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J anuary 10, 1996 • T he P ort » and O bserver
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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The Jjlortiatth ©bscrucr
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C ivil Rights Journal
\p e r s p e c tir e s
Black History!
Tomorrow’s Martin Luther Kings
oi
H owell
)
B i Pr.RNKT,
B ernice P
J ackson
nJanua
i January 15 we will once
again c
celebrate the birth-
day of f a
i great American
and citizen of the world, Dr. Mar­
tin Luther King, Jr. Many school
children will recite his I Have a
Dream speech given at the 1963
march on Washington and we
will pay tribute to a great reli­
gious and moral leader of our
lifetime.
©
Hut in the course o f remembering
Dr. K in g ’s life. It’s important to re­
member that when he came into the
nation’s limelight as a leader of the
Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 he
was only 26 years old As the civil
rights movement showed here in the
United States and the anti-apartheid
movement did in south Africa, young
people are often in the forefront of
social change.
Who, then, are the future Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s in our time? Who
are the young people who are work­
ing forjustice for their people? While
the media often ignore the stories of
young people working for positive
change, the good news is there are
many young people who are about
the business of justice for all. Here
are the stories of just two of them.
Angela Brown is the only Ameri­
can winner o f the Reebok Human
Rights Award, an international award
honoring young human rights activ­
ists working on the front lines for
social change. We in the Commis­
sion for Racial Justice are especially
proud of Angela because we have
watched and encouraged her from
age 14, when she organized young
people around education and voter
registration.
A child of the civil rights move­
ment, she has been involved in the
environmental justice movement
from its inception and Angela now
works with the Southern Organizing
Committee and Greenpeace in orga­
nizing young people across the South
around environmental justice issues.
Her successful work helped to pre­
vent the installation of a PV C plant in
Wallace, Louisiana and a hazardous
waste incinerator in Noxxubbe,
Mississippi. She is also an assistant
pastor at Saint Delight U C C in
Louisburg, NC.
To today’s young people, Angela
Brown says, “Our generation is faced
with a continual epidemic of drugs,
the culture of violence, the sin of
racism, the pain of miseducation, the
believes that as Indian youth, their
divisiveness of class, and the indeci­
members can make changes through
siveness to truly end sexist oppres­
their 12 inter-related goals - Unity,
sion. As young people we can not
Sp iritu ality, F am ily, Heritage,
continue to aid in these kinds of
Health, Environment, Sovereignty,
environmental atrocities. It is our
Mental, Service, Education, Physi­
human right all over this world to
cal and Community.
work, live and play in a healthy envi­
An athlete and scholar, Justin
ronment. I hope all people, but espe­
is also a Sunday School teacher
cially young people, will hear my
in the church which his mother
call to struggle and demand their
pastors in Bism arck, Justin is
human rights.”
w orking with other Indian youth
Justin Deegan is an Arickara/Sioux
to make the world a better place
from the Fort Berthold Indian Reser­
for themselves and their people.
vation in North Dakota. Currently a
He says, “ I have become more
student at the University of North
aware o f education for m yself
Dakota State University at Fargo,
and for other Indian youth. I re­
Justin’s Indian name is We Cha Sha
alize it is a tool for us to become
Nahzin, which means “ Standing
more prosperous and spiritual.
Man” in Dakota Sioux, a name given
Throughout my journey I have
to him by his father who taught him
dedicated m yself toward protect­
that “when a man falls down, he must
ing our environment and being
get back up again.”
drug/alcohol free.” One o f Ju s­
Justin was named North Dakota
tin ’s role models is Senator Ben
Indian Student ofthe Year in 1994 by
N igh th o rse C a m p b e ll and he
the North Dakota Indian Education
hopes to one day be elected to
Association and was selected for
public office and serve in Wash­
Who’s Who for three consecutive
ington.
years. A natural leader, Justin has
Justin Deegan and Angela Brown
served as National Vice-Chair for
are just two of our future Martin
U N IT Y , the Untied National Indian
Luther King, Jrs. I think Dr. King
Tribal Youth organization. U N IT Y
would be proud.
Position Statement
Illicit Drugs And The Immune System: Aids And Disease
he impact
im nact of
o f illicit
illic it drugs
rime's
' he
on the immune and cen-
'tra l nervous systems is
a key factor in the suffering from
AIDS and the spread of other life-
threatening diseases.
®
The single most compassionate
and cost effective method to reduce
the rampage of A ID S and to improve
the quality of life of H IV positive
people is to eliminate the use o f illicit
drugs. Public and private funds
should be directed to education and
research which focus on the impact
of illicit drugs on the immune system
and disease.
Background:
Scientific research conclusively
documents that illicit drug use, in­
cluding heroin, cocaine, amphet­
amines and marijuana, weakens and
suppresses the immune system, im­
pairs human judgment regarding safe
sexual behavior, and facilitates sex­
ually transmitted diseases. Despite
this information, public policy has
been subjugated to social and politi­
cal arguments, such as distribution of
syringes and needles and providing
marijuana to smoke as “medicine.”
Enabling illicit drug use contrib­
utes to A ID S and the spread of H IV ,
tuberculosis, hepatitis, chlamydia,
Kaposi’s sarcoma, and other infec­
tious and sexually transmitted dis­
eases. Pro-drug legalization advo­
cates and illicit drug users have de­
liberately used the tragedy o f A ID S
to promote public sympathy for pub­
lic acceptance of drug use and to
I undermine
i
J r n n r n rn n U z n -M n lin
drug
paraphernalia laws.
TL
f
; i » î
•,
i
The use of illicit drugs is highly
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Admin­
correlated to contracting and spread­
istration has chastised pro-legaliza­
ing H IV and other infectious diseas­
tion groups for perpetrating a “cruel
es. The use o f illicit drugs results in
hoax” upon sick and dying persons.
impaired judgment leading to unsafe
Proponents o f illicit drug use ig­
and permissive sexual activity. Drug
nore the strong relationship between
addicts often exchange sex for drugs.
drug use, drug toxicity, and the be­
Drug users often have poor nutrition
havioral effects of such use in in­
and health practices which increases
creasing the risk of A ID S and other
risk ofdisease and infection. The use*
infectious diseases. Drug legaliza­
of illicit drugs is correlated with rape
tion groups mislead compassionate
and violent crime. The illicit drugs
individuals by focusing on routes of
used by injecting drug users often
drug administration and supply in­
carry bacterial and fungal contami­
stead of drug toxicity. Concern about
nants. Injecting drug use carries a
the toxic and immune damaging bio­
host of risks regardless ofthe steri I ity
logical effects of the drug in the
o f the needle used.
needle has been severely ignored and
Public and professional education
replaced by political and social argu­
on A ID S has not placed proper em­
ments to increase the supply of nee­
phasis on the relationship between
dles to inject the drugs. Research
illicit drug use, the immune system,
linking illicit drug use to the spread
and A ID S. Social and political pres­
of H IV and infectious diseases has
sure by special interest groups has
largely been ignored in public health
brought misdirection with A ID S ed­
strategies todeal with the A ID S prob­
ucation funds, which are used to fo­
lem.
cus on routes of drug use, rather than
Rationale:
the biological effects of drug toxici­
A healthy immune system serves
ty. This is a barrier to effective pre­
as the body’s first line of defense for
vention of illicit drug use.
disease. Scientific research demon­
A ID S patients and H IV positive
strates that drugs such as marijuana,
individuals have not been fully in­
cocaine, methamphetamine, and her­
formed of the hazards of illicit drug
oin suppress and damage one or more
use on their condition and the need to
o f the body’s immune systems. A
abstain from these drugs. The pleth­
weakened immune system increases
ora of scientific research linking the
the odds of a variety of “opportunis­
effects of illegal drugs to impairment
tic” infections i.e., those that occur
of the immune system and to the
because they have taken advantage
spread of A ID S and diseases has not
o f an opportunity which would not
been widely disclosed or disseminat­
exist with a normal immune system.
ed.
.
. .
Sufferers of A ID S and infectious
disease, the public, health profes­
sionals, policymakers, and children
must be informed o f the role that
illicit drug use has in facilitating the
development and spread of these dis­
eases. Providing hypodermic nee­
dles for H IV positive individuals to
shoot drugs, rather than directing
these resources to helping individu­
als halt drug use, is both inhumane
and ineffective.
Tor over two decades there has
been a clear correlation between in­
creased public perception o f the
harmfulness ofdrugs and a reduction
in drug use. Prevention education in
the past has focused on the effects of
drugs on organ damage and the res­
piratory system. A ll A ID S and drug
education efforts should now pro­
vide greater focus on the effects of
drugs on the immune system and
their linkage to the spread of conta­
gious disease.
Funds should be directed to scien­
tific exploration of the biological
impact of illicit drugs on the immune
system and to the dissemination of
this information to the public. Our
limited resources must not be misdi­
rected through the social and politi­
cal pressure and misinformation of
special interest groups. Compassion
and science require true drug preven­
tion and treatment, scientific research,
and accurate education on “Illicit
Drugs and the Immune System: A ID S
and Disease.”
Drug H atch international
How Relevant Will It Be
In The Next Millennium?
I ©
well ask, “How relevant
will we' be?" As the
old folks used to say, things
seem to be getting down to
“short rows”. While that phrase
I may be meaningless to most of
the present generation, the fate
of the dinosaur certainly is not.
As the arn.u-
la l observance
o f Black Histo­
ry Month ap­
proaches, it is
not out o f or­
der to remind
I the readers o f
the thoughtful judgement o f a
number o f eminent historians
that “a people who ignore their
history may be destroyed by it” .
Or, as I would say, “at the very
least, they w ill be ignored by
other people who are ofthe opin­
ion that they have none at least
not worth exto lling.” B ill Cosby
put it, “ B lack History: Lost,
strayed or stolen” .
Such a circum stance can be
exceptionally disastrous for a
nation whose stated goal is to
achieve the ultimate in egalitar­
ian culture, with a diversity sec­
ond to none other in the world.
Earlier on, it was the education
and public sectors that most
readily seemed to grasp the s ig ­
nificance o f this basic im pedi­
ment to the removal o f inequal­
ities among the Am erican peo­
ple. Now, it is the industrial and
financial institutions that are
taking the lead in seeking out
experienced professional who
can come onto their sites with
realistic tools for interfacing
with their staff and/or em ploy­
ees.
Specifically, those whose expe­
rience and training have equipped
them to interact effectively with an
e ve r-in creasin gly d ive rsified
workforce. Attainable objectives in
the here-and-now are perceivable
improvements in human relations,
increasing self-confidence and mo­
tivation toward acquiring new skills,
and the upgrading o f present ones.
We find that firms are achieving
these goals by direct hiring in their
Dear Editor:
(jr ip
11
ast month a grave dis-
service was done to the
people of Oregon and to
two members ofthe African Amer­
ican community when appoint­
ments put forth by Governor
Kitzhaber for Marva Fabien and
Gerald McFadden were rejected
by the Oregon Senate.
Fabien was nominated for reap­
pointment to the position o f Chair for
the Oregon Board of Parole and
Gerald McFadden was nominated to
serve on the Governor’s Criminal
Just Council. Th e se two were quali­
fied base on their experiences and
expertise to work toward solutions to
one o f the most critical symptoms of
a troubled society: skyrocketing
Crime. Ms. Fabien has one of the
most conservative records for a Pa­
role Board Chair in recent years and
Mr. McFadden has extensive correc­
tions experience in California and
Oregon. They each received numer­
ous letters of support from democrat­
ic and republican legislators, busi­
ness and community leaders support-
A
ing their nominations, and were
thought to be ideally suited for the
respective positions.
We believe that the Oregon Sen­
ate has an obligation to confirm or
withhold confirmation after consid­
ering a nominee s qualifications and
philosophy on the issues and how it
relates to others who’s rights and
views should also be critically con­
sidered Mr McFadden and Ms.
Fabien are highly regarded members
of our community and we take ex­
ception when such individuals are
treated with such callous disregard.
Senator Miiier s retusal to extend the
common courtesy of meeting Mr.
McFadden, as a condition of the con­
firmation to meet with a non-legisla­
tive committee, with a particular per­
spective of the criminal justice sys­
tem, and giving more deference to its
recommendations than the letters of
commendations supporting Mr
McFadden’s confirmation, was high­
ly inappropriate
One member of this non-legisla­
tive committee, Mr Fred Stewart, an
African American, after meeting with
Mr. McFadden issued a letter, not
recommending Mr. McFadden for
confirmation. The letter by Fred
Stewart was read aloud in the Senate
Chambers by Senator Randy Miller,
who implied that the African Amer­
ican community did not support Mr.
McFadden's appointment and this is
simply not true. It appears to mem­
bers ofthe African American Legis­
lative Roundtable that the use of the
Stewart letter was an intentional tac­
tic to derail the confirmation of an
outstanding community resident and
embarrass the Governor.
This letter and this statement con­
demns that process of co-opting and
using an individual out of touch with
community based initiatives and is­
sues and no accountability and label­
ing them as a leader or spokesperson
for our community to advance per­
sonal political agendas.
Mr. Stewart is often at odds with
the African American community and
works against consensus. The tactic
may have worked for this particular
issue but the fact remains that this
community identifies its own lead-
ers. Mr. Stewart, who is not consid­
ered to have universal consensus or
broad based support is not consid­
ered one of them.
For the record, a formal complaint
regarding Senator Miller’sac,ions and
statements during the process will be
delivered to the President of the Sen­
ate. Mr. Stewart was invited to sit
down and discuss these and other is­
sues that he has taken an opposing
position from the community on. He
accepted with a tirade of outrageous
expletives but failed to show up for the
meeting, indicating he had forgotten
or it slipped his mind!
Sincerely, Members oftheAfrican
American Legislative Roundtable.
The following individuals have
granted permission fo r their names
to be added as signatures on this
letter: Baruti Artharee, Faye Burch,
Margaret Carter, Carol Chism, Law­
rence Dark, Antoinette Edwards, Carl
Flipper. Avel G ordly, Tony Hopson,
Raleigh Lewis, Joe McHenry, Shirley
Minor, Lolenzo Poe, James Posey,
Saundra Price. Anne Sweet, and Jaki
Walker.
Human Resources Departments, or
by contracting with consultants on
call as I am.
On another page o f th is
w eek’ s O bserver, I describe
such an engagement in Beaver­
ton, where the C E O for a major
firm (a former student o f mine
at P SU ) described classroom ex­
periences in ex
act correspon
dence to what
By
we have been
Professor
d iscu ssin g. He
M cklnley
was able to de­
Burt
liver first-hand
testim ony that
the “d elive ry” o f demonstrated
and documented evidence o f the
technical and intellectual ac­
complishments o f a people could
motivate a ll’ members o f a d i­
verse group (see “ Education For
The Next M illennium ” ). This,
though the specific experience
was an introduction to the wealth
o f patented inventions by A fri
can Am ericans; all races were
motivated, inspired.
Seeing united parcel at the fore
front o f the news, I am impressed
again with their penchant for com
munity involvement(hauling KeiKo
the Killer whale to Newport). In the
early 1970’s the personnel manager
for this very socially progressive
firm took my specially designed
Diversity and Affirmative Action
Class, along with a score of other
industry and public sector manag­
ers and personnel. At other times I
would be an on-site facilitator foi
public agencies like the U.S. Forest
Service and the U.S. Corp, of Engi
neers.
This year will be the tenth anni­
versary of the largest such seminar
I addressed bringing to the structure
my years of research and documen
tation of the considerable contribu­
tion of African Americans to the
technology ofthe world. But, keep
it in mind these conferences and
workshops provide an opportu­
nity for all ethnic groups to d is­
cuss and implement strategies
for developing and enhancing
networks and advancing the tal­
ents and s k ills o f a diverse
workforce.
(Tbe |LIortI;inb (©bseruer
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