/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