F ebruary 02, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A2
rve
"Jim Crow Revisited”
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, O R 97208
by
Shtickîn’ and Jivin
After 85 Years---
restau rant
focused on our children. W e try to
in s till in our children strong values
and a strong, positive sense o f them­
selves. This is their first line o f de­
fense against many o f the problems
they w ill face. But we have a powerful
enemy in our struggle to build our
children’ s self esteem: the negative
stereotypes o f s h u fflin g Sambos,
happy slaves and carefree jigaboos.
These images send a pow erful mes­
sage. They say, “ You, Black people,
have no d ignity. You have no pride.
D on’ t aspire to greatness. Achieve­
age?
ment is not for you.”
These images bombard us from
all sides, from television, film and
sports. Kids w ith no positive self-
images arc kids who turn to gangs and
drugs for substitutes for self esteem.
We must take steps to eliminate these
negative depictions o f ourselves when­
M y second reaction was surprise
that the A frican American popula­
tion o f Portland has tolerated such an
attack this long.
There are many organizations
w orking very hard to improve the
condition o f A frican Americans in
Oregon. A lot o f these efforts arc
A h a lf century ago, the most glar­
ing examples o f inequality in the pub­
lic schools were the sharply different
material conditions which separated
the races, in terms o f teachers’ sala­
ries, instructional materials, and the
basic conditions o f learning. In many
Southern states, the expenditures per
pupil ratio between white and black
school teachers.
High schools in the Northern
ever we can. W e can’ t do much about major cities such as Chicago or St.
images from H ollyw ood and New Louis frequently denied admission to
Y o rk, but we can sure enough do african-Am crican students, at least
something about Dan and Louis Oys­ up to the Great Depression. Older
textbooks which had been used for
ter Bar.
I would like to w ork w ith your years by white students, which were
organization to and others to coordi­ fille d w ith outdated and even errone­
nate an e ffort to have this advertising ous inform ation, were distributed to
campaign ended. I envision a letter- black elem entary and secondary
w ritin g campaign, to include letters school children, black high schools,
to the management o f Dan and Louis when they did exist, frequently did
Oyster Bar, follow ed by a media cam­ not have courses in physics, calculus,
paign, i f this is not effective. I w ill chemistry or foreign languages. The
contact you during the coming week equipment in the biological sciences
todiscuss this w ith you and to get your was inadequate and often nonexist­
ideas about this issue. I f you would ent. it is hardly surprising that w ithin
like to contact me, I can be reached at this Jim Crow learning environment
the fo llo w in g numbers: 275-9644; many A fric a n -A m c ric a n students
232-1633. Thank you fo r your help. lagged behind their w hite counter­
W e’ re not shuckin’ and jiv in ’ any­ parts.
We arc
that Jim
UIU frequently
lIVCJuviiw; told
--------------
more.
Fredrick King
k illin g s , W esb ecke r’ s p s y c h ia tris t
described h im as e x h ib itin g an
associated w ith this drug.
There have been m any cases “ Increased L e v e l O f A g ita tio n and
A n g e r.” T he P s y c h ia tris t also
o f p e o ple c o m m ittin g h o rrib le
w r o te , “ P la n -- D is c o n tin u e
su icid es, som etim es c o up le d w ith
m u rd e r, w h ile on Prozac. One Prozac W h ic h M ay Be C ause.”
People who have nearly kille d
such case to o k place on A p r il 16,
1991, w hen fo rm e r San D ie g o , themselves or kille d other w hile on
Prozac have described becoming pro­
C a lifo rn ia , D ep uty S h e r iff H ank
positive.
A dam s shot his w ife and h im s e lf gressively more hostile and aggres­
Prozac has been linked to over
sive after starting on the drug. In
1700 deaths (nearly half o f these are to death in fro n t o f h is 1 7-yea r-
these cases, when the Prozac was
from suicides) and to date there arc o ld D a u g h te r. A d am s, w ho was
ta k in g Prozac, had no h is to ry o f discontinued, these seemingly inex­
over 28,000 adverse reaction reports
plicable feelings o f aggression disap­
filed w ith the FD A. Pre-Market Tests v io le n c e . A n o th e r in c id e n t in ­
peared.
by E li L illy (The Manufacturer O f v o lv e s P ro z a c u s e r Jo sep h
I would certainly like to see more
Prozac) showed at least 15 deaths W e sb cc k c r w h o , in Septem ber
articles on the truth about some o f the
1989, gunned d ow n 20 o f h is
linked to the drug. Drug oversight
truly deadly drugs that are allowed on
authorities in both Sweden and N or­ fo rm e r c o -w o rk e rs in L o u is v ille ,
the market by the FD A.
K e n tu c k y , k illin g e ig h t and then
way have refused to authorize E li
Scott Sulak
h im s e lf. T hre e days p rio r to the
L illy to market Prozac in those coun­
Leon C. Sm ith, 46, has been
named president and chief executive
officer o f the North/Northeast Port­
land Com m unity Bancorp (NPBC).
Smith, currently a division executive
and senior vice president o f the Bank
o f Boston in W aterbury, Conn., w ill
begin his position in Portland in early
February.
“ Leon b rin g s a strong b a n k ­
ing b a ckg ro un d and a great deal
o f d e d ic a tio n and v is io n to his
new
p o s itio n ,”
s a id
M ik e
H enderson, in te rim c h a irm a n o f
the group resp o n sib le fo r o rg a ­
n iz in g the new bank. H enderson
is also p re sid e n t o f P a c ifiC o rp
F in a n c ia l se rvices, In c ., a s u b s id ­
ia ry o f P a c ifiC o rp .
The bank is in the process o f
establishing its e lf in North/Northeast
Portland w ith start-up-funds from
settlem ent o f a law su it between
PacifiCorp and several environmen­
From The Teaching Of Scientology, written by Ron L. Hubbard
honest people.
When you know the technology
o f the mind, you know that it is a
mistake to use “ individual rights”
and “ freedom” as arguments to pro­
tect those who would only destroy.
Individual rights were not o rig i­
nated toprotectcrim inals but to bring
freedom to honest men. Into this area
o f protection dived those who needed
“ freedom” and “ individual liberty” to
cover their own questionable activi­
ties.
Freedom is for honest people. No
man who is not him self honest can be
fre e -h e is his own trap. When his
own deeds cannot be disclosed, then
he is a prisoner; he must w ithhold
him self from his fellow s and he is a
slave to his own conscience. Freedom
must be deserved before any freedom
is possible.
To protect dishonest people is to
condemn them to their own hells. By
m aking “ individual rights a syn­
onym fo r “ protect the crim ina l” , one
helps bring about a slave state for all;
fo r where “ in d ivid u a l lib e rty ” is
abused, and impatience w ith it arises
which at length, sweeps us all away.
The targets o f a ll disciplinary laws
arc the few who err. Such laws, unfor­
tunately, also injure and restrict those
who do not err. I f all were honest,
there would be no disciplinary threats.
There is only one way out for a
dishonest person-facing up to his
own responsibilities in the society
and putting him self back into com ­
munication w ith his fe llo w man, his
fam ily, the w orld at large. By seeking
to invoke his “ individual rights to
protect him self from an examination
o f his deeds, he reduces, just that
much, the future o f individual liberty -
-for he him self is not free. Yet he
infects others who are honest by using
their right o f freedom to protect h im ­
self.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a
g u ilty conscience. And it w ill lie no
more easily by seeking to protec t mis­
deeds by pleas o f “ Freedom means
that you must never look at me.” The
rig ht o f a person to survive is directly
related to his honestly.
Freedom for man docs not mean
freedom to injure man. Freedom o f
speech does not mean freedom to
harm by lies.
To preserve his freedom one must
not perm it men to hide their evil
intentions under the protection o f that
freedom. To be free, a man must be
honest w ith h im self and w ith his fel­
lows. I f a man uses his own honestly
o f protest the unmasking o f dishon­
estly, then that man is an enemy o f his
own freedom.
We can stand in the sun only so
long as we do not let the deeds o f
others bring the darkness.
T he le a s t-fre e person is the
person w ho ca nn ot reveal his ow n
acts and w h o protests the re v e la ­
tio n o f the im p ro p e r acts o f o th ­
ers. On such people w ill be b u ilt
a fu tu re p o litic a l slavery w here
we a ll have n u m be rs--an d our
g u ilt- u n le s s we act.
It is fascinating that blackmail
and punishment arc the keynotes o f
all dark operations. W hat w ould hap­
pen i f thcsctwocommodities no longer
existed? W hat would happen if all
men were free enough to speak? Then,
and only then, w oultkyou have free­
dom. On the day when we can fu lly
trust each other, there w ill be peace on
Earth.
N e w in g to n ,
6.7
p e rc e n t
in
W ethersfield, 17.2 percent in West
H a r tfo r d , and 8.3 p e rc e n t in
G lastonbury. Statewide, A fric a n -
Am crican and Latino students com ­
prise more than one-fourth o f the
state’ s total public school enrollment.
For nearly thirty years, there were
and the C iv il Rights Movement.
efforts to deracialize Connecticut’ s
In academic year 1991-92, 66
public schools. In 1966, a voluntary
percent o f a ll African-Am erican stu­
desegregation plan called Project
dents and 73 percent o f all Latino
Concern” was initiated, w ith 266black
students were in predominantly m i­
innercity students transported into
nority schools. This was the highest
the white suburbs. Project Concern
concentration o f black people in seg­
sent counselors to answer the ques­
regated schools in nearly a quarter
tions o f black parents whose children
century. The largest increases in ra­
participated in the program. By 1969,
cially polarized public schools were
690children took part in Project C on­
found in M ichigan, M aryland, New
Jersey, Connecticut, Tennessee, and cern, which received Federal, state
Alabama. The lowest proportion o f and foundation funding.
But problems surfaced almost
whiles in schools attended by A fr i­
immediately.
Project Concern soon
can-Americans was found in New
encountered severe budgetary prob­
Y ork state. Gary O rfield, the chief
lems. B y the late 1970s, Project Con­
researcher in the Harvard Project,
cern reached 1,175 children in twelve
was pessimistic about his findings.
O rfield declared: “ The c iv il rights grades. B ut by 1992, its enrollm ent
had fallen to 680 children. C ritics
impulse from the 1960s is dead in the
correctly called it an example o f ra­
water.”
one example o f the continuing cial “ tokenism.” Creating a one-way
street for black children into the white
burden o f racial inequality in our
suburbs perpetuated the illusion that
schools is found in Connecticut, the
integration in the classroom was iden­
nation’ s wealthiest state, today, the
tical w ith academic excellence. It did
enrollm ent in 140 o f Connecticut s
nothing to transform the curriculum
166 school districts remains 90 per­
cent w hite, w ith 80 percent o f the or dynamics o f learning.
In A p ril, 1989, C iv il Rights pro­
A frican-Am erican and Latino stu­
ponents filed a lawsuit on behalf o f
dents concentrated in lO p erccnto fa ll
Hartford’ sblack schoolchildren, Shcff
school systems. As o f October, 1992,
v. O ’ N e ill, charging that Jim Crow
Hartford, the state capital and largest
conditions existed int he public schools
city, had 93.1 percent m inority stu­
To foster educational equality w ill
dents in its public schools. Across the
Connecticut River, East H artford’ s require a fundamental change in how
education is financed, and an in fu ­
public schools were 38.1 percent
sion o f capital and resources into
nonwhitc. But the racial percentages
predominantly m inority schools. The
in H artford’ s other suburbs’ public
pursuit o f racial equality must be
schools were strikingly different: only
waged in our public schools.
7.6 percent nonwhite students in
Crow education is a thing o f the past.
But a recently-released study by the
Harvard Project on School Desegre­
gation illustrates how far we have
retreated as a society from the vision
o f equality and social justice articu­
lated by Dr. M artin Luther K ing, Jr.,
CEO Named For North/Northeast
Portland Community Bancorp
Honest People Have Rights Too
level o f a bility, you w ill be the first to
insist upon your rights to live with
arablf .
ity-
tries because o f the adverse reactions
A fter you have achieved a high
M
In the era o f B ro w n v. B oard
o f E d u c a tio n , the la n d m a rk Su­
preme C o u rt d e c is io n o f M a y ,
1954, w h ic h fin a lly a bo lish e d the
“ separate b ut e q u a l” p rin c ip le in
our p u b lic schools, lib e ra l educa­
tors and so cia l re fo rm e rs argued
that Jim C ro w segregation was
designed to perpetuate in e q u a l­
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, O R 97208
I am very concerned about the
increasing support o f the anti-depres­
sant drug Prozac. It seems that every
time you turn around there is another
article saying how wonderful this drug
is and how it has helped people. 1 have
had some personal experience w ith
this drug and none o f it has been
anning
students was four to one, or even
greater. Black teachers would nor­
m ally receive one-half or one-third
the annual salaries o f white public
SW 2nd and Ankeny
Enclosed is a photograph o f a
billboard on Sandy Boulevard. It is an
advertisement for Dan and L ouis’
Oyster Bar. It has an image o f three
cartoon clams. The inside o f thcclams
are dark faces, w ith white eyes pro­
truding. They arc wearing sneakers.
The caption reads: "S till shuckin
and jiv in ’ after 85 years.”
M y first reaction when I saw this
billboard was shock. W hy would any
business use such a blatantly racist
image in advertising in this day and
D r . M
talist groups.
Before being recruited for this
new position, Smith was previously
chief executive officer o f Emerald
C ity Bank Seattle. His fam ily still
resides in the Seattle area. D uring his
two years as CEO, Emerald C ity made
a remarkable turnabout by increasing
the loan p ortfo lio from $3 m illio n to
$6 m illio n and decreasing delinquent
loans from 40 percent to less than 2
percent. However, the effort to raise
new capital stalled and the bank was
dissolved after Smith left.
S m ith ’ s v is io n fo r the E m e r­
ald C ity B a n k -a s a hub o f c o m ­
m u n ity re in v e s tm e n t--is s im ila r
to w ha t is planned fo r the new
N o rth /N o rth e a s t P o rtla n d C o m ­
m u n ity B ancorp. Plans are to have
i t in o p e ra tio n in 1995.
The incentive to explore the cre­
ation o f such a bank came from a legal
settlement between PacifiCorp and a
variety o f other interests in 1991.
PacifiCorp agreed to fund a $ 1.7 mil­
lion grant w ith the ultim ate goal o f
establishingaself-sustaining,private
financial institution to provide devel­
opment funding to low and moderate
income residents who do not qualify
fo r loans under conventional lending
criteria. An additional $300,00 is set
aside on a matching basis to encour­
age additional com m unity contribu­
tions in the development project.
The project has been guided to
this point by the Oregon Com m unity
Foundation (OCF) and Neighborhood
Partnership Fund (NFP). O C F devel­
oped a task force comprised o f com ­
m unity leaders. Enlisting the help o f
Shorcbank Advisory Services, the task
force decided that the development o f
a com m unity bank to support the
comm unity itself would be the best
way to use the settlement money from
PacifiCorp.
Health Plan Application Available,
Meetings Scheduled
Continued from front
k
percent o f clients w ill receive
their care from prepaid health
plans that are paid a set amount
per month fo r all persons who
have chosen that plan, Thorne
said. The plans are then respon­
sible fo r managing and paying
fo r their enrollees’ care.
"W e’ ve been very pleased
with the response we ve received
from the m edical provider com ­
m unity," Thorne said. "M ore
than 20 plans have signed con­
tracts to serve M edicaid clients
under the health plan, and these
plans w ill be available in almost
all areas o f the state." E lse ­
w here, she sa id , clients w ill
choose a prim ary-care provider
to manage their care, and the
state will then pay fo r actual
services rendered.
Thorne said legislators’ in ­
tent was to help low -incom e
p eo p le who freq u en tly delay
m edical attention until they be-
come seriously ill and require
hospital emergency-room treat­
ment, to instead seek preventive
care and early treatment.
The health p la n ’s M edicaid
expansion covers all major dis­
eases o f women and children,
covers virtually all current M ed ­
icaid Treatment, and exceeds fe d ­
eral M edicaid requirements by
providing dental, hospice, p re ­
scription drugs, most transplants
a n d ro u tin e p h y s ic a ls a n d
mammograms. The health plan
generally doesn’ t cover condi­
tions that get better on their own
(such as viral sore throat), con
ditionsfor which home treatments
are effective (sprains, fo o d p o i­
so n in g ), co sm etic co n d itio n s
(scar removal, benign skin tu­
mors ) and conditions where treat­
ment is generally ineffecti ve (such
as aggressive treatment fo r ad-
vancedcancer, although comfort
care w ill be provided.)
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