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violence and social cannibalism
be rampant if sagacity and com
mon sense were encouraged on all
levels of society ?
Where are our philosophers (lov
ers of wisdom), our sages and deep
thinkers? In America, people are
made celebrities and "stars" simply
because they are proficient at play
ing sports, entertaining or because
they are in the media spotlight? No
consideration whatsoever is given to
their character. In television and
motion pictures most of the major
characters are seriously flawed. They
are sociopaths, ruthless connivers or
people with no morals. Is it wise to
trumpet antisocial values and pa
rade degenerate behavior before the
public without offering a counter
balance? Can a culture that fosters
instant gratification, conspicuous
consumption, crass materialism,
situational ethics, hypocrisy and so
cial irresponsibility be deemed w ise
What does the future bode for such a
society?
Will this nation continue its slide
into depravity and decadence or is
moral transformation possible? For
Africans in America we lace an even
greater challenge; maintaining our
sanity. Prior to our captivity and
subjugation to European or Arab
hegemony, we came from traditions
where wisdom, mother wit and com
mon sense were integral parts ofthe
social fabric. African people vener
ated their elders, they were spiritu
ally centered and communally fo
cused. Wisdom, right discernment
and right conduct, was encouraged,
foolishness was clearly defined and
discouraged Now we find ourselves
in a situation where the exact oppo
site is true. Check out the media.
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Have I got an education plan for you, II
¥
art one of this series
c e rta in ly trig g e re d a
large and favorable re
sponse, and I am pleased for a
number of reasons.
Not the least of which is what
seems to be an almost universal rec
ognition that a "return to basics" can
indeed be a "back to the future”
movement.
O f equal importance is the fact
that the spectrum of favorable re
spondents was across al I age. ethn ic,
gender and generation lines. It was
my intention that this second part of
the "Education Plan" would address
several novel innovations for expe
diting the integration of 21st-cen
tury technology into the school sys
tem. However, last Thursday's op
portunistic participation in an
"Ebonics" discussion on Cable TV
(2/13/97) has led me to defer this
component until next week.
This "Ebonics" roundtable dis
cussion was sponsored by “Straight-
Talk, Inc.," a very active community
organization dedicated to timely and
constructive intervention with our
at-risk youth. The program modera
tor was Mr Samuel A. Johnson, and
my three fellow panelists were. Dr.
Charles L. Hopson, principal at Har
riet Tubman school. Education Con
sultant, Edward T Roberts and Dr.
R obert G arlett, principal at
Zellerbach Elementary School, Ca
mas, Washougal, Washington.
By
Professor
Mckinley
Burt
I lie exchange of viewpoints was
quite livelyand informative, and while
no absolute consensus was reached
(or expected), some classic positions
on the subject were delineated. The
principal arguments subtending these
positions emerged as did differing
viewpoints on the sociological frame
of reference to be employed in evalu
ating the linguistic component of
African American experience. But
more on this in a later evaluation of
the "Ebonics" theme.
Meanwhile, ‘back at the ranch'
let me cite again, this week, a noble
phrase from president Cl inton's edu
cational priorities. "Every eight year-
old must be able to read" Well, I
would certainly hope so, but in my
"Plan", I emphasize how important
it is to restore that pre-World War II
‘learning incubator' which com
bined motivation and expectation in
a fashion that saw many segregated
ghetto schools performing at a level
of say, the local "Catlin Gable."
There follows a note I wrote in the
third grade, at age 8
"Dear teacher. I wish to acknow I-
edge to you that I did not participate
in the disturbance of your room yes
terday ” I could have done a little
better with the modifier, but my
students at Portland State Univer
sity go, the message when I circu
lated a photostat of the original note.
This was during one o f my bad"
semesters w hen I was being forced
to deal with a freshman class with
many graduates of Portland's noto
rious "Adams High School.” This
was in the early 1970's
This tragic "open campus, do-your-
own-thing” experiment on a lower-
income student population (whoelse,
of course) had devastating results,
inflicting long-term social and eco-
nom ic disabil ities. Those students that
were reading and writing at the third
to fifth grade level when they entered
high school let) in the same condition
Not all of course, as a number of
parents, and many students them
selves, belatedly realized the conse
quences of this educational travesty,
and took remedial measures. I and an
associate have tracked several ofthese
cases, even across generational lines
So you can understand our concent
with the inspired rhetoric of the archi
tects of “Ebonics.”
As is par for the course with these
carefully orchestrated education
game plans, the Portland experi
ment was preceded by a glow ing,
two-page spread in Time Magazine.
Two young, white lads flashed their
brilliant smiles and new education
doctorates, then waxed eloquent on
their scheme to retrieve inner-city
youth. Suitably equipped with both
advanced degrees and foundation
monies these two upper-m iddle c lass
pedagogues descended upon a naive
(?) Portland School district.
Early on I encountered these
Harvard graduates in the staging
area that had been se, up for them in
the basement of Jefferson High
School. Naturally, any attempt to
dissuade them or the administration
was futility itself.
San Francisco: deja vu all over again
by J ohn
W illiam T empleton
ve
ver since the Gold Rush,
has been very danger
ou
ous to be an african-
american neighborhood in San
Francisco, as soon as a commu
nity gets settled and comfort
able, someone else decides they
want your land.
iti
The city 's history can literally be
traced by the neighborhoods that used
to be populated primarily by Blacks
form the Financial District and
Chinatown to Russian Hill and the
Fiullmore and Hayes valley, tactics
ranging from vigilante violence and
the Fugitive Slave Act to the right of
testimony law. urban renewal, and in
the case ofthe Fillmore, even murder,
have been employ ed to displace Black
land owners. Bu7t benerally. it's been
done under the auspices of legitimate
governmental authority through plan
ning. zoning and permits granted,
often with the stated purpose of im
proving community conditions.
You’ll find very few former resi
dents of the Hayes Valley or North
Be Wise, Be Well
B\ .It nidus R icardo S tanton
There is a Swahili saying. "Wis
dom creates well being.” Africans
have always recognized the con
structive role wisdom plays in pro
moting and maintaining social sta
bility and harmony. The New
Webster's Comprehensive Dictio
nary of the English Language de
fines the word wisdom as; the qual
ity of being wise, the faculty to
discern right and truth and to judge
and act accordingly, sound judg
ment, sagacity. discretion, common
sense, extensive knowledge. (Em
phasis mine.) Mediate on that for a
moment In essence, one who is
wise discerns truth, that which is
right and acts accordingly.
In a sane and civilized society,
wisdom , doing w hat is right
would be encouraged, recognized
and honored by all strata of the
culture. Unfortunately for us,
America in neither sane nor civi
lized How can you make such an
assertion, you ask? Study the real
history of this nation. Take a
look around you. Now' imagine a
society based upon truth and righ
teousness and contrast that with
what you see. Docs what you see
give any indication Americans
have discerned truth, what is right
and right action? If wisdom was
promoted as a virtue in America,
would her citizenry assent to the
hypocrisy and corruption we see
all around us? Would there be as
much animosity, frustration and
rancor in this society if truth and
right were priorities? Would the
suicide rates for all races, ages
and socio-economic groups be so
h ig h ’ Would alienation, sub
stance abuse, divorce, domestic
19, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver
Crudeness and vulgarity are held
up as the standard. We disrespect
our elders and we have cut our
selves off from a fount of tradi
tional wisdom, from successful
examples and role models for liv
ing. We have replaced them with
the decadence of Hollywood and
Madison Avenue with gangstas,
pimps and hoochies.
Wisdom is the key to our regen-
eration/transformation as a people.
We have to discern truth, righ
teousness and act accordingly Dis
cernment is a mental process We
must not abdicate our mental re
sponsibilities or allow our faculties
to atrophy from lack of use! D is
cernment means having the power
to perceive differences between
things, or ideas as well as their
relationships. It also mean using
our volition to decide to act in
accordance with what we deem
right! Actions always speak louder
than words.
Intuitively what is right, for
the most part it is very simple
Cunning m ischief makers are the
ones obfuscating the truth and
what is right. Their goal is to
confuse the people. In a sane
society, righteousness is taught,
encouraged and openly and con
sistentlv practiced. Doing what
is right brings healing, it allows
us to feel about ourselves, it cre
ates well-being for us and those
with whom we interact Let us
not look to the hypocrisy of our
adversaries to extricate us from
madness Let us look to our past.
Io the wisdom of our ancestors
lor guidance and lor w hat is right.
true and wise When we become
wise, well-being will follow.
Beach public housing projects who
expect to move back into those areas
once they are demolished nation
ally. African-American urban neigh
borhoods have been sited near in
dustrial concentrations.
W'veall heardetheof)-quoted say
ing "the other side of the tracks."
While doing an analysis of Census
data in the 1980s. I was able to con
firm demographically the validity of
that notion, while looking at more
than 100 metropolitan areas, I was
struck that 95 percent ofthe time, the
2000 block of East 14th Street in any
city was an 100 percent African-
American area, further queries de
termined that because of prevailing
w inds heading east. African-Ameri
can neighborhoods were generally just
east ofthe industrial area near the site
of the pollution form smokestacks.
Since railroads ran to the factories,
those neighborhoods would be next to
the tracks, conversely, in practically
any city, the "West End" was de
scribed as a fairly upscale area with
very few Blacks.
Depite the environmental conse
quences, there might be some secu
rity and lower housing prices form
being in a less desirable area. But
those neighborhoods have tended to
be the path o f least residtance for
highways, and major construction
projects like the Oakland postal
ciearning center. Crippled by the
lack of access to mortgage capital
for thome building and renovations,
the communities have been unable
to amass the capital to hold on to
their neighborhoods.
New Bayview aublisher Willie
Ratliff is now- sounding the alarm
for Vayview-Hunters Point, the site
of the highest concentration of breast
coancer in the world. It also lies
between the already approved Pa
cific Bell Park for the San Francisco
Giants and the about-to-go-to-vot
ers 49ers stadiuym-mall complex,
linked by a planned light railline up
I hird Street. Although the combined
impact of the Giants and Niners has
never meant an iota of economic
benefit to Bayview. Ratliff correctly
perceives that someone will benefit
from the increased land values due
to the appeal of the new facilities.
History tells him that it won't be the
current residents.
In the same wav that an effort has
been launched to creae an economic
magnet with the Fillmore Jazz Pres
ervation district, although hopefully
much more effectively and quickly,
there is a need to give the Bay view-
Hunters Point community an eco
nomic focus that provides jobs and
entrepreneurship for the current resi
dents.
One ofthe first steps that can take
place is to replace the impersonl thired
Street and honor the legacy of the
recently departed spokesman for Black
San Francisco—Dr. C arlton B.
Goodlett. physician, psychiatrist and
publisher ofthe Sun Reporter-by re
naming the street Carlton Goodlett
Way. In addition to Goodlett's local
and statew ide contributions, he is due
the primary credit for hekping to re
vive African-American community
newspapers in the 1960s and 1970s as
president ofthe National Newspaper
Publishers Association. By lobbying
with major corporations, he helped
the papers transition from a reliance
on circulation revenue to advertising
and inspired a whole new generation
of editors and publishers through his
advocacy of journalism education, in
cluding this writer
Is Alexis Herman Paying the
High Cost of Public Service?
by Y vonne S cruggs
few years ago, I co
ta u g h t the C ap sto n e
Seminar for 2 2 second-
year graduate students at the
University of Pennsylvania's pres
tigious Fels Center of Govern
ment.
and 1989.1 wonder if these students
feel vindicated today when they look
at the cannibalizing of public ser
vants that dominate the front pages
of national newspapers ’ It appears
to me these days that prominence in
public service eventually leads to
having every minor personal flaw
magnified and having the well-
intentioned and completely appro
priate fulfillment of legitimate du
ties of public position distorted into
devious schemes of personal or po
litical aggrandizement.
There are numerous recent cases
of character assassinations and repu
tation assaults w hich would discour
age any sane person from voluntar
ily accepting a high government
appointment. Often the entire fam
ily is vilified and tarnished by broad
brush allegations or "appearance of
impropriety," this is then incorpo
rated into the persona of the public
figure, and whether or not it for
future publicity Often these allega
tions can haunt public figures for a
lifetime.
It should come as no surprise
therefore, that of the many who are
called to offer service in a national
public administration, few choose to
be chosen. And of those who do
choose, many (especially women and
minorities) come to wish that they
had not. The current contretemps
A
Earning Masters Degrees in vari
ous aspects of government and public
affairs were 14 Phi Beta Kappas, sev
eral former Rhodes Scholars, a con
tingent of honors bachelors degree
holders and a majority who had rich
backgrounds as legislative aides to
congressional persons or as assistants
to various mayors and governors.
During the final class meetings,
we polled each student about his or
her career plans after graduation. With
the exception of one. all of these
stimulating and bright young people
excitedly reported their success in
finding coveted positions with pri
vate corporations and industries, not
with governmental agencies or public
organizations. Why? Because they
feared the effects of press intrusion
and unwarranted notoriety on their
children and families, and felt that
given the conservatively capped gov
ernmental salaries and other restricted
public employment amenities, the
gains from public service simply were
not worth the pain.
This took place between 1986
over the alleged/implied/assumed/
speculated upon role of Alexis
Herman in the Democratic National
Committee's (DND) fund raising
investigation, is a graphic and dra
matic case in point.
Herman's primary responsibility
in the White House for the last four
years had been to reach out to con
stituents. especially traditionally
excluded or under-represented
classes, to make sure that they felt
embraced. These groups, included
clergy, small business owners, and
labor groups. Herman was respon
sible tor correcting that impression
and improving the reality. Where
excluded groups often art not asked
to help make a difference in deci
sions affecting all A m ericans,
Herman's ollice existed in order to
facilitate their participation by the
inclusion of their opinions, encour
aging their influence and recogniz
ing their civic and entrepreneurial
power.
Alexis Herman did her job well.
I his tact has been under-reported
and underestimated.
Unfortunately. the decision to leak
un-annotated records of the many
perfectly legitimate meetings she
arranged lor diverse groups of
Americans added to the problem
and was unhelpful at best, cynical at
least.
belter 'Cœ 'Che (SLditor
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