Portland observer., July 30, 1986, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2, Portland Observer, July 30, 1986
k
Letters to the Editor
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Dealing With Source, Only One Step Towards Reduction
President Reagan's decision to send in U.S.
Military personnel to assist the Bolivian
government in eradicating cocaine labora­
tories in that country is a positive step in an
effort to reduce the flow of the illicit drug into
the United States. Bolivia is the world's leader
concaine and other drugs. Presently, this
country is doing very little to reduce the de­
mand for the illicit drug.
The Department of Education has an annual
budget of $18 billion. Of this amount, only $3
million is allocated for education in drug pre­
vention. This total is far less than the $100
million dollars the administration will give the
"contras" fighting to overthrow the Nicaragua
government.
If this nation is serious about impeding the
flow of drugs into this country, more money
must be allocated to drug education pro­
grams. By educating the public, going to the
source, protecting our borders, and having
sound law enforcement policies, then and only
then will the large demand for drugs be
reduced.
in processing cocaine.
The administration has committed 160 U.S.
pilots, equipment, and support personnel to
assist 100 Bolivian national anti-drug police
officers known as "leopards".
President Reagan should be applauded for
assisting a fragile government and its citizens
who are capured by these narcotic trafficers.
However, just dealing with the source will not
stop the problem of cocaine abuse in the
United States. The administration must do
more to educate the public on the danger of
Healthwatch
by Steven Padey N. D.
Cocaine In America
Part II
Last week I wrote about the rise of cocaine
use in America and the new forms of this drug
being used on the street. Today's article will
deal primarily with addiction.
The addictive nature of cocaine is believed
to be primarily a psychological dependency,
rather than a true physical addiction. In fact,
Van Dyke and Byck reported in the March
1982 Scientific American that regular cocaine
users could not distinguish between inhaling
the drug versus a placebo. In other words,
the psychological high is a greater part of the
drug than is the physical high in addicted indi
viduals. Yet we still syj^nd over 30 billion
dollars annually in the U.S. alone for this drug.
While psychological dependency predomi
nates and explains, in part, the high use of
cocaine in lower socio economic groups, the
physical component is indeed real. As men­
tioned last week, cocaine is both a nerve
blocker and a stimulant. These two combina­
tions seem to counter depression momen
tarily, and recently antidepressants have been
used to ween people o ff of cocaine.
The Athletic High: In the past decade,
cocaine use in athletics has become a grave
national concern. Are athletes more likely to
use cocaine, or are they simply in the spot
light?
There are a number of factors involved in
cocaine use by professional athletes:
1) The physical high of cocaine acts in much
the same way as the physical high of com peti­
tion. The adrenal mimicking component of
the drug corresponds closely with the adrenal
beta-endorphin pleasures of physical excite­
ment. In other words, the cocaine high proba
bly comes closer to the high of competition
and victory than anything found outside of
these activities. (The parallels to performing
artists and other celebraties are similar.)
2) Athletes have been long acknowledged
as part of a "meat m arket". In the late 70's
all American Pete Rose reported that, to his
knowledge, most major leaguers had used
stimulants to get them up for games at one
time or another. Athletes are told, and last
year one professional basketball player was
ordered, to use "pain killing" drugs to perform
-•» Mm -
for the audience. The use of steroids has been
a concern for over 30 years. And yet these
men and women who are told to take legal
drugs with known dangers are persecuted for
experimenting with street drugs. It is hard for
us who are not forced to use drugs to work to
fully equate to this double standard.
3) While we often fantasize about the pay
and pleasures of professional athletics, the
reality of athletic competition is far from para
dise. On the average, only one person out of
every 4 high schools will make it into profes
sional athletics.
The top athlete from 3
schools w on't make the grade and hundreds *
of others who dreamed about this future
"failed" even earlier than "spring training".
Fortunately most people can accept this fail
ure, yet many have made no plans other than
athletics and are emotionally depressed by
their loss.
Even those who do make the cut and play
for a professional team do not always find hap
piness.
Career ending injuries, mediocrity
among the giants and belonging to cellar dwel
lers are but a few of the depressing realities
that face today's athlete.
4) The Coach: I lettered in 4 varsity sports in
college and in 2 sports in high school. I exper
ienced coaches for whom I still hold the high­
est esteem, and others whose input and pre
judice were as destructive as our society toler
ates. I've seen kids make the "first string"
more for their parents social status than for
their ability. The understandable depression
and negative self worth of the more skilled
"second string" athlete is obvious. In athletics
the coach is the "w ill of god" and the slighted
athlete usually has little or no recourse.
5) Robin Williams once said on the "Tonight
Show” that cocaine addiction is God's way of
telling you that you have too much money.
While many athletes do have deeper pockets
than most, even our poorest citizens can
"a ffo rd " the habit. The income of the athlete
keeps him/her from stealing the money but
cannot be looked at as a cause of dependency.
Next week I'll conclude with some of the
things that I feel can help individual and social
problems with cocaine.
Portland Observer
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Ih urvlay by E m PuMatwtg Company. Inc
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Oragon 97208 Second cleet poataga part el Portland Oragon
Education and Minorities
I have taught school in Portland for eight years I am
constantly amazed at how some students are labeled
learning disabled
Some teachers are threatened by
students who aren't robots and docile
Therefore,
these students are labeled as being unruly, and, having
behavior problems, they are started on an early journey
to failure, not only in school but life These students are
shunted to the back of the room and never challenged
to give their best The teacher is so threatened by the
active child that he or she starts to create and devise
ways to appease the student by allowing him or her to
do anything he or she wants, as long as the student
doesn't disturb the class
It is my contention that
teachers who can't command respect in a classroom
and challenge each and every student in his or her class
to be the best person he or she can be are depriving that
student of an opportunity to be a productive citizen
If there is a disruption and disorder in the classroom,
it is the responsibility of the teacher to set the tone of
what will and what will not be accepted in the class
room. One has to start with the principle of mutual
respect by setting guidelines and rules that are adhered
to by everyone in the class In other words, one should
lead by example. If I as a teacher am important, then
my students are as important, if not more so. Every
body should be addressed by their name, or something
appropriate and not demeaning, such as "young man,"
or "young lady " There are a thousand ways to ask
someone to be quiet rather than saying "shut up,"
which is antagonistic. If my values and my culture are
important to me. I as a teacher am obligated to become
as knowledgeable as I can about students values and
their culture Teaching just doesn't pertain to the 3 Rs
We are molders of lives Our expectations and, some
times, demands on students related to feeling good
about themselves, respecting others, and giving their
best at all times is an obligation.
I taught a group of sixth and seventh grade students
last year who were supposedly learning disabled Ini
tially, I could see I was in for a rough time, but I didn't
feel threatened
I welcomed the challenge. Initially,
these students were defiant and resistive Some told
me what they weren't going to do and where I could go
I was still persistant I could see these students weren't
incapable of learning They had learned what they had
been taught by others If you don't disturb the class, I
won t expect any work from you. And here I was say
ing, you will not disturb the class, and I expect your
best effort everyday
I told the students I knew it
seemed hard, but they owed it to themselves to do their
best in every phase of their lives
And it was my
obligation as a teacher to assist and expect them to be
the best they could be. These kids were street wise
beyond their years They knew the name and words to
evey record on the chart They could recite the names
of sports stars and give statistics related to age, college
attended, runs, points, touchdowns scored, consecu­
tive games played, or who won the last Superbowl or
N B A playoff It was my contention that anyone who
could do all of these things and pronounce names such
as Kareem Abdul Jabbar can’t be learning disabled
Thus, the students and I started on our journey of
learning I promised them that if they would put forth
M W A pep
Aeiocienon - Founded T88S
the entire ideological framework in which the so called
Christian klan mentality grows The so called Christian
klan has never disappeared from our national life
It
keeps rising again, like a cat with nine lives, because we
have not yet eradicated the soil, the ideology, in which
it grows That ideology is racism, which has poisoned
the minds of so called Christian Caucasian people and
has caused the poor and working-class Caucasians
again and again to work against their own best inter
ests W e live at a time when our society is really falling
apart In this situation, it has become quite obvious that
so called Christian caucasoids who are running this
system are simply not willing —and perhaps not able -
to make fundamental changes that are necessary to
make this society function in a way that would meet the
needs of its people. And if you are running a society
that is not working for most of its people, and you are
not willing to make changes that would alter that cir
cumstance, you don't have but one other choice;
You've got to find ways to keep people under control.
If we understand all this, we understand why the
Christian Knights of the Klan is growing today
The
cause of the problem is not a few murderous beasts in
human form who don filthy sheets and pillow cases and
set out to kill These cowardly carnivorous beasts in
human form are dangerous and must be stopped But
they are an effect, not a cause. The cause of our pro
blem lies with caucasoid people in high places who are
creating a Scapegoat Mentality among this nation's
caucasoid people It's the powerful people —from the
halls of Congress to the board rooms of the corpora
tions who are telling caucasoid people, for example,
that if taxes are eating up their paychecks, it's not
because of our bloated military budget, but because
there are too many government programs that benefit
Blacks, telling them that if young caucasoid people are
unemployed, it's because Blacks are getting all the jobs,
telling them that if there is crime in the streets, it's
because Black people are creating it. What is at stake
is the very soul of Amenka —and the future of every one
of us, and of our children.
Caucasians accept the basic assumptions of racism,
because it offers a certain psychological gratification to
belong to the so called "master race
For even in the
midst of filth and failure, ignorance, illness and poverty,
one could still feel a part of the so called master race
that rules the world and, thus, always feels higher than
the conquered heathen. Nigger or so called Negro.
Rogers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific," the
famous musical of 1949, has an obscure song, rarely
heard, called
Carefully Taught".
The lyrics go
You've got to be taught to hate and fear
You ve got to be taught from year to year
It's got to be drummed in you dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late
Before you are six, or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught.
The rise to power of Hitler, desperately using racism
to further his global domionance. to place blame for all
the ills of Germany on millions of people, including
Jews subsequently murdered in Dachau. Auschwitz,
Buchenwald, surely is an adequate example to us that
the present racism earned to that extreme in this
country will develop into destruction of Blacks in geno
cidal proportions, as witnessed by the cuts in welfare,
housing for the poor, medical care, even to the extent
that victims of unemployment may have to resort to
crime or suffer extreme hunger.
It is time this nation grant Blacks freedom and equal
ity or invite catastrophe' The corjsorate rulers of the
U.S. and their political servants have imposed mstitu
tionalized racism on fifty million citizens of Afrikan
descent.
Institutionalized racism, like Apartheid, is
good business for corporate Amenka W e must attack
F
p O R TL4N D
Dr Jamil Cherovee
OBSERVER
115 for on« y««r
I2S ’or two y««rs
I
Bo« 3137 Portland OR 972CB
Sudacrxxon* 115 00 per veer
the Tn County tree Poet
m a tta r Send tild i te i changea Io the A x ilt n d fjftw rvrr. P O
Boa 3117 Portland Oregon 97208
Alfred / Henderson. Editor/Publisher
A ! Williams, (renerai Manager
There is a story about education in its early stages.
Socrates gathered a group of young men around him
and gave them everything he had to give Education is
reciprocal: you give it, you get it back ten fold. Let us
as teachers start preparing the students we teach for
the confrontations they are to face tomorrow.
Curley Massey
6th & 7th grade
Language Arts Teacher
Tubman Middle School
323 N. Fremont
Portland, OR 97227
A Scapegoat Mentality"
After reading the article of 6 25 86, "Overt Acts Of
Racism On The Increase In U S , by Brother Jerry
Garner, I m imclined to believe many so called Christian
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member
the effort to become better human beings in every re­
spect. I would guarantee that they would like the new
product better than the ol<1 one. Gradually they began
to ask others to be quiet instead of shut up, or if they
slipped and said shut up, they would say excuse me
There was still an occasional four letter word blurted
out, almost immediately followed by "excuse m e." or
"I'm sorry " The name calling dwindled to a minimum
The students were evolving from the defiant, resistive
group that I initially encountered to a group who had
become enthusiastic about their accomplishments in
class or what their scores were on the last test.
Kids are a product of what we as grownups teach
them If we convey to them that there will be rules,
guidelines and expectations, they will respond in kind.
As I told my students last year, if you have a teacher
who doesn't expect you to give your best, that teacher
doesn’t have your best interest at heart and is really
depriving you of a chance to succeed in life. I had those
expectations for my students last year and will continue
to do so in the future
Last year was one of my most challenging, yet re
warding, years as a teacher due to the fact that I was
associated with a group of young men and women who
were labeled learning disabled, but who had never been
challenged to do their best I even had a few students
make the Honor Roll after moving into regular class
room situations. We actually threw away the fourth
and fifth grade books and used the sixth and seventh
grade books and became proficient in using them To
those young men and women I’d like to say, "Full speed
ahead, I know you can, I know you can".
We as teachers have an obligation to our students.
And that obligation consists of helping students with
their self esteem, respecting the rights and property of
others, having expectations and goals, and accepting
nothing less than giving their very best. This is not only
the job of school, but of the home, the school and the
student. Sometimes students come to us not having
mastered all of these skills. That doesn't give us the
right as teachers to judge, demean, or give up on
students who don't have or haven’t perfected all of
these skills. We as educators must bite the bullet and
persevere and assist students in becoming a whole
person. We will either pay now by being caring, loving,
respecting, and having expectations that they know we
are dedicated to, or pay later by paying more taxes to
support more welfare and build more jails. Our kids are
our most important product. We owe it to our students
to help them be the best they can be. Let’s get on
with it.
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