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Page 2...The Portland Observer...September 16, 1992
p e r s p e c tiv e s
Oregon Black Business Interest
Continue To Be Ignored.
BY JAMES POSEY
Although the lightsaredim lyon.it
is clear that as far as Black business
interest is concerned, there is no one at
home. West side Light Rail, Metro,
Port and City of Portland, Oregon De
partment of Transportation and other
governmental bodies continue to side
step and pander the idea of significantly
including African American business
interest in mega multimillion dollar
expansion plans. For example, study
the chart on light rail project dollar
amounts captioned. This is a scenario
that has been played out again and
again and again. And if history' is a
predictor o f future actions, Black busi
nesses will continue to be ignored and
placed on the extinction list. Do 1 have
inside information on a scam to derail
Black businesses? No. I wish it was that
simple, but the problem has several
disturbing aspects.
First let’s look at Light R ail-m ega
bucks, a billion plus. Unless something
changes. Black businesses will have
major problems getting significant work
on the Light Rail projects and here’s
why. Tri-met has just hired LeonaGarcia
Seabold, who was the former director
of the state Office of Minority, Women
and Emerging Small Business. This
woman, state representative Margaret
Carter and a cadre of other interest
including Associate General Contrac
tors, drafted the enabling legislation. It
was suppose to be an alternative to the
Crosion supreme court decision that
struck down minority contract set-a
sides. A side from out-right racism, this
PROJECT
legislation and the resulting Advocate’s
Office has done more to directly harm
the interest of Black businesses, espe
cially contracting businesses than any
other force in the recent past. The
legislation encouraged a concept called
the “Emerging Small Business”. In
theory it was a way to side step the
restrictions of the Crosion decision,
but in practice it served to further de
stroy preference for racial minorities
and open the path for While women
and legitimize the participation of white
males already getting 99 percent of the
contracts. During this time Blacks lost
ground and the capacity to be ready to
take advantage of the many Light Rail
opportunities. While one can not to
tally blame Ms. Seabold she does share
responsibility. The sad irony is that this
woman will play a significant role in
facilitating the participation of minor
ity groups on the Light Rail project.
Other evidence that no one is at
home when it comes to African Ameri
can business interest is the recent ap
pointments to the State Department of
Transportation and Public Utilities
Commissions. These commissions are
two of the most economically influen
tial commissions in the state. I know
that state senator Bill McCoy sits on
the transportation legislative commit
tee that confirms these appointments
but I wonder if Margaret Carter and
Jim Hill knew about these appoint
m ents. In conversation with the
Governor’s board appointment staff
(Carol Morse) she out right exclaimed
difficulty in finding qualified minority
I
candidates. At times like these you
wonder where is the Commission on
Black Affairs, the Oregon Assembly
of Black Officials (Cal Henry’s group),
the Black Leadership Conference, the
Urban League and all the rest of them?
All of this is a back drop to recent
commotion around corporate boards.
Why should the private sector pay any
attention to diversity when the public
sector can’t get their act together. With
exception of Operations Push’s former
effort against Nike, and there is no
moral authority coming from minori
ties to make the majority culture do
otherwise.
May be it needs to be said when it
comes to the interest of Black people
you can’t rely on the good intentions of
White women or anybody else no mat
ter how liberal or seemly sensitive they
appear. Governor Barbara Roberts has
a responsibility to insure that state
commissions and boards are reflective
of the population both in quality and
quantity. Blacks should insist that they
be represented on commissions and
boards other than the Parole Board and
Commission on Drug Abuse. The idea
is that perhaps if appointed Black com
missioners had influence toensure that
economic resources were being shared
with the Black Community, there
would be far less Black people in jail
and on drugs.
So, when it comes to Black Busi
ness interest in the state of Oregon we
better turn the lights on brightly, and
someone better stay at home, less the
whole house burns down.
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Well the times have sure changed
some aspects of the presence of large
numbers of skillful African amcrican
athletes at the Olympics. Most Ameri
cans were thrilled to sec all of the U.S.
athletes compete successfully in the
historic international sports event in
Barcelona, Spain.
Some of us have not completely
forgotten the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.
It was at the Mexico Olympics when
two African American runners, John
Carlosand Tommy Smith, won the gold
and silver medals. At the awards cer
emony Carlos and Smith shocked the
world by raising their fists with black
gloves in the air and rendering a Black
power salute. Yet, what these brothers
were protesting was the slate of oppres
sion in the African American commu
nity.
Of course, the Olympics is really
not the place to engage in politics. But
we believe it is the place to raise ques
tions about the plight of the state of the
communities from which these gifted
athletes have emerged. Athletes and
entertainers are not exempt from social
responsibility. This should be the case
not just for African Amcrican partici
pants in the Olympics but for all of the
athletes.
This year the sight of Gail Devers
winning the 100-mclcr final along with
the irrepressible Carl Lewis winning
another gold medal made people have a
sense of pride in their dedication to
reach for excellence in sports. We
would like to be able to gauge the level
of racial sensitivity especially during
the Olympics as compared to the over
all public view when the Olympics is
not in session.
For decades African American
athletes have performed beyond the
call of duty in far and distant lands
only to return to a society that refuses
to affirm the equality of all humanity.
Racism and racial discrimination is
just as blatant in 1992 as it was in
1968. It is against this historical back
drop that people o f color athletes,
entertainers, and those in other high
profile professions have to run, jump
and out perform i order to be taken
seriously as a vital component of this
society.
It is important, however, to point
out that sometimes one can carry ath
letic competition too far. For example,
the U.S. Olympic basketball team was
referred to as the “dream team.” To
have Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson,
and Charles Barkley and other great
players on the same team was in fact
a dream come true. Basketball has
developed into a highly physical sport,
and thus it was not loo surprising to see
how aggressive the U.S. “dream team”
played against their opponents. As we
reflect on the manner in which the
“dream team” played against the bas
ketball team from Angola, we see the
necessity to give a critical comment.
In particular B rother C harles
Barkley at times during the game with
Angola appeared to be too aggressive
and even assaultive. The “Brothers”
from Angolan teams were trying to
understand the motiveof thcir“Brother”
from amcrican who severely elbowed
and pushed them during the game be
tween the U.S. and Angola.
Barkley was quoted as saying,
“Next time, maybe I should pick on a
fat guy. You never know though, those
skinny guys could wind up being like
Manute B ol--gotaspear somewhere.”
Given the fact that the Bush Adminis
tration refuses to allow official recog
nition of Angola as a sovereign nation,
it was a bit of an irony that in the 1992
Olympics the U.S. had to “officially”
face Angola at least on the basketball
court.
The inequities exposed at the
Olympics are both economic and so
cial. The disparities between the rich
and poor countries arc astounding. For
those who live inside the United States,
no one can afford to insult, assault, or
mistreat others, in particular, in the
aftermath of sports events between
nations. Everyone should be thy broth
ers and thy sisters keeper.
Yes, Black men can jump, but
make sure you know why you are jump
ing and what changes it will facilitate.
P ortland , O regon 9 7 2 0 8
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•1
America first in the world yesterday!-
m economics and education.
Nest week, we will return to a dis
cussion of the probable, particularly
that new and quite nebulous concept,
“Oregon School Reform.” The stale’s
“School Improvement Act” which,like
an elephant, appears to have been de
signed by a committee (or the state
legislature). After throwing in a little
sugar at the beginning of the plan (ex
pand preschool to serve all disadvan
taged 3 and 4-year-olds by 1993 elim i
nating primary grades in all schools”.
And we’ve not started good yet.
“ Require high schools to certify
students who demonstrate initial mas
tery of academic performance standards
ataboutgrade 10 by the end of the 1996-
97 school year, These standards, toeven-
tually rival the highest in the world,
include the ability to read and write
well, speak a second language and un
derstand high levels of math and sci
ence”. These are just for openers. Sub
sequent projections, predictably, envi
sion a segregation into college bound
and “career” bound. A device that un
derstandably makes m inorities and
women nervous.
Well, we will get into the “New
World Order” for Portland schools next
week. In the meantime you parents (and
students), who realize that the system is
really serious about science and math,
send for the following free catalog. For
30 years I have found this company to be
the most comprehensive source of sci
ence education materials, kits and mod
els for ages 6 through adulthood-for
teacher, hobbyist and do-it-yourselfer.
Electronics, physics, optics, astronomy,
biology, chemistry, etc.
Edmund Scientific Company, 101
East Gloucester Pike, Barrington, N.J.
08007-1380(609) 547-8880
“Please send me your 1992 Annual
Catalog for the technical and science
educator”
$
(USPS 959-680)
OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established in 1970
>
Yes, that again! And here is a situ
ation where we have no “choice”. These
two factors will be driving our system
from now on-jobs,education, commu
nications, the environment and most of
our physical and social infrastructure.
Which is not to say that our culture
couldn’t develop more affective can
ons.
“Distance learning” is one buzz
word we failed to cite last week. That is
because the term has some real lime and
easily definable applications-what edu
cational component is more “distant”
than Tclesiar401? In last week’s hear
ings before the Senate Subcommittee
on Science (Senator Inovye, Hawaii is
chairman), Jack Clifford, president of
Colony communication Inc., gave a
very able exposition of the growing role
of telecommunications in education. It
was a valuable and informative update
on both technical systems and the class
room interface; one teacher, 5000 pu
pils.
Several years ago I wrote here of an
imminent surge in these techniques as
educational systems were growing ex
pensive beyond belief, Among the most
prominent of these satellite tutors are
the Colony Company mentioned above,
Mind Extension University (my favor
ite, I’m taking more math, Channel 31),
Cable In The Classroom and The Learn
ing channel. Several southern state edu
cational systems are leading the field;
Texas and especially South Carolina,
with 22 channels split off Telestar’s
Transponder. The economies of scale
could be a boon to Oregon and Califor
nia. I’ve been promising that review of
the Popular Science Magazine Scries,
“Crisis In Education”. You know, I’ve
got to have a little more faith in myself-
-after a month of reviewing the mate
rial, I find that i ’ve pretty well covered
the subject for Portland Observer read
ers these past three years. In fact, to
convey the essence of the principal es
say, “Why Johnny can’t Do Science
And Math’” we need only to cite the
author’s lead-in. I’ve been filling int the
omissions.
“Poverty, discrimination against
m inorities and fem ale, one-parent
homes, poorly equipped schools, and
inadequately trained teachers all con
tribute to the U.S. education crisis;” By
Arthur Fisher. There were a few posi
tive notes in the tragic litany of failures.
Waller E. Massey, director of the na
tional Science Foundation (an African
American), announced that, finally, the
federal government had funded a pro
gram for system-wide reform of science
and math education in grades K-12.
This, three years “after” President Bush
announced that he was the “Education
President” at the “Education Summit”
1989.
100 million was allocated over a
five year period for eleven states-far
less than the vote getting boondoggle
promised for rebuilding the unneeded
Homestead Air Base. The article cites
several of the tragic setbacks to Ameri
can science that have occurred under
these past three republican administra
tions. Particularly, we all recall the tre
mendous surge of cooperation between
American industry, scientists and class
room teachers following the Russian’s
launch of sputnik. Had this type of
collaboration continued, the “year2000”
goals would already have been reached.
Mr. Fisher puts it this way, speaking of
that collaboration; “These are just the
type of scientist-teacher partnerships
that flourished in the form of National
Science foundation summer institutes
in the post-sputnik years, but were elimi
nated During The Reagan Administra
tion... because they were deemed inef
fective in improving student’s test
scores.” Or perhaps a reserve was started
for savings and loan bailouts. Those
hundreds of billions could have placed
Cedar Hills Blvd.-
SW 96th
tUifc
■
BY PROF. MCKINLEY BURT
$
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Education Update: Science And Math
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- i •
Bank Of America And Blazers Team Up To Net
$45,000 For United Negro College Fund
Some college students from and
the United Negro College Fund have
received a big assist from a team effort
by Bank of America and the Portland
Trail Blazers.
Sales of “The Playmakers," a se
ries of five limited-edition collector
prints of Trail Blazers players, have
netted $45,000 for the UNCF. The
lithographs, featuring each of the B laz -
ers starting fivc-Clydc Drexler, Terry
Porter, Kevin Duckworth, Buck W il
liams and Jerome Kersey
were of
fered this spring through Bank of
America’s 85 branches throughout Or
egon.
“W e’reoverjoyed with the success
of this program," said Adrienne Caver,
area development director for UNCF.
" Ih e results are especially gratifying
because S20,(XX) of the total proceeds
will godirectly to scholarships for UNCF
students Irom Oregon."S25,(XX) will go
toward UNCF programs nationally.
The UNCF raises funds to help its
41 member colleges and universities
provide high-quality, low-cost educa
tion to over 50,000 Students who come
Irom all 50 states. Currently, about 50
(Jrcgonians attend UNCF schools. Most
UNCF students have great hurdles to
overcome and more than 90% require
financial assistance. More than half
come Irom families earning less than
514.000 annually. Funds contributed to
the UNCF help provide tuition assis
tance for students and for colleges’ day-
to day operations, new textbooks and
laboratory equipment.
•/