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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1995)
M ay 3, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver P age A? Editorial Articles Do Not Neccessarily Reflect Or Represent The Views Of The ^Inrthittb (Ohserucr Newspaper Or Its Staff CSD Needs Kay Toran SD like many govern m ent agencies is enmeshed in bureau cratic processes that are often problematic for a smooth operation. Just name it. But good managerial leader ship cou Id make the greatest d i rt'er- ence in the world. And in the case o f CSD Administrator Kay Toran, her leadersh ip has continued to pin point those inherent problems for tailored solutions. That the agency made proce dural mistakes does not demon strate the weakness o f its overall administrator and shouldn't call for personal attacks and therefore is not a yardstick for measuring her abilities. We agree w ith Gov. John Kitzhaber that Toran has the ability to put CSD back on its feet C SD ’s problems did not start with Toran. It needs this adminis trator. p e r s p e c t / r e s It’s Crazy Out There: Different Terrors For Different Folks bx P rof . M i K im ex Bi rt A s the dust settles over Oklahoma City and the wails of the sirens of ambulances and emergency vehicles subside -- to be replaced by the sobs of the bereaved and the sad cacophony of funeral dirges from many faiths and cultures — we are all rem inded of Rodney King’s plaintive plea, “Can’t we all get along?” T h o se w ho have listened to the strident voices that can be heard on much o f talk radio would never cop such a plaintive (naive?) plea. The American Indians from the days o f Sitting Bull to those at Wounded Knee and the drowned fisheries at Celilo Galls could be forgiven for casting a cyn ical and jaundiced ’eye’. And be yond that cultural terror o f a devas tated biosphere, reservations and continuous genocide up to the mod ern day, there is, in many “ Heart(s) o f America” the abiding terror o f the next dawn -- faced by hundreds o f thousands o f minimum wage (or no wage) mothers who face cuts in family assistance, food stamps and/ or welfare. Now, damnit, that’s ter ror when children are involved. The Public-Power facilities in the Western United States were alert ed to guard against terrorist acts. In the Northwest, the Corps o f Engi neers has been told to “keep a close eye on transmission I ines and switch ing stations in Southwest W ashing ton and in Oregon. Members o f a group called the “ Militia o f M on tana" were arrested after allegations that they h a d ' connections' with the Patriot Movement” who are said to have threatened to bomb the North west power grid. There was an alert reported in the Seattle Times just six weeks before the Oklahoma City bombing attributed to “right-wing radicals” . And the U.S. Forest Service says it is taking special precautions to pro tect workers “ in a climate where anti-government sentiments often are directed at federal land man gers' in the West. That may be a delicate way to put it but the key word here is “ Land”, and there is nothing delicate at all about the con- frontations between federal land agencies and environm entalists. Those who have invoked extreme measures in what they call thegrow- ing threat to the health o f the planet say that they are not terrorists at all, but are fighting against the terror ists o f lumber companies, industry, the government and renal politi cians. And the long-time corporate workers who thought they were rest ed in their jobs (as well as their pensions) are beginning to scream “foul” and are assailing the big corporations as "economic ter r o ris ts ” . N ow th a t p h ra se sounds familiar, but we find that so many o f the baby boomers have never heard o f Karl Marx or his anti-capitalist phi losophy. These “communist” were considered terrorists by the system. Yes, I saw the recent headlines describing "The Pain O f The Chil dren” , “The Grief, o f Parents” , and I saw and heard the many media reports o f the terror, anguish, fear and anger that has gripped Oklaho ma City in the steel vise o f a special kind o f urban terror. But is the cumulative onslaught o f congres sional cutbacks in support for the poor and disadvantaged without countervailing life-support — or the vicious destruction o f businesses and jo bs by greedy manipulators of junk bond dealers - any less o f an act o f terrorism than the equally barbaric act o f blowing up the fed eral building in Oklahoma? For those who may not know it (or ignore the fact), the nation’s Inner-Cities are also “Heartlands o f America” . And the bleak economic future that faces those residents as well as those o f rural areas w here gung-ho environmentalists have shut down their livelihood presents a bleak future for many o f the people in this land o f “happiness and freedom o f opportunity". And those who see no future at all as Affirmative Ac tion and Equal Opportunity for women, the aged and ethnics are threatened with their own special terrors. Yes it is “Crazy Out There, With Different Terrors For Differ ent Folks." And it may become an even more dangerous place to live. he C o n tra c t On Am erica's "Common Sense Legal Reform Act” hastwo titles: Civil Justice Reform and Reform of Private Securities Litigation. Both make it more difficult foi individuals harmed by corporate or professional misconduct to use the civil justice system to be com pensat ed by the responsible parties. Re cently passed by the House, it should really be called the "Non-Sense De forming Justice Act.” Next Week The Senate Will Vote On it! The Senate will be voting (W ?/ Th?) on the so-called" Products Lia bility Fairness act," which is not fair at all. It threatens to take away pro tections that we now have against death, injury’ or disability caused by dangerousordefective products. The bill caps “punitive damages" - d a m ages awarded for the purpose o f pun ishing a corporate offender for irre sponsible conduct—and leaves only the rich the ability to recover just compensation. Securities litigation “deform” would effectively elim i nate the right o f consumers to bring class action lawsuits when they have been the victims o f stock or bond fraud. Your family wi11 be endangered! Under this legislation, corporations who manufacture dangerous prod ucts have no incentive to remove (DSPS 959-680) OREGON'S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION Established in 1970 by Alfred I.. Henderson Joyce Washington Publisher The PO R TLA N D OBSERVER is located at 4747 NF- Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. De-Forming Justice them from the market. Ford made Pintos with exploding gas tanks. Eli Lilly made an arthritis drug that caused kidney and liver failure and eventually death Neither company voluntarily took its product off the m arket-they acted responsibly only after they were taken to court and slapped with large punitive damage judgments. N ew t's legal “deform ” allows manufacturers to put their greed before our safety. Legal "deform ” discriminates! This bill discriminates against wom en, ch i Idren, ret ired persons and those with moderate or low incomes by limiting punitive dam ages to the greater o f three times the “economic injury” or $250,000. For example, consider two different lawsuits, both based on the exact same corporate misconduct. Ifone victim is an insur ance executive earning $ 1 million-a- year and the other a mother who stays home with her children, the execu tive would be able to recover $3 million. However, the mother, be cause she does not earn wages or a salary, would be limited to $250,000 in punitive damages. This unfair leg islation means that corporations do not have to show as much respect for people living on fixed or low in comes. The Senate bill contains other anti-consumer provisions. Current ly, if several companies are each responsible for a victim 's injuries, the victim can sue these companies together. The Senate bill would re quire victims to prove each wrong doer’s degree o f fault individually. This places an unfair burden on vic tims who have far less information, expertise and money than corporate defendants. Civil Rights Journal Code Words, Mixed Messages And Heartless Cuts bx B ernice P owell J ackson he Children’s Defense Fund is now estimating th a t one in th re e children in the United States, the world’s richest country, is poor. Look around you. One in every three children you see is poor. Our nation’s children are under attack in Washington right now. They are the ones who will suffer the most from the Contract with America, as various parts o f the Personal Re sponsibility Act take effect. If our children are our future, then fully one third o f our future is under attack in Washington right now. But in order to really understand what is being said in W ashington right now, you need a translator grounded in history. You need som e one who knows how code words have been used in the past in order to translate the code words being used in the present. Part o f the fear felt in the hearts o f most African Americans today comes from the use o f the current term “state block grants.” It’s just a little too close to the old code words "states’ rights” used by southern states in particular to buttress their right to keep African Americans from fully participating in government or from rece iv ing bene fits. Just as some states discriminated against blacks then, many o f us are fearful that once again states will hide behind this veil to deny services and rights to poor peo ple o f color. W e’re afraid o f the inequity o f benefits which even now means that welfare payments range from $120 to $703 depending on what state you live in. We re afraid that as states face increasing budget problems, it is the poor who will be cut first and hunger and homeless ness will only increase. Part o f the distrust o f the Con tract with America felt by people o f color comes from the mixed messag es which this country is now sending. We say to mothers on welfare you must work even in menial jobs with little opportunity for training and without health benefits or child care while we pay farmers to do nothing - - not to grow crops which our country does not need. We say to mothers on welfare that poor people are lazy freeloaders while we bail out savings and loan institutions w hich were used like private bank accounts. We say we still believe in the Horatio Alger story when the number o f poor peo ple in this country is growing by leaps and bounds every decade while we lose jobs to other countries. Part o f the lament heard in com munities o f color across this nation comes from the heartless cuts which now threaten the social contract and the social fabric o f this nation. As the Republicans move not only to re form welfare, but to dismantle the six decade-old understanding that pov erty is a national problem and that we as a nation have a responsibility to reach out to the least o f these, we are frightened for our nation's soul. The average cost o f welfare for each American Taxpayer is $ 156 per year. That's less than what the Penta gon was paying for one toilet seat a few years ago, if I remember Senator Fullbright’s figures correctly. Yes, we need to reform the sy stem so that generations o f people are not on the public dole, but cannot $ 156 per year be an investment in the future ofpoor children? Doesn't this nation’s mor al consciousness require us to feed all our children and help their parents obtain a liveable wage and a digni fied job? We are treading on dangerous ground if we as a country allow our leaders to speak in code words and mixed messages. We will all suffer from these heartless cuts in the bud get. For what will it profit us to gain the whole world and lose our souls? Civil Rights Journal Signs Of Hope bx B ernice P owell J ackson m t n these days of drastic budget cuts, escalating O" vio lence and trying times, we need to look for signs of hope amidst the despair and the fear. We need encourage ment that there are people and organizations which are not being paralyzed by it all, but are being mobilized by it. Here are two such stories. j I HOPE FOR WOMEN (Lite J)Jortlarth Observer C O A L IT IO N L egal "d e fo rm ” fav o rs the p o w erful! T his bill is yet an o th er e ffo rt by the new R e p u b lic a n m a jo rity to turn th e ir b a c k s on us. It p ro v id e s c o rp o ra te A m e ri ca w ith a sh ield to hide behind w hile leaving us out in the cold. “ L egal deform " is d e trim e n ta l to o u r stru g g le for ju s tic e . Proponents o f “ legal deform " portray it as a way to " g e t' greedy lawyers who have sparked the "liti gation explosion." Not true! In real ity, it is an attempt by big business to escape responsibility when they profit from harming the public. We must recognize, for example, that a suc cessful attempt to weaken securities fraud lawsuits in the name o f “ law yer-basing” will act as a precedent for challenges to the legal protec tions in the Americans With Disabil ities Act. Yet these senators are still unde cided on their vote or how strongly to resist, including leading a filibuster: ! Carol M oselye-Braun (D-IL): Bar bara M ikulski(D -M D ); David Pryor (D-AR); Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); A rlen Specter (R -PA ); O lym pia Snowe ( R-ME); Fred Thompson (R- TN); Robert Byrd (D-W V); Kent Conrad (D-ND); Byron Dorgan (D- ND); and Strom Thurmond (R-SC). Call 202-224-3121 and ask to speak to your senator’s office; or call I -800-70-Justice to send a Free tele gram to your senator Today! The Mount Zion Christian Church o f Rocky Mount, North Carolina saw hope for their community even when the YWCA decided it could no longer support two facilities. Under the lead ership o f their pastor. Garland Jones, Mt. Zion stepped forward and offered to purchase the three story building to use for women in transition and for elderly women. “We saw wha, good condition this facility was in and how it could be used for battered women and their children and those coming out o f institutions as well as for the poor and elderly," said pastor Jones. The church has even talked with a near-by commun ity col lege to teach G.E.D. programs and jobs skills class es. “ We believe we can work hand in hand with social service agencies to serve women who desperately need affordable short-term housing and help in getting back on their feet," added Pastor Jones. A sign o f hope for women and children in Rocky Mount. NC. HOPE FOR MEN We all know the statistics. The numbers o f young black men being buried is up some 250 percent over the past few years. The number o f black men incarcerated is rising at so rapid a rate that sometime in the next century the majority o f all African American men will have been in pris on at som etim e in their life. Two out o f five o f all American children do not live with their biological fathers. We all know the statistics, bu, some o f us are doing something about them. Fifteen years ago Hugh Jack- son, then president o f the Pontiac, Michigan Urban League, and other men in Pontiac realized the impact these statistics were having on young black men in their city. So they began an organization called the Michigan Association for Leadership Devel opment which targets young black males, ages 10-13. Using the theme, “ Males are born, men are m a d e ,' they estab lished a four point plan which includ ed spiritual knowledge, black histo ry, quality education and economic direction. More than 1,000 African American teens have participated in their programs, which have included summer math/science camps, poster and essay contests, conferences and workshops on the black family and preventing crime and ending the vi olence and most o f all. hands-on ex periences with young black men. There are many such stories all across the nation-in our cities, in our rural communities, even in our pris ons. Stories o f people who realize that they can do something to make a difference. They are signs o f hope in the lives o f those around them. They are proof that we can take back our communities and our children. They need our support and the commit ment o f each and every one o f us. They need us now. (Note: Mt. Zion Church can be reached at P.O. Box 2502, Rocky Mount, NC 28803-2502. The Mich igan Association for Leadership de velopm ent can be reached a 77 Bagley . Pontiac, Ml 48341 ) Portland. Oregon 97211• 4503-288-0033 • Fax 503-288-0015 better Deadline fo r all submilled materials: Articles Friday', 5 00 pm Ads Monday Noon POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes to: Portland Observer. P.O. Box 3137. Portland. OR 97208. Second Class postage p a id at Portland. Oregon The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions Manuscripts and photo graphs should be clearly labeled and w ill be returned I f accompanied by a self addressed envelope A ll created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and can not be used in other publications or personal usage, w ithout the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad * 1 1994 l l l l POR T L A N D O BSERVER . A L L RIG HTS RESERVED. R EPR O D U C TIO N IN W H O LE OR IN PART W IT H O U T PER M ISSIO N IS PR O H IB I FED Subscriptions $30 lit) p e r year The Portland O bservcr-O regon s Oldest African-A m erican P u b hca tion -is a member o f the National Newspaper Association—Founded in 1885. and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. New York. N Y . and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver 'Tflhe <3Lflit$r Send your letters to the Editor to: Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 Dear Senator Derfler: On April 3, 1995.1 met with you concerning SB 563 At that time, you told me that you would schedule SB 563 for a hearing. Is there a reason why you have not scheduled SB 563 for a hearing? Racism is the number one prob lem facing Blacks in the state work place and in the academic environ ment. The Oregon Assembly for Black Affairs (OABA) asks you and other Republican members o f the Oregon 1 egislati ve Assembly to take the initiative in establishing public policy in Oregon that will be zero tolerance toward racism and racial discrimination in the state workplace and in the academic environment. I just retu rn ed from a tte n d ing the A m erican E d u c a tio n a l R e se a rc h A s s o c ia tio n A nnual M eeting in San F ran cisco last w eek. A n u m ber o f papers on the im pact o f racism in A m erican ed u c a tio n w ere presen ted at this m eeting. Many o f these pap ers support O A B A ’s co n te n tio n that racism is the num ber one p ro b lem facing B lacks in the state w o rkplace and in the academ ic env iro n m en t. The Oregon Assembly for Black Affairs (OABA) requests that you schedule a hearing on SB 563. It is our hope that you and other Republi can members o f the 1995 Legislature will not le, this important issue die in your committee. Please let OABA know if you will schedule SB 563 for a hearing and work session. Sincerely, Calvin O.L. Henry, OAR A President «
