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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
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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)
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i