A pril 5, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A?
bv A drian G . W ilson , D.D.S.
P resident , D octors C o i sen.
espite the inadequacy
I of his plan, a year ago
President Clinton was
nonetheless highlighting the
nation's healthcare crisis. The
Republican Contract we face
today, on the <->ther hand, does
nothing to address the health
crisis facing the working poor
and uninsured across America.
It blatantly ignores the vital
health care needs of the urban
poor.
DC already has the worst health
profile in the U S . It leads the nation
in 8 o f 10 "causes o f death" catego
ries, including: cancer, 256 vs. 200
per 100,000; Liver disease, 33 vs. 11
per 100.000; TR infection 24 vs. 10
per 100.000; syphilis, 125.9vs. 17.5
per 100,000; HIV. 130.2 vs. 18.2 per
100,000 (at least 20% o f the correc
tional population is HIV positive)--
and 25° o o f DC residents are sub
stance addicted.
Without voting representation
and the power to protect ourselves, a
Republican-led Congress and a doc
ile Democratic minority are putting
the squeeze on DC to cut costs and
services, and to privatize health ser
vices. The result? Severely reduced
health care services at the city hospi
tal, neighborhood health clinics, DC’s
publicly run mental health hospital
and correctional medical facilities.
R jinbo W
C O A L IT IO N
Health Crisis Deepens
Nation’s Capital Omen For The Country
At the same time, a plan is afoot to
create a private entity to receive a
huge DC subsidy to provide health
care serv ices to the uninsured. Health
care contractors already reap mil
lions in DC contracts to provide
managed care services at $212 per
month per adult-one o f the highest
rates in the country.
The newest rounds o f budget
cuts will virtually close the health
care door to over 100,000 uninsured
residents and undocumented immi
grants. Local politicians facing a
budget crisis-y es, because o f some
mismanagement, but mostly due to
past congressionally created d e b ts-
are being forced to target even the
unborn in their budget slashing fren
zy They' are eliminating 1 st and 2nd
trimester prenatal care to AFDC re
cipients. plainly punishing the un
born for being conceived by poor
parents. D C's infant mortality' rate is
already the highest in the nation.
When guns and drugs are more ac
cessible than preventive or prenatal
care, we indeed are in the middle o f
a health care crisis.
Slashing and burning public
health care budgets simply ripens the
fruit forthe private health-industrial-
complex, which is anxious to pick up
the public share o f $950 billion in
national health care expenditures. Yet
private sector HM O’s and hospitals
refuse uninsured patients. Only mon
ey will get the most vulnerable among
us through the door o f a health clinic
or hospital when public hospitals are
privatized or clinics are closed.
W hose money? Taxpayer dollars
currently used to subsidize uncom
pensated care at public hospitals, in
correctional medical facilities, men
tal health and neighborhood clinics
w ill be diverted to the private sector,
which will profit from the patients
they have traditionally and currently
rejected. In DC, up to $1 billion
currently spent on public health care
will be diverted to the private sector.
The potential savings by the pub
lic sector will be transformed into prof
its for the insurance industry and pri
vate providers. Public savings can be
used to enhance health services for
those in need, while profits enhance
only the rich. District contracts for
medical care have been shown to cost
over 5 times more than care provided
by the public sector. Market share, not
health care, is the focal point of the
budget cuts and reorganization advo
cated by the private sector.
When we have privatized the
urban public health systems, who
will: Assure that comprehensive care
is provided? Assure that clinics are
accessible to the public and that res
idents are not turned away? Assure
that new services will be added when
the need arises? Assure community
input in decision-making on city
wide health policy (e.t., HIV, TB)?
And who will assure quality care for
the homeless and incarcerated?
This JaxFax is designed to alert
Rainbow supporters to look for this
pattern in their state and local com
munities. If you would like to form a
local and/or national network to re
search, resist and fight this pattern o f
neglect and waste, please contact Dr.
Adrian G. Wilson at 202-408-3373.
Civil Rights Journal
Washington, Fiscal Crisis And Justice
b \
B ernice P owell J ackson
was born in the old
Freedman’s Hospital,
C
part of Howard Univer
sity, in Washington, D.C. You
may meet many people who
have moved to Washington, but
you meet few who were born
there.
C l|
It was not until 1 was in college
that District residents were able to
vote for President ofthe United States
or mayor o f their city'. It was truly
taxation without representation. Even
today D. C. residents do not have a
voting representative in the House o f
Representatives, nor a representa
tive in the Senate. Even today Wash
ington must go to Congress for ap
proval and appropriation o f its bud
get.
Now my hometown is facing a
crisis which not only threatens its
fiscal viability, but also threatens its
dream o f real home rule. Shortly
after his November election, Mayor
Marion Barry found that the budget
crisis that he knew existed was'much
deeper than anyone had admitted. He
found that the District o f Columbia is
essential ly insolvent and owing some
thing like $900 million. It was any
mayor’s and any city’s worst night
mare.
In hearings on Capitol Hill since
then, Mayor Barry has pointed to the
debt passed on to the city by Con
gress at the time it received limited
home rule, to the facts that the city
can tax only 43% o f its real estate due
to the presence o f the Federal gov
ernment and cannot tax commuters,
to the reality that Washington must
perform certain government func
tions usually done by a state and to
the administration o f previous May
or Sharon Pratt Kelley. It is impor
tant not to forget these factors, as
well as Mayor Barry ’s own previous
twelve years as Mayor.
The city ’s enormous debt is due
to all o f these factors, and. it seems,
to a longstanding inability to curb its
spending and make significant bud
get cuts. In February W ashington's
credit rating was dropped, further
adding to its fiscal crisis.
It appears that Washington will
soon be in fiscal receivership, prob
ably w ith some kind o f emergency
financial control board placed in
charge o f its financial well-being.
Already city non-public safety em
ployees have had tw o furloughed days
off without pay, with others planned
throughout the year. Already hun
dreds o f jo b and service cuts are
planned.
Meanwhile, some Washington
residents, led by a coalition o f
clergypersons and community lead
ers, are questioning why the city is
not also looking at increasing its in
come. In the months since the fiscal
crisis came to the forefront it has
been reported that some quasi-gov
ernment and even non-government
agencies do not pay taxes to the Dis
trict. For instance, the Federal Nation
al Mortgage Association (known as
Fannie Mae) would pay some $300
million in taxes if it were taxable. Or,
for example, the hundreds of lobbying
groups in Washington to lobby Con
gress are not taxed by the District.
Washington is not the first city
to find itself bankrupt. During the
1970’s New York had a financial
control board and C leveland had sim
ilar fiscal woes. Other cities have
been on the brink o f bankruptcy as
well.
Washington, D. C is a city o f
public monuments and cherry blos
soms. But it is also a city with the
poorest o f the poor, who have over
whelming health, education and so
cial service needs. Washington is
also an African American majority
population, a fact which has not gone
unnoticed during home rule discus
sions in the past nor in the fiscal
questions o f the present.
It is likely that W ashington’s
fiscal crisis now puts its quest for real
home rule on hold. Forthe sake ofthe
whole nation, let’s hope that this
fiscal crisis is soon resolved. For the
sake of the children o f Washington,
the poor and the elderly, let’s hope
this fiscal crisis is fairly resolved.
For the sake o f all o f the residents o f
Washington, let's hope that this fis
cal crisis doesn’t end their hope for
real home rule totally.
Along The Color Line
p e r s p e c tiv e s
The Education Scene, IV
t w ould seem that
there are many African
American newcomers
to the Portland scene - - 1 can
tell by the notes and calls from
those who follow my weekly
column and article. And, most
re c e n tly , but last weeks
questions regarding my brief
allusion to an “ Adams High
school disaster” . This was an
e ffo rt to ’ c o n c e rtiz e ’ by
reference community fears
c o n c e rn in g
a
new
experim ental child of the
D is tric t
(“ N o rthea st
C om m unity S c h o o l” ; ele
mentary).
jl
O"
T o d a t e ,
m ost o f us in
the com m uni
ty have been
privy only to a
few n eb u lo u s
p ro je c tio n s as
to pedagogical
stru c tu re — and to only a few
tenuous statem en ts on policy,
c u rric u lu m , or e x p e c te d o u t
com es. My point w as th at w here
"e te rn a l v ig ila n c e ” is con stru ed
as the price o f liberty, th at a tti
tude is even m ore ap p lic a b le to
an e d u c a tio n e s ta b lis h m e n t
w hich is know n (d o cu m en ted )
to be prone to e x p erim en tatio n
or m inority ch ild ren (e v e r hear
o f th e m in d - c o n tr o l d r u g ,
“ R ita lin ” — often p re sc rib e d for
school ch ild ren d eterm in ed to
h av e b e h a v io ra l o r le a rn in g
p roblem s (d e te rm in e d to have
behavioral or learning problem s
(d eterm in ed by w ho? T here are
no resid en t p sy c h ia trists at each
sch o o l, not that anyone w ould
w ish such a situ atio n ).
In any case, “ John A dam s
High S c h o o l” was c reated in the
m id -1 9 7 0 's am id a lot o f public
re la tio n s ho o p la to the effect
that it w ould answ er the prayers
o f teach ers and parents, and stu
dents who m ight have learning
situ a tio n s d escrib ab le as d iffi
cult. P o rtla n d ’s in troduction to
the "g ru e so m e tw o so m e ” , as
som e paren ts later called them ,
was through a long Tim e M aga
zine article that describ ed a new
a p p ro a c h to le a rn in g (h a n d s
o ff), the innovation o f tw o very
young A nglo S ax o n s” w ith new,
b right, shiny d o c to ra te s in the
e d u catio n fratern ity .
F rom u p p e r m id d le c la s s
f a m ilie s
t h e m s e lv e s ,
th e
T im e s’s article p u lled out all
the stops w hen d e sc rib in g the
“e d u catio n al m ira c le s” the duo
had w rought in a B oston, M as
sachusetts school d istric t - but
w ith the children o f th e ir e c o
nom ic peer group, kids, who
for the m ost part could su rvive
a hands off, d o -y o u r-o w n -th in g
kind o f scholastic en vironm ent.
They had p a re n ts w ho could
afford to hire tu to rs to re p a ir a
lot o f the dam age, and who had
a head start ju s t from being
"in to -th e -m a n o r-b o rn ” ; com ing
up in a w ealthy fam ily is a c o g
nitive in c u b a to r’ o f su p p e r ta
ble input, plus social e x p o su re s
and asso ciatio n s.
N ot so w ith the low er e c o
nom ic secto r o f m ainly black s
and som e po o r w hites served
by the e x p e r i
m e n ta l
John
A dam s sc h o o l.
Sy
N ot only had I
Professor know n m any o f
Mckinley
the p a re n ts in
Burt
v o lv e d -- an d
th e ir c h ild r e n
since birth — but as a te a c h e r at
P ortland State U niversity, I was
g e ttin g m uch o f th e p itif u l
“ A dam s p ro d u c t” (n o t all ) in
my classroom . In an sw er to the
q u estio n , "w as th ere any a t
tem pt by A lbina re sid e n ts to
head o f f this d e b a c le ? ” T he
answ er is yes. I rem em ber g o
ing over to v isit th.e tw o p io
neers in hands o f f p e d a g o g y ’
at th e ir staging area in the b a se
m ent o f Jefferso n High S chool.
It was a frig h ten in g e n c o u n te r
and my fears w ere borne out in
the u n iv ersity classroom .
I w as h an d e d in re p o rts
w ritten in b o x -c a r-siz e letters
on paper ruled in w ide e le m e n
tary school sp acing — and if not
stopped the A d am ’s g ra d u a te s
w ould show up for class ten or
fifteen m inutes late ju s t as they
did at the high school study
habits w ere poor or nihl in many
cases and d isc ip lin e w as d iffi
cult to enforce. I was able to
bring som e around, but m any
w ere helped by an on cam pus
co lleg e p re p a ra to ry program .
T his very m orning I talked
to a 35 year-o ld veteran o f the
"A dam s" w ars. He said he was
still feeling the e ffe c ts o f four
years o f no n -d iscip lin e at a very
critical age o f his d ev elo p m en t
- as w ere his peers w ith whom
he was still in co ntact: Select
your own courses, study if you feel
like i t , respect no one. teacher or
student, gamble or light up a joint
in the nearby park during school
hours. Perfect training for the gang
and drug culture. Let us have no
more experiments, please!
Racism On College Campuses
bv
D r . M anning M arable
h ro u g h o u t the US,
th e re has been an
upsurgence of racism
in recent years, characterized
by re ce n t a tta c k s a g a in st
a ffirm a tiv e a ctio n and the
e ffo rts by the R epublican-
controlled Congress to reverse
programsand policies favoring
m inorities.
But one o f the sharpest exam
ples o f racial prejudice within soci
ety today exists at universities and
colleges.
Racial attitudes on American
college campuses began to worsen,
approxim ately in the m id-1980s.
Across the US there were increasing
incidents o f what seemed to be ra
cially-motivated, random violence,
harassment and intim idation o f black.
Latino, and Asian American students
by w hites. For example, in the spring
o f 1986. the University o f W isconsin
at M adison's chapter o f Kappa Sig
ma fraternity sponsored a party fea
turing what was termed a "H arlem
Room.” Fraternity members wore
blackface makeup and Afro-styled
w igs. Fried chicken and watermelon
were served, and ugly graffiti was
painted on the walls.
T he following year, also at the
I Iniversity o f W isconsin at Madison,
the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity held
a "Fiji island" party which was high
lighted by a caricature o f a black man
with a bone through his nose In the
fall semester, 1988, the university’s
Zeta Beta Tau fraternity featured a
“mock slave auction,” in which mem
bers donned Afro-style wigs and
blackfaced makeup. These events at
the University o f W isconsin sparked
w idespread condem nation on the
campus as well as throughout the
country.
Researchers in race relations
began to suspect that these incidents
represented a broader, national trend
which university officials and law
enforcement authorities had largely
ignored. In 1987, the Baltimore-
based National Institute Against Prej
udice and Violence began to collect
documented cases o f racial harass
ment and violence against minorities
on college campuses. Between the
fall semester, 1987 through the fall
semester, 1990, about three hundred
campuses reported racial incidents.
Just a short list o f such incidents
are both sickening and shocking. For
example, at the University o f Illinois
at Chicago, in May 1990. a penis
severed from a medical school ca
daver was hung outside the door of
an African-American female resi
dence hall counselor. At the Univer
sity o f Texas at Austin. in April 1990.
African-American students protest
ed after one all-white fraternity paint
ed a racist epithet on the trunk o f an
automobile, and another fraternity
printed a racist image on its ,-shirts
At Teikyo Loretto Heights Universi
ty in Denver, one dozen Japanese
students were harassed, pelted with
eggs, and several racists had even
urinated in front o f them in public. At
Brown University, students received
hundreds o f misspelled computer-
printed flyers urging them to "keep
white supremacy (sic) alive.” At the
State University o f New York at
Oswego in October 1989, racist and
anti-Semitic epithets were written in
the campus library, the student union
building, one dormitory and on the
w alls o f an underground tunnel.
White students who felt aggres
sively hostile to blacks and other
minorities soon began to demand the
term ination o f A frican-A m erican
Studies courses and a multicultural
curriculum which emphasized diver
sity and tolerance. They argued that
whites had become the “new minor
ities" on college campuses, and in
sisted that "reverse discrimination"
had relegated them to a second-class
status. At Temple University in Phil
adelphia, a group o f
militant whites established the
"W h ite S tudent U n io n ," which
claimed for a time 150 members. At
the U n iv e rsity o f F lo rid a in
Gainsville, a group o f angry whites
established a White Student Union,
which called for the abolition o f mi
nority scholarship and internship pro
grams. The White Student Union
quickly established contacts with
Tony Bastanzio. a former Imperial
Wizard ofthe Ku Klux Kian, to help
establish similar groups at campuses
across the state
Today, it is estimated that one
out o f four minority students becomes
a victim o f racist harassment, intim
idation and/or violence. Wherever I
travel across this country, hundreds
o f African-American students give
accounts o f instances o f racist notes
passed under their dormitory doors,
or o f white college professors who
crack racist jokes in the middle o f
their lectures.
But in general, patterns o f cam
pus racism are not primarily the bla
tant acts o f bigots, or racially moti
vated random violence. Far more
important are the intricate patterns of
discrimination which marginalize
blacks, Latinos and other students of
color in campus life. Student govern
ment associations often do not ade
quately fund programs and events
promoting cultural diversity. D eans’
offices may give emphasis to minor
ity student recruitment, but often do
little to ensure their retention.
The only way to begin to reverse
the trend toward racial discrimina
tion is to foster an environment o f
pluralism and diversity within edu
cational institutions. This includes
changes within the curriculum and
re q u ire d
c o u rse s, re fle c tin g
multiculturalism and the full rich
ness o f diversity within our society.
It means supporting scholarship pro
grams to increase access to college
for blacks and Latinos, and increas
ing the numbers o f minority faculty
and administrators within white uni
versities W ithout vigorous efforts,
the prevailing racist stereotypes and
prejudices which are being permit-
A
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