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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The JJortlattb © bseruer
”T<*
a *t Tuesday. Reverend
Jesse Jackson (NR C ).
(c) harassing on the basis o f sex a
class of female employees by creat
President Patricia Ire
ing a hostile and abusive work envi
land (NOW), and Reverend Willie
ronment based on unwelcome sex-
Barrow (PUSH) led a delegation
based comments and conduct;
of Rainbow.
(d) failing to take immediate and
N O W and PU SH leaders who met
appropriate corrective action in re
with the Equal Employment Oppor
sponse to complaints or other notice
tunity Commission (E E O C ) in the
o f sexual or sex-based harassment
Chicago District Office.
n recent weeks I have
server news paper were aware o f the
and/or retaliation;
Jackson and Ireland affirmed their
.
pointed out the mani-
grow ing crescendo o f the attacks on
(e) retaliating against a class o f
C
test fears and machina
support for the E E O C ’s class-action
the will-documented place in history
female employees who have opposed
suit against Mitsubishi for fostering
tions o fth e racist pretenders to
o f people o f color And their stated
practices made unlawful by Title V II;
a hostile work environment that per
the historian’s Craft; Ravitch,
realization that it is more important
and
mitted widespread sexual harassment
I Lefkowitz, Hernstein, et al.
than ever, now, for their children to
(f) causing a class o f female em
of female employees Jackson and
It is unfortu
be motivated by
ployees to resign their employment
Ireland noted that their; organiza
nate
that several
nority auto dealers. A s o f last year, o f
knowing
both their
the U S. District Court for the Cen
because ofcontinued sexual and sex-
tions have often been strongly criti
o f th is ben,
511 Mitsubishi dealerships in the
past
and
their ca
tral District o f Illinois, on 4/9/96,
based harassment and retaliation, thus
Sy
cal o f E E O C in the past, but in this
would confuse
U.S., only 34 are listed as owned by
pabilities
for the
taking action under Title V II o f the
constructively discharging them.”
Professor
case they urged the agency to stand
the issue by sug
minorities-and zero o f these are A f
future.
C iv il Rights Act o f 1964, as amend
These are very serious charges,
McMnley
firm, and withstand the political and
gesting that we
rican American! Mitsubishi Motor
And it was re
ed, and under Title I o f the C iv il
and Mitsubishi Manufacturing should
Burt
I "assess the char-
economic pressure the company is
Sales now states that under their two-
warding
that the
Rights Act o f 1991, “to correct un
not be allowed to intimidate its way
| acter o f A ch il
bringing to bear.
year old dealership diversity pro
readers
credited
lawful employment practices on the
clear of them. No woman should
Rainbow, N O W & P U S H then
les or study the virtues o f Athenan
gram, minority dealers have grown
me with a generation o f revealing the
basis o f sex and retaliation and to
have to put up with this ty pe o f be
held a press conference to announce
democracy"
through the good aus
to 43—22 women, 8 Hispqnics, 7
sources
and documentation o f black
provide appropriate relief to a class
havior on the job. Honoryour mother
plans for"informational pickets” this
pices o f a book by Bernard Knox,
Asian Americans. 3 Native Am eri
history
that
have been deliberately
o f female employees who were ad
th is M o th e rs’ D a y --s a y no to
past Mother's Day weekend (5/11 &
"The Oldest Dead White European
cans, and 3 A frican Am ericans.
ignored or perverted by racist writ
versely affected by such practices.”
Mitsubishi.
12) at select Mitsubishi plants and
Males” (serous).
(Mitsubishi does not stand alone with
ers and teachers; stated this last week,
According to the E E O C complaint,
[A related point: the E E O C is try
dealerships across the country. [The
There is nothing wrong at all with
this poor reco rd -o f 10,485 foreign
and
despite the protestations o f the
from at least 1990 until the present,
ing to handle its district caseload in
Chicago- & D .C -area pickets was
h is “insightful reflections on the rich
auto dealerships in the U S. last year,
revisionists
(“New National Stan
Mitsubishi has “engaged in a pattern
Illinois with only 9 lawyers, down
Saturday. 5/11.
es and continued relevance o f the
only 161 were minority-owned, with
dards for Teaching History Win
and practice o f unlawful employ
from 14 only 5 years ago.
“This past Saturday and Sunday
culture o f the Greeks.” In the sense
only 21 owned by African Ameri
Praise") that I was the first to docu
ment practices at its Normal, Illinois
D u rin g the R o n a ld Reagan/
we launched a Mother's D ay’s pro
that there was nothing overtly fretful
cans.)
ment
for them that the Greek
facility...including:
Clarence Thomas Era, there was a
test and day o f action against
I in the respective elevations to the
Jackson called these numbers a
“founders
o f western civilization
(a) sexually harassing a class o f
conscious attempt to dismantle the
M itsubishi,” Patricia Ireland ex
I bestseller listso f’Closing The Amer
“disgrace,” and urged African Amer
originated
the practice o f taking
female employees because o f their
E E O C ’s power and staff, in order to
plained. “Not only are they intimi
ican Mind" (Bloom, 1987) or "C u l
ican, Latino, and female car buyers
scalps -- continued through the cen
sex by creating a hostile and abusive
curtail its effectiveness. But the
dating the women who work there,
tural Literacy" (Hirsch. 1988). Or
to “close their purses and wallets to
turies o f European Warfare (detailed
work environment based on unwel
E E O C has also suffered during the
they are using the thought o f an im
have
we m issed someth ing important
Mitsubishi” until the company reach
on public television re’ “ W arOfThe
come verbal and physical sexual con
Bush and Clinton years, and contin
pending settlement to divert atten
here? Is i, that we cannot see the
es a fair settlement with its female
Roses”, etc.)
duct, including sexual graffiti, sexu
ues to lose ground.
tion away from the greater issu e -
forest
because
o
f
the
trees
in
the
way?
employees, and opens up its corpo
The American Indian was de
ally derogatory and explicit com
This must stop. This Mitsubishi
sexual discrimination and harass
Have
we
forgotten
that
“eternal
vig
rate doors to include all Americans.
scribed as "barbaric and savage” ,
ments and innuendo, and unwanted
case is critical to all working women,
ment.”
ilance” required for survival o f an
Last week, A F L - C IO President
but the “New National Standards
groping, grabbing, and touching;
and w ill send a clear message about
Rev Jackson called for “econom
underclass? (“ The Disuniting o f
John Sweeney also publicly protest
For Teaching History” do not place
(b) sexually harassing a class o f
sexual harassment to every corpora
ic sanctions against Mitsubishi until
I America,” ).
ed Mitsubishi’s actions” “ We con
the true spin on these facts; that the
female employees because o f their
tion operating in this country.
its policy o f exclusion ends.” Jack-
Some African Americans have
demn the actions o f Mitsubishi man
greedy English and French in mor
sex by conditioning their employ
The E E O C must get the resources
son noted that the firm had allowed
been
perceptive
enough
to
sense,
if
agement in depriving the women who
tal
struggle for the lands o f a new
ment, benefits o f their employment,
it needs to battle this giant multina
the harassment and intimidation o f
not
articulate,
the
fact
that
for
the
have brought charges against them
continent taught this Savagery to
and/or terms and conditions o f their
tional. The President & the Congress
its female workers, while its motor
past decade there has been an in
o f their right to due process free o f
their Indian mercenaries so as to
employment on their acquiescence
must
make
E
E
O
C
more
o
f
a
priority
sales division also has a poor record
creasing angst or racial unease
intimidation.”
keep count on the number o f “dead
in sexual harassment and/or sexual
in future budgets.]
o f providing opportunities for mi-
among the majority population.
The E E O C filed its complaint in
relationships;
white European males” generated.
Blacks are beginning to look under
The payment could be as high as
the surface o f these classical mod
50c per scalp.
els o f Plato’s Pond’ -- these cul
Several parents said they had
ture-drenched bestsellers ostensi
steered their youngsters into the
bly designed to revive a faltering
medical field after I cited the book
American engagement with the very
by British physician, D .T. Atkinson,
foundation o fcivilized society. But,
“ M agic M yth and M ed icin e ” ,
bv B ernice P owell J ackson
tenced for Candance’s murder, end
“she was just an Indian. Her life
color.
there’s
a
problem.
Fawcett pb. 1956 (“The Greeks
few months ago I was in
ing 15 years o fa fam ily’s pain o f not
d id n ’t co u nt as m u ch ,” said
While
some
native
Am
ericans
The'tabloidhistorians’
have
made
were notorious thieves” ). Like the
/A Aberdeen, South Dako- knowing who had raped and killed Candace’s niece Polly in an inter
now work in the town’s stores, many
a farce o f the scholarly craft o f histo
respected European historians.
ta talking about racism
their daughter. It was only last year,
view with the New Y o rk Times.
Indians still find themselves followed
riography by violating its key tenets;
and how it survives today, espe
B reaste d , Erm an and E b e rs,
when Mr. Scherr’s cousin, James
That’s what many native Am eri
when they go shopping. Said one
omitting key source or else deprecat
cially in the criminal justice sys
Atkinson documents that ancient
Stroh, confessed to taking apart in
cans on the Standing Rock Reserva
resident in the same New Yo rk Times
ing other quite valid sources should
tem. The day after I returned I
African medicine in Egypt and the
the rape and murder that the case
tion felt — that local law enforce
article.
“Things
have
gotten
better
they
present facts that are culturally
learned of a case only miles from
Sudan antedated that o f the Greek
began to break.
ment officials had not really tried to
around here. W e’ve moved into the
unacceptable - like the race o f com
where I had been in which race
in Scope and sophistication -- m il
Mr. Stroh only confessed because
find Candace’s murderer. Then, af
1970’s.”
peting protagonists on the world stage.
plays a critical role.
lenniums earlier in organizing the
he was caught in a bitter di vorce and
ter the arrest when 100 residents o f
Many Indians feared that a guilty
Last week, I told o f Lefkowitz’s re
It’s the story o f Candace Rough
medical specialties and boards’
a family member told the authorities
Mobridge signed a petition to lower
verdict
would
be
impossible.
And
jection
ofGreek and Roman testimo
Surface, an 18 year-old Sioux, who
for certification o f practitioners,
what had happened. At his hearing,
Mr. Scherr’s bond of$200,000, many
while some are undoubtedly unhap
ny that the Africans originated let
lived on the Standing Rock Indian
and supervision o f written prescrip-
Mr. Stroh said he had told a number
native Americans were angered. It
py that Mr. Scherr did not receive
ters, mathematics, astronomy or that
tions (on exhibition in w orld’s
Reservation. Her badly decomposed
o f people what had happened -- that
seemed once again that a native
death
or
life
in
prison,
Candace’s
the
great library at Alexandria, Egypt
museums).
body was found along the Missouri
they had raped and shot Candace in
Americans life was not as important
mother wanted only forthe men who
was important (see her racist polem-
River in 1981, after she had been
The vaunted Hippocrates is
a pasture after a drunken teenaged
as a white one.
did this to her daughter to be put
I ic, “ Not Out o f A fric a : How
missing for nine months. She had
shown to have built ’Greek’ medi
party.
Lik e many towns near reserva
away. “ We want justice. We don’t
Affocentrism Became An Excuse To
been shot five times in the head and
cine on the African foundation; the
But no one told the police the
tions, Mobridge lives with difficult
want
violence,”
she
said.
Teach
Myth A s History” , Basic
back and raped. Her murderer had
Greeks having even adopted the
truth. Mr. Scherr’s fam ily is a well-
race relations. Like much o f Am eri
Maybe now Candace can rest in
Books).
never been found.
Egyptian symbol for the healing
respected one in the neighboring
ca when it comes to questions o f
peace. But the issues o f racism for
It would seem that these “tabloid
arts,
the intertwining snakes ofthe
This week 31 year-old Nicholas
town o f Mobridge, where the sports
race, there are differing perceptions
native Americans seem to be here to
historians” would have sorely tested
Scherr was convicted o f and sen
“Caduceus”, with the wings on top.
arena is named for his family. And,
in the white and communities o f
stay.
the patience (and conscience) o f the
Next week: My “Summer Read
real' historians on the college and
ing List” o f the best in easily avail
media circuits - but their more legit
able documented black history from
imate ivy towercolleagues have failed
ancient to modem; especially what
he death of a high profile
to chastise them, let alone disown
who served a term as Chairman o f the
the revisionists/standards people
o f operation as a politician, he was a
African American like
them.
It was reassuring to find how
Democratic National Committee
want to remain hidden. It is cultural
consummate pragmatist.
Party, Ron Brown the pragmatist was
Ron Brown, inevitably
many readers o f the Portland Ob-
Brown parlayed these connections into
warfare and history’ is a weapon.
A s Jackson’s Convention Manag
once again at his best. In essence his
provokes d is c u s s io n /d e b a te
a highly profitable stint as a Washing
er, it appeared to me that Ron Brown’s
prescription for winning the White
about his legacy.
ton lawyer and lobbyist. He was well
mission was to prevent Jesse Jackson
House was to make the Democratic
Was he a champion o f the inter
on his way to becoming a Washington
and the liberal-left-progressive con
Party more Reaganesque in its plat
ests and aspirations o f African Am er
insider and what Harvard political sci
stituencies o f the Rainbow Coalition
form and policy perspectives - tough
icans, people o f color and poor and
ence professor Mart in K i Ison describes
from bolting the Democratic Party . In
on crime, hawkish on defense, pro
(USPS 959-680)
working people, or was his success
as a “transethnic” (race-neutral) politi
that sense his allegiance and loyalty
welfare reform, fiscally conserva
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was more to the Democratic Party as
tive, less liberal and less visibly in
Established
in 1970
to the Democratic Party establish
When I next encountered Ron
an institution than it was to the vision
fluenced by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
ment and the corporate/commercial
Charles Washington-Publisher
Brown, it was in my capacity as E x
and politics o f Rev Jesse Jackson and
In that regard Brown proved to be
interests in this country?
The
PORTLAND
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ecutive Director o f the National Rain
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much closer ideologically to the
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bow Coalition and subsequently as
executed his mission with great energy
moderate-conservative Democratic
Brown in Youngstown, Ohio by the
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and skill. The restless Rainbow forces
Leadership C o u n cil, which B ill
Director o f the Urban League there
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when Ron was the Director o f the
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In my view, Ron Brown was rewarded
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Jackson convened periodically to
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Ron Brown, however, was winning,
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a man with exceptional skills and
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talent I had further occasion to inter
Brown had a reputation as a risk
tional Committee
crats did indeed prove to be success
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act with him during his tenure with
taker, he steadfastly refused to ac
ful.
As Chairman of the Democratic
and
photographs
should
be clearly labeled and w ill be returned. If
the Urban League, but I mostly
cept the overtures o f Rev. Jackson to
accompanied
by
a
se
lf
addressed
envelope. A ll created design display
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IN
W
H O L E O R IN P A R T W IT H
Early on he was a protege o f the
Brown readily agreed to take over
T he P ortland O bserver ; PO B ox 3137
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IS
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Kennedy’s, eventually being tapped to
the reins o f the campaign as Jesse
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be Deputy Campaign manager for
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stance, Ron Brown's decisions as it
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11^
y p e r s p e c tir e s
C O A L IT IO N
Honor Thy Mother:
Say No To Mitsubishi!
What Is History,
Anyway? Conclusion
31
Civil Rights Journal
Murder, Race And The Quest For Justice
V a n t a g e P o i n t : The Legacy Of Ronald H. Brown
® ........... ........................
(Tlti' JfJartlatti» (Observer
S