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(l'S P S 9 59-68«) E stab lish ed in 197«
Charles Washington
Publisher & Editor
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Portland Observador
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/< u s i néss A s sis la nt
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Civil Rights Journal
One Step Forward And One Step Backward
B ernk
e
P oweli . J ackson
*ke many ° th e rs ’ 1 find
myself looking at events
in California as a bell
w ether of what the rest of the
nation can expect in the future.
’J I
As our most populous state and
perhaps the most diverse, it has the
potential o f giving us some sense o f
what our nation will be like in the
21st century, now less than three
years away. Events at the end o f
1996 in California send mixed mes
sages about progress in living into a
multiracial, multicultural world.
First, there was the decision by a
federal court judge to stay the im
plementation o f California Propo
sition 209, which would eliminate
affirmative action in that state. The
court said there was the strong pos
sibility that the new law will be
proven unconstitutional. Agreeing
with the judge, the Clinton adm inis
tration announcedjust before Christ
mas that it will mount a legal chal
lenge to that California ballot initia
tive as well. That was indeed, a step
forward. And while G overnor Pete
Wilson and backers o f the end to
affirmative action have cried foul,
the reality is that the courts have
always had the pow er to examine
the constitutionality o f laws, wheth
er state or federal. T hat’s a part of
the American system o f democracy,
whether they like it or not.
But the second California inci
dent was at least one step back
wards. It is the Oakland School
Board’s decision around ebonies.
While I have not read the entire
resolution, much o f what I have
read in newspaper accounts is fright
ening to me.
As the child o f a poor single
mother, as a graduate o f inner city
public schools, as an African Amer
ican myself, I know that there is
another language spoken in the
streets o f the ghetto. I have no prob
lem with it being spoken there. 1 do
have a problem when a school sys-
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views OJ
(Elie ‘P o rtlan d © bseroer
r J
(El}e Jjo rilattò (i)bserut'r
by
U λ —
tern legitimizes that street language
and infers that African American
children can do no better. If that is
the case, then let’s close down all
inner city schools and use that mon
ey for building more prisons be
cause we are saying that these young
people will never be able to get jobs
or function in the real world which
speaks and writes real english, not
ebonies.
Having gotten that off my chest
let me say that I believe the Oakland
School Board has succeeded in get
ting the nation’s attention focussed
on how our school systems are fall
ing many young people in our inner
cities. Too many teachers believe
that students who speak street lan
guage do so because they are stupid
or are just too lazy to correct them
and help them learn correct English
Too many school administrators
have set their sights too low for their
students and are not requiring them
to learn proper English.
Too many school systems have
not focussed on supporting those
teachers and students who do want
to teach and learn and have been
forced to make budget cuts which
adversely impact the classroom.
Too many o f us outside o f educa
tion have written off entire groups
o f inner city young people who once
wanted to learn and those who still
go to school every day and study
hard in spite o f a multitude of diffi
culties.
The Oakland School Board is
right about one thing - we need to
be more sensitive to our young peo
ple and we need to re-commit our
selves to educating every young
person in this nation, no matter where
they live, no matter what their in
come, no matter what their race. But
the ends do not justify the means
and if we want African American
young people to compete in today’s
world o f information, they must be
able to speak and write english prop
erly.
N A T IO N A L
ack in the days when
rock-and-roll (not to men
tion the Democratic Par
ty) contained a bit of class anal
ysis, Johnny Rivers sang movingly
of life among the dispossessed:
“girl, it ’s hard to find nice things,
on the poor side of tow n.”
C O A L IT IO N
If there is any tune all year when
we should remember this, it’s Chi risi-
mas lime. We all know the story
(though if you have never heard Jesse
Jackson deliver his own special ser
mon on the birth of Jesus, your life is
definitely incomplete.)
An unemployed carpenter. An
unmarried mother. On the road, away
from home, turned away at the inn.
Born without health insurance, sur
rounded by animals in a stable, not a
doctor in sight. Condemned by the
authorities, targeted for capital pun
ishment by Herod, Ihe reigning con
servative. Jesus, the liberator, come
to free the slave, redeem the prodi
gal, save the lost sheep.
In Mary’s words (Luke 1:52 &
53): “He has put down the mighty
from their thrones, and exalted those
of low degree. He has filled the hun
gry with good things, and the rich he
has sent empty away.”
Of course, these days we would be
treated to the spectacle of William
Bennett and Dan Quayle lecturing
Mary about the virtues of married
p
e
The poor side of town
life. The AMA would spin Jesus’s
birth to try to demonstrate that we
really don’t need "socialized medi
cine” Foreveryone. And George Will
and Thomas Sowell would no doubt
explain to us that Jesus’s rise from a
lowly stable to the "Prince of Peace”
proves that all can pull themselves up
by their bootstraps, if only they would
try harder.
There are still those who under
stand the meaning of the Jesus story-
-Bob Herbert is one. His column
summarized a study released by the
National Center for Children in Pov
erty at the Columbia School of Pub
lic Health. The study is entitled "One
in four” because between 1979 and
1994 the rate of poverty for children
under 6 went up from 18% to 25%--up
to one in four of our most vulnerable.
The study begins with this heart-
wrenching paragraph:
r
s
p
e
"In the United States, distinguished
by its extraordinary wealth, there are
6 million poor individuals known to
few others but their own families.
They cannot vote, they cannot work,
most do not even go to school. They
are America's youngest poor-chil
dren under age six."
Herbert notes that the "demo
graphics defy the convenient and
execrable stereotypes." He summa
rizes from the report:
•Children in all ethnic and geo
graphic groups are affected.
• While Black and Latino/Hispan-
ic children, especially in big cities,
are disproportionately poor, the pov
erty rate for young children grew
twice as fast among Whites as among
African-Americans during the peri
od studies.
•The overall child poverty rate in
the U S. is much higher than in any
c
t
/
poverty rate for young White chil
dren.
• Geographically, the poverty rates
for children under 6 are 36% in urban
areas. 17% in the suburbs, and 27%
in rural America.
•Most poor children--62%--live
in working families. Less than 1/3
live in families relying exclusively
on public assistance.
• Young children are the most like
ly age group in America to be poor.
Or as Reverend Jackson phrases it
(in almost every public speech he’s
given in recent years):
"Most poor people are not on
welfare; they work every day. Most
poor people are not Black or Brown;
they’re White, female, young, and 2/
3 are children.”
Unfortunately, the policy-makers
who passed last year's “welfare re
peal" law have decided to fix this
problem by creating more such chil
dren. According to an estimate by the
Urban Institute, the new welfare law
may increase the number of children
in poverty by up to l.l million.
Absent a serious jobs program,
the sarcasm that S enator Ted
Kennedy used to apply to President
Reagan will also apply to welfare
repeal: "Ronald Reagan must really
love the poor; he's helped make so
many more of them.”
r e
s
We have fire, now let’s move on, II
just noticed that I ap
pended this advice to my
first article of 1 9 9 5 : “An
other priority is to remain up
beat, whatever the predictions
of the doomsayers. Some have
been in the 'apocalypse Now’
mode since birth. Put more ac
cent on the positive.”
Follow ing right along in that
mode, I’ll take this opportunity to
extend my congratulations and deep
est appreciation to those members of
the community who made so many
important and lasting contributions
toward improving the quality o f life
here in Northeast. I am joined by the
many in this felicitation and we in
clude the multitude o f volunteers
and other unsung heroes who labor
without stint - often without com
pensation.
Our accolades are intended to
cover a spectrum o f contributors:
ranging from those who serve the
youth, the elderly and the indigent to
the two black business men I saw on
television picking up the grocery tab
for Albina families at the E & M
Com m unity Market. W ell done,
Harold Williams and Roy Jay; that
was an exemplenary model we hope
to see emulated by many others and
across the spectrum o f commercial
and social interaction.
And let us express our gratitude to
those teachers who labor so dili
gently to prepare our young ones for
such an uncertain and challenging
world. We know that they have a
daunting task and that frustration is
the name o f the game (see my article
this week on “Ebonics/Black En
glish”. My personal acquaintance
with over a score o f Portland teach
ers informs me that most understand
quite well that with few exceptions
our criticisms and challenges o f the
education system are directed at the
adm inistration, occasionally the
union and particular politicians.
Speaking o f teachers, I am led full
circle back to the ‘discovery o f fire’.
I suppose I should have added an
admonition or warning that old, good
things are not to be abandoned per
se, but, where possible, polished and
adjusted to new purposes and new
times. When thinking o f teachers
who have contributed so very much
to the quality o f education in Port
land schools, Ms Claudia McDuffie
came to mind.
And very forcefully so when I
recounted my transport o f Albina
Youth to new and enriching experi
ences in Westside “Electronics land”
— as I once took our youth to see U . S.
Forest Service installations and Af
rican American role models. Earlier
Ms McDuffie had directed “Opera
tion BEEP” while teaching at Boise
Elementary School and I accepted
______
By
Professor
Mckinley
Burt
her invitation to serve on the board
o f this forward-looking project.
Designed to broaden the experi
ence and perspectives o f inner-city
youth in respect to environmental con
cerns, vans were used to transport the
children to new landscapes and inter
faces with nature that otherwise would
never be provided them. It worked
beautifully, thanks Claudia.
And certainly, the concept o f
building firm foundations (proven
ones) came to the fore when I distrib
uted one o f the usual handouts to my
youth group for study and comment.
These were photocopies o f an 4/10/
91 article o f mine in the Portland
Observer: “Isaac Newton: Black
History Student.” The thrust o f the
article was to reveal and document
how much o f the w orld’s mathemati
cal and technological advances were
based on African concepts.
While much o f my material came
from “Isaac Newton: H istorian”,
Belknapp Press (Harvard University
Press) 1965, other critical documen
tation came from my usual corre
spondents at Cambridge University
in England, and from the Vatican
library. One o f the most telling rev
elations by this great mathematician
and one that speaks to the matter at
hand is his statement to the effect
that all o f his great concepts were
accom plished because he “ stood
upon the shoulders o f the great ones
who came before him.”
They don’t tell you that in school
o f course or o f the libraries o f mate
rials from his research o f African
geometry, philosophers and religion
— or o f his holding up publication of
his magum opus, “The Theory of
Universal Gravitation” until he got
final measurements o f the Great Pyra
mid from Smythe and Buratanni, the
scientists working in Africa. I’ve
learned how to really motivate black
kids — with history.
Next week more technology with
my expanding youth group.
CHILDWATCH
Let’s celebrate our young people beating the odds
M n arian
W right E delman
p by
i m
n
31
■bile th e media would
have us believe that our
young people are all
gangsters, drug users, and “pred
ators,” we need to remember
th a t fewer Black children are
gettin g pregnant, and more are
graduating high school and go
ing to college than In recent
years.
I met a few extraordinary youths
recently when the Children’s Defense
Fund honored them for beating the
odds at our annual national benefit.
Myia Alston is one such young
lady. She watched as drugs took hold
o f her parents and left her family in
such financial despair that its mem
bers were constantly evicted from
their home and frequently went hun
gry. Things got so bad that Myia
m oved away to live with an uncle
and his wife. But that didn’t work
out either, because she felt even less
stable and secure there, and there
were days when she still went hun
gry. But amid all the hardships, Myia
managed to do well in school, be
coming a member o f two honor soci
eties . As problems mounted at home,
she spent more time studying and
helping those less fortunate than her
self. Herdream is to become a broad
cast journalist, and I have no doubt
w e’ll be seeing her delivering the
television news someday.
Theodore M. W esby III is another
young person who deserves recog
nition for his commitment, achieve
ment, and wisdom beyond his years.
He has faced more than a lifetime o f
struggles but has always managed to
overcome them. His story is one
hope and encouragement. He and
his mother lived in a homeless shel
ter, where every day was a struggle
just to survive. Last year, they moved
to Washington, D.C., where they
found a new beginning. In June,
Theodore will graduate from high
school a year early, after spending
two years in night school. In addi
tion to his accelerated class sched
ule, he has volunteered more than
200 hours o f community service and
participated in numerous school ac
tivities. After facing, challenging,
and overcoming all o f the odds be
fore him, Theodore says, “The best
is ahead o f me, because I’ve con
quered the worst.”
Yohannes “Johnny” Demoz’s sto
ry is one o f great sorrow but even
a «art
Vi _____
greater triumph. W hen Johnny was
eight years old, a bomb blew up just
a few feet from where he stood in his
homeland o f Ethiopia. In the explo
sion, he lost his sight, his best friend,
and his childhood dreams o f becom
ing a soccer player. He was forced to
relearn many o f the basic skills he
had already mastered. After leaving
Ethiopia, he discovered many new
struggles in America. He had to learn
not only English, but Braille as well.
He has mastered both languages, and
has become an honor student.
Seventeen-year-old Daysi Blanco
has faced the kind o f serious medical
problems that would leave most o f
us feeling hopeless and alone. When
she was four, and still living in her
naive El Salvador, she dislocated her
hip. But her family was too poor to
see that she got proper medical treat
ment until three years later, when
they m oved to the United States.
Still, after three surgeries, she con
tinues to walk with a pronounced
limp. When Daysi was 11, her doc
tors told her she had cancer, which
they treated with chemotherapy. But
the treatment was too strong for her
young body, and Daysi suffered se
rious hearing loss. Now equipped
_TYrtirni
Varaci /lie aid. Daysi has also
with a hearing
taught herself to read lips. She found
out recently that she must undergo
another surgical procedure to ward
off the threat o f more concer.
Like the other young people I’ve
mentioned, Daysi’s life has been an
uphill battle from the beginning. She
has missed out on many childhood
adventures because o f her illnesses.
Despite the constant hurdles Daysi
has faced, she has risen above them
with dignity and grace and has refused
to feel sorry for herself, instead com
mitting herself to service. She has
assisted poor and elderly people, tu
tored elementary school children, and
counseled at the 4-H Club. She says
she plans to spend her life as a doctor,
helping and healing others.
Each o f these young people re
minds us o f how every child is made
in the image and likeness o f God, and
that it’s our job to ensure that they are
able to live and flourish the way God
intended. It’s also important that we
don ’ t get so busy lamenting the youths
who are doing the wrong thing that we
forget to praise those who do the right
thing every day. Every community
should celebrate their young people
who beat the odds.
better 'T~0 TThe (SUditor
Send your letters to the Editor to: Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 I O
M l