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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1985)
Page 4, Portland O bserver, April 10,1966 EDITORIAL/OPINION YOUTH WATCH: I Keep 14-year-olds out of jail by l inda Johnson To keep an eye on issues affeeling youth, the greatest resource of this community and others throughout the nation is indeed a task worthy of undertaking. "Y o u th W atch" will ap proach youth issues to develop a youth, family and community con tinuum for you to preview. “ Youth W atch" is meant to stimulate thought, to provoke actions on behalf o f youth and to provide a voice for youth. Bills in the Oregon Legislative As sembly need to be examined. Senate Bill 414 and H B 2955 are bills related to lowering the remand age to 14. The litmus test used to measure whether a youth should be tried in the adult court system for specific violent crimes or the attempt to commit any crime on this laundry list is. . . “ the child at the time o f the alleged offense was of sufficient sophistication and maturity to appreciate the nature and equality o f the conduct involved. . The youth in our community will be ad versely affected by these bills since they are predicated on institutions which are biased to children who are from different ethnic backgrounds and face socio-economic deprivation. These two factors alone should alarm and outrage our community. Perhaps in areas where the institu tions are more culturally sensitive, this approach would make these bills acceptable but the State o f Oregon is not one o f these areas. These bills at tempt to preclude the Death Penalty for children who will be remanded. The fact is the constitutional amend ment passed last November 1984 on the Death Penalty could supercede the amendment found in SB4I4 and HB29SS. Different states boast about their lower juvenile population in their de tention facilities. I submit to you. their juvenile population is down be cause they are locking children up in their jails and penitentiaries. Did you know some states think 12-year-oid children can be considered adults? I f the Oregon legislature is z ANO HELP THE ECONOMY BY able to lower the remand age to 14 and deny the resources of the juvenile system to children who most need and would benefit from it, Oregon will also attempt to lower its remand age to 12. Concerned citizens should write their Oregon legislative representa tives and Judiciary Subcommittee members, encouraging them to vote " N o ” on HB2955 and SB4I4 and call Legislator Access: I -800-982-1211, or Legislative Bill Informatin: 1-800- 452-0290, to acquire more inform a tion on the status o f these bills. Speak to Rep. James H ill, the representa tive from Salem who is a sponsor o f these bills, and ask him to with draw his sponsorship publicly, based on the abusive effects on children in our community. l.mda Johnson, youth and com munity advocate, encourages com munity response and suggestions in the development o j "Youth Watch. " Contact: P .O Box 12088, Portland, Oregon 97312. During the Pal Gillis controversy, one o f our participants suggested that we ask if politicians should submit to lie detector tests. The Street Beal team asked, "Should politicians take lie detector tests pnor to distributing information to voters?" eat Street ? by Lanita Duke and Richard J. Brown z J. L. Hatchar Ratirad "Yes, if we have to lake Dabby Yanaar Houaawifa Sandra Malone Aaaambly Worker "N o , lie detector tests havt tot been proven effective." " N o , it would put all ol them out o f business. " Â CUTTING EDUCATION HOW CAN HE PLAY&OLOOÇ6 WITH THE ' FACTS? DOCUDCAMA \ % jJjua. US W Ilka irW - Mark Twain no racist Along the Color Line b y Dr. Manning Marable W ith the possible exception o f Clarence Pendleton, virtually every Black person in the U.S. has directly experienced racial discrimination. In its more overt forms, racism has meant Jim Crow restrictions, the inability to obtain jobs, education, and decent bousing, and the lack of political rights. M ore subtle are other manifatations o f racism, such as the assignment o f school texts which foster racial stereotypes. Both forms of racism have forced A fro-A m eri cans to initiate strategies o f resistance which, in turn, raise serious ques tions about the relationship between the rights o f the oppressed vs. free speech and civil lib ertia. Examine the controversy surround ing the 19th Century novel by M ark Twain, "The Adventures of Huckle berry Finn.” Most literary critics agree that the book is a classic in American literature, ranking with Ralph E lli son’s "Invisible M a n " and the works by Merman Melville, Ernest Heming way, Alice W alker and other great writers. M ark Twain was a staunch opponent of white supremacy; never theless the book contains racial siereo types and racisi language Thus for years, a number o f civil rights coali tions have advtxatcd the banning of "Huckleberry Finn” from public schools. In 1982 the chair of the hu man rights committee at a Fairfax, Virginia, school termed the book "racist trash." I a s i year Waukegan. Illinois, school administrators banned the book from a required reading list. And in Eeburary, 1985, one member of the Chicago School Board declared that the novel "ought to be burned.” Dr. John H . Wallace, a noted educa tor, describes "Huckleberry Finn” as “ the most grotesque example of racist trash ever w ritten." But other scholars have now atablished the fact that M ark Twain provided the funds for Warner T. McGuinn to attend Yale l aw School in the 1880s. McGuinn went on to become an N A A C P leader and a ma jor contributor to desegregation cam paigns in Baltimore. Twain's lan guage in bis novels and essays is ra cially slanted by contemporary stan dards. but it is simply incorrect to attribute to him a Reaganite con tempt for Black people. "H u c k Finn” t r i« to condemn white society for its own perpetuation o f racial inequal ity. If H itler’s “ Mein Kam pf” is available in school libraries as a testament to racism and anti-Semitism "H uck Finn" should be present as a flawed but noble effort by a while liberal who attempted to challenge the racism o f his era. A second, slightly different, con troversy relates to the efforts o f anti apartheid activists who have urged the boycotting o f artists, athletes and entertainers who have traveled to South Africa. Several months ago the N A A C P was pressured to drop two Black performers, Tina Turner and Daniebclle H all, from their 17th an nual “ Image Awards” ceremony in Los Angeles, because they had toured South African resoris. The United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid has initiated a "cultural boycott" against any artists who have performed inside South Africa since 1981. Most o f the entertain ers on the U .N . list — including Ray C h a ri« , Frank Sinatra, Cher, Goldie Hawn, Linda Ronsladt, and the Beach Boys - are millionaires who had no direct need to travel to Johann«- burg and provide cultural legitimacy to a dictatorial regime. But these artists now find themselv« "black listed” from performing at any func tion sponsored by the United Nations. Liberals such as Harvard Law pro- f«sor Alan Dershowitz are out raged that artists who have profited from the racist regime should be cen sured in any way. The U N ’s action is a "civil lib erti« violation,” D « h o - witz complains in a recent essay: “ Consider an artist who is against apartheid but who performs to a Black audience in So w eto.. .the artist shouldn’t be punished for his or her political decision,” First, such "logic” would scarcely be applied by Dershowitz and other white liberals about American artists who performed let’s say, in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Second, virtually none o f the artists on the U .N . boycott list have been active in the Free South Africa Movement. Most had no contact or solidarity with oppressed Africans inside the apartheid regime. They went to South Africa for the money, period. And in their lust for profits, they tacitly reinforced the cultural viability o f the immoral state. U.S. consumers, Black and white, have a right to know whether the artists they support are in turn supporting funda mental, human rights issues. A rt ists who have profited directly from institutional racism abroad should not be overtly harrassed or subjected to personal attacks by anti-apartheid proponents. Yet we have a right to initiate "selective buying” campaigns, as we did against Jim Crow businas- « in the I961X, targeting those celebri- t i« who contribute toward Black op pression. Dr. Manning Marable teaches po litical sociology at Colgate University Hamilton, New York. "Along the Color Line" appears in over Id) news papers internationally. Letters to the Editor Wlllya Goat Nuraa “ It would be hard to say. Ilf they took the test and the test is not accurate, then what do we have?" | William Brown Salf-Employad Kan Hovey Raglatarad Nuraa " N o , it's a violation o f their constitutional rights. Gillis, I hope, was an isolated inci- Jent." | " I would hope that lie de- ector tests aren't necessary. However, I ’m fully in favor of Gillis' recall." Portland Observer *• "la , «aa**»*« •/ The P ortlan d Observer fU S P S 959 6 8 0 1 it published every Thursday by E mm » Publishing Company. Inc , 2201 North Killings worth. Portland. Oregon 97217. Post Office Bow 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland Oregon The Portland Observer was estab«, ned m 1970 MEMBER Subscriptions «15 00 psr yssr in ths l r County srss Post m aster Sand address change* to the Ponlend Observer. P O Bo« 3137. Portland, Oregon 97206 X tio cu H o n • Founded l t d 5 A lfred L. Henderson, Editor/Publisher A l Williams, General Manager IS PORTMND observer «15 lor one vaer »25 tor two year \ B o . 3137 Portland OR 97206 I x Apt L. « Ä tf. .*-4»***^ zip . ‘ à 2 8 3 2486 National Advertising Raprsaantativa A m algam ated Publishers. Inc N ew York ®aj]6> S state Beware indeed To the Editor, _____________________________ Mül • The O bserver welcomes tellers to the editor. L etters sh ou ld be typ ed or neatly printed and signed with the au th or's name an d address (a d dresses are n o t pu blish ed). We re serve the right to edit fo r length. Mail to: P o rtla n d O bserver, P. O. Box 3137, Portland, OB 97208. 2 8 S 3J 2 5 5 3 ÍÍ * Ï "> x r- O T X (h > * 6 m -i > 3J jrysr- j In the March 20 issue o f the Port land Observer, Joe "Bean” Keller wrote an article entitled "Verbal Agreements — Beware,” in which he castigated me, Ken Adair, for breaking a verbal agreement. The facts surrounding our contracting M r Keller’s servic« for Youth Week Kickoff are so far removed from M r. Keller’s reality that they demand clarification. As a Commissioner for the M etro politan Youth Commission and as Chairperson for Youth Week Kick o ff, I was responsible for contracting servic« for the Kickoff. Joe Keller called me about providing lighting for the event. I told him I was strongly considering someone else for the job, and that I would call him back to dis cuss it in detail with him. In classic unprofessional manner, M r. Keller a t tempted an end around by calling a fellow Metropolitan Youth C om missioner and a staff person and was promptly referred back to me. His demeanor appeared to be almost one o f desperation to secure the job. I finally gave him the job d ap ite the fact that the other person I was strongly considering for the job could bring it in for less money; but, keep & va < *a ing in mind M r. Keller is a young and struggling Black husin«sinan, I gave him the job. Joe Keller’s anger apparently stems from March I, the day o f Youth Week Kickoff. W ith one hour to go before the start o f the program, Joe Keller informed us that he was not prepared and needed some additional equipment which he had Io rent. I reminded him of his written contract for $225.00 to provide for all lighting arrangements and that y « , if he need ed the equipment he had better get it. With the mayor o f Portland, Dr. Prophet, the performing hands, and the crowd awaiting the start o f the program, lighting was crucial; how ever, I at no time said W E would pay for it. And what was the cost o f this extra item? The incredible sum of fifteen dollars. Finally, M r. Keller could not wait to receive his check for service like the rest o f the contractors. Against advice o f the Metropolitan Youth Commission staff, I gave him a per sonal check from my checking ac count and paid him in full At that, to show the measure o f the man, he stormed out o f my office when he was informed he would have to absorb the $15.00 for lighting. Y « , I agree with you, M r. Keller Beware o f verbal contracts; but also be aware o f written contracts people commit to, and are unable to live up to. I f you can’t handle them, I sug- g «t you get a job and work for some one who can. K E N N E T H B A D A IB Commissioner, Metropolitan Youth Commission V /V • * -• Help Black Americans 1st To the Editor, Africa. Africa. This seems to be the main focus o f our Black organiza tions and leadership. Whether it is Ethiopia or South Africa the facts remain, more is being done for those two co u ntri« than for Black Am eri cans by our leaders. Il has been a long time since I have seen so many o f our leaders go to jail for a cause; too bad it isn’t the Black Americans they are fighting for. I f our leaders would take a good look around, they would see that their work is cut out for them to get the Black Americans back on the road o f progras. While I am not in sensitive to the plight o f those A fri can nations, I am more concerned with the status o f the Black man in America. W hile food famine is a se rious problem and one that should be addr«sed by the world, it is a problem that can be turned around in a short period o f time. Each coun try has had to fight for independence in their history. The mind is a terrible thing to lose and when a large group o f people be gin to lose their minds, their goals of equality and their spirit to fight for themselv«, then we have a very seri ous problem I am tired of Africa and I am ready for some serious work on Black America, the poor, the hungry, homelas, unemployed and those people unsure of what truly lies ahead for them Black is beautiful, but it has taken an unidentifiable turn in shade and (hat is scary. B A N S O M E D D IN G S
