Portland Advocate_1981-11

page11. BLACK SCIENTISTS EDUCATE PORTLAND •. . PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS by Mary Avery · The Portland Public School Board is attempting to fulfill one of its promises to the com– munity. Recently they have brought in a number of Black consultants to educate Portland Area teachers and administrators. Two such consultants were in Portland on Friday October 30, 1981 and thanks to the Portland Public Schools Monitoring Com– mittee they were able to meet with community residents Friday eveing, at the King Neighborhood Facility; PrQfessor Bernice Lumpkin,Mathematician, Malcolm X University, Chicago, Ill., and Dr. Hunter Adams III, Nuclear Physicist, Argonne National Lab– oritories, Chicago, Ill. They were here because of there ex- ' pertise in the fields of science and mathematics, and both over– whelmingly demonstrated the need for a multi-ethnic, multi-cultu– ral curriculum. Few of us realize that most of· the subjects we study in school today have their rudiments in ancient civilization, the tech– niques and methods we currently use gradually developed over a– long period of time and were founded upon these early funda– mental principles. "Practically all of the mathematics taught in the elementary and high schools were developed in Afrika and Asia : most people get ~he impression that Europe is the gatekeeper of all scientific knowledge and that the Greeks are the founders. This is of course not true, the Greeks themselves freely admit that they went to Egypt to study~ Both consultants received their undergraduate degrees in mathematics but were moved to continue their research because of "the prejudice in the way science texts are written. The materials that we use in our schools today reflect a bias Which has a very discouraging and damaging effect on many students who feel that their is nothing in their heritage that indicates their peoples contri– butions to the very important fields. Dr. Adams suggest that If you have children, you should teach them about Black peoples contributions to moderri and an– cient civilizations, and explain why the contridictions in the schools exist'.' Professor Lumpkin said that, "Portland area teachers did seem to be aware that some chan– ges in their curriculum was needed, and she predicts a change nationally in the formal curriculum, very soon'.' On the surface it appears as though the Portland Public School Board is making a good faith effort to educate its teachers, by providing them with information that destroy the myths about Black contributions, at least in the fields of science and mathematics. But consultants can only provide so much information. What happens once the consultants leave? Is the information they provide going to be incorporated into the curriculum so that not only the teachers and administrators benefit, but the students as well? Will Portland Public Schools take a giant step for– ward and purchase texts books that de~ict Black people act– urately? Or will they simply do nothing and continue to let Black as well as white children remain ignorant of the facts? Professor Lumpkin and Dr. Adams spoke to a small but inter– ested group at King Neighborhood Facility. we invite all of you to come out the next time we have a speaker in the community that provides information so vital to the understanding of our history and our place in the world today. THE 4-CYLINDER CORNER 209N Ek1lltngsworthSfre Samuel J. Brown)Jr D. O.S. Carlos L. \Neeky, D.M.D. ~nttsts 282-7543 SMALL CARS UNLIMITED LOLA PARKER, SP!CWJZJNG IN SOUL FOOD 3435 Northeast Union Avenue Portland, Oregon 97212 PO~TWIIJ,OR.EGOW 91227 E. CARL WADLEY SHRTSMI1H'I HAJI<<D£5'8" CENTER.. 24.9--3.!os 249-3866 lONNIE JENKINS MANGER Jt\N\CE HART _,..