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N ovember 8, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
1 r
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The Jio rtlan b ffibserttcr
y
Civil Rights Journal. Ending Racism On Our Campuses
B t i
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B ern
e KM —
< h Pown
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I J ' \ ( KSO.\
’ he topic of race rela­
tions is on everyone’s
lips for the moment.
It is a time when a million A fri­
can American men send the signal
that they w ill not sit idly by and be
stereotyped, written off and forgot­
ten. Thanks to theOJ. SimpsonCase,
it is a time when millions o f white
Americans are confronted with our
nation’s differing perceptions about
the criminal justice system. It is a
time when a horribly misleading, in­
accurate, but brilliantly written and
dangerous book pronouncing the end
o f racism gets great media coverage,
while a powerfully moving, insight­
ful and frightening book on poor
children o f color living in the South
Bronx gets little, if any, note.
Eventsofthe autumn have made
race relations, racism and racial ju s­
tice the issue o f the moment. But the
more important question for the na­
tional conversation is not whether
race is the issue o f the moment, but
whether it will be the issue o f the rest
o f the century. As some clamor for a
1990’s Kerner Commission study on
race in America even though the 1968
report has been all but ignored, the
more important question for our na­
tion is what are we going to do about
the educational inequities, about the
housing segregation, about the lack of
economic development in communi­
ties o f color that we already know
exist across this nation. The most im­
portant question is not what are we
saying about race relations and racial
justice, but wha, are we going to do
about the fact that we are still two
nations, separate and unequal.
Even as I write this, I have a
telephone message from a graduate
student suffering from racism on her
campus. When I called back, I hear
the same story I heard from another
African American woman on the
same campus last year - a story of
misunderstanding, a story o f pain
and a story o f a deep gulf even among
our young people. Racism is alive
and well in America, and perhaps
even growing.
What are we as individuals pre­
pared to do about it? What are we as
parts o f institutions prepared to do
about it? How can we really wrestle
with this demon which so few want to
admit still lurks beneath both public
and private relationships?
One group has taken up the chal­
lenge. Iris Films is a Berkeley, C ali­
fornia based group which has pro­
duced a series o f videotapes showing
real life college students talking about
race and confronting their own race-
related beliefs and practices. Called
Skin Deep and Talking About Race,
these tapes show the students dealing
honestly and openly and sometimes
painfully with each other during a
week-end retreat. It is accompanied
p e r s p e c tiv e
by a workbook facilitation guide
which has been put together by a
number o f college educators and
which can be used in showing the
films to other groups.
If our colleges and universities
produce the next generation o f lead­
ers for our nation, then no student
should be able to graduate from col­
lege or from graduate school without
having had such an educational ex­
perience.
Only ¡four colleges and universi­
ties take this challenge seriously can
our nation be prepared for the next
century - a century where there will
be no racial/ethnic majority in this
nation. W E B. DuBois predicted that
race would be the significant issue for
our nation during this century.
(For information on Skin Deep
and talking About Race, write Iris
Film s, 2 2 -D H o llyw o o d A ve.,
Hohokus, NJ 07423 or call 1-800-
343-5540.)
The African American Leader And The Million Man March
Y resently there is a great
jL |
deal of confusion in the
AT
African American com­
m unity
c oncerning
its
leadership.
As it becomes increasingly ap­
parent that the old guard is out o f
touch with those most at risk in our
community, as well as, the average
self-aware African-American, a void
is evolving within the Community
that someone w ill eventually step
into. For now that someone appears
to be Minister Louis Farrakhan. If
men and women such as Congress­
man Lewis from Georgia and others
o f the professional civil rights estab­
lishment could realize that marching
with King during the sixties does not
give them a monopoly o f any kind on
the experience o f racism in America,
nor is it a litmus test for the accuracy
o f one’s judgment when it comes to
the “ ways of white folk” we might be
able to move beyond the mire into
which our community has fallen.
Racism today has its own face. It is
even more sinister and diabol ical than
ever before and must be understood
on its own terms, the preoccupation
with who did what to get rid o f the
culturally cumbersome and intema-
tionally embarrassing segregation
signs is not the criteria for selecting
our leadership today. Those who have
"made it” o ff the advances o f the
civil rights movement o f the past and
transformed the movement into a
career choice sound as if they are
trapped in a time warp and cannot see
far enough past the sixties to allow
the ninety’s to speak to us in their
own terms. This is the cause o f the
frustration o f our people, particular­
ly what our young men and women
are experiencing, their experience is
not being articulated and our present
day experience cannot be forced onto
the procrustean bed o f the 1950s and
60s and their aspiration for freedom
is being so badly refracted through a
manipulative press with their deeply
skewed yet nuanced appreciation o f
what is going on, that the cultural
milieu has become repressive. The
repressed aspiration for freedom is
returning with vengeance, in what
appears to be a disregard for “ law
and order,” and the reckless, often
manic bravado we see in so many o f
our young men and women and hear
in their music - particularly Rap.
There has been a lot o f resis­
tance to the M illion Man March in
African-American Christian circles
because they object to the leader­
ship. But the fact ofthe matter is that
others are taking the leadership in the
struggle because the African-Amer­
ican Christian establishment has
failed to select leadership able to
respond appropriately to the chal­
lenges o f our time. The nation’s larg­
est African-American Christian or­
ganization, the National Baptist Con­
vention U.S.A. Inc. in s prime exam­
ple. We have failed to read the signs
o f the time and we have failed to
respond adequately to the pervasive
hopelessness that saturates the com­
munity. Minister Farrakhan there­
fore appears to be a glimmer o f light
in an otherwise dismal situation.
Whatever your position on the
Honorable Minister may be the fact
o f the matter is that his success is
directly attributable to our failure. I
speak here as a Christian Pastor and
a member o f the National Baptist
Convention U.S.A. Inc. The key is­
sue is competence. We must have
leadership that is capable ofrespond
ing to the challenges o f the present
hour, at present we do not. The choice
o f Rev. Jesse Jackson to represent
our convention and be our spokes
4 better
person on civil rights and the vulgar
repudiation o f Rev. Jackson’s sup­
port for the march, came from the
same man. Dr. Henry Lyons’ best
response to the M illion Man March
and the crisis to which it attempted to
speak was a knee jerk rhetorical re­
action consisting o f poorly devel­
oped ideas, that were hastily arranged
and thrown to the convention floor in
a calculated effort to elicit and emo­
tional response. When the furor died
down we were left with confused
signals and uncertain sounds. That is
precisely the kind o f leadership the
nation’s largest African-American
Christian denomination can ill af­
ford at this critical juncture in our
history.
We must rise to the occasion and
the challenge Minister Farrakhan has
posed and elect leadership prepared to
face this crisis, which is deeply spiri­
tual in nature. If we continue to make
poor and irresponsible choices in de­
termining our denominational leader­
ship and fail to fill the void, we forfeit
our claim to the spiritual leadership of
our race If we do not adequately re­
spond to the void we can not blame
Minister Farrakhan for filling it or the
people for responding to his call.
ffhe (SLShtor
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
Slash Congressional Perks
N orma P \ t i t s
’ his Congress was sup­
posed to clean up the
ethics in Washington,
D.C., but so far it has failed to
deliver.
hv
Congress should enact several
important reforms before it goes
home for Thanksgiving. It’s time that
members o f Congress remembered
to do the public's business and stop
playing to the special interests who
pay to get them re-elected.
One o f my accomplishments
while in the legislature was seeing
that a law was passed requiring lob­
byists to register their affiliations
and report their spending on legisla­
tors. This law brings lobbyists' deal­
ings into the light for all to see.
Bel ieve it or not, thousands o f lobby­
ists in Washington, D.C., now es­
cape an ineffective registration pro­
gram. The don’t even have to report
who they represent in the back halls
o f the Capitol building. I want to
change the way Congress does busi­
ness with special interest groups.
The first goal should be to tight­
en rulesgoveminggift-givingby lob­
byists to congressional staffs. IfCon-
gress wants to show it isn’t for sale,
this is the place to start. The Senate
approved a bill on lobbyist gift-giv­
ing in July, but it still sits like an
unwanted orphan in the House.
The public is angry when it hears
about the permitted flow o f gifts to
members ofCongress and their aides.
Legislation should be adopted to stop
them from accepting any gifts, in­
cluding meals and expense-paid trips
like golf, ski and tennis outings. W in­
ter trips to Florida and the Caribbean
should be outlawed before the winter
holidays when the congressional
geese once again migrate south to
these warm vacation spots.
Thank You
31
'd like to say thank you
to the many readers of
v ”
the Portland Observer
who contributed to United Way
during Campaign ’95. Your
generosity is overwhelming.
N o one in vo lved with the
fu n d -ra is in g d r iv e can e ve r
thank you quite enough. Every
d o lla r counts, and your dona­
tions w ill help thousands o f peo
p ie re c e iv e a ss is ta n c e from
agency program s in our com ­
munity.
L o cal in d iv id u a ls help de­
cide where yo ur contributions
should go. They are people like
your neighbors and co-w orkers
who learn about local needs and
then decide where your dona-
tions can do the most good
Y o u ’ ll help the teen mom
down the street learn how to
care for her new baby. And the
fam ily next door who needs a
box o f food to make it through
the month.
Y o u 'll help the young people
in your neighborhood turn away
from drugs and crime. And provide
assistance so elderly people can
stay in their own homes.
Y o u r one gift does so much
for so many. Thanks for m aking
a contribution to United W ay.
Sincerely,
John G. King
1995 General Campaign
Chairman, President and CEO
o f Legacy Health System
Stopping the revolving door of
members o f Congress who become
lobbyists once they are defeated for
re-election is another needed reform.
We elect our senators and represen­
tatives to serve us. When they have
finished their term, they should come
home instead o f joining the special
interests and lobbying their col­
leagues around the House dining
room and gymnasium.
Members ofCongress need look
no further than their own offices to
see where reform should begin. Con­
gressional staffs are bloated. When
business needs to spend less money
to balance the budget, payroll is an
obvious place to look. Why should
Congress be exempt?
Instead, Congress does just the
opposite. When its budget is out of
balance - as it has been for 40 years
-- it hires more staff to make excuses
to constituents. Those who have been
in congress longer and have more
seniority hire even more committee
staff to help them stay in office.
Election financing begs for con­
gressional attention. A Senate-passed
bill has an important provision to ban
“ soft money .” It limits contributions to
candidates by individuals. However,
it does not limit contributions from
unions and corporations, and that mon­
ey flows into party coffers and out to
candidates with few restrictions.
Senior members o f Congress
should be leading the charge to re­
form the federal legislative system.
But it has been freshmen Republi­
cans like Rep. Linda Smith o f Wash­
ington state who have fought hard to
change the system. We have had
enough of business as usual. The
House needs to pass a strong election
law and ethics bill. As a United States
Senator, I hope to join with other
Republicans seeking these changes.
fjii
n her letter printed 26
October 1995, Hedy
Kraus points out the
influences of Spain on the
studies of children in Portland,
correcting Richard Read’s
indication that only “Latin
American Spanish” is taught
in the schools here. While the
two are talking about the same
language, they are not talking
about the same dialect.
I f Kraus is right it’sa pity: Amer­
ican Spanish - the other adjective is
a redundancy that she should have
spotted -- is what all children o f our
city could use to advantage. Now let
me get to the point.
I do rather resent the parallel
Kraus draws between America’s re­
lationships with England and with
The triple Threat Attack
On Business As Usual
ts a wrap”, as they say
in Hollywood after
where ever the suc-
Icessful filming of a critical
scene. Was it ever as we
capped four hectic weeks of
reporting and analyzing, first,
I a trial of errors; then a media
<31
gone berserk; and, not least, a
groundbreaking March’ with
national and international
implications.
The feed
back from the
readers has sur­
passed even that
from the “ Hawaii
Series” (Original
population doc­
umented to be African), or the rev­
elation o f the early European Syph­
ilis locus (17th-century letters in
European archives bear advice from
European sailors: “ To get rid o f
your syphilis, laydown with a black
woman with malaria and the ensu­
ing fever w ill cure you”). So much
for early Medicare, European style.
The triple threat attack on the
complacent o f both races certainly
bodes for a turbulent future for what
the media euphemistically refers to
as “good race relations,” Even some
o f my most timid African American
I friends are beginning dialogues in
areas they would not dared have
entered just months ago. One fel­
low who, rain or shine, has been
passing me up at bus stops for a
dozen years, actually offered me a
ride last week (I wouldn’t read any-
I thfrig too earth-shaking into this).
M ore serious aspects o f a
northeast Portland response to
events o f national consequence
deal with questions being put to
those “ appointed or anointed”
leaders I refer to so often. O f
course, it is much too e arly for
most queries to be further along
than the form ulation stage, but
even at this point I am hearing
from readers about the “ tough
questions” they are structuring.
Most interesting is the number
ofPortland African Americans who
are in communication with friends
and brethren across the country—
I many for the first time in years. The
trial, the media aberrations and par­
ticularly, the March have combined
to create a “Global Village” phe­
nomenon among blacks, the I ikes o f
which have not been seen in this
century. They are exchanging data
at a feverish pace: Business oppor­
tunities, real estate access (homes |
and commercial), police tactics,
media treatment, marriage and fam­
ily counseling, you name it Not just
survival techniques, but futures.
The important thing, blacks say,
is that there is a new, in depth sense
ofunity at hand - nevermind how or |
by whom or what venue. While most [
whites are sim ply watching in
amazement (hesi-
tant to broach a I
question to heir
Sy
closest black ac-|
Profeasor
quaintance), oth­
Mckinley
ers, like truculentl
Burt
m edia-types o ri
long-time kin g ­
makers on the plantation are going
around petulantly questioning all]
and sundry who will talk to them.
My most interesting exchang­
es are with whites in the Beaverton
and H i I Isboro areas where, as I have I
mentioned before, there are a great f
number ofmy former students at the
university who now are involved in
the electronics and space age indus­
tries. And then, too, there are my
monthly encounters with fellow
members o f the Associated Oregon
Industries organization.
True to form, as I ’ ve foundl
them through the years, b u si­
ness people are the most c ir ­
cum spect and sophisticated in
m aking what might prove d e li­
cate inquiries. I think it is thel
‘ m arketin g ’ p ro file. “ Lets be
careful here, I could blow a fu­
ture sale” . Interestingly I have I
received a number o f requests
to make presentations at service
clubs and for industry groups
on what I ’ ve been describing
near and afar as that “ T rip le
Threat A ttack” . And you know I [
don’ t bite my tongue!
E q u a lly as interesting is the I
fact that for the last ten years
the only local inform ation and
citations on B lack Inventors has
been from whites—either form er
university students or associates
or U.S. Forest Service person­
nel in the Tri-state area whom I
met years ago w hile contracting
with the agency. A lread y, since
the M arch several blacks have
called in this respect, and one|
brought by a book listing seve r­
al early black inventors not ini
my book. W ill wonders neverj
cease.
^o rtlan h (Ohscnicr
(U SPS 959-680)
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Latin American Influence
Spain.
The only good thing to come to
America through Spain, missionar­
ies of the Faith, got here despite the
bureaucracy o f a church bui It on rock
and not faith. And that church owes
much o f its ugliest, most civilized
present and past to the Spanish
Crown, enemy o f the Faith since an­
cient times.
The dialect ofthe Mexican work­
ingman is good enough for Cesar
Chavez. It’s good enough for us. And
Casti II ian, the dialect Kraus advocates,
for which the NEA will probably send
her to a convention in Madrid, is bad
enough for the Spanish elite.
Let the Spanish ruling class keep
its hissing tongue where it belongs -
- between its teeth. And off my kid.
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