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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 1992)
P ag e 2 ...T h e P o rtla n d O b s e rv e r...A p r il 8. 1992 BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT UNE by James Posey 4lfe; .¿W ? I p e r s I p e c t i v e s by Professor inley by Professor M cK in M le cK y B u rt ▼ ▼ Free At Last! Free At Last! Free At Last! Where is the Black Leadership? C E R T IF IC A T IO N - D B E Highway Related Businesses January 1991 • December 1991 ETHNICITY JAN 91 DEC 91 % OF CHANGE JAN 91 DEC 91 % OF CHANGE AFRICAN AMERICAN 52 30 -42.31% 5 5 0.00% HISPANIC 39 54 38.46% 5 9 80.00% NATIVE AMERICAN 25 36 44.00% 3 4 33.33% ASIAN AMERICAN 27 25 -7.41% 10 3 -70.00% ASIAN INDIAN 7 12 71.43% 0 1 100.00% WHITE 0 0 0.00% 149 179 20.13% TOTAL DBE 150 157 4.67% 172 201 16.86% - "•. ? ¿ Before we discuss issues related to leadership, politics and construction let’s say a few more words in conclu sion about the Oregon Department of Transportation. Here is an excerpt from the Department’s 1991 Civil Rights report:” Problem Area: The involvement o f and retention o f Black Americans within the highway construction pro gram. A steady decline in the partici pation o f Black American males con tinues to occur unabated. We are not certain o f the reasons why. A review of the statistical information supports our concerns o f a decline in the participa tion specifically o f Black males in the DBE Program.” If this is a not self-incriminating statement, I’ve never heard one. The following numbers speak for them selves. Now the question is who will step forward and address this issue. Where is the Black leadership? Most of them have known about this situation for years. While few would disagree that the current Black leadership picture in Port land and in Oregon is pathetic, there is much speculation as to why. But before attempting to answer this question we should reiterate why the issue of leader ship is so crucial to African Americans at this particular time. Hopefully there is no need to repeat the litany of ali ments afflicting the African American community, but one affliction deserves special attention. It’s infamously called the “grab syndrome.” Recently, one of the candidates for mayor in a meeting asked politely in relationship to eco nomic development and business why there seems to be this lack of cohesion on the part of the Black community. My interpretation o f the question was “why can ’ t y ou black folks work together and stop bickering among yourselves and .•'» ' i • • •> ' ' « * *•»*. • 7 * V * - r r. - « ▼ .- - » <•'*» '.. » ♦•* X «'A z .’ ; Í?. « »/ ¿* • ?*♦ •*» * ; # r- . >•• »’• N •• ” ■ ‘ \ • a ► . >*% . • ♦ .» . ** Ai > .*S'M •'? i FEMALE MALE putting and pulling each otherdown.’Tt will certainly take more than this one article to even begin to address this issue; however, let’s look at an over view of possible reasons: T he p re va le n ce o f the in te g ra tio n is t vs. s e p a ra tis t a p p ro a ch e s: There are prominent Black people who think and act just as many whites do. They materially reject Black cul ture and its value system in favor of the majority culture’s value system. Every action is based on the white standard of value. They believe that Black people can survive only when they abandon their “ Blackness,” subscribe to and in corporate the majority culture’s busi ness and political prerequisites. Con versely, there are African Americans who can’t stand the thought of accept ing any values identified predominately with the majority culture. Consequently, the extremes become polarized and rarely intersect. S u b s c rib in g to the “ M e , M y , a n d I ” n o tio n s o f success: I got mine, you get yours! What’s in it for me? The only color or value I ’m concerned about is greenbacks! - and so on. African Americans’ culture, his torically noted for communal sharing and caring, is under attack from the forces of greed, sleaze and selfishness which is relentless in the larger culture and gaining a foothold in the African American community. Therearecitings of community members who would sell their mothers down the road for a few extra dollars. While this example is extreme, consider the relationship be tween how effective our leaders are in relationship to how they are being com pensated or how they arc pegging their future career opportunities. D iv is iv e P ro g ra m m in g : We have watched program after program setupmechanisms forproduc- ing divisiveness in the community. Administrators sometimes intentionally and unintentionally design programs that will create dissension and compe tition among African American respon dents. They know that most of the re spondents are not more than a paycheck from the poorhouse or the soup line. Yet when they issue a request for proposals (RFP) (which are in most cases really scraps for the while folks table, bones if you will) rather than structuring them to require cooperation, collaboration, and accommodation, it is wholly divi sive. Excuse me - this is not a black folks phenomenon. We have learned well from the larger society how to act like crabs in barrel. These are only a few possible rea son as to why we are perceived as having a “grab syndrome.” So what does this have to do with real black leadership? Not.since the activism of Rev. John Garlington have we in Portland had a black or white leader who could tran scend his or her own ego, personal or group self-interest. Not since the Rev. Garlington have we had a leader who was confident, self-assured, respected enough to work across artificial barriers to bring Black people together on one accord. He was a leader that could give a vision and hope for shared prosperity, diversity of ideas, and resources. But more importantly, he demonstrated he was willing to not only to “talk the talk," but also consistently "walk the walk.” While granted this is a horren dous feat, it is the most glaring major failure of African American leaders in Oregon and Portland today. In our next article we look at this issue more closely in terms of a particu lar program area that we should all be concerned about. (Fíje ^ Ía r iía n h O b s e ru e r S ubscribe (USPS 959-680) O R EG O N ’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION Established in 1970 Alfred Henderson McKinley Burt Bill Barber Sharon Camarda Mattie Ann Callier-Spears S llje C u r t i a n i » © b s c r ü e r O p e ra tio n s M a n a g e r Joyce Washington A c c o u n tin g M a n a g e r Gary Ann Garnett P ro d u c tio n S ta ff T he P ortland O bserver Dean Babb Sharon Camarda Gary Ann Garnett Jennifer Johnson CAN BE SENT DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME ONLY P u b lic R e la tio n s Chuck Washington $25.00 PER YEAR. S ales & P ro m o tio n s P lease Tony Washington fill out , ENCLOSE CHECK OR The PORTLAND OBSERVER is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company, Inc. 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 • Fax 288-0015 MONEY ORDER, and M ail to : S ubscriptions Deadline for all submitted materials: Articles: Monday, 5:00 pm -Ads: Tuesday, noon T he P ortland O bserver POSTMASTER: Send A ddress C hanges to: Portland O bserver, P.O. Box P ortland , O regon 9 7 2 0 8 PO Box 3137 3137, Portland, OR 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland Oregon. M*’ * * fir ? • ' •.'!’• ,r * ■•• .5 ■ >‘ »• •“ r ’ > r t ’-. - The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and can not be used in other publications or personal usage, without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1991 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. city, State Subscriptions:$25 00 per year. zip-code '•/' »• ,:'l -C- ;»•<: V *« Ï* j- <; American SLAVES-but their genius did not free them, only enriched their masters. The only exception I know of is thatof the slave instructor/inventorwho taught at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland early last century. A Maryland newspaper at the time re ported that he was “a genius at both learning and instructing according to the basic laws that govern nature” - and that he was “able to devise working models of steam-driven engines and other machinery.” (I will furnish the precise citation on request). The news article went on to state that “the negro is purchasing his free dom in installments out of the remain der of a sum paid to his master, who deducts room, board and clothing.” I cite this travesty upon the human condi tion because as stated I found so many parallels to a “plantation” in our urban education system. Where one might expect a long-term success and prolif eration of my curriculum innovations mentioned last week, there must be another point-to-point reference to the plantation system; not only are there the roadblocks and barriers put up by the masters but one encounters blocking and manipulation on the part of DRIV ERS AND STRAW BOSSES drawn from the ranks of the slaves (Both black and white, the most ludricous being those who never realized, until too late, that they were on SOFT MONEY). I opened today’s essay by recount ing a luncheon conversation with agroup of peers from a wide spectrum of back grounds in the Portland (and stale) school systems. We found ourselves in agree ment that cur respective standards and pedagogical approach to educating ur ban students bore the prime responsibil ity for our being FENCED OUT OF THE SYSTEM by the aforementioned “Drivers and Straw Bosses.” We were also in agreement that these types are found on both sides of the equation in this masked ball; loudly for or loudly against the system. It further seemed to us that neither group would have profes sional careers (or television exposure) except for P o rtlan d ’s educational trauma. But not to worry, this week’s title, “FREE AT LAST!’, represents the consensus of all four of us that we have finally shaken off the fetters of that “ALICE IN WONDERLAND” Port land School System, both administra tors and straw bosses, and are doing a good job of reaching students, parents and the more competent administrators DIRECTLY. Two recent and lengthy articles in the Oregonian did not shake us up at all as they would have two decades age. “SKIRMISHES END IN AN UNEASY PEACE” (3/26/92), and a later article on the infamous “BASE LINE ESSAYS.” Like many others, I found it useful and necessary to return to industry to get the job done, to circumvent the inept and the “STR AWBOSSES.” That Bea verton area industry I write about, where the CEO is a former student of mine and I am on the board of directors, trans ports a bus load of innercity kids to their plant several limes each month where I supervise their interaction withchildren of the plant workforce and executives (math, science and hands-on electronic instrument interface). This is my up dated design of that prize-winning “The Dalles Oregon Project” of 26 years ago. I have been invited to reprise that exer cise also this fall and have already con tacted the prim e movers in the district. What makes me so angry, despite the fact it’s great to escape the plantation and the inept, is these“new” mathemat ics and science lesson plans that were offered locally and rejected or pooh- poohed almost two decades age. Now, after thousands of our intercity students have gone down the drain (gangs and death), I am getting a belated recogni tion in industry and overseas. As I said almost thirty years ago in The Dalles, four to eight-year olds can understand much algebra and geometry and combi nations thereof. I said and demonstrated the same concept twenty years ago at the Lake Oswego Montessori. Next week, lets take a new look at those“Baseline Essays" and why a num- berof educators from eastern and south ern cities will be here in Beaverton for my redesign of the science and math com ponents to relate to a REAL WORLD -th e kind of package I de signed originally for the process, and was rejected. Now three national corpo- ’ rations have joined me in escaping the plantation. Portland Observer encourages our readers to write lettera to the editor in response to any articles we publish’d' • .... ' ¿'.r ;; . . ; hihdd A long the C olor L ine D r . M a n n in g M a r a b le P u b lis h e r * r This past week I had some interest ing discussions with several other EMANCIPATED EDUCATORS who also had escaped that frustrating tread mill encountered when one is trying to deliver a better educational product; last week’s column: “THIS IS WHERE I CAME IN (on this bad movie!).” 1 had served a 26 year stint on the pedagogic plantation and like my friends from the teaching fraternity, realized that we were the ones who had been educated. While a thrcc-hour lunch brought on the realization that the four of us represented over a hundred years of classroom experiencc-from pre school to graduate instruction-we were not satisfied that we had managed to deliver, that idealized product that all neophytes envision of their careers. Throughout last week’s article I described some rather innovative tech nology and curriculum I brought to the process in an attempt to overcome what I perceived to be the routine inertia and legarthy found in any entrenched bu reaucratic system. Therefore, it was logical that I bring to bear the same tools, training and intuitions developed from years o f experience in business and industry. Not to be! The urban educational structures in this nation resemble nothing quite so much as URBAN PLANTATIONS - with all the social concommitants, customs, behav iors, mores and traditions of the origi nal slave culture (nevermind all the professional nomenclature). Shocked? you would not be if, fortuitously, you had brought to this process a perspective developed both within and without die system. At the same time that I was making the transi tion from industry to education, 1 also had a role in the administration and accounting for SOCIAL PROGRAMS. This diversity of vantage points enables one to gain an insight not privileged to a person solely within one system or the other. But, as I said earlier, “frustra tion” can be the principal achievement no matter how many innovative learn ing paradigms arc brought to the pro cess (“Year 2000" indeed, try year 2020). Those who have read my book, Black Inventors of America, or heard my relevant television lectures know of the main fantastic inventions of African Why Voters Are Angry C o n trib u tin g W rite rs t. »< , ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest African-American Publication-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., New York, NY. Name Address T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver The disclosure last month that hun dreds of members of Congress wrote thousands of bad checks struck an emo tional cord of outrage across the coun try. Transcending ideological and par tisan parly boundaries, citizens felt deeply betrayed by their elected offi cials. The mediadubbed this latest scan dal “Rubbergate,” and newspaper edi torials denounced the entire affair. A Newsweek poll revealed that 78 perccntof Americans interviewed would be unlikely to re-elect their members of Congress if they were among the worst offenders. From the vantagepoint of African-American politics, several of the worst offenders were prominent Black politicians: Harold E. Ford of Tennessee, with 388 checks; William Clay of Missouri, 329 checks , and John Conyers of Michigan with 329 checks. The worst African-American offender was Chicago Congressman Charles Hayes. Despite his long and admirable record as a defender of trade union and progressive interests, Hayes was dis covered to have written 7 Io overdrafts in less than two years. Hayes was nar rowly defeated by former Black Pan ther and southside alderman Bobby Rush, who used the check bouncing issue to his advantage. There are many different reasons why millions ol Americans believe that their political system no longer works. Three factors are central to the current public mood ol pessimism. First, most Americans have lost confidence in the politicians of both parlies within Congress. Throughout much of the past decade. Congress’ “job rating" in public opinion [Hills was about one-third negative. But in the past four years, the political system suffered through a series of scandals and shocks. Congress hiked its salaries during an economic recession; Demo cratic Congressional leaders Jim Wright amt Tony Coelho were forced to resign; Senators were implicated in the mas sive savings and loan scandal, costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Finally, the public fiasco of the Clarence Tho mas hearings outraged many liberals, because it illustrated the Senate as an exclusively white, overwhelmingly male establishment completely out of touch with women’s rights issues. Con gress’ negative ratings soared abov e 70 percent. Second, voters are alienated be cause the middle class, the bedrock of the American electoral system, is in social economic crisis. About 63 per cent of all U.S. families of four earn betvv eenS18,500and$74,300, which is the group which perceives itself as the “ middle class.” Since the mid-1970s, the real incomes of most of these fami lies have leveled off, while some have fallen sharply. Families are able to gel by only because millions of spouses who useil to slay home have now en tered the labor market, bringing home extra income. Others have fallen into the ranks of the working poor, and even the homeless. Millions feel an acute sense of contusion and betrayal. The system which had once been perceived as the victor over the “Evil Empire" was now revealed as hollow and helpless. Thirty seven million \m ericans lack medical care: millions go to bed hungry every night; millions of manufacturing jobs have disappeared, w hile the Bush ad ministration does nothing to halt the economic decline in living standards. Third, the electorate is angry be cause the gap between the economic and political leadership and ruling class and the vast majority of American work ers is expanding. During the Reagan- Bush years, die upper one perccntof all households saw their average incomes soar to nearly 5550,000 annually. This top one percent pocketed sixty percent of all income growth in the 1980s. While poor children starved and the indigent froze in vacant buildings, America's "rich and shameless” made billions, due to the 1981 Reagan tax cut. In Japan, the gap in the salaries of executives and workers is much less than m die United Stales, Last year, while Chry sler lost millions of dollars, Lee lacocca was paid 54.8 million! Profits are going to tat executives’ sala ries. rather than being invested back into new technologies and machinery for jobs. Foday soutrage against the politi cians and the gov eminent may mean an end to the polities of conformity char acterizing the Reagan years. Whether this political anger y ields constructive and progressiv e c hanges w ithin the sys tem, however, still remains to be seen. Dr. Manning Marable is Professor ol Political Science and history. Uni versity ol Colorado, Boulder. “Along I lie Color lane appears in over 230 new spapers internationally, and a radio version is broadcast by over 5 0 stations throughout North America. V . 'i :5. i :'A • Y £ * » « • * f ' • ’ ’ »’ « S E « ," - * ,, • , * ' . »”*. J* a • I
