Page 4, Portland Observer. February 13,1986
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Bell resignation shatters apathy
D uring an era o f indifference, apathy and in
activity regarding A ffirm a tiv e A c tio n , the shining
light o f in te g rity and principle illum inates fro m
Eugene, O regon. D e rric k Bell stepped d ow n as
Dean o f the U n iv e rs ity o f O regon Law School
because he refused to be involved when the institu
tion sidestepped A ffirm a tiv e A c tio n and refused
to hire an Asian-American woman.
His actions should renew hope and rekindle a
fig h tin g s p irit in us a ll. H is to ric a lly , it was the
action o f one who stood up fo r fairness which set
o f f a chain reaction in the populace and social
change occurred. B ell’ s in d ivid u a l stand fo r A f
firm a tiv e A c tio n is in league w ith Rosa P arks’
refusal to sit in the back o f the bus, M artin Luther
K in g ’s M arch on W ashington, M alcolm X ’s de
velopment o f self-determ ination and Rev. Jesse
Jackson’s quest fo r the presidency.
Bell w ould not p a rtic ip a te in the h ypocrisy
which could not differentiate between equality as
a theoretical right and equality as reality. Bell's
resignation makes a case fo r equal o p p o rtu n ity
and fu ll equality as he stands on the shoulder o f
the C ivil Rights movement. I f all public adm inis
trators resigned over A ffirm a tive Action inactivity
and hyp o crisy the c o u n c il cham bers statew ide
would echo w ith silence.
The rem arkable element about Bell’ s resigna
tion is that he did not have to do it. He was secure
and isolated in Eugene, Oregon. N o one w ould
ever have know n if he had played along w ith the
crowd. But Bell had to live w ith him self and his
selfless actions should shatter the apathy o f people
o f color and wom en in positions o f power w ho
allow A ffirm a tive Action inactivity to continue.
As much as we hate to lose an A fro-A m erican
as a Law Dean, we as a people have gained
strength, power and direction from Bell’s actions.
He proves that integrity s till exists and the case
fo r A ffirm a tive A ction is not closed.
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Thank you so much lo r your parti
cipation in our Project Care program
on Sunday, January 20.
Wc feci that the w orkshop was a
mosi worthwhile experience for all o f
Just a note to com plim ent and
(hank you fo r your support during
1984 o f the Association o f Oregon
Recyclers and Oregon Newspaper
Publishers Association's program to
educate the citizens o f Oregon on the
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Oregon has the highest used news
paper recycling rate o f any state in the
United States or province o f Canada.
We, as a state, have achieved this
us.
The numbers in attendance was the
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eat
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recycling e ffo rts. Local com m unity
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"It's only me. mother s helper
ED W A R D P SPARKS
Patient seeks others
What about terrorism at home?
To the Editor,
As a scleroderma patient who has
suffered alone fo r to o many years
w ith a disease that few people have
ever even heard o f, I am attempting to
locate others who suffer from sclero
derma (systemic sclerosis).
M y New Y e a r’ s re so lu tio n is to
correspond with as many scleroderma
patients as possible. Doctors tell me
there are 300,000 o f us. Perhaps your
readers can assist me in locating oth
ers lik e m yself. I can be reached at
21 Brennan Street, No. 21, Watson
ville, C A 95076.
D IA N E W ILLIA M S
On M onday, February 11th. a divesture
bill was introduced in Salem. The Street Beat
team asked, “ Should Oregon withdraw pub
lic investment from South A frica?”
by Lanita Duke and Richard J. Brown
Along the Color l.me by Dr. Manning Marable
High on the list o f foreign policy
objectives o f the Reagan adm inistra
tion’s second term is the acceleration
o f the war against "te rro rism ." Nica
ragua, Cuba, Libya, Syria, and the
Soviet U nion have been repeatedly
assailed fo r their support o f interna
tional terrorists. U S. Aid to the con
tras in N icaragua, w ho are indeed
conducting a bloody campaign o f ter
ror, is described as necessary to sup
port “ freedom fig h te rs .” U.S. as
sistance to the supporters o f the de
posed. butcherous Pol Pot regime in
Kampuchea is justified because o f the
“ te rro rism ” o f Vietnamese troops.
Reagan's "constructive engagement"
policy o f detente w ith racist South
Africa is justified because o f the “ Cu
ban te rro ris ts " who are supporting
apartheid’s opponents.
W hat about “ te rro ris m ” at
home? On the periphery o f every
lynch mob, and every racist and anti-
Semitic organization, there are in d i
viduals who com m it no violent acts,
yet who are essential to the dynamics
o f terror. They are, by nature, loud
and crude; they m anipulate racist
stereotypes and indulge in chauvinis
tic slogans. Such individuals seek no
direct responsibility fo r the violence
which they have encouraged. O ften
they disavow the actions o f others,
and call fo r “ law and order” to pro
tect private property and to preserve
public safety. Technically, their hands
are clean, yet their nom inal posture
betrays a silent sym pathy fo r the
spirit o f mob violence. Such a man is
the President o f the United Stales.
Ronald Reagan is an ignorant, re
actionary bigot — but we must look
beyond this aged actor to discern the
social class forces he represents, and
more im p o rta n tly , the racist and
te rro ris tic agents w hich com prise
the c u ttin g edge o f “ R eaganism .”
When the President announced in
Macon, Georgia, “ the South shall rise
a g a in,” d u rin g last year’ s national
cam paign, no racist in this co u n try
could mistake Reagan’ s nostalgia for
the Jim Crow era and lynch law By
destroying the U.S. C ivil rights Com
m ission, un d e rm in in g a ffirm a tiv e
action and equal opportunity legisla
tion, Reagan sends a vicious message
to w hite supremacists and Ku K lux
Klansmen that it is "open season” on
Black people. We should not be sur
prised, therefore, when immediately
after Reagan’ s reelection, a gang o f
celebrating vigilantes waged a six-
hour stoning assault on the home o f
a Black fa m ily in a w hite C hicago
neighborhood.
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