P age A2
IV lu iiiv u iiu r c iu m ii.
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p e r s p e c t i v e s Along The Color Line
In The Beginning Was The Word:Spoken,
W ritten And, Now, Electronic
BY DR. MANNING MARBLE
In recent years, a national debate
has erupted among educators, politi
cians and scholars over the controver
sial concept of "m ultculturalism .”
White conservatives such as William
Bennett attack the term for undermin
ing the centrality of traditional west
ern culture and civilization within
school textbooks Conservativesclaim
that multiculturalism highlights the
diverse ethnic contributions of vari
ous cultures, fragmenting and divid
ing American. Some of these con
cerns arc now being v oiced by liberals
n iiiiH i in
n American librar»
of color f found
libraries
today is still influenced by racism and
assumptions of racial inferiority of
nonwhite people. We need new text
books and cultural events which re
construct the racist assumptions and
theories which pretend to pass for
“objective scholarship.”
Finally , a multicultural perspec
tive in education should insist upon
the empowerment of oppressed people
and the transformation of society
- to
abolishdiscriminationandunequa lty
Theories of cultural and social reality
which stop short of addressing basic
human problems experienced in the
every day world for people of color in
America are useless, A theory is only
important in the amount of human
“reality” it explains or defines. Criti
cal ideas about culture, history, soci
ety, and human development can truly
“empower” a people who have experi
enced discrimination and social injus
tice. The task of educators here is to
nurture and foster a critical conscious
ness and constructive self-awareness,
pride and the values of excellence
among young people of color, helping
indiv idual and groups to make posi-
------- —
.
live contributions to their comnui
- r s * ______ t h n r v r -
tlf»C a n d SOClCtV.
of
"nonwhite” peoples
with the per ties and society.
Multiculturalism also plays an
spectives and experiences of the white
majority. We need to explore any invaluable role for white Americans
commonalities which make all of us at well, Because no genuine “dia
logue” between
ethnic groups can ever
“Americans”
and a any
/ y n i e n u a i i b <uiu
n j critical points
------------
of difference and disagreement which occur unless there is the presumption
...
.
/•
J
nil
continue to foster divisions and con of equality and respect on all sides.
White Americans need to learn the
flicts among groups.
Third, multiculturalism should lessons of “nonwhite” contributions
not seek the simplistic “merger” or to the nation’s culture, art, politics
“inclusion” ofblacks, Latinos and oth and scientific fields, in order to over
ers into a so-called “mainstream” but come the legacy of racism and pre
instead, critique and challenge the sumptions of nonwhite inferiority.
basic assumptions and ideas of that Multiculturalism permits all Ameri
mainstream. The vast body of tradi cans to discov er our fundamental unity
tional scholarship written about people through our diversity.
__ -« •
jectives
A proper definition
of
multiculturalism begins with the van
tage point of history, America s his
tory is not just a product of the activi
ties of people of European descent
The values, cultural experiences and
social patterns of people of color -
American Indians, Asian-Americans,
Lati nos and African-Americans—are
also central in the construe lion of the
complex American identity, African-
lentity is in uus
uiv.«
American identity
this w
context
historical consciousness
our group s
of itself, its collective suffering and
experiences, through slavery, segre
gation and urban ghettoization, and
its attempts at self-dcfinitfon.
Second, multiculturalism by defi
nition should be “comparative” in its
approach to the study of American life
and culture, This means that a
multicultural r perspective
must ap-
---------------------
,
-
proach each indiv idual cultural tradi-
__ A rtvrsriz'an I n d i a n
tion—
for example, American Indian
culture, Mexican-American culture,
etc.—with an awareness of its integ
rity and historical continuity, But it
should also seek any parallels of expe
rience, values and common traditions
between various groups. It should
u c iw ccu v<uivw> 5 iu u HJ,
alsocom pareandcontrastthecultures
Christianity throughout the land for
Written language began w ith the Anglo
Saxon tradition and language I 've the purpose of converting the pagan
Afrieans of the northeast section of
Anglo-Saxons This movement, be
that great seminal continent W ritten read Take the following quotes for
sides
giv ing a strong impetus toward
in stone and on papy rus, it antedated instance, an immense help in exami
unification, introduced to the native
nations
for
an
Afncan
presence
in
sim ilar efforts in Mesopotamia and
vocabulary many new domestic and
C h in a-b u t more on that later in this early Europe
“The prehistoric inhabitants of ecclesiastical terms derivcd from Latin
series. Todav. we will begin with a
the B ritish Isles and Greek: alms, altar, balsam, beet,
d isc u ssio n
of
probably left little belt, candle, clerk, creed, cross, dea
m odes th a t fo l
oftheir language to con, devil, fig, hymn, lentil, lily, mass,
lowed on the Afri
millet, minster, monk, myrrh, nun,
E n g lish speech
can foundation—
as well.
Their relics, which place, plant, pope, priest, psalm, relic,
the bewildering, set
In a recent Washington Post ar
excite our wonder rose, saint, school, shrine, stole,
fascin atin g , cre
ticle,
Harvard University sociologist
land speculation, temple, turn, Christianization, how
ations of the Greek
Orlando
Patterson warned that there
consist chiefly of ever, did not uproot some long-estab
a n d L a tin la n
were serious problems in what he
lished
pagan
customs,
a
few
of
which
stone, clay, and
guages with which
termed was “the current glorification
bronze implements, persist in modified form to this day.
we are forced to
diversity.”
By emphasizing the
01 aiversu
y.
For example, the w inter solstice, fall of
unique cultural heritage of African
deal if we are going to make it in this kitchen m iddens burial m ounds
ing or about December twenty-first,
„
world It is surprising how relevant (cairns, barrows, tumuli), and mega
being
a turning in the astronomical A m erican people, for exam ple,
lithic
monuments
comprising
isolated
“ety mologies” can be
year, was the inspiration for the an Patterson believes that blacks might
The Greeks are said to have had a stones (monoliths, menhirs), simple
nual festival of Yule, in which the actually “divert attention from the dis-
word for every thing and any thing 1 tombs (dolmens), and stone circles
holly. Yule-log, and wassail-bowl proporuonate contributions” they have
like that little things of theirs where, (cromlechs) such as Stonehenge, in
play ed conspicuous parts Our Christ made to America’s "common culture. ”
respectively, epos and logos denote Wiltshire, England, and the Ring of
mas has inherited much of the spirit Troubled by what he terms the "sepa
rqte but
hut t truly
m lv eaual
ideology m
a i an
an
the spoken and written word And Brogra, near Stromncss. in the Orkney
equal ideology
that
and
outward trappings of the Yule rate
increasing number ofyoung, educated
from the latter was derived the term Islands These aborigines were either
celebration. The word jolly, said by
®
.
II
“ logotechnes” m eaning a person absorbed or destroyed by who came
some authorities to be from Yule, may African-Americans are embracing,"
from
the
Continent
during
the
first
skilled in the use of words, wordsmith/
Patterson insists that the genuine goal
millennium B.C., and, seizing the be regarded a s-a reminder of that of the black freedom movement should
wordcook
cheerful season In the spring of the
How about a "politician” . Now, ports, spread out over the good agri
year, at the time of the vernal equinox, be "social inclusion” into the main
study ing the ety mology or the origina- cultural lands The Celts, besides prac
the goddess Eastre was worshipped. stream.
tion/history of particular w ords can be ticing agriculture, are said to have
Although Patterson is a black lib
From those rites another Christian
a fascinating, even revealing subject brewed beer, mined tin, and intro
eral,
indirectly he prov ides intellec
festival has deriv ed much of its out
Being a person ever vigilant for hints duced the use of iron To the English
tual
ammunition
for reactionary con
ward form and a name, Easter. Fi
of African roots in any aspect of cul vocabulary, through contact with their
servatives
like
Bennett
By attacking
nally, in the names of the days of the
ture or tradition 1 have been well Roman and later contemporaries, they
“multiculturalism” as divisive, both
week, as Monday (mona, noon), Tues
rew arded by my investigation of contributed bard, bin, crag, and many
day (Tiw, god of war). Wednesday Patterson and Bennett for divergent
geographic
names,
such
a
Comball,
WORDS.
(Woden, chief of the gods), Thursday reasons make it difficult to transform
The following book has really Dover, Kent. London, Thames, York;
(Thor, god of thunder), Friday (Frigg, the deep patterns of racism, sexism
turned me on in this respect, though 1 avon. river, in Stratford-on-Avon,
and classism which still exist within
goddess of marriage), Saturday (Saeter
purchased it for a different reason Avondale; bryn, hill, in Bry n Mawr;
our educational process Part of the
cumb. valley, in Duncombe; and dun, [L. Saturnus], Saturn), Sunday (sunne, problem here is the distorted defini
“Composition
sun), orthodox Christians, as well as
of Scientific W ords,” Roland hill, town, in Dundee, Dumbarton,
tion of “multiculturalism” and its ob-
unbelievers, harmlessly perpetuate
Wilbur Brown. Smithsonian Institu Doncaster Our May Day and Hallow
religious traditions of Anglo-Saxon
tion Press, 1956 revised edition I een rivalries are reminiscent of less
heathenism
purchased this 800 page text because re sp e c ta b le C e ltic c erem o n ies.
The author informs us: “The al
in my scientific research I discover a Like wise our custom of kissing
most
homogeneous Early English has
number of new and original concepts under the mistletoe is said to date from
now
become heterogenous Modern
(Black Inventors) which I will eventu those barbaric days when that plant
English havingderived materials from
was
held
sacred
and
druid
priests
ally publish, patent or copy right In
Letter To Editor
many diverse sources and adopted
naming these, it will expedite accep “with voices sad and prophetic” of
Recently I had an opportunity to
them with or without change as illus
tance if the nomenclature follows the fered up human sacrifices and chanted
preview POSSE, the new Black West
trated by the following examples; Af-
tradition used by scholars in the par about the tran sm ig ratio n o f the
ern by Mario Van Peebles. 1 had two
rican-Chim panzce, goober, gorilla,
ticular field However, for this discus soul One tribe of southern Celts was
immediate reactions: (1) This is a
guinea, gumbo, oasis, okra, simba,
movie that all African Americans
sion let’s just say it has been an eye c a lle d B ry th o n s or B rito n s, a
voodoo, yam, zebra, zombie” .
opener in the fashion previously de name perpetuated in the words Brit
should see and (2) I hope we, as pub
There arc many, many more of
ain, British. Brittany, Briton, and
lishers, can help it get a fair deal at the
scribed
course and next week we will examine
box office by encouraging our readers
The author of this book is so Breton.”
“Near the close of the sixth cen some "borrowings” in that wonderful to check their tickets when they go to
knowledgeable and thorough in his
book by African author, CheikAnta
investigations of sources that this writ tury (597 A D ) Augustine, the mis
see it so that Van Peebles does not
Diop, The African Origin of Civiliza
sionary,
arriv
ed
from
Rome
and,
aided
become a victim, like Spike Lee’s ex
ings prove also to be one of the best
tion
short (and accurate) histories of the by native Celts from Ireland, preached
perience with Malcolm X.
You w ill re c a ll th a t w hen
M alcolm X w as released. Home
Alone II came out along with the
¿Setters to the (3LS/ter,
‘Dance Of Anger’ Author Harriet Goldhor Lerner, Ph.D.
To Speak On ‘Dance Of Deception’ May 25
Dr. Harriet Godlhor Lerner, Best
selling author of "The Dance of An
ger” and “The Dance of Intimacy"
will speak on her new book, “The
dance of Deception: Pretending and
Truth Telling in W omen's Lives.
Tuesdav, May 25, 7:30 to 9:30pm. at
the Northwest Serv ice Center, 1819
NW Everett. Portland. Tickets are
$17 through May 20: $20 from May
20 until day of event
Tickets arc available though all
Ticketmaster outlets, by phone or credit
card th ro u g h New R enaissance
Oregon Lottery Results
O regon M egabucks
Wednesday Mav 12, 1993 • 2-9-13-26-27-31
Saturday May 15, 1993 «4-6-7-17-19-29
O regon Powerball
Wednesday May 12. 1993 • 10-24-35-36-39 PB 13
Saturday May 15, 1993 • 15-27-32-40-41 PB 30
OREGON
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by mail.)
Dr. Lerner’s lecture is presented
by Park Productions, and co-spon
sored by Legacy Women’s Services A
book signing will immediately follow.
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Emanuel Hospital & Health Center,
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Center, Holladay Park Medical Cen
ter, Meridian Park Hospital. Mount
Hood Medical Center, Legacy Visit
ing Nurse Association and CareMark/
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Serving Portland and Vancouver
Espy Calls
Administration’s
Anti-Hunger
Legislation
Comprehensive
Reform
volved w hen I saw the Bill and had my
staff send copies to several business
leaders in the community so as to
receive their input. It has always been
my practice to go to my community
regarding legislation that would af
fect the district, in this particular case,
I believed adversely. When I sent a
copy to Mr Posey it was to elicit a
response regarding how we could stop
or amend the Bill. The Bill is detri
mental to small and minority owned
businesses. Please feel free to call my
office for any further information. My
very hard working staff, Charlotte or
movie is a good film experience that
starts the process for giv ing the in
volvement and experiences of Black
people in the West.
Yes, there is violence but it is not
random nor glorified.
1 hope the Gramercy people place
ads with all of us and that this kind of
endorsement, which I don’t believe I
have made before other than Mal
colm X, will not be taken as an excuse
not to spend advertising dollars with
us.
A Luta Continua!
John E. Warren
Publisher
Bill will gladly assist you. Also, for
those of you who can’t come to Salem.
I have been holding monthly Town
Hall Meetings at the King Neighbor
hood Facility and my next one will be
on Tuesday, May 25th at 7:00 PM.
The one thing that Mr. Posey and I
heartily agree on is that our commu
nity definitely needs to be involved in
the legislative process
Respectfully
Margaret Carter
State Representative M argaret
Carter
District 18
earrakhan
THE S P E C IA L S P O K E S M A N
BY
JA M E S X BESS
C A B LE T.V.
MONEY ORDER,
P ortland , O regon 97208 j
Oregon.
Letter To The Editor
I feel compelled to respond to the
letter written by James Posey in the
May 5th paper Mr Posey mixed up a
couple of his facts regarding legisla
tion I am sponsoring. The Bill he
referred to that was initiated by the
Northeast Economic Alliance is HB
3499 I am sponsoring this particular
piece of legislation to improve the
effectiveness of state enterprise zones,
not Representative Gordlv. Although
she has been very supportive. As for
the Bill that Associated General Con
tractors has proposed, I became in
cartoon Aladdin Both appeared to
do better than Malcolm X during
the initial days which are critical
to a film ’s success. We later found
out as Spike complained to Warner
B ros., th a t a num ber o f B lacks
purchasing tickets to Malcolm X got
ticket stubs to Home Alone II and
A laddin. T his deceptive practice
boosted the ratings for these two mov
ies and robbed Malcolm X of what
would have been a more significant
showing.
I have not been asked to write this
letter by Van Peebles or Gramercy
Pictures or the PR agency. I think the
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy told
the House Agriculture Committee that the
administration’s hunger prcvcntionbill, sub-
mi tted to Congress represents a true commit
ment to addressing hunger in America and
to reforming government programs
The bill called the Mickey Leland Hun
ger Prevention Act. reforms the food stamp
program in order to promote self sufficiency
makes adequate food assistance more readily
available to poor families with children and
enhances program integrity and savings
“Our comprehensive food stamp legis
lation is an investment in the future of our
nation," Espy said “And it is an investment
that is long overdue. Today, we have a tragic
situation due to poverty and hunger in our
nation.”
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