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
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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
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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.”
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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