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A pril 14, 1993 » T he P ortland O bserver
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Statement On Death
Of Gladys McCoy By
Urban league CEO Dr.
Darryl Tukufu
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Channelling, Education Style: Is Channel 2 After You?
W hat seems so outrageous to
northeast Portland residents is not the
fact that a local television station has
launched its own special exercise in
blow ing the whistle on w aste and m an
agem ent in Portland Schools during
the current budget crunch hysteria
Certainly, they are —
as concerned as
station KATU or
taxpayers and par
ents in general
W hat bothers
the hell out of us
is, that given the
widely expressed
c o n c e rn s ab o u t
schedule m anipulation by the highly
paid craftsmen like the plumbers in
the "m aintenance d ep artm en f,T W O
BLACK JANITORS on loan to said
m aintenance department have been
singled out for the lead target o f a
“ MAJOR EXPOSE” . KATU has re
vealed to us a "critical failure" in
fiscal controls has occurred, dispatch
ing a van and camera crew to cover 90
minutes of lawn mowing by two Afri
can Americans L et's see, 1 1/2 hours
X 2 men X $12 = 36 dollars. Wow'
The gung ho cost accountants on
the station's staff determined that it
should have taken only a fraction of
that time to mow the small strip of
grass and therefore
the time spent by
men seated in
Professor the
their truck "talking
McKinley and smoking ” was
an incredible, albeit
Burt
typical, assault on
the district's bud
get KATU surely
thinks the public to
be stupid All of us know that workers
don't just come to work in the morn
ing, select their own schedules and
take off on a carefree day of uncon
trolled activities. Not in a bureau
cratic sy stem built on paper
1 spent years in accounting or
administration in large enterprises and
I can tell vou that maintenance em-
plovees do not determine their own
A f
overtime
Superintendent Jack Bierwirth
led off with a tortured review of bud
get variables and maybe (don't blame
him, nothing is certain these days,
no, even taxes ) I would think that
low income and minority parents arc
going to be greatly concerned over
committee reports that agreed with
“ hits" recom m ended last month
$666,000 from Research and Evalu
ation (Testing), Minority Teacher
Recruiting, Whitney Young after
school program a, the Urban League,
MESA, Building Monitors (tenta
tive), Head Start Transition, Self
Enhancement, Mentoring, Alterna
tive Education and others.
There was continuing uncer
tainty on just how the DOl (Directors
of I nstruction) would be repositioned.
The possible sale of the Blanchard
Service Center was rejected on the
logic that relocation tenants would
cost more than gained on the sale. It
still promises to be the most trau
matic year in district history.
at their racist employment record It
is a realistic frame of reference
And speaking of "looking at the
record", w hat w ill be their response of
our black leaders, politicians and ac
tivists? (maybe the NAACP?). O f a
dozen phone calls I’ve received on
this volatile issue, all the callers have
been of the opinion that if we “let this
one go by, i t ’ll be Sam bo and
pickaninnys next” . I think they are
right, how about you?
1 note that Thursday n ig h t's
school board meeting did not meet the
expectations of many that it would be
a heated session long to be remem
bered; that it would explode forth
with pent up anger after almost a
month o f deadly simmering follow
ing the "blue Monday” announce
ment of budget cuts in March In fact,
the most spirited audience reaction
w as when Arlen I Sheldrake reported
that his committee was adamantly
opposed to the proposed elimination
of interschool sports. You would have
thought the Blazers had just won in
schedules In a large organization
this is a complex process requiring
detailed records and a system of
progress reports that make possible a
determ ination of the labor hours,
materials and equipment needed to
complete the jobs Believe me. "two
borrowed janitors” were not in con
trol of their own destiny that day; it
w ould be incredible that they were not
operating from a “dispatch sheet "
prepared by their superv iso r-at least
a day prior
What seems to me jus, as ugly as
the telev ision station's calculated and
racist attempt to leap on a band wagon
of public concern was school superin
tendent Bcirwirth’s knee jerk reac
tion, "They'll probably be fired ” We
can understand his pressures, but this
ill-adv ised response leads one to think
there may be more we need to under
stand about this man. A seasoned
administrator should know very well
how the system works And before he
allows himself to be goosed by KATU
again, perhaps he should take a look
The Urban League of Portland
offers sincere condolences to Senator
William Mccoy and his family follow
ing the passing of Multnomah County
Chair McCoy
Gladys was an inspiration to all
who believe in the cause of equality
She and the Urban league fought on
the same side of many battles during
her long career in public se n ice. Her
success at opening the door of oppor
tunity will be her lasting legacy Dur
ing her tenure as County Chair, M ult
nomah County’s w ork force and com
missions finally began to reflect the
diversity of the county’s population.
We at the Urban League feel for
tunate that we were able to recognize
Gladys’ contribution while she was
still with us. In 1992 she received the
League's Equal Opportunity Award,
in honor of her tireless efforts to pro
mote equality.
This past weekend I attended the
funeral in Ohio of a dear aunt I share
the McCoy family’s grief at the loss of
a loved one at this time.
We w ill always remember Gladys
McCoy as someone who gave back to
the community.
This Wav For Black Empowerment
■ ■ T ".-
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CBC Gets Bill Clinton To Pay Attention To Zaire!
. . .
BY DR. LENORA FULANI
I read with great interest recently
o f th e h u m a n ita ria n a ssista n c e
that the State of Virginia is prov iding
to the people of Huambo, Angola,
who are victims of the tragic civil
w ar th a t h a s re c e n tly resu m ed
in that country. I greatly appreciated
the role that Gov ernor Douglas Wilder,
as an African American elected offi
cial, took in bringing the plight of our
African brothers and sisters to the
attention of Americans in all commu
nities.
T here is an o th er struggle in
A frica w here A frican A m erican
le a d e rsh ip has m ade, and m ust
continue to make, a crucial difference.
F or th e la s t d e c a d e th e New
A llia n c e p a rty , to g e th e r w ith
o u r c o lle a g u e s in th e Rainbow
Lobby, have led a grassroots cam
paign against U.S. support for the
dictator of Zaire, Mobutu Sesc Seko.
Last August, Z aire’s Sovereign na
t ■
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tional Conference elected the popular
opposition leader Etienne Tshisckcdi.
as Prime M inister of a two-y ear tran
sitional government charged with re-
dressi ng the country ’ s server economic
crisis and preparing for elections in
1994.
However, the U.S. State Depart
ment. under President Bush, insisted
th a t th e d ic ta to r M obutu be
allowed to remain as the "ceremonial
“ p re s id e n t o f Z a ire . T h is has
created a serious political impasse in
Zaire. Mobutu has used his control
over the military to undermine every
initiative taken by the democratic tran
sition team headed up by Tshisckcdi.
This campaign of intimidation has
included firebom bing opposition
newspapers, inciting ethnic violence
directed at Tshisekedi’s kinsmen, de
ploying tanks around the Bank of
Zaire and other government buildings
to prevent Tshisekedi’s appointees
from taking charge, and fuelling
Zaire’s hy perinflation by flooding the
money supply with w orthless currency.
Last January when the rank and file
soldiers rioted over their worthless
pay, Mobutu deploy ed his elite secu
rity forces against them, killing over
1,000.
Tshisckcdi and the Zairian people
have taken grave risks to end 27 years
of dictatorship and bring democracy
to their country. Critical to the success
of their efforts is as strong show of
U.S. support for Mr. Tshisckcdi s
government, and unequivocal sanc
tions on Mobutu and his entourage,
designed to bring about his peaceful
withdrawal from the country. 1 have
been in close contact with members of
the Congressional Black Caucus, urg
ing them to take the lead in lobby ing
the Clinton Administration In re
sponse. Rep Donald Pay ne.a member
of the House Subcommittee on Africa,
initiated a sign-on letter to the Presi
dent, asking him to send a personal
...
.
.
message to Mobutu telling him to step
down or risk sanctions such as the
freezing of this assets, refusal of visas,
and expulsion of his ambassadors.
Rep. Payne’s letter was co-signed by
34 members of Congress, including
most CBC members. CBC member
Alcec Hastings, the newly elected
Congressman from Florida, sent a
similar letter to the President
Rep. Payne also sponsored, with
Rep Harry Johnson, the chair of the
African Subcommittee, House Reso
lution 128, which expresses the sup
port of Congress for Prime Minister
Tshisekedi’s government and urges
the president to impose a variety of
sanctions on Mobutu.
In a gesture which I believe is
without precedent in the Bush and
Reagan Administrations. President
Clinton responded directly to the CBC
on an issue regarding Black Africa In
a letter to Rep Payne, President
Clinton said his Administration was
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n r n community
m m n n it v nt at
thp the grassroots-can
"exploring
with
Belgium and Cmnnz»
France r u can
what additional measures we can take” make all the difference in how Presi
to help bring about M obutu"s with dent Clinton shapes his Zaire policy.
I think it’sextremely positive that
drawal.
The Clinton Administration must the CBC got Bill Clinton to pay atten
mov e more rapidly and affirmatively tion to Zaire. But we can’t let up. We
in support to the democratic transition must pressure the Clinton administra
in Z a ire . T he su c c e ss o f M r. tion to relate to the Teshisekedi gov
Tshisekedi’s government has impli ernment directly, now-and not w ait
cations for all of Africa Zaire is fabu as w as the case with President Aristide
lously endowed with natural resources, of Haiti, until he is in exile There are
it has the agricultural potential to feed legal and political moves that the presi
all of Africa Its people have demon dent can make to choke off Mobutu 's
strated their recommitment to a peace money supply , and to deliver some
ful transition to democracy despite all material aid-including food-immedi-
of M obutu’s provocations. Unlike ately and directly in to the hands of the
Somalia. Liberian and Angola, civil transitional government. The politi
war has not yet broken out, and the cal climate exists in W ashington to
people have not lost hope President e x e rt such p re ssu re . I t ’s in
Clinton must not lose hope President Washington ’ s power to break the stale
Clinton must not lose this historic mate in Zaire. And it’s increasingly in
opportunity to avert another "African our power to effect a political restruc
disaster". I believe that African Ameri turing in which W ashington will have
can leadership of this country-work to adhere to the pro-democracy policy
ing together w ith the African Ameri decisions of the American people.
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Katz Says Proposed Budget Will Address Growing Domestic “Cycle Of Violence
•
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May o r's Proposed Budget to Fund
The Implementation of Portland Po
lice Program to respond to Domestic
Violence
C itin g the g ro w in g num b er
of local crimes involving domestic
v io le n c e ,
c h ild
and
e ld e r
abuse, Portland Mayor Vera K atz
today announced that her proposed
c ity b u d g e t for re le a s e th is
Friday will fund the implementation
of the proposed Domestic Violence
Program within the Portland Police
Bureau
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“ A re c e n t re p o rt from the
P o rtla n d P o lice B u reau stated
th a t the Police B ureau receives
over 11.000 emergency calls per
year involving domestic violence.”
said Katz. "We must directly address
this growing cycle of domestic vio
lence.”
K atz also cited recent reports
th a t show ed th e re w ere 8.700
co n firm ed cases o f child abuse
a n d n e g lc c t in O reg o n , up 9%
fro m th e y e a r befo re
T he
State C hildren’s Services Division
(©bseriier
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(USPS 959-680)
OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established In 1970 by Alfred L. Henderson
Joyce Washington
Publisher
The PORTLAND OBSERVER Is located at
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become the sole property of the newspaper and can not be used in other
publications or personal usage, without the written oonsent of the general
manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. ©
1993 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED,
REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS
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PROHIBITED.
Subscriptions:$30.00 per year.
The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest African-American Publication-
is a me
r of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885,
and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers,
Inc., New York, NY. and The West Coast Black Publishers Association •
•*■• » v
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Serving Portland and Vancouver
.
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released statistics this week that
in d ic a te 32 c h ild re n died as a
result of child abuse or neglect. The
number was a record high for the state
and double the number who died in
1991.
"M y pro p o sed b u dget w ill
fund the im plem entation of the
previously proposed police program
to deal w ith dom estic violence,
child and elder abuse.” said Katz.
"This is a critical problem. Domestic
violence is one of the leadi ng causes of
injury to women and children in this
S ubscribe
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country
and I it is ~
a growing
local rvrrvh-
prob
lem.”
“ It breaks my heart when I
read som e o f these reports that
talk about children being poisoned,
b a tte re d , sh ak en and stabbed."
said Katz. "As Mayor and Police
C om m issioner, I will not stand
bv without responding. Within my
proposed budget, we will put more
resources into law enforcement tar
geted
to w a rd s
d o m estic
violence "According to the Portland
Bureau of Police, the domestic vio
PER
S
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Years. Members of the Congress are
now w eighing the efficacy of the
Clinton Plan There arc many who are
arguing agai nst a “Stimulus” approach
to solving the bad state of the U.S.
economy. Those who take that posi
tion say that the priority should be on
reducing the huge national deficit.
We believe, however, that the
economy docs need a significant stimu
lation from the infusion o f new money
for new programs. Further, we main
tain that any national strategy that
involves the infusion of new financial
resources into the economy should
include specific programs that are
designed to confront the growing un
employment in the African American
and other communities historically
disenfranchised
Although conservative Republi
cans have been successful in slowing
Congressional approval ofthc Clinton
proposals, the Congress during the
next thirty day s will be taking critical
votes that will directly effect the sum
mer of 1993. The call for quick re
sponse from the grassroots on this
matter should be urgently issued All
the members of Congress should be
contacted as soon as possible
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and
D rug A dministration
The Struggle For Full Employment
The spring of 1993 has now be
come
another critical time for a re
YEAR.
newed national debate on the issue of
P lease fill out ,
full employment. The need for jobs in
the African American and other people
ENCLOSE CHECK OR
of color communities has reached a
MONEY ORDER,
crisis stage This is certainly the situ
and M ail to :
ation in many of the nations urban
centers. Yet, in addition, we have
found from our own survey that job
ubscriptions
I
lessness is also a growing problem in
I T he P ortland O bserver
rural America
Joblessness is a civil rights issue
I
PO Box 3137
I P ortland , O regon 972 08 j because so much of the ultimate im
pact of racial discrimination on the
I
African American and other people of
I
color communities leads to a displace
I
ment from the mainstream of Ameri
I Name
can life, from employ ment and educa
1
I
1 tion to economics The Civil Rights
I
Movement, therefore, must exhibit the
1 capacity
I
to help determine the out
1 come of the
I Address
debate now gaining atten
1 tion on Capitol Hill concerning Presi
I
1 dent C linton's "Job Package."
I city, State
i
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Clinton has presented an "Eco
1 nomic Stimulus Plan" which includes
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1 a billion-dollar summer jobs program
I
I T hank Y ou F or R eading for the nation's youths who have been
I T he P ortland O bserver | entrapped in a spiral of continuous
uncinplovment foi the last several
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By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
can be sent
$30.00
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cough.
CIVIL
RIGHTS
JOURNAL
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DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME
FOR ONLY
directions -
F ood
T he P ortland
O bserver
lence ortrl
and z'Tvilrl
child oKiiCA
abuse nmOfiUYI
program \\
will
implement a system of "contract di
version “ for those suspected of abus
ing women, children and the elderly.
It will also provide a higher level of
“support, advocacy and assistance to
victims.”
K atz’s budget will propose add
ing seven new positions in the next
fiscal years to form a Domestic Vio
lence Program within the Family Ser
vices Div ision of the Police Bureau
Contact Sam Adams at 823-4120
for more information.
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Just look at what is at stake: a $ 1
billion program for disadvantaged
youths which would add 7000,000
extra jobs-including for the first time
drills in reading, writing and m ath
ematics. In addition there would be
another billion dollars to expand the
existing urban job corp programs.
At a time when unemploy nient of
African American youth in some cit
ies is higher than 70%, the crucial
timeline of this pending action by the
Congress cannot be overstated. The
high rate of drugs, Black on Black
violence, crime and other self-destruc
tive activities in the African Ameri
can community are related to high
unemployment
We join with the Congressional
Black Caucus and other concerned
organizat ions in efforts to pass a strong
“Jobs Bill." We most not let our chil
dren down We must not let our
communities continue to wreak havoc
as a result of joblessness.
Full employment must become a
rallying slogan of the Civil Rights
Movement Our collective efforts on
this issue will not only help to create
jobs, but also will help to save our
communities