Oregon daily emerald., June 01, 2001, Image 2

Friday
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@iournalist.com
Steve Baggs for the Emerald
Sit down and
TALK IT OVER
By the time you read this,
events may already be un
der way to commemorate
the June 1 protest at
Broadway Avenue and Charnelton
Street in 1997. That controversial
protest focused on the cutting of
old trees on the property that is
now the Broadway Plaza apart
ments. The event turned ugly be
cause of missteps on the part of
both police and protesters, but the
police actions took the brunt of
criticism in the community. As a
result, June has become a month of
protest for the last three years, with
mixed results.
So what’s new this year? Will
people be pepper-sprayed and ar
rested? All the Emerald editorial
board knows for sure is that there is
a “celebration of resistance” taking
place tonight at The Shamrock
House, 1080 W. Third Ave. Police
are specifically not invited on the
fliers. There has been no an
nounced commemoration at the
protest site, but if there is, the use
of force may be different than in
past years. The upside of Eugene
protests is that police tactics have
changed. The downside is that no
formal meetings have been held be
tween police and individuals in the
activist community.
One major problem in ’97, and at
the June 18,1999, rally-turned-riot,
was police presence, attitude and
tactics. Their presence made both
events feel confrontational. In ’97,
the police used pepper spray on
the crowd they wanted to disperse.
Jeannine Parisi, staff liaison to the
Eugene Police Commission, said
pepper spray is designed to inca
pacitate; it is useful for arresting
people who are resisting, but it is
hard for an incapacitated crowd to
disperse.
But in the last 15 months, poli
cies for using pepper spray and
force have been changed, and some
new recommendations have just
been made. Parisi said because of
the June 1 protest, “the policies of
the department are now open for
public review, and they are chang
ing with the needs of the communi
ty.” Three major changes are: not
using pepper spray for crowd dis
persal; considering the personal
* **
safety of individuals being pepper
sprayed; and focusing on de-escala
tion of events through communica
tion, posture and the number of of
ficers deployed. We think these are
all good modifications.
On the negative side of the situa
tion, no one is sitting down and
talking about this June’s possible
protests. In Portland this year, au
thorities (and we hope protesters as
well) learned that, while everyone
may disagree about the role of gov
ernment, authority and police, the
peace can be maintained if protest
ers and city officials come together
and discuss their plans.
The 2000 May Day rally in Port
land turned into a riotous scene, de
spite organizers arranging for pa
rade permits. So this year, they
were not willing to apply for per
mits. They said the system had
failed them, and protesting the sys
tem is what May Day is about. They
did give police their planned march
route, and they did finally have a
face-to-face meeting with Portland
officials. And the event went re
markably well, with no mayhem.
We wish that local activists and
Eugene public officials would have
met before today to discuss June
events. But Pam Alejandre, spokes
woman for the Eugene Police De
partment, said, “We have no reason
to believe that there will be a repeat
of previous years’ events.” Francis
ca Johnson with Eugene’s Human
Rights Commission echoed Alejan
dre’s comments. “We’ve had no in
dications that there will be any
kind of protest,” she said.
We think the EPD should take
into account the history of June 1
and try to plan specifically for the
needs of the community. It’s also
disturbing to us that no meetings
have taken place. Whether or not
events are announced, it’s June in
Eugene, and city officials should be
contacting local activists to discuss
the summer.
But as with many things in Eu
gene, it’s not that simple. The core
group of protesters here aren’t nec
essarily willing to discuss anything
with any officials. Parisi expressed
that very sentiment, saying that in
Portland, the May Day organizers
were a diverse group of activists.
The core group here, Parisi said,
has a more narrowly tailored agen
da, and it often involves mayhem
and disregard for authority. We re
alize that is a part of some anar
chists’ philosophies, so perhaps
she’s right. Worse, she said, “They
don’t even want to come to the
table.”
Perhaps then, we should close,
not with the usual plea for calm
during the hot summer, but with a
plea that everyone keep making
progress. Police have made some
changes. Activists may also have
changed tactics, or perhaps they’ve
just been quiet lately. We realize
that no amount of pleading on the
part of editorial boards will derail
someone’s ingrained ideology. But
if everyone sits down and talks
first, the usual summer clash of
ideologies in Eugene might actual
ly be beneficial for everyone.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses can be
senttoode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Prepare yourselves for
anger and discomfort
Guest Commentary
Lori
ove takes off masks that we
JL^ilive within."—James
Baldwin
As one of the organizers of Take
Back the Night, I would like to re
spond to the recent editorial and
letters to the editors regarding one
of the signs at that event, which
read “Dead Men Don’t Rape. ” I
would also like to thank the
Emerald for providing a venue for
exploring this issue. It has
spurred some much-needed con
templation on my part about the
purpose of this event.
The controversy around men’s
participation in the march is
based on the struggle between
providing a safe woman-only
space and inviting our allies to
join us in our efforts. I admire the
men who choose to take action
around the issue of violence
against women. I admire their
compassion, their empathy and
their courage. I consider their in
volvement in this movement to
be crucial. If I had to choose,
though, between creating a com
fortable space for them in the
movement and providing a space
for women to share their voices
and heal, I would choose the lat
ter.
Although I don’t agree with the
message on the sign, I do not
think it carried enough power to
create an alienating, unsafe envi
ronment for men. This was one
woman with one sign out of many
women—a number of whom cel
ebrated the fact that the men were
acting as allies. We went to great
lengths to include men in this
event. We are being admonished
for not assuring a 100 percent
fear we cannot live with
out and know we cannot
comfortable space for them.
It is unrealistic to expect us to
bring together 500 individuals
who all have the same methods
and beliefs for how to create
change and heal from their expe
riences. You suggest we should be
a “unified body of individuals. ”
We were unified in our desire to
end violence against women,
which is a great accomplishment.
It often seems as though people
in power want those who have
been oppressed to just hurry up,
bypass the uglier aspects of heal
ing from that oppression and get
comfortable again. When I’m do
ing anti-oppression work with a
group of people and I’m in a posi
tion of privilege, I fully expect to
come up against their anger. I
plan to be uncomfortable. In my
own experience as a woman and
as a survivor, I’ve learned that
anger—and acting out of that
anger—is a crucial part of heal
ing. I’m willing to deal with that
discomfort because I want to give
people the same opportunities
that I have had.
If you truly want to end oppres
sion, be prepared to go through
some hard times. Creating social
change isn’t about gratifying your
ego and resting easy in what a
wonderful person you are. It’s
messy. It’s painful. It’s hard. It’s
about having the courage to stand
by people while they go through
what they need to in order to
break free from the effects of op
pression. It means facing the de
fensiveness, the discomfort and
the fear that comes up for you
during those times.
Men are most welcome at Take
Back the Night. If you’re going to
join us, however, come prepared
to deal with some discomfort. I
have complete faith that you can
face us in our anger and live
through it with us.
Lori Brown istheofficecoordinatorfor
the ASUO Women’s Center.
Leftfield
Frank Silva
i