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A ug . 20, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A4
The truth about black labor (and brains)
B \ P rof . M c K inley B i hi
Today, major labor disputes domi
nate the news media and to some
extent my recent articles here I have
been careful to maintain a frequent
African American perspective so that
readers o f whatever ethnicity may
gain an additional insight into the
relevancy o f these issues to their
own condition and circumstance.
More often than not, I have used
these pages to chronic le the magnifi
cent achievements of African Ameri
can people, and, frequently, their
contributions to industry, science and
culture have occurred so early on as
to defy comprehension (that is, so
soon after slavery). Today’s offer
ing will be noexception as we present
in evidence adescription and Picture
o f the "C olem an M anufacturing
Company”, a linen mill founded in
1898 by the blacks of North Carolina
(See Picture).
This past Sunday, Several IV
networks portrayed a major labor
dispute at this plant but I am quite
sure that you did not recognize the
"Colem an” plant I just described.
The feature story was about a long
term struggle between the "Fieldcrest
- Cannon Mills” o f North Carolina
and the “ United Southern Textile
W orkers.” Rem em ber how your
mother would always insist on brand
name' quality, like "Cannon Sheets"?
A decade ago I wrote here o f the
recurring and ironic story of how the
industry and invent ions o f the former
slaves were appropriated (read as
"stolen”) by the greedy ante bellum
society that was unwilling to surren
der the idea that at little cost they
could enjoy both the brains and la
bor of blacks I traced the saga o f the
"Coleman Cotton Mill” from the
black founders, to the Duke family
(Tobacco) to the "Cannon Linen Co.”
And now we have the "Fieldcrest -
Cannon Mills.”
This research was one o f the most
interesting in which I’ve ever en
gaged. I was first ‘turned on’ by a
chapter in one o f the most fertile
chronicles of documented African
American history; "Evidences o f
Progress Among Colored People”,
G.F. Richings, George S. Ferguson
Co.. 1902. "On the 8th o f February ,
1898, was laid with Masonic honors,
the cornerstone o f the handsome
three-story brick building, 80 X 120
feet in dimensions, o f the Coleman
Cotton Mill. Noted speakers came
from all over the Untied States and
the railroads gave reduced rates.”
The ‘prime m over’ in this en
deavor was 'W arren C. Coleman", a
former slave who attained "one year
o f schooling at Howard University
in Washington, D C. " and parlay ed
his talent and drive to become one o f
the wealthiest businessmen in North
Carolina; landowner, fanner, gro
cer. philanthropist, educator. Initial
capital stock in the company was
over a million dollars in today's
money. "The property consists o f
100 acres o f land on the main line o f
the Southern Railway.”
"W ith the building completed,
machinery is being moved in at this
writing: 7,000 to 10,000 spindles
and from 100 to 250 looms. By it’s
York stock brokers indicate that a
“Cannon Mills” acquired textile in
terests in the area during the time of
the depression.
charter, the mill will be allowed to
spin weave, manufacture, finish and
sell warps, yarns, cloths, prints or
other fabrics made o f cotton wool or
other material.”
It is interesting to note that among
all this economic ferment driving
African American we also find at
this time the formation o f the "M is
sissippi Cotton ManufacturingConi-
pany.” Originally conceived by the
great “Frederick Douglass” in 1893,
"the project was taken over upon his
death by the Hon. James Hill, the
former Postmaster o f Vicksburg.
Mississippi who was appointed by
president William McKinley.”
Before black people disappeared
as o u n e rs and m anagers of the
"C olem an M anufacturing C o m
pany" (they just lost a union election
over wages and benefits. $10 hr.)
many strange things happened after
the first white was brought in as a
shareholder and director: a promi
nent member o f the Duke' tobacco
family. A, this point the trail sud
denly ends, but some records o f New
Now there is a “Gone With The
Wind Story" for you - wealth, his
tory, memories and all. And there were
literally thousands of these instances as a
new form of slavery was instituted ( with
sophisticated public relations)asmyeld-
erly neighbor says: "They give us this
first black to do this and that’ bull - we
ain't a patch on our great grandfa
thers' behinds. When are we going
to wake up?”
Employment cuts
Oregon welfare
ROSE CITY WELCOME
Enjoying the
ride on a
Harley is what
many more
people will be
doing this
weekend when
up to five
thousand
Harley riders
hold their
annual rally in
Old Town.
Local
restaurants,
hotels sand
stores are
getting ready
to welcome
the riders as
guests who
like to shop,
Oregon has cut its welfare caseload
in half in the last three years, prima
rily through strategies to put people
to work, according to stae officials.
Sandie Hoback, administrator of
adult and Fam ily Services, says
"22,000 families are no longer on
welfare and in poverty because we
have refocused AFS on helping
people become self-supporting while
assisting them in meeting their basic-
needs.”
AFS began implementing welfare
reform in the early 1990’s, realign
ing its resources and making invest
ments in'moving the state-wide sys
tem toward an employment focus.
The return on that investment began
to appear in the spring of 1994. when
the caseload first began to drop.
Hoback credits her workforce and
bipartisan support for the state’s
unique brand of welfare reform with
O regon's success in moving people
out of poverty. She notes local JOBS
is locally based, with planning groups
designing the program in each of the
15 AFS districts.
“AFS is now governed by a set of
principles, which guide our workers
as they make decisions about how
they do their jobs,” Hoback said.
And we recognize that work is al
ways better than welfare, because it
offers the best avenue for people to
escape poverty.”
Hoback also cautions that reducing
the caseload further will be tougher, as
the people who remain face more barri
ers to employment, such as mental ill
ness, physical and sexual abuse, and
drug and alcohol issues. AFS is now
working to strengthen the partnerships
with local communities and the private
sector that will be necessary to help
people move past those barriers.
Mediation axe raises issues
B y L ee P erlman
A city proposal to privatize the
Neighborhood Mediation Program
has raised issues, concerns, and a
counter-proposal.
Diane Linn, director o f the Port
land Office of Neighborhood Asso
ciations, says that the current pro
gram will “close its doors" on or
before Dec. 31.
she envi
To replace it, she s;
sio n s a
“partner-
s h ip ”
with the
M u lt
nom ah
C o u n ty
Y o u th
a n d
F a m ily
M e d ia
tion Pro-
g ra m ,
and a pri
vate con
cern such as Resolutions Northwest.
The Northeast Coalition ofNeigh-
borhoods is considering submitting
a counter-proposal to operate the
existing program under independent
contract with the city. Linn says she
would consider such a proposal when
submitted.
According to longtime mediation
specialist Eddie Collins, a similar
proposal was submitted to Linn last
spring.
At that time she proposed to have
the program "transition out” o f di
rect city operation as part o f the
city’s post-Ballot Measure 47 bud
get cutting.
According to Collins, Linn said
she was committed to the transition
plan, a response he says left him
“shocked and saddened."
O ne con cern raised about the
cu rren t p roposal is th e loss o f
the c u rre n t p ro g ra m ’s c o n sid e r
able e x p e rie n c e and e x p e rtise in
the area o f n e ig h b o r to n eig h b o r
m ediation.
The process has become increas
ingly popular as an alternative to
costly legal proceedings.
H ow ever the N eig hborhood
M ediation Program is one o f the
few that pro v id es the serv ice for
d isp u tes betw een in d iv id u al c iti
zens, and the only one th at does
so for free. R eso lu tio n s N o rth
w est, for instance, sp e c ia liz e s in
a rra n g in g re so lu tio n s betw een
o ffe n d e rs and victim s.
Betsy Coddington of Resolutions
Northwest says, “ I haven’t the slight
est notion that we could provide the
staff and expertise that the Neigh
borhood Mediation Program pro
vides. We would have to add both."
This is not the program’s only
function. It has increasingly been
used by the city as a resource for
resolving disputes o f all kinds.
For instance, the city’sTask Force
on Citizen Involvement cited media
tion as the cure-all for disputes be
tween neighborhood associations
and other volunteer groups.
It re c o m m e n d e d th a t the
program ’s $336.000 annual budget
be increased by $50,000 to help it
play this role. Instead, the current
mediation budget is $200,000, plus a
$50,000 one-time “transition" ap
propriation.
Asked about this contradiction,
Linn says, “ I would have liked to
have gone into this with a lot more
money. We have what we have, and
w e’ll do the best we can with it.”
The same may be true o f Collins,
director Emmanuel Paris and other
mediation employees.
A few years ago they received a
new, specialized civil service classi
fication. This now makes it more
difficult for them to transition into
other city jobs.
Commenting on the proposed
change. Northeast Coalition board
memberCharles Ford says, “We have
had a program that’s been working
fine. To take it and privatize it out is
absurd.
“ Low-income people all over the
tri-county area are served by this
program. I fear that the alternative
w on’t be housed in the community
(the current program is located in the
King Neighborhood Facility), and will
serve primarily the middle class. I raised
this with Diane Linn,” Ford says.
N o tin g the recen t tra n sfe r o f
c o n tra c ts for se rv ic e s such as
youth gang o u treach and g ra ffiti
rem o v al. Ford says, “ I h a v e n ’t
seen how our co m m u n ity is b e t
ter o f f for the tra n sfe r o f those
pro g ram s, and those are q u e s
tio n s th at are g o ing to be ask ed ."
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