(Ehe Jlortlau b (ß h sem er
luly 30. 2003
Page A3
Focus on Ron
Herndon
continued
from Front
rector in 1975, H em don helped es
tablish the Black Education C enter,
a school in northeast Portland em
phasizing the basics.
“C hildren learning about their
history and culture d o es you no
good if the child c a n ’t read and
w rite,” he said.
H em don credits parents with the
strength and success o f H ead Start.
Parental involvem ent, from the h ir
ing to the curriculum , d ispels the
m yth that poor people d o n ’t care
about theirchildren and c a n ’t m ake
decisions about th eir c h ild ren ’s
education, he said.
H em don said keeping Head Start
al i ve and viable has been a struggle
Bluff Burned as Wildfire Prescription
i____________ ¿ 2
Ron Hemdon
ethnicity, not unlike segregation
you saw in M ississippi in 1960,”
H em d o n said. "T h e difference
now is it’s not ju st based on skin
color, it’s based on incom e.”
Portland Fire and Rescue and the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services set
and controlled a prescribed fire Sunday at Mock's Crest Bluff, on North Willamette
Boulevard, between Killingsworth and Ainsworth streets. The fire burned from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m., clearing flammable brush and making way for native vegetation on
the bluff. The fire reminded many local residents of a wildfire on the bluff last
summer that threatened homes in the nearby north Portland neighborhood.
photo by M ark W ashington /T hk P ortland O bskrv er
You have a segregated school
system based on income and
ethnicity, not unlike segregation
you saw in Mississippi in 1960.
Bush Gives Civil
Rights Group
Cold Shoulder
— Portland education activist and Head Start administrator Ron Hemdon
though every presidential ad m in is
tration.
“ E very a d m in is tra tio n sin ce
G arter has tried to m ake changes in
Head Start that w ould have been
harm ful. T his one is the w orst, ab
solutely the m ost anti-H ead Start
adm inistration that I’ve ever seen
because th e y ’re m aking changes
to destroy the program and they
know it,” he said.
In line w ith his Head Start duties,
H em don serves on the Educational
Crisis Tearn, an independent w atch
dog group keeping public schools
accessible to kids o f all races and
econom ic backgrounds. The group
em phasizes teacher training.
A ccording to H em don, better-
prepared teachers are rarely as
signed to struggling schools.
“ Y ou have a segregated school
sy s te m b a se d on in c o m e an d
H em don continued to say that
students in low -incom e areas are
not exposed to the sam e curriculum
as in more affluent com m unities,
particularly in the sciences. Som e
experts suggest that less exposure
to science, m athem atics and engi
neering explains w hy few m inori
ties are represented in those fields.
The Education C risis T eam has
been dorm ant during the sum m er
m onths, but H em don prom ises
that the d istric t’s financing d e
partm ent will hear from them soon.
In an anthem oflifelong com m it
m ent to education, H em don de
scribes the role o f the Education
C risis Team, saying, “ W e’re push
ing for fundam ental change to give
low -incom e kids a fair shake.”
For m ore inform ation about
H em d o n and Head Start,, visit
w w w .sav eh ead start.o rg .
NAACP president
Kweisi Mfume
< *
K atz to R etire
A
T
(A P )- P o r t la n d ’s
three-term m ayor said
last w eek that she w o n ’t
seek re-election in 2004.
V era Katz, 69, w ho in
the 1980s becam e the
first w om an speaker in
O re g o n 's H ouse, said
she m ade her decision
after talking with fam ily
members.
“ 1 have other things,
other adventures, other
challenges 1 w ant to do," K atz w rote in an e-m ail
to about 5,000 friends and supporters.
“W hat Portland needs m ost over the next year
and a hai f is a m ayor w ho is com pletely dedicated
to the jo b at hand.”
The m ayor and all city officials in Portland must
rem ain unaftiliated with political parties. But Katz
w as a D em ocrat w hen she served in the House.
O nly one c a n d id a te - co m m issio n e r Jim
Francesconi - is officially in thé running for next
M ay ’s general election.
Earl B lum enauer, a D em ocratic congressm an
from Portland, has prom ised an announcem ent on
a m ay o r’s race after L abor Day. C om m issioner
Erik Sten has said he will w ait on B lum enauer’s
decision before deciding on a m ayoral cam paign.
President
George W. Bush
Liberal blacks
shunned for
carefully chosen
minority audiences
(A P) — Since the days o f W arren G.
H arding, presidents have m et at the W hite
H ousew ith leaders o fth e N A A CP. N ot Presi
dent Bush - at least not yet.
More than halfw ay through his presidency.
Bush has yet to receive the n a tio n ’s oldest
civil rights group o r the L eadership C onfer-
enceofC 'ivil Rights, an um brella organization.
The president met with the C ongressional
Black C aucus for ju st an hour or so during his
first fnonth in oftied, but has not responded to
a half-dozen subsequent requests to meet again.'
W hile Bush, w h o g o t only 9 percen t o f the
black vote in 2000, has shunned sit-dow ns
w ith established black groups, he has reached
out to carefully chosen m inority audiences
and to civil rights advocates less critical o f his
policies. O ne exam ple is the N ational Urban
L eague, w hose annual conference in P itts
burgh Bush addressed on M onday.
N A A C P president K w eisi M fum e said he
requested m eetings w ith Bush in 2001 and
2002, and “w as told politely, in w riting, that
h e ’d love to meet, but his schedule ju s t d id n 't
allow it.”
Political analysts say the p resid en t’s re-
election effort is not targeting liberal blacks,
but w ealthy, conservative churehgoing blacks
as a w ay to increase B u sh ’s share o f the black
vote. R ecent G allup polls find that few er than
three in 10 blacks approve o f B u sh ’s perfor
m ance as president.
During his early session with m em bersofthe
C ongressional B lack C aucus, Bush said, “ I
hope you com e back, and I ’ 11 certainly be invit
ing." But there have been no other invitations.
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