EDITORIAL
OCA s hate petition
results in violence
They did'it
laist Tuesday in Portland, the Oregon Citizens Alii
am i* turned in more than 23.000 signatures in its effort
to overturn a ( its ordinance banning discrimination
based on sexual preference
Should the Multnomah County elections Division
verify just 17.542 of those signatures, nothing will stop
ihe OC A initiative from going on the May to primary
ballot
I he Portland ordinance is just one of the i dies the
OCA has targeted Closer to home, the OCA has set its
sight on a similar initiative In addition. {)(.A has spon
sored <i statewide measure that would pretty much
strip awa\ rights from evervbodS who doesn't fall into
the narrow i ategorv the group has deemed normal
Knough.is enough.
One i anno! say enough against the OCA Its -sitia
lives an- pure, unadulterated hate blanketed in the
AHUM ,( .If! Stag IIIMHII
ed Bible thumping The
()( TVs movement. like
anytime tl*t*r«* is a siii.til
group dictating its own
morals on the entire popu
ahon, is nothing !\ort ol
: . .1 ;ai Bui in one thing,
"a ant; ()( A bat kiash has
goni too far I he right
wing group < hums and
tin m's miHk mill evident e
to bel ie\ e ant i •( K .A
people have ripped up pe
titiotis ami assaulted not
>1 brick through
the window of an
OCA -supporting
business does
nothing to
change
viewpoints — if
anything, it
hardens them.
oniv signalure collectors, but vandalized businesses
sup put!; nthe ()(.is well.
Again, enough is enough
The OCA should have exported something like
tins; .liter all. its members are Irv ing to take awav rights
from a segment oi the population, and it is illogical for
tin- group to think the people it has targeted would giv e
up those rights without a fight
Hut nothing excuses violence A brick through the
window of an ()CA supporting business does nothing
to change viewpoints — d anything, it hardens them.
Members of the organized anti OCA groups have de
nied any part of the attacks.
Head hashing and stone throwing are not the wavs
to defeat the ()(IA l ight fire with fire, petition with pe
tition Don't att.H k somebody because vou don't agree
witti what they are saying That compounds the prob
lem and solv es nothing.
LETTERS POLICY
Tin1 Oregon Duih l iurr.ihl will attempt In print .ill
letters containing (moments on topics of interest to the
l niversitv communitv
l etters to the editor must be limited to no more than
.’:»() words, legible, signed and the identification of the
wider must be verified when the letter is submitted.
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m-4143
1
THE. STATE of
THE UNION :S
UNSETTLED
WHEN I TUlM*r OF
PEOPLE 00 T Of
AJORK I 6EF
UPSET.
J AMD SEt/NG PtOPU W1
I LOSE FAITMIH 7V|E r
I f-uTU&t POSITIVELY Tf
\ MAKES ME S/CK J Ij,
.-•/•vO-wk. M-»V
HUB
•.'pw Hi £ l 5 .
I Vf LC+V Jf> «iTH
ii.
Busing first step to bust barriers
THE FINE
PRINT
BV CATHIE DANIELS
ol', well l! looks like
I V • ; •
h \meru .in pie
t he !..i (Irusse W Is Si hmii
Uistfli I will liegltl busing ele
HienhtrV students iiexl full DU
lbe D.ISIS ol family miome. the
lirsl in the nation to do so
I iItid this especially interest
ing tiei .1 iise ! w .is bused ,is purl
td tin' rui i.tl-desegn-gulion bus
mg pmgr.itii initmted in the ear
ly "Us living in Huston, I
s| - ni utii nth ,md part id ~th
gr-.de I id llig from nil most i \
while neighliorhiKu) ti predom
i: i.i tell id.u k si in , i is
like till earlier program. the
: a ( russe plan IS meeting Uilli
.id kinds ol resistant o primarily
Iron: p.m ilts who dun ! Ivan!
: k. Is going to si huoi ivilli
thus kids We (.Ills all guess
n hu the their and ' those" la
bels tielong to
1 . ,i. (old Now instead of
' i.i. k and w lute, it's rIt ll and
S, people never grow
i..i tirosse si in nil admlnisUii
I,i: . w ant I.; break up liie i mi
• : u.;:,. n o! (lour students now
lot at is! in tw ii of the distr u ! s
mm m hisiIs via the busing
: in- idea is rigid III assign
ing i hildren to si bools using
;m instead id address eai b
student will get an equal
u eat i gmid education We
1 kne w he. ause I \ monies go
to support area si bool svsteins.
neigbbrirhixiiis liling the high
est ni-.lines usUillh have the
best supported s< bools
V. r tor those tain dies’ kills,
ha! wind about the- children ol
those parents hilling near or un
der the poverty line7 Should
i Ini.Irens i ham .-s at i-dut ution
in dictated hi what their par
ents make ’
Another plus of busing de
nies lean breaking down the
: unJitics til filing in s< hint! with
■ - s own kind mi tii.it kids
.i-’i vpsi.l lu al 1 kinds per
In i preparation lor the "real"
world they will all ultimately
I»H t’
Bui that's too nun h lor some
parents 'Hu? arguments against
ti l' plan an* the same ones that
plagued dw desegregation plan
it years age it again boils
dim n to "us vs them
Sad I'ainlul Siary
Nothing could i» more dan
gi-lous than those lines wlleth
1 1 they tie ta< lal or et onoillit
Nothing could divide this
(ouiitrv taster, nothing could
kill us quu ker both as a na
tion and as humans
People tend to huddle togeth
er in their various groups it's
our gem-tii route to safety As
easily as 1 can rememtxir hear
mg downright ugly objections
from white parents to the racial
busing, 1 i an ret all hlat k moth
ers babies on hips, throwing
stones a! us as we ran into
si haul
Kveryuin- wanted their sate
boa nduries in tut t. no matter the
pain they aused And so it IS
now
Ku h parents don't yvant their
i Inldren tainted tiy poor folk,
so they re pis* say mg no Want
ing to feel sale, lire lines are
drawn yvtth hopes of keeping
timin' out They don't under
stand the damage they 're doing
\meru a Isas problems, that's
a hit I Ami many txiil down to
tin- problems y\e tin* people
the most important link in the
chain are experteru nig Yes,
us humans
We have all kinds of bounda
ries drawn around us and our
respective groups, lines to keep
out those of different races, of
dtiierenl economic brackets, of
different beliefs and philoso
phies Lines fences Fear Ig
norance
The lines we draw around
ourselves don't keep us s.tfe in
die end. they cut us off and iso
late It's only by reaching
across these lines tli.it divide,
to the 'other that we yvill ulti
mately find our peace and secu
ri! v VY iiliout doing so, the
fern i*s will only have lo gel
higher arid lhi< kor lo kt*«sp us
safe
These children lo he bused
nil! someday he adults The
parents who rage against their
mixing with the enemy only
have their blinders to pass on;
no other legacy
To this day. I'm glad I vsus
bused It broke open a world I
would have grown used to.
never Inning known anything
diileient I found out how it
feels to fie judged and often hat
ed bet auso of mv color, or w li.it
it yy.is like to walk around with
fear in iiiv stomai ii because I
vs as the outsider I was the
minority
l ew w lutes in America expe
rience life or prejudice as the
minority unfortunate, since
tins could be a most valuable
le .son for most One can never
know how this experience feels
until one lives it, and I only got
three year's worth
I also learned how meaning
less tile divisions between my
self and my classmates were
Kai nil lines some of fheir par
ents hud taught them to draw
were as detrimental .is the
boundaries being passed on to
me As ! spent years with these
friends 1 might have otherwise
never known, the lines melted
ivy av In this way 1 yvas able to
grow past the limited view of
my elders, as a child 1 learned
the transparency of the lines of
prejudice
The more we open to each
other's life experiences, the
more we understand We can't
afford the expensive room our
fences ot lear occupy, they
must come down
One final note Granted, rid
ing a bus from one part of town
to the other makes for a long
journey, hut believe me. it's
well worth the trip
Cathie Daniels is an editorial
editor for the Emerald