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Send y our letters Io I he Editor lo:
F dilor PO Bov 3137 Portland, OR 972(18
An Open Letter to
The President
Dear Mr. President,
I wanttothankyou for encourag
ing the Nation to enter into an hon
est dialogue on issues o f race. As a
free people, we sti 11 have the oppor
tunity to shape this mighty nation
intoa place where each individual is
important and each opinion is
counted
Mr. President, I offer you the
following suggestion as a way to
helptreatthe nations'w eeping sore
o f racial intolerance. The sugges
tion is. change the artwork on the
faces o f our money. Remove the
portraits o f the African slave trad
ers George W ashington, Thomas
Jefferson and Andrew Jackson
Also, remove from our money the
likeness o f Abraham Lincoln, a pro
fessor in the doctrine o f racial su
periority.
Mr. President, I ask you ear
nestly. what purpose is served by
having a five cent piece depicting a
sla v e b r e e d e r s ’ m an sio n at
Monticello, Virginia.
Monticello must evoke feelings in
the African American similar to those
evoked in Jewish Americans when they
see pictures o f the death camps of
( iennany. or what Japanese Americans
must feel when they are re-visited with
WWII images ofdetention. Mr. Presi
dent, can you imagine how a Native
American might feel ifthe Indian pris
ons at Ft. Leavenworth, in frontier
Kansas, were seen as a sy m bol worthy
of national pride?
Mr. President, I again thank you
for this opportunity to engage in a
dialogue and to remind you o f the
contribution African laborhasmade
to this great nation, a contribution
deserving recognition, not insults.
Sincerely yours,
C. Walker
Port land, Oregon
To the Editor:
Will the people o f Oregon stand
up this time around on the physi
cian-assisted suicide measure and
vote Yes to repeal it? (Abolish it. )
Ethical doctors do not want the
responsibility to assist in destroy
ing life There is no place in the
medical profession or society for
laws that authorize them lokill. I heir
healing role is comprom ised by such
laws.
C onsider Biblical values. We
are created to overcom e any atti
tudes or circum stances that try to
take away o u rg ift o flife . includ
ing depression, disablem ent, trag-
edy. We are stronger and very
capable of enjoying life in the worst
of circum stances because we are
created with a divine purpose and
<1 destiny liven if we c a n ’t see or I
understand how our existence has
any purpose in it. God does see
and does work out His plans and
put poses. For us to end our life or
som eone e ls e 's based on our I
\ ie\s s o f their quality o f life, makes I
us ( tad , as if we know what is best I
lor anv living human being. Vote |
YES on M easure 5 1!
Sincerely,
Alex and Rebecca Johnson
s P
e
o f the dru g s, th e ir only a lte rn a
tive to the te stin g is to do n o th
ing but w hen asked by a rep o rter
if she re a liz e d that th ese tests
could not be done in the U .S., the
head o f the testin g program in the
Ivory C oast asked, “ If the c o u n
try that is p ay in g for the study
cannot accept co n d u ctin g it, then
we c a n ’t be expected to accept it
e ith e r.”
The fact that these drug trials
are being done in third w orld
c o u n trie s in ev itab ly raises q u e s
tio n s a b o u t g o v e rn m e n t te sts
using the poor and people o f
color.
Even the New E ngland Jo u r
nal o f M edicine has com pared
this new study to the infam ous
T uskegee e x p e rim e n ts done by
the fed eral g o v ern m en t on poor,
u n ed u cated black men w ho w ere
never to ld that they w ere not
being treated for syphilis and who
never w ere offered treatm ent even
a fte r p e n ic illin had been proven
to be e ffe c tiv e.
In the latest tw ist in this new
case, several m em bers o the New
E ngland Journal o f M edicine e d i
to rial board resigned a fte r the
e d ito ria l a p p eared , say in g they
had n ev er been c o n su lte d about
the a rtic le and that they did not
ag re e w ith it.
W h e th e ra co m p a riso n with the
T u sk eg eeex p erim en t is fair or ac
c
c u ra te or not, there are som e
real m oral and ethical questions
w hich m ust be answ ered Is it
eth ical to do a test elsew h ere
w hich we could not do in our
ow n co u n try ? Is it eth ical to do
co m p lex te stin g using poor,
m ostly uneducated peo p le who
have few or no o ther op tio n s
fo r treatm en t?
- Can we ab so lutely disco u n t
the elem ent o f race in all o f this?
Is it fair to ask w om en to p a r
tic ip a te in such a study only
m inutes after learning they have
this deadly disease and that
m ost likely th eir unborn c h il
dren w ill have it as w ell?
But in the articles being w rit
ten by m edical e th ic ists and
others, no w here have I yet seen
the question being raised about
the ethics o f ch arging th o u
sands o f d o llars for m edicine
w hich we know save lives.
Indeed, H IV /A ID S patien ts
in the U.S. spend $ 1 2 -1 5 ,0 0 0
a n n u ally for these drugs. P h a r
m a c e u tic al co m p a n ie s argue
th at they m ust be able to re
coup the high cost o f research .
But w here does re sp o n sib il
ity to th eir pro fit line and re
sp o n sib ility to m illion o f poor
people who are destined to die
w ith o u t the drugs begin?
W hat is the ethics o f only
the rich o f the w orld having
a c c e s s to th e se lif e - s a v in g
d ru g s?
T hat to me is the real m oral
and ethical dilem m a.
t
V
s
e
will The 'North' Rise Affiin?
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Ethics And AIDS
h e r e 's been a q u ie t up
roar in the medical com
m unity in the past few
w eeks as it has becom e p u u n blic
d ersto o d that it was already
that the fed eral g o v e rn m e n t has
know n that A ZT p re v e n ts the
financed a m edical study usin g
tran sm issio n o f the virus d u ring
third world women who are p reg
p re g n a n c y .
nant and w ho have H IV /A ID s.
W hen asked if she found out
D octors a lre a d y know th at
she had rec e iv e d a placeb o w hen
w hen p re g n a n t w om en re c e iv e
a pro v en tre a tm e n t alread y e x
the drug A TZ that th e ir b abies
ists, she re p lie d , “ I w ould say
are m ore likely to be free from
quite sim ply that it is an in ju s
the virus. But, in this stu d y ,
tic e .”
som e o f the w om en are g iv e n a
The te stin g is n ecessary , we
sh o rten ed c o u rse o f the e x p e n
are told, to see if th ere is a less
sive AZT, w hile others are given
ex p e n siv e way to treat the g ro w
a placeb o , or dum m y pill.
ing n u m b e ro fp e o p le in d e v e lo p
The women, from Africa, T hai
ing c o u n trie s w ith H IV /A ID S
land and the D om inican R epub-
w hich ca n n o t a ffo rd the e x p e n
ic, w ere asked if they w ish ed to
sive and c o m p lic a te d A ZT re g i
p a rtic ip a te in the study and the
men.
term s o f the experim ent w ere also
The c o n tro v e rsy has eru p ted ,
e x p lain ed to them , that is, that
largely in the m edical com m unity
they m ay re c e iv e the dru g or
so far, aro u n d the e th ic s o f tr e a t
they may rec e iv e a placeb o .
ing som e w om en w ith a drug
H ow ever, a recen t New Y ork
know n to help, w hile g iv in g o th
Times reporter interview ed som e
ers the dum m y p ills, p e rh a p s
o f the w om en p a rtic ip a tin g in
do o m in g the u n tre a te d w om en
the testin g program and found
and th eir ch ildren to die. and then
that for m any, the c o n c e p t o f a
there is a q u estio n o f the eth ic s
sc ie n tific test in w hich som e get
o f doing a study w hich w ould not
m e d ic a tio n and o th e rs g e t a
be allo w ed here in the U .S. in
dum m y pill is not u n d ersto o d .
third w orld co u n tries.
O ne w om an told o f hav in g
W hile U .S. g o v e rn m e n t o f f i
the test e x p la in e d to her w ithin
cials arg u e that because these
an ho u r o f fin d in g out she c a r
d ev e lo p in g c o u n trie s can n o t a f
ries the A ID S virus and that it
ford the h ig h -co st A ZT drug for
may be tra n sm itte d to her u n
th e ir p a tie n ts, this te stin g is the
born child.
only option that m akes sense, and
A n o th e r , m o r e e d u c a te d
som e A frican p u blic health o f f i
w om an in d icated th at she n ev er
cials say that b ecau se o f the price
Jttx Pioti :
with the tone and tenor o f my eco
nomic commentary over the years
w ill say, “M ckinley’s hurting again-
missed opportunities.”
m Rather glad that response
Well, not really. What actually
to last w eek's article about a bought this type o f economic enter
spec idem inority enterprise did prise to mind was a certain fact oflife
not indicate the readers concluded
derived from a page-by-page assess
the concept to be fatally Hawed.
ment o f the Portland, O bserver's big
The venture described was a
comprehensive “Minority Enterprise
1970's" REIT’ tobeoperated in Wash
Development” issue. It is not meant
ington. D.C., the knowledgeable in
to surprise anyone when I state that
vestor will identify those letters with
"M inorities are doing better in retail
a “ Real Estate Investment Trust.”
and service-but land and its ameni
Very simply put (very simply), this is
ties are not our' thing at this time.”
when a pool o f investors jointly hold,
Your most immediate comment
buy, sell, rent, lease, build or other
might be, “is land and its develop
wise benefit from the ownership o f
ment anyone’s thing, unless rich,
real property-apartm ents, hotels,
corporate or governmental?” I would
shopping centers.
be hard-pressed to disagree, recall
Those familiar with the basic con
ing the economic environment dur
cept, though not necessarily with the
ing the time I was teaching “Urban
financial sophistications, will imme
economic Experience at Portland State
diately recognize Portland, Oregon
University (the first halfofthe 1970s).
as a current beehive o f these devel
It was so much easier, then, for
opers. And many o f those familiar
those 'at-the-margin o f the economy
\ I < K i m . i 1
Bi ri
I
to become involved in land and its
development. I citetwoexamples from
that PSU class which was designed
to equip the neophyte with the tools’
and procedures I d gained from ' real-
time’experience.
One ‘enterprise’ was a white fe
male and her middle-aged mother,
both o f whom had taken some car
pentry and related courses at a com
munity college. By the end of the
second, unit, these two students had
used their savings to purchase a half-
finished house-and persuaded a sav-
ings& loan to underwrite itscomple-
tion while they lived in the ‘base
m ent’ and did most o f the work.
When I saw them again in later
years, they had acquired a number of
properties, initially in this manner. In
addition they had formed an associa
tion o f women property owners who
shared critical information and con
tacts.
My second example is that o f the
Black Education Center school on
N.E. 17th near Alberta Street. Founded
by a committed group o f young black
collegestudents.theirdedicationand
the community’s needs soon out
stripped their small rented house.
After meeting them and assessing
theirneeds I designed a unique model
for unsolicited proposals to chari
table trusts and corporations-an ab
solutely unheard o f proposition at
thattime(any othertime?). And while
the shocked targets were mulIing over
these proposals, the young people
were out locating a building(s) to fit
the proposals.
As w e ’ve said, the eco n o m ic
clim ate was d ifferen t in those
d ay s, and in quick su ccession
the group “ b o u g h t” the fo rm er
p u blic library on N.E. 17th and
th e tw o b u ild in g s on A lb e rta
S treet, now ow ned by the “ H ouse
o f Umoja!
Will related opportunities arise
again? they say, “what goes around
comes around!”
Struggling To Pay the Rent”
Dr. Manning Marable “Along the Color Line ss
he majority o f all African-
cent o f renters paid more than they
American families are rent
could afford for one-bedroom apart
ers, not homeowners. Most
ments and more than 40 percent did
people with low incomes, racial
so mi
for two-bedroom apartments.”
norities and the unemployed, are al
Not surprisingly, housing condi
ways confronted with the difficult
tions were worse in major urban cen
challenge o f finding decent housing
ters and in states with high concen
which they can afford. Increasingly
trations o f low income work ing class
for millions o f A m ericans-black,
and unemployed people, such as New
Latino, Asian and white alike-that
York. The study found that 48 per
challenge has become an “ impos
cent o f all renters in New York State
sible dream.”
were unable to afford the estimated
A recently released study by the
fair market rent for a one-bedroom
national Low Income Housing Coali
apartment, $687, and 54 percent were
tion, which represents a broad spec
unable to afford a two-bed room rent,
trum o f housing advocacy groups,
$796. The report estimated that New
fully documents this growing prob
York renters would have to earn wages
lem. The study observed: “Housing
exceeding $ 13.22 an hour to afford a
costs, for most people, represent the
one-bedroom apartment, and $ 15.32
largest monthly expense. Most people
an hour toafford a two-bedroom apart
pay their rent first, buying food, cloth
ment.
ing and health care with what re
Even these dire statistics fail to
mains.”
c a p tu re the vast social conse-
The report used an index devel
q u e n c e so fth e housingcrisis. Hun
oped by the Department o f Housing
dreds o f thousands o f fam ilies in
and Urban Development to estimate
New York City, largely black and
the cost o f decent but modest hous
Latino, live doubled or tripled up
ing in cities and states throughout
with their relatives, friends and
the US. The study found that in al
neighbors. Crow ded housing con
most every state “more than 30 per-
ditions push poor fam ilies fre
T
quently into unsafe or unsanitary
conditions, threatening the health
and w e lfare o f th eir ch ild ren .
Y oungsters who have no space for
hom ework and study are less com
petitive when they go to school.
The lack o f adequate shelter di
rectly contributes to dom estic vio
lence and spousal abuse.
What are the solutions to address
the housing crisis? Conservatives
who say that the federal government
should get out o f the housing busi
ness, and let the marketplace deter
mine the availability and cost o f shel
ter by the laws o f supply and demand,
are just wrong. The private sector
overall has little interest in construct
ing millions o f new housing units for
people ofmodest means. Luxury con
dom inium sandshopping malls have
larger profit margins. We need to
devote a greater share o f national
resources to guarantee that clean,
basic shelter is considered an inalien
able right. No one should be home
less or poorly housed, in a land of
vast material affluence.
But the real solution to the hous
ing crisis can only be achieved by
raising al I incomes to meet the cost of
basic human needs. In short, you
c a n t pay the rent if you don't have a
job, or if the job your have doesn’t
earn enough for you to pay your
monthly bills, including rent.
According to the research o f the
New York based National Jobs for Al I
coalition, as o f 1996 there were nearly
17 million adults working full-time,
year-round jobs, who were earning
less than the poverty level for a fam i ly
o f four. Another 4.3 million workers
have part-time jobs, but aren 't able to
get fill-timepositions. Addingto these
millions o f Americans are the dis
placed former recipients o f aid to
Families With Dependent Children
The draconian 1996 Welfare Bill
hurled a million children into poverty,
and coerced hundreds o f thousands
o f women into workfare programs
and low wage jobs that don’t pay
enough to afford decent shelter.
Building more affordable housing
is helpful, but not enough. Only when
all American have a real living wage
or a guaranteed income if they are
unable to work, will all ofus be able to
pay the rent
i