JA N . 20, 1999 t / I p * Attention Readers! Mease take a minute to send us your comments. We 're alnays trying to g i y o u a better paper and we can 'tdo it without your help. Tell us what you Ukeand what needs improvement... any suggestions are welcomed and apprecated. We take criticism nell! Ge, your powerful pens out NOW and address your letters to. Editor. Header R e f u s e . P.O.Box 3137. P u t i u t U l R l X a L ®1|C ^ o rtla n h (©bseriier Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily Reflect Or Represent The Views Of (Clip :{3ortlanb ffibsm w r p e r Larry J. Jackson, Sr. E ditor I 1, l Joy Ramos Copy E ditor G ary A nn Taylor B usiness M anager Iesha W illiam s Laphael K night G raphic D esigner G raphic D esigner M ark W ashington D istribution M anager C ontributing Writers: Professor M cK inley Burt Lee Pearlm an Y em a M easho 4747 NE M artin Luther K ing, Jr. Blvd., Portland, O regon 97211 503-288-0033 • Fax 503-288-0015 Email: P dxobserv@ aol.com Deadline fo r all submitted materials: A r tic le s .F rid a y . 5 :0 0 p m A ds: M o n d a y. 1 2 :0 0 p m PO STM A STE R : Send A ddress C hanges To: Portland O bserver, P.O. Box 3137, P ortland, O R 97208. Periodicals p o sta g e p a id a , Portland. Oregon. Subscriptions: $60.00 p e r ye a r T he Portland O bserver w elcom es freelance subm issions. M anu­ scripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be returned if accom panied by a self addressed envelope. 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SU B SC R IB E TO W ^ortlani» (©hseruer The Portland Observer can be sent directly to your home for only 60.00 per year Please fill out, enclose check or money order, and mail to: S ubscriptions ©»SHKWiK; PO Box 3137 P ortland , O regon 97208 N am e ;___________ __ — ---------------------- A ddress:. City, State. Zip-Code: _ ------------------------------- p e c t i r e s Showing My Race: Politically Incorrect Essays On Identity (DSPS 959-680) Established in 1970 C harles W ashington P u blish er s P u o i I s s llK Ml K IM I 1 B l HI B y P rof . M c K inley B urt I was not surprised that som e read­ ers needed an extra week or so to mull over my-rather disquieting com ments on the U.S. C ensus process (Per­ spectives, Jan. 6, 1999). But, they are back on the phone and fax, now, after m y deferm ent last w eek to the birth­ day ofD r. Martin Luther King Jr. - the m artyr whose personal census took in “all o f G o d ’s children”. A nd no one proved surprised that 1 leaped right on the issue o f direful econom ic consequences should the Y ear 2000 count be structured to the preferences ofth e ‘Right W ing’ poli­ ticians and their fellow-travellers who i t l ffirm U U l U ative V i ’ V i A c­ vehem ently y oppose i A tion, Equal Employment Opportunity, and sim ilar concepts. The “undercounting ofm inorities’ was seen to seriously im pair govern­ ment and business decisions affect­ ing every category o f their existence - from em ploym ent and housing to health care and elections. A m ong those strongly w arning against a re­ peat o f the 1990 errors, we find Mr. High B. Price, president - N ational Urban League. A nd others w am against the deceitful “color blind” rhetoric o f those to whom race has always m attered and alw ays will. There follows here the governm ent’s proposed schem e for restructuring the count o f you-know -w ho for the year 2000 C ensus. This is w here the ' feds’ w ere at the m iddle o f this de­ cade and they have been tinkering w ith the process ever since (at stake are a lot o f jobs, votes, loans, m ort­ gages, childcare, food stam ps, health care, seniors aid). The ent i i i v U.S. O ffice O f M anagem o and Budget (O M B ) is review ing the racial and ethnic categories used by federal agencies for governm ent- wide recordkeeping and statistical data collection. T he review is the result o f increasing criticism that the standards no longer truly reflect the U.S population’s diversity since they w ere first issued 17 years ago. W hile the m ost com m only know n use o f racial and ethnic categories is census reporting, the categories are also used for evaluating public and private sector affirmative action plans, monitoring minorities' access to home m ortgage loans, enforcing the Equal C redit O pportunity A ct and assist­ ing firms under m inority business developm ent program s. Proposed changes include: ♦Adding a "M ulti-racial” category so that respondents w ould not be forced to deny part o f their heritage by having to choose a single cat­ egory; ♦Adding an “other” category for v services through local “one-step” sys­ tems overseen by local work force in­ vestment boards. Oregon has 18months to submit a plan o f implementation to the U.S. Secretary o f Labor. Contact: Steve Tegger(503)947-1478. November Unemployment Claims Up: Oregon Employment Department officials report the effects o f the state’s economy slowing is now being felt in the local employmentoffices. In November the department filed 16,928 new unem­ ployment insuranceclaims.up 13% from November 1997. Contact: Frank Richey (503)947-1691 Department Obtains Fraud Convic­ tions: TheOregon Employment Depart­ ment successfully prosecuted three in­ dividuals fbrunemployment fraud in the month ofDecember illegally collecting unemployment benefits LsaclassC felony punishable by up to five years in prison anda$100,000fine.Courts ordered those convicted to pay $ 13,659 in restitution to the department. The convictions came from Douglas, Linn, and Multnomah counties. In Douglas County, Carla Renee Starnes ofRoseburg received 24 months probation and 20 days on a county work crew for illegally claiming those individuals with multiracial backgrounds and those who want the option o f specifically stating a unique identification; ♦Providing and open-ended ques­ tion to solicit inform ation on race and ethnicity, or com bining concepts o f race, ethnicity and ancestry; ♦Changing the category for Black to A frican A m erican; ♦ C h an g in g the ca te g o rie s for A m erican Indian or A laskan Native to N ative A m erican; ♦Including native H awaiians as a separate category or as part ofN ati ve A m erican rather than as part o f the A sian or Pacific Islander categories; ♦Including H ispanic as a racial designation rather than a separate ethnic category; and ♦A dding a “ M iddle Easterner” category to the list o f ethnic designa­ tions. Be sure to save this federal blue­ print for your future to com pare to next w eek ’s startling revelations. Oregon Employment Department Department Steps-UpEvaluationOf Employment Service Quality: The O r­ egon Employment Department has in­ stalled a process for evaluating the ac­ curacy and completeness o f informa­ tion received from employers and job seekers that is needed to provide quality employment services. The Employment ServiceQualityAssuranee(ESQA)Pro- gram will take an intense look at the quality ofjob seeker enrollments andjob orders on a quarterly basis. Department officials say ESQA is designed in re­ sponse to federal guidelines and in­ volves self-appraisals by local field of­ fice management and staff. Contact: Rod Simmons(503)947-1661. Workforce Investment Act O f 1998 Goes Into Effect: the Workforce Invest­ ment Act o f 1998 went into effect Janu­ ary 1 The act calls forjobplacementand training, and other employment-related $3,939 in unemployment benefits. In Linn County, Derek Dearment o f Al­ bany received 18 months probation and 1 Odayscommumty service fbrclaiming $3,512 in benefits. And in Multnomah County, Daniel Frank O ’Brien o f Portland received 24 months probation and 16 hours ofcom- munity service fortaking $6,208 in ben­ efits. In 1998, the Employment Depart­ ment successfully prosecuted 88 indi­ viduals resulting in $396,215 to be re­ turned to the unemployment insurance trust fund. Contact: Craig Spivey (503) 947-1303. IAM CARES OREGON T hank Y ou F or R eaping W ire ÿaim rtA A 'B