Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1992)
Page 2...The Portland Observer...June 10, 1992 Is There More To The Rodney King Verdict Than Meets The - “ BY JAMES L. POSEY Doe > the Rodney King verdictshow a pattern of how white folks generally make decisions about Black people? The now infamous case in south central Los Angles involving the acquittal of white police officers by an all white jury reveals what most black people already instinctively know; In many circumstances where whites dominate the decision process. Black people gen erally don ’ t gel fair treatment or respect regardless of the domain. This is par ticularly true in the economic arena. Think about it. How does the Rodney King veidict and process compare to the many employment selection pan els, contract selection boards, corpo rate and public commissions where Blacks fave much at stake but little representation and few advocates. Make no mistake about it-th e same racist dynamics that were so obvious in the King verdict is perhaps more sophisti- catedly woven into the fabric of many other white dominated decisions af fecting Black people. As an ironic ex ample, it took the clout of a white oriented group, the Portland Organiz ing Project (I TTP) to point out and get action oil the pervasive bank redlining of home loans in Northeast Portland. Many Black people have been telling T ’ V officials for years that the redlining is not just in housing, but across the board economically. The same reasoning and rationale process exhibited by the ju rors in the King incident plays out here in Portland. Examine the responses to Black people seeking loans from lend ing institutions. Most of them act through white dominated loan committees, en gage in blaming the victims. They use tried and true excuses like pointing to the lack of collateral and credit history to deny Blacks loans. Black people genenally are not qualified to borrow signifiant amounts of money, particu larly to start of expand a business. This is all in spile of the fact that similar to the video tape in the King incident, the picture is clear, these banks and other institutions (let’s don’t leave out the insurance companies) have brutally beat the Black community by divesting for years, eroding the business and em ployment base. On another front, whatever one might think aboutGabi’srestaurantand club, what it really comes down to is whether or not the proprietor can get a fair hearing before the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. What about fair ness on all the other commissions that are white dominated. We can only hope that their decisions about Blacks aren’t based on the stereotypical notions so apparent on the King verdict. Can Afri can-Americans get fair treatment at the Public U tilities, C om m unications, Transportation, Trade, Labor and vari ous other commissions? This is not an all inclusive list, but gives some inkling of the various administrative bodies that make crucial decision effecting Black people outside of the criminal injustice systems? So the reasoning is that if we can’t get justice in the crimi nal justice systems, God help us all in these other lesser administrative law proceedings. Moving on to another front, what about the other end of the employment system? What about retention? Every time you turn around there is clear evidenceof front end employment dis crimination, e.g., the recent disclosure of the Portland Development Commis sion hiring practices. The unemploy ment statistics for Blacks are even more gruesome than anyone really wants to admit. So in the retention battle, will Black people dis-proportionately take the brunt of Measure 5 cut backs? Of course the answer is yes. But the point is, who will be on many down-sizing/ work force reduction committees and panels? How will they make decisions about who to retain and who to let go? What subjective criteria w ill they use to assess the value of the individual em ployee beyond job performance and seniority? In Oregon the probability of these dicision making bodies being all white is assured. Black people can only won der if the same reasoning process will apply as in the Rodney King verdict. W ill the decision makers be threaten by the prospects of Blacks being retained in representative numbers. Will Black people be seen as inherently not need ing a job because they really belong on welfare anyway? Will this be a way of counter acting the effects of Affirma tive Action which the majority of whites see as unfair and reverse discrimina tion? To say that white folksconsc iously go around trying to do Black folks in is a bit extreme even for the most racial commentary. However, conscious or unconscious, intentional or uninten tional, the results are the same. We only have to review the exploits of slavery in this country or the Jewish Holocaust to know to what extent individuals, groups and governments will go rationalize their racist behavior. In Portland Black people and White people alike need to make sure that we don’t get into the habit of de-humaniz- ing another person or group of persons for the sake of self-interest and un founded fears. Rodney King said itbest “We’re all in this togelhcr-Can we get along?” I Last week I promised a list of Af rican American Publishing companies for this issue-sim ilar to the list of stan dard companies 1 did furnish. These were firms that furnished books of all categories including ethnic volumes. If you did not get a copy of the Portland Observer last week, pickup one at our office, 4747 N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd. First, let me add some items that should have been included last week. For instance, a lot of readers, including teachers and students as well as the general public, complain of the diffi culty of understanding how the U.S. government works; how to contact con gressmen, committees,bureaus, depart ments, etc. and how to get information from them in respect to your interests or projects. L et me reco m m en d tw o o f my”biblcs” without which I couldn’t get anything done. Gel the “ 1992 U.S. Congress Handbook”, $9.95, from C- SPAN 400 North Capital Street, N.W., Suite 650, Washington D.C. 20001. This w ell-organized, com pact manual not only lists all congressmen, a brief background, phone/FAX/address and aides, but lists congressional com mittees, “Think tanks”, congressional support offices. Executive branches, Supreme C ourt-and how these entities perform and interact. This manual is also good for high school and college classes in civics/govemment. Now, for an indepth and thorough coverage of the same areas of govern mental functions, order this second manual, “The United States Govern ment Manual”, $23.95, downtown at SIM I A-i K • ' x .<■ • * \r ~ •. -? ?’ T • \ < 'Í ! < ’L L (Lije ^ n rtía n h (©bseriier S ubscribe (USPS 959-680) OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION Established in 1970 Publisher C o n trib u tin g W riters McKinley Burt Bill Barber Sharon Camarda Mattie Ann Callier-Spears Dan Bell Alfred Henderson Production Staff Operations Manager Gary Ann Garnett Dean Babb Sharon Camarda Gary Ann Garnett Jenifer Johnson Public Relations Rea Washington Joyce Washington Accounting Manager Chuck Washington T he P ortland O bserver CAN BE SENT DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME ONLY $30.00 PER YEAR. Sales & Promotions P lease Tony Washington fill out , ENCLOSE CHECK OR The PORTLAND OBSERVER is published weekly by E xe Publishing Company, Inc. 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 • Fax 288-0015 Deadline for all submitted materials: Articles: Monday, 5:00 pm-Ads: Tuesday, noon i r rt* ■ POSTMASTER: Send A ddress C hanges to : P ortland O bserver, P.O. Box MONEY ORDER, and M ail to : S ubscriptions T he P ortland O bserver PO Box 31 3 7 P ortland , O regon 9 7 2 0 8 3137, P ortland, OR 97208. Second class postage paid at Portland Oregon. >v.’ The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and can not be used irt other publications or personal usage, without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1991 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHT S RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT ittï. f • »• .,A r. i' «S & ¿.M* >• ■ Ai r?.< " « < « < Ï •4 •‘Z 'V .-Ì PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. . Subscriptions :$25.00 per year. The Pt rtlard Observer-Oregon’s Oldest African-American Publication-is a member of the Nat.onal Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National </< Adverrsing Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., New York, NY. J o v r ‘■Ç t v - ' 1' Name VALLEY CIRCUIT COURT _< $ • { .! J ; __________M » » « » : / -- A z--.. ...---V J hr h L Urban League President Dr. Darryl Tukufu, in a recent speech to the City Club of Portland said “What happened in Los Angeles and other places (throughout this country) are and should be referred to rebellions or re volts rather than riots Dr. Tukufu defined a riot as a “spontaneous event with little or no psychological or political significance. It is usually of short duration. Examples of riots include incidents after teams have won the world series, super bowl, etc.” Dr. Tukufu went on to say that “Rebellions or revolts break out due to some actual or perceived emphasis mine injustice that is tied to a system that is looked at as oppressive.v When taxpayers became concerned in California, the resultant revolt ended with proposition 13, the tax limitation measure. Likewise, in Oregon, with Measure 5 being the taxpayer revolt. Using the definition by Dr. Tukufu and having been a resident of both stales when these measures were passed, it is clear that the taxpayer fell oppressed with the burden of taxes and felt that something needed to be done. Dr. Tukufu continued “ Americans wit nessed in 1984,an unprcccntcd African American turnout in the primaries in support of the really major black presi dential candidate, the Rev. Jesse Jack- son,” said Dr. Tukufu. “In that year, Americans witnessed the most racially polarized vote in the history ol the United States...with nearly two thirds of the white vote going to Ronald 1 K »♦ . 1 .. 1 , IÎ ..J Reagan while over 90 percent of the black vote went to Walter Mondale.” According to Dr. Tukufu, in the mid-1980’s racism took the form of a frightening resurgence of activity by a range of extremist hate groups such as the Ku Klux Kian, The Order, The Aryan Nation and the Posse Comitatus, which included the murders of a Jewish talk show host in Denver, Co. and a slate trooper in Missouri. In 1986, there was the well known rally held in Idaho by a coalition of these groups at which it was proposed to make several North western states, including Oregon, a “white nation.” In 1987, Kian violence sparked a massive civil rights march in Forsythe County, Ga. A black man died as a result of a racially motivated attack by whites in New York City. Here in Portland, there was the killing of Mulugcta Scraw. Relating to the Rodney King inci dent, Dr. Tukufu believes that “justice was mugged twice.” Once in March 1991, when this African American motorist was savagely beaten by Los Angeles police officers and again when a jury that did not include any African- Americans acquitted the officers of well documented charges that included as sault and excessive force. Dr. Tukufu said “the most basic fact is that fundamental and critical inequalities, based on race, ethnicity, gender and class continue to exist in American society. This remains true in spite of some reduction, at least to some ¡r» overt r w i n r t r1icr*nminutifT people, in discrimination, in spite of hundreds of civil rights laws, ordi nances and court decisions at the led- eral, state and local levels, and in spite of the fact that conditions have substan tially improved for a few people of color.” Dr. Tukufu continued, “this is true whether we talk about income, education political representation or any other measure of status in American society. Furthermore, for most mem bers of people of color communities, conditions have not improved, in fact, they have actually gotten worse. Given Dr. Tukufu’s remarks and what most black Americans feel and know to be their truth, there exists at least two Americas: one white and one black, as expressed by the Governor Kemer’s report short after the 1965 rebellion. If one exam ines the inc idents lead ing up to the rebellion, along with the everyday existence of black America, it was no surprise that this incident had to happen. It is to the credit of the leaders of other comm unities that it d id not get worse. The city of Portland and its black and white leaders are to be commended for its behavior in light of this incident. While there were cer tainly minor skirmished, nothing of significance occurred. Dr. Tukufu maintains that “com munity organizations and individuals, such as the Urban League, NAACP, Coalition of Black Men, Black United Fund, Northeast Coalition of Neigh borhoods and their affiliate organiza tions, Black Education Center, Port land State University African Ameri can Students, the Coalition for Human Dignity, Self Enhancement, Reps. Avel Gordly and MargarctCartcr, Ray Leary, Commissioner Dick Bogle, Joyce Har ris, Fred Stewart, Richard Brown, Bishop Wells, Dr. O. B. Williams, Rabbi Rose, Harold Williams, Maceo Pettis, just to name a few, worked with each other and individually to keep the peace. In Portland, we are fortunate to have a police chief such as Tom Potter and a precinct captain like Charles Moose. With their strategy of comm"- nity policing and their desire to work closely with the community, it isdcubl- ful that the LA incident could happen here. Low-Income Family To Realize Dream Address city, Stale zip-code T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver For Portland residents Josh and Su san Deitas and their five children, the American Dream of home ownership was nothing but that - a dream. Josh, a native of Micronesia and stockroom clerk fora local tool supplier, and Susan, a supplementary contract spe cialist for an insurance company, never believed that they would be able toal lord a home of any kind. Then they learned . *y*^ .*»■ .v T £ t,> •f - 3» Í? - •«. .-V ▼ ▼ fully cited the publications of Ivan Van Sertima the black author o f‘They Come Before Columbus”. Write for a listand prices. Ivan Van Sertima, Editor, Journal of African Civi lization, Black Studies Dept., Beck Hall, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903. Those of you who like to research ancient history of black civili zations and others ask for catalog No. 32 (or later) “New & Used Books On The Ancient W orld”, B&B Smith, Booksellers, P.O. Box 158, Mt Airy, MD 21771. ECA Associates, P.O. Box 15004, Great Bridge Station, Chesapeake, Vir ginia 23320; free catalog. This firm carries such classic black history re prints as the famous four volumes of the “Book of the Beginnings” by Gerald Massey (1881) and his 4 volume “An cient Egypt: The Light ol The W orld” (1 9 0 7 ). F or th at o ften qu o ted su p erclassic o f the sam e type, “Anacalypsis” by Godfrey Higgins, Try Health Research, Box 70, Mokelumne Hill, Ca. 95245. I leave off here for now because I just got a notice from “Donnies Acces sories” at 925 N.E. Broadway that they have just added a Black Bookstore to their line of African American Jewelry, art and artifacts. The phone is 249- 7204. The readers should let me know if they need additional sources (at the same time I am being told over the phone that I ought to have a copy of “The Black power Imperative” by Theodore Cross; he wrote the 1970’s classic “Black Capitalism”, $9.95 from Faulkner Books, 2513 Old Kings High way North, Suite 107, Darien,Ct. 06820. the Federal Bookstore, 1305 S. W. First, Portland, OR 97201. Ask for the latest copy. Phone, 221-6217. Here, we have an expanded description and analysis of all departments and personnel of government, from Agriculture to De fense and from Education to Transpor tation. Organization chart, public ac cess. To that list of magazines add “ The Discovery Channel Magazine” (cable channel 24). 12 months subscription, $14.95, Discovery Publishing Inc. 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814. An excellent African American maga zine you will not see on your newsstand is “ Black Enterprise:, 12 months sub scription $19.95, Box 3009, Harlan, 1A 51537-4100, or use free toll line 1-800- 727-7777. Those working in Counsel ing and Therapy, special education, youth and gangs, parents and/or fami lies should get a catalog of print publi cations and video sets from “Research Press”, dept. B, Box 3177, Champaign 1161826-9988. Again, I recommend for all of you who are about reading or writing whether for fun or profit-from age 8 to 80: “R oget’s International Thesaurus", Fourth Edition. Takes over where the dictionary leaves off. About $10.00 Daltons or your favorite bookstore. Now, if you want to dress up your study area or office in an attractive manner, get a catalog from “Reliable Home Office’, P.O. Box 804117, Chicago, Il 60680-9968. Everything from fancy wall clocks to Fax/telephones, comput ers, files and furniture to lamps and copiers. Real Class! I order from them. Through the years, I have faith- ( "Our challenge as always," notes City Commissioner Mike Lindberg, "Is to i stretch supplies from the point A » ▼ ▼ “Rebellion” Not Riot, Says Tukufu / "We realize lawns are highly val Tualatin Valley Water District ued and we aren’t yet at the point ol Administrator,GeneSeibel, joined City asking people to give them up -- al C o m m issio n er M ike though we might if the sum L in d b erg and M ike mer continues to be hot and All residents of Multnomah County and water districts, such as Rosenbcrgei of the Water Bu dry," ack n o w led g ed Tualatin Valley Water District, using the bull Run System are reau to ask for cutbacks in Lindberg. "What we are asked to follow these guidelines: water use, dropping con asking now is a conscien - Water Lawns only one inch, once a week; sumption to 135 million gal tious effort to water appro Water in the morning to avoid evaporation; lons a day from a current priately, instead of over- Wash cars with a bucket, not a hose; high of 170-180 mgd. watering. Of course, we - Sweep hard surfaces rather than washing them; The record breaking heat encourage anyone who Turn the water off when not using it. of May also brought a record- _________ doesn't mind to let their breaking early demand on lawn brown out this summer. We don’t we start using our reserves until the the summer water supply. While res mean to pick on lawns, but clearly they rains start refilling the reservoirs in the ervoirs were full this spring, suppliers represent the single largest use. Resi fall. Early drawdown means we may plan to start using reserves in early dential consumption more than doubles have to stretch six weeks longer than July. This year extraordinarily high in the summer. Most of that water normal. It will be very difficult to do demanc staled depleting reserves in goes on law n s,an d alo to fitis wasted." that unless we start cutting back now. late Mav. iyP> Let’s Read This Summer, Continued Regional Users Of Bull Run Water Supply Given Cutback Goals “ 1 » 'V V er s v I about Habitat for Humanity, the non profit organization that makes no-inter est loans to low-income families and arranges for the donations of labor and much of the building materials for homes. (As part of the arrangement. Habitat families must nut in 500 hours of their own “sweat equity” into their homes.) After Habitat volunteers completely refurbished an existing structure, the I, M* i ■> ; ; : 1 . ■ • • ♦ t , * « • ■ jjArwttíi # ;• • •• - mt *. ■ ' . > :- ■ r. -, Deitases have a new home. The finishing touch - a coat of paint - will be applied next week by the Deitas and more than 75 employee volunteers from Washington Mutual. When: From 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday June 15, through Friday, June 19. Where: 8226 North Hurst, Portland ‘ .
