P age A 2
S eptember 2 5 , 1996 • T he P ortland O bserver
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hat is our vision tonight?
Just look around. This
publicly-financed United
C e n te r is a new Chicago
mountaintop.
To the South. C om iskey Park,
another mountain. To the West, Cook
' C ounty Jail, with its 11,000 mostly
youthful inmates.
Betw een these three mountains
lies the canyon. O nce C am pbell’s
Soup was in this canyon Sears was
there, and Zenith, Sunbeam, the stock-
yards. There were jo b s and industry
w here now there is a canyon o f w el
fare and despair. This canyon exists
in virtually every city in America.
As we gather here tonight:
♦ 1/5 o f all A m ericanchildrenw ill
go to b ed in poverty,
♦ 1/2 o f all A frican Am erican chil
dren are grow ing up am idst broken
sidew alks, broken cities, broken
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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views Of
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A. I .
Now that we have ended welfare
as we know it, we must provide jo b s
and jo b training and education and
day care as we ought to know it The
passage o f the welfare bill creates a
moral im perative to provide a job
with a living w age for every man and
w o m en in A m e ric a T h a t w as
R oosevelt’s dream , and Dr. K ing’s.
W hat is our obligation to the peo
ple in the canyon? First, we must
claim and reclaim our children We
must lift our children up, not lock
them up. Instead o f three strikes and
y o u ’re out, we must have four balls
and y o u ’re on.
In the canyon, we must have a plan
to rebuild and redeem our cities, to
reinvest in A m erica. After W orld
W ar II, we helped rebuild Germ any-
-the M arshall Plan. We helped re
build J a p a n -th e M acA rthur Plan.
Now, we must rebuild America.
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The moral center
dream s;
♦ The # I grow th industry in ur
ban A m erica—ja ils;
♦ 1/2 o f a ll the p u b lic housing
built in this nation during the last
deca d e—ja ils,
♦ The top 1% w ealthiest A m eri
cans ow n as m uch as the bottom
95% —the greatest inequality since
the !920s
We must seek a new moral cen
ter...
Last week, over the objections o f
many D em ocratic Party leaders, and
the opposition o f m illions o f A m eri
cans, Franklin R oosevelt’s six-de
cade guarantee o f support for women
and children was abandoned. On this
issue, many o f us differed with the
president. Patrica Ireland and I even
picketed the W hite House.
But we can disagree and debate
and still work together. D iversity is
the measure o f this p arty ’s strength;
how we handle adversity, the m ea
sure o f our character...
C ivil Rights Journal: Churches still burning
by
B ernice P owell J ackson
<”^ i |
guess I shouldn’t have
'Jj been surprised when
O"
even the
“ lib e ra l”
press began questioning the
burnings of black churches.
O nce again my desperate desire
that this nation begin to talk about
and deal with the racism which is a
part oflife in America had outweighed
my ow n cum ulative life experience.
Far too many A m ericans still are
w illing to deny what they see on
videotapes, what they live in their
own commun ities and what they know
in their own hearts to be the case —
racism is still alive and w ell in A m er
ica.
Black churches are still burning in
this nation, although it is no longer
on the front pages (or back pages, for
that m atter) o f our new spapers or on
the nightly television news. But in
churches burned: tw o in Arkansas,
two in A labam a and one each in
M ississippi, South C arolina and Tex
as. A ccording to USA T oday, which
has done the most in depth and on
going co v erag e o f the burnings,
“ Black churches in the South contin
ue to bum at the sam e rapid rate that
pushed the arsons to the top o f the
national agenda one m onth ago. The
pace o f the arsons - m ore than one a
week - guarantees that 1996 will be
the worst year for Black church ar
sons in this decade.”
Nevertheless, the Wall Street Jour
nal and A tlantic M onthly have im
pelled in recent articles that the
burnings have been used by the N a
tional Council o f C hurches to raise
dollars for itself and that there is no
real conspiracy o f w hite suprem acist
groups and that therefore we should
not be overly concerned about what
Both o f these assum ptions are
d angerous and both o f them are
wrong.
As the scope o f the church fires
began to be known in early 1996, the
N ational Council o f Churches, an
ecum enical organization com posed
o f 32 Protestant and O rthodox d e
nom inations, focused its efforts in
reaching out to those churches which
had been burned. It was only natural
that these denom inations work to
gether rather than individually on
this issue and they were joined by
C atholics, Jew s and M uslims.
The NCC also worked together
with the C enter for Dem ocratic Re
newal and the C enter for C onstitu
tional Rights to investigate the fires.
They have found that there have been
75 arson attacks on black churches
from January I, 1995 through July
3 1 ,1 9 9 6 , more than double the num-
flve years com bined. W hile there
have been a sim ilar num ber o f w hite
churches burned during that tim e
period, since A frican Am ericans are
only 12 percent o f the population,
proportionately four times as many
black churches are burning.
In addition, they have docum ent
ed case after case where there was
spray-painting o f racist graffiti, use
o f m olotov cocktails and other in
cendiary devices, vandalism and tar
geting o f churches with a history o f
strong advocacy for African A m eri
can rights, including death threats
and racist insults by phone at night
and by mail.
At least 13 o f the fires since Jan u
ary 1990 have taken place around
M artin Luther King, J r.’s birthday.
They have found evidence o f racist
motivation in the m ajority o f cases,
with several clearly connected to
The value of politeness
to t s K
icardo
S t a n t o n
here is a South African
proverb that says, "a
polite mouth can open
doors." Unfortunately, It seems
that polite, well-mannered and
gracious has become passe.
African people are being duped into
thinking that having constant attitude
is hip, the thing to do and the way to be.
I ’m sorry, that’s not the way I was
raised. It is not what we are about as
a people.
How could our ancestors create fab
ulous civilizations, invent ethics, mo
rality', art, science and religion in a
climate o f disrespect and debauchery?
They couldn't! What are the discern
ible social rewards o f being rude, dis
respectful, overly demonstrative and
emotionally out o f control? There is a
whole generation o f Africans in Amer
ica whose cultural icons are gangstas,
ruffnecks and hoochies! What does
that bode for us as a people?
T he fact o f the matter is being po
lite, well-mannered and socially re
sponsible is an African trait. What we
call Black Southern folkways, speak
ing to everyone, looking out for one
another, being generous, hospitable,
respecting our elders, callingeach oth
er cousin, uncle or aunt, are carry overs
from our African cultural traditions
Being crude and boorish is not an
African virtue! Being loud and vulgar
is not the African way. Being disre
sp e c tfu l, d is c o u rte o u s an d foul
mouthed is neither African nor hip!
We really need to check ourselves on
this. We have bought into a cultural
stereotype that is alien to everything
we have ever been about in our long
and glorious existence on this planet.
Politeness and mutual respect are
African traits. On an extrem ely prac
tical level, politeness is a social lu
bricant. It m akes living easy and aids
in in terp erso n al rela tio n sh ip s A
pleasant courteous m anner is an as
set People respond in kind to genu
inely m annerly and respectful treat
ment. So in effect, a gracious attitude
and a polite m anner will open doors
for you. T hey will help you get what
you need from people w ho are in a
position to assist you. O f course you
must be m entally alert, prepared,
confident and teachable once you
step across the threshold or else your
m anners are all for naught. Many a
successful person has advanced or
put him or h erself in a position to be
noticed merely by beingcordial, cour
teous and polite. In an era where
selfishness and vulgarity are ram
pant, w here profanity is the norm and
crassness is tolerated, a w ell-m an
nered, polite and astute person will
set him self above the crowd.
Life is about interpersonal rela
tionships. The great paradox o f liv
ing is, we com e in by ourselves and
go out alone, but in between those
two points we are forced to learn how
to get along with our com panions on
this big blue ball we call Earth. The
m ore skilled we are in creating a win-
win scenario, the more successful we
will become. T he greatest genius alive
is unable to accom plish much all by
him or herself O ne has to be able to
rally and galvanize people to support
o n e ’s ideas, plans and efforts ifone is
to be successful. It's that simple.
For the most part, kinder, more
courteous and better prepared you are.
the better your chances o f securing
support and accomplish ingy our goals.
So you see, our A frican ancestors knew
the key to interpersonal relationships
and how to be successful. You should
expect this from the first people, those
who demonstrated the social acumen
and the technology to create the first
great civilizations on this planet.
If we are to duplicate the achieve
m ents o f our ancestors and there is no
reason to think we c a n ’t (their genius
is in our genetic code), we will have
to reassess how we interact with one
another Cohesion and unity are en
hanced by mutual respect, kindness
and co-operation. Before we can do
anything great we must com e togeth
er, w ork together in harm ony and
shared mutual interests. T he glue that
will hold it all together is love, m utu
al respect, a consensus o f what is best
for us, while being polite. By being
polite I’m not talking about the fa
cade o f civility that E uropeans use
w hile they are stabbing each other in
the back I’m talking about having
genuine com passion and mutual re
spect for one another. O nce we reori
ent ourselves to proper values, m o
tives and behaviors, nothing will be
im possible for us. It all begins in
loving ourselves, treating ourselves
with respect, tenderness and dignity .
In other w ords being polite. O nce we
do this the doors o f success will fling
open for us.
Tobacco industry speaks on the health of Oregon
by
A
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a X n
nthony
B i g l a n , P i i .D .,
T ■ llxJ
homas M. V
Wi
og t ,
M .D .
atch out Oregonians!
Here comes the tobacco
I industry.
T h ey ’re going to spend $6 million
dol lars to con vince you to vote against
Ballot M easure 44 Y ou w o n 't be
able to turn on the television, tune in
the radio, or pick up a new spaper
w ithout being exposed to tobacco
co m p an y p ro p ag an d a ab o u t how
awful M easure 44 is.
M ake you w onder w hat M easure
44 is about?
Well it concerns health So no
w onder the tobacco com panies are
interested in it They w ant to protect
O regonians' health! Right?
If you believe that, w e have a
bridge we could sell you.
M easure 44 w ould raise about $67
m i 11 ion per year for the Oregon Health
Plan. T h a t's the innovative health
insurance program that w as devel
oped by Republicans and Dem ocrats
w orking together
This nationally recognized program
makes health insurance available to
thousands o f Oregonians w ho used to
go without it it has been credited with
significantly reducing welfare roles.
as welfare recipients find that they can
leave welfare and still have health care
for their children.
So w hy is the tobacco industry
opposed to M easure 44? W ell, M ea
sure 44 w ould also raise about $7.5
m illion a year for program s to pre
vent young people from becom ing
addicted to tobacco. And, it would
put a thirty cent a pack tax on ciga-
rettes—still less than it is in the State
o f W ashington.
T he T obacco Industry will tell
you it is a TAX and hope that is
enough to convince you to vote
against it. But here isa ta x that makes
a big contribution to the health o f
O regonians while reducing the w el
fare roles.
T he tobacco com panies will tell
you that sm okers sh o u ld n 't have to
pay for other people’s health care
costs. But, in O regon, about $63
m illion o fy o u r public m oney is spent
each year on health care for sm oking
related illness. The tax will ju st about
pay for the public cost o f smoking.
M ost sm okers want to quit. They
rea lize th a t sm o k in g k ills ab o u t
450,000 people each year in this coun
try—m ore than are killed by auto ac
cidents. alcohol use, drug overdoses.
and AID S com bined.
M easure 44 will help to prevent
these deaths by preventing young
people from taking up smoking. Ac
cording to the 1994 Surgeon G ener
a l’s report, increasing the cost o f
tobacco keeps many kids from be
com ing addicted. About 3000 kids a
day start smoking. About 1000 o f
them will eventually die o f smoking-
related illness.
We d o n 't w ant to ban smoking but
we d o n ’t w ant to encourage it or
subsidize it either.
About 9 0 % o f smokers begin when
they are children oradolescents. That
is no accident. The tobacco industry
spends about 6 billion a year m arket
ing their product and much o f that
S ubscribe
to
goes for hooking our children
Studies published in the Journal
o f the Am erican M edical A ssocia
tion show that cigarette advertising
is very effective with kids. M ore than
90% o f 6 year olds recognized the
Joe Camel logo. In fact, am ong 3 to
6 year olds, Joe Camel was second
only to Mickey M ouse in the num ber
o f kids who recognized it. A study in
C alifornia show ed that more teens
than adults recognized Joe Camel
and that it isyoung people, not adults,
who are influenced to smoke C am
els.
The tobacco industry isn’t in this
for your health. They realize that
their business will be hurt if they
c a n ’t recruit young people to smoke.
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I'»
V»i F or R i
yding
T he P ortland O bserver
p e r s p e c
Z / r
e s
Northeast 'village’ echoes
31
am able to report a few
positives for a change.
1
And beyond that, many
villagers even place a positive
spin on the rash of education
negatives in the daily press:
“Finally, the ‘ruling powers' see
that unless the deterioration of
the education system is halted,
economic chaos will soon fol
low.”
Taking the lat
ter case first, it
does seem that one
group ofnortheast
readers in particu
lar do have some
su p p o rtin g e v i
dence for that position. After gra
ciously acknowledging the “perti
nence” o f my references to the “im
portance o f the village in raising a
child” (Cable TV program. “Straight
Talk.'' September 12), the group cit
ed a list o f negative headline that
pretty well matched my own tiles (alI
in the last 30 days).
“Corral I ing C lass S ize—Oregon ’ s
schools: Treading W ater—A chieve
ment G ap R em ains-A II Students
W ant Is A Room S o m ew h ere-R e-
port Raps Q uality O f T eaching In
U .S.—Battle Loom s O ver Merit Pay
For Teachers—Bridging The Chasm
-B la c k s. H ispanics U nite On Stu
dent N eeds—Suit Resists O regon
School R eform s—B lack L eaders
Ask For School A ccountability."
A parent continues, “ I could go
on ad in fin itu m -o r should it be ad
n a u s e u m ? M a y b e e v e n ad
absurdum , if there is such a word.
In any case, I rem em ber that ar-
tic le by Rachael Perry o fth e O rego
nian staff, ‘Schools plunge ahead in
new year o f tough ch o ices.' I
thought then, ‘p lu n g e’ is the word-
right over a precipice.”
W ell, from my con v ersatio n s
with the ‘villagers’ there seem s a
consensus that “th ings are approach-
ing an ignition point—som ething is
going to happen and soon.” I’m
sure th ey 're right, if only because I
nally hear this w here the ‘clo u t’
resides—within my own organiza
tion, "A ssociated O regon Indus
trie s” . N ot w ith m e p erso n ally
(sm iles), but with the type o f pro
gressive entrepreneurs o f the type
who have fallen in behind som e o f
1. Î
my innovative techniques. Bring me
to their schools.
Now th at's positive; 25 or 30
years late, but positive. After all
had dem onstrated my version o fth e
internet in classroom s that early on
using W estern Electric equipm ent
(T eletypes) and Bell T elephone
Com pany ‘conditioned lines’ be
tween cities (And have pictures
and letters from
telephone execu
tives to prove it)
By
I made that com
Professor
ment in a speech
Mcklnley
to a group o f par
Burt
ents and a man
spoke up, "Y eah
and G ranville E. W oods, a black
engineer invented the autom atic air
brake named for W estinghouse.
The speaker, white, had m ade a
telling point and the audience, rath
er evenly divided between black
w hite and H ispanic parents and
grandparents, understood perfect
ly. It had created quite a stir when I
got then-O regon Senator, W ayne
M orse to pry loose from the U.S
Patent office a copy o f the transfer
o f the air brake patent from the
black engineer G ranville W oods to
the W estinghouse Corporation (pur
chase price unknown).
That had been a couple o f d e
cades earlier and I em phatically
made the point in those days that
not only had the white pow er struc
ture refused to acknow ledge the tai
ented black engineers who made
major contributions to the industri
al revolution—but that yet today we
had black people o fth e same regret
table m indset (it was only recently
that the G eneral Electric Com pany
had to step in and buy the birthplace
o f th e b lack e lec trica l g en iu s
Howard E. Latimer—to prevent it
from being dem olished for a park
ing lo t-w h o is to care if* w e’ d o n ’t?).
The meeting went positive from
there and reference was made to my
comments on the television program
about the essential role o f grandpar
ents in the ‘village’ process.
It turned out several people in the
audience knew the “Chin family”,
featured in the Sunday O regonian
for Septem ber 15; “The Chinese
honor the village concept like the
A fricans.”
better Ua TT/zc (Sedi tar
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