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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1991)
/4 ?«**•/ 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 E u g e n e , O re g o n Ro 97403 COMfHC A P R IL 17 SOON A 24 bserv PORTIA Volume XXI, Number 13 BY MARY WENDY RO B ER TS The dynam ics o f the A merican family and the A m erican workplace are undergoing major adjustments. Both the nature o f the family and the workplace have changed dramatically. Forty years ago the stereotypes of the father as the family breadw inner Where We Stand General Powell Remembers His Education PAGE 2 Blacks in Military, Part II By Professor McKinley Burt Totally Dependent on Jesus By Mattie Ann- Callier-Spears Mary Wendy Roberts PAGE 3 and mom as hom em aker were so in grained in A m erica’s consciousness few were even rem otely aw are that we were on the threshold o f profound change. Today, only 14.2 percent of the nation’s fam ilies conform to the traditional patterns in which the fa ther works outside the home and the mother stays home to care for the chil dren. The surge o f women into the workplace that began during W orld W ar II did not end when Johnny came Real-Life Fresh Prince Proves Life Can be Stranger than Fiction PAGE 4 INDEX News Religion Entertainment News Sports News News Classifieds Bids/Sub Bids The staff and management of the Portland Observer wishes you a Happy Easter marching home. By 1991, U.S. Labor D epartm ent statistics indicate more than 80 percent o f women between the ages o f 25 and 44 will be working. For the foreseeable future, women will account for three out o f five new entrants into the workforce. Beyond dram atic dem ographic and economic changes, there have been significant social d ev elo p ments over the past two decades which have radi cally altered the p ro file o f the worker. Today, tw o-w age-earner families work lull tim e and face squarely the con cern o f dependent care for young children and again parents as well as grandparents. D i vorced, w idowed an single-parent households arc in creasingly caught by economic pres sures and the ju g gling o f work and family responsi bilities. I have long been concerned about these families. In 1 9 8 5 ,1 appointed a W ork and Fam ilies Advisory C om mittee to study the issues o f working parents and the conflicts between work and family. I also asked the com m it tee to suggest a possible agenda to deal with the conflicts. In O regon, we continued our pro gressive tradition by addressing a part o f the fam ily-w ork conflict through the passage o f a parental leave law, CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 Bronze Sculpture of Rosa Parks Presented to National Portrait Gallery A bronze bust of renow ned civil rights leader Rosa L. Parks was un veiled February 28 in cerem onies at the Sm ithsonian’s National Portrait G al lery. In com m em oration o f the event, W ashington, D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon presented Parks with a key to the District o f Columbia. The Rosa Parks sculpture, accord ing to the artist, em bodies the dignity and quiet courage o f the woman who is often called the "M o th er o f the Civil Rights M ovement.’ ’ Her refusal to give up her scat on a M ontgomery, Ala., bus to a white passenger in 1955 led to a yearlong boycott that sparked national movement for racial justice. The sculputcr, by Artis Lane, is a gift to the National Portrait Gallery from Anhcuscr-Bush Companies. The artwork is on public display at the gal lery. In accepting the sculpture, gallery Director Alan Fern said, “ Rosa Parks’ act o f courage on a December day in 1955 sparked a revolution of conscience. We honor her today as an American hero, a woman willing to put herself in jeopardy for others.’’ "T h e National Portrait Gallery records and celebrates individuals whose actions, words and thoughts have shaped us as a nation. Among them, unques tionably, is Rosa Parks,” Fem contin ued. "H e r portrait will remind genera tions to come that one courageous deed can change the lives o f m illions.” Also speaking in tribute to Parks were actress Cicely Tyson; civil rights leader Corctta Scott King; S mithsonian Undersecretary Carmen Turner, Dorothy Height, president o f the National C oun cil o f Negro W omen; Joseph Lowery, president o f the Southern Christian leadership Conference; Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.); and Hazel Dukes, president. New York Chapter o f the National Association for the Advance- A Lion at Bay, II: School District "Soap" Continued Robert Parish by Ullysses Tucker, Jr. PAGE 6 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 March 27,1991 "The Eyes and Ears o f The Community" Working Parents Require Our Help And Support Did we say last week that Port land’s Education Task Force " in d i cated a serious intent to carry out their m ission within a short, but attainable tim e fram e” ? Forgive us, we will correct this grievous error immediately following this prom ised expansion on that HOBSON VERSUS W ASH IN G TON, D.C. B O A RD O FED U CA TIO N law suit Again, “ Dr. Julius Hobson was the black econom ist who successfully sued a Pordand-type school adm ini stration and board (circa 1970-71)...he established m alfeasance and the delib erate neglect o f black children, ranging from texts and lab equipm ent to history and curriculum -and reclaimed millions o f dollars o f federal minority program funds diverted to construction, repairs, overhead and other salaries...I failed in my efforts to institute a sim ilar suit here while head o f the minority teach ers organization in 1974...Portland’s system could have been reformed years ag o .” (I attended his sem inar there - later brought a m em ber o f his team to Portland.) This brief account should give pause to those who are ringing my phone off the hook, exclaim ing " le t’s sic the rascals...[you] would get the support now that you couldn’t get in 1974...have you still got the 1970 transcripts, docu ments and other records-media reports? Now, there is something all these hos tile, frustrated parents, citizens and teachers need to k n o w -b esid e the pri orities of yours truly.” First, Dr. Hobson built a machine, one capable of confronting an entrenched, arrogant bureaucracy prepared to fight him to the end w ith a cam paign fi nanced with the taxpayers’ own dollars. So the man had to recruit “ HIS ” educa tors, sociologists, anthropologists, his torians, accountants and auditors, cur riculum specialists, industry and crim i nal justice experts; not to mention concerned parents and citizens at large. A team like that (even with donated staff) has to be financed, coordinated and housed. He had free advocacy lawyers to oppose those o f the district, but, then, preparation o f briefs and photocopying alone can run many, many thousands o f dollars. H adcnough? Still gam e, com m itted? Given that scenario, it is not diffi cult to understand why, in 1974, my announcem ent to Portland minority teachers of a plan for a sim ilar suit saw the membership fade from 80 to about 10 loyalists. Many were frightened out o f their wits (jobs) and other’s thought (perhaps correctly) that I had not yet gained enough experience to deal with a racist bureaucracy like the Blanchard machine with its dow ntow n ties and old boys’ network throughout the region. 1 began teaching at Portland State Uni versity in 1971, but already was daily made aware of the tragic products o f the feeder system. I did have several loyal 25<P mentors among several experienced teachers, but nothing to match the sys tem ’s resources. Uncle T om ’s, Mrs. T om ’s and intelligence agents. Even the couple of poverty lawyers procured threw up their hands. Lots o f pain, but no gain. M eanwhile, back at the ranch, let us comment on that "grievous error” regarding the timeframe and direction of Portland’s Education TASK FORCE. W hat has proven so confusing to many (within and without the process) has been the sudden introduction o f an "IDAHO EDUCATION PROJECT: An Action Plan for Education In the 21st C entury” . It was described at a m eet ing as capable of meeting the " IN TER NATIONAL CHALLENGE” facing the nation’s school systems. It was at this point that superintendent Prophet went off on Mr. Ron Herndon o f the Black United Front in that w idely-publicized exchange; “ Y ou sh o u ld be asham ed...you have bad-m outhed this district all over the country...you owe us all an apology.” Startled parents and teachers have called or stopped by to ask where they could get a copy o f this forw ard-look ing document. “ Until now, we have assumed that the TW ELVE-POINT EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PLAN developed by the Black United Front (and reviewed in depth by the district) was what would be examined, modified CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 - " * -K SX V' Rosa Parks, "Mother o f the Civil Rights Movement." ment o f Colored People. In presenting the sculpture to the gallery, Wayman F. Smith III, vice president of corporate affairs at Anhe user-Busch Companies, said, "T h is is a captivating work of art that reflects Mrs. Parks’ dignity and commitment to civil rights and human rights. We are very pleased to make this presentation in time for the culmination of Black History Month and a belated celcbra- ' \ ' ' , tion o f Mrs. Parks’ 78th birthday,” which was February 4. Sculptor Artis Lane is nationally known for her portraits of famous people, including many Hollywood celebrities. Lane has exhibited her sculpture in many countries and her work is in cluded in the collections of President and Mrs. Bush, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier. ! .......................................... . Census Bureau To Collect Employment Data Here T he Bureau o f the Census will collect data on employment, income, and migration from area resi dents, according to Leo C. Schilling, director o f the bureau’s Seattle re gional office. The local labor force data will contribute to the national employment and unemployment pic ture to be released April 5 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The additional data on income, work experience, and migration will be used to provide a comprehensive study o f median family income, pov erty, and year-to-year mobility of the nation’s population. Information supplied by individu als to the Census Bureau is kept confi dential by law. Only statistical totals are published. The following chart shows the kind o f information that com es from this survey. It compares the percent age o f families, by race, below the poverty level in 1988 and 1989. Fam ilies B elo w P o v e r ty Level (By Race) / i