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DEC. 24, 1997
Page B2
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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
(Tl|c ^Iorthnih (©bseruer
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Attention Readers!
Please take a minute to »end us your comment«. W e’re always trying to giveyou
a better paper and we can’t do it without your help. Tell us what you like and
what needs improvement., any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. We
take criticism well! Get your pow erful pens out NOW and address your letters
to: Editor. Reader Response, P-O, Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208,
(USPS 959-680) Established in 1970
M ark W ashington
D istsribution M a n a g er
Gary Ann T aylor
B u siness M anager
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
D irector o f O peration
O ver the years, I have heard many
Af rican Americans ask the fateful ques­
tion; "Is life really a song, an inspiring
refrain that, for some, can break"
through the dissonant cacophonies of
hard realities?
And they ask from that urban tab­
leau - from that frequently traumatic
stage we call the inner city - “can we
really feel that bold musical déclara
tion your land and my land’." O r as
one reader queried of last w eek'squote
from ' America, The Beautiful, "Purple
mountain majesties, above the fruited
Iesha W illiam s
Graphic Design
C o n trib u tin g W riters:
Professor M cK inley Burt,
Lee Perlm an,
Neil H eilpern
Joy Ram os
4747 N E M artin L uther K ing, Jr. Blvd.,
Portland, O regon 97211
503-288-0033 • Fax 503-288-0015
Em ail: P dxobserv@ aol.com
plain.”
“It sounds good M cKinley - just as
it did in my high school -years ago, but
how do blacks get all that emotionally
involved with the system ’s 'ideolo­
gies and philosophy, when they need
all their wits about them, facing the
new forms of gentrification, redlining
and urban renewal/removal'.’ With the
Gorge, National Parks?”
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A ssociation • Serving Portland and V ancouver.
S ubscribe to ® iïc $ n r t i a n h
The rush o f X -M as is once again
upon us. In the w eeks from T hanks­
giving to the New Y ear consum ers
crazed by capitalist induced consum ­
erism will spend hundreds o f billions
o f dollars thereby bolstering the bot­
tom line o f giant retail establishments.
In large m easure the real m eaning of
C hristm as as the birthday o f one who
cam e to liberate hum anity from suf­
fering and bondage has been buried
by an alm ost obsessive com m ercial­
ism. C hristm as has becom e a pris­
oner o f X -M as. U nfortunately, A fri­
can A m ericans, an oppressed people
still plagued by racism and econom ic
exploitation, are also caught up in
this counter productive charade.
An oppressed people m ust be de-
® b Bm . e r
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T he P ortland O bserver ; PO B ox 3137
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Zip-Code:
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To B e E qual
Who is An American?
I
1
i
v
e
s
Another reader said that I had cho­
sen and excellent vehicle for pointing
out a most aggravating element arising
from Am erica's much publicized clash
o f cultures. But he also made the case
for “blacks preserving soul and sanity,
balancing internal beauty against those
'slings-and-arrow s of an outrageous
fate’.”
Say, I really liked this Georgia truck
driver and asked him to stop by any
other time he has a layover here. We
both recalled the 1930’s poem of
Langston Hughes, “Lenox Avenue
Mural
W hat happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
O r fester like a sore
and then run?
. ..or does it explode?
Several black fem ales engaged in
either the theatre or graphic arts had
some interesting, even noble, com -
m entary. One lady at the coffee shop
spoke extensively on ’areal life "stage
m anagem ent" being absolutely nec­
essary to “black survival.” She quoted
Henry Dum as, “O ne o f the greatest
roles ever created by W estern man
has been the role o f ‘N egro” ."
Som eone else said that the movie
"A m istad” may arouse too great a
hope that Hollyw ood or media in gen­
eral is about to raise that 'cotton cur­
tain’; the regressive veil that for so
many citizens of ebony hue has ob­
scured the view o f and participation in
that great "American Land and Space.”
“G one with the W ind” lives on, this
person added.
Others pointed to television as a
force “gradually adjusting the view ­
points and attitudes of the majority to
an extent that might permit a friction­
less enjoyment o f urban space.” An
expected reply was, "dream on kid,
things don’t change, they ju st go un-
derground.”
An actor insisted that the A m eri­
can scene is better understood from
theatrical param eters than from all
the ethnic, social and urban co n sid ­
erations applied. He quoted Katherine
D unham , fam ed black dancer and
anthropologist. “ In the book, The
N eg ro C arav an ’, the influential play­
w right, C h a rles F rohinan (1 860-
1915), said never give a nigger (sic)
a lin e’.”
N o ta ‘line’ nor a meaningful ‘role’
in the scheme o f things was the con­
sensus, here. An artist pointed out that
the scenes in Norm an R ockw ell’s il­
lustrations o f “Am ericana” was “the
reality o f Am erica - yet not quite real.
Three black children out o f a thousand
pictures.”
O ur artist might have inquired was
this that early “spirit val concept” of
A merican land as “a paradise given -
E den?”
liberate and purposeful about plot­
ting their liberation. It should be clear,
therefore, that A fricans in A m erica
cannot afford to participate in and
su p p o rt X -M ax . El H ajj M alik
Shabazz, M alcolm X called upon
Black people to achieve liberation
by “any m eans necessary.” O ne of
the most im portant w eapons at our
disposal as an oppressed people in
this capitalist, greed driven nation is
our hard earned, precious dollars —
green pow er! By som e estim ates
B lack consum ers now spend 400 bil­
lion dollars each year m uch o f which
goes to feed huge businesses/corpo-
rations w hich are the pillars o f U.S.
capitalism — the backbone o f this
oppressive system.
B eyond a few jo b s , th ese c o rp o ­
ratio n s c o n trib u te n o th in g to the
social and ec o n o m ic uplift o f Black
co m m u n ities. In d eed , it is in-their
b est in te rest to k eep us in ch a in s,
sla v es to a m in d less co n su m erism
th at d rain s d e sp e ra te ly need ed re ­
so u rce s from o u r c o m m u n itie s to
fill th e ir c o rp o ra te co ffers. X -M as
is an in teg ral p a rt o f th is sch em e. I
w o u ld v en tu re to say that B lack
c o n s u m e r d o lla rs c o n s titu te the
critica l m arg in o f p ro fit for m ost
retail e sta b lish m e n ts d u rin g the X-
M as season. In fac t p ro p o rtio n ­
ately B lack c o n su m e rs sp en d m ore
than any o th e r g ro u p d u rin g X-
M as. A nd, sin ce X -M as is the m ake
o r break seaso n for retail co n cern s,
the B lack d o lla r in effect is the
m a jo r facto r en su rin g the p ro fit­
ab ility o f th ese g ian t co m p an ie s on
an an n u al basis.
W e m u st b re a k th e c h a in s o f
X -M a s if w e are s e rio u s a b o u t
o u r lib e r a tio n . If th e b la c k N a ­
tio n can m o b iliz e m illio n s o f m en
an d w o m en fo r the M illio n M an
M a rc h (M M M ) a n d M illio n
W o m an M a rc h (M W M ) th e n w e
s h o u ld be a b le to e d u c a te , m o b i­
lize an d o rg a n iz e m illio n s o f c a p ­
tiv e s o f X -M as to e sca p e th e p la n ­
ta tio n o f s e lf - d e s tr u c tiv e c o n ­
su m e ris m s tr ik in g te llin g b lo w s
w ith a a w e s o m e w ea p o n w h ic h
w e h a v e in o u r o w n h a n d s ---
B la c k d o lla r s .
Bringing D em ocracy To T he U nited States
Name: _________________________________________________________
Address:
A story in the D ecem ber 14th New
York T im es declared that a joint
Tim es/C B S new s poll had found, as
the headline put it, “A m ericans Re­
ject M eans But N ot Ends o f Racial
D iversity.”
The report, w hich included graphs
and adiscussion o f the possible m ean­
ing o f som e of the statistics, said that
"A m ericans today endorse the goal
o f racial diversity in schools and
office, but reject som e o f the mam
m ethods used so far to achieve it.”
Y et, in my view, this poll was not
quite w hat it se e m e d -e v e n to the
T im es/C B S N ew s p o llsters; and
therefore its finding must be regarded
in a different, m ore com plex way.
For one thing, the headline is
wrong. A m ericans do not “reject”
the m eans to achieve diversity: W hite
A m ericans oppose those m eans, gen­
erally speaking, by significant m ar­
gins. Black A m ericans support them,
generally speaking, by even m ore
significant margins.
For example, 57 percent of whites
said that affirmative action programs
weren't needed loensurc that businesses
have diverse work forces; 80 percent of
blacks said they were. Only 35 percent of
whites agreed that affirmati ve action pro­
grams should be continued “for the fore­
seeable future,” but 80 percent of blacks
said they should.
Even when blacks and whites agreed
on a survey question, the gaps were
striking: 82 to 95 percent of blacks
supported special educational and job-
training programs for minorities, and
laws to protect them against discrim i­
nation in hiring and promotion. The
percentage o f w hites w ho agreed
ranged from 59 to 65 percent.
But, despite those gaps, that agree­
ment does exist suggests that A m eri­
cans have a m ore com plex view of
the m eans to achieve diversity than
t
Breaking The Chains Of X-Mas
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C harles W ashington
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e
that headline acknow ledges. That
may be because the poll is skew ed by
a serious flaw: it focuses only on
blacks and whites.
Y et the statistics o f em ploym ent
and college- and graduate school-
adm ission show that w hite women,
H isp an ic A m eric an s, an d A sian
A m ericans have also benefitted sig­
nificantly from affirm ative action.
The views o f and about those groups-
- significant actors in our diverse
s o c ie ty -a re absent from this survey.
N onetheless, the survey is valu­
able.
W hat can be said is that, on the
one hand, 61 percent o f w hites feel
affirm ative action program s should
be either ended now, or phased out in
the next few years, w hile, on the
other, nearly 66 percent agree that
there should be special preparatory
educational andjob-program s(w hich
m any conservatives w ould likely
classify as affirm ative action) to help
m inorities.
This seeming contradiction does
reflect what the two m ajor referenda to
this date on affirmative action—the
California electorate’s approval of a
ban on affirmative action in 1996; the
Houston electorate’s choosing last
month to continue that city 's affirm a­
tive action program-have shown : How
affirmative action programs are oper­
ated, and how affirmative action is
explained is crucial to whether a m a­
jority of whites will support it.
The gap betw een w hite support
for racial diversity and their o b jec­
tion to the m eans to achieve it has
existed since the founding o f the n a­
tion. Indeed, a G allu p poll, taken just
before the 1963 m arch on W ashing­
ton, found that 63 percent o f those
surveyed disapproved o f it, and that
38 percent felt that the civil rights
m ovem ent was being too assertive in
pushing for bedrock civil rights for
blacks in the South.
I
T he Intern atio n al Institute lor
D em ocracy and Electoral A ssistance
(IDE A) “H andbook o f Electoral S ys­
tem D esign" teaches us that:
“Political institutions shape the rules
of the game under which denux.’racy is
practiced, and it is often argued that the
easiest political institution to he manipu­
lated, for giMxl or bad, is the electoral
system, because in translating the voles
cast in a general election into seats in the
legislature, the choice of election into
seats in the legislature, the choice of
electoral system can effectively deter­
mine who is elected and which party
gains power."
In an attem pt to reshape the rules
o f th e g a m e . C o n g re s s w o m a n
C ynthia M cK inney o f G eorgia last
m onth introduced House Bill 3068.
A bill w hich would allow states to
use proportional representation. The
bill is co-sponsored by Jesse Jackson
(IL ), C h ak a F attah (PA ), E ddie
B e rn ic e J o h n s o n (T X ), Ja m e s
Clyburn (SC), and Eva Clayton (NC).
All six sponsors are D em ocrats,
and all are African A m ericans. Once
again, the descendants of salves are
taking the lead in guiding A m erica
towards a real dem ocracy, a true gov­
ernm ent of, by, and for the people.
H.B 3068 is a response to recent
Supreme Court decisions w hich have
underm ined the spirit of the voting
Rights Act. by severely lim iting m a­
jority-m inority districts. Since the
R cagan/B ush C ourt has decided that
the C ongresses o f the I990s-tho.se
diversified by the V oting Rights Act,
the m ost representative C ongresses
in the history o f this country-m ust be
nullified. Rep. M cKinney has been
searching for another way to insure
fair and equal rep resen tatio n for
w om en and m inorities.
H erconclusion-change the way we
vote, and the way we decide the win­
ners of elections. The current big-
m o n e y .g e r r y - m a n d e r c d ,
uncom petitive, winner-take-all elec­
tion system s we have now are injuring
our dem ocracy, depressing voter turn­
out, and alienating the citizenry.
Her solution-give PR a chance.
L et’s experim ent with alternative
voting system s, w hich are more in­
clusive and would involve all A m eri­
cans in our dem ocracy. L et’s jo in the
rest o f the w orld, by putting a propor­
tional representation system in place
to elect our political leaders.
Her bill does not force any stale to
change its voting system , but it does
allow states the right to experim ent.
Right now. all states m ust use single­
better Cv
m em ber districts, not due to any
C onstitutional im perative, but b e­
cause a law requiring single-m em ber
districting was passed in 1967 as a
response to attem pts to subvert “one
person, one vole” and the V oting
R ights Act o f 1965.
N ow that the Suprem e C ourt is
gutting the V oting Rights Act, how ­
ever, it’s time to m ove beyond single­
m em ber districts, and w inner-take-
all elections. It’s time for the U.S. to
develop election system s that limit
the role o f m oney, and m axim ize the
inclusion o f all points o f view.
Winning reforms such as instant run­
off, proportional representation, and cu­
mulative voting will not be quick or easy.
T hat’s why we need to get started. We
applaud Rep. McKinney and the Center
for Voting & Democracy (CVD) for
taking on this fight.
QLditor
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
To The Editor:
This year w e ’re m oving toward
our goal o f raising m ore than $ 19.6
m illion. W ith the assistance o f do­
nors and volunteers, I believe we
can reach this goal.
I w ould like to take this opportu­
nity to thank the Portland O bserver
for all o f your extra efforts in get­
ting United W ay’s m essage out into
the community. Y ou've helped your
readers make inform ed decisions
on where and how they want to
To the Editor:
I k now th at I am a little late
in w ritin g th is, b ut I w o u ld like
to th a n k you sin c e re ly fo r y o u r
e d ito r ia l in th e N o v . 19th issu e
of THE PORTLA N D O B ­
S E R V E R It w as w ell w ritte n
a n d s o u n d e d b e tte r th an the
w o rd s th a t I w ro te th a t you
q u o te d from .
S adly, my co n c iliato ry letter
ev o k ed not only w ords o f praise
but also som e hate m a il. The "hate
donate their m oney to im prove their
com m unity. W hen everyone gives
through United W ay, more individu­
als and fam ilies can be helped.
The dollars raised will support 160
programs, including those at the Albina
Ministerial Alliance, which distrib­
utes United Way scholarship funds to
help parents apply for child care in
center-based or family day-care set­
tings; Boy Scouts of America, C as­
cade Pacific Council, which supplies
weekly In-School Scouting programs
for third-though fifth-graders, teach­
ing com m unication skills, com munity
aw areness and first aid; Delaunay Fam ­
ily of Services, w hich seeks to allevi­
ate emotional problem s brought on by
traumatic events, including family vio­
lence and the use o f alcohol and drugs;
and many, many more.
Thank you for your support and
for all you have done and will do to
help change p eo p le’s lives. A lso a
big thanks goes to all o f the donors
w ho continue to m ake a difference in
people’s lives. O ne of United W ay ’s
com m itm ents to the com m unity is
to do its very best to m ake sure
every dollar goes w here it’s needed
most. It’s a prom ise United W ay
keeps every day because every d o l­
lar counts.
Sincerely,
Robert G. M iller
1997 U nited W ay C am p aig n
Chairm an
C E O and President
Fred M eyer, Inc.
m a il'' that I rec eiv ed rev ealed m is­
p laced an g er w hich I w ish that I
co u ld deal w ith or resp o n d to. A n y ­
w ay, I am sure that you get your
sh are o f critica l letters also and it
just rem in d s us that there are m any
h u rtin g p eo p le out there and we
b eco m e the lig h tn in g rod for th eir
feelings.
Ballot M easure 5 1 has caused me
a lot o f sadness, but also has im­
pressed upon inc the needs o f many
O regonians that we need to address -
health care in our dehum anized soci­
ety, the loneliness o f so many elderly
and dying people, the unchurched
nature of our state, etc. But rather
than lament our “defeat", I feel that
we m ust press forw ard with all we
are doing to care for those in need, as
I m entioned in the article, through
our existing program s and o rganiza­
tions, but also by being creative and
form ing “parish-based hospice p ro ­
gram s" and “care groups for the eld ­
erly ” , etc.
I d o w a n t to th a n k y o u fo r
y o u r b e a u tifu l e d ito r ia l an d fo r
all y o u a re d o in g th ro u g h y o u r
n e w s p a p e r to m in is te r to th e
p e o p le o f o u r a re a , e s p e c ia lly
the p o o r, the m in o ritie s , th e v ic ­
tim s o f p r e ju d ic e an d h a tre d in
o u r so c ie ty .
T h a n k s a g a in an d m ay god
b le ss y o u r e ffo rts .
S in c e re ly ,
B ish o p K e n n e th S te in e r
A d m in is tra to r