Oregon Advance Times_1968-04-11

ADVAiicE'irni~~ . r--:,=efTIMES Publlshi,g CompMy, loc,, oo~proll< co,poc,tion, P,blish" I ~=i~C:; 0 :f~e Board • • • • , .•••••••••••••••.•.•••.•..•. Rorell Gilmore · Vice-Chairman • , . • . • ••••••.••••.• , . , .•••••••.•...... Hazel G, Hays Secretary •••••••••• , ••••••••••.••.••••••.•.•.•.•.. Amelia Stiggers Treasurer • , • • •• , , ••••• , ••••. , ••••.•.•. , ••••.•.•••. Samuel Johnson Editor • • • • •••••••.••••..•••••••••••.•••••••. , .••... Dan Hayes Advertising Manager , • , •..•••••.•••.•.•••.•.•.•.••••. George Christian Offices at 714-1/2 N, E, Alberta. Portland. Phone .•.••.•..•.•.. 288-6409 Mailing Address ••••••••••.••• Post Office Box 11274, Portland, Oregon 972ll Subscriptions: By mail, $4.50 per year in advance. By carrier, 40¢ per month (voluntary) STATEMENT The Oregon Advance/TIMES goes to press weekly to serve residents of the North-North– east Central area of Portland with news about the life of our community; Information on the opportunities before us; discussion of the social and political issues that confront us. The Oregon Advance/TIMES gives to our community a newspaper which factually reports the news of our area and aggressively seeks the full rights of our citizens. It will pro– vide a forum for community expression and help people become more conscious of their obligations to themselves and their community. In all this, the truth, as we see it, will be consistently presented. Page 2 Vol. 1, No. 12 Aprll 11, 1968 The brutal slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who loved the world and its peoples and sought to bring all men together in a society of true brotherhood, has vindicated the report of the President's Ad– visory Commission on Civil Disorders. The Commission's report made it clear that white ;racism was at the heart of the nation's racial troubles. It was a cause too many white Americans have failed to realize or admit. The Commission's report in effect called for a confession of guilt from white America. The confession did not come. And now another Black man is dead, fallen by a bulled fired by a white assassin. How long will the white man call for law and order in the city instead of law and justice? What horror will it take for the white American to see himself as he really is, Dr. King has left a leadership void, but not a void to be filled by another "Negro leader." It's a void that must be filled by American leaders. It's a void that must be filled by Con– gress, the mayors of our cities, the business and labor lead– ers. It's a void that must be filled by the individual white American who must come for– ward in the name of human de– cency and let his co-workers and his neighbors know his stand on basic human rights. Too many white Americans live in an exclusive society. By their daily living habits, they condone racial prejudice and the injustice and indignity the prejudice perpetuates. It's time the members of the Chambers of Commerce around the nation; the board of direc– tors of the United Funds; the managers and owners of depart– ment stores, banks and sav– ings and loan institutions and other businesses; the publishers of the daily newspapers and managers of radio and tele– v1s1on stations; the chiefs of police; the mayors and other "civic leaders" take a look at their personal lives. How many of them are mem– bers of the Arlington and Waverley Clubs around the land, clubs where black men are de– nied memberships? How many of them sit at the heads of "civic committees" and give speeches on ''racial tolerance'' and retire to the private confines of their Dun– thorpes and their ·countrv clubs? It's time for the American white man to tell it like it is. You can't pretend to be for racial equality and live a life of racial separatism. Is it pos– sible to reach the conscience of this man? /f'1 s Fact Dr. Martin Luther King has been assissinated. We are all grieved. The Governor of Ore– gon has expressed his grief. The Mayor of Portland has ex– pressed his grief. The good white folks of Oregon have all expressed their grief. The black people have all been shocked by the terrible tragedy. But the black people all know that a new day has dawned. The good white folks have told them that white racism was the killer of Dr. King. They have con- fessed their sins and publically begged repentance. Today we can expect the Mayor to hire Negroes in responsible positions and to encourage all city agencies to hire Negroes in responsible positions and not in satellite offices, commonly called site offices. Ah, yes, it is a beautiful day, Dr. King did not die in vain, even the model school program is scuttled and the Portland school system is integrated. It's a fact the white folks told us. Ghetto: Mo,e Than AWo,d What is a ghetto? There are many definitions. Webster's third New Interna– tional Dictionary defines it: A quarter of a city (as in Italy) in which .Tews were formerly required to live - a quarter of a city in which members of a minority racial or culture group live - esp. because of social, legal or economic pres– sure. let's not forget the poor white. In other words, include anyone who lives in poverty ·because whether they know it or just refuse to admit it, they are destined to live in a ghetto. Random House's new Dic– tionary of the English Language offers: U .s., a section of a city, esp., a thickly populated slum area inhabited predominantly by Negroes, Puerto Ricans or other minority groups, often as a re– sult of social or economic re– strictions. Why don't all ghetto residents wake up to the fact that combined we wield considerable strength. According to some figures, there are at least seven poor whites for every Negro. This adds up to quite a few poor folks. If this number were to rise up and exercise their power at the polls next month and again in November, it could harvest surprising results. Of course, in mentioning other minorities, the dictionaries could have said in plain words the West Indian, American In- - dian, Mexican and so on. And If we would do this, we might become human beings again without a relegated place in so– c tety as we are now. All it takes is to register and then go to the polls and vote for the man you think best qualified. The about face of the Port– land School Board to keep Jef– ferson High School open Monday and Tuesday · under– mined what should have been the real reason for the clos– ure in the first place. in tribute to the slain civil rights leader. Jefferson was the only pub– lic school in Portland to have been closed "in tribute" to Dr. Martin Luther King. All other schools were to have remained open. It was apparent from the beginning that the real rea– son for the closure was a fear of racial trouble at Jefferson. How much more meaningful and sincere it would have been if the school board last Fri– day would have come out with the announcement that ALL Portland schools would be closed Tuesday until 11 a.m. in tribute to the man who battled unreasonable odds to get justice for his people. Dr. King was not just a lead– er to- the Black man in the United States. He was a lead- In its about face, the school board decided to close all schools Tuesday until 11 a.m. er and he was an to ALL men of throughout this land. inspiration goodwill The Albina community does not have a single voice. Each person has ideas that are his own and many groups speak only for their members. This newspaper In Its edlt0- rials says what its editorial board believes. But it is only one of the voices of Albina. You, too, have a voice. And you can speak out by writing letters to the editor. Our pages are small and our space is limited. So please speak about things here, at home. If we do not have room for all let– ters, those that are about national and international af– fairs will have to be set aside in favor of letters that talk about the special problems and hopes of people here at home, And keep them short. If they run over 250 words, we probably will have to shorten them, GHET'fO OR GRAVE To the Editor: It has been said by the MAN (even televised) that the community of Albina is a ghetto of the mind (or to paraphrase, it's not really a ghetto - you' re just imagin– ing things). But knowing, in all due re– spect, that there exists no physical barriers stating that a particular area is a ghetto, the BLACK MAN realizes that the Honky will adulter– ate the truth at all times to gain his goal. Therefore, if the Honky has to make the BLACK Mf. l'\ conform to the system by various means - i.e., new parks in the slum area (Skid– more and Commercial), new slum dwellings (Vancouver and Fremont) to keep us all in one place - why couldn't they build on Terwilliger Drive or Mock's Crest If the black man objects, he is a radical and a threat to the community (omitting the ob– vious white). Albina IS a ghetto of the mind because Charlie has been b r a i n-w a s h i n g and double-talking the Negro so hard and fast that the l\egro accepts it as a good program. But the BLACK MAN thinks: Charlie is trying to pacify me, wants me to accept what is my ocean of freedom by the teaspoonful. The Black Man says, "I will not accept on your terms." The BLACK MAN strives: "Get together, my beautiful black people, be cohesive, help other blacks in need. Make your brothers' and sis– ters' welfare yours." The reason behind the Black Man's change in atti– tude is that he is tired of being pressured and kicked around by the boots of the Honky system. Being shot down by biased police who get promoted, exploited by merchants who get wealthy, denied due process of law, proper and respectful jobs, everything that is guaranteed by the sword of the law that only cuts on one side. Everywhere the Black Man is realizing that Charlie has been mocking and gaming the Afro for centuries and he is bringing it to a halt. Therefore, it leads to the justification that black unity doesn't just mean black pow– er; it means total and un- concessional black freedom. Which leads to the notion that the Black Man, whether he is in Portland or South Africa, is through being the yes-man of a system he has no voice in, only a will to follow. The Black Man will either let Charlie do away with the system denying him freedom, or he will destroy, complete– ly and irrevocably, the sys– tem, Laurence E, McCallister 4126 N, E, Garfield WHERE WERE THEY To the Editor: Where were all these good Americans in 1954 and 1955 and in 1956 when this Viet– nam policy passed through the Senate with flying colors? We never heard one word from our good Christian folks and not one move did Mr. Hatfield or Mr. Morse make in 1958 when 17 and 18-year– old boys were armed with guns to lay down their lives in Lebanon. Where were all these good, loyal people? One-thousand troops were sent into Vietnam back in the eight years President Eisen– hower and Vice President Nix– on were in the White House. Nobody lifted a finger to help those poor boys. The poor Negroes were promised civil rights in 1956 but all they got was nothing. Medical care laid on the shelf and wages dropped and nobody demonstrated then. If Nixon and Hatfield cared, they would of stood up then. They care not for us. They care only for victory and votes. Nixon is pushing blood through the 1968 voting ma– chine just like Hatfield did. (Continued on Page 4)