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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 2017)
LET TERS WELCOME COVER I was very moved by the painting on the cover of your 2/2 issue [“Hiding in Plain Sight] by Jeremy Okai Davis. Thank you for that. Amy Isler Gibson Eugene CRESWELL CONTROVERSY Upon reading about the forced resigna- tion of Principal Bracco and Vice Principal Osborn of Creswell High I am reminded, once again, at how thin-skinned and judg- mental our society has become. Let me see: According to the new social rule, engaging in an admittedly insensitive discussion in private is bad but eavesdrop- ping on said conversation, recording and sharing it anonymously is not. Everyone engages in opinionated, judg- mental talk privately, it’s human nature but now your career can be incinerated in the manufactured outrage at such a concept. Somebody was insulted, someone apol- ogized for the insult and learned to be more respectful — that should have ended the matter but oh no, they can’t be forgiven. They must pay with their jobs and public pillorying. And what kind of lesson does this teach the students? You don’t have to be mature VIEWPOINT and shrug it off as bad behavior and move on. No, if someone is mean behind your back, get them fired in self-righteous in- dignation — that will teach them. I realize we expect to hold public edu- cators to a higher standard but none of us is perfect. There was a guy in the Bible who advised “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone” Oh, what was his name again? Starts with a J. Drop the stone and walk away, forgiv- ing costs you nothing and pays in the long run. Alisa McLaughlin Eugene RENAMING THE BUTTE I’d like to gather support for Mariette Wicks’ suggestion that the city of Eugene [“Rename Skinner’s Butte,” Letters, Jan. 12] to Ya-Po-Ah (what the Kalapuya called it). Wicks participated in activism most of her 92 years and was a big personal influ- ence and inspiration. This name change was the last seed she planted before she passed on Jan. 13. I realize there are endless, competing, meaningful and important places to spend our time and energy these days. I promise to do my part and encourage everyone to support the non-profits, communities and individuals who need us now more than ever. This season might not be the right time for this seed of Wicks' to sprout but, then again, maybe it’s a perfectly ripe time for this type of symbolic gesture. In renaming Skinner’s Butte to Ya-Po- Ah, there is no intention to dishonor Eu- gene Skinner, the namesake of our great city. The intention is much more to show respect and honor for those who came be- fore us in this beautiful place. Maybe as a small token we can honor those people by renaming Skinner’s Butte to its Kalapuya name, Ya-Po-Ah. To tend this seed with me, please email: yapoaheugene@gmail.com. Sherman Sherman Eugene POLITICAL CONTRADICTION Black History Month should remind people that Democrats professed an appar- ent contradiction as they seceded to begin the Civil War. They demanded protection for slavery where existing, and the right to take their “peculiar property” into the ter- ritories. They demanded the right to trade their property across state lines and en- forcement of the Fugitive Slave Law. Yet, during the last heated debates, and for years prior, these same people joined the near universal condemnation of the in- ternational slave trade. This contradiction vanishes when un- derstanding the South was being overrun with their property. Democratic Sen. Al- fred Iverson of Georgia said before Con- gress in 1861: “We know well that we never can enjoy equal possession of the territories without protection of our prop- erty … They increase, according to the last census bill, at the rate of 32 percent every ten years.” Meaning the South needed new slave states and plantations to absorb the in- creasing population. One hundred fifty years later, the black community provides voting plurality to the Democrat Party, and adopts their pro- choice sacrament of abortion. According to the Centers for Disease Control, black women accounted for about 36 percent of abortions, though blacks constitute about 14 percent of total population. Applying antebellum population growth to the post Roe v. Wade period would mean 77 million blacks instead of the 46 million currently living. So what benefits accrue for blacks pro- viding the Democrat Party about 90 per- BY STA N TAYLOR Gandhi, Non-violence and the Politics of 2017 SHARPENING THE TOOLS TO RESIST OPPRESSION W ith the election of Donald Trump we are witnessing a coup that combines white nationalism, finance capital and militarism. The Lane Peace Center is bringing Arun Gandhi, the grand- son of Mahatma Gandhi, to Eugene on Feb. 16. His talk, titled “Gandhi and Non-violence: Relevance for the 21st Century,” is well timed to help us gain perspective on these surreal and turbulent times. Underlying the white nationalism behind the Trump presidency is the alt-right message of a revival of white Christian European nationalism with roots in colo- nialism and conquest. Domestically, this is reflected in a cabinet of billionaires who view the world through a transactional corporate filter and military men willing to use force at home under the guise of “homeland” security. Internationally, Christian European nationalism is being used to undermine the United Nations and the European Union, while right-wing parties rise in both East- ern and Western Europe with slogans comparable to “Make America Great Again.” Instead of an internationalist system based on mutuality, Trump and company will seek to create a confederacy of oligarchs. Ideologically, Trump and Co. seek to end the two frameworks that have struc- tured our economics and politics since the early 1930s. The first is the progressive movement embodied in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, with its base in union- ized labor broadened in the 1960s to include civil rights. Make no mistake, the Trump administration, with the help of Republicans, in- tends to erase all traces of progressive economics, politics and civil rights. The second framework, beginning in the 1970s, is neoliberalism, rooted in fi- nance capitalism made manifest though economic globalization. In place of the progressive and neoliberal economics and politics, Trump envi- sions a confederacy of bankers squeezing national treasuries and populations with austerity measures to service debt. 4 February 9, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com This is a grim future, but it will not be successful. There are fundamental issues that Trump’s vision does not address — including climate chaos, peak fossil fuels, the structural limits of finance capitalism and popular resistance. So we are in a time of transition with an uncertain future. Important questions must be asked: Will the United States Constitution contain the Trump agenda within the system of checks and balances? Or are we on the verge of creating a new frame- work for economics and politics that recognizes ecological limits and the rights of both people and the planet? In these times, Gandhi’s principles provide us a guide to action. At the personal level, embracing non-violence reveals ourselves to ourselves by making clear our connection to humanity and the planet. This engenders goodwill in the face of ad- versity. As Gandhi said, we must “be the change that we wish to see in the world.” Gandhi also provided us the tools to resist oppression. The heart of his message is satyagraha, which translates into truth or soul force. His method is non-violent noncooperation, which involves the withdrawal of support for governments that en- gages in oppression and exploitation. History shows that when people remove sup- port, governments fall. We are already seeing signs of the withdrawal of support in the form of the global women’s march, the mass protests at airports in defiance of Trump’s immigration ban, and in the call for a general strike on Feb. 17 (f17strike. com). Arun Gandhi will bring his grandfather’s message to Eugene at 7 pm Thursday, Feb. 16. He will speak in Building 19, the Center for Meeting and Learning, on the Lane Community College main campus. The event is free and open to the public. Stan Taylor is the chair of the Peace Center at Lane Community College, where he teaches classes in peace and conflict, environmental politics, and civil rights and liberties. He has a juris doctor from McGeorge School of Law, a masters in International Law from Georgetown University Law Center and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Oregon.
