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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1998)
JAN. 28, 1998 Page A4 — (EIjc JJartktnb (©heeruer Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily Reflect O r Represent The Views Of (The ^Jortlanb ©bscrucr Attention Readers! I’K take a minute 1» send usy our comments. W e’re always trying to Rive you a better paper and wi• can't d oit without your help. Tell us what you like and what net ds improvement... any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. We ta k e c ritic ism w ell! < iet your powerful pens out NOW and address your letters to :, dH'.i Kcjukt R esponse,g j >, hdX ? 1 37. Pwt lWM li OR p e r in PROLI-ESSOR M c K innley B i kt libe ^.Inrtlartb (©bseruer H SI’S 959-680) Established in 1970 Publisher Ji Editor Mark Washington Distsribution M anager G ary A nn T ay lo r B u s in e s s M a n a g e r Larry J. Jackson, Sr. Director o f Operation lesh a W illiam s Tony Washington Associate Editor C h arles W ash in g to n Graphic Design Contributing Writers: P ro fe sso r M cK in ley B urt, Lee Perlman, Neil Heilpern Joy R am o s 4747 M M artin L uther k in g , Jr. Blvd., Portland, O regon 97211 503-288-0033 • Fax 503-288-0015 Em ail: P dxobserv@ aol.com D e a d lin e f o r a ll s u b m itte d m a te r ia ls : \rtiile s Irid a y, 5 0 0 p m A d s: M onday, 12:00pm Send A ddress C hanges To: Portland O bserver, P.O. Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208. S u b s c r i p t io n s $ 6 0 .0 0 p e r y e a r l h- Pi in lan d O b se rv e r w e lc o m e s freelan ce su b m issio n s. M an u - .iijii uni pin »Il >gi apt is sh o u ld be c le a rly lab eled and w ill be retu rn ed d i . . . ni|>,lined by a se ll a d d re s se d e n v e lo p e . A ll cre a te d d esig n d isp lay id me die sole p ro p erly o f the n e w sp a p e r and c a n n o t be u sed in ihei i ibln a tio n s 01 p erso n al u sag e w ith o u t the w ritten c o n se n t o l the e e n cial n im ager, u n less the c lien t h as p u rc h a se d the co m p o sitio n ol su c h id 1996 IH I P O R T L A N D O B S E R V E R A L L R IG H T S R E S E R V E D . R E P R O D U C T IO N IN W H O L E O R IN P A R T W IT H (>1 I PI R M IS S It ,N IS P R O H I B I T E D . Un- P ortlan d O b serv er- O re g o n 's O ld e st M u ltic u ltu ra l P u b lic a tio n o a m em b er o f the N atio n al N e w sp a p e r A s s o c ia tio n - F o u n d e d in ISSS. m d I b e N atio n al A d v e rtisin g R e p re se n ta tiv e A m a lg a m a te d P ubhshei Inc New Y ork. N Y . O reg o n F e d e ra tio n ol A d v e rtisin g . A m erican M in o rites M ed ia, and T h e W est C o a st B lack P u b lish ers A s s o c ia tio n • S e r v in g P o rtlan d and V a n c o u v e r. S i BSCK1KE TO 11 ^lortlanb (Observer I ’,mland < Miserver can be sent directly to your home lo r only $600 0 pci veai Please till out. enclose cheek or money order, and mail to S ubscriptions I iii I’ o k ii and O bserver ; PO B ox 3137 P or i i . and , O regon 97208 N am e: ....... ......... ........................................ ......................... - A d d re ss _____________________________ _______________ City, State: Zip-Code: ______________________________ ______________ _________________________________ ____________ T hank Y oi F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver hotter 'Co CSffitor Send your letters to the Editor to: Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 Dear Editor: As an A liican A m erican physician m piactice tor many years, I have be com e incre;isingly concerned about the debt h luting e 11 ects ot a I neat-and-tlairy- < entered diet on the health o f African- Americans and others These dietary lactors play an important role in the cause and progression o f chronic dis eases such, is high hlixxl pressure, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and cancers. ?\nd. unfortunately, those hardest hitby such diseases tend to lie minorities. In the spirit of M artin Luther King, Jr., I would like to invite your readers to celebrate Dr K ing's peaceful accom plishments and his historic legacy in a special wav Nonviolence begins in tire kitchen, one bile at a lime. M ans renow ned A m ericans-D r. King s son I Vxtei Scott King, his widow Dear Edition W ho w ould have ev er th ought that it w ould be illegal lor local g o v e rn m ent officials to return property tax dollars to the tax p ay er? I )esc hutesandL innC ounty officials were recently told that it w ould take legislative action in order for them to return 11 million dollars o f unantici pated revenue back to the taxpayer. W hat O rego n ian s d id n ’t realize w hen they passed B allot M easu re 50 w as that all expiring tax lev y ’s w o u ld becom e a pe rm anent part o f the tax rale I guess the d rafters o f M easure 50 figured that O reg o n ian s w o u ld n ’t not ice and that local officials w o u ld n 't com plain about the increased tax re v enue. Are Deschutes and l inn County alone in this predicament'’ No. Ac cording to stale revenue officials, 20 counties are in a similar position. However, the taxpayer overcharge is much smaller in the other counties. Why then is the legislature refus- Coretta Sci itt King, authi ir Al ice Walker, comedian DickGregory,comedian and actor Bill Cosby, politician and educa tor Charlene Drew Jarvis, talk show host Keenine Ivory Wayans, model Roshumba, singer Janet Jackson, and rapper KRS-One, to cite but a few - have beer ime vegetarians. So have many ordinary Americans, and I hope to see those ranks swell considerably. Let us celebrate this Martin Luther King Day. and those following, by eat ing It x k J that is gtxxJ for our bodies, our planet, the hungry, and the animals. Try a vegetarian lifestyle, and you’ll find it could give you a much longer lifetime. Sincerely, Milton Mills, M.D. Physicians Committee tor Respon sible Medicine Washington, DC ing to convene a special session to correct this wrong'.’ Two reasons. Legislative leaders do not want to deal with other issues that wi mid he bri lught updunng the session. Second, the State of Oregon is the benefactor of this mistake. By allowing the expiring levies to become a perma nent part of the lax rate, local schixil districts col lectagrcateramountoftheii school funding from local property tax payers. Therefore, reducing the amount that the- state contributes to local school districts. State revenue officialsrecently revealed that the state will spend 40 million less on Basic School support this biennium due to higher than antici pated properly tax dollars. It is no wonder that Oregonian's distrust government and their elected officials We give them every reason to believe that we are not interested in justice, fairness and just doing the “right thing", for the "right reason." Linda Swearingen DeschutcsCounly Commissioner B y P rof . M c K inley B urt “C o untdow n to w h a t? ” , asked a c a lle r w ho had ju s t read last w e e k ’s a rtic le , “ Part II." G ood q u e stio n from one co m in g into the m iddle o f a series in itia te d as a “co u n td o w n to B lack H istory M o n th .” Sorry about that hut it does seem that my d e fin itio n s oi in te rp re ta tio n s o f h is to ry got th ro u g h to m any read ers. L e t’s p roceed fu rth e r along th at line. I read an in te re stin g a rtic le by sy n d icated c o lu m n ist R oger E. H ernandez, “ W h a t’s in a n a m e ? ” O f co u rse, that phrase is a ls o a fa m o u s lin e fro m S h a k e sp e a re ’s play, R om eo and Ju lie t. T he query is sp ark ed by the passio n ate lo v e r 's co ncern w ith the attitudes o f th e ir re sp e c tive fam ilies, the M o n tag u es and the C apulets. But in the p a rtic u la r instance, Mr. H ernandez invokes this play- on -w o rd s in a stra in e d e ffo rt to state th at there is no d istin c tio n betw een w hite p a re n ts in River- s I r e t i r e s What Is History? The Countdown, Conclusion side, C alif. W ho did not w ish a school nam ed a fte r "D r. M artin L uther K ing J r .” -- and black p a re n ts in N ew O rle a n s w ho changed the nam e o f a school from "G eo rg e W a sh in g to n " to "D i C h a rle s R ichard D re w ” . P laying to the g a lle ry - w hite, at least in his m in d -o u r anxious w riter h asten s to a ssu re all who w ould liste n . “ B oth (sets o f p a r ents) are trying to T w ist history to suit th e ir own sim p listic , ra c ia lly -m o tiv a te d e n d s .” Mr H ern a n d e /, a m inority him self, o b v io u sly y e a rn s for in c lu sion (a c c e p ta n c e ) and em ploys a tactic that has been used by other ‘o u tsid e rs’ who have felt alm ost- but not q u ite -p a rt o f the e sta b lishm ent. For the m om ent let us ignore his spate o f ox y m o ro n ic sta te m e n ts such as in d ic tin g the N ew O rle a n s' school board for having "th e p o litic a lly correct id e a th a t n o th in g w h ite in A m erica is good". H istory - B lack H isto ry , if you will - has alw ays been an integral part o f the lives o f A frican A m eri can s, w hether w ritte n , em bodied in the a rtifa c ts and icons around them , or sim ply (but im portantly) in the sto ries and fo lk lo re passed from g en e ra tio n to gen eratio n (a w hite p ro fe sso r at Los A ngeles C ity C ollege once rem inded the c la ss that “ H om er was illite ra te , b u t w e w o r s h ip th e G r e e k s th ro u g h his e y e s” ). It is u n fo rtu n a te that the c o l um nist whom we are e x o rcisin g here does not have a b etter grasp o f black histo ry or o f that s p iri tual, life -su sta in in g force (elan v ita l) so fre q u e n tly m an ifested in the nam ing o f in stitu tio n s a f ter ‘the great o n e s ’. H ow sh o ck ed w o u ld H ernandez be to know that in my southern g h etto o f St. L ouis this had been the tren d since shortly a fte r the C ivil W ar - and other p a rts o f 'D i x i e '. T he e lem en tary sch o o ls that my m o th e r and au n t a tte n d e d w e re re s p e c tiv e ly nam ed, “ L o u v e ra tu re and D e ssa lin e s” , a fte r the tw o great H aitian fre e dom fig hters w hose c o u ra g e o u s re v o lts a g ain st slav ery w ere as im p o rtan t to the black p o pulace as w as G eorge W a sh in g to n ’s o p position to "tax atio n w ithout re p r e s e n ta tio n .” A nd, o f c o u rs e , there w ere o th e r sch o o ls nam ed in an effo rt by black people "to tw ist history to suit th eir ow n s im p lis tic , r a c ia lly - m o tiv a te d e n d s” , as Mr H ern an d ez w ould say. In stitu tio n s h o noring W E B D uB ois. B ooker T. W ash in g to n , E lijah M cC oy, D um as, ad in fin i tum . W hat, indeed, is in a nam e? I 'll tell you. It can inspire you, m o tiv ate you, e le v a te you-m ake folks w ant to "lift every voice and s in g ” , m ake them "clim b to the m ountain to p .” T hose b lack p a re n ts in N ew O rlean s knew ex a c tly w hat they w ere do in g - w hat the needs o f th eir y o uth Setting The Growth Agenda Today, the First Annual Rainbow/ PUSH Wall Street Project Confer ence concludes its third and final day of landmark sessions. Although the conference itself ended, the themes and goals of the conference will con tinue as Rainbow/PUSH makes its presence felt. The response to our sessions has been tremendously positive. Every major network, newspapers from overseas, were covering the confer ence. Over 250 press credentials were issued and rooms were filled to ca pacity at each event. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin- -’’Although government at all levels is important to addressing these is sues, I believe corporate America has a vital role to play in its own self- interest in expanding opportunity for all Americans. Inclusion is good for the bottom line.” President Bill Clinton-"I thank Reverend Jackson for his insight, that he has said for years, and years, and years - (investment banks) are m issing a m arket here. This is A m erica’s opportunity to close the opportunity gap. L et’s seize it." The American Minority Market - Key Facts * 60 million people and growing rapidly. * Commands more than $600 bi I RA tN B O W PU $H C O A L IT IO N lion in annual earnings. * Com pared to other national economies around the world, it ranks fifteenth-ahead of Mexico. Switzer land. India, Indonesia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and South A fricajust to name a few. * Right in our own back yard. * Better-educated and more stable. A recent study rating the S&P 500 com panies on factors related to the hiring and prom otion o f m i norities and women offered quan titative evidence that there is an econom ic incentive lor w orkplace diversity, and a disincentive for exclusion; * The top 100 companies aver aged about an 18*% return on their investments. * The bottom 100 companies av eraged about a 7CT return on their investments. What is the securities industry's record diversity? * O f th e90.000people in America classified as stock brokers, only about 600 of them are African Americans * The number of minority portfo lio managers has declined in recent years. * Fewer than 40 African Ameri cans have discretion over portfolios at majority-owned asset management funds or major pension funds. T he W all S treet Project has pu rch ased sh ares in fifty d iffe r e n t p u b lic ly -tra d e d c o m p an ies and will continue to closely m oni tor th eir c o rp o ra te p ra c tic e s and, if need be, in te rv e n e in our role as in v estm en t a d v iso rs. T hese c o rp o ra tio n s in w hich we own stock include: * Columbia/HCA * MCI, WorldCom, and Digital * CBS, Sony, Time Warner, Co lumbia Pictures, and Ploygram * Ford, Chrysler, GM, H onda. Nissan, Toyota, and Volvo * Texaco, Chevron, Shell, and Ratheon * C o c a -C o la , P e p sic o , and Seagram The Wall Street Project will con vene six task forces that will issue interim reports in six months and final reports a year from now in the areas of: * Employment Practices in the Investment Industry * Opportunities for Minority and Women-Owned Investment Firms, Ad agencies, the Automobile indus try, Energy industry, and Telecom munications * Pension Funds * Commercial Lending Practices * Domestic Development Finance Initiatives * The Emerging Marketplace of Minorities and Women Rev. Jackson announced ten c it ies where we intend to hold follow up dialogues and negotiations to ensure that this opportunity to grow is not wasted. The cities will likely include: * Chicago * Los Angeles * Atlanta * Houston * San Francisco Bay area * Philadelphia * Miami * Boston * Washington, DC/Baltimore * New Orleans * Detroit America Need Diverse And Excellent Educators B y B ob C hase There aren't a lot of Pacific Is landers teaching in Billings. Mon tana. As one of the few minority teachers at Riverside Middle School. Diane Welhavcn often becomes the standard-bearer for all of the school' s children of color. “The expectations for minority students are remarkably low,” she says. “I bring them high standards and a desire to excel. I show them that anyone can be successful." Yet minority students are hardly the only ones who benefit. An award- winning teacher. Welhavcn demon strates to all Riverside students that intelligence and ambition have no racial or ethnic boundaries. Her pres ence does more to open students' minds than any multicultural cur riculum. She teaches by example. So does Charlec O 'R eilly, one of the few African-American teachers at Manalapan EnglishTown Elemen tary School in Manalapan. New Jer sey. “Because of me. students have a higher comfort level being around people from different cultures," she said It broadens their knowledge and understanding of people." Unfortunately, minority teachers like W elhavcn and O 'R eilly arc scarce. Currently, over 90 percent ol A m erica's teachers are white; 75 percent are female. By the early 2 1 st century, the percentage of minority teachers is expected to shrink to an all-time low of 5 percent, while 41 percent of American students will be minorities. Already, several cities have “majority minority” student bodies. Classrooms everywhere arc starved for good teachers of color, particularly black and Hispanic men. Make no mistake: Competence, not background or gender, must be the defining criterion for hiring any teacher. Yet excellence and diversity are not — and must not be - mutually exclusive. America is a gold mine of ethnicity. As a nation, we have at our disposal more diverse cultural resources, viewpoints, talents, and insights into the human experience and the global community than any other nation on the planet. To deny our children full access to this wealth is criminal. Yet the sad, ugly truth is that chil dren in America still attend public schools where the only minority adults they sec are custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers. These jobs arc important and noble. But such a division of labor sc nds a skewed and dangerous message tochildren about the relationship between race and human potential. W hetherit’s in Bill ings or Baltimore, Children learn as much from what they see as from what they read. A homogenous teach ing force contradicts the very values of equality, opportunity, diversity, and tolerance that public schools struggle to teach. Furthermore, as traditional fami lies and the social safety net disinte grate, it is falling to schools to pick up the slack. Teachers are now ex pected to be part social worker and part surrogate parent to children whose backgrounds are far different from their own. They need diverse colleagues as much as students need adults who can relate to them. How to attract more minority teachers? Among strategies the Na tional Education Association sup ports are aggressive recruitment cam paigns, financial aid to future teach ers, partnerships with schools of higher education (including histori cally black colleges). "Grow Your Own" teacher cultivation programs, and extensive teacher preparation Last month, we awarded grants to 11 affiliates engaged in collaborative recruitment with their school dis tricts. A handful of schools are also launching innovative programs to train and credential school support staff — such as secretaries and teacher's aides -- to become full- fledged teachers. But ultimately, I believe we have to take a page from Diane Welhavcn s lesson book. If we want more minori ties to teach, we have to encourage children when they are young. We have to endow them with a love of learning, stoke their ambition, and demand excellence. This requires more than a few role models. It re quires patience, commitment, and guts; it requires us to purge ourselves and our school systems of any unwit ting biases that might exist — be they in the form of lower expectations for minority students, “color coded" tracking, or attitudes. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "We have to be together before we can learn how to live to g eth er" We have to be together be fore we can teach how to live to gether, too. Bob Chase is President of the National Education A ssociation, which represents more than 2.3 mil lion public school and college em ployees.
