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
‘
.