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JAN. 21, 1998
(Tin $Iortlanì» (iDbscruer
Page A4
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views Of
(Cite $ o rtla n h (©hserucr
r
Attention Readers!
to: KHitor. Reade r RttS l HHlfi*. P.O. ft « ^l37'
(T ljc
^ o r t l a n h
OR
Mark Washington
Distsribution M anager
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
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Business Manager
Director o f Operation
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lesha Williams
Associate Editor
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sermts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w .11 be returned
if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design disp ay
rds become the sole properly of the newspaper and cannot be used in
other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the
general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of
such ad © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIC.HIS
RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE (JR IN PAR I W l, II
E n o u g h o f d e f in itio n s , a l
ready! T he read ers say those p a
ra m e te rs given last w eek lor an
o rd erly record and chro n o lo g y
o f the past w ere ju s t tin e , but
let s get on w ith it. W hat is real
about 'o u r ' history is not ju st
om issio n but m an ip u latio n
It is as though som e sort of
p re sc ie n c e was w orking for me
as last w e e k ’s P e rsp e c tiv e s c o l
umn a c h iev ed a p o in t-to -p o in t
c o rre sp o n d e n c e w ith the issues
raised in the book sectio n ol the
Sunday O reg o n ian . I/ 1 1/98; the
S cott E llsw orth review of. 'H is
tory On T rail; C u ltu re W ars and
the Teaching of the Past N ash,
C ra b tre e and D unn, K nofl.
T he review er re fe rs to ihe re
cent cu ltural sk irm ish in g over
A f r o c e n tr is m ” ', w h ile I d e
sc rib e d a "p e rn ic io u s c u ltu ra l
w arfare" still driven by economic-
forces set in m otion by the d e h u
m anizing in stitu tio n ol chattel
slavery on this c o n tin e n t. P a r
tic u la rly I made the case lor a
s e v e r e ly im p a ire d A m e ric a n
p s y c h e ( c o n s c ie n c e - C h r is tia n
e
r
/
s
What Is History? The
Countdown; Part II
l ’ l « l l I I SNOK
Mi K iw i i \
1 Bt ri
( O b s e r v e r
(DSPS 959-68») Established in 197»
Charles Washington
Publisher & Editor
!
p e c
/
e th ic ) that not only h an dicapped
the nation in te rn a lly , but posed
d iffic u ltie s for a w orld m oral
lead ersh ip .
O f co u rse, the dice are alw ays
loaded in this “cu ltu ral skirm ish"
as w itn ess the usual selectio n ol
the term " A fro c ie n irism ", rather
than “ A n g lo c e n trism . T ells you
w ho is in charge h ere, doesn I it ’
and as B lack H isto ry M onth
d ra w s e v e r c lo se r, we should
keep M arshall M c L u h a n ’s m es
sage firm ly in m ind, "the m e
dium is the m essag e" - and for
those w ho c a n 't read. A m erica s
m o s t u b iq u ito u s i l l u s t r a t o r .
N orm an R ockw ell laid it out in
“ A n g locentric" style for decades.
S everal of those involved in
an ab o rted process called in re
sponse to my re fe re n ce to the
"B ase lin e E ssa y s' com p o n en t o f
an early Portland School D istricts
M u ltic u ltu ra l/M u ltie th n ic p ro
gram (m id 1970s). I heartily a s
sured tw o o f the c a lle rs that I
w ished they had opened th eir
m ouths at "that lim e" in support
o f my w idely p ro c la im e d - and
do cu m en ted - c o n te n tio n s that
key generic black c o n trib u tio n s
su b m itted by program c o n tra c
tors like m yself were deliberately
om itted.
T his ru th less e x c lu sio n of m a
jo r sem inal c o n trib u tio n s in the
arts and sc ie n c e s on three c o n ti
nents was d e sig n e d to p reserve
intact the co m m u n ity ’s ethnic and
cu ltu ral m in d set. P a rtic u la r e x
am ples w ill be p resen ted during
Black H istory M onth. T his leads
us to a key point o f d isc u ssio n in
the book, "H isto ry On Trial.
As is usually the case, the a u
thors o f such tex ts seldom place
sp e c ific peo p le and ev e n ts or
d o c u m e n ta tio n on tr ia l; they
w o u ld n 't d a re ' W ere P lato and
Isaac N ew ton rig h t about the
A fric a n d e v e lo p m e n ts o f la n
guage and m a th e m a tic s? As in
d ic a te d by the g ra ffiti they left
on the great P yram id, did both
F ibonacci and M ercato r sim ply
la tc h on to A fric a n d e v e lo p
m en ts.’ W ere all those E uropean
S cholars te llin g the truth when
they cam e back from I im buktu
r
OUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED.
The Portland O bserver--O regon's Oldest Multicultural Publica
tion--^ a member of the National Newspaper A ssociation-Founded in
1885 and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated
Publishers Inc. New York. NY. Oregon Federation ol Advertising.
American Minorites Media, and I'he Wes. Coast Black Publishers
during the M iddle A ges and w rote
o f the great learning they r e
ceived at the U niversity ? D um as .’
P u s h k in ’ N a p o le o n 's g re a te s t
g en erals ? E tc, Etc?
In the particular case, the agenda
of the authors is "the history wars
o f the 1990s" and does not center
around such sp ecifics as cited
above - not at all about what tacts
the majority of citizens and stu
dents would like to know The book
is about establishing the "National
C enter for History in the Schools -
along with creating and dissem i
nating tea c h in g m a te ria ls that
would help bring 're c e n t' h isto ri
cal scholarship into the n a tio n 's
c la ssro o m s..."
T his Bush A d m in istratio n in i
tiative meant th o u san d s of tim es
the grant m onies a llo cated for a
local “ B aseline Essay P rogram "
and still no m o tiv atio n - c h a l
lenged black stu d e n t, co n c e rn e d
p aren t or ta x p a y e r in g e n e ra l
w ould know how m uch o f the
w orld around him was of his
m aking.
C onclu d ed next week.
'"ClIf
Send your letters to the Editor to:
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P ortland , O regon 972»8
become increasingly concerned about the debilitating effects of a meat-and-dairy
As an African-American physician in practice toi many y e a r.. .
,mnortanl role in the cause and progression of chronic diseases
centered diet on the health of African-Americans and others hese die a.y , e . p •„ •
P
(enJ (o be minorities. | n lhe
. ,„ s h Mnml pressure. hear, disease. s„ „k e s.
“ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ . m
p l i s h r u e n i s and h,s h.s.ene legacy in a sp ecal way.
spirit of Martin Luther King. Jr.. I would like to invite your .cade, s to celcbi ate Dr King
peace
Nonviolence begins in the kitchen, one bite at a tune.
Many re n e a n e d A n re r,c a n ,d S K.ng s son D esier Se.,,, K,ng. us wulow C, e „ S
a n .la .a a rB .IIC o sb , . politician and edueaiorChurleiie Drew , a „ r s . i a l k ",,^ 1
K U
^ e X
X
X
i X
^ D
^ ^ " b , a . e M
b X
author Alice Walker, comedian Dick Gregory, comedian
| X
~
t„ ns,t o W y .
^ 1n ;g ,.« ,d ,b ....... ....................................... .. p la n e .,be b u n g ,,, a n d ,b e ....... .
Try
Name
a vegetarian lifestyle, and you'll find it could give you a much longer life tim e _________ ______
Address;
City. State;
Zip-Code:
T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P orti ani » O bserver
The Legacy of Levittown
Bv H ugh B. P rice
P resident
N ational U rban L eague
It was a visionary s d ream -m ass-
produced. single-family tract hous
ing that, at a cost of $7,(XX), or $60 a
month, ordinary w orking people
could afford. And when in 1947 the
visionary, William J. Levitt, buoyed
by substantial federal monies, opened
the first Levittown on a vast expanse
of flat Long Island farmland twenty
miles from Manhattan, he helped in
ten sify not ju st the d e lu g e of
suburbanization which was to re
shape America’s residential housing
pattern but the huge expansion of the
American middle class that is one of
America's greatest post-war achieve
ments
Last m onth, when L evittow n
marked its fiftieth anniversary. I
couldn't help but place it aside two
other significant fiftieth-anniversary
events now within our vision. One
was the breaking of baseball's color
barrier by Jackie Robinson and Larry
Doby in the summer of 1947 The
other was President Truman s ex
ecutive order of 1948 desegregating
the military.
In that comparison. Levittown s
anniversary is a bittersweet one, to
say the least.
The reason is that from the begin
ning Levitt's vision and achievement
were besmirched. Levittown, built
just outside the country's most ra
cially diverse city, was for whites
only. So. too. would be the Le vittowns
he subsequently built near Philadel
phia. and in New Jersey.
There were no "whites only” signs
on the properties But the exclusion
of blacks from what was for many
white families the opening of the
door to the American Dream was
ironclad. That point wasclearly made
in a recent article about Levittown in
the New York Times, as it was in
David Halbei stain's recent book.The
Fifties.
Yes. L evittow n has changed.
Blacks have lived there since the late
1950s, and all evidence suggests they
find it a welcoming place to liv e -
thought it is worth noting that even
today Levittown is more than 97 per
cent white. Blacks make upjust one-
quarter of one percent of its nearly
53.000 residents.
But. recalling Levittow n’s dis
criminatory beginnings isn't merely
a matter of a particular historical
interest.
In fact, its past, in and of itself, the
devastating and continuing impact
discrimination has had on the ability
of African Americans (and others) to
pursue the American dream.
In
th a t
w ay.
r e c a llin g
L e v itto w n 's past is vitally im por
tant to the current "conversation
w e 're having about affirm ative
action and w hether a preferential
treatm ent that seeks to expand op
portunity is worth pursuing.
L e v itto w n ’s h is to ry u n d e r
sc o re s how m uch m any w hite
fam ilies b e n e filte d in m aterial,
tra c e a b le w ays over the past tw o
and three g e n e ra tio n s from the
m ost e x c lu sio n a ry kind o f p re f
e re n tia l tre a tm e n t in jo b s . h o u s
ing. and sch o o lin g . Il is not a
m a tte r of c o n je c tu re or m ere a s
sertio n . It is ev id en t in a su b sta n
tial num ber of d e m o g rap h ic facts
that stretch far beyond L evittow n.
It is starkly apparent in the differ
ent housing profiles of blacks and
whites, as economist W ilhelmina
Leigh, of the Joint Center lor Politi
cal and Economic Studies, wrote in
the 1996 issue of The State of Black
America.
Expanding the Marketplace
For the first time in its long his
tory. the New York Stock Exchange
closed in honor of Martin Luther
King Jr. Day (January 19). For two
dayspreceding that event. Wall Street
served as the national staging point
for American business leaders to
participate in an in-depth evaluation
of the ongoing effort to expand eco
nomic growth through increased in
vestment and partnerships with m i
norities and women.
As Rev. Jackson has said. "The
Wall Street Project is about building
bridges of trade between corporate
America and those who do not have
access to business and capital. This
effort is not conservative or liberal. It
makes sense, costs less, and builds
equity and justice. A Wall street con
ference on Dr. King's Birthday is not
/74//VSO IV PU$H
C O A L IT IO N
an anomaly or an aberration. It is the
direct expression of the hard work
and enormous challenges that were
the essence of his life.
Rev Jackson was joined in the
conference with President ( linton.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman
Alan Greenspan. Treasury Se- i etary
Robei i Rubin. Congressman Charles
Ragel AFL-CIO President John
Sw eeney, a host of CEOs from
A m erica's largest corporations and
leading minority-owned businesses,
and event co-hosts New York Stock
Exchange President Richard Grasso
and Travelers Group Chairman and
CEO Sanford I. Weill
I'he most recent, available Census
Bureau statistics tell a compelling
story.
1993 M edian H ousehold Net
Worth
White $45,740
African American $4,418
Hispanic
$4,656
F em ale H ead - of - H o u se h o ld
$13,294
Blood is to the human body as
capital is to the econom ic system.
It must circulate and flow through
out the whole body. If it does not
circulate fully, clots form. Clots
cause strokes. If the w ealth and
capital are all held by a select,
isolated few, the economy will suf
fer.
Inclusion - Growth.
Restraint of trade is the worst sin
against capitalism, it impedes growth
and limits the ability of the free mar
ket to operate.
Dr. King spoke of the bounced
check hurting three parties-the writer
of the check, the recipient of the
check, and the bank.
Dr. King’s Legacy And The Consequences Of Racism Part 1
Bv D r . L enora F i i . ani
The civil rights movement of the
1960 s ended structural racism in
America That movement was an in
dependent movement, a grassroots
movement led by Dr Martin Luther
King. Jr. and enlivened by thousands
of activists, attorneys, and students.
Dr. King was not a Democrat — with
a capital “D"
and it was not a
Democratic Party movement, though
the Democratic Party did succeed in
coopting it and taking credit for its
achievements.
Throughout the struggles which
led to the passage of the civil Rights
Act ol 1964 and the Voting Rights
Act of 1965 (which were propelled
through Congress by Lyndon Baines
Johnson - not by the liberal estab
lishment) the Democratic Party was
ambivalent I'he Democrats, after all.
had constructed an electoral coali
tion that relied heavily on Southern
white voters But once the civil rights
movement -- independently led
galvanized the country, the Deino-
cratic Party f igured out how to con
solidate it and opportumze off of it.
The success of Dr King and the
civil right movement meant that struc
tural racism had been eliminated.
Race discrimination was outlawed
and participation in the political pro
cess was secured for Black America.
With racism ended, the issue for
the country became what to do about
the consequences ol racism We had
lived for 300 years with racism as an
institutionalized element of every
day life Slavery had been abolished
only 100 years earlier. The social
fabric of our society was deeply cor
roded by this social/political/cultural
experience. America needed to go
through a healing process to deal
with the residual anger and outrage
of Black America and to create a
uni tied country that could move tor
ward in the national interest.
But the 30 years that followed the
elimination ol structural racism w ere
years - not of healing but of wheel
ing and dealing The Democratic
.»
. translate
.. I ., . ..II all of the ••.oiniri
tFir* r In Instead,
c to a r! • hi
country I/ together.
the two
Party was eager • Io
parties spent the last 3 0 years tearing
social movements of the 1960s into
the country apart, while taking ex
its political subsidiaries and so it
treme measures to preserve and insti
nurtured identity politics -- the el
tutionalize their own political power
evation of and competition among
and that of the corporate and special
fractured segments of the population
interests which run America.
based on racial, cultural, gender, ideo
This .30 year bipartisan gambit,
logical and sexual identity -- in order
however,
is losing its grip on the
to do so.
American public. There is still much
This modus operandi served the
unresolved outrage on the part of
interests of the Democrats - and the
Black America which, though still
Republicans as well, who quickly
loyal
to the Democratic party, is
learned how to play this game on the
showing
signs of breaking out of its
"right" - but not the interests of the
monolithic
allegiance. In 1997. Black
country. As the Democrats promoted
voters
stayed
home from the polls in
various oppressed grouping for their
record
numbers
and sought out Re
own political purposes, the Republi
publican
and
independent
options in
cans organized the backlash against
discernible
numbers.
There
is also a
it, playing on the incomplete social/
new
generation
of
young
Black
adults
cultural process left in the wake of
without
(hecivil
righteraexperience
the structural elimination of racism
to lie them to the Democratic Party.
and elevating their own identity
Black America is communicating a
groupings, e g .Christian fundamen
new message, a question that has
talists. veterans, pro-lifers, etc The
remained unanswered for 30 years.
country needed to have spent the last
What do we do now? Where do we
30 years creating a new post-racist
go next?
political culture that could bring the