M
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S eptember 20, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The “P o rtlan d © bseroer
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BY
B y KNK
Civil Rights Journal
p e r s p e c t / V e s
A Tribute To Fallen Warriors
Education For Year 2000:
Who Said it Would Be Easy?
E P O W K l I J \ < KNOX
-aybe it’s just a sign of
my own aging, but it
seem s that we are
losing warriors for justice at a
very fast pace these days.
In just the last few days, we have
lost Cleveland Robinson, leader o f
District 65 ofthe United Auto W ork
ers in New York City and W illiam
Kunstler, famed attorney and defend
er o f the unjustly accused and soci
ety’s outcasts. No one could attend
Cleveland Robinson’s funeral, held
at the Cathedral o f St. John the D i
vine in New York City, and not be
awed. There was the grandeur o f the
church, the power o f the African
drummers leading the procession and
there was the procession itself In it
were Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young,
Coretta Scott King, David Dinkins
and Harry Belafonte. In it were labor
leaders like B ill Lucy and Owen
Bieber and union members whom
Cleveland Robinson had spent a life
time representing In it were church
leaders and c iv ic leaders and
Robinson family members. In it were
the Consul General and Ambassador
from Robinson’s native Jamaica. It
was an awesome moment.
Cleveland Robinson’ s name is
not a household word Yet, he was a
man whose unswerving commitment
to the working people o f our country
led to the improvement o f the lives o f
the 30,000 mostly black and Hispan
ic workers in small shops and depart
ment Stores whom he represented.
He was a man whose dedication to
fighting injustice, especially racial
injustice, led him to be a loyal and
fearless supporter o fth e civ il rights
movement in the United States and
the anti-apartheid movement in South
Africa.
It was Cleveland Robinson who
served as the administrator chairman
o fth e 1963 March on Washington.
In her remarks at this funeral, Mrs.
King remembered his long-time sup
port o f Dr. King and the c iv il rights
movement, dating back to the 1956
Montgomery bus boycott. Indeed,
many in the movement knew that you
always could count on Cleveland
Robinson for moral and financial
support and "troops” when you con
fronted racism.
It was the same in the anti-apart
heid movement, where Cleveland
Robinson played a key role in getting
labor support o f anti-apartheid activ
ities He helped to organize the 1986
anti-apartheid rally in New York City
where nearly a m illion marched and
let our national leaders know they no
longer had public support for U.S.
backing o f a racist regime. For that
reason President Nelson Mandela
sent a personal message to
Robinson's funeral.
W illiam Kunstler is a name that
many know for his tireless and fear
less efforts on behalf o f many who
challenged racism in this country. He
was Dr. K ing’s lawyer and repre
sented Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and
Stokely Carmichael. More recently,
he defended Malcolm X ’ s daughter,
who was accused by the Justice De
partment o f plotting to k ill Louis
Farrakhan. He took on the cases o f
many o f the prisoners charged fo l
lowing the Attica Prison up-rising.
He took on unpopular cases, like that
o f Wayne W illiams, who was con
victed o fk illin g young boys in Atlan
ta and Colin Ferguson, who was re
cently convicted o fk illin g people on
the Long Island railroad.
W illiam Kunstler was a man who
chai lenged our legal system to be the
best and the fairest it could be. Cleve
land Robinson was a man o f great
integrity and energy who believed in
the dignity and rights o f the working
poor, fearlessly challenging injus
tice wherever he saw it. Both were
warriors for justice.
In his h om ily at Cleveland
Robinson’s funeral, Andrew Young
reminded us that the struggle contin
ues. May we be inspired by Cleve
land Robinson and W illiam Kunstler
so that we may not let the baton drop.
Civil Rights Enforcement
System Gets Needed Overhaul
J ack R oberts ,
O regon L abor C ommissioner
by
3®:
hile affirmative action
the subject of much
“
di
discussion
and contro
versy today, no one seems to
disagree with the notion that
our laws against discrimination
must be enforced.
Unfortunately, that is becoming
more and more d ifficu lt given the
growing disparity between the num
ber o f complaints being filed and the
investigative resources available to
pursue them. As a result, we are in
danger o f undermining the credibili
ty o f our enforcement effort at the
very time that the continuing avail
ability o f other means o f ensuring
fairness and diversity is being called
into question.
During the last five years, the
number o f c ivil rights complaints
filed with the Oregon Bureau o f La
bor & Industries (B O L I) has in
creased by more than 60%. Over the
same period, staffing in thecivil rights
division has declined by 15%. While
we believe that productivity and e ffi
ciency have improved during this
time, it would be hard to argue that
we have been able to maintain the
quality o f our investigations in the
face o f so dramatic an increase in
workload
The bottom line is that we some
how need to do a better jo b o f enforc
ing our laws against discrimination.
People who believe they have been
discriminated against, as well as those
who are accused o f discriminating,
should be assured that their claims
w ill be fairly and quickly resolved.
Increasingly, it has not been possible
to give people that assurance.
The problem, all across the coun
try, is the same: By a ratio o f about 4-
to-1, civil rights complaints filed with
enforcement agencies, such as BOLI,
are found to be without merit or with
out adequate evidence to justify pur
suing the complaint. Yet these cases
take valuable time away from investi
gation o f the good cases for which
greater investigative resources are
needed and are clearly justified.
In a way, Oregonians are lucky.
Cases filed with BO LI must, by law,
be resolved within 12 months. Cases
filed with the federal Equal Employ
ment O p p o rtu n ity C om m ission
(EEOC), by comparison, have no
time restriction and in the past have
often been held up for years.
But Oregon’ s 12-month dead
line can also present a downside,
requiring quick results at the expense
o f thorough and satisfactory results.
With approximately the same num
ber o f investigators, BO LI receives
around, 2,500 complaints a year,
while the Seattle EEOC office han
dles 1,500. Their multi-year backlog
o f cases translates, in our case, into
tremendous caseloads for our inves
tigators, with correspondingly great
er pressure to get the cases o ff their
desks, often at the expense o f the
thoroughness o f our investigation.
That’s why, last spring, I ap
pointed a task force consisting o f
BO LI investigators, complainant and
respondent attorneys, and represen
tatives from civ il rights groups and
employers to develop a set o f criteria
that could be used to determine, dur
ing the first 30 to 45 days after a
discrimination didn’ t occur. It just
complaint is filed, which cases we
means we can’t justify' the continued
w ill investigate and which we w ill
expenditure o f limited public resourc
not. Those cases that are not investi
es to investigate every claim.
gated are dismissed, with the com
To help ensure fairness and con
plainant still having the right to pur
sistency, we w ill require review by,
sue a private legal action at his or her
and the concurrence of, a second
own expense.
investigator before a claim is placed
While the task force was under
in the “ C” category and dismissed.
way, we learned that the EEOC was
We are also instituting quality con
experimenting with a similar pro
trol measures and a tracking system
cess, placing claims in an “ A ” “ B” or
not only to m onitor implementation,
“ C” category, with “ A " cases being ■ ■ but also to identify ways to continu
the solid claims, “ C” being claims
ally improve the system.
that should be dismissed, and “ B "
Some w ill no (loubt complain
cases being those that require addi
that th is new system is a cop-out, that
tional investigation to determine if
what we really need is more staff so
they should be treated as an “ A ” or
that every claim can be thoroughly
“ C” case. After discussing this pro
investigated. There are people at
cedure with the Seattle EEOC office,
BO LI who believe that. I believe,
we decided to adopt the same catego
however, that even ifw e doubled our
rization process, but using the crite
investigative staff, we’d never have
ria established by our task force to
time to track down all o f the evidence
determine the appropriate classifica
on every claim that comes through
tion for the claims we receive.
the door. N or should we, since the
Our criteria do not distinguish
burden imposed upon individuals and
between the type o f discrimination
businesses wrongly accused o f dis
being claimed. For example we do
crimination cannot be justified where
not prioritized gender-based discrim
evidence o f wrongdoing is lacking
ination cases over race-based dis
from the beginning.
crimination cases, for example, or
vice versa. Instead, the criteria we
use includes such factors as the exist
ence o f witnesses or o f comparable
situations within the business or firm.
We don’t expect this system to
be universally accepted without con
troversy. Not everyone whose claim
we decide not to investigate w ill ac
cept that determination graciously.
We can’t expect them to. After all,
the absence o f strong evidence to
proceed does not always mean that
I am committed to the effective
enforcement o f our civ il rights laws.
I am also committed to resolving
every claim as quickly and fairly as
possible, given the resources avail
able to us. M y hope is to see the day
when employers no longer feel
obliged to pay nuisance settlements
on frivolous claims, and complain
ants no longer feel obliged to accept
token payments on legitimate claims.
I ’m convinced this new system w ill
move us closer to that day.
better ffc Tfhe <3Lditor
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
House Bill 249
<7^
f j
VZLx
he failure of House Bill
2493 to pass the
Oregon Legislature
may have left the impression
that som e or all state
regulatory boards operate
outside of public view.
The State Board o f Clinical
Social Workers would like to em
phasize that its proceedings, includ
ing much o f the disciplinary pro
cess, is open to the public.
The Board’s primary respon
sibility is to protect the consumer.
This is accomplished through ap
propriate regulations, licensure o f
clinical social workers and the in
vestigation ofconsumer complaints
against Licensed clinical social
Workers.
A ll formal disciplinary hear
ings are open to the public A ddi
tionally, the public has access to
information regarding the nature o f
Hope For Teachers
i
-¿J,
want to offer hope and
encouragem ent to
<
teachers who are
feeling discouraged as they
face another tough year.
pending or past complaints against
Licensed Clinical Social Workers.
The Board does protect the
identity o f a complainant during
part o f the process, both to protect
the complainant’s privacy and to
create an environment that encour
ages the identification o f question
able practices.
The Board takes it role o f con
sumer protection seriously and be
lieves that the regulatory authority
it exercises protects the consumer
and helps ensure high standards o f
practice by Licensed Clinical So
cial Workers.
The Board already complies
with most o f the provisions includ
ed in HB 2493 and is supportive o f
legislative efforts to strengthen con
sumer protection provisions o f all
professional licensing Boards.
Sincerely, Mark F. Oldham,
LCSW, Chairman
Many must cope with adminis
trators demanding them to accept the
unacceptable; abandoning their tra
ditional professional teaching skills
to strange unproven models; je tti
soning textbooks; adopting bogus
‘‘national standards" such as the much
criticized national history standards
that demeans George Washington
while elevating obscure politically
correct activists; evaluating students
on State Outcomes that attempt to
manipulate student’ s personalities,
behaviors, and beliefs; etc.
Classroom teachers lose profes
sionalism when forced to use tech
niques not o f their choosing. The
public understands that it is not the
teacher’ s fau It, but it is the c lassroom
teacher who takes the heat from par-
1
ents who keep asking hard questions
such as, “ Where have these supposed
reforms worked? Is my child being
hurt while the schools experiment
with unproven teaching techniques?
W ill my child w ill be accepted to
college? etc.’’
A ll across Oregon there are wait
ing lists in private schools and
homeschooling is becoming com
monplace. This year is sure to bring
more pullouts as parents are put o ff
with glib retons of, " it s the law’ and
“ Give it a chance ”. Good news for
all, we’re circulating a statewide pe
tition to repeal the law. Once re
pealed, administrators are suie to
listen to teachers and parents and go
forward with only the positive as
pects o f school reforms and trash the
rest. U ntil then, we’re all stuck. Call
Citizens for Academic Excellence,
PAC for information and/or petitions
at 745-3016.
Gayna Flake, C hief Petitioner
reader, who for the
past few weeks has
C
been following my
education series in this
column and a companion
series in another part of this
I new spaper
[M in o rity
Business For Year 2000], says
it is becoming increasingly
difficult to decide what to
learn and how to learn it.
\
How ever,
yo u r style o f
p r e s e n tin g
y o u r s u b je c t
m atter makes
the process a
lo t
e a s ie r,
th e y
con
clude.
W e ll, thank you fo r the kind
words but, m oving rig h t along,
let me address a couple o f per
tin en t points o ther readers have
made. In respect to those non
readers at the e a rly grades I
was g rip in g about, I ’ ve been
advised that Vernon Elem enta
ry School begs fo r scru tin y. No
sooner received was this sad
advice than a teenager at the
next restaurant table begged our
pardon fo r the in te rru p tio n , but
subm itted that i f we thought
that was bad we w ou ld have
cried at the illite ra c y at K4 &
K5 encountered d u rin g a spe
cial program at Vernon this past
summer.
This exchange prom pted a
particip a nt in our in fo rm a l noon
hour gathering to com m ent on
an a rticle I w rote here about ten
years ago. The e x c itin g head
lin e was “ A fric a n A m e ric a n
E le m e n ta ry S c h o o l S co re s
Highest In C ity o f Los Angeles
IQ
T e s ts ” . T h is was the
" W in d s o r H ills E le m e n ta ry
S chool” in West Los Angeles
(B a ld w in H ills ), and the tim e
was 1969-1970. The parents
and guardians o f the 400 -p lus,
95% black student body were
upper econom ic class p ro fe s
sionals and business persons.
From a ro c k y beg in nin g in
the early 1960’ s when the area
firs t began what was to become
a com plete change in e th n ic ity
(w h ite to b la c k ), the school
became liv in g p ro o f o f what
was reiterated in a notable po-
lem ic by a parent o f the tim e,
“ Those A fric a n A m erican genes
w ill m atch up w ith the w o r ld ’ s
best when the c h ild re n are g iv
en the proper n u rtu rin g , m o ti
vation and su pp ort.” And th is is
ju s t what happened d u rin g the
e arly, tu rb u le n t years at the
school; a battle ground in fact,
w hich, o f current s ig n ific a n c e ,
is what a re a lly caring com m u
n ity should ex
pect
if
re a l
change is to be
fly
effected.
Professor
I m ade an
Mckinley
e a rly m o rn in g
Burt
c a ll
to
th e
school last week
and was referred to a re tire d
p rin c ip a l. Between the tw o o f
us, we recalled the p rin c ip a l
factors o f contention w hich un
derlay the years o f struggle to
gain excellence. There were b it
ter fig hts between p arent-com
m unity organizations and the
school d is tric t/u n io n to oust
la z y , in c o m p e te n t te a ch e rs.
These m is fits had been dumped
into W indsor H ills it became
“ c u llu d ” . A practice found in
other cities.
Because over h a lf o f the
parent associations were heavi
ly loaded w ith lawyers, C P A .,
adm inistrators, educators and
c iv il servants at a ll levels, the
school d is tric t and other obsta
cles to educational excellence
were best at every turn. Those
o f you who read m y other a rti
cle in this issue ( M in o r ity B u si
ness For Year 2000) w ill note
the s im ila rity in ‘ w e ig h t’ and
resource o f this parent group to
that o f the successful black
group that won out fo r better
education w ith the W ashington,
D .C . B o a rd o f E d u c a tio n
(Hobson vs Board o f Educa
tio n , circa 1969-70).
W e ll, we began this a rtic le
w ith com m entary on lea rn ing -
- modes, presentation o f m ate
ria ls, etc.
N ext week w e ’ re g o in g to
e x p lo r e som e s p e c ific a p
proaches both re c e iv in g and
dissem inating in fo rm a tio n that
w ill make the learning and com
m unication process a breeze. I
prom ise!
(The ^ o rtla n h (©hserber
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