• «A •
O ctober 5, 1994 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A2
' he 4th Congressional
D is tric t of Illin o is
represented by Cong.
Luis Guitierrez...
the 12th Congressional District of
New York represented by Cong.
Nydia Velazquez... and the 13th
Congressional Distriet ot New Jer­
sey represented by Cong. Robert
Menendez... all have four things in
common and it s not their shape,
size, location or the late Spanish art­
ist Salvador Dali. Can you guess
what it is?
T h e y 're m ajority m inority
(Latino) districts. They are Demo­
cratic. They are the by-product of the
1992 reapportionment plans result­
ing from the 1965 Voting Rights Act
(VRA). There is a common miscon­
ception that the Voting Rights Act
was created for blacks only, but it is
the VRA that makes all the above
possible. Let’s look at some of these
misconceptions.Have the rights of
whites been violated by the creation
of these districts? No. Shaw v. Reno
is the only court case that we are
aware of where the court offers a
remedy without a violation. White
voters are not denied their share ot
NATIONAL’
C O A L IT IO N
Voting Rights Disease Is Spreading
Crazy Shaped Theory Hit Latino Allies
political power. Howes er. even with
enforcement ot the VRA. Black (and
other minorities) continue to be
barred from a fair share ot political
power nationwide. Forexample, there
are slightly over 8.(XX) Black elected
officials. We are 12% ot the popula­
tion, and there are 5(X).(XX) public
office holders. Thus, 12% ot 500.000
is roughly 60.000 political offices
that should rightfully be held by
Blacks. Eight thousand (8,000) is a
mere 1.6 percent of the offices that
should be held by Blacks if elected
on a fair basis.
Does the Shaw decision advo­
cate the appropriate remedy .’ No.
advocating a color-blind remedy in a
race-conscious-society (i.e. a demon­
strated history of whites not voting for
racial minorities) is divisive. Our op­
ponents argue “any race-conscious"
remedy is unlawful and racist and
therefore must be avoided. They argue
for laws that are "neutral’’. But to
argue "neutrality" is to argue tor the
status quo, which is racist.
What is the appropriate rem­
edy? The remedies used for African
Americans and Latinos have been
the conservative remedies of affir­
mative action and the Voting Rights
Act. For Western Europe. Japan,
Russia, Israel and Kuwait we use
reparations or repairing the damage
done. For people of color, we use the
conservative remedy of affirmative
action to offset years of negative
action. With regard to voting rights,
we have not asked for reparations,
which would be compensation for
the damage done tor the years we
couldn’t vote, but had to pay taxes,
serve, bleed and die for our country.
The Voting Rights Act was simply
designed to gain political equity now,
not compensate for past denial.
Racial gerrymandering or equal
opportunity? The VRA does not ad­
vocate “racial gerrymandering" or
“political apartheid." What is says is
that race may be a factor — along
with income, party affiliation, geo­
graphic compactness, etc. — in draw­
ing district boundaries, so that those
who have been excluded historically
from an Equal Opportunity of being
elected to office will have a fair
chance. Historically, incumbency has
also been a major factor. Court rul­
ings that do not use the language of
"equal opportunity,” but instead use
language like "racial gerrymander­
ing” to interpret and affirm the vot­
ing rights of minorities, actually jeop­
ardize the Voting Rights Act.
J4 &etter'75e>''£te<3jtitor
À
n the September 21st
issue of The Portland
Observer. Fred D. Miller
who opposes the 2% Equal Tax
Measure, stated that it would
increase Oregonians federal
income taxes by $900 million in
1995.
jJ
O'
He failed to report the reason for it,
which is. Oregonians will no longer
be paying state income and property
taxes, so cannot deduct a percentage
of it off their federal taxes.
Also, he stated the m easure
would cost O regon a revenue loss
of $490 m illion dollars in 1995.
A c co rd in g to c a lc u la tio n s o f
O reg o n 's share of national trade
figures (m eaning $503 billion
dollars was exchanged in O regon
last year) a tw o percent tax would
raise more than $10 billion d o l­
lars. Time M agazine’s May, 1994
edition quoted O regon’s share of
the national trade figure at $503
billion in 1993.
Las of all. is the com plaint
that it is a new and untired sy s­
tem. At some tim e, every system
is untried until it goes in to effe ct.
I fully expect there to be som e
changes and corrections before
Send your letters to the
Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137,
Portland, OR 97208
it works sm oothly, but we have
got to do som ething. The leg isla­
ture d o e sn ’t w ant to lose control
of your money. Anytime they need
money, it is too easy for them to raise
your taxes. Measure 20 would put
you in control of your money and not
the state. I’m going to vote YES on
Measure 20.
Janette Kirkland
Glendale, Oregon
Civil Rights Journal
Money And Meanness Over Matter
by
B ernice P owell J ackson
The death knell has been
sounded for health care reform
durin g th is s essio n
of
Congress. The Senate majority
leader has pronounced it dead
and the Republican leadership
has danced over the grave. It’s
a sad day for the United States.
It means that money and mean­
ness has triumphed over substantive
reform of a health care system which
is on the critical list. It means the
health of many Americans remains
in jeopardy. In the words of Sen. Paul
W ellstone of M innesota, “What
killed health care? I think the unholy
mix of money, power and politics.”
By money, Willstone was refer­
ring to the enormous sums of monies
which have been spent by insurance
companies, by the medical lobbyists
and by others who felt that they would
be adversely impacted by changes in
h ealth care. Says Rep. Jim
McDermott, “Insurance companies
took premium dollars and went out
and advertised against the best inter­
ests of their patients.”
Some of these dollars were used
to put advertising on television which
scared the American people about
health reform. The result was that the
American people, who had supported
health care reform, began to question
if they would have to give up too
much themselves in order that we
might all be covered. The result was
that Americans began to believe that
they would loose their right to choose
their own physicians, although the
proposed legislation did not do that.
They began to believe that the qual­
ity of medical care would be under­
mined. although there is no reason to
believe that to be the case.
Some o f these dollars were
given d irectly to m em bers o f
C ongress for their cam paigns this
fall. M illio n s of d o llars were
given to political action com m it­
te e s and o n e m u st q u e s tio n
w hether there could ever be no
strings attached to such gifts.
The power that Wellstone was
referring to is related to the money
and implies, 1 believe, the enormous
power the lobbyists in the United
States today. With the thousands of
lobbyists in Washington today rep­
resenting business, labor, trade and
professional associations, special
interest groups and others, it is a
miracle that any legislation at all gets
passed. Combined with the fact that
too few of us - to few ordinary citi­
zens - exercise our privilege to vote
and then to hold our government
representative accountable, the power
in Washington is not accountable to
the American people.
The politics Wellstone referred
to are the missteps made by the
Clinton administration in putting to­
gether viable legislation and the ob­
structionist actions of the Republi­
cans. Instead of being "holed up" for
months secretly putting together a
comprehensive plan, maybe the ad­
ministration should have involved
both Democrats and Republicans and
religious groups committed to health
care reform in the initial writing and
selling of the legislation. Instead of
Republicans using health care re­
form as a way of showing their ability
to stop the Clinton administration
while denying any need for reform,
perhaps they should have listened to
the 39 million Americans who are
uncovered or to those who cannot
change jobs because of a pre_existing
condition or those who have been
dropped by their insurance company
because they become ill or to those
who have lost homes and savings
because of catastrophic illnesses.
The reality is that Congress was
too mean-spirited and too politicized
even to work on stop-gap legislation
which would provide health cover­
age for every American child and
every pregnant woman. The reality is
that for people of color, whose com­
munities face health crises which
more closely parallel those of Third
World countries, the death of health
care reform may mean additional
hardships and unnecessary deaths.
Write to your congressperson
and your senator and let them know
you favor health care reform. Have
the members of your church, of your
block club, of your fraternity or so­
rority, of your labor union or social
club let Congress know that we ex­
pect better from them and American
deserves more.
Celebrating Black History In September
by
B ernice P owell J ackson
There are some who say that
we should cele-brate black
history all year long, not just
during February.
There are some who celebrate Christ­
mas in July so that they can enjoy the
spirit of that season twice in a year.
Using those frames of reference, this
column is a celebration of the history
made by two African American
women, both during this century.
Bessie Coleman shared some­
thing in com m on with A m elia
Earhart. They both were pilots who
set aviation firsts and they both be­
gan their training in 1921. While
many Americans know of the accom­
plishments ot Amelia Earhart, few
have heard the name Bessie Coleman.
Bessie Coleman was the first
African American woman to fly and
she was the first African American,
male or female, to earn a license from
the French air association. Federa­
tion Aeronautique Internationale A
manicurist by profession, she had
received her flight training in France
since she was refused flying lesson
-V M B
sin the U S. because she was a woman
and she was black.
Bessie Coleman was born in
1892 and raised by a single mother in
east Texas. She attended a one room
schoolhouse until 1915. when she
moved to Chicago. She was almost
30 when she found her real calling in
life. Even though every American
pilot she approached about teaching
her to fly turned her down, she would
not allow her dream to die. She just
went to Europe.
Following her training in France.
Bessie Coleman began to fly in air
shows in the U.S. in 1922. Called
“Queen Bess" by the black newspa­
pers, she was a dashing figure in her
French-designed riding breeches,
boots and tunic patterned after those
worn by the Canadian air force. She
was killed in an airplane accident in
1926. and her name remain unknown
to many today.
Madame C.J Walker was one of
the most astonishing women of this
country Born Sarah Breedlove to
former slaves in rural Louisiana, or­
phaned by age 7, married at 14. wid­
owed by age 20, she was the firs,
American woman, black or white, to
become a millionaire through her
own hard work. Of her own story.
Madame Walker said. "I am a woman
who came from the cotton fields of
the South. From there I was pro­
moted to the wash tub. From there I
was promoted to the cook kitchen.
And from there I promoted myself
into the business of manufacturing
hair goods and preparations.. I have
built my own factory on my own
ground."
In a biography written for young
people by Madame Walker’s great-
great granddaughter. A'Lelia Perry
Bundles, we learn the history of this
remarkable woman. We learn how
her incredible business acumen and
knowledge of what black women re­
ally wanted in hair care products
combined to make her fortune. We
learn of her philosophy and her com­
mitment to her people. Indeed, al­
though she was known for her lavish
life style, including her brownstone
house in Harlem and her estate in
upstate New York, she was also a
woman who deeply believed in help­
ing others, particularly other black
women She funded anti-lynching
campaigns as well as black educa-
tional institutions.
Bessie Coleman, aviator, and
Madame C.J. Walker, millionaire
owner of her. own cosmetic com­
pany, are lessons for us all. They are
African American women of excel­
lence. They are African American
women who broke barriers and de­
fied odds to do something no one else
had ever done before them. They are
African American women who came
from very humble beginnings but
who dared to live their dreams.
We need to tell the stories of
Bessie Coleman and Madame C.J.
Walker to young people of all colors
all over this country. We need to help
young people see that if they only
dare to dream, they can go where no
one has gone before. We need to help
young people see that African Ameri­
can women can do and have done all
kinds of things and have made many
contributions to the history of thiscoun-
try. We need to help them find their
stories of those in our lifetime who are
making a difference in their world.
We need to celebrate African
American history month every month,
to inform the present and for the sake
of the future.
ri e r s p e' c t / r e s
Winners And Losers In
The Education Game
3$
ho said, “If you think
of yourself as a victim
and for along enough
time, you will become one?”
did!; after I visited my
hometown of St. Louis, Mo
and began to ask th at
inevitable question, “what­
ever happened to old so-and-
so9 ” This was after a thirty-
year absence.
U n fo rtu ­
n a te ly , and
w ith o n ly a
few n o ta b le
e x c e p tio n s ,
fa ith in my
p re d ic tiv e
powers was re­
in fo rc e d to no end. B eing
raised by a m other who was
very astute in her evaluations
of the human state—and was
trained as a teacher--I found
m yself w ell-equipped early on
to forecast success or failure
in life among my schoolm ates.
In other words, I got a good
d o se o f both e x p e rie n c e d -
based theory, and the em p iri­
cism of a 'p eo p le-p erso n '.
This piece is not about d e­
veloping any elaborate p ara­
digm s for forecasting a su c­
cessful education experience
for students but, rather, to set
some the fact that from dayone
my observation has been that a
c h ild 's self-im age is a key d e ­
term inant. First, “ I am som e­
b o d y !’ Those of us who got
this m essage from parents or
teachers, or both , succeeded
w hether “all else was equal or
n o t” .
R ecently, I was privileged
to read a quote from an in ter­
view with W ilm a M ankiller,
th e p rin c ip a l c h ie f o f the
C herokee N ation (hearing her
in person is an even greater
privilege). Asked w hether her
recitations of the “w renching
ex p erien ces” o f native A m eri­
can students were derived of
her own experience, she re ­
plied, “absolutely. I was like
so many N ative children... I
had a very though time through­
out my school years, teased
about my nam e, about my ac­
cent. I searched for role m od­
els in the history books but
found very few. For Y ears I
Had No Self-E steem ."
In organizing this new se­
ries on education, I was p ar­
ticularly m otivated to include
this quote because o f the num ­
ber calls and faxes I got in
resp ect to articles w ritten the
last six weeks. Especially those
(Lite
that dealt with "U rban Plan­
ning” , the cities and the A fri­
can genesis of our modern
urban p anoram a’. There was a
universal outcry on the part of
(hese parents, “W hy-on-why
aren ’t our children getting this
in sch o o l?”
This com es from both A f­
rican Am erican and W hite par­
ents (T eachers, who call, ask
for text citations or for some
p ro v is io n a l
d o c u m e n ta ­
tion w h ile I
p re p a re my
own p u b lica­
tio n s
fo r
spring). Many
ask w hatever
happened to the Baseline Es­
say s, th at g lo rio u s p ro je c t
“destined to place the P ort­
land Public School system on
the national map in respect to
"M ulticultural E d u catio n ’?...
I ’ve despaired and have started
going to my children s class­
room s but can ’t find anything
like the m aterials and lesson
plans I saw you and others
w orking on...I couldn t even
find your book. Black Inven­
tors o f A m erica... These ra c­
ists are in cred ib le!”
Yes, they are and on top of
that, they now can plead pov­
erty. All of that m otivating
m aterial I described as ap p ear­
ing in the O ctober issue of
S cientific Am erican m agazine
-- The A frican genesis o f not
only the urban infrastructure
o f b ro a d b o u le v a r d s , c ity
parks, gardens, zoos, m useum s
and the sitting of public b u ild ­
ing, and the developm ent of
such culture as The “E m pire"
style of furniture and of dress
-- all of that I subm itted under
my contract with the school
district, and much m ore. W hat
happened?
W ilm a M a n k ille r , th e
C herokee Nation C hief, m akes
no bones about her situ atio n ,
“There will not be an adequate
response until we run the sy s­
tem ourselves” . Black children
in P ortland, who have little
self-im age, no history and few
role m odels, bicycle past my
window , delivering drugs.
Those a little o ld er blow
each o th er away w ith little
thought. All, w hile scarcely a
block away, the B lack, E d u ca­
tion C enter (K to 5) turns out
black kids who know who they
are and who they will be — and
who are smart.
C ontinued next week
ODbseruer
(USPS 959-680)
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