Oregon Advance Times_1968-09-19

'The Oregon Advance(flMES Publishing Company, Inc., qon-profit corporation, Publisher Chairman of the Board •••••••••••••••••••••.•.•• ,.• ·•.••• Rozell Gilmore Vice-Chairman ••••.•••••••••••••••••• , .•••••.•.••..• Hazel G. Hays Offices at 714-1/2 N. E. Alberta, Portland. Phone .•••••...•.• : . 288-6409 Malling Address •••••••••••••• Post Office Box 11274, Portland, Oregon 97211 Subscriptions: By mall, $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 !';orth-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(flMES gives to our community a newspaper which factually reports the news of our area and aggressively seeks the full rights of our ciuzens. It will pro– vide ; 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. 35 September 19, 1968 Qualilioation o, Di10,imin1tion It must be noted that Con– gresswoman Edith Green is advocating that the position of postmaster . be filled by a ca– reer postal employee. This poses the question, how many class A post offices have career employees as postmasters? One cannot help but question the mo– tives of Mrs. Green inasmuch as a black man has been men– tioned as a candidate for the position of postmaster. by the Office of Economic Op– portunity. As far as selecting a career postal employee from the Port– land post office, it should be remembered that he would be drawn from the same structure, which by discriminatory prac– tices, kept the black employees from being upgraded. He would have to be at least as qualified as the present post– master was when he assumed the position. The Beaverton postmaster has been mentioned as a possible candidate. Certainly his civil rights stand should be very closely examined. Has he had the occasion to supervise or work with black people? Does he live in a community where there are black people? Do his children attend a school with black children? In comparing Mr. Hadley, the present Portland postmaster, with Bill McCoy, the black candidate, we find that Mr. Had– ley brought to the job his ex– perience as a football coach, while Mr. McCoy is presently administering a ~rogram funded Black people from the Port– land area should certainly be concerned about who the next postmaster will be. Letter to The Editor I B~~~:~~~~ !, ~~ Dear Editor: I have been reading your paper for quite some time, Even though I do not receive it regularly, I do get it often enough to follow it. I enjoy it very much, and feel it is quite a good neigh– borhood paper. There are a few things I would like to see in it, how– ever, One is a little more local or · area happenings, things that are going on in the Albina area everyday, Since it is a neighborhood paper for the Albina area, I would like to see a little more interest taken in the whites in the area, I've called your office and have been told that it is a neighborhood paper, The same thing when I discuss it with people on the street. Since Albina is approxi– mately 40% white, from the figures I can gather, don't you feel the paper should be representative of the WHOLE community? For awhile we were asked to buy it, but there was noth– ing of interest to us, so why should we buy it? It's my firm belief that if it is to be called a neigh– borhood paper, then your policy making people should bend a little and include more whites or interest to whites, If this were to happen, then we would not only be willing, but eager to buy your paper off the newsstands or from newsboys at the door. As a matter of fact I have two boys who would like to have a weekly paper route. I have had many discus– sions about this matter with other whites in 1:he area and the majority of them feel the same way as I do, conse– quently I feel that I am speaking for the greater part of the 40% of whites who live in the Albina Area. I'm sure we would like to have a reply from you through your paper. In fact we will be awaiting a reply on your editorial page, If you have policies which forbid this type of newspaper please feel free to say so, Since we are a part of the community we would certain– ly like to be a part of the WHOLE COMMUNITY, Yours truly, Mrs, S,G, It is easy to save face. Just keep the lower half of it tightly shut. New, 8, View, NEWS IS WHAT HAPPENED its second week, and the opinions on the success of the new bussing system varying both pro and con, I would like to hear the kids involved give us their opinion. It might differ with Mom and Dad's. Naturally, the thrill of getting a bus ride to a new school will at first hold sway, but after the newness wears off, then what? Of course. there is a side to this bussing that is good, but can only be good if it is carried out in the right manner. What, you might ask, is the right way? When I say this, it is just one man's opinion, but try it on for size. When we bus our kids out of the area to schools in the suburbs. and only take a select few, what happens to those left behind? They go to the same old school with the same old problems, so what is being gained? Don't these kids de– serve the same kind of educa– tion as the rest? It seems that only a certain quota can be bussed, just as many as these outlying schools have room for. I have suggested many times when asked my opinion on the bussing, that it didn't make sense to bus one way - that for every student bussed out of Albina to other schools, bus the same amount from those schools into the Albina dis– trict. This way, it will assure equal education for all the children. In Berkeley, California, they are trying this method out and it seems to be work– ing well for both- sides, To Political Views The disillusionment of some popular black Republicans at all levels of the party's structure, from U. s. Senators to nation– ally known figures who are considered to be leaders of their people, is becoming more apparent as the Presidential campaign continues to grow. First to leave the ship was Jackie Robinson of baseball fame and a dyed-in-the-wool Republican who campaigned hard for Mr. Nixon in 1960, only to find he was just being used to get the Negro vote. But Jackie was smart; he didn't let the same bee sting him twice. When Nixon was nominated this time, he immediately jumped ship and is now working for the Democratic nominee. The one I feel sorry for, though, is the Senator from Massa– chusetts, who is seemingly in a bind, due to the rule that you must support your party's choice regardless of whether it is yours or not. This made it a double bind on Senator Brooke, as he was a Rockefeller man to begin with, and now he at last admits to the public that he is very dissatisfied with the role he plays in Mr. Nixon's pro– gram. Forty years ago, for a black man to vote anything but Re– publican was almost unheard of; to be called a Democrat was like being called a dirty name. This was in the day when the South was solid Democrat and the black man couldn't walk on the sidewalk, and spent his time bowing and scraping to ''Mr. Charlie." Such men as Senator Bilbo and Governor Talmadge, and many others of their ilk, kept the system in line with lynchings, tar and featherings, and other means of torture, with but one intent: Keep The Black Man Down. This continued until 1933, when they elected a President who stayed in office for 16 years, Franklin D. Roosevelt. At the time of his election, the country was in bad shape and much needed to be done, includ– ing help for the Negro, who had become a nonentity as far as society was concerned. In the armed services he was segre– gated; in the Navy the best he could hope for was to become a steward. There had never been a gen– eral officer in the Army until this man was in office; during the 16-year tenure in office, his attempts, along with the new breed of Democrats to correct the racial sickness of American society, Negroes began to switch their party loyalty, until by the time Roosevelt died and Truman took over, their vote took on a meaning to the party that they backed, and the majority was by far Democrats. They had found a party that was sympathetic to their needs and they supported it, and have continued to do so. Of course, there remained the die-hards who, because of Abraham Lincoln, could not see how their black brothers could ever vote for the Democratic party. This is the spot that such men as Senator Brooke and other ranking Negroes find themselves. How they could have ever sup– ported a candidate like Mr. Nixon is a mystery to me in the first place, when his every word shows his lack of interest in the poor and poverty stricken, es– pecially the Negro. His latest statement bears this out; more convictions says he, is the answer for the riots and dem– onstrations, .law and order, but no solution for what is the cause of it all. All the · while the Democratic nominee has re– peatedly said he is for law and order, but he is going to try and find the remedy for the cause by creating more job op– portunities and more chances for education, as well . as to break down the barriers of dis– crimination. This, I believe, is the real answer, not more jails and courts. I hope that more people like Jackie Robinson will be– come aware of this. Black History Much has been said ab9ut the Black man and his back– ground clear back to Africa. And many protestors both pro and con have said he should go back to his own country, This is all well and good, but which one of the many African nations should he re– turn to? And which one would accept him? Many people are unfamiliar with the many African nations that have emerged in the last 20 years, Would "Malawi," which means ''fire on the water," be acceptable to them? It is a country that has most of the usual holidays, a monetary unit that is com– parable with the Rhodesian pound; one pound would be equal to $2,80 U, S, currency. Entry requirements are not too bad; a passport visa and a health certificate is all, mals too numerous to men– tion. There is also a variety of exotic trees to be found, such as softwood, acacia, cedar and baobab, whatever that is, The religion is mostly Islam, though there is a smattering of Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian, So how about Malawi for a future home? of course, Africa being such a vast continent, it seems natural that there should be many nations the same as South America or Asia, There is the Republic of Ni– geria; population 2,950,000, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with a population of 55,6 million, This republic is the home of Senegal, population of 3,100,000, with an average density of 40 persons to the square mile (lots of room there, huh?), VIEWS IS WHEN WE TELL OTHERS HOW IT HAPPENED me. this makes sense, because A variety of plant life can if the school facilities were be found there and there is equal here in Portland, what ' an abundance of edible fish to would be the use or benefit be found in its waters, that is of bussing students out of the if you can evade the snakes area? If we are going to bus and reptiles, as well as the our kids, let's make it a two- elephants, giraffe and rhino– way street, ceros, plus other jungle ani- If the above country doesn't suit their fancy, they can al– ways try the Republic of Mali, which covers some 464,752 square miles, has a population of 4,305.000 and is almost entir:ely rural. It uses the Franc for its means of exchange, and one can easily live on rice and fish, but there again is the prob– lem - it's not would you ac– cept them; it's would they accept you. They are an in– telligent looking people, and whether they would put up with some of our nonsense is extremely doubtful. But back to the many na– tions in Africa, let me men– tion a few without going into detail - names you, like my– self, probably never heard of; Sierra Leone, population of 2,500,000. These figures and names are just to inform those who wo4ld like to make a move, of the possibilities that are open. There are many more that I have not mentioned, but not to slight anyone I will continue the run-down of nations on the African continent at a later date. But be sure to bear in mind that there are some ,real civilized inhabitants in those countries, probably more so than some people over here, so I would bear it in mind to check up on my– self were I intending to make a move,