lly , potential solutions. A t the end o f
each week's colum n, I ’ll include a tid b it
o f inform ation I ’ve read or seen lately
that may be o f interest to you. I f you
have any comments or criticism s, or
even a topic you'd like to see addressed,
please feel free to w rite or call me at the
Observer.
For those who haven’t been
paying atention to the Iraqi invasion
hype in the media lately, 1 wish to break
down the p o litica l a ctivity to what it
means to us.
F irstly, here is a b rie f break­
down o f what’s occurred: Iraq has seized
K uw ait fo r the purpose o f monetary gain
(through the abundance o f petroleum in
the country), and has its greedy eyes on
Saudi Arabia (w hich is the largest oil
producer o f OPEC). The U.S. has re­
sponded by halting imports o f o il from
Iraq.
The United States-and by this,
I don’ t mean citizens in general, I mean
those in positions o f pow er-has pre­
tended, once again, to be taking a “ firm
moral stand” (can’t you ju st hear Bush
saying that?) against he invasion. We
may even go to war w ith Iraq over Saudi
Arabia. But the reason is clearly not
m orality.
I f Iraq gains control o f Saudi
Arabia’s o il, they w ould not ship to
U.S., thereby drastically-since Saudi
Arabia accounts for half the oil o f OPEC-
increasing the price in America. It could
result in an ecomonic recession; and,
yes, Bush’s least-favorite statistic, loss
o f jobs. This is what Bush and the
bigwigs are worried about, N O T the
m orality o f an Iraqi invasion. Examine
the Statesman Jo u rn a l’s (Salem’ s daily)
headline announcing this tragedy: “ In ­
vasion drives gasoline price up.” How
is that for American concern fo r K u ­
wait? I ’m not putting down the Journal',
they’re sim ply reflecting the American
attitude.
Clearly, the U.S. seems more
interested in the economic scales being
balanced rather than taking a gamble for
m orality. Take South A frica as proof o f
thattheory: w hileourgovernm entcould
place economic sanctions on South Africa,
instead we do nothing and government
officials had to smile face-breakingly at
Mandela during his U.S. visit, saying
things like “ W e ’re headed there (to­
ward sanctions)” or “ W e’re thinking
strongly about i t ” instead o f “ W e’re
just afraid our economy m ight experi­
ence a rough patch.”
W ell, W H A T
A B O U T OUR PEOPLE? What is it
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doing to our people to take no moral
action? IF the government is so worried
about crim e, how about being a role
model, illustrating that m orality is worth
its price?
I f you are shaking your head
and saying, “ i t ’ s not that bad” , then pay
attention: think o f all the companies
that you’ ve heard about that transact
business in South A frica. Maybe you
even purchase products that are pro­
duced there. Were you aware that each
year, the Coca Cola company pays the
W hite Pretorian government S30 m il­
lion in taxes and other subsidies? Your
dollar m ight be going toward racism.
As common citizens instead o f
authorityheads, w e’ re more lim ited in
the degree o f action we can take (Bush
has the veto power; a ll we can do is
curse at the n ig h tly newsman). But
there are s till actions to be taken: w rite
Congress; write South African-involved
businesses;
boycott products (when
you’re unsure, try to buy a local product,
so the money w on ’ t leave the country);
most im portantly, keep aware. Y o u ’ re
involved in this, too.
* * * * *
Ite m : The United States, in its latest
(July 25) testing o f a nuclear weapon,
spent 30 m illio n dollars, and the blast
registered4.8on the Richter scale. [This
inform ation, complim ents o f a poster in
Oregon Peace Institute’ s w indow .]
aTi
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3 HUI)
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING
AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT