DEC. 2,1998
Page A4
Œhe Bortlanfr (Sbaemer.
ED TO R ÄL
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G'
If
It w as fa m e d A m e ric a n
‘p o p ’ a r ti s t A n d y W a rh o l
w ho s u g g e s te d th a t e v e ry ­
o n e is due “ 15 m in u te s o f
fa m e .”
U n fo rtu n a te ly ,
A m e ric a did n o t tak e th is a p ­
p ro a c h to th a t e c le c tic g ro u p
o f th o u s a n d s o f b la c k in v e n ­
to rs w ho g av e th e “ in d u s ­
tr ia l r e v o lu tio n ” a se m in a l
r e a lity - th e y w e re tru ly a
s u is g e n e ris .
L a st w e e k , o u r a s s e rtio n
th a t ‘h i d in g ’ th e c o n tr ib u ­
tio n s o f th e s e tu rn -o f -th e -
c e n tu r y
p io n e e rs
in
A m e r i c a ’ s ( t h e w o r l d ’ s)
t e c h n o lo g y - w as a fo rm o f
g e n o c id e b ro u g h t som e o b ­
je c tio n s - b u t m u ch , m uch
m o re a g re e m e n t. W hat e ls e ,
in d e e d , can be th e im p a c t o f
r a is in g fiv e g e n e r a tio n o f
A m erican s w ith the crip p lin g
c u l t u r a l d e t e r m in a n t th a t
o n ly w h ite a c to r s m ay com e
on stag e in the ro le s o f m ajo r
in v e n to rs , e n g in e e rs an d s c i­
e n tis ts . L o s t ro le m o d e ls ,
m o tiv a tio n
and
c a re e r
c h o ic e s .
O f c o u r s e , w e m u st a c ­
k n o w le d g e th e fre q u e n t and
‘n o n - t h r e a t e n i n g ’ w a lk -o n
p a rt g iv en to G e o rg e W a s h ­
in g to n
C a rv e r,
th e
T u sk ee g ee “ p e a n u t m an ” . He
w as u s u a lly d e s c r ib e d in
su ch te rm s as a “ n a tu ra l g e ­
n iu s - a m an o f o n e w ith G od
and th e p la n ts c o m m an d e d
to re v e a l th e i r s e c re ts o f
m e d ic in e and n u tr itio n .” B ut
n e v e r, n e v e r as th e e m in e n t,
in te lle c tu a l g ia n t w ho had
m a s te re d th e te c h n ic a l p ro ­
to c o l w h ich fo r w h ite p r a c ti­
tio n e rs is d e s c rib e d as the
“ S c i e n t i f i c M e th o d ” - an
‘A n g lo S a x o n ’ p a ra d ig m .
A nd so it is th a t ea ch s u c ­
c e e d in g g e n e ra tio n o f b la c k
y o u th h a s b e e n p r o g r e s ­
siv e ly (an d d e lib e ra te ly ) d is ­
e n g a g e d from th e tru th and
re a lity o f h is ta le n t, in te lle c t
®lje ^Jartlanò (Ohseruer
(DSPS 959-680) Established in 1970
Mark Washington
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Gary Ann Taylor
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Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
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lesha Williams
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Graphic Designer
Contributing Writers:
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Joy Ramos
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Yema Measho
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T hank Y ou F or R eading g lu t
xyn t&u&WRmx
Open Letter to Those
Concerned:
P o lic e C h ie f C h a rle s
M oose is entitled, in our
opinion, to give voice to the
frustration he has been feel-
ing
since som
e m
isguided
Illg 311IW
3U11IV
m io
g u ru v v
citizens marched on his resi-
dence and disrespected him
< yelling curses outside his
,me
The Chief, who has given
so m uch to this city and to
the Northeast Portland com-
‘
munity in particular, was ‘ left
feeling vulnerable in his own
______________
,
home.
N o one responsible
has offered an apology to
the C hief and his wife for the
irresponsible behavior. He
has a right to feel frustrated
and betrayed.
O ur C h ief o f Police re­
...___ - • regu-
-© -
ceives death threats
larly, yet continues to get up
each m ornin g w ith service to
Portland on his m ind. O ver
many years he has provided
courageous leadership o f the
Bureau and m oved it for­
ward.
(£lje ^Surtlanh O b se rv e r
ft
G
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t
W
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£
Ihe Certahi Rises O b Mock Inventors (SKgbtly) V
B y P r o f . M c k in ley B urt
Charles Washington
Publisher A Editor
$
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views Of
Y es, accountability o f the
police for their response to
the disturbance is something
that needs to be fully ad-
dressed. —--
But, , ---
no <----------
public ser-
vant or family member should
have to live in fear in their own
home.
Some may not like the tone
or the m essage that the C hief
delivered at the City Council
m eeting, but those things
needed to be said, and he
needed a forum to express
him self. His com m ents may
have been stated in anger but
it takes courage to speak your
truth. And sometimes the truth
is hard to hear.
O ur next steps ought to be
about continuing to develop
relationships with the young
people who lacked judgement
and positive adult guidance,
and ended up protesting at
the C h ief s home. These youth
apparently were unaware that
they had other options. I f s
the jo b o f the adults to make
-fl. 4
sure that they know w here
to turn, and how to con-
structively channel their own
frustrations.
Some have already spo­
ken out in response to the
C h ief s comments, and most
rem ain supportive o f the
Chi ef even though they may
have expressed di sappoint-
ment at his statements.
Because o f the difficulty
dissem inating a com plete
message through the media
or in convening a forum in
which information could be
shared objectively and in a
timely manner, this manner
o f expression has been se-
lected by the undersigned,
We acknow ledge the cou-
rageous leadership o f C hief
Charles Moose. We respect
that he has chosen N orth-
east Portland for his home,
and join him in his efforts to
get more people proactively
involved in their community
and their neighborhoods,
In the Spirit o f B uilding
Community,
and his p lace in G o d ’s schem e
o f th in g s . Y et we h av e th o se
in th e fie ld s o f e d u c a tio n , s o ­
c io lo g y and u rb a n p la n n in g
w ho k n ew th e c o n s e q u e n c e s ,
a c r u e l and o fte n fa ta l gam e -
d e p riv in g a p e o p le o f th e ir
tru e h is to ry , in c re a s in g ly d e ­
v a lu in g th e c u rre n c y o f h u ­
m an w o rth . B eh o ld !
M a rio n W rig h t E d e lm a n ,
d ire c to r o f the C h ild r e n ’s D e­
fe n se F u n d , p u ts
it q u ite w e ll ( I
q u o te from a new
b u t w id e ly - c ite d
b o o k by L o n n ie
J a c k s o n , O re g o n
C o rre c tio n s , Sa-
1
e
m
;
“ G a n g b u s te rs :
S tra te g ie s for P re v e n tio n and
In te r v e n tio n ) o r 1 -8 0 0 -2 2 2 -
5646.
“ N e v e r b e fo re has o u r
c o u n try seen , or p e rm itte d the
e p id e m ic o f g an g s and v io ­
le n c e th a t is tu rn in g o u r c o m ­
m u n itie s in to fe a rfu l arm ed
ca m p s and s a p p in g th e liv e s
and h o p e s o f so m any o f o u r
c h ild re n ... N e v er has A m erica
p e rm itte d c h ild re n to re ly on
g u n s an d g a n g s, ra th e r th a n
p a r e n ts an d n e ig h b o rs , fo r
p ro te c tio n an d lo v e , or
p u s h e d so m any in to th e tu ­
m u ltu o u s sea s o f life w ith o u t
n u rtu rin g fa m ilie s a n d c o m ­
m u n itie s .”
U n d ire c te d and m isd ire c te d
y o u th w ho h av e no id ea o f
w ho th e y are o r w h at th ey can
be - no m ore th a n th e ir p a r ­
en ts in m any c a s e s . T h is in ­
v e rte d p y ra m id o f so c ia l d e g ­
ra d a tio n re fle c ts th e p r e d ic ­
tio n s o f n o ted b la c k h is to ria n ,
C a r t e r G. W o o d s o n ( “ T h e
M is e d u c a tio n o f the N e g ro ” ).
T h is tra g e d y is n o t a re s u lt o f
M u rp h y ’s T h ird L aw : “ U n in ­
te n d e d C o n s e q u e n c e s .” T he
d i s t o r t i o n s a n d o m is s io n s
(a n d lie s ) h av e b ee n a d e lib ­
e ra te
e c o n o m ic /c u ltu ra l
w eapon.
In a re c e n t a r tic le (1 1 /1 8 /
9 8 ) H u g h B. P ric e , p re s id e n t
N a tio n a l U rb an L ea g u e d e ­
s c rib e d an A m e ric a th a t “ d e ­
p e n d e d fo r
its p r o s p e r ­
ity u p o n th e
s to le n la b o r
of
its
s la v e s .” I
n o te d h e r e
s e v e ra l
y e a rs
ago
th a t J e f fe rs o n D a v is , P r e s i­
d e n t o f th e C o n fe d e ra c y a t ­
te m p te d to p a te n t th e in v e n ­
tio n o f a sla v e by th e n am e o f
T h o m a s ; a p r o p e lle r th a t
g re a tly in c re a s e d th e sp ee d
o f b o a ts (“ L a b o r” w as n o t all
r e g u la r ly s to le n ).
T he a p p lic a tio n w as d e n ie d
on th e b a s is th a t “ a sla v e h as
no r ig h ts w h ich m ay be a c ­
q u ire d at la w ,” a n d as th e
C iv il W ar b e g in s , w e fin d
D avis in c o rp o ra tin g in to “ The
C o n s titu tio n O f T he C o n fe d ­
e ra te S ta te s o f A m e ric a ” , a
P a te n t O ffic e (A r tic le I, S e c ­
tio n 8, P a ra g ra p h 7 ,). It w ould
b e c e r ta in th a t th e m a s te r
w o u ld c o n tro l th e in v e n tio n s
o f th e d u m b ’ s la v e s .
O b v io u s ly , an e s c a la tin g
p ric e in s u ffe rin g and e c o ­
n o m ic d e p r iv a tio n is s till b e ­
in g p a id by A fric a n A m e ri­
ca n s - and in c o n s e q u e n c e o f
th e ir c a lc u la te d tr a v a il, th e
‘e n t i r e ’ n a tio n s u ffe rs huge
Our
biggest
advantage
is being
part of
a big
family
lo s s e s . It is d if f ic u lt to lis t
a ll th e o rig in a to rs and d ire c ­
to rs to -d a te o f th is tra g ic
p la y . W e c o u ld b e g in w ith
p la n ta tio n o w n e rs w ho o b v i­
o u s ly n e v e r fre e d th e ir
s la v e s (te n a n t fa rm in g ) and
D .W . G riffith s in fam o u s p ro ­
p a g a n d a m o v ie , “ B irth o f a
N a tio n .”
T h e n , o f c o u rs e , th e re
w e r e th e o v e r w h e l m i n g
m a sse s o f E u ro p e a n im m i­
g ra n ts w hom c o r p o r a tio n s
p la y e d a g a in s t th e ta le n te d
b la c k s w ho h ad p ro v e n th e ir
a b ilitie s in te c h n o lo g y from
in d u s tr ia l fa irs to C o n g re s ­
s io n a l R e c o rd a n d P a te n t
O f f ic e - a n d m a n y o t h e r
b la c k s w ho h ad m ad e th e ir
m ark in so u th e rn (w h ite) u n i­
v e r s itie s
b e fo re
b e in g
o u s te d in a v ic io u s b a c k la s h
o f v io le n c e an d Jim C row
L aw s. T he q u e s tio n , to d a y ,
is , are o u r w a y w a rd y o u th ,
g a n g b a n g e rs r e tr ie v a b le fo r
te c h n o lo g y ?
A n d a g a i n s t th e b a c k ­
g ro u n d o f H o lly w o o d ’s
d o w n g ra d e and c a ric a tu re s -
see M ic h a e l J o r d a n ’s la te s t
c o m m e n t - w e h av e m illio n s
o f b la c k y o u th w ho h av e and
are a tte n d in g a n e tw o rk o f
th e n a tio n ’s s c h o o ls th a t are
re a lly no m ore th a n “ farm
te a m s ” fo r th e p ro f e s s io n a l
s p o rts te a m s an d th e ir s u b ­
s id ia ry in d u s trie s (th e new
v ersio n o f “ Rom an G lad iato rs
- N o m a th , s c ie n c e ).
N e x t w e ek . T o d a y ’s s ta g e
fo r b la c k te c h n o lo g y an d the
eco n o m ic and e d u c a tio n a l re ­
a litie s ; th e g e n iu s is s till
th e re , b u t it re q u ire s s u p p o rt
o f th e e n tire c o m m u n ity .
To us, being part of a big
family means...
* Sharing responsibilities
among only the most
qualified, highly trained
professionals...
♦Sharing ideas and
programs to protect
our children and
benefit our
neighborhoods...
♦Sharing resources
with the families
and communities
we serve.
and understanding
the importance of sharing.
430N. Killingsworth Street
Portland, Oregon 97217
503/283/1976
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please remember
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