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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1997)
SEPT. 24, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver P age A4 Editorial articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of (Elje |Jnrtlanb ©hscriu'v (Elji? |Jn rtla n ò (©bsetuer p e r (USPS 959-680) Established in 1970 Publisher & Editor Mark Washington Distsribution M anager (ìary Ann Taylor Husiness M anager Larry J. Jackson, Sr. Director o f Operation Gregory Benton (ìrapliic Design Mike Leighton Copy Editor Charles Washington POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes To: Portland Observer, P.O, Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, Oregon. Subscriptions: $30.00 per year flic Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manu scripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned it accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent ol the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART W ITH OUT' PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland O bserver—O regon’s Oldest Multicultural Publica tio n -is a member of 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. M u ltic u ltu r a l T he P ortland O bserver ; PO B ox 3137 P ortland , O regon 97208 eorge Will &Pat Buchanan d o n ’t like it much, but A m erica is last b eco m in g a multicultural nation. The Rainbow/PushCoalition rec ognizes this, and Rev. Jackson has spent a great deal of time in recent months working in coalition with Hispanic leaders and organizations The Political power of this Black/ Brown coalition was illustrated in the 1996 elections, when Black & Hispanics cast 1/7 of the total vote, and elected President Clinton for the second time in a row. The growth in this power was recently illustrated in an article in the National review (of all places!). Authors Peter Brimelow and Ed Rubenstein predicted that the Re publican Party's hostility to immi G _________________ __________ ___ _________________________________ __________________________________________ T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver FHA Reverse Mortgage S No income qualifying Loan need not be repaid until home is sold or vacated Low interest rate This program also is known as a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage. It is a special government program for seniors. NORWEST MORTGAGE Sheldon Weber (503) 697-9429 Letter to the Editor Dear Editor, How many times does my family have to apolo gize for slavery? Do i owe any one an apology for what my Grandfather did? Do you owe me payment for my grandfathers ac tions? Will my children also be told that the apology of 1997 was not enough and they owe another apol ogy and more money? My family was among the founders of Jamestown. My last ancestor ar rived in this country before the civil war. I am a d aughter of both slaveholders and those who died to free the slaves. When Jamestown was settled the Lords of the day had servants, both bond and free. Right or wrong it was the labor force of the tim es.. Slavery was practiced in most of the world, with people selling them selves or children to pay debt. In the Ameri cas, the Indians were found to make poor slaves and the white races had a custom of being servants or work ers. not slaves. African was the one part of the world where slavery was a going business, with many groups involved with the buying and sell ing of other humans. All slaves were first sold into slavery by other blacks, then out to the world to be used as laborers in a world where men did most of the work because most of the machinery of today was not yet invented. My first ancestors landed in t / v e s ploitationofthe O.J. Sim psoncase’- that was a media lynch mob.” While often there was a further comment that “Diana was an icon- helpful in some causes—but M other Theresa was a in-your-face’ reality for almost a century, organizing and delivering resources to the poor around the world.” And speaking o f the “poor” - not to change the sub ject, but I will. Did you see that op-ed article on 0MS1 financing; it appeared in the Oregonian about a week ago and attracted comment for its statement that the science center was too ex pensive for the “poor’? Most imme diately I got calls from the parents I was advising on setting up func tional neighborhood science clubs they could afford: “Right on Mr. Burt” Interestingly, my illustrated article o f August 20,1997, “The Truth About Black Labor (and Brains)” sparked as much commentary about the “M il lion-Man M arch” as it did about the pioneering African A merican m anu facturers who accomplished so much at the turn o f the century. As to be expected, the predominant theme was “how in the world could we have retreated, so far from the pinnacle established over a hundred years ago?” I believe a very needed and highly useful dialogue has begun, I ’m getting a lot o f ‘hits’ from my correspondents in other parts of the country. W hatever or wherever the source, the reasons given for the regression range from varia tions o f the “white conspiracy” theories to “the machinations of the black market-men who assured American industry that they could deliver and control the multi-trillion dollar African American consumer market. We will explore these theories and others in the coming weeks. As a fourteen year-oldat a science club meeting remarked, “A million black men could have assessed them selves $ 100 a piece and started some great economic things.” And, as 1 have often documented here, fifty years ago and earlier, Portland blacks were pooling their salaries and b u ild in g econom ic units. Cont’dN extw eek. Ä4/JW B0IKPU$H A m e ric a $ o r tla n h ©hscruer 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 s/wiust be 62 years or older c H Deadline for all submitted materials: Articles:Friday, 5:00 pm Ads: Monday, 12:00pm Set cash out of your home e Ambassador to Mexico. The aged, but immovable, Senator Jessie Helms o f North Carolina successfully de feated W eld’s bid for the job African Americans, o f course, have extremely unpleasant memories o f the coarse, aven’t you noticed racist Senator Helms who for so many yet? There is abso bitter years fought against Civil lutely nothing new Rights, School Desegregation, Fair about the “ W EB" Employment and interaction with various sites’ O pportunity-anything that might advance blacks. from information bases and Chat Not being members o f the Empire Rooms to Electronic Malls and Dat on which it was once said, “the sun ing Parlors. We have performed this never sets” (no ancestral memories interface most of our lives; on foot, o f that situation), African Americans by auto, on the telephone, across did not get nearly as exercised over the back fence, whatever! the tragic death o f Princess Diana of Our community was hard at it the Great Britain. This despite an incred past couple o f weeks, and like the ible day and night media blitz o f an general population, several critical incomprehensible intensity (Patho (and non-critical) issues stood out; logical?). Except o f course, some o f us exam Most blacks to whom I talked said ined events with both standard and words to the effect that, “the event ethnic appraisals. Survival tactics was very regrettable, but this media don’t you know —stood the test o f over-kill is getting on my one nerve. time, Very interesting weeks, elec I’m still in shock and mourning the tronic or face-to-face. traumatic loss o f Mrs. Shabass, the Although it was o f no great mo widow o f Malcom X. And, further ment for most us, it was noted that more, I ’m still numb and disgusted ex-governor Weld o f Massachu from the stupid year-long racist ex- setts lost his fight to become U S. 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 • Eax 503-288-0015 Email: Pdxobserv@ aol.com Name: Address: City, State: Zip-Code: p Apropos of Everything In Particular Contributing Writers: Professor McKinley Burt, Lee Perlman, Neil Heilpern SUBSCRIBE TO s Jamestown and traded for their land from the Indians. During the next 200 years more of my line migrated to America. Some of my families came to America to flee bondage. Other fami lies were wealthy. Some of the rich families had both servants and slaves. The slaves were captured and sold to slave traders by other Black people in an age old trade. Right or wrong sla very is as old as mankind.. Brown, Yellow. White, Red and Blacks people have been both slaves and slave owners. Today slave trade is still practiced in part of the world. The Farleys were large land own ers and slave holders. Today the descendants of those slaves have all the same rights 1 do. and the same responsibilities. Had their parents not been brought to this country as slaves most of them would not be enjoying the Americans privileges of today. The Farleys owned slaves. The slaves worked the land and the Farleys made the money. Right or wrong, because the Farleys used slave labor, many black people today enjoy the free dom of being Americans. I do know that some of the slaves were freed before the civil war. America made the Farleys pay a heavy price for being salve holders. The civil war was fought to free the slaves. The Farleys were punished in many way, loss of land, property, and lives. The payment was high. The M orrisons also cam e to America early in our history. They settled in the North area o f our coun try Before the civil war they helped slaves gain freedom as members of t the underground railroad risking their wealth, home, lives, and standing in the community to help free the slaves. The Morisville house still stands to day in Morisville, as a tribute to the stand the family took to free the slaves. Three sons and several other relatives died during the civil war to free the slaves. These men died to save other humans that they had never met. they bleed to help a people that were not oftheir race, religion, or fam ily. These men gave their lives to save another human because they felt it was every mans right to he free to chose his own way of life. If the Black race feels that I. as a daughter of the Farleys, owe them an apology. What does the Black race owe me for the loss of lives of the Morrisons. If a dept was owed, the Morrisons blood paid it in lull Who do I apologize to? The direct chi Idrcn of the slaves bought by my Farley grandfather? What about all people the Morrisons freed, will their chil dren thank me or do I owe them an apology too. What about all the Black people who have been allowed to come to this country and become Americans. Why do they get an apol ogy because they are Black? This country is being ripped apart because of some people's attitude that they are "owed by another group. The Native Americans lost all the land, many tribes are totally wiped out, the rest of the tribes lied to and mistreated. The Japanese were forced into war labor camps and lost prop erty, Mormons were run out of the country and slandered, their homes grants, combined with the growing populations of African Americans and especially Latino/Hispanics-plus the rapidly-growing Asian American community, whose vote was spilt in ‘88-could turn the victorious 1988 GPO presidential coalition into a m i nority grouping within the next de cade (even without Perot). In 1988, whites made up 78.8% of Am erica's voting age population (V AP), and cast 59% of their votes for G eorge Bush over Michael Dukakis. African Americans made up 10.7% oftheV A P, but voted only 12% Republican; and Latino/His- panics made up 7.4% of the VAP, and cast only 23% o f their votes for Bush (who won 54-46% , on the strength of his support among white voters). were stolen by mobs. After settling in Utah fathers were forced by the USA government to give up their children and wives or to flee the country. The Chinese were used as railroad gangs. The Mexicans lost lands and lives. Africans were kid napped by their brothers in Africa and sold into slavery. And On and on. It is time we as Americans started to be just Americans. Proud ol the parents who made us who we are and who gave us our differences and strengths. Proud to be Ameri cans in a country which allows each of us to develop those strengths and differences. Ourdifferences can make our country stronger if each person becomes the best he/she can be,or ourdifferences can tcarus apart if we keep blaming others for the past, and the past for today's problems. I am proud of both the Farleys and the Morrisons. They and All the other people who came over to America made this country what it is today. It took all of them. The men with money and foresight to see, plan, and invest.. The men who built the railroads, men who fought the wars, men who toiled in the fields and rode the range, and the women who worked along side them. These are Our parents. We Should All Be Proud O f Them And Honor Their Labors By M ak ing This Country Greater With Each Generation. Sincerely, Kay L Newell By 2008. however, if the voting preferences of these groups re mained the same, the Republican share of the presidential electorate would shrink to 49.9% -because white voters will then make up only 71.6% o fth e V A P . Blacks will in crease to 11.6% of the VAP, while Latinos will increase their share ol the VAP by over half, up to 11.7%. By 2020, whites will fall to67.3% of the VAP (based on Census Bu reau projections), African A m eri cans will move up to 12.0%. and Latino/Hispanics will rise lo 14.4% (1/7) of the VAP. Thus, by 2020. the Black/Brown share of the electorate will potentially increase to more than 1/41! The numbers move in the same directions, until by 2048, w hites m ake up ju st over h a lf the \ AP (5 6 .9 % ), A sian A m e r ic a n s are 1/11 o f the V A P ((9.2% ), and the B la ck /B ro w n c o a litio n rises up to o v er 1/3 o f the V A P (33.9% )- 12.7% A fr ic a n A m e r ic a n s + 21.2% L a tin o /H isp a n ic s. O b v io u sly , th ese p ro je c tio n s are subject to change, w hile m a in ta in in g a serio u s vo tin g c o a litio n am ong A frican A m e ric a n s and L atin o /H isp an ics w ill continue to be a m ajor o rg an izin g project, the key p o in t, h o w ev er, is one m ade by p o l i t i c a l a n a l y s t K e v in Phillips: “ m a jo r e th n ic c h a n g e s have been negative for the existin g conservative parties m ore often than they have been positive.” P ic k in g O J s B o n e s B y J ohn B urris his worldly goods. As such, for them he law profession should hang the ultimate revenge is to leave him its collective head in shame at and they are prepared to the glee many of its members seem penniless, to pick his bones dry. take in seeing the manner in which If their goal is indeed emotional O.J. Simpson is totally striped of all surrender I doubt they will be suc his worldly belongings. cessful because Simpson seems to The very thought that lawyers and have shrouded himself in a protec the general population at large can tive shield that allows him not to be lake joy at seeing Simpson m other's caught in the legal gamesmanship or piano taken away from her. all in the the mano mano conflict with Fred name of getting back at him is sicken Goldman. ing. Despite the families' motives there The Browns' and the G oldm an's should be some standards adhered have a right to use every lawful means to by the lawyers as they go about the to try to satisfy the $33 million judg task of collection. ment against Simpson, hut this effort It does not hode well for the image to take all of his possessions, includ of lawyers if they are prepared to ing his Heisman, golf clubs, silver chase Simpson down night and day, ware. and more recently his autom o over every petty item, whether his biles-- seems less about money and young children, or 85 year mother arc more of an effort to break his soul. present or not, and act in a degrading Surprisingly. Simpson has thus manner the way any fly by night far demonstrated the ability to stand collection agency would act. above the loss of material things, I cannot imagine that the unfortu adopting a position that he will make nate Ron Goldman or Nicole Simpson due with whatever. This above the would have wanted it this way. fray attitude undoubtedly is causing John L. Burris is a Oakland, Califor immense frustration forthc Browns nia based civil rights attorney and and the G oldm an’s. They must be media commentator. lieve that the essence ot Simpson is T I I
