P agi A2 M arch 12, 1997 • T he P o r i land O bserver Editorial articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f (Elje ^portlanb ©bseruer (Tlje ^lartlattò (JObserüer (USPS 959-680) Established in 1970 Charles Washington Publisher <& Editor Mark Washington Distribution Manager Gary Ann Taylor Business M anager Paul Neufeldt Production & Design Danny Bell Advertising Sales M anager Tony Washington Arts & Entertainment Gary Washington Public Relations Audrey Washington Business Assistant Contributing Writers: Professor McKinley Burt. Lee Perlman. Neal Heilpem, Eugene Rashad 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 • Fax 503-288-0015 Email: PdxobservifiCaol.com Deadline for all submitted materials: Articles .Friday, 5:00 pm Ads: Monday. 12:00pm POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes To: Portland Observer, P.O. Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208. Periodicals postage p a id at Portland. Oregon. Subscriptions $30.00 per year The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manu scripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope All created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITH OUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED The Portland Observer—O regon’s Oldest Multicultural Publica- t ion—is a member o f the National Newspaper A ssociation-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver. S ubscribe to $ o rtia n b (Obert-urr The Portland Observer can be sent directly to your home for only $30.00 per year Please fill out. enclose check or money order, and mail to: S ubscriptions T he P ortland O bserver ; PO B ox 3137 P ortland , O regon 97208 Name: ____________________________________________________ Address:______________________________________________________ C ity-S tate:___________________________________________________ Z ip-C ode:_________________ T hank Y oe F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver p e r s p e c tiv e s Spring Will Soon Have Sprung; Has Your Sap Risen '“H1 ears ago at this tim e of year there would be a lot of ribald levity and even worse poetry p rin ted abo u t 'spring', the season when a young “man's" fancy turns to romance - as though It didn’t take two to tango! Today, we are much more likely to groan at the thought o f a broad verdant lawn (fully equipped with dande lions) that seems to in crease in size each year in direct proportion to our own calen dar years; or to stare aghast a tour Internet billing - did we really order that much access time? And just what the heck was it that we thought was going to be interesting enough to justify live out o f seven sleepless nights with no seasonal variation? All that aside, the more urgent realities of our cyclical existence will kick in about March 23; this includes creditors who promised to wait ninety days to be reimbursed for those sacks of holiday goodies. And all things considered, our total outlay for taxes o f one sort or another has not de creased — contrary to all that inspired rhetoric accompanying various ini tiatives and other promises made to the body politic. In fact, the cumulative pressure o f such unpleasant events this spring equinox seems to suggest that some where there is a demonic spirit whose evil avocation is to operate a rather sophisticated balancing mechanism. The tax reductions promised in that "inspired rhetoric" are soon balanced out by sneaky new adjustments to the process. Worse yet, it would appear that some gaming specialists from Los Vegas or Reno may have been imported — in some areas the tax payer is finding a net increase. Vigor ous protest is required This year can be a very productive one despite minor(?)disappointments and discomfiture A number o f the I Portland Observer readers say that they are qu ite sat isfied with their learn ing curve: Being a better parent (grand parent), Increasing the economic value o f the family unit (via added job skills and/or business venture); networking and relating to friends and neighbors in a m ore m e a n in g f u l manner. I am also getting some in te re s tin g feed back from the y o u n g er generation. As many o f you know I have worked for two decades at get ting our youth summer jobs, a most critical factor in keeping both high school and college students in school. I began this process with the advan tage o f having an 'industry' back ground which enabled me to assess the specific enterprises o f the area in realistic terms o f what job opportuni ties would be available. I’ve tried to transfer the technique. O f course, it is evident that same type o f experience-based assessment works as well for the adult job place ment process. But what I wished to note here in particular was the nature o f that “feed back from the youth.” The kids that I placed in summer jobs last year (12 different occupations) got together on their own this winter and worked out their own program to secure summer employment for 1997. You hear that? No Prof. Burt, no parents, no guardians no urban pro grams — just good old initiative, 7 black and 5 whites. Say, that’s what its all about, I'm really pleased that many of the youth will not need my continued assistance in that area. That leaves me free to help others or to develop new pro grams - and you just know I've got some. Next week I'll be describing someofthese ventures including some interesting venues already in opera tion. Everyone did not wait for spring for the sap to rise. wo recent studies con tribute important data to support the contention that the criminal justice system is both out of control, and tar geted against young, Black men. The first research report, con ducted by Vincent Schiraldi and Tara-Jen Ambrosio of the Justice Policy Institute, and summarized in the 2/24/97 Washington Post, ana lyzed government budget expendi tures at the state and national level In the words of Schiraldi, director of the policy institute, their research demonstrated that “...in the funding battle between prisons and universi ties, prisons are consistently coming out on top.” Prison construction is outstripping college construction. The second study, conducted by the Sentencing Project, shows that I out of every 7 Black men cannot vote today due to felony convictions. (We have often cited earlier Sentencing Project studies concerning drug sen tencing disparities and the large number of African American males trapped within the criminal justice system.) In the New York Times, Barbara W right, of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, put her finger on this tragic- situation: “Voting is what makes you a citizen. It’s tragic to contem plate the creation of an entire class Putting Prisons First of native-born non-citizens.” Here are a few of the horrible facts from these two studies: lJP !=Justice Policy Institute; SP=Sentencing Project/ *(JPI)--State spending on pris ons went up by 30%, while higher education spending decreased 18%, between 1987 and 1995. *(JPI) -In 1995, state spending on prison construction went up $926 million; higher education building monies went down by almost the same amount. *(JPI)-Justice Department fig ures show that the number o f adults in prison increased more than 3 times between 1980 and 1994, go ing from 320,000 to 992,000. *(JP I)--B oth C a lifo rn ia and Florida now spend less on their uni versities than on their prisons, a marked change from only a few years ago. California, fo r example, has constructed 21 prisons since 1984, but only / new university. *(SP)--An estimated 1.46 million Black men-- !4% !-have lost the right to vote because they have been con victed o f a felony, out o f a national voting age population o f only 10.4 million. *(SP) -In 1994, there were 7.66 African Americans in prison fo r ev ery while in jail, a significant in crease from an already high 1988 ratio o f 6.88 to I. ★ (SP)--Despite being only 12% o f the population, African Americans make up 51% (over h a lf) o f the 1.1 million people in jail. The high rate of incarceration for Black males undoubtedly contrib utes to the findings of another recent study, this one by the College Fund (formerly the United Negro College Fund), which concluded that Black women are now receiving college degrees at two tunes the rale ol B lack men. As report coordinator Michael Nettle noted in the Washington Post, these new" ..statistics are a real cause for celebration for Black women." For African American men, how e 'e r, especially when combined with the im prisonm ent figures given above, these statistics are cause for special c o n c e rn . In R everend Jackson's phrase, those enrolled in jail will not be attending Yale. David Bositis, and expert on A f rican American voting patterns, was quoted in the New York Times to the effect that having so many Black men lose th e ir vo tin g rig h ts “...clearly diminishes Black influ ence politically.” Bositis went on to say that this disenfranchisement may have important psychological effects. “You have a prison system where Black men are back in servitude, along with an economy where Blacks are in the low-paying jobs, so it all ends up in the minds of Black Ameri cans that the system is basically rigged to diminish their political power and recreate the plantation system with prisons.” Amen This country has spent the past decade putting prisons first, and children-especially poor children— last. We must change direction We’re all precious in God’s sight by E ugene R ashad hat you’re about to read is not the script for a new H ollyw ood film : Two-footed predator on the loose stalking its prey. Homicide on the streets. Crime on the streets of America is no joke. There is nowhere to hide unless you're the stalker. Two incidents in particular come to m ind: new s rep o rts about carjackings and robberies at gunpoint which led to the deaths Ennis Cosby, the son of entertainer Bill Cosby, and Michael Jeffrey Jordan, father of sports star Michael Jordan In each case the victims were surprised by a predator lurking in the shadows. To say our streets mimic a jungle is an understatement. And like the drum beat deep in the bush, the sound of a siren could be a signal that another killing has occurred. These crim inals move through our streets with stealth-like ability. Its like guerrilla warfare. No one is safe from this band of modern day, nomadic monsters on two legs who stalk innocent humans like prey. We know it happens be cause the news media swoops down like a vulture to circle the remains of a fresh kill We read about the brutal demise of another life. The street curb once again is a tombstone for another victim stretched out in blood. Tfee Public Space America is suppose to be the land of the free, home of the brave. Seems its become land of the predator, home of the afraid. To a great extent most of us take precautions to avoid dan ger. Unfortunately certain groups are dehumanized by society through stereotypes. In his book Streetwise Author Elijah Anderson writes: "...In negotiating the streets, people watch out particularly for a certain kind of young black male. “People, black and white, who are more familiar with the black street culture are less troubled by sharing the streets with young black males.” Anderson’s comments have ap plications mostly to integrated popu lations. He writes about how unreli able stereotypes about any group, particularly black males can be: “[People] rely for protection on broad stereotypes based on color and gender, if not outright racism. They are likely to misread many of the signs displayed by law-abiding black men, thus becoming apprehensive of almost any black male they spot in public.” O f course all this goes out the window if the perpetrator is a white male. Stay In The Foxhole Lets call it the foxhole mentality We lock ourselves up in our homes, use burglar alarms on our cars, and develop social distance to feel safe. This gives one a false sense of secu rity until they’re visited by the bogey man. Another way people take a wide berth from trouble is to avoid eye contact. A language is devel oped and decoded without a word spoken, that everyone understands. This system of communication is charged up with subtlety and innu endo. A nderson writes: “ ...Skin color, gender, age com panions, clothing, jewelry, and the objects people carry help identify them, so that assumptions are formed and communication can occur. “Eye con tact is discouraged. What people do is take a quick read from a distance before the approach and, hopefully safe passage. Its a sad irony but people do it. And the price we pay is alienation from each other that is only rivaled by computer users and drivers who can go a whole day without having public contact. You Can Come Out Now One problem-solving technique is for residents to become more vigi lant. Such is the case for a neighbor hood patrol orchestrated some years ago by Richard Brown of the Black United Front. Here you have people from their respective neighborhood walking the blocks and being vis ible. This may not be the reason, but the numbers on crime have slightly gone down. According to statistics compiled by Portland Police, there has been a 13 percent drop in violent crimes since 1994. The list includes aggra vated assault, burglary, and robbery. Lt. Cliff Madison is a Portland Po lice Bureau spokesman. He told a reporter that people seem more will ing to come forward, even testify to a crime. "People believe w e're work ing with them, and they’re willing to work with us.” A Life Is A Terrible Thing To Waste It has already been pointed out that celebrity status, which some times means if the victim is white, brings more attention. In the 1994 edition of The Public Interest peri odical Glenn C. Loury wrote. “...The muted response to the anonymity of countless young black victims is a direct reflection of an ambivalence toward and identification with the perpetrators of these crimes.: The tragedy is that life in the inner city, black or white, is ren dered as part of a body count, rather than a loss of a valued member of society. Welfare reform & Fed policy collision by C ongressman J esse L. J ackson , J r . elfare reform, which has an unstated but under lying premise of full em ployment, and federal reserve policy, whose stated purpose is full employment and price sta bility, are on a collision course. Why? Because the Fed is domi nated by those who protect finan cial interests first. Thus, fighting inflation wins out over full employ ment. In fact, if the economy really begins to grow and unemployment begins to recede below five percent — in the 1960s and 70s it was three percent — Federal Reserve Chair man, Alan Greenspan, and the Fed eral Reserve Board raise interest rates to slow the economy and re duce jo b creation They will say the economy is overheating So just as the jobs begin to flow down, so those on welfare can go to work, Mr. Greenspan shuts off the spicket. The course is set for a collision between the stated goals o f federal welfare reform (welfare-to-work) and the Fed In the past, when the national econom y slowed, unemployment rose and hard times set in, the less fortunate could at least turn to wel fare as a last resort. Under the new welfare reform policy they can no longer be assured o f that The fed- eral floor under the poor for the past 60 years has been removed. Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed into law the w elfare reform bill in 1996. It changed the entire structure o f wel fare. Recipients can be on welfare only twoyearscontinuously and then they are legally guaranteed to be off. The federal government will guar antee paying for a cumulative five years o f welfare benefits lifetime and no more. There is not a simi lar federal guar antee that when you are forced off of welfare that a job will be available through the private or public sec tors. Thus, today’s welfare recipi ents are left only with the mandate of a 1950s song, “Get A Job!” It’s easier to get though on poor people who d o n ’t vote than it is to get serious about full employment. Underlying welfare reform is the moral principle that every person who can work, should work That is morally sound, but it has no eco nomic support Government leaders and the nation should not impose the cultural standard o f “the Protes tant work ethic” on welfare recipi ents and the unemployed on the one hand, unless they have a real policy and an actual program o f full em ployment on the other Logically, because o f welfare re form, the government must now be come the employer, not o f last resort. but o f first resort. I'hat policies and programs must be to achieve full employment and balanced economic growth. If full employment cannot be achieved in the private sector alone, then the government should guaran tee every able-bodied person who wants to work a socially useful job doing meaningful work, making a liveable wage. Only then does the nation, the government and its lead ers have the moral right to even sug gest that every abled-bodied person be trained to work and get a job. Currently, there is an abstract policy (Humphrey-Hawkins), but no actual government policies or programs to achieve full employment. Since the Great Depression, despite rhetoric which emphasizes the work ethic, the nation’s and the government’s lead ers real commitment has been to be far more willing to establish entitle ments to welfare or income transfer programs than to establish a full em ployment peace-time economy There is great concern among many politicians that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) be accurate. O f course, the CPI should be accurate, but the politics o f CPI appear to be more a bipartisan conservative Democratic concern about reducing the budget deficit in exchange for certain tax cuts for the Republicans on the road to getting a budget agreement, than ac curacy. There is no similar concern that the unemployment rate be accurate. While theofficial unemployment rate is 5.3 percent (7.5 million people who receive unemployment com pensation but do not have a job), the actual number o f unemployed (and underemployed) people is closer to 15-to-20 m ill ion Americans who are unemployed, underemployed, work ing part-time when they want to be working full-time, have never had a job or gave up looking for one (so that they are not even counted among the unemployed) — or, with corpo rate and government downsizing, workers are worried that they may soon be in one of those categories. That’s a more accurate picture and the reason there is so much eco nomic anxiety in the land. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will testify before the Domestic and International Mon etary Policy Subcommittee. Nodoubt, he will give his usual classic presen tation of “reserved optimistic pessi mism" that will cause the markets to tremble and react to every intonation ofevery syllable o f every word. One reason he will speak in such obtuse terms is to obscure this collision course - a verbal commitment to full employment Act), while really pur suing a policy o f fighting inflation What Mr Greenspan ought to recommend today is a comprehen sive and sound plan of government finance