Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 2015)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 D AILY A STORIAN ‘Lynch Mob’: Misuse of language T HE Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager A time when great things were possible It’s important to remember the McCall era T om McCall was more than a governor. He led Oregon at a par- ticularly fertile, combustible moment. He exploited that unique chemistry, embellishing Oregonians’ environmental ethic and making Oregon a model for the nation. On Wednesday, Gov. Kate Brown will sign Senate Bill 333, which de- clares next March 22 Tom McCall Day. This concept has been the goal of a group of Oregonians who call themselves the Tom McCall Legacy Project. Many named days are empty ges- tures. But this one has possibilities. On behalf of the Legacy Project, Bill Hall — a Lincoln County com- missioner — wrote the legislation Gov. Brown is signing. The goal, says Hall, is that “So much time has passed since McCall’s years and so many new Oregonians have moved here or been born that the memory of what was accomplished is fading away.” The statute encourages school districts to use a curriculum which the Oregon Historical Society developed to teach children about those years. Another place Oregonians can go to learn about the McCall legacy is the excellent documentary that Oregon Public Broadcasting produced (watch it at opb.org). The other place to look is Brent Walth’s Fire at Eden’s Gate, the most com- plete work on McCall and one of the EHVW 3DFL¿F Tom McCall Northwest po- litical histories. Occasionally a person and an era coincide. That’s what happened with Tom McCall and the gigan- tic cultural shift that began in the 1960s and moved through the 1970s. Oregonians were ready to follow this immensely idiosyncratic leader who was one of the best communicators to KROGWKHJRYHUQRU¶VRI¿FH Out of this period came the Bottle Bill (1971), statewide land use plan- ning (1973) and a declaration that Oregon’s beaches were public. All three of these established Oregon as a place that was willing to take risks in the name of enhancing livability. Our national attention span and memory has grown short. The pop- ulation of Oregonians alive for the McCall era is dwindling. He was the best governor we may never see again. at the root / Black bodies Somerset County. After swingin’ in the South- assuring Maryland Gov- ern breeze / Strange fruit ernor Albert Ritchie that hangin’ from the poplar ast week, the Baltimore Armwood’s safety would trees.” police union president, be guaranteed, Somerset Maybe Ryan does not County officials trans- Gene Ryan, compared those ferred Armwood to the appreciate the irony that protesting the death of Freddie jail house in Princess LW ZDV QRW WKH RI¿FHUV¶ bodies that video showed Anne, with tragic conse- Gray to a “lynch mob.” being dragged limp and quences.” Freddie Gray was the screaming through the The report continued: Charles 25-year-old Baltimore man who ³6RXUFHV DUH FRQÀLFWLQJ street, but that of Gray. Blow died of grave, mysterious inju- regarding many of the de- Maybe Ryan does not reg- ries after being taken into po- tails of the assault on Den- ister coincidence that ac- ston and the subsequent murder of tual lynching often damages or cuts lice custody. George Armwood, but what is cer- the spinal cord, and according to a Gray’s family, citizens of Balti- tain is that on the evening of October statement by the Gray family’s at- more and indeed those of the nation 18 a mob of a thousand or more peo- torney, Gray’s spine was “80 percent have questions. And yes, there is a ple stormed into the Princess Anne severed at his neck.” $QGWKLVLVQRWWKH¿UVWSURWHVWRI palpable frustration and fatigue that jail house and hauled Armwood yet another young person of color from his cell down to the street be- the killing of people of color where has died after an encounter with po- low. Before he was hung from a tree “lynch mobs” have been invoked. Fox News’ Howard Kurtz ac- OLFHRI¿FHUV some distance away, Armwood was So, there have been protests. But dragged through the streets, beaten, cused “some liberal outlets” of “cre- protests are not the same as a lynch stabbed, and had one ear hacked off. ating almost a lynch mob mentality” PREDQGWRFRQÀDWHWKHWZRGLPLQ Armwood’s lifeless body was then in Ferguson. Possible presidential candidate ishes the painful history of this coun- SDUDGHG WKURXJK WKH WRZQ ¿QDOO\ try and unfairly slanders the citizens ending up near the town’s court- Mike Huckabee also compared Fer- who have taken to the streets. Maybe house, where the mob doused the guson protesters to lynch mobs, as Ryan is unaware not corpse with gasoline did Laura Ingraham, FrontPage mag- azine and an opinion piece on The only of the history of DQGVHWLWRQ¿UH´ lynching and lynch As Baltimore’s Daily Caller. There In 2013, after almost completely mobs in America Afro-American were 32 overall, but also in newspaper report- peaceful protests the weekend after Maryland itself. ed at the time, in George Zimmerman was found not lynchings For instance, addition to Arm- guilty in the shooting death of Tray- according to the in Maryland wood’s blackened von Martin, Newt Gingrich said that Maryland Histori- skin, mutilated protesters were “prepared, basically, cal Society Library: face and missing to be a lynch mob.” between These “lynch mob” invocations “Mary Denston, ear, his tongue was 1882 and the elderly wife of “clenched between are an incredible misuse of language, a Somerset County his teeth,” giving in which the lexicon of slaughter, 1931. farmer, was return- “evidence of his subjugation and suffering are re- ing to her home in great agony before duced to mere colloquialism, and Princess Anne on death.” It continued: therefore bleached of the blood in the morning of October 17, 1933 “There is no adequate description of which it was originally written and when she was attacked by an assail- the mute evidence of gloating on the used against the people who were ant. A manhunt quickly began for part of whites who gathered to watch historically victims of the atrocities. “Lynch mob” is the same ghast- the alleged perpetrator, 22-year- the effect upon our people.” old African-American George Additionally, according to the ly rhetorical overreach that is often Armwood. He was soon arrested historical society, there were 32 bandied about in political discus- and charged with felonious assault. lynchings in Maryland between sions — including in this column I wrote seven years ago. It was a By 5:00 pm, an angry mob of lo- 1882 and 1931. cal white residents had gathered Perhaps Ryan had never heard the too-extreme comparison then, and outside the Salisbury jail where the haunting rendition of Strange Fruit it’s a too-extreme comparison now. Nothing that political partisans or suspect had been taken. In order to recorded in 1939 by Billie Holiday, protect Armwood from the increas- with its plaintive lyrics shining light protesters have done — nothing! — comes remotely close to the barba- ingly hostile crowd, state police on the depravity of lynchings: transferred him to Baltimore. But “Southern trees bear a strange rism executed by the lynch mobs that just as quickly he was returned to fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood stain this country’s history. By CHARLES M. BLOW New York Times News Service L Are you smarter than an 8th-grader? blingly protest that they’re eighth-graders correctly an- just not good at math! swered B, below Palestin- True, there are math prod- ians, Turks and Armenians. igies who are different In a recent column, am afraid you’re eligible to from you and me. When I offered a paean to the read this column only if you the great mathematician humanities. But it’s also can answer this question faced true, as a professor notes Carl Gauss was a young by eighth-graders around the in a letter to the editor, that boy, his teacher is said to have asked his class to science majors do take hu- world: calculate the sum of all the manities courses. In con- What is the sum of the three numbers from 1 to 100. trast, humanities majors Nicholas consecutive whole numbers with often desperately avoid Gauss supposedly sup- Kristof 2n as the middle number? plied the answer almost any semblance of math or A. 6n+3 instantly: 5,050. science (except for classes tribute new costs. The issue is further B. 6n 7KHWHDFKHUÀDEEHUJDVWHGDVNHG like “Physics for Poets”). complicated by federal restrictions on C. 6n-1 Numeracy isn’t a sign of geeki- how he knew. Gauss explained that KRZHQHUJ\HI¿FLHQF\IXQGVDUHVSHQW D. 6n-3 ness, but a basic requirement for in- he had added 1 and 100, 2 and 99, More than three-quarters of South telligent discussions of public policy. and realized that there would be 50 Oregon’s legalization law intro- Korean kids answered correctly (it Without it, politicians routinely get such pairs each summing 101. So 50 duces one more big wrinkle into the is B). Only 37 percent of American away with using statistics, as Mark times 101 equals 5,050. debate by authorizing widespread So I agree: Let’s resent the kids were correct, lagging their peers Twain supposedly observed, the way home-growing of marijuana. While from Iran, Indonesia and Ghana. a drunk uses a lamppost: for support Gausses of the world for being an- theoretically closer to the small-scale noyingly smart. But let’s not use that We know Johnny can’t read; it rather than illumination. (I believe U.S. high schools and as an excuse to hide from the rigor agrarian ideals of some marijuana appears that Johnny is even worse at colleges overemphasize calculus and of numbers. Countries like Singa- users, these home grows could have counting. The Educational Testing Service GRQ¶W VXI¿FLHQWO\ WHDFK VWDWLVWLFV pore manage to impart extraordinary a huge cumulative impact on power UHOHDVHGDJOREDOUHSRUW¿QGLQJWKDW Statistical literacy should be part of math skills in ordinary children be- demand. One scientist puts this pow- young adults from the United States every citizen’s tool kit.) cause they work at it. er draw as equal to running 29 new rank poorly in reading but are even Numeracy isn’t just about num- Public debates often dance around refrigerators per home-growing oper- worse in math - the worst of all coun- basic statistical concepts, like stan- bers, of course. It’s also about log- dard deviation, ic. Let me leave you with a logical ation. Obviously, this will be self-lim- tries tested. This because too few puzzle — a family favorite, one that iting, as the power bills would be pun- is the generation Numeracy that will be in the Americans under- ,¿UVWKHDUGDVDOLWWOHNLG²WKDWLVQ¶W ishing. But it’s easy to imagine some labor force for the stand them. And mathematical at all. Yet people with KRPH JURZHUV EHFRPLQJ XQRI¿FLDO next half-century, isn’t a sign of people assume far math training seem better at thinking suppliers to recoup costs. struggling to com- geekiness, but too much of “av- it through and solving it: You’re in a dungeon with two erages.” In addition to the carbon dioxide pete with citizens a requirement doors. One leads to escape, the other of other countries. After all, produced by some forms of power to execution. There are only two oth- It’s not just American adults generation, marijuana plants also re- for intelligent have, on aver- er people in the room, one of whom that U.S. results quire additional levels of CO2 to grow are dragged down always tells the truth, while the other age, one ovary at their best. Altogether, this comes to by poverty. Even discussions of and one testicle. always lies. You don’t know which is an estimated 4,600 kilograms (10,141 U.S. millennials public policy. But try finding which, but they know that the other such an “average always lies or tells the truth. You can pounds) of CO2 for each kilo (2.2 with graduate de- ask one of them one question, but, grees score near person.” SRXQGVRI¿QLVKHGSURGXFW of course, you don’t know whether the bottom of international ranks in Another pop quiz: Other impacts will certainly in- numeracy. A piece of wood was 40 centime- you’ll be speaking to the truth-teller clude everything from water usage We interrupt this column for an- ters long. It was cut into 3 pieces. or the liar. So what single question to additional demands for municipal other problem: The lengths in centimeters are 2x -5, can you ask one of them that will en- How many degrees does a minute x +7 and x +6. What is the length of DEOH\RXWR¿JXUHRXWZKLFKGRRULV services in areas where production which and make your escape? hand of a clock turn through from the longest piece? is concentrated. It’s not a trick question. When 6:20 a.m. to 8 a.m. on the same day? Only 7 percent of American To the extent that marijuana con- A. 680 degrees eighth-graders got that one right you hear the answer, you’ll see it’s sumption remains essentially what B. 600 degrees (the answer is 15 centimeters). In straightforward. I’ve posted the an- it was, but supplied legally rather C. 540 degrees contrast, 53 percent of Singaporean swer on my blog, nytimes.com/on- than illegally, these impacts may theground, but you won’t need the D. 420 degrees eighth-graders answered correctly. help, will you? Only 22 percent of American I know many readers will grum- eventually balance out on a regional scale. For example, power previ- ously used in Northern California for illegal grows may now be billed • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): 1432. Email: rep.deborah boone@ son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy- in Oregon for legal ones. State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., VWDWHRUXV'LVWULFWRI¿FH32%R[ MRKQVRQFRP'LVWULFW2I¿FH32%R[ Utility bills and taxes must be H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 928, Cannon Beach, OR 97110. R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503- carefully crafted and rebalanced to 503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.state. Phone: 503-986-1432. Web: www. 543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria RI¿FHSKRQH make certain costs are absorbed by or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@ leg.state.or.us/ boone/ state.or.us • State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): • Port of Astoria: Executive Di- WKRVHZKRSUR¿WIURPDQGDSSUHFL • State Rep. Deborah Boone State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., rector, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Astoria, ate marijuana. Groovy is one thing. (D): 900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Sa- S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone: OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300. Greedy is another. lem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986- 503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john- Email: admin@portofastoria.com Unforeseen circumstances By NICHOLAS KRISTOF New York Times News Service I Marijuana has a voracious appetite for electricity F or an activity that some of its fans still see as low-key hip- pie agriculture borrowed from the pages of the 1970s Whole Earth Catalog, marijuana growing comes ZLWK VRPH VXUSULVLQJO\ VLJQL¿FDQW environmental downsides. As our Capitol Bureau report- ed Monday, Oregon is about to become the latest state to overtly confront marijuana’s voracious ap- petite for electricity. Colorado and Washington state are each already in the throes of adapting to sudden surging demand for power in plac- es where expansion of service and supply is not easily achieved. $V ¿UVW UHSRUWHG E\ WKH &KLQRRN 2EVHUYHUDERXW3DFL¿F&RXQW\²IDVW becoming a major location for large- scale legal marijuana growing — elec- tricity wholesaler Bonneville Power Administration makes long-term sup- ply contracts on a tiered basis, which allows smaller utilities to purchase power at lower rates. Those rates are a factor that attracts indoor growers. Additional electricity beyond Tier 1 must be purchased at a higher rate. $IWHU OHQJWK\ GLVFXVVLRQV 3DFL¿F County’s public utility district decid- ed last fall on a preference for exist- ing, long-term customers, with most add-on electricity expenses going to the new large-load indoor marijuana farms. Even so, residential customers will see up to a $4.70 additional an- nual charge per new large-load power user — a charge the PUD defends as valid support for a tremendous surge in economic development in the formerly struggling north half of the county. Similar issues are playing out in Oregon, with publicly owned PUDs likely to also protect established rate- payers. It remains to be seen exactly how private power companies will dis- Where to write