take part in (he boycott, or he was certain that thoughtful black parents wouldn’t take part in the boycott. Any time that you have a man in 1979, a while adm in is tra to r who would presume to speak about (he will of (he black community, that shows the man is very insensitive to the times and to the people in that particular community. Quarterly: Do you think it’s going to take his resignation to implement the long range goals? Herndon: I think that that would help. Il's just like after the Civil War if you had Jefferson Davis as president of (he United States, I think there would he some basic intellectual and moral conflicts within that kind of combination. I feel the same way with him. I think it would be best for all concerned if he did resign. Quarterly: How entrenched do you think his supporters, his appointees, his assistant administrators are. as far as supporting his policies within the administration? Herndon: 1 would think that they are totally loyal to him. If they weren't, they wouldn't be there. My feeling is that he made sure over the past several years that those that were closest to him were those that he could depend upon, '['hat's the way most administrators work, and he would demand that they be loyal to him, not only in terms of job performance, but I'm sure that he demanded even intellectual loyalty to his policies, and they have certainly supported him all along the path in the past, so I would think that they are very committed to him personally. Practically, some of them might thTnk it's besl to show a little distance between themselves and him now because their job might not be the most secure in the world, but intellectually I'm convinced that they are committed to his policies. Quarterly: What do you think of the first week of school so far? What’s been positive and negative in light of the fact that only 300 black parents have taken advantage of the opportunities given to them, quote unquote. Herndon: if you only had three black parents to take advantage, the point is that for the first time this community had a choice of where its children will go to school. That’s what the battle was about. The battle wasn’t about whether this many parents would lake advantage and this many wouldn't. The battle was for choice. 1 think when Nixon was elected president, they said only 25% of the people voted. At no time after that have 1 ever seen it suggested that you eliminate the franchise because only a few people took part in it. When they have elections locally, people bemoan the fact that only 16% or 20% of the total electorate take part. You don't talk about getting rid of voting rights because of that. The principle is choice, and Ihat principle was won, and we are all very happy about it. There are problems because the same administrators who were racist last September are just as racist this September so w'e’re going to have to stay on them, and we’re getting all kinds of complaints about the way in which the district is carrying out those resolutions. Quarterly: Do you think black parents not keeping their kids in the community has to do with what they perceive as quality of the teachers and of the schools in this community, and (hat there might still be thoughts that to. send their kids out to school near Wilson, they’ll at least learn to read and write even if they don't have black role models, etc.? Herndon: I think that that may be part of it. What I've heard is people who sometimes have an older child that's attending a school, and they don’t want to split the children up. The younger child could come back, but the older child would have to stay out. or some people are pleased with a particular program, or a lot of people just don’t understand what’s going on. We're getting questions from people saying, “Well, can I? I was told at this school that 1couldn’t." That people in some cases have been intimidated by administrators who have told them that they do not have room for them or whatever. So I think all of those are reasons why more people didn't take advantage of it. But that wasn’t really the issue. The issue was making sure the community had a choice. Quarterly: Is the Black United Front going to encourage that or just (ry to make available the understanding of that choice? Herndon: Just the understanding. We’re not campaigning that people bring their children back. That has never been an issue with us. We campaign on giving parents a choice. Quarterly: Are you going to monitor the enforcement within the school district over (he next 12 weeks, and what is the United Front going to do as far as meeting with the community and reporting your findings back to the community before the 12-week moratorium is up. Herndon: It will probably be done on a weekly basis because last night at (he meeting there were people who were raising complaints, what had happened, what they had seen wasn’t right, so it’s going to b e . .. . Quarterly: What kind of complaints? Herndon: Children not being allowed inside a building who were being bused, have, still, to stand out in the rain; a parent being told a child could not get in a school where they lived in that neighborhood; administrators trying to intimidate pa ren ts ... Those were the major ones, just not living up to the resolutions, what we expected, and just trying to keep people on them. Quarterly: Will you be meeting weekly? Herndon: It looks tike it, yeah. The people at the meeting last night said that they wanted to meet weekly, 1 guess forever. by Cork Hubbert It is the worst smog alert in 25 years. Poisons swirl in voluminous clouds of bluish brown oil so thick that even the Hollywood Hills are obscured from the streets below'. Victims of lung and heart disease have been checking into hospitals in record number as the smog rating has risen from “ unhealthful” to “ hazardous” where it has remained for a week. Layers of the pollutant’s ozone, carbon monoxide and various assorted sulfates are being cooked into a deadly soup by the sun as temperatures climb into the 100s. This has not been enough to curb drivers—automobile pollution is the greatest contributor to smog (California in all probability is the actual founder of the American two-car family) as drivers take to the freeways in legion for the drive to the beaches where inland breezes keep the air breathable. The sun: as beautiful as the underbelly of a female black widow spider suspended in murky twilight, primordial like (he sun as it might have been seen in the gaseous skies of a volcanic Earth millions upon? miffions of years ago. And then you realize it . . . the red sphere of the sun is the bloodshot eye of LAftself; the bloodshot eye of a city fueling on cocaine and uppers, downed on valium and quaaludes, a city staggering drunkenly to a disco beat. They promised that the smog would never be allowed to be as bad as it was 25 years ago. There’s something else that happened 25 years ago that they promised would never happen again: the blacklist. But with Jane Fonda not allowed to take her position on the Arts Council, evidently because she didn’t go along with the needless slaughter of Vietnam, and with cries to remove Vanessa Redgrave from CBS’s Fania Fenalon story, 1 feel we are dangerously close. Ex-Senator George Murphy fold reporters the other day that there never was a blacklist. “ That happened in New York, but not in Hollywood.” When someone asked him (hen just who were the Hollywood Ten, he hinted that if they didn’t work it wasn't because they were blacklisted, that they were just paranoid and probably didn’t work hard enough. “ It isn’t because Jane Fonda is an activist that makes her unsuitable to head the Arts Council” , so the Red- baiters arguement goes, “But neither does her activism serve to qualify her.” An argument unworthy of further comment. What is really scary is the readiness with which some reporters—so called journalists, albeit those with a weak grasp of ethical professionalism—such as Herald-Examiner columnist Ben Stein join in the twisting of facts. Why would anyone want to defend Vanessa Redgrave, he asks, when after all she has been calling for the “ extermination of the Jews” . Some take that man to a showing of Julia and then sober him up. The. Life O f Brian, a satire of those who would follow false prophets and crucify real ones, has been a lot of fun, stirring just about ah the religious institutions to say ridiculous statements like: “ The Constitution does not protect the right to commit blasphemy!” It’s a quote funnier than the Monty Python movie. I’m not sure what Con-stitution they’re talking about but is sounds like one that was written in 1300 Europe. Anyway, enough of the heavy sluff. Now to some personal name-dropping and self-congratulation. I ’m co- starring in the new' Cheech & Chong movie. It is appropriately titled “The Next Cheech & Chong Movie” . And here is how 1 got in it. I was called in for an interview. Cheech & Chong are seated around a large wooden table in this ritzy office dressed in peasant clothing and sandals. They look like they’ve just gotten stoned. “ I’ve been looking for you guys since ’72,” 1 tell them. “ Huh?” Cheech asks eloquently. “Yeah. While I was in LA. buying some lbs. back in '72, you were on tour. This girl I used to know lured you over to our house on 12th St. with allusions Io animal passions and dope. Well, while one of you guys was downstairs waiting, her and these other guys in the house had been upstairs busy taking my bedroom door off its hinges so they could steal my dope and smoke ii with you. So you are accessories after the fact in the theft of my dope.” Cheech throws his hands into the air with a “ Don’t Shoot” look on his face as Chong c lea rs his th ro a t , “ Yeah—well Cheech and 1 feel pretty bad about what happened, Cork, so (he grabs a plastic marijuana plant from the corner) we want you to have this.” “ That’s OK” you keep the plant, but 1 figure you guys owe me.” I said. “You’re hired,” they reply. So I’m playing a Boy Scout and a robot. 2 parts in one. I’ve just finished doing Where The Buffalo Roam, based on Dr. Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear & Loathing at the SuperBowl, starring Bill Murray & Peter Boyle and all of these guys are great. And that’s the way it is mid- Seplember in LA. This is your cor- respondant Cork Hubbert signing off. ECLECTIC ARTS, INC. 2 2 4 - 9 3 3 4 , J ^ ^ M / ^ 1616 RW 2 3 KVE. MONDAY 10-2pm 8-12mid. TUES.-THURS. 10am-12mid. FRIDAY 10am-4pm SATURDAY 8pm-4am SUNDAY 8pm-12mid. LUNCH—FOOD TO GO—POETS & LIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC AT NIGHT MEET A FR IEND f or B reak fa s t । Lun ch o r D in n e r __ a t th e Stepping Stone Cafe TUES-KRI 6;OOam-9:5Opm SAT SUN 8 ;0 0 am - l :3 0 pm NEV/ C u r r i e s & Q u iche b r e a k f a s t a l l d a y .......... 6-8am E a r l y b i r d S p e c i a l 1 .1 0 nW 2L th 1 Quimby 222 -1132 FINE ANTIQUES ESTATE JEWELRY IND IAN BASKETS RUGS. ETC 6 2 6 SW. 9TH ST. PORTLAND OR 97205 5 0 3 -2 2 7 -4 7 1 0 18
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