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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1998)
Page A3 SEPT. 30, 1998 (Lhe |jortlauò (Ohscrnrr Columbus Sailed The Ocean Blue, Was In 14921 Bv P r o e . M c K in l e y B urt That was part of the little d itty we san in the low er grades of our segregated e l em entary school in St. Louis, MO. We also sang o f the “ Nina, Pinta and the Santa M aria", three brave little ships that carried C hristopher Columbus and his o ff course companions to the so-called "New W orld.” We supposed that the white kids rocked to the same tune each O ctober 12, since our books were th eir hand-m e- downs. This is a w ell-ch ro n icled m is a d v e n tu re ; C o lu m b u s sought a route to the ‘East I n d ie s ’ and its fa b u lo u s w ealth, but ended up “discov ering” Am erica. Since the in habitants o f the New Worlds found by Europeans possessed m arkedly inferior firepow er - if any-their lands were always described as “ discovered” . A ctually, Colum bus had not d isc o v e red ’ A m erica as we know it to day. Better put, we c o u ld use th e p lu ra l “A m ericas,” referring to the islands of the C aribbean or “ W est In d ie s as th ey are known. Colum bus asked God to sanctify these new colonies he seized in the name o f his patrons, the king and queen o f Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella. One m ight raise an eyebrow at this placing o f the explorer in a religious context - con sidering the w ell-docum ented cruelty of the greedy Spanish explorers. We have the fo l lowing from the notes o f C o lumbus (5) and those of 3 con tem poraries, as translated by Cecil Jane. “Columbus was undoubtedly deeply imbued with the re li gious spirit. It is im possible to read his ex tan t w ritings w ithout realizing that he was ever ready to perceive the fin ger o f God in all that might come to pass. He seems to have been a l most eager to convert the com monplace into the m iraculous; he could divine a special d is pensation o f P rovidence in every change of w eather and could see the hand o f the A l mighty constantly shaping the course o f his life ” . “ He was very certain that nothing ev er h ap p en ed by chance, that the most trivial incidents o f everyday e x ist ence had been fore-ordained from all eternity. Like St. Joan before him, he heard voices and saw visions; like Cromwell after him, he was profoundly convinced that he enjoyed the special protection o f the De ity, that he was, as a Puritan field preacher might have ex pressed it, a chosen v e sse l,’ ordained to be an instrum ent by m eans of which the high purposes o f Heaven might be accom plished.” These passages are from , “The Four Voyages O fC olum - bus” , T ranslated and edited by Cecil Jane as cited earlier; with a very inform ative in tro duction and maps. You will find the Spanish text on one page and the En glish tran slatio n on the facing page. O btainable at a very eco nom ical p rice from . D over P ublications Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, M ineola, N.Y. 1 1501 Phone (516) 294-7000 Fax (516) 742-6953. The late A frican Am erican h istorian, John Henrik Clarke points out that "Colum bus set in m otion political forces that established a global system of exploitation. This system [Co lonialism and slavery] p ro duced European World dom i nation." Next week, excerpts from C olum bus’ “ Book of Proph esies w here he says that he has found “The Garden of Eden” (w hile indigenous peoples are tortured and slaughtered).A lso how m ajor Am erican figures in the developm ent of America in h e r ite d th is v ie w p o in t; O lm stead, et al, and the envi ronm entalist. and C olum bus’ verification o f an earlier A fri can p re se n c e , arrow heads from G hana-Olm eca heads. Safety Belt A t Record High A statew id e survey com p le te d in A u g u st show s a record num ber o f Oregonians- 87%- using safety belts. The new figure represents a two p ercen t increase from last y e a r’s survey, according to C arla L evinski, occupant p ro tectio n program m anager for the O regon D epartm ent o f T ra n sp o rta tio n . “ The high use ra te u n d o u b te d ly w ill keep O regon among the top three or four belt-u se states in the co u n try ,” Levinski said. O reg o n ’s high use rate is a ttrib u ted to its prim ary law, m eaning an o fficer can make a traffic stop sp ecifically for failure to use safety belts or child safety seats. In ad d i tio n , O regon p a rtn e rs w ith W ashington and B ritish C o lum bia in an in te rn a tio n a l safety belt enforcem ent cam paign. The cam paign features 10-day periods throughout the year when o ffic ers concen trate on enforcing safety belt laws. They also enforce DUII and speeding laws at the same tim e. S ep tem b er’s effort will em p h a s iz e c h ild p a s s e n g e r safety, L evinski said. “ O r egon law req u ires children under 4 years old and w eigh ing less than 40 pounds to be in an approved child safety s e a t,” said L evinski. Process o f Changing ZIP Codes The S ta te o f O re g o n is w o r k in g w ith th e U .S . P o stal S e rv ic e to change the ZIP c o d e s fo r Salem area s ta te a g e n c ie s from the p r e v io u s s in g le “ u n iq u e ZIP c o d e " 9 7 3 1 0 to the c o rre c t Z IP code fro each d e p a r tm e n t’ s p h y s ic a l a d d re ss. U n d e r th e u n iq u e Z IP code s y s te m , m ail for all s ta te a g e n c ie s is d e liv e re d by the P o s ta l S e rv ic e to the D e p a rtm e n t o f A d m in is tra tiv e S e r v i c e s in S a le m , so rte d fo r d e liv e ry to each o f 2 1 9 a g e n c ie s . S ta te em p lo y e e s th e n d e li v e r the m ail via a c o u rie r sy stem to the a p p ro p r ia te a g e n c ie s. T he c h a n g e in d e liv e ry w ill r e s u lt in the a g e n c ie s r e c e iv in g th e ir m ail fa s te r and re d u c e w o rk h o u rs in v o lv ed w ith h a n d lin g sta te m ail. M a ile r s w ith q u e s tio n s ab o u t the c o rre c t ZIP co d es for s ta te a g e n cy a d d re s s e s m ay c a ll the s ta te in fo rm a - traveled by Is your day usually this jam-packed with excitement? 053137990027 A New Kind of Game Choose words instead of numbers to create your own adventure story. If the pieces of your story match the Lottery's story, you win. Each daily drawing at 7:00 pm offers a top prize of $25,000! Play it Free Today Just take this coupon to your neighborhood Lottery retailer, and you’re off on the adventure! M M Extraordinary Adventures For Ordinary Life OREGON LOTTERY
