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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 2003)
April 23. 2003 (Elje Jîortlanô (Bbseruer Page A3 ‘Fallen Warriors’ Honored F ire B ureau S till D o m in a te d by W h ite M ales p rio rity sin ce the m id-1990s. W omen and m inorities m ake up resp o n d e n ts said they d o n ’t 18 percent o f the bureau. think a diverse work force will "It w ould be easy to consider j help the bureau serve the public this report an indictm ent o f the any better. m anagem ent," the report said, “or F irefighters also said they to see it as a docum ent that seeks | d o n ’t think the bureau provides to blame w hite m ales for the prob- ; fair career and __________ ____________ lem s and issues d e v e lo p m e n t that exist. But i o p p o rtu n ities, that ov ersim p li j e s p e c ia lly to fication m isses women and mi the p o in t.” norities. The Portland FireChiefEd Fire Bureau, "like W ils o n sa id every other his i the survey re torically homog su lts d id not en o u s p r o fe s surprise him. sion, faces chal “ It would be lenges in diversi naive to think fying its w ork w ith 750 em force, a n d ... mir ployees, repre rors the stresses s e n tin g fo u r - Excerpt from a report on sexism and strains going g e n e r a t i o n s and racism in the Portland Are on all over the Department w ith different ______________ country," the re values . . . that port said. w e’re not going to have prob Fire Com missioner Erik Sten lem s,” he said. "W hat w e’re try complimented the bureau for the ing to do here is ju st change the study. culture. The first part o f chang “They’re not hiding from the ing our culture is to identify problem ," Sten said. “The cultural w hat it is." assessment shows some good faith The bureau has m ade diver and guts on their part to have this sifying its work force more o f a all aired out." continued from Front They are heroes and heroines, but thev are also human. _____ H A historic photo o f the 1964 Pacific Northwest Championship Team features many o f the boxers from Knott Street, “I told him, ‘You can try to take 202 to 165 pounds and won all four my money, and you ’ 11 probably beat o f his fights in the 1964 Pacific geles way before that." me up but it isn’t going to be easy,” ’ Northwest Championships in Se Rahsaan started boxing in 1956 he said. “ He didn’t lay a finger on attle. . toprotecthim selffrom abully who me and never asked for my money So Rahsaan stuck with the team, would steal his money before mov again.” under the direction ofCoach Chuck ies at the former Egyptian Theater. With his mission accomplished, Lincoln, that had ju st two years Every time Rahsaan had his money Rahsaan laid down his boxing before taken home two gold med stolen, he would have to find some gloves until 1963 when Joe Hopkins als, three silver medals and the Best thing to entertain him self during needed a sparring partner to train Tearn honor at the National Cham .th e duration o f the movie. One day him for the nationals. Rahsaan re- pionships. his dad asked “We were like him to summa ro c k s ta r s ,” rize the flick and Rahsaan said o f R a h saa n got the Knott Street caught in a lie. B oxers. “ For a His father gave town like Portland him a whooping with a relatively he w o u ld n ’t small black popu soon forget. la tio n , e v e r y “ I re a liz e d where we traveled - Former boxer Halim Rahsaan th a t sin c e I ____________ _______ w e had n o to ri couldn’t beat up ety.” my dad. I’d better learn to defend members when he made Hopkins, Rahsaan said that while the team m yself from that bully,” he said. the top middleweight on the west rarely socialized outside o f prac So he went down to Knott Street coast, upset because H opkins tices, his fellow boxersexemplified and signed up for a novice tourna couldn't hit him. what it meant to be a unit during the ment for fighters with zero to six The experience made Rahsaan amateurboxingseason. Whilemany fights under their belts. Rahsaan start thinking about the upcoming people think o f boxing as an indi won all four o f his fights. The next Olympics. He wore a rubber frog vidual sport, Rahsaan insists oth time he saw the bully he refused to suit, ran every morning and trained erwise. He said the team was com- hand over his money. every night to drop his weight from continued on p age A8 continued from Front We were like rock stars. Everywhere we traveled we had notoriety. 1 Have you talked to Mary at US Bank? iïSbank Five Star Service Guaran teen Mary Egan-Kirk and Althea Williams are available at US Bank on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. The US Bank is having a campaign to reduce all non-profit Organizations high interest on Mortgage balances. Please call to set-up an appointment today to see if Mary and Althea can save you money. Mary (503) 275-6461 Althea (503) 283-3571 5505 NE Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211