Negroes in Oregon
EDITOR'S NOTE: Housing and i
Jobs are two of the most scnsi- j
live areas in the Negro's drive j
for equal rights. Oregon is no i
exception. What is the situation j
In this slate? Is the Negro
making any progress in break
tng out of the segregated hous
ing pattern, where it exists, and
changing the traditional atti
tudes that have limited him
mostly to unskilled jobs? The
following dispatch, the second of
two, explores these areas.
By GORDON RICE
United Press Internationa!
Malloroy Carter, 52, runs a
five-chair shoeshine stand on
Portland's Broadway. He came
to the Northwest from Briming
ham, Ala.
"I hope we are to be treated
for what we are as individual
persons, not for our color," he
says.
His plea is echoed by Nathan
.lones, a 25-year-old Lewis and
Clark College student who was
involved in charges of discrimi
nation against the city Parks
Bureau last spring.
"We want a fair opportunity
to prove ourselves and be con
sidered as first class citizens,"
he contends.
"I hope the Negro will be able
to walk these United States with
dignity and without any pro
scriptions placed upon him be
cause of his race." agrees Jim
my (Bang-Bang) Walker, a for
mer professional fighter and
now editor of the weekly North
west Defender newspaper.
This is the avowed goal ot the
Negro in Oregon just as it is :
across t h e nation, and two of
the most frequently mentioned j
means to that goal also are the
lame jobs and housing.
Portland has Negroes of 112
of Its 118 census tracts, but 80
per cent of its estimated 16.500
Negroes live in five tracts in the
'(" 8w)
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Albina district. Eliot elementary ,
school is 99 per cent Negro,
Boise school is 90 per cent Ne-
gro and Humboldt and Highland
each have 85 per cent. Jeffer-
son High School's enrollment is ;
55 per cent Negro.
Residents of the Albina area
live in housing which ranges
from slums to pleasant middle
class level. A plan by the Hous
ing Authority of Portland to
clean up some of the slums and
build low-cost housing was op
Dosed and finally killed by some
Negro groups, backed by other
church and civil rights organi
zations. They said the plan would per
petuate a Negro ghetto in Al
bina. Little Gain in Housing
"There has been less gain in
housing than in any other area
of race relations," says E. Shel
ton Hill, executive secretary of
the Portland Urban League.
"The situation is not as good as
it was six or eight vcars ago."
The thing that bothers Hill is
that the Negro neighborhood is
a recent development, not one
that has its roots in history, as
in the South. In 1940 the few
Negroes in Portland were
spread out in 57 of the 59 cen
sus tracts.
"Realtors are still using the
old dodges," maintains Mayfield
K. Webb, president of the Port
land Chapter of the National As
sociation for the Advancement
of Colored People, but he ad
mits this is only part of the
problem.
"We have reached the public
and expelled some of their
fears. The test will be to have
Negroes buying homes, but how
are you going' to do this if thev
don't have the money?" he
asks.
Pendleton offers another ex
ample. That city has only about
150 Negroes in a total popula-
B6 PROOF
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.-A and through!
Lowell A. Iverion
"Mr. Homeowners"
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tion of 14.474. vet almost all of
them live in a lower class south-1
west neighborhood. j
Seven real estate agencies !
deny they practice racial bias;!
thev sav thev have no NeEro
buyers because the Negroes
simply don't have enough mon-
ey to make the payments on a
nice new house in the suburbs.
One Negro family did buy a
house in an all-white neighbor
hood. There were some com
plaints, but no incidents.
Klamath Falls and Eugene al
so have developed lower class
Negro living areas.
Barries Must Come Down
"The apparent fact that many
Negroes prefer to live in their
own community rather than face
the prejudices and economic
barriers against those Negroes
who do want to get out and who
have the economic means to do
so," Gov. Mark Hatfield said re
cently. Efforts also are being made
to upgrade conditions within the
Negro communities. The out
standing example is the Albina
Neighborhood Improvement Pro
ject in Portland.
Residents of a 96-acre racially-mixed
area, assisted by the
Portland Development Commis
sion and federal money, have
undertaken to improve their
community. They are repairing
streets, improving their homes,
building parks, planning better
lighting and planting trees. The
Development Commission will
counsel homeowners and assist
them in applying for government-guaranteed
home repair
loans.
Homes beyond repair will be
purchased by the commission
and razed, and their owners as
sisted in finding new homes.
Two large blocks have been set
family
Council
Idimr'! Note: The mmllv Conn.
II conslrls nl a luriec. a rtsvehia- I
idfcr?.tf,m;trT:Sit;rn7naPYw"!lhem in the Portland area. One
?rr"a"' a't'uai 'cas'" ft sor"1"nThi! ' 's an 'nlcrv'ewer. another an
council "fJSiirts0 Vn probijm, .ha" '. installer, and still others hold
nav nrtn aeau wim ny respon
sible acenrtrs and counselors.
(Conyrltht 1963
General Features Corp.)
Mrs. G.Y. I'll be petrified
if Hugh gets a gun for Christ
. mas. I
Mr. G.Y. My uncle will en- i
1 roll him in a club that teaches
safety.
Mrs. G.Y. By the merest
I chance I spotted a gun catalog
j in our trash can and questioned
my husband about it. He con
! fessed that he's ordering an air
rifle as a Christmas present for
our 10-year-old son. How could
he? He knows I don't want to
be within a mile of firearms.
To me they represent violence,
cruelty and death.
Mr. G.Y. I didn't know how
to tell my wife about this and
I'm glad she brought it up with
The Council as referee. She has
no concept of the wholesome
side of guns, for sport, marks
manship, hunting. My uncle be
longs to a rifle club and I joined
him at a range one Sunday.
There were boys as young as
eight, and even girls, taking les
sons. The Council: Well, Mrs. Y., a
fishing-rod can represent cruel
ty, and a racing-car can repre
sent catastrophe and death. All
depends upon who's using it,
where, on wnom, ana now care
fully. When a pistol kills a ven-
i omous snake before it buries
its fangs in a man, it represents
rescue. Let's put it this way:
We too are for non-violence, but
olive branches don't usually
make an exciting gift for a kid.
Also, ignorance is never an ad-
i vantage and Hugh might as well
know the right way to handle
a gun as part of his ultimate
bundle of skills. If the rifle be
comes the symbol of camarad-
' erie among Hugh, his dad, and
his sportsman great-uncle, it's
' a worthwhile acquisition. Most
: important, however, Mr. Y.
' should sign Hugh up in a Jr.
Rifle Club where boys learn
from the start that guns are not
toys. On the plus side, Mrs. Y.,
your son will have a tool to de
velop his control and coordina-
; tion, and you'll all get out to the
' woodlands more often.
NEED IT!
- . X
Dick Clan
I
MEDKORD
Want Fair Opportunity To
asirlp for
expected to be $1,798,261, of
which two-third will be provided
by the federal government,
A study of the effects of racial
imhalanee in the irra's schools
also is under way. The goal is
to increase the value of their
homes and make living a little
more pleasant for Negroes who
can t or don t want to leave.
The picture is brighter for the
Negro in jobs than it is in hous
ing, although the degree is the
subject of considerable debate.
Most of Oregon's Negroes hold
unskilled, low - paying, menial
jobs. There are some profes
sional people.
In between, in the skilled
salaried jobs, a great voice has
existed.
"These areas were closed for
so long that it seems to me we
lost two or three generations,"
Webb says. The problem of un-der-employment
is minor in Ore
gon compared to some other
sections of the country: there
are no Ph. D's working as
clerks, but Webb points out
there are men washing cars
who could be working on the
waterfront.
The construction and metals
industries have cmuloycd Ne
groes for some time. After
strong pressure and the threat
of demonstrations, the Interna
tional Longshoremen's and
Warehousemen's Union has en
rolled some Negroes, but the
NAACP refused to claim a vic
tory until it sees how regularly
the Negroes work.
"We've got a long-standing
quarrel with most of Portland's
union," Webb says.
Negroes are finding employ
ment as retail clerks, especially
in grocery chains, and there is
slow, unspectacular improve
ment in other fields.
One of the slate's largest em
ployers of Negroes is Pacific
Northwest Bell, which has made
a conscious effort to seek them
out. An estimated 70 to 75 Ne-
Bs are among iciepnone uom-
nanv's 5 WW pmnlnvps. most nf
positions as operators, account
ing and clerical workers, teen
nicians and maintenance work-
crs-
Negroes Lack Training
As it is across the country,
lack of training is a big handi
cap to Negroes looking for jobs.
There are no programs set up
exclusively for them.
The Urban League's employ
ment bureau has had more re
quests for clerical workers, en
gineers and accountants than it
can fill, but these are skills that
are scarce nationally in both
races. The Urban League re
cently established a Skills Bank
in Portland to assist in match-1
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Some professions, notably so-
cial work and teaching, are be-
coming increasingly popular,
Negroes are showing up in the
school systems of many cities
were there are few others
of
their race.
Coos Bay, Madras, Estacada
and St. Paul have them.
"What happened was that
these places were just recruit
ing teachers and these hap
pened to turn up," says Hill.
He feels that if people are will
ing to entrust their children's
education to a Negro teacher
they should be willing to accept
other members of his race in
less sensitive areas.
Nature Often Plays Tricks
To Protect Some Animals
There are many of Nature's
subjects that look like what
they are not. For obvious rea
sons Nature designed some of
her children to exactly repre
sent some other creature, and
placed them in the same en
vironment, even endowed them
with similar habits and char
acteristics. In the insect world mimicry
is carried to its farthest point,
often faithfully duplicating the
original and genuine. A star
tling example is the "measur
ing worm" which, when alarm
ed, raises itself from the twig
and looks exactly like the small
plant branch. The body of the
worm takes the position ot the
leaf stem, even its color is
much the same as the twig on
which it rests.
The "walking insect" resem
bles a dead twig, both in color
and shape. The deception is
so perfect that very few of us
ever see this peculiar creature,
in spite of the commonness of
them. The natural enemy, too
of the walking stick, is fooled.
Just about everyone is fa
miliar with the piercing noise
of the Katydid on warm sum
mer night. Yet it requires a
sharp eye to pick out the light,
green ' insect in the mass of
green foliage.
The whippoorwill sitting in the
woodland path looks more like
a slump of dead leaves than a
bird. Nature planned it exact
ly that way. The brown mark
ings on the quail so perfectly
see ya now. m bet sue
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OREGON
However, many Negroes are
caught in the same vicious cir-
cle that afflicts those in other
parts of the country. They have
few skills and cannot get good-
paying jobs; because of lack of
money they are forced to live
in a substandard Negro com
munity; and because of com
munity conditions, their chil
dren do not stay in school and
learn skills that would enable
them to get better jobs.
In Gov. Hatfield's words:
"Where to you break into the
circle? You don't. We must con-
tinue to shave the circumfer
ence.
In the meantime, these ef
forts to "shave" are being
Small Worlds
Around Us
By LYNN M. W ATKINS
(laf ftf and Tribllftt)
Srdlcale 1943)
match the surroundings as to
make the bird almost invisible.
The woodcock, until it flies, is
a part of the forest floor.
Many creatures seem to know
in what environment their col
oration is most effective, and
react accordingly. Many ani
mals, in the face of danger,
freeze into immobility and es
cape detection. Place the same
animal in different surround
ings and it will attempt flight,
rather than risk exposure.
Some are so colored as to
simplify their food gathering.
This we call "aggressive" col
oration. The stripes of the ti
ger resemble the lights and
shadows of the jungle floor. The
spots of the leopard, resemble
sunlight. Alligators look like
logs; and their eyes, the knots.
Protective mimicry is the
result of a slow process which
has gone on for millions of
years. The "mimics" are al
ways fewer than the ones imi
tated. Females are more likely
to be thus protected, probably
because of their slower move
ments when laden with eggs or
young.
Mimicry is operative, even in
the depths of the sea; fishes
are dark colored above and
light colored underneath. To the
birds above, the dark looks like
the bottom ot the sea or dark
water. To enemies below, they
resemble the sky.
By many and various ways
does Nature continue the spe
cies, even resorting to misrep
resentation and creating condi
tions and creatures to look like
what they are not.
Crack Canadian
Train Derailed
KAMLOOPS, B. C. (UPI)
The Canadian National Rail
ways' (CNR) crack Super
Continental train derailed near
here Monday as it headed west
on the last leg of a trip from
Montreal of Vancouver, B.C.
No fatalities were reported
hut at least four persons wore
injured, and a number of others
suffered shock.
A railway spokesman said 10
of the train's IB cars left the
tracks.
Cause of the derailment was
not immediately known.
Traffic on the CNR's main
line was re-routed.
A CNR spoeksman said the
diesel locomotive stayed on the
tracks, while the first 10 cars
derailed. The remaining eight
passenger cars, and the bag
gage and mail cars, were not
derailed.
The train is one of the best
known in Canada.
brought more and more to the
attention of white Oregonians,
with varving Tactions,
"The Negro has been going
too slow for 100 years," savs
Portland attorney John R. Faust
Jr. "The contrast between their
non-violent demonstrations and
the violence of their opponents
heightens an impression of the
justice of the Negro cause."
"I feel he (the Negro) is being
pushed by the authorities," com
ments a Portland housewife.
"Go slow. Take it easy."
Fewer people say, as did one
Beaverton resident, "I cannot
see any cllect (of the civil
rights controversy ) on me or
i my family."
Starlings Ignore
Chasing Efforts
ATLANTA (UPI)-Slate offi
cials put on a great show of
force Monday but lost another
round in their battle to dis
lodge thousands of starlings
from the Capitol.
Eight selected marksmen
fired shotguns into the swarm
ing birds for 20 minutes, killing
an estimated 2,000. But one dis
couraged official remarked
"that didn't even dent them."
The pesky birds picked the
Georgia Capitol for their win
ter roost and come in at night,
defacing the Capitol.
Secretary of State Ben Fort
son tried various means of get
ting rid of the birds, before
hitting on the sholgun approach.
"The idea is not so much to
kill them as to scare them," he
said.
"We let them settle down
good in the trees and get com
fortable and then we blast away
anil keep them moving."
Fortson's men downed some ;
5,000 starlings in forays last
week, and hoped another ses
sion might convince the birds
that they've not welcome.
But it appears to he a losing
struggle.
"So far, we mighl as well
have put a sign out front that
says no starlings allowed, he
said.
Mental Health
Workshop Held
Five Jackson and Josephine
County members of the Mental
Health Association attended the
Oregon meeting recently in Sa
lem.
Speaker for (he workshop was
Dr. Howard Gurevitz, San Ma
teo. Cain., chier of mental
health consultation, information
and education service of San
Mateo County menial health de
partment.
The speaker stressed the util-1
ization of local "caretakers"
physicians, teachers, lawyers, j
law enforcement and probation ;
officers as the front line do-1
fense in preventive mental
health. !
Attending from Jackson Coun- j
ty were Dr. Frank M. Wilson, j
Donna Gilkey, the Rev. Fred
rick R. Evans, and from Jos
ephine County Bernice Bcnja-
mine and Dave Gould.
Hunt for Survivors
Of Shipwreck Fails
TAMPICO, Mexico (UPU
Pnlice searched the shores
south ot here today for the
missing four-man crew of the
B0-ton ship Oro Beccrro, found
wrecked at nearby A.ul Beach.
Searchers feared the men fell
victim to the sharks which
abound in the area. The ship
foundered in a storm.
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TlKSOAY, DECEMRER IT, 196.1
Prove
Try and Stop Me
By BENNETT CERF
rpHERE'S a darling little
-L Island who's giving her
Her interest in life seems to
subject: clothes. Arith
metic, history, and liter-
ature she disdains. AH
she does is pore through
the fashion magazines.
One evening, however,
she came home from her
progressive school and
casually reported that the
class had been told the
facts of life in the new
"The Stork Didn't Bring
You" manner. "At last,"
thought the gratified
father, "my daughter has
acquired a new interest
in life." Eyes alight, he asked her, "Aren't there any ques-,
' tions at all about the things you heard today that, you want
to ask Mommy and Daddy?" "One," replied the daughter
promptly. "Just what does a girl wear for that?"
A younrr Southern helte naked her mother, "What do you give
a man who has everything?" Her mother answered unhesitating,
ly, "Encouragement."
There's a hoodlum In Jersey City who has so much Influents
that when a prison rap finally wu pinned on him, the warden
gave him an unlisted number.
O 1963, by Bennett Cerf. Dlitrlbuted by Klnc Features Syndicate. ''
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