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Commentary Oregon Daily Emerald Friday, January 14, 2005 NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 JEN SlIDICK EDITOR IN CHIEF STEVEN R. NEUMAN MANAGING EDITOR IARED PABEN AY1SHA YAHYA NEWS EDITORS MEGHANN CUNIFF PARKER HOWELL SENIOR NEWS REPORTERS MORIAH BAL1NGIT AMANDA BOLSINGER ADAM CHERRY KARA HANSEN ANTHONY LUCERO NEWS REPORTERS CLAYTON JONES SPORTS EDITOR JON ROETMAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER STEPHEN MILLER BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTERS RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR NATASHA CH1LINGF.RIAN SENIOR PULSE REPORTER AMY LICHTY RYAN MURPHEY PULSE REPORTERS CAT BALDWIN PULSE CARTOONIST DAVID JAGERNAUTH EDITORIAL EDITOR JENNIFER MCBRIDE AILF.E SIATER TRAVIS W1LLSE COLUMNISTS ASHLEY GRIFFIN SUPPLEMENT FREELANCE EDITOR GABE BRADLEY NEWS FREELANCE EDITOR/ DIRECTOR OF RECRUITMENT DANIELLE HICKEY PHOTO EDITOR LAUREN WIMER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER UM BOBOSKY PHOTOGRAPHER NICOLE BARKER ERIK BISHOFF PART-TIME PHOTOGRAPHERS BRET FURTWANGLER GRAPHIC ARTIST KIRA PARK DESIGN EDITOR WENDY K1EFFER AMANDA LEE DUSTIN REESE BR1ANNE SHOLLAN DESIGNERS SHADRA BEESLEY IEANNIE EVERS COPY CHIEFS KIMBERLY BLACKF1ELD PAULTHOMPSON SPORTS COPY EDITORS AMANDA EVRARD AMBER LINDROS NEWS COPY EDITORS LINDSAY BURT PULSE COPY EDITOR ADRIENNE NELSON ONLINE EDITOR SLADE LEESON WPQMAQTrD BUSINESS (541)346-5511 1UDY RIEDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER REBECCA CRITCHETT RECEPTIONIST NATHAN FOSTER AIBING GUO ANDREW LEAHY JOHN LONG HOLLY MISTELL DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541)346-3712 MELISSA GUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR TYLER MACK SALES MANAGER MATT BETZ HERON CALISCH-DOLEN MEGAN HAMLIN KATE HIRONAKA MAEGAN KASER-LEE MIA LEIDELMEYER EMILY PHILBIN SHANNON ROGERS SALES REPRESENTATIVES KELLEF. KAUFTHEIL AD ASSISTANT CLASSIFIED (541)3464343 TRINA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER KAIY GAGNON SABRINA GOWETTE LESLIE STRAIGHT KERI SPANGLER KATIE STRINGER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541) 3464381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER TARA SLOAN PRODUCTION COORDINATOR |EN CRAM LIT KRISTEN DICHARRY CAMERON GAUT IONAH SCHROGIN DESIGNERS The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub lished daily Monday through Fn day during the school year by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Ore gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. Unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. ■ In my opinion No peace without justice At a moment in our lives seemingly defined by war and natural disaster, a small asterisk of peace must now be added to the history books. On Sun day, the Sudanese government and the southern Sudan People's Libera tion Movement signed an agreement officially ending Africa’s longest war, responsible for 2 million deaths and 4 million homeless. But, as with most examples of negoti ated peace, the Naivasha Protocols are incomplete and inadequate. As Leslie Lefkow, a researcher with the Africa di vision of Human Rights Watch, points out in the Guardian, “There are no pro visions for any kind of justice mecha nism in the north-south peace accord: no truth commission or compensation for the many victims. ” As we look to the future, sustainable peace in Sudan, and around the world, will not occur unless the perpetrators of war, torture, rape and genocide are brought to justice. We cannot simply ig nore the past and proclaim the present to be a new beginning. Families that are one husband, one wife or one child too small will never find peace unless jus tice is achieved for their loved ones. In his Letter from Birmingham City Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. discussed the relationship between peace and justice in the context of the civil rights movement: “I have been grave ly disappointed with the white mod erate ... who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.” In southern Sudan they have nego tiated for “negative peace.” We shouldn’t minimize the achievement; after two decades of war, peace of any kind is reason for celebration. But we DAVID JAGERNAUTH CRITICAL MASS must not forget that in western Su dan, in the Darfur region, war rages on. The same wicked government of ficials that dodged punishment for their atrocities in the south are cur rently practicing the same atrocities in the west. Will they be let off the hook again, in the name of peace? The fight for civil rights in America also ended in a negative peace, a peace defined by an “absence of tension” and not justice. That is where we find our selves today. Eugene is a perfect exam ple. Our absence of tension — due to an absence of diversity — coupled with an abundance of young liberals has caused many people to mistake Eugene for a racially enlightened city. But the first two things have no causal relationship to the latter, which is why Eugene, for most persons of color, is most accurately defined by its absence of justice. This is also why Eugene has for years been a revolving door for minority pro fessionals, who come to the area full of hope only to leave in frustration. The latest notable exit is Marilyn Mays, the city’s first diversity coordinator and the local NAACP president. Today is her last day with the city. Mays proves that while the majority might not feel it, racial tension still exists. Back to King from jail: “We who en gage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open where it can be seen and dealt with.... Injustice must be exposed, with all of the tension its exposing creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured. ” King’s words also apply to our in ner battle with racism. Make no mis take: We all are racists. That is, we all have racist attitudes and tendencies that we must learn to unlearn — racism is not about who we are but rather how we act. Too many so-called civil rights allies, mostly young white progressives, have a negative peace within themselves — they prefer the “absence of tension” in believing themselves to be immune to racist attitudes rather than the “pres ence of justice” created by owning up to inner prejudices and dealing with them openly. As a result of this racism denial, in many liberal communities white priv ilege passes for racial sensitivity. I must also say that there are people from within the civil rights movement that are contributing to the problem. They have created an environment that engenders such fear of being labeled a racist that many people are afraid to ad mit how they really feel, not only to oth ers, but also to themselves. This makes real healing virtually impossible. The horrors of prolonged war can cloud our judgment. We become so des perate that we are willing to accept any form of peace. But we must remember that negative peace, whether in Sudan or in ourselves, will only breed addition al violence. “Peace not war” is a valiant cry, but today I raise my voice to de cree, “Justice not peace.” davidjagemauth@dailyememld.com ■ Guest commentary Pride steers country off moral path In an editorial in The New York Times that shortly followed the re-elec tion victory of George W. Bush, the writer Garry Wills expressed concern for the erosion of enlightenment values that tolerate religious pluralism. Yet the recent setbacks for the progressive movement may be, in part, due to an element of this same enlightenment heritage that upholds reason by dis paraging emotion and dismissing the mystical. Such a disposition can not only be limiting but often veers toward the misanthropic that, in turn, incites forces of reaction. As neuroscientists have demon strated, the ability to reason is, in fact, inextricably tied to emotion. We can be quite proud of our reason, but since the ability to see beyond our personal perspective is limited, too of ten all we show is the capacity to ra tionalize our pride and self-interest. Though there’s no denying our selfish nature, neither can we deny our col lective nature. Clarity of reason may be better served by casting attention toward emotions of our collective nature. As the progressive movement searches for a renewing vision, it would be well served by turning some attention toward the poetic visionaries. When I write “visionary,” I mean one who confronts human nature and, imaginatively and ecstatically, envi sions a greater society. Like a shaman of a hunting and gathering society, the poet Walt Whitman did just that for the modern democratic society. At the beginning of his tome of po ems “Leaves of Grass,” Whitman writes as follows: “Of physiology from top to toe I sing / Not physiog nomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse / I say the Form com plete is worthier far / The Female equally with the Male I sing.” As I read Whitman, the poet tried to set a moral course that we’ve yet to fol low; whereas Whitman celebrated in dividual freedom in the context of the human spirit, the country has gone the way of individual pride. This differ ence, at its primal core, is an emotional disposition of the individual’s relation ship to the greater collective. As I read the Gospels, Jesus of Nazareth not only understood this nuance between pride and spirit but was rather emphatic about the subject. By delving deeper than the context of the political-rational, progressives can break out of a reactive mode that can be so emotionally exhausting. By taking an emotional-social approach, the progressive movement can be rein vigorated by a spiritually sustaining vi sion. By striving to maximize the best of our nature, we can effectively mini mize the worst of our nature: moving away from a fragmented society marked by individual passion and to ward a harmonic society marked by collective compassion. Ridiculous? Impossible? One should never underestimate the pow er of the muse and the imagination. As we recognize the 400th anniver sary of the publication of “Don Quixote,” it reminds us that only those who attempt the ridiculous can ever hope to achieve the impossible. If Oregon loves dreamers, as the state motto portends, let us be dreamers. We, ourselves, must assume the lead ership of the country. We, ourselves, must be the uniters, not the dividers. As a local bumper sticker proclaimed, if the people lead, our leaders will follow. Brad Hachten is a graduate student ■ Editorial Oregonians must explore dark side of racial past This weekend, Oregonians will kick back, unwind and take to the mountain slopes, the gym or maybe spend some time at home with their families. As we take advantage of a three-day weekend honoring the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., it is im portant that while we celebrate the advance ments our state has made, we also examine our failures and acknowledge the some times turbulent racial history of our region. Civil rights is not only a story of the high ly visible, segregated South. As responsible citizens we should acknowledge that the Pa cific Northwest, and Oregon in particular, has its own, often glossed-over history of bigotry and racism. From its earliest incarnations as a territory, Oregon had a history of issues with diversity. Early laws prohibited slavery but discouraged African-Americans from living here. The “Lash Law” required that a black person in Oregon be whipped twice a year “until he or she shall quit the territory.” Although state voters rejected slavery in 1857, they simulta neously voted to ban African-Americans from the state. Provisions in the state constitution actually prohibited African-Americans from residing in Oregon or voting until they were repealed in 1926 and 1927. In 1862 the state adopted a law requiring all African-Americans, Chinese, Hawaiians and mulattos (referring to people of mixed ethnic heritage) residing in Oregon to pay an annual tax of $5. If they could not pay this tax, the law empowered the state to press them into service maintaining state roads for 50 cents a day. Interracial marriages were banned in Oregon at the same time, and it was illegal for whites to marry anyone one fourth or more black. Oregon's citizens rejected the 14th Amend ment in 1868, refusing to grant blacks citizen ship, only to pass it two years later. Such discrimination would pave the way for decades of residual hatred and bigotry on par with some of the oft-demonized deeds of the South. Accounts of discrimination well into the 20th century are readily available. Much later, as equal rights for non-whites became a national issue in the ‘50s, resistance in Oregon still ran strong. An early attempt by the Portland City Council in 1950 to make dis crimination illegal on the basis of race was quickly thrown out by voter referendum. Oregonians should realize this history is woven into the culture of the state, and in order to move beyond it, we should make a point of exploring and learning such mis takes instead of whitewashing over the shameful past. OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to letters@dailyemerald.com or submitted at the Oregon Daily Emerald office, EMU Suite 300. Electronic submissions are preferred. Letters are limited to 250 words, and guest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submissions should include phone number and address for verification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style. Guest submissions are published at the discretion of the Emerald. EDITORIAL BOARD Jennifer Sudick Steven R. Neuman Editor in Chief Managing Editor David Jagernauth Gabe Bradley Commentary Editor Freelance Editor
