Jîortlanô ©baeruer
December 25. 2002
continued
Page A5
from Front
Black Burials
just another stiff or like I was
just one more family member of
adead person,” she said. “When
I told her what the man at the
other home had said, she was
very gracious and apologized to I
me on behalf of all other funeral
directors for his behavior.”
It is this kind of sensitivity that
Cleodis D. Vann said sets Afri
can American funeral homes
apart from the rest.
“You really have to be apart
of our culture to know what to
expect,” Vann, w ho’s family
o p erated the first A frican
American owned funeral home
in Oregon, Vann and Vann, until
it closed in October 2001. “Some
funeral home directors may
seem callous and insensitive to
wards the grieving process of
African Americans because it
is so totally different.”
Vann said he has been at
funerals where people have tried
to wreck cars in the procession
as an expression of emotion.
During funeral programs, friends
and relatives often break out in
fits of tears and wailing. Touch
ing and grabbing the body is not
uncommon.
“I’ve have a lot of people
jumping into the casket with the
body,” Vann said. “Chances are,
you won’t see that at a Cauca
sian funeral. Other funeral di
rectors might not be ready for
that.”
The differences don’t end
there - a history of the funeral
business in Portland shows a
startling division between black
and white dating back to the
1940s when m any A frican
American families couldn’ t find
funeral homes to bury their rela
tives.
Vann said when his parents,
Roberta and C. Don Vann,
opened Vann and Vann in 1954
only three funeral homes in Port
land would provide services for
African Americans. In fact, his
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father, who was already licensed
in Michigan, was only able to
get licensed in Oregon because
the help of Ellsworth Purdy Sr.
at Killingsworth Little Chapel of
Portland was ju st
terrible as fa r as racial
situations went.
—Cleodis D. Vann, retired funeral home
director on the discrimination against
African Americans in the 1940s and 1950s
the Chimes.
The north Portland chapel
served African Americans at
the time. But Vann said Purdy
had complaints from white cus
tomers who were opposed to
this practice
He said Purdy helped Vann
and Vann get off its feet out of
fear of loosing clientele.
When Etoile and Arthur Cox
tried to open Cox and Cox in the
early 50s, they also ran into
problems with discrimination. Al
though Arthur had graduated
with flying colors from mortu
ary school at Washington Col
lege in Chicago, Oregon law
required him to apprentice with
a licensed director and embalmer
for two years.
According to a 1976 oral in
terview from the Oregon Black
“They would accept him by
letter and by telephone,” Etoile
said. “But when he’d show his
little black face down there
they’d say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I
would like to, but I can’t.”
At the time the city also had a
discriminatory indigent persons
plan that took care of distribut
ing to funeral homes the bodies
of those people who could not
afford to pay for their burial.
Vann said African-American
bodies always came to African-
American owned funeral homes
and Caucasian bodies always
went to his white competitors. It
wasn’t until the city arranged a
turn list to make sure each home
received an equal workload that
Vann and Vann began receiv
ing deceased Caucasians.
“Portland was just terrible as
myths still prevail in the funeral
industry to this day.
“ For exam ple, th ere are
black people with pale skin
and thin lips,” she said. “ I’ve
seen some people like this go
to other funeral homes and the
people doing the preparation
assume because they are A f
rican-A m erican, they should
be dark with lips that are thick
and big.”
Charlene said at Cox and Cox
they look at all parts o f the
person’s characteristics. Re
gardless of skin tone, she said
they have the skills to make
anyone look their best. Tanner
had a background in cosmetol
ogy before she went into the
funeral business. When she
sets about to prepare a body,
she said the process is very
much like going to a beauty
salon.
“W e’ve been told they look
better when they leave this es
tablishm ent than when they
were out there living life on
life’s terms,” Tanner said.
As the population of north
and northeast Portland diversi
fies, Cox and Cox hopes to con
tinue to serve all parts of the
community, not only African-
Americans.
“Black, white or green, we
are going to be aware of the
needs of our community,” Cox
said.
A nnouncem ent com es one m onth after city
voters approved a $49 m illion levy for park
Fish Sandwich - $8°° & ™I)AY
Fish Dinner - $100Q SATURDAY
* * * N ew L ocation * * *
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Charles Jordan
Charles Jordan, community
leader and director of Portland ’ s
Bureau of Parks and Recre
ation since 1989, will retire as of
April 1.
He made the surprise an
nouncement last Thursday at a
holiday luncheon.
Spokeswoman Karen Loper
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Oregon Department
of Human Services
far as racial situations went,”
Vann said.
Vann added that white owned
funeral chapels only began pro
moting their services to African
A m ericans when crem ation
gained popularity. Because cre
mation was less expensive than
formal burials, funeral homes
were loosing money. African
Americans traditionally pre
ferred burial to incineration and
funeral directors found that in
order to regain lost profits, they
would have to actively target
black families.
He remembers a teacher of
mortuary science at Mount Hood
Community College in the 70s
once told the class that because
black people had darker skin,
their body tissue was stronger
and there for it was necessary
to use a stronger embalming
fluid.
Vann said African Ameri
cans have the same arterial
structure and blood types, arid
like white people, their bodies
come in all shapes, sizes and
densities regardless of race. He
said when embalming bodies, all
those characteristics must be
taken into consideration - skin
color, however, is not a part of
the equation.
“I had to dispel that myth to
my professor,” he said.
Charlene Cox, Jerome Cox-
Tanner’s mother, said other
Jordan to Retire From Portland Parks
CATERING EVENTS LARGE AND SMALL
NOW TAKING HOLIDAY DESSERT ORDERS
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History Project, Arthur was
turned down by several funeral
homes before he was accepted
for an apprenticeship at Zeller’s
Funeral Chapel.
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Kwanzaa is the time to reflect on what is important to you.
Please pick up your gift Kwanzaa bookmark from the African American Health Coalition,
local merchants, or the Urban League of Portland.
A
said Jordan plans to plan to spend
more time with his family.
The announcement comes
one month after city voters ap
proved a $49 million levy for
parks.
The five-year property tax
measure will pay for building
projects, repairs, service im
provements, maintenance and
the addition of after-school pro
grams.
Loper said Jordan wanted to
leave on a high note and hadn’t
made up his mind to leave until
after the levy passed.
Jordan is also a former Port
land City Councilman.
Alcohol Safety
Urged for Holidays
People urged to keep o f f roads after d rin k in g
The Oregon Department of
Transportation and Oregon State
Police are reminding people to
keep this holiday season happy
by following one simple rule—
don’t drink and drive.
“Every alcohol-related crash
is a tragedy for the people in
volved, but such tragedies are
preventable,” said Gretchen
M cKenzie, ODOT impaired
driver program coordinator.
“The combination of alcohol and
driving results in the death or
injury of far too many Orego
nians each year.”
During the first half of 2002,
alcohol accounted for 80 fatali
ties on O regon’s roadways.
More than 36 percent of all
highway deaths during January
through June were alcohol re
lated.
“Our number one goal is that
motorists reach their destina
tion safely and without incident."
said Lt. Gary Miller of the Pa
trol Services Division for the
Oregon State Police. “We would
much rather drivers make the
right choice ahead of time than
the wrong choice afterwards
that may result in a crash or an
arrest."
McKenzie said planning is the
key to avoiding tragedy during
the holiday party season.
If hosting a holiday party: Pro
vide plenty of non-alcoholic bev
erages; Limit amount of alcohol
available.
If a guest has too much to
drink: Take their keys; offer
them a ride home; call them a
cab; offer to let them stay over
night.
If attending a celebration:
Plan ahead; decide, in advance,
who will be the designated driver,
or take a cab or mass transit if
it’s available; remember each
person has different limits or
tolerance for the amount of al
cohol they can consume and not
become impaired
Never, ever, transport a child
after drinking or allow any one
else to either.
In 2001 a total of 173 people
were killed in alcohol-related
crashes, accounting for 35.5 per
cent of all traffic fatalities that
year. That was the lowest ever
percentage since reporting be
gan in 1977, but ODOT and its
partners in law enforcement and
community education are work
ing to bring that tally even lower.
A d v e rtis e in Thc Portland
Observer
call 5O3.288.(X)33 or email: adsf® portlandobserver.com
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