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
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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
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'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
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