A p r il 14, 1999
Page A 3
^Jortlanh (Observer
Some Innocent People
B y H ig h B. P rice
P resident
N ational U rban L eague
To understand why the February
shooting death o f A m adou Dtallo, an
unarm ed W est A frican imm igrant,
by four w hite New Y ork C ity police
officers has generated an intense
outcry across the country against
police m isconduct, one need only
have read two stories in the New
York City newspapers.
O ne w as that recently a w hite po­
lice officer had pulled over the chauf­
feur-driven city car carrying Rudy
W ashington, the city ’s only black
deputy mayor. A pparently, the of­
ficer was unaw are that W ashington
was a top city official.
When Washington asked why they
had been stopped, the officer reportedly
said, “Shut up. I don’t need a reason to
stop you. 1 am a police officer.”
W hen W ashington persisted, the
officer responded, "I ask the ques­
tions. N ot you.”
Later, when a higher-ranking po­
lice official happened by, recognized
Washington, and told the officer who
W ashington was, the officer replied
that he had acted because Washington ’ s
car “looked very suspicious.”
The other story appeared in the
April 4 Ul N ew Y ork Tim es. It re­
ported that m any w hites in upstate
N ew Y ork express little concern that
the N ew Y ork City police may be
violating the civil liberties o f thou­
sands o f African A m ericans and H is­
panic Americans.
“ Ify o u ’ve got police doing all this
undercover stu ff to clean up the
streets,” said one man, the ow ner o f
a bakery, at a political rally in Troy,
N.Y. for N ew Y ork C ity M ayor
Rudolph W. G iuliani, “ som e inno­
cent people m ight get hurt by it. But
over all, it’s going to do som e good.”
Some innocent people might get
hurt. Who, 1 wondered, are the "inno­
cent people' ’ that man was thinking of?
Actually, ofcourse, I don’t wonder. I
know whose rights he would surrender.
This m an’s nam e isn ’t important.
Its his attitude that’s dangerous.
For that same willingness to con­
sider people who happen to be "col­
ored" guilty until proven innocent is at
the heart o f the "racial profiling” which
not only makes them targets for arbi­
trary stops by police on city streets and
interstate highways, but has also con­
tributed to the deaths o f several civil­
ians under controversial circumstances.
T h is is w h at the v o lu m in o u s
te stim o n y o f b la c k s a n d H isp a n ­
ics in N ew Y ork an d e lse w h e re
has show n.
This is why the dem onstrations in
N ew Y ork C ity o v e r the police
departm ent’s stop-and-frisk policy
and last w eekend’s m arch against
police m isconduct in W ashington
have been necessary.
A nd that is why the congress
should approve the Traffic Stops Sta-
tis tic s bill R e p re se n ta tiv e Jo h n
Conyers (D. -M ich.) will propose next
week. That legislation w ould enable
federal officials to accurately assess
the extent racial profiling plays in
police traffic stops.
Its passage w ould send a much-
needed concrete signal that such prac­
tices will not be tolerated.
The time for such signals— and con­
crete action— is at hand, as the racially
and ethnically diverse coalition which
has formed around the police-miscon­
duct issue has urgently declared.
W e have pointed out that these
violations are as w rong-headed in
term s o f effective policing as they
are w rong in term s o f civil liberties.
The success in reducing crim e en­
joy ed by cities w hich have em braced
the com m unity-policing approach—
w hich strives to m ake citizens allies
o f the police— show that is the m ost
effective w ay to cut crime.
In response, Attorney General Janet
Reno has accelerated the pace o f her
department’s enforcement activities
and reached out to civil rights and law
enforcement groups in a search for
solutions. The President him self an­
nounced several new initiatives during
a recent weekend radio address.
But those initiatives m ust be much
bolder in order to force the fundamen­
tal reform s in police policy and prac­
tices that treat people o f color as sec­
ond-class citizens and lead many o f
them to view all police w ith distrust.
The President should convene a
one-day W hite House Summit this
s p rin g
to
u n d e r s c o re
th e
administration’s determination to seek
constructive solutions to the festering
problem ofpolice brutality and abuse.
President C linton needs to act as
boldly on the police issue as h e ’s
done in re-nom inating Bill Lann Lee
to head the Justice D epartm ent’s Civil
Rights Division.
In fact, it w ould be a surprise if
Lee did gain "perm anent” status. The
Republican-controlled Senate Judi­
ciary C om m ittee has tw ice blocked
Senatorial approval, and will almost
certainly do so again. If it does, Lee,
w h o ’s been acting A ssistant A ttor­
ney General for C ivil Rights since
last year, can continue to occupy that
post— w here he has served adm ira­
bly— on an “acting” basis for the rest
o f C linton’s term.
N onetheless, by push in g the Lee
nom ination again, the P resident has
substantively and sy m b o lically d e­
clared his in ten tio n to co n tin u e to
press for racial and so cial ju stice.
It’s that com bination w e need on
the police-m isconduct issue in order
to refute the glib and dangerous idea
that it’s okay for the police to run
roughshod over the rights o f “some
innocent people.”
P resident Clinton A ttends The Ron Brown
P o rtra it Unveiling
President C linton jo in ed C o m ­
merce Secretary W illiam Daley, Mrs.
Alma Brown and M ichael andTracey
Brown, in the unveiling o f Form er
Secretary o f C om m erce Ronald H
B ro w n ’s p ortrait, in the H erbert
H oover Building A uditorium at the
D epartm ent o f Com m erce.
New York artist Steven Polson cre­
ated the official portrait o f Ron Brown.
The image is another histone addition
to the department’s portrait and photo­
graph collection honoring its former
Secretaries. The collection is on display
in the hallway outside the office o f the
Secretary. The portrait will be on dis-
play for two months in the lobby o f the
Departn lent ofCommerce and w i 11 then
be hung in the Secretary’s corridor.
Secretary Brown was the 30,h Sec­
retary o f Com m erce and the first
African A m erican to serve in the
post. He died on April 3, 1996 on a
trade m ission to Croatia and Bosnia.
In addition to Mrs. Brown, and
Michael and Tracey Brown, members
o f the Ron Brown family in attendance
will include: Tami Brown, Michael’s
wife; Morgan and Ryan Brown, Michael
and T am i’s young sons; Dorothy
Arrington, mother o f Alma Brown; and
Gloria Carter, mother o f Ron Brown.
“HB 3197”
J efferson H igh S chool I mage C hangers
P resents
“Keep It Real”
Thursday, April 22nd, 1999
7:00 p . m .
Jefferson High School
Auditorium
5210 N. Kerby
$2.00 Donation
“Keep It Real" is a
dramatic musical play
Written by Renee' Watson.
For more information, please contact:
Robert Thomas
(503) 283-5749
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Photo Sharon Farmer White House Photo Office
From left to right: Commerce Secretary William Daley, Alma Brown, widow
of Ron Brown. President William J. Clinton. Michael Brown, son of Ron Brown,
Morgan and Ryan Brown, twin sons of Michael Brown and Tami Brown (not
pictured) Tracey Brown, daughter of Ron Brown.
experience a quality o f life far below
the norm , as evidence by rates o f
infant m ortality, unem ploym ent and
in carceratio n sig n ifican tly above
state and national averages; and by
life -e x p ec tan c y and high school
graduation rates below state and na­
tional average. HB 3197 will further
exacerbate those inequalities.
Shortly after becom ing governor I
signed Executive Order 96-38, b e­
cause I was convinced that achieving
gender and ethnic equity was unfin­
ished business that must be completed.
T h erefo re, today I reaffirm this
adm inistration’s, and I believe this
state’s, com mitm ent to the principle
o f race, ethnic and gender equity ..
G overnor John Kitzhaber made
the following remarks regarding HB
3197 at press conference. I’m here
today to express my strong opposition
to HB 3197. This bill is framed as a
measure to prevent discrimination in
employment, education, contracting
and minority business development.
Make no mistake about it - it’s real
purpose is to prevent state govern­
ment from m oving forward to ensure
that all Oregonians have equal access
to meaningful jobs, a college educa­
tion, and opportunities to contract or
provide other business services.
A lthough racial and ethnic m i­
norities have m ade som e progress
over the last decade, they continue to
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and I will continue to im plem ent non­
discrimination and affirmative action
policies where applicable.
I firm ly believe that the principle
o f equal opportunity, em bodied by
affirmative action, is essential to guar­
antee all Oregonians equality in edu­
cation, em ploym ent, contracting and
opportunity to provide business ser­
vices. The increasing diversity o f
O reg o n 's population dem ands that
we renew and extend these efforts.
By doing so, we will m aintain our
economic viability and provide a high
quality o f life for all our citizens. Let
us not forget that this diverse popula­
tion will carry the burden o fO reg o n ’s
econom ic w ell being.
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A Time For Better Understanding Of Drinking Problems
State and local professionals in
alcohol prevention and treatm ent are
asking O regonians to help reduce the
state’s alcohol abuse problem s, par­
ticularly am ong young people. U n­
derage drinking often contributes to
crim e, auto crashes, low er grades,
drow nings and suicides.
State alcohol prevention and treat­
m ent experts say increases aw are­
ness can help reduce incidents such
as the m elee in Seaside at the start o f
spring break.
G ov. Jo h n k itz h a b e r h as p ro ­
c la im e d A p ril as A lco h o l A w a re ­
n ess M o n th in O re g o n . “ I a s k
p a re n ts to jo in m e in m a k in g it a
p rio rity to ta lk to k id s a b o u t the
d an g e rs o f a lc o h o l,” say s B a r­
b a ra C im a g lio , d ire c to r o f the
s ta te O ffic e o f A lc o h o l a b u se
am o n g young peo p le, and w e m ust
a lso k ee p re a c h in g o ut to a d u lts
w ith a lco h o l p ro b le m s so th e y g et
th e h elp th ey n e e d .”
K itzh ab er and C im aglio have
m ade reducing underage d rinking
a priority. A special governor-
ap p o in ted task group is p rep arin g
recom m endations to reduce u n d er­
age drinking, such as im proved en ­
forcem ent o f ex istin g law s on alco ­
hol use and increasing the p rice o f
alcoholic beverages.
Kitzhaber is urging parents, teach­
ers, religious leaders and others who
deal with young people to redouble
their efforts to help get m essages to
young people about the dangers and
consequences o f alcohol use.
V arious treatm ent providers and
o rg an izatio n s plan special in fo r­
m ation and activities, such as alco ­
hol screenings on A pril 8. F o llo w ­
ing are several places w ith a c tiv i­
ties and inform ation:
Bndgew ay, 3325 H arold St. NE.
Salem, will do confidential alcohol
screenings on April 8. W alk-ins are
w elcom e from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and
phone calls will be handled from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 1-800-822-6722.
The Oregon Prevention Coalition
to Reduce U nderage D rinking, P ort­
land, has inform ation for youths and
parents. Call (503) 279-9209.
O regon Partnership, Portland, for
inform ation and treatm ent referral.
Call 1-800-923-HELP.
N ational council on Alcoholism
and Drug D ependence, inc., New
York, has a variety o f information.
Call (212) 206-6770.
A lcohol is the m ost-abused drug
am ong young people in O regon and
the rest o f the nation. A lcohol use
is tw ice as p o p u lar as m arijuana
am ong co lleg e stu d en ts, and sev­
eral tim es m ore p o p u la r than co ­
caine. F ollow ing are statistics se­
lected from several so u rces show ­
ing how serious the alco h o l p ro b ­
lem is am ong youths.
A ccording to the 1998 Oregon
Survey o f Student D rug Use, 43 per­
cent o f 1 l ,h graders drank alcohol in
the previous 30 days. A m ong 8th
graders, the numbers w as 26 percent.
In 1996. more than 2,300, or about
40 percent, o f the m otor vehicle crash
deaths for youths betw een 15 and 20
were alcohol-related.
N early one-third o f the nation’s
high school seniors has had five or
more drinks o f alcohol in a row within
the past tw o weeks.
D rinking alcohol at an early age.
especially before age 15, is a strong
indicator o f future alcohol abuse
problem s an d or addiction.
The average age w hen 12-to 17-
years-olds say they first try alcohol is
12.8.
A 1996 survey o f college stu­
dents found that 33 percent o f all
19-and 20 -y ear-o ld s consum e at
least four alcoholic beverages on an
“average" night, and 20 percent have
six or m ore drinks.
A 1991 study found that "A " col­
lege student averaged 3.6 drinks per
week, w hile “ D” o r “F” students av­
eraged 10.6 drinks per week.
M ore than 60 percent o f male
college athletic team m em bers and
more than 40 percent o f female team
m em bers report bridge drinking (the
consum ption o f five or more drinks
in a sitting) in the prior tw o weeks.
O f young m ales w ho drowned.
40-50 percent had consum ed alcohol
prior to drowning.
In a study o f suicide by youths,
drug and alcohol abuse was the most
com m on characteristic o f those who
attem pted suicide.
Helping
O ur
Economy
hen Oregon's economy
valuable resources: our schools,
was lagging in 1985, the
our economy, and our environ­
W
people o f Oregon voted to
ment. Lottery dollars are
start a state lottery, and use
working everywhere to keep
the profits for economic devel­
Oregon feeling like... Oregon.
opment and job creation. As
Oregon's needs shifted, the
f e
people voted to allow Lottery
dollars to help fund schools.
Last year, as attention focused
OREGON
LOTTERY
on parks and salmon,
Oregonians voted to use a
portion o f Lottery funds for
this cause.
n the past 14 years, over
I
$2 billion has been returned
to Oregon to support these
T H
www.oregonlottery.org