‘’‘b"“? I¡>-2003
<£he Bortlanù (Obstruer celebrates Black History Month
PageA5
Block History Month OAME to Serve as Model
continued
Ku Klux Kian Foraged
Deep Roots in Oregon
u
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In 1926. a Portland African
American newspaper printed a
scathing article accusing the
Catholic Church o f being racist.
The article in “ The Advocate ”
entitled “K.K.K. and the
Katholics" pointed out that
black children applying to get in
Catholic schools in Vancouver
and Portland were denied
access. An undated photo
shows the offices o f the black
newspaper around the time o f
the incident.
fro m F ront
ous Asian community in Seattle
may become disenfranchised and
powerless in the face of reloca
tion. It is his hope that the dy
namic and committed people who
visited OAME on Thursday will
be able to help guide the group to
success.
The plan is to use some o f the
money provided by the city of
Seattle, federal grants and contri
butions from large corporations
to open a business incubator, simi
lar to OAM E’s 40,000 square- foot
complex at 4134 N Vancouver.
The idea behind a business
incubator is that low-income, mi
nority and women owned busi
nesses who may not have the
experience or capital to be suc
cessful alone can receive inten
sive entrepreneurial assistance
and resources to nurture their
developing businesses.
O A M E 's fa c ility p ro v id e s
workspace for young firms and
communal basic adnunistrati ve ser
vices and equipment, meaning sec
retarial and phone services, fax and
copy machines are shared by build
ing occupants. Incubator m anag
ers and staff develop and provide
technical assistance, business ser
vices and management consulting.
“By giving people the tools they
need, incubators foster success,"
Lee said. "W hen a community be
comes successful, I find that that
they are willing and generous at
giving back what was received.”
OAME president Samuel Brooks
reminded the business leaders that
to be successful in their venture
they will need to be apolitical, cred
ible and progress oriented.
He said that many times an orga
nization forms with an idea o f doing
good things for the community but
lacks plans to ensure long-term fi
nancial sustainability. OAME is
now one of the largest incubators
on the West Coast and will be one
of the largest in the nation after a
new 50,000 square-foot facility is
com pleted across the street from
the current location. Roughly 70 to
80 percent of the $750,000 yearly
operating budget com es from leas
ing out space in the facility and
renting out conference rooms, but
Brooks said O AME w asn’ t a finan
cial success only because o f good
intentions.
“W e didn't say, ’We want to do
good stuff,’ we had a concept to
generate economic development,”
he said. "Eortunately, we have tried
to marry the idea of generating in
come to the idea of doing good stuff."
The Seattle incubator, when it
gets off it's feet, will be similar to
OAME but with a social service
component to provide counseling
and resources for recent immigrants
to become productive members of
the Asian community.
lit
up the crime. Colored people there
demanded a second autopsy o f the
added and the more objectionable body which revealed that the tes
scenes had been removed.
ticles had been removed and it de
Ten years earlier in 1921, a Port veloped that this could not have
land chapter of the KKK had been been done except by a person or
successfully established. Prior to persons.”
this, the KKK had been “alive and
While this and other similar mat
well" in Oregon through its own ters went unsolved, a busy chapter
organization and others such as of the Kian that had opened in 1922
the Knights o f the Golden Circle.
in Medford was also stirring up
Two hot spots for the white- hatred and violence. The local po
supremacy organizations had been lice chief was under criticism for not
Marshfield, now known as Coos prosecuting w hite m oonshiners
Bay, and Medford.
and bootleggers.
A well-known case just after the
Meanwhile, a black man named
turn o f the century in the Marshfield George Arthur Burr had been re
area was that of a black man named leased after serving three days in
Alonzo Tucker. Tucker was bru jail for bootlegging. Burr was
tally beaten and lynched by a white grabbed by Kian members, driven
mob after he allegedly assaulted a up to the mountains and threat
white woman. After being caught, ened. With a noose tied around his
he was hit with clubs, shot and then neck, he was told to get out of
dragged through the streets by a town.
rope already around his neck until
Interestingly enough, local
he was dead. A local newspaper Kian members soon repeated a
printed the following account;
similar “necktie party” on a white
“The conduct of the avengers man. His only crime was filing a
w as m ark ed
— -------------------------
lawsuit against a
throughout by
K ian m em ber.
quiet orderli
A nother black
n ess
but
man was given
deadly deter
the same treat
mination. The
ment a short time
sen tim ent o f
later.
F in a lly the
nhy isïnsym -
Kian members
pathy with the
were brought to
lynchers, and
court, however
it is extremely h c iS C llW C iy S b c c t l Cl
all the men were
either acquitted
im p r o b a b le
any arrests will
J
o r had th e ir
be made.”
c h a rg e
The only - An early Oregonian
dropped.
n e w s p a p e r ________________________
Also in 1922,
that suggested
K lan sm en in
the attackers should face some kind Salem wrote a threatening letter
of legal justice for lynching was demanding a local black busi
The New Age, a Portland-based nessman get out o f town. They
African American newspaper. The signed their letter with three K ’s
newspaper staff wanted some as and had a skull with a crossbones
surance that this kind o f incident in the background. The man,
would not happen again. They felt Charles Maxwell, refused and
Tucker should have been given a opened the “Fat Boy Barbecue”
fair trial. Reports from papers in Salem in 1922.
throughout the state began report
The following year in 1923, a
ing the "Brutal murder of a colored black man who owned a car wash
man at Marshfield, Oregon." One was almost lynched by a group
newspaper account reported:
thought to be part of the Kian.
“M obs m urder prisoners not Perry Ellis had been accused of
because they fear the law will not having a sexual relationship with
punish them, but because they a white woman. Charges were
enjoy the sport o f murdering a dropped as the white woman
wretch who has not friends. A mob never showed up to testify.
is a coward, a brute and a fool...
Still, Kian members tricked Ellis
Mob murders are not due to the by setting him up to go to the
‘inadequacy o f the law ' but to the mountains for a purpose of pick
desire of the mob to murder when it ing up a wagon with a team of
is safe to murder for the fun of it.” horses. After going there with a
D espite num erous efforts to friend, Ellis was stopped by two
open up a new investigation, the sets of blinding car headlights in
matter was closed. In the same city, the road. A large groupofhooded
the situation repeated itself in 1924. men got out o f the cars and sent
A black many by the name of Timo his friend back to Oregon City.
thy Pettis was murdered and his
He was driven out into the
mutilated body was found in the country to two different loca
bay. Large rewards were posted tions w'hile being roughed up
and local black residents asked that and interrogated by the men. Fi
special investigators be brought nally he was let go and told to
in. A letter to a federal officer named leave Oregon City or he would be
James Weldon Johnson stated:
killed. Both black men were able
“Marshfield is infested with the to id e n tify th e ir a ssa ila n ts
Ku Klux Kian, and we are o f the through their voices, but no
opinion, and so are the colored charges were ever filed.
people who live in Marshfield, that
During all o f this, the N AACP
all efforts are being made to cover launched a cam paign to shut
continued
fr o m A 3
down the Ku Klux Kian in Oregon.
In a letter of protest, the NAACP
wrote;
“The Portland branch o f the
NAACP representing more than
3,000colored people in the state of
Oregon and more than 400,000col
ored and white members o f the
NAACP with headquarters in New
York City, respectfully call your
attention to the formation and rap
idly spreading organization known
as the Ku Klux Kian under the pre
tense o f promoters o f law and order
but aimed unquestionably at per
secution of individuals who may
incur their disfavor.
“And to the end that all citizens
may have a sense of security in
their homes at night and peaceful
continued
on page A 7
- -s
You have the desire and the drive to make it to the top. Become a leader and
shape your own future in the Army National Guard. Most Guard members
serve one weekend a month and two weeks a year, leaving plenty of time for
college or a career. Learn the confidence and skill to lead any team and earn
money for college at the same time. In the Army National Guard, YOU CAN.
1-800-GO-GUARD
. '>»*• '
Oregon was a
Kian state...a
southern state
transplanted to the
North... a hell-hole
when I grew up. It
www.1-800-GO-GUARD.com
-sT I- , . l / >.
<«uj. ■ -
T he
T he
T he
very prejudiced
State.
T he
s it - i n .
bo yco tt .
march .
fr eed o m r id e .
T he
p ic k e t l in e .
T he
w a lle t .
You control one of the most powerful tools for change there Is. We can help you strengthen It.
Bank of America Is proud to salute Black History Month.
Bank of America
*
1
OREGON
toil