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FEB. 11. 1998
Committed to cultural diversity.
Volume X X V II. N u i i i I x t 58
BULK RATE
Bring Da’ Noise and
Da’ Funk To
Portland
Black History 1 9 9 8
Come join us with another
week o f Black History.
*«R
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PORTLAND, OR
Award winning Broadway
Show set to come to
Portland Next Week.
PERMIT NO. 1610
See Metro, inside.
See Section C, inside.
(Elie ÿlnrthinb (Ohsemer
250
IN
Shout It From The Rooftops - No More Hatred!
REVIEW
‘Titanic’ Gets 14 Oscar
Nominations
“T ita n ic ,” th e epic a c c o u n t o f a
fatefu l love a ffa ir on the d o o m ed
ocean lin e r, c a p tu re d a re c o rd -ty in g
14 A cadem y A w ard n o m in a tio n s ,
in clu d in g a n o m in atio n for b est p ic ­
ture, a c tre ss and d ire c to r. “L .A . C o n ­
fid e n tia l” and “G ood W ill H u n tin g ”
each receiv ed nine n o m in a tio n s, in ­
clu d in g b est p ic tu re . T he o th e r best
p ic tu re n o m in ees w ere “ As G o o d As
It G e ts ” and, in a m ild su rp rise , “T he
Full M o n ty .”
Cohen: U.S. Coalition
Growing
A sen io r U .S. d efen se o ffic ia l says
as m any as 3 ,0 0 0 so ld ie rs w ill be
sent to K uw ait as the U n ited S tates
p re p a re s for a p o ssib le m ilita ry a t­
tack a g a in st Iraq. U .S. m ilita ry c o m ­
m an d ers in the P ersian G u lf say they
will have m ore than enough firep o w er
to handle any contin g en cy w ithin days
should P re sid e n t C lin to n d e c id e to
strik e Iraq.
Lewinsky Testimony
Scheduled
T he law y er fo r M o n ica L ew in sk y
is try in g to b lo ck the fo rm er W hite
H ouse in te rn ’s sch ed u led a p p earan ce
before a gran d ju ry th is w eek. In d i­
v id u als clo se to M s. L e w in sk y ’s d e ­
fense said W illiam G in sb u rg was p re ­
parin g to go to c o u rt to ask a ju d g e to
e n fo rce an im m unity deal o r block
T h u rsd a y ’s g ran d ju ry ap p e a ra n ce by
his 2 4 -y ear-o ld c lie n t, w ho is alleg ed
to have had an a ffa ir w ith P re sid e n t
C lin to n .
Aftershocks Rattle
Afghan Villages
After his talk about battling racism and bigotry, Bill Wassmuth (right) talked with Jawea Mockabee (left) and Kathleen
Saddat.
Photo by Neil Heilpern
B y N eii . H eilpern
acists and terrorists go hand in
hand and they have not disap­
peared, an expert on hate groups
told a Northeast Portland audience
R
day.
Bill Wassmuth, executive director of the
Norhtwcst coalition Against Malicious Ha-
rassment, told a small audience at Lutheran
Inner Cities Ministries that people often see
many racial incidents, where perpetrators are
caught, processed through the judicial pro­
cess and soon forgotten.
Thurs­
“These are not just separate incidents, but
part of a movement,” he warned, asking
people to become active in one or more of the
A stro n g afte rsh o c k ra ttle d n o rth ­
e astern A fg h a n ista n , le v e lin g m ore
rem ote v illa g e s in the e a rth q u a k e -
stric k e n area. T he new tre m o rs iso ­
lated v ic tim s from r e lie f w o rk e rs
stru g g lin g to reach the sn o w b o u n d
region. Fresh snow b lan k eted the only
n e a rb y a ir s tr ip , c a n c e lin g r e lie f
flig h ts and slo w in g re lie f co n v o y s.
A id agencies, m eanw hile, raised th eir
d e a th to ll e stim a te to m o re th an
3,000. A fghan o ffic ia ls put th e n u m ­
ber c lo se r to 5 ,000.
Communities Project
Children
Community Safety Nets catch Oregon families that fall
between the cracks of community prevention programs
and child protective services.
B y K ay T oran
Survey: Marijuana
Acceptance Rising
A new survey show s the num ber of
college freshm en who support the le­
galization o f m arijuana has doubled
since 1989. The study by UCLA for the
W ashington-based A m erican Council
on Education also show s college fresh­
men are more apt to favor restricting
abortion rights and are less accepting
of gay relationships than students in
recent years. Support for m arijuana le­
galization has grow n am ong college
freshm en from 16.7 percent in 1989 to
35.2 percent in 1997. M arijuana use
am ong high school seniors also is ris­
ing
China Deports
Dissident to U.S.
C h in a d e p o rte d an e x ile d p o litic a l
a c tiv ist to the U n ited S ta te s. W ang
B in g zh an g , an im p o rta n t fig u re in
C h in a ’s dem ocracy m ovem ent, ended
his ex ile o f n early tw o d e c a d e s last
m onth by sn eak in g in to C h in a u n d er
an alias to help d issid e n ts form an
o p p o sitio n p arty . A U .S. E m b assy
spo k esm an said W ang w as put on a
L o s A n g e le s - b o u n d p la n e fro m
S han g h ai y e ste rd a y .
200 diverse groups within his coalition.
Pointing to many empty chairs in the room,
he noted that if a racially motivated hate
crime or incident had recently happened,
“this room would be packed."
But, with almost two years since a black
man from the Caribbean was beat and killed
by a group of young whites, the tumult has
died down and people have gone on with
business as usual.
Wassmuth described how the coalition
monitors hate groups, which often cloak
themselves in titles and rhetoric that suggest
connections with Christianity.
He said the coalition works with various
communities and organizations to "end m a­
licious harassment and violence by counter­
ing individual and organized bigotry." Nu­
merous statistics were shared to show dif­
fering perceptions held oy police and neigh­
borhood residents.
“In Oregon, we are working with the
Rural Organizing Project,” he said, refer­
ring to a coalition of more than 50 groups
throughout the state working to fight racial
and sexual discrimination.
Wassmuth shared a video about intoler­
ance, extremism and bigotry depicting
people with racist views, the willingness to
bash gays and the fear and violence perpe­
trated by groups such as the Ku Klux Kian
and the Aryan Nation.
“These extremists believe in violence,
whether it is a Nazi swastika on the doors of
a synagogue or a burning cross on someone ’ s
lawn," he said, issuing a call to “respect
everyone’s dignity.”
The talk included descriptions o f numer­
ous hate groups and individuals, including
the Aryan Republican Army, the W ashing­
ton State M ilitia, T im othy M cveigh,
skinheads, the Christian Patriots, neo-Na­
zis, etc.
“They are reflections of a movement,” he
said. “And, unless we realize it is a move­
ment, we won’tadequately address the prob­
lem and we will just put out a series o f brush
fires” which look like isolated incidents.
These groups often call the United States
government illegal and unconstitutional, and
resort to their own common law courts.
Noting these groups are not usually well
organized, Wassmuth outlined the core be­
liefs which act as a common denominator:
ties to racism and bigotry; being against
governmental changes which bring equal
opportunities to religious, racial and sexual
minorities; and a high propensity for vio­
lence.
Bishop 4 Wells o f the Emmanuel Temple Full Gospel Church, accepting
the Vollum Ecumenical Humanitarian Award on behalf o f the Renaissance
Market.
(Photo By M. Washington)
Renaissance M arket Received Humanitarian Award
Ecumenical M inistnesofOregon (EMO)
presented the Vollum Ecumenical Humani­
tarian Award to the Board o f Directors of
Northeast Portland’s Renaissance Market
on February 5, 1998
EMO chose to honor the Market for its
commitment to the Northeast Portland com ­
munity through economic and social revi­
talization.
Bishop A W cllsof the Emmanuel Temple
Full Gospel Church accepted the award on
behalf of the Renaissance Market.
It may take a village to raise a child but it
takes a caring community to protect one.
Proving this mission possible, the State
Office for Services to Children and Families
is implementing a statewide community safety
net to catch those children who fall through
the cracks between community prevention
programs and child-protective services.
next month grants will be awarded toquali-
fying county and regional coalitions that have
demonstrated their commitment and ability
to weave their own community safety net.
With $215,(MX) from federal Child Abuse
Prevention treatment Act. the state will award
18 one-year grants, up to $ 10,000 each. U.S.
Rep Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, was instru­
mental in obtaining this grant. Sponsors of
the initiative are the Oregon Department Of
Human Resources, the department’s State
Office for Services to Children and Families
and the Oregon Commission on Children and
Families.
To qualify for funding, each applicant is
required to develop a model and plan to
implement a community safety net. Other
requirements include a way to reach high-
risk families through a network of commu­
nity-based providers such as supports groups,
churches, shelters, food banks, and creating
an evaluation plan to determine the effective­
ness of the local safety net
these safety nets-woven by a community,
not by the state-will be able to connect exist­
ing systems to capture the many families
whose children are at risk of neglect or abuse
and provide them outreach and community
services These families who are not served
by SCF but for whom there are serious con­
cerns.
For example, SCF investigates a com­
plaint about a family alleging that young
children are left unsupervised and the home
is unclean. SCF finds that the home is clut­
tered and that while the children are wander­
ing about inside a fenced yard, the parents are
aware of their whereabouts. Other possible
sources of stress, however, could endanger
the children and require SCF intervention
and protective services. These may include
a recent divorce, unemployment or domestic
violence In this case, acommunity safety net
coordinator would contact the family and
assess its members’ needs. If they want
support, the coordinator links them to Adult
and Family Services for jo b services, to the
Office of Medical Assistance Programs for a
medical card and the Community Partner­
ships T eam 's Volunteer Program to help
with the children’s transportation to the doc­
tor.
Many Oregon Communities arc already
interested in the safety net concept and have
stated planning or modifying existing sys­
tems Deschutes, Lane, Lincoln and Mult­
nomah counties began collaboration on a
community safety net in early 1997.
C ontinued
to
P age B3