S eptember 28, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A 2
he African-Am erican
family in the United
States loses a child
every four hours to a bullet.
Many more are injured or trau
matized by needless exposure to vio
lence and homicide A young person
under age eighteen is twice as likely
as an adult to be victimized by the
complex cycle o f violence today. In
this sense, we have, as a community,
abandoned our youth. We have left
them in harms way We must Re
claim Our Youth, reaffirm their value
to us, and reconnect ourselves to
them in meaningful ways. It is up to
us to move our children out o f harm ’s
way. In the words of Reverend Jesse
L. Jackson, founder o f the Rainbow
National Reclaim Our Youth Cru
sade, "To choose to reclaim our youth
is to choose to redeem the soul of
America.”
The mission of the Rainbow
National Reclaim Our Youth Cru
sade is to reverse the rising tide of
violence and homicide among today ’ s
youth. The strategy is to use our
organizing and coalition building
capabilities to generate new partner
ships which serve as a "literal basket
2) Establish a diverse local steer
ing committee to meet on a weekly
basis for both strategic planning and
community building.
4) Design local pilot initiatives
in any or all of the five key areas and
designate local organizations to ad
minister them. Collaborate with and
support existing programs that relate
to the key components.
The Reclaim O ur Youth pledge
for excellence and against violence
ask parents to com m it to five key
things: (1) take your child to school;
(2) meet your child’s teacher; (3)
exchange phone numbers; (4) pickup
report cards and monitor test scores;
and (5) turn o ff the television for
three hours of study time each night.
T hese pledges serve as a c a ta
lyst for o rg a n iz in g p a re n ts and
co m m u n ities aro u n d em bracing
and p ro te c tin g our y outh. R e v e r
end Jack so n view s the ep id em ic
o f youth vio len ce as an o p p o rtu
nity for us as a co m m u n ity to
stand up and to take back our
rig h t to live free o f fear, o u r in
a lie n a b le rig h t in the p u rsu it of
h ap p in ess. In his w ords, “N o one
w ill (o r can ) save us, for us, but
u s.”
R sihbû W
C O A L IT IO N
Reclaim Your Youth
o f support" w ithin com m unities
across the nation We are mobilizing
leadership cadres during weekly
prayer breakfast meetings. Repre
sentatives from churches and the faith
community are providing the foun
dation for building Reclaim Our
Youth Coalitions in several cities.
These spiritual leaders are creating
unprecedented partnerships with the
courts and judicial community. The
"black robe" team works along with
educators, social workers, lawyers,
elected officials, health profession
als, parents, colleges and youth to
achieve specific reclaim youth goals
in five key areas: (1) Parent/School
Bonding; (2) Adult/Youth Mentor-
ing/Nurturing; (3) Youth Policy A d
vocacy; (4) Youth/Student Em pow
erment; and (5) Media Involvement
and Accountability.
We now seek to mobilize 100
churches within cities and com m uni
ties across the country to increase the
number of mentoring, nurturing and
coaching relationships for our young
people and their families. We know
we can stop this epidemic of vio
lence. We can reverse this tide Here
are the basic steps to follow in your
community.
1) Convene a town meeting/is-
sues forum to address local concerns
and explore the conditions, causes,
costs and cures of violence. Involve
a diverse team including teachers,
students, judges, ministers, youth
service workers, parents and human
service workers.
¿Sivil î^ ig k ts 3F o u m a l
To Be Or Not To Be: Haiti’s Search For Democracy
B y B ernice P owell J ackson
The story is still unfolding. The
pictures are changing daily on
our televisions and in our
newspapers.
As I write this we see American
soldiers standing by and watching
Haitian police beat civilians who are
celebrating the presence of the Ameri
cans and the promised arrival of Presi
dent Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It’s not
a pretty picture. Americans, who are
supposed to be in Haiti to uphold
democracy, are allowing people to
be beat to death.
W hat does it all mean? W hy is
the deposed President of Haiti voic
ing disapproval o f the last-second
agreement negotiated by President
Jimmy Carter, General Colin Powell
and Senator Sam Nunn? Why is
R andall R obin so n , P resid en t o f
TransAfrica who carried out a hun
ger strike earlier this year because of
the adm inistration’s policy toward
Haitian immigrants, also question
ing the agreement? Those are only a
few of the questions one might raise
about the United States and Haiti.
The first problem is that for the
sake of a peaceful occupation by
American troops the U.S. has chosen
to negotiate with the very persons
who have taken the government over
by a bloody coup, have killed their
own country people, have allowed
Haitian military and police to rape
and torture their opponentes and their
families, have forced many of the
democratically-elected members of
Parliament to flee for their lives and
have reneged on prior agreements to
turn over their power. One must ask
at what cost is this peaceful inva
sion?
Nobel Peace Prize winner Arch
bishop Desmond Tutu once said, when
reflecting on how the U.S. had sup
ported the minority-white South Afri
can government, that the U.S. has pen
chant for choosing the wrong side. He
was referring to the U.S. government’s
Cold War habit of supporting despots.
While there is some hope in that we
seem to be supporting President
Aristide, our negotiations with the
Haitian military make it appear we
haven’t learned our lesson yet.
Just last week President Clinton
c a lle d
th e se
sam e
p e o p le
“dictators...(who) control the most
violent regime in our hemisphere.”
These are the same people who this
week we are to believe will act hon
orably and will quietly turn over the
reigns o f power. These are the same
people whose armed thugs only weeks
ago killed a Catholic priest and close
friend o f President Aristide and who
will receive amnesty under the agree
ment. Somehow, even for those who
believe in transform ation and in
miracles, all that is hard to swallow.
The second problem is that
through this agreement we face the
very real possibility o f the U.S. be
coming an occupying army in Haiti.
A few months ago I wrote a column
against the possible invasion of Haiti
and part o f that concern involved my
fear that rather than being the libera
tors o f the Haitian people, we would
become their oppressors. If there are
too many more times when U.S. sol
diers stand powerless to help people
being beaten by Haitian police, it
w on' t take long for the people to hate
the army which ostensibly came to
free them.
The third problem is the am
nesty being promised to all in Haiti.
The head of Amnesty International,
the independent human rights orga
nization, has criticized the agree
ment, saying it allows killers to go
free. Under this agreement, for ex
ample, those who raped and tortured
the wives o f political opponents to
the military will go free.
Finally, this agreement does not
disarm the military leaders or their
arm ed thugs. W hen the corrupt
D uvalier governm ent finally was
forced to leave pow er in Haiti the
vicious underground security force
was not disarmed and continued to
torture and kill Haitian people. These
same armed thugs caused U.S. naval
ships sent to Haiti a few months ago
to turn back at the docks.
The reality is that this agreement
may have saved the U .S. armed forces
from invading Haiti, but it may not
have saved the Haitian people. In the
words o f one American soldier in
Haiti, while he was watching the
Haitian police chase and beat those
people who had come to thank our
soldiers for coming to their country,
"These people have a right to be free,
they chose to be free. It’s a shame, a
shame.”
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
An Open Letter To Parents
by R ichard W . R iley , U .S.
S ecretary of E ducation
Very few things are more
important to our children’s
future or to America’s future
than the quality education of
our children.
We believe that the concerted
efforts of entire communities to cre
ate and sustain disciplined learning
environments, where our children can
be challenged to meet high academic
and occupational skill standards, are
what will provide our children - and
America — with a strong future.
All across America, there are
communities which are pulling to
gether to strengthen education. Par
ents, teachers, community leaders,
business leaders, and educators in
every part of our country are starting
to work together to improve teaching
and learning and to improve student
achievement.
With passage last spring of the
Goals 2000: Educate America Act
(by a strong bipartisan vote in Con
gress), new opportunities have been
created for schools and neighbor
hoods, themselves, to accelerate lo
cal and state improvement efforts.
But these opportunities for educa
tional excellence can only'be taken
advantage of through greater family
involvement in children’s education
— both at school and at home.
I believe that all parents, regard
less o f income or occupation, have
the capacity and the obligation to
teach their children not only a love of
learning, but also other critical Ameri
can values such as responsibility,
respect and hard work. Research
shows that all families, whatevertheir
income or education level, can take
concrete steps that significantly help
children learn. And yet families are
often the missing link in American
education.
Many parent, education, com
munity and religious organizations
are com ing together to prom ote
greater family involvement in learn
ing, and I, as the U.S. Secretary of
Education, encourage such efforts
right at home - in every neighbor
hood and community. As we work to
increase strong family-school part
nerships, we all need to be mindful of
the pressures parents face and the
escalating demands on their time.
But I believe we, as a nation, must
recognize something else as well:
parents, when they can, need to slow
down their lives and help their chil
dren grow.
As I travel around the country, I
meet many parents who are trying
hard to do the right thing for their
chi Idren . They are being responsible,
juggling jobs, trying to squeeze more
hours into the day. They are worry
ing about their children's safety and
doing all they can to keep their fami-
lies together.
Yet, some 40epercent of parents
themselves believe they are not de
voting enough time to theirchildren' s
education. Almost three-quarters of
students between the ages of 10 and
13 say they would like to talk to their
parents more about schoolwork. A
survey taken last year showed that
teachers believe the most important
issue in educational policy is strength
ening the role of parents in children's
schooling.
And data compiled by the Na
tional A ssessm ent o f Education
Progress shows that three factors over
which parents exercise authority —
student absenteeism, variety of read
ing materials in the home, and exces
sive television watching - explain
nearly 90 percent o f the variation in
eighth grade mathematics test scores
among 37 states and the District of
Columbia.
Successful family involvement
is not a sporadic activity. It is a
sustained commitment to instill the
habits of learning and to se, high
expectations.
Parents are children's first and
most influential teachers. By reading
to children or having them read to
us... by making sure homework is
done... by monitoring television use.,
by knowing how children spend their
time, parents can have a powerfully
positive effect on their children’s
learning.
Parents can also help children
by participating in local and state
efforts to raise educational standards.
And we can urge schools to offer and
enroll many more students in the
challenging courses which prepare
them for postsecondary education
and/or a promising occupation.
At the same time, we know that
the responsibility for expanding and
deepening family involvement ex
tends well beyond families. Schools,
communities, and businesses can all
be part of a network o f support for
families and students.
Schools can reach out to fami
lies at convenient hours and promote
family and community involvement
in helping all students to teach high
standards. Communities can help to
make schools safe and drug-free,
provide support services for parents,
and encourage volunteers to serve as
mentors. Businesses can adopt “fam
ily-friendly” policies, such as child
care or flexible leave, that would
make it easier for parents to visit or
volunteer in schools.
We have joined with more than
45 different organizations, and to
gether we are identifying successful
approaches to strengthen family in
volvement in learning.
W orking to g e th e r, we can re
in fo rc e the c e n tra l role o f the
fam ily in e d u c a tio n -- and bring
out the best in ev ery ch ild . We
need yo u r help.
p e r s p e c tiv e s
Immigration: Race,
Money And Power
(Conclusion)
e fo re p ro ceed in g
fu rth e r w ith this
commentary I wish to
advise those teachers who
say they are incorporating
material in this series into
social science lesson plans--
that in addition to the citations
I give here (most in my library),
you will find trem endous
re so u rc e s
u n d er
the
“Im m igration” heading Of
G ale 's E n c y c lo p ed ia of
Association at the Public
Library.
A most in
teresting volume
from my ow n
collection on the
subject is “The
Mismeasure O f
M an ” by S te
phen
Jay
G ould. H is c o g e n t co m m en ts
on the A m erican ra c ism w hich
had a rg u ed for the e x c lu sio n o f
so u th ern and e a ste rn E u ro p ean
im m ig ra n ts w h o had sc o re d
poorly on su p p o sed te sts o f in
nate in te llig e n c e , p ro v id e e x
c e lle n t p o in ts for an e x a m in a
tion o f U .S. p o lic y on im m ig ra
tion. T hese ran g e from e a rlie r
“c ra n ia l s iz e s ” to th e ra c ia l
strateg y o f “ b io lo g ic a l d e te r
m in ism ” and the m isd e e d s o f
Jensen and S h o c k le y (T he IQ
c o m e d ia n s).
My p o in t o f d e p a rtu re for
the th in k in g u n d e rly in g th is
series w as an o b se rv a tio n d e
rived from in sp e c tio n o f a num
b e r o f v ie w p o in ts m a d e by
black s in the n a tio n a l A frican
A m erican p ress. It w o u ld seem
that w h e re a s h e re to fo re there
has been a re tic e n c e (a t least
p u b lic a lly ) to sp eak a la rm in g ly
about the in c re a se d im m ig ra
tion o f o th e r e th n ic s, th ere is
now a g ro w in g c o n c e rn about
the ec o n o m ic im p act. In o th e r
w o rd s, it is no lo n g e r c o n s id
ered ‘p o litic a lly in c o r r e c t’ by
m any b la c k s to have second
th o u g h ts a b o u t “ra in b o w c o a li
tio n s” . T hey seem to be fo c u s
ing a c ritic a l a n a ly sis on m o v e
m ents w hich are say in g “ we are
all in th is to g e th e r (w e o u tsid -
e r s ) - - a n d w e s h o u ld not be
fo u n d
e x a m in in g
our
in tra c u ltu ra l r e la tio n s h ip s .
Stand united a g a in st that W A SP
w orld, you m in o ritie s and poor
w h ite s” .
In ste a d th e se b la c k s are
p e rc e iv in g a real o r im ag in ed
e sc a la tio n o f an u n e q u a l ‘d iv i-
sio n -o f-sp o ils’ in the eth n ic pot.
It w as Ben H alp ern (Jew s and
B lacks) w ho w as q u o te d in the
in tro d u c tio n o f “T he R ise O f
T he U n m e lta b le E th n ic s ” by
M ichael N ovak: “ N ot o n ly the
g en eral p u blic but A m e ric a n
S o c ia l S c ie n tis ts , w ho p rid e
them selv es on fa c t-fin d in g and
o b je c tiv ity , p re fe rre d to avoid
th e
s u g g e s tio n
of
‘u n e q u a l’rig h ts in th e w ord
‘m in o rity ’” . T his w as back in
1973 and N ovak, o f c o u rse , w as
not speaking o f a “ ra in b o w ” mix
o f ethnics.
His “ U n m e lta b le ” p ot, all
sup p o sed ly in p u rsu it o f and
clo sin g in on a “W A S P " ideal
(W hite A nglo Saxon P ro te sta n t)
w ere the P oles,
I ta lia n s ,
G reek s, S lav s,
Irish and Jew s.
A t th is tim e
and
p la c e ,
N ovak refers to
an o b s e r v e r
“ outside the usual c o n flic ts b e
tw e e n W A S P S , e th n ic s an d
b la c k s” . T he A frican A m erican,
h im self, can n o t o f c o u rse a f
ford the luxury and p o ssib le o b
je c tiv ity o f sta n d in g c le a r o f
the rush o f evens th at are upon
him . As the jo b m arket is shrink-
w rapped by daily c o rp o ra te la y
o ffs and the clo sin g o f the sm all
su p p o rtin g b u sin e sse s, black s
fu rth e r p erceive that the e c o
nom ic avenues are fu rth e r c u r
tailed by concen tratio n o f A sian
e th n ic s in w hat w ere tra d itio n a l
o p p o rtu n itie s for them ; sm all
sto re s, dry c lean ers, ja n ito ria l
se rv ic e s, c a r w ash es, b e a u ty
su p p ly , etc.
It seem s to me that w hat
black s are saying in m any o f
the a rtic le s I read is “ has our
lea d e rsh ip failed us ag ain ? E a r
lier, we had them p ro je c tin g all
the em ploym ent gains we w ere
to m ake through the im p le m e n
ta tio n of “ A ffirm ativ e A c tio n -
only to find that 80% o f the
jo b s and pro m o tio n s to be g e n
e ra te d w ere ab sorbed by w hite
fe m a le s" (the m ost u b iq u ito u s
“ e th n ic ” group e v e r c re a te d ).
N ow , when you c o n sid e r
th e se facts and then a tte m p t to
a lig n the U .S. g o v e rn m e n t’s
new “c ateg o ric o f racial and
e th n ic d e sig n a tio n s to be used
by every federal agency from
C en su s B ureau, E qual E m p lo y
m ent, E qual C red it O p p o rtu
nity, etc. to Sm all B usiness p ro
gram s and B anking le g is la tio n ”
w ith p rio r co n c e p ts o f c u ltu r
a lly -w e ig h te d re a litie s o f this
land o f o u rs, you could be in
b ig tro u b le. D oes the A frican
American need to stand clear of all
the see thing “melting pots” and
review his options, his leaders, his
organizations? Whats the future?
<ETlie ^ o rtla n b (Obscrurr
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