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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 1998)
JULY 15,1998 (Tlif IJnrtlaub <M«rner P ageA 8 zWc5C5i'be M a x S ta tio n 'Qebicatel to JiatfieR ) »Donald had a form E 'l'E * F o r m e r S e n a t o r M a rk H a tf ie ld lo o k s at a p la q u e th a t is p a rt o f th e M AX s t a tio n th a t w as d e d ic a te d in h is h o n o r on Ju n e 4 th . C o n g re ss- w o m an E liz a b e th F u rse . H ills b o ro M ay o r G o rd o n F a b e r, f o r m e r H ills b o ro m a y o r S h irle y H u ffm a n an d T r i- M e t G e n e r a l M a n a g e r T o m W a lsh j o i n e d in th e d e d ic a tio n at th e M ark O. H a tf ie ld G o v e rn m e n t C e n te r M AX S ta tio n . “ S e n a to r H a tfie ld w as th e o n e p e rs o n a b s o l u t e l y c r i t i c a l to th e M A X lig h t ra il e f f o r t," sa id W a lsh . “ W ith o u t h im , M A X sim p ly w o u ld n o t e x is t,” T h e H a tfie ld s ta tio n is lo c a te d in H ills b o r o on A d a m s b e tw e e n W a s h in g to n and M a in . W e s ts id e M A X s e r v ic e w ill b e g in a t 1 1 a m , S e p te m b e r 12th. A Lynching In Jasper, Texas: The Intolerable Acts Continue R on D aniels As President Clinton's well ¡men tioned initiative on racism continues to hobble along aimlessly, mounting acts o f racial violence and terrorism clearly indicate that racism is alive and well in Amerikkka. The grisly lynchingof James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas by three White men who alleg edly beat him senseless, chained him to the bumper o f a pick up truck and dragged his body tor more than two miles is a stunning reminder that white supremacy can be as deadly as ever before in the United States. While the lynching o f James Byrd received national and international attention, another incident in Virginia where an African American was decapi tated and burned, was hardly no ticed. These two heinous murders and the brutal manner in which they w erecaried out are alarmingly remi niscent o f the horrific lynchings of thousands o f African Americans af ter thecivil War and well into the twentieth century. What is perhaps more alarming, however, is the fact that these hor rendous crim es against A frican Americans are occurring within a climate which breeds hatred, legiti mizes racism and ultimately encour ages racial violence. Though the out right lynching o f Black people is horrifying, the intolerable acts of rac ism perpetuated by mainsream poli ticians, religious leaders, corpora tions and well established institu tions is equally insidious, dangerous and damaging, the negative por trayal o f Blacks in the media and the criminalization o f young black males in particular has become common place. As a consequence Black by people are far more likely to be ar- rested, more often convicted, serve longer sentences, and, as a recent study revealed, far more likely to receive the death penalty. Racism pervades the criminal justice system from p o lic e d e p a rtm e n ts, to prosecuters, judges and jails/pri sons. Hence the explosive growth o f the prison-jail industrial complex where the vast majority of the inmates are African Americans and Latinos. Affirmative action programs and other civil rights measures are now routinely overturned by the courts on the grounds that they are unfair to White people in a “race neutral" or "color blind" society. I he lack of education over the real need and in tent o f affirmative action programs and other measures designed to over come the effects of past and present discrimination has meant the "civil rights" is increasingly seen as unnec essary and unfair by large numbers o f White Americans. This is breed ing the kind o f resentment that fueled the burning o f hundreds o f Black churches over the last decade and increasing incidents of racial vio lence like the ones in Jasper. Texas and Virginia. There appears to be a direct correla tion between the rhetoric of public policty pronouncements, the decisions of political leaders and the prolifera tion of hate groups and racial violence in this society. As the rightwing con servative tide has swept this country with its attacks on Black progress, racist hate groups have become bolder and bolder in their verbal and physical attacks on Blacks and other groups who are not seen as acceptable in a “white Aryan society." I he rise to hegemony of the right has also given license to widespread practices o f racism within private institutions. The internal memos at the Texaco corporation which re vealed an utter disdain for Blacks by executives and managers o f that com pany likely mirror the not so secret attitudes o f large numbers o f corpo rate executives and managers. The internal memo from Ameasts adver tising groups w hich described Balck and Latino consumers as "suspects" not "prospects,” and therefore rec ommended to major White compa nies that they minimize allocations for Black owned media, is yet an other example o f the raw naked rac ism practiced with impunity in “main stream" America. W.E.B. DuBois warned that the “problem o f the twentieth century will be the colorline." As Africans in America and the world prepare to enter the twenty firs, century the cololine, the reality o f racism and w hite supremacy remains a huge bar rier to racial justice and racial recon ciliation. The intolerable acts suf fered by Africans in America are a function of deep seated attitudes and longstanding, institutionalized cus toms and policies. Historically, more than one African American leader has suggested that the intolerable acts heaped upon the sons and daughters o f Africa in America will continue until we confront the forces o f white supremacy head on at the ballot box and in the streets by any means necessary to preserve and defend our dignity and destiny. The lynchings and other intolerable acts against the Black Nation will continue until we rise up in righteous rebellion. Check for overhead lines when moving irrigation pipes or equipment JDM, age 10 Use spotters when operating trucks or heavy machinery Kayleen. aqe Ï Always wear proper safety eguipment •’ $ ■ ii ■ • ( /f e # s X, f Y A « other studies of the Oregon JOBS Z duced welfare spending by 17%. Hard to place recipients as well program, none has been as rigor as those with relatively few bar ous and thorough as today’s re riers to employ/nent achieved job port,’ said Sandie Hoback, ad and earnings gains, the report ministrator of the Adult and Fam said. ily Services Division in the Or The report also praised Or egon Department of Human Re egon for its efforts to encourage sources. “This is the first time program participants “to look for that independent national re and take jobs that pay above the searchers have collected and ana minimum wage and offer ben lyzed such in-depth data about efits and potential for advance our results in placements, wages, ment.” health care and tax savings.” “This is our a p p ro a c h ,” The report found that partici Hoback said, “even by accept pation in Oregon JOBS increased ing a minimum wage job, fami employment by 18% and boosted lies are increasing their financial the proportion of individuals with resources by nearly three quar employer provided health insur ters. And Oregon's average job ance by 71%. It also raised pay placemen, off welfare is at least by 86 cents an hour, lifted two $1 above the minimum wage.” year earnings by 35%, and re- “I Can See Clearly, Now...” E astbound m o to rists on the S u n se t H ighw ay (U .S . 26) w ill s o o n fin d th e tr ip through the V ista R idge T u n nel m uch b rig h te r. T h a t’s th an k s to a p ro je c t now u n derw ay to rep lace the present lig h tin g system , w hich dates back to the late 1960’s, with b rig h te r, m ore energy e f f i c ie n t, illu m in a tio n . The $1.06 m illion jo b is s ta rtin g w ith som e cleanup w o rk m ad e n e c e s s a r y by years o f cars b u rning leaded g aso lin e. C rew s are in the p ro c e s s o f re m o v in g lead co ntam inated m aterial from work area, or “ a ttic ,” im m e d ia te ly a b o v e th e tu n n e l. D uring th is phase o f a c tiv ity , no work w ill be v isib le to m o to rists. O n c e th a t p a r t o f th e p ro ject is done, work can go ahead on in sta llin g w iring and light fix tu res th at will be par, o f the new system . M o to rists can e x p ect east- bound lane c lo su re s, m ainly at n ig h t, b eg in n in g around A ugust I. T his w ill c reate a safe w ork for crew s a tta c h ing the actual light fix tu res inside the tu nnel. Tice E lectric o f P ortland, OR., is the c o n tra c to r on the p ro je c t. W ork s h o u ld be com plete by O ctober 31. 2 1 S Locate all power lines before pruning trees or harvesting fruit Oregon’s welfare-to-work efforts bring national recognition Welfare rolls have in past four years A rigorous independent re view of welfare to work efforts across the country has singled out Oregon’s JOBS program as “unusually successful" and con cluded that it increases employ ment, finds jobs that pay higher wages, and cuts costs to taxpay ers. “These finding and the na tional recognition they bring con firm what Oregon employers and their workers have known for some time,” said Governor John A. Kitzhaber. “We have found a way to help thousands o f poor families achieve genuine self- sufficiency while saving hun dreds of millions of taxpayer dol lars.” “Although there have been ' s p /J - Ac*. utdoor electric safety is important to all of us — O especially this time of year when we’re outside more. With the help of some of last year’s winners in Pacific Power’s Electric Safety Contest, we wanted to make you aware of some of the potentially hazardous situations you and your kids can get into while working or playing outdoors. > PACIFIC POWER A PacifiCorp Company
