N ovember 5, 1997 » T he P oritand O bserver
P age A?
P O L IC E H E W S
Series Of Convenience
Store Armed Robberies
Portland Police Bureau D etec
tives, in cooperation withCrime Stop
pers, are asking for your help in iden
tilying and apprehending a subject
believed responsible lor a least nine
convenience store armed robberies
in North. Northeast, and Southeast
Portland, starting with the Septem
ber 26. 1997 robbery of the Plaid
Pantry at 2730 North Lombard.
O f the nine robberies, seven have
been to Plaid Pantrys and two have-
been to "mom and pop” type stores.
One store, the Plaid Pantry at 2730
North Lombard, has been robbed
twice by the suspect. On Saturday,
October 18,1997. the suspect robbed
four stores, two in Southeast Port
land and two in Northeast Portland.
In two of the four robberies, the sus
pect fired a shot.
The suspect is described as a very
light complected black male, approxi-
M JIM»
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öl
Northwest still stuggles with
the issues of race
B y J ames L. P osey
mately 30 years of age, 5 ’9", 170
pounds, with amoustache/goatee, and
wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt,
with a Nike swoosh on the left breast,
and armed with a handgun.
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash
reward of up to $1,000 for informa
tion, reported to Crime Stoppers,
which leads to an arrest in this case,
or any unsolved felony crime, and
you can remain anonymous. Call
Crime Stoppers at (503) 823-HELP.
Search Warrant Served On
Alternative Health Center
Officers from the Portland Police
Bureau, Drugs and Vice Division,
served Search Warrants at two Port
land area locations this afternoon in
connection with the A lternative
Health Center. The Center, allegedly
involved in the trafficking of M ari
juana, is located at 333 SW Park
Avenue and was the site of a Septem
ber 24, 1997 Search Warrant.
W arran ts w ere serv ed at the
A lte rn a tiv e H ealth C e n te r and at
3645 N M ichigan. Since the S e p
tem b er S earch W arran t, in vesti
g ato rs have d isc o v e re d a ch an g e
in the C en ter o p e ra tio n p ro ce-
Diversity Summit
du re. M ariju an a buyers co n tact
the 333 SW Park add ress and
p rep ay for a sp e c ifie d am ount of
M ariju an a. T he bu y ers, given a
v o u ch er, are then d ire c te d to the
3645 N. M ichigan add ress to re
c e iv e the M arijuana.
When police officers entered the
Alternative Health Center location,
Marijuana was being smoked by cus
tomers.
A rrested and ch arged w ith 3
c o u n ts o f d istrib u tio n o f a c o n
tro lle d S u b stan ce (D CS I) M a ri
ju a n a and I count o f C onspiracy
to C om m it DCS I-M ari juana was
D iane D e n sm o re, DOB A ugust
2, 1947. She w as placed in c u s
tody at the A lte rn a tiv e H ealth
C e n te r lo c a tio n . D in sm o re is
lodged in the Ju stic e C e n te r Ja il.
Arrested and charged at the north
Portland location was Clarence W.
Harper Jr., June 15, 1949, 3 counts
each of DCS I and PCS I-Marijuana.
Matthew L.H. Harris, DOB Febru
ary 3, 1933, I count each of DCS I
and PCS I-M arijuana. Dennis G.
Payne, January 23, 1948, I count
each of DCS I and PCS I-Marijuana.
The three men are also lodged in the
Justice Center jail.
n O cto b er 25th
S kyview H igh S ch
ool
(V a n c o u v e r,
W ash in g to n ), h o sted the s e c
ond in a series o f D iversity sum
m its spo n so red by the C lark
C ounty YW CA.
The fe a tu re d sp e a k e r w as
M orris D ees, renow ned w hite
civil rig h ts activ ist and founder
o f S outhern P overty Law C e n
ter. D ees is m ost noted for his
su ccessfu l p ro secu tio n o f n a
tional Ku Klux Kian leader Tom
M etzger and his son, a fte r the
brutal k illin g o f a local E th io
pian stu d e n t (M u lu g e ta S eraw )
in 1988.
T he case, tried here in P o rt
lan d , c a p tu re d the n a tio n a l
sp o tlig h t in part because it w as
the first tim e a K ian le a d e r w as
held c rim in a lly liable for the
death o f a black person based
on in stig a tin g racist hale crime-
activity.
In view o f the u p c o m in g
P o rtlan d forum on race, the
q u estion is w h eth er the state o f
W ashington, or m ore s p e c ifi
cally V ancouver, m ore p ro g re s
sive in its effo rts to stem the
tide o f racist a c tiv ity than O r
egon or the C ity o f P o rtla n d ?
W ell, it is d iffic u lt to co n clu d e
based only on V a n co u v er h o st
ing a few forum s focused on
d iv e rsity issues.
But w hat is c le a r is th at the
N o rth w est, like m ost o f the
c o u n try , is still stru g g lin g w ith
issues o f in c lu sio n in g e n e ra l and
race in p a rtic u la r.
T he S kyview ev en t was re fle c
tiv e o f this stru g g le and in m any
w ays p o rtra y s the array o f p e r
sp e c tiv e s a sso c ia te d w ith d iv e r
sity issu es.
W hen the se ssio n s bro k e out
into w o rk sh o p s to d isc u ss d iv e r
sity in v o lv in g e m p lo y m e n t and
ed u cation, m any view s w ere e m o
tio n al a b o u t the e x te n t o f racism
e x p e rie n c e d in the sch o o l d is
tric ts, w ith m ajor e m p lo y e rs, law
e n fo rc e m e n t, etc.
B ut it w as e v id e n t that d ia
logue w as in e ffe c t, p rim a rily
p re a c h in g to the ch o ir. A nd it
b ecam e c le a r th at no new a n
sw ers w ould e m e rg e as to how to
e ffe c tiv e ly co m b at the forces o f
ra c ism and in to le ra n c e .
D esp ite th is in e v ita b ility , e v
ery e ffo rt w as m ade to p re se n t a
p o sitiv e , upbeat m ood about the
p ro g re ss o f d iv e rsity stra te g ie s
in the c o m m u n ity .
F a c ilita to r and d iv e rsity c o n
su lta n t D arrell S im m s and o th e rs
w orked to d e fle c t m ore rad ical
c o n c e rn s ab o u t w hy racism and
in to le ra n c e p e rsist.
A nd it seem ed that m ost p a r
tic ip a n ts w ere sa tisfie d , given the
m ood o f the co u n try to w ard race
issu e s, to m erely c e le b ra te the
fact that they w ere able to atten d
such an ev en t.
T h e a r r iv a l and sp e e c h by
M o rris D ees seem ed a n tic lim a c
tic and h ig h lig h ts the d ile m m a
th a t som e find in th is fig h t
a g a in st racism .
C e rta in ly no one d o u b ts the
im p o rtan ce o f the w ork o f M o r
ris D ees and all his su p p o rte rs.
M any h o w e v e r b e lie v e , th e
m ore su b tle , e n d e m ic fo rm s o f
racism , like T e x a c o ’s ra c ist e m
plo y m en t p ra c tic e s, are m ore
harm ful to a p ro g re ssiv e s o c i
ety.
And it is this b en ig n n e g le c t
o f th e se in stitu tio n a l p ra c tic e s
w hich really p e rp e tu a te the e x
istence o f o rg a n iz a tio n s like the
KK K . So w hile M o rris D ees
becom es a liv in g icon fig h tin g
the d ra m a tiz e d a n tic s o f w h ite
su p re m a c ists, the m ore su b tle ,
ste a lth w hite su p re m a c ists in
the school sy stem act to p r e
vent young m in o ritie s from g e t
tin g a first c la ss e d u c a tio n .
N e v e rth e le ss, the o rg a n iz e rs
got it rig h t by e n su rin g s ig n if i
cant involvem ent by area youth.
In fact, th e ir p a rtic ip a tio n m ay
have been the b rig h te st a sp e c t
o f the sum m it.
C o n tra ry to p o p u la r o p in io n
th a t the youth today are u n c o n
c e rn e d . these V a n c o u v e r-a re a
y o u th s se e m e d e n g a g e d and
k n o w led g eab le.
M ore im p o rta n tly , they w ere
not w illin g to let a d u lts d o m i
nate the d isc u ssio n on this m ost
im portant issue. By this account
alone, the sum m it can be ju d g e d
a su ccess.
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