P age A2
J anuary 3, 1996 • T he P ortland O bserver
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The 'JJortlanh ffibscrucr
; r
s we enter this holiday
season and take inven­
tory of our victories and
challenges, we must be ever
mindful of the lesson of the sea­
son. Christmas is about a birth
that today would not be celebrat­
ed, but chastised. Jesus the
Christ was born to an unwed
homeless couple, in the cold of
winter. If he were born today in
the mean-spirited atmosphere
which pervades the highest rungs
of our national government, his
arrival on this earth would not be
welcomed.
NATIONAL
C O A L IT IO N
Rainbow Counts Its
Blessings And Lists Its
Challenges
tion with others to halt the growth of
the “ja il industrial complex” and to
bring fairness to the sentencing pro­
cess in the crim inal justice system.
Our greatest struggle has been to
protect against the R epublican’s
“contract Against Am erica,” to pro­
tect the basic safety net for all Am er­
icans. The Rainbow is getting ready
to turn a comer organizationally and
politically heading into 1996. ,n light
o f the success o f the Jesse Jackson,
Jr. campaign in the 2nd Congres­
sional District o f III inois—a campaign
that may have been the most compre­
hensive approach to campaigning,
certainly in Illinois, but possibly in
the country, using both the tried and
true grassroots techniques, as well as
the latest, most modem, technologi­
cally sophisticated methods o f cam­
paigning. The Rainbow is going to
focus a lot on electing candidates to
office, with particular emphasis on
returning congressional control to
the Democrats. JaxFax w ill reveal
more later on exactly what form that
is going to take. We must continue
our struggle in 1996. We need your
support.
Are We Kidding Ourselves
About Those New Year's
Resolutions?
(Haven’t We Always?)
o 31
fo r
p ate n t
in f r in g e m e n t
(1 8 9 3 )” .
Keep in mind about what I said
about "prioritizing our choices in
We find ourselves in particular­
terms o f a real world -- as did the
ly challenging times, facing a well-
young lady with the fashion calen­
funded and organized opposition
dar when she was in my business
an tees.
with our allies, we w ill bring in the
which threatens to roll back the clock
class
at Portland State University.
Lest we forget, however, it is
new day-one grounded in mercy,
even on the sixty-year-old programs
We
got
her classes and her time all
always darkest before the dawn. We
compassion, tolerance and justice in
which provide a mere "entitlement'’
tailored
to the full exploitation o f
now celebrate the election o f Jesse
1996.
to life. The destructive reach o f the
her
profitable
idea. This included
Jackson, Jr. to the U.S. House of
A s we embark upon a year o f
new congressional agenda has gone
an
emphasis
on
legal protection,
Representatives—an historic event
intensive electoral targeting to take
tar beyond the civ il rights gains of
including
trademarks.
I remember
which provides great promise for a
the Congress back in 1996, we w ill
Dr. K in g 's age, and the legislative
quite
well
that,
in
my
research o f
new direction emanating from an
build upon the critical work at the
Eco no m ic su r­
platform o f Lyndon Haines Johnson’s
patented
in ­
energized new generation o f leader­
attacks on affirmative action; and
vival and an educa­
administration, in the face o f right-
ve
n
tio
n
s
by
ship. We await with great anticipa­
worked to stem the rise o f race and
tion that w ill sup­
wing state power, we must now tight
A
f
r
i
c
a
n
tion the fruits o f a reinvigorated
gender based discrimination.
By
port it should be at
to preserve F D R ’s "New Deal” guar-
A m e r ic a n s
N A A C P and A F L -C IO . Together,
ä F t
The Rainbow worked in coali-
Professor
the forefront o f our
(M o o r e la n d
Mcklnley
activities. And the
L ib r a r y ,
Burt
tenor o f the times
Howard U n i­
dictates that this
bv W D C
versity, 1969
chised by society.
ily wages, and for health care for all
Am erica a great nation, we see the
advice
should
apply
to
all
o
f
us
—
&
1970),
I
saw
several
references
51 s the usual talking heads
I f the talking heads took the real
every race, culture, class and de­
- ¿ y m ake the rounds of the Christmas story as their guide, what Americans. We w ill make it very G ingrich Congress shut down the
to a “hat band” invented by a black
clear which side we are on-the side
government in an attempt to roll back
nomination. The current economic
y ea r-e n d w rap-up TV
female. A s has happened frequent­
stories might they have practiced their
o f working families. We agree with
the
legacies o f both Martin Luther
disabilities o f our way o f life seem
shows, honing their soundbites
ly,
and with both blacks and whites,
soundbites on, as they summarized
new A F L - C I O Presid en t John
Kingand Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
to
be
achieving
what
all
the
noble
and recycling gossip from inside
a
patent
could be just the beginning
the events o f 1995?
Sweeney: “America needs a raise.”
This is malignant neglect.
and altruistic promises an Am eri­
the D.C. Beltway, a couple obvi­
o
f
legalities.
Instead o f a continuing focus on
Instead ofthe media’s endless fas­
And instead o f the ongoing fasci­
can “m elting pot” never quite
ous facts stand o u t - ( l) as usual,
But d on’t let that stop you
Wall Street’s desire to hold down an
cination with the O.J. trial, the pun­
nation
with the rise in the stock mar­
brought
about
--
we
a
ll’
seem
fur­
almost all the pundits analyzing
for
a moment. Note that I co n ­
inflation that doesn't exist, they might
dits should be discussing a deepen­
ket, the talking heads might want to
ther
immersed
“
in
the
soup”
as
the
the events of 1 9 9 5 are white
tinue
to w rite here o f the lo cal
have spent more time analyzing one
ing problem -the radical polariza­
spend a few seconds discussing the
saying
goes.
Not
exactly
the
dish
I
males; and (2 ) a lot of the year's
successes,
so keep in contact.
o f the truly important event o f the
tion of wealth and poverty in these
rise o f the jail-industrial complex.
envisioned.
most important stories are being
S
p
e
ak
in
g
o
f
“ co n tact’ the read­
year-the election o f new leadership
United States. O.J. became a nation­
Jails are the #1 growth industry in
So
it
is,
that
it
is
only
an
expedi­
left out of the discussion, espe­
ers
who
were
fo rm ing in vesto r
to head the A F L -C IO .
al pastime; our growing and extreme
urban America.
ent
cultural
affinity
that
prompt
me
cially for the group Jesus defined
g
ro
u
p
s
and
wanted
to know
It may not be clear yet to the
gape between rich and poor is be­
Jail cells make up half o f all the
to
select
particular
ethnic
models
as “the least of th e s e.”
about
that
“
D
iv
id
e
n
d
R
e in v e st­
pundits, but it w ill soon be clear
coming a national crisis.
public housing built in this country in
for
exposition;
such
as
the
“College
The end o f the year is, after all,
ment
P
la
n
”
,
the
number
to c a ll
enough to the average fam ily-the
After all, the Titanic did not sink
the past decade.
Fund/U
N
CF
(formerly,
“The
Ne­
also the Christmas season, a time to
for
a
manual
($
9
.9
5
)
is
1-800-
labor movement in Am erica is on its
from the top down; it sank from the
The criminal injustice system is
gro College Fund). Be assured that
celebrate an infant born in a stable, o f
449 -1900 . T h is “ p lan ” is a p ro ­
way back. Next year w ill see more
bottom up. In America today, I out
where
1/3 o f all B lack men between
the
mechanics
o
f
the
situation
are
an unwed mother, whose earthly fa­
ce
ss by w h ich ce rtain w e ll-
organizing, more grassroots cam­
o f every 5 chi Idren is stuck in the hole
the ages of20 and 29 find themselves
universal.
See
my
article
in
this
ther was a working man, and infant
know n A m e rican C o rp o ratio n s
paigning, and militancy.
o f poverty—including I out o f every
trapped.
issue, “ Education In the Next M il­
marked for death by the powerful as
m
ake their shares o f stock d i­
The Rainbow w ill struggle with
2 African-Am erican children! In the
This cannot go on-there is a state*
lennium Begins Right Now". Pur­
soon as he was born -in short, a baby
rectly
a v a ila b le to investors -
labor against corporate downsizing,
lace o f these truths, which threaten to
o f emergency in B lack A m e rica -
suing the almost impossible jo b o f
oi^cast, dispossessed, disenfran
you
do
not have to go through a
against corporate flight, for fair fam-
undermine
everything
that
made and
D
'
I
_
■ -
uHoeimm
eeverym
inginat
has has
made
thus
in in
America
itself.
and
thus
America
itself.
separating the economic’ from the
sto ckbro ker and pay co m m is­
educational’, I shall continue with
sio n s; such form s as Hom e D e ­
“the act or process o f reducing to a
pot, M otorola, G .E ., B la c k &
simpler form” - at least, that is the
D ecke r, M erk, Etc.
way Webster defines “resolution.”
By B o w ie B arnes
C e rta in ly , a continued d e ve l­
Jan Eastgate said.
itism.
What was that old saying about,
ncreasing crime rates.
such
things
as
"death
education”
and
opment
o f yo u r reading and in ­
For decades psychiatrists and psy­
She warned that some o f the most
“when you find a good horse, stay
black-on-black violence,
the
“survival
game,”
and
which
have
form
ation
re trie v a l s k ill had
chologists have preached the inferi­
blatant examples o f betrayal and
with it.” The women in Northeast
drug abuse, illiteracy and
left
a
wake
o
f
moral
decline
and
better
be
a
high
p rio rity. A read­
ority dogma, that minority individu­
m isappropriation o f government
| certainly seem in tune with the ad­
suicide am ongst African Ameri­
increasing suicide rate. Su icid e
er who had been fo llo w in g my
als have “ low IQ ” and that this regu­
funds is the innocent-sounding Goals
age, long before the current crop o f
can and black south African has
among African American adolescent
article s on “ endangered pen­
lates behavior and status. In the 1800s,
2000,
Outcome-Based
Education,
prompted a new book showing
energetic
innovators,
I
wrote
here
males
has
increased
2
19%
since
these
s
io n s ” w as a le rt eno u gh to
a slave’s attempt to escape to free­
Mastery Learning and ‘Values clari­
how the modern roots of racism
about
the
young
student
who
de­
programs
were
introduced
Illegiti­
“
latch onto” a news b rie f that a
dom was labeled a mental illness
fication that are passed o ff today as
are embedded in psychiatric and
signed
a
“
fashion
and
accessory
mate
births
to
teenagers
generally
group
o f w orkers had ju st won
called "drapetom ania” (runaway
needed for better education. “The
psychological programs.
has
increased
310%.
calendar
for
the
well-dressed
wom­
a
100
million
dollar class action
mania). I oday, the various reactions
legislation that empower these pro­
These programs, steeped in “sci­
an.
Several
readers
have
cited
the
Goals
2000
and
Outcome-Based
lawsuit
against
the government’s
by African Americans to oppression
grams merely further the same phi­
article.
entific” rationalization, are heavily
Education,
not
only
waste
more
than
“
Pension
Guarantee
Corporation” .
are diagnosed as psychiatric prob­
losophies that have mentally enslaved
financed by taxpayers' dollars, pos­
$
10
billion
in
taxpayers’
dollars,
but
O
ur
entrepreneur
began
in
her
Energized,
he
has
found
a lawyer
lems. In the 1920s, racial hygiene
school children for 32 years. The
ing the question: “Are we funding
basement,
expanded
to
her
ga-
provide
for
a
“Brave
New
World”
who believes he can recoup his
"experts called eugenicists (from
programs aim at making teachers and
our own decline?" And more impor­
psychological profile to be kept on
Ir a g e , m a rk e te d her id ea to
own losses in a pension debacle I
eugenes meaning “good in stock” )
extension of psychiatry and psychol­
tantly, “ What can be done about it?”
Every child and their fam ily mem­
Nordstrom s and then to the m ail­
described a few weeks ago in my
claimed that blacks with white blood
ogy,
destroying the honorable heri­
Creating Racism Psychiatry's Be­
bers.
This
w
ill
contain
information
order
g ia n ts and d epartm ent
had "higher IQ s.”
review
of, “ Pensions In C risis”, by
tage o f teaching, and turning our
trayal In The Guise o f help is a “ no-
about the sexual practices ofthe fam­
itores in the east - and f in a lly
In the 1950s, psychologists wrote
Ferguson
and Blackw ell, Arcade
schools into mental health clinics,”
(settled in C a lif o r n ia a haute
holds-barred" look at a hidden influ­
ily, their political attitudes and their
IQ test scores "inevitably point to the
Publishing,
1995.
Ms. Easgate stated.
Icouture to the ‘rich and fam o u s’ .
ence and cause of declining morals,
financial earnings. A student w ill only
presence ol native differences be­
Another
priority
is to remain up­
Since 1963, when the federal gov­
educational standards and tolerance
I see in m y research on in v e n ­
be able to graduate if he has achieved
beat, whatever the predictions o f
tween Negroes and whites...” In the
ernment’s National Institute o f Men­
in our community. Published by the
the correct attitudes and skills dictat­
tors that “ the hat m anufacturers
1994 psycho-babble book. The Bell
the doomsayers. Dome people have
tal
Health’s (N IM H ) plan for teach­
C itize n s Com m ission on Human
o
f the co u n try once had to hand
ed
by
government
psychologist,
psy­
Curve, this fraud was further perpet­
been in the “Apocalypse N ow ”
ers to become mental health workers
Rights ( C C H R ), an internationally
o ve r ‘ three m illio n d o lla rs to
chiatrists or teachers unwittingly ex­
uated.
mode since birth. More accent on
came
into effect, children have been
the
in vento r o f the ‘ sw e atb an d ’
renowned psychiatric “ watchdog’
ploited
by
these
professions.
the positive next week.
In this wav, the systematic social
taught that there is no right or wrone
group, it warns o f how education and
C C H R has a 26 year history o f
crippling o f certain races has been
answer
to issues such as drug taking,
the family, the foundations o f our
investigating
psychiatric violations
carried out, if not by violent psychi­
sex, death and violence. Parents have
society, have been subverted under
o
f
human
rights.
It was established
atric treatments, then by deny ing them
been unwittingly signing vague or
the guise o f “help.”
by
the
Church
o
f
Scientology
in 1969.
proper education, employment and
generalized release forms authoriz­
" I f anyone wonders why drugs
Commissioners
o
f
C
C
H
R
include
other cultural advantages.
ing their children to participate in
and guns suddenly appeared in the
civil
rights
layers,
doctors,
and
other
(USPS 959-680)
A s Ms. Eastgate stated, “Once it
school activities that have included
OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
professionals.
African American community in the
was politically acceptable for psy­
Established in 1970
1960s and stayed, ifyou wonder why
chiatrists to invent the so-called dis­
ubscribe
to
P o r t l a n d <©bBCr u e r
children and teenagers have turned
Joyce Washington—Publisher
ease drapetomania.' Today, it is both
to gang violence and drugs, give lit­
The P o lan d Obseryer Can Be Sen. Directly To Your Home For Only $30.00 Per
The PORTLAND OBSERVER is located at
culturally and financially acceptable
tle value to life, cannot find jobs or
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have a sense o f hopelessness about
the label mentally ill,’ those minor­
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their future, then this book offers and
503-288-0033 * Fax 503-288-0015
ity groups who are protesting very
T he P ortland O bserver ; PO B ox 3137
insight into how this was achieved,"
real racial oppiession, educational
Deadline f o r a ll subm itted materials:
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international PresidentofCCHR, Ms.
discrimination and economic favor-
Name:
n these turbulent times,
its a chaotic on-ramp
t h a t le a d s to th e
epochal “Year 2 0 0 0 . ” We would
do well not to rush over the
< edge of a precipice. Rather than
launching this bench mark era
with the usual protestations of
good intentions, supported by a
mythical application of will, de­
termination, and a resolute spirit
to make change, perhaps we
should priortize our choices in
terms of a real world.
«95” Pain & “96” Promise
Book Exposes Modern Roots Of Racism And Violence
Are our tax dollars funding our own decline?
Tii
hartiani» (Db senior
S
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Y(>1 F ob
R eading T he P o rtl a n d O b . server
Martin Luther King Should Not Be Abbreviated
___ a. n __ __
' Ithln a short
tim e, we as
a
a n a tio n and m any
throughout the world will
take tim e In January to commem­
orate the works and accomplish­
ments of Reverend Doctor M ar­
tin Luther King, Jr. and the ideals
that he stood for.
1 he idea o f this holiday is to keep
his dream alive. We cannot under­
stand why the State o f Oregon De­
partment o f Transportation and oth­
er governmental officials have cho­
sen to abbreviate his name on many
freeway exits and other directional
signs on Portland's east side.
As many people are hoping for
peace in the middle east and Bosnia,
we cannot forget one o f the original
peace makers. It is an injustice to
abbreviate the name to sim p ly
“ M L K " o r “ M L K Jr.” .
T o d a y ’s youth need to know
about our nations history. To o
many o f them do not even know
the name o f our go vernor, sena­
tors or other im portant people
that help shape our society. It is
time for Portland to not only “ talk
the ta lk ” but w alk the w alk We
encourage o u ro ffic ia ls , b usiness­
es and residents to refer and use
the fu ll name “ M artin Lu th e r
K in g , Jr . B o u le v a rd ” , in c lu d in g
a ll news and tra ffic reports. A f ­
ter all eq u ality and ra cia l harm o­
ny can never be abbreviated.
Roy Jay
President, African American
Chamber of Commerce-Oregon
Second Cla ss postage p a id at Portland. Oregon
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