I
■ u B B
T he P ortland O bserver • F ebruary 2 6 , 1997
USDA’s discrimination
yields bitter harvest
Harlon Dalton to
Speak at “Community
Convocation”
The Com m unity Convocations
Project announced today that Yale
University law professor Harlon
Dalton, author o f Racial Healing:
Confronting the Fears Between
Blacks and Whites (Doubleday
1995). w ill speak to a gathering o f
concerned citizens at the first o f
three Comm unity Con vocation af
ter-work meetings. The convoca
tion w ill be held on Tuesday,
March 4, from 6 to 9 pm, at
Jefferson High School Cafeteria,
5210 N Kerby.
Dalton proposes that true heal
ing w ill only come about through
frank and open dialogue about race:
“ It is by exploring the things we
dare not say to each other that we
can best get to know one another."
Today he implores citizens to speak
openly about the conditions which
divide and terrorize us, and “ to put
on the table all o fo u r fears, trepida
tions, wishes and hopes." Dalton’s
presentation is partially funded by
the Oregon Council for the Hu
manities.
Follow-up convocationswill be
held on Tuesday, A p ril 1, at
Marshall High School, and Tues
day, M ay 6. at W ilson H igh
School. For more information call
228-7231, FAX, 228-8840.
P age A 5
m R ep . B ennie G. T hompson
(D-MS)
I f A gricu lture Secretary. Dan
Glickman is serious, about putting
an end to the discriminatory prac
tices at the United States Depart
ment o f Agriculture (USDA), and I
believe he is, then USDA should
immediately develop a process to
pay remedies to those individuals
who have lost their farms as a direct
result o f USDA discrimination.
Second, USDA needs to establish
and implement an independent sys
tem - a "watchdog” - to m onitor field
activities and enforce c iv il rights
laws and regulations. The present
system o f complaints and appeals,
in which the accused USDA agency
investigates itself, is thoroughly in
adequate
Third, those USDA officials and
field supervisors who have consis
tently demonstrated more allegiance
to maintaining “ good ole boy" net
works than in promoting fairness
and equity, should be immediately
dismissed and prosecuted to the fu ll
est extent o f the law.
Fourth, congress, once again,
should revisit the county committee
system, which is controlled by a few
Unemployment fraud
Gregory Black has pled guilty to
felony theft charges in Multnomah
County court for fraudulently col
lecting unemploym ent benefits.
Black was sentenced to 24 months
probation, community service, and
ordered to pay restitution o f $4,554
to the Oregon Employment De
partment.
To receive unemployment ben
efits, a person must be able, avail
able, and actively seeking work.
Also, any earning during a period a
person is claim ing benefits must be
reported. Individuals may earn up
to one-third o f their weekly benefit
amount before benefits are deducted
dollar for dollar.
Charges were brought against
Black as a result o f an investigation
by the Employment Department.
The department regularly pros
ecutes individuals found to have
claimed unemployment benefits
while working and who incorrectly
report their earnings.
The investigation by the Em
ployment Department was trig
gered by the agency’ s cross-match
system.
Car chase arrest
A t approxim ately 5:00 a.m.,
Tuesday, February 18, 1997, Port
land Police O fficers became in
volved in a vehicle pursuit in North
Portland, the chase ended when the
driver drove into a dead end street,
turned his vehicle toward a police
officer and attempted to run him
down, the policeman fired several
rounds at a vehicle driven by Den
nis James Bacote, black male, 20
years, o f NE Portland. Bacote d riv
ing a Ford Explorer, and accompa
nied by another male subject, was
observed d riving erratically in the
area o f N. A lb in a and N.
Killingsw orth St. When officers
attempted to stop the veh ic le a chase
ensued.
The driver Bacote, was placed
into custody at the scene. The pas
senger ran from the scene and has
not been located. The officer was
able to avoid the vehicle and was
unharmed. A Rottweiler dog in
side the vehicle was shot and killed
during these actions. Bacote has
been lodged into the Justice Center
Jail. He is charged with Attempt
Aggravated Murder, Attempt As
sault 1, PCS II, Reckless Driving,
Attempt to Elude, and a Warrant-
Probation Violation Criminal M is
chief II.
Police
Charge Son
In Double
Homicide
descendants o f former slaves o f their
legacy has become a status quo prac
tice for the USDA, it is easy to
understand why employees and tann
ers refer to it as the “ last plantation ”
Secretary G lickm an’ s “ listening
sessions," have given farmers and
employees hope that change is com
ing. But U S D A 's bureaucracy and
its protectors have historically re
sisted real change - just ask former
Agriculture Secretary M ike Espy.
President Clinton needs to let us
know where eradicating racism and
sexism from the USDA, ranks as a
priority in the agenda o f his second
term, and Secretary Glickman has to
give us more than warm platitudes
and fee-good quotes from Dr Mar
tin Luther King, Jr and the USD A's
founding father. Abraham Lincoln
the time for rhetoric is over
Every American that wears cloth
ing or eats food has a vested interest
in elim inating the decades-old p o li
cies o f discrimination at the USDA
The agency ’ s history o f racial bias
and antagonism towards minority
and female farmers is well docu
mented, it is tim e for President
Clinton. Secretary Glickman, and
Congress to take decisive action,
rebuke these antiquated practices,
and restore the American people's
faith in this $60 b illio n federal
agency.
(Representative Thompson is a
member o f the House Agriculture
Committee and has been actively
fighting to reverse the trends o f dis
crimination at USDA
On Thursday, February 27 at 4
p.m.at 1021 NE Failing, Sabin Com
munity Development Corporation
w ill be having an Open House, this
is to celebrate the completion o f its
first new construction home as part
o f their Limited Equity/Lease Pur-
chase(LELP) Home Ownership Pro
gram for low income families.
This is one o f five new construc
tion home being completed this
spring, and one o f two bu i It by Dream
Home Builders.
The LELP program was devel
oped by Sabin CDC, Vernon Neigh
borhood Action Group and a Com
munity advisory council in consul
tation with he boards o f Sabin Com
munity Association. Vernon Neigh
borhood Association and Concordia
Neighborhood Association.
This celebration w ill showcase
the work o f Calvin Jackson, a local
m inority contractor and owner o f
Dream Home Builders. Grant funds
from the EnterpriseCommunity pro
gram other grant contributors ( Heinz
Foundation, Portland Development
Corporation, Multnomah County's
Housing A ffordability Development
Program, Oregon Housing Trust
Funds and many individual con
tributors) helped to bring down the
cost to the home buyer to $ 6 1,000
from a developm ent budget o f
$105,000. The home w ill go to a
family earning 60% o f M FI.
the primary goal o f the LELP
program is to provide long term
affordable home ownership oppor
tunities for low-income families who
are unable for various reasons to
secure a home mortgage from tradi
tional lending institutions.
Sabin Com m unity Development
Corporation is a nonprofit, commu
nity based, membership organiza
tion. Our mission is to make sure
there is long term affordable hous
ing for low and moderate income
community residents and to encour
age community involvement foi lo
cal development, self-help projects,
and youth and senior programs.
Free inside
loaves of Franz bread.
Wc’rc giving you a little something extra inside your delicious loaf of Franz bread-
and it won’t cost you a thing. Collect the new 1996 1997 Blazers trading cards.
After all, they’re free. 1 here’s a new card each week inside loaves o f Franz Premium
White or 100% Wheat Bread. Collect all seven. We’re also giving yon a coupon to
use toward your first loaf We figured as long as we were lowering the price of the
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PR 9 1 2 0
Investigators from the M u lt
nomah County Child Abuse Team
and the FBI Fugitive Task Force,
in cooperation with Crime Stop
pers, are asking for your help in
locating and apprehending Gary
W illiam Clarkson Felony no bail
warrants are on file for his arrest.
I he warrants stem from a sex abuse
case involving an 8-year-old girl.
Gary W illiam Clarkson is a 26-
y e a r-o ld w h ite m ale (DO BZ
022370) He is 5’ 8" tall, weighs
180 pounds, with brown hair and
hazel eyes.
I f you have any information re
garding this case, call the Crime
Stoppers Program Crime Stoppers
is offering a cash reward o f up to
$1,000 for information that leads
to an arrest in this case, or un-
572220000356 810200
The
bread
Gary William Clarkson
solved felony crime reported to
Crime Stoppers, and you do not
have to give your name. Call Crime
Stoppers at (503) 823-HELP
Fraud Suspect
Sabin open house
The million dollar lineup.
On Friday, February 14. 1997, at
approximately 8:50 PM, Portland
Police detectives were contacted by
Patrick James Niiranen at Central
Precinct, regarding a double hom i
cide at 7024 SE 21st Avneue
Portland Police detectives have
charged 37-year-old. Patrick James
Niiranen, w ith the death o f his par
ents. Mercedes(78years)and Henry
(75) Niiranen were discovered by
detectives deceased inside o f their
southeast Portland home. The two
victims had died several days earlier
as the resultsof multiple blunt trauma
wounds.
Niiranen had been charged with
two counts o f Murder, and has been
booked into the Justice Center Jail.
Salem - The Oregon Department
o f Transportation has identified an
employee killed in a construction
accident this afternoon as Larry
u ''wland, 45 o f Portland. Howland,
a construction inspector, had been
an O D O T employee since June,
1978. Howland died after a piece o f
earth moving equipment struck him
as he was inspecting a work site in
the southbound lanes o f Interstate 5
near the W ilsonville Interchange
An investigation is continuing.
farmers who receive a majority o f
the benefits, and reform the policies
and regulations that perpetuate a
system which allows m inority, fe
male. and small procedures to be
discriminated against.
A series o f “ listening sessions”
recently concluded by the Secretary
o f Agriculture in my district, and
elsewhere, revealed that racism and
discrim in atio n continues to run
amok at USDA The agency has
made a mockery o f titles V I and V II
o f the 1964 C iv il Rights Act, the
Equal Credit Opportunity Act. and
other laws which are supposed to
ensure fairness and equal opportu
nity.
Blacks, Whites, and female farm
ers in Mississippi told Secretary
G lickm an, and his recently ap
pointed “ C iv il Rights Action Team.”
that USDA county committees slam
their doors in the faces o f those who
are not a part o f local cliques. The
listening sessions have served as a
vehicle to expose how serious and
widespread the discrimination at the
department has been. USDA is now
a national disgrace, a catalyst to the
tragic, in some cases even crim inal,
loss o f m illions o f acres o f land, and
wealth, by black farmers. Estimates
are that black farmers have lost over
12.5 m illion acres o f land since 1920,
with only 2.5 m illions acres left.
In some cases, land acquired by
black families in the decades after
slavery has been transferred, with
U S D A ’ s help, to the coffers o f
wealthy farmers, when robbing the
CRIME STOPPERS
Child Abuser sought
Peter Andrew Godwin
Lhe Beaverton Police Depart
ment. in cooperation w ith Crime
Stoppers, is asking for your help in
identify ing an apprehendinga fraud
suspect going by the name Peter
Andrew Godwin, obtained an O r
egon ID card from D M V . In the ID
photo, the subject is pictured with
a mustache and goatee, and has a
fu ll head o f hair that is parted on
the left
On October 15.1996, eight days
after his first ID card from D M V ,
the subject obtained a duplicate
Only, in the duplicate ID photo, the
subject has shaved o ff his goatee
combed his hair forward without a
part, and tried to make him self
appear more heavyset than in the
original.
On both ID cards, the subject
lists his date o f birth as July 24,
1968. his height as 5’ 6", his weight
as 210 pounds, and his address as
being on South Thayer Road in
Oregon City.
The subject is with a heavyset
female, believed to be his wife, and
a child.
Crime Stoppers ¿offering a cash
reward o f up to $ 1.000 for inform a
tion, reported to Crime Stoppers,
that lead to an arrest in this case, or
any unsolved felony crime, and you
do not have to give your name. Call
Crime Stoppers at ( 503 ) 823-HELP.
Cc/ZZ (503) 288-0033 to advertise in
(Llje ')Joi‘Hanò Cflbscrncr
Be Prepared
With An Emergency Kit