inside
The w orldw ide mission
of Kristy Edmunds
Page 34
VOLUME
18
N um ber
19
A
u g u st
P o r tla n d , O r e g o n
3, 2001
FR EE
Derry, Derry,
quite contrary
School hoard member sticks
his foot in his mouth—and
can’t seem to get it out
by
J im R adosta
P
Marc Acito
ortland Public Schools board mem'
ber Derry Jackson has refused to
resign despite a loud outcry after he
told a newspaper last month, “I see
the Jews running everything.” He
later claim ed the com m ents were
intended as a com plim ent to the Jewish
community.
This isn’t the first time Jackson has
offended a minority group. Just three
months ago he was at the forefront of
the failed effort to return military
recruiters to the halls o f Portland’s pub
lic schools.
According to Jackson, the achieve
ment gap affect
ing inner city
" / do not see the
schools out
Jews struggling to
weighed the dis-
get over the
criminatory
achievement gap.
“don’t ask, don’t
I do not see the Jews tell” policy ban
ning openly gay
struggling to feed
men and lesbians
their fam ilies.. . .
from serving their
In fact, I see the
country. During
Jews running
that ordeal he
sent an e-mail to
everything
board member
— Derry Jackson Sue Hagmeier,
saying homosexu
ality is a “behavior” as opposed to race,
which is determined at birth.
“Some may choose to live this life
Ihomosexuality] over some other
options,” Jackson told Willamette W eek.
“I also believe that someone’s lifestyle
choice should not be the grounds for
expulsion from any organization. I’m
talking about gays or lesbians, for exam
ple. Someone who’s lesbian shouldn’t be
removed from the military because that’s
who they choose to he.”
Jackson has made a habit of sending
such mixed messages to the community.
Since he was appointed to fill a board
vacancy in 1999, he has attended sever
al forums organized by left-wing activists
to discuss police bnitality. But since his
March election, his politics seem to
have taken a sharp tum to the right.
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