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M ay 26, 1999
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Practice What We Preach
child psychiatrist. Dr. James Com er,
high schools are savagely com peti­
Bui sin» m , N ational U rban L eaglt
tive and hierarchical. Students be­
come obsessed with their status. For
n the month since the m urder o f
those who are different or left out,
tw elve high school students and
one teacherat Columbine High School the stress and distress can be painful.
What fascinates me as I reflect on
in Littleton, Colorado, schools in doz­
the
anguish suffered by suburban
ens o f com munities across the coun­
white
students is the parallel to the
try have been inundated with rumors
pain
endured
by minority youngsters,
o f some o f their students plotting simi­
also
because
o f their status.
lar murderous acts.
1 don’t m ean to suggest the expe­
It’s even m ore distressing that
riences are id en tical— only that
som e o f these rumors have led to the
there’s plenty o f angst and pain to go
discovery o f alleged actual plots and
around, and that its very real in every
the arrest o f students.
community.
Littleton, a suburb o f D enver, is
T oday, forty-five years after the
typical o f many o f the com m unities
great
1954 school d eseg reg atio n
where these school m assacres have
decision,
B row n vs. B oard o f E du­
either occurred or been threatened: it
catio
n
,
su
p p o sed ly k illed o ff Jim
is middle class and m ostly white.
C
row
,
A
m
erican so ciety , for all
Yet, the com fortable circum stances
the p ro g ress m ade, is still m ired in
and network o f youth program s in
a th ick et o f d iscrim in ato ry p rac­
Littleton and the other tow ns proved
tices. B lack and L atino youngsters
not nearly enough to prevent these
who are taught to p lay by the rules
devastating tragedies.
quickly learn that in m any realm s
T hat’s one reason th ey 'v e now
o f A m erican life, there are still
provoked an instant search for solu­
tw o sets o f rules.
tions that in itself threatens to be­
Racial profiling by police is ram ­
com e bewildering.
pant
on some o f the nation’s high­
It’s tim e, some say, to bring the
ways and on city streets, as America
N ational Rifle A ssociation to its
has learned in the afterm ath o f the
knees and legislate stricter gun con­
February police shooting o f unarmed
trols. It’s tim e, others argue, to hold
Amadou Diallo. This unjust practice
the television, music, film, internet
affects all strata o f blacks and His­
and video game industries account­
panics— young and old, the poor and
able for all the m urder and mayhem
affluent, those who are drifting in
they transm it, alm ost w ith impunity.
society’s mainstream and those who
Still others dem and that parents m ust
are trying their best to get ahead.
connect m ore closely with their kids
The connection betw een this re­
and, some have urged, be held ac­
ality and the tragedy at Littleton is
countable if their children do wrong.
that these suburban school rampages
President Clinton, Congress and the
have underscored w hat so m uch o f
political action committees will do
youth violence in the black and H is­
battle over these issues onCapitolHill.
panic inner cities w ould have made
Meanwhile, I suggest society must
clear if W hite M ajority America had
probe deeper for answers. For Littleton
been listening:
has exposed some harsh truths about
Intolerance, v u lnerability and
A m erican life that young people
death
do not discriminate.
wrestle with daily, but that most adults
Am erica’s youth see a society that
would just as soon forget.
is obsessed with status, with sorting
Suburban high schools m im ic
by rank and, yes, by race. They under­
mainstream America.
Ostracism i s rampant in high school,
even on college and university cam­
puses. There are cliques o f youngsters
who hang together and lord it over
outsiders. Jocks get the glory and the
girls. Nerds get laughed at and seek
solace and company on the internet.
“W inners” love rubbing salt in the
wounds o f ‘losers." Integrated schools
are nonetheless segregated inside, with
black and Latino students typically
stranded in less challenging courses.
According to the distinguished
B> H ugh B. P h ic i ______________________
I
When Will It Stop?
, M a rian W k ic h t E delm an
A gain, a natio n has sat before
eir television sets, transfixed w ith
>rror. A gain, w e ask ourselves
hy, and how could it happen.
T h is la te s t v io le n t e p is o d e ,
;ain on school g ro u n d s, o nly em -
la siz e s the u rg en c y w ith w hich
e m ust ad dress the u n d erly in g
tuses o f this and sim ila r trag-
iies, not o n ly in sc h o o ls but in
ar h o m e s an d n e ig h b o rh o o d s,
hese k illin g s w ere n o t ju s t the
ork o f a stu d e n t, b u t o f our entire
>ciety - a so c iety th a t to le rate s
iins and greed , and g lo rifies vio-
nce; a so c iety that v alu es m ateri-
lism m ore than m orality. W ill this
s the in c id en t th a t fin ally m oves
s to ac tio n , o r m u st m o re ch ild ren
s ro b b ed o f the c h a n ce to grow to
lu lth o o d ?
In th e a fte rm a th , I w a tc h e d , as
ou d id , th e faces o f the high
:h o o l stu d e n ts, c h a n g e d fo re v er
y the w a r A m e ric a p e rp e tu a te s
g ain st itse lf. W e e p in g , o r e e rily
aim , th e y to ld sto rie s o f se ein g
la s s m a te s s h o t n e x t to them ,
om e frie n d s sa id to m e, “ w hy
rould th e n ew s m e d ia p u t th ese
o o r c h ild re n on c a m e ra ? H a v e n ’t
ic y b e e n th ro u g h e n o u g h ? ”
I th o u g h t a b o u t th a t an d ab o u t
he co u ra g e it to o k for th ese young
e o p le to te ll th e ir n ig h tm a rish
to rie s o n n a tio n a l te le v isio n . I f
ne v io le n t, a n g ry , iso la te d per-
on w ho had b ee n thinking o f pick-
ng u p a g un se es, an d fee ls, the
iain th e se c h ild re n an d fam ilies
are e x p e rie n c in g and d o e s n ’t p ick
up th a t a ll-to o -a c c e ss ib le gu n , I
can o n ly th an k G o d and the ch ild
w h o to ld his o r h e r story.
Y ou see, I th in k th a t is p a rt o f
th e p ro b lem . M o st o f th e c h ild ren
in schoo l h av e said it seem ed like
a m ovie; it d id n ’t seem rea l w hen
it w as h ap p e n in g . T h is k in d o f
h o rro r is ac c e p te d in o u r m o v ies,
o n ou r te le v isio n s, an d in v id eo
g am es - d ea th , d ep e rso n alize d .
O u r c o u n try w as stu n n e d w hen 12
c h ild re n an d a te ac h er w ere k illed
in one d ay in o n e h ig h sc h o o l, b u t
it d o e s n ’t seem to n o tic e th at e v ­
ery day in A m eric a 13 ch ild ren
die from fire arm s. C h ild re n are
sa fe r from g u n v io le n ce at sch o o l
th an in th e ir hom es.
E very d ay on so m any fronts w e
are ste alin g from ch ild ren w hat
should rig h tfu lly be theirs - safety,
food, sh e lte r, h ealth care, ed u c a­
tion, and the o p p o rtu n ity to grow
into carin g and co n trib u tin g m em ­
bers o f so ciety . A ll ch ild ren need
co n n e cted n e ss an d love and the
basic p h y sic al n ec essitie s o f life.
N ot all ch ild ren are born into fam i­
lies w ho can su p p ly th ese basic
p h y sic al and em o tio n al needs. If
w e, c o lle c tiv e ly , d o n 't p ro te c t
th ese ch ild ren , w ho w ill? I f w e
d o n ’t get the guns o f f o u r streets
and out o f o u r sch o o ls an d hom es,
w ho w ill? I f w e d o n ’t en su re that
all ch ild ren receiv e the h ealth care,
b asic n ec essitie s o f life, and e d u ­
cation they need in a so ciety w here
they are p ro tec ted an d n u rtured,
w hat will th eir future be like? W hat
w ill the q u ality o f o u r co llectiv e
fu tu re be like?
A re c e n t stu d y o f stu d e n ts in
g rad e s 7-12 sh o w ed th a t te e n a g ­
ers w ho feel “ c o n n e c te d ” to th eir
sch o o ls and fam ilies are less likely
to en g a g e in risk y o r v io le n t b e ­
h av io r. T h is is h a rd ly a su rp rise
W e ca n n o t u n d e re stim a te the im ­
p o rta n c e o f fam ily an d teach ers,
an d w e m u st n u rtu re th at feelin g
o f “c o n n e c te d n e ss” v ery early.
T h e im p o rta n ce o f early c h ild ­
h o o d e d u c a tio n , b o th fo r a c a ­
d em ic an d so cial p u rp o ses, is c ru ­
cial. S tu d ies p ro v e th a t early in­
te r v e n tio n a n d e d u c a tio n fo r
p re sc h o o le rs n ot o n ly sp ark s a
lo v e o f le arn in g , b u t also red u ces
th e lik e lih o o d o f v io le n t b eh a v io r
la te r on.
W e m ust take resp o n sib ility for
p u ttin g into p la ce th e reso u rce s
an d b ip a rtisa n p o litic a l su p p o rt
to g e t o u r p r io r itie s s tr a ig h t,
w h eth e r w e ’re ta lk in g ab o u t ed u ­
c a tio n , h e a lth c a re , ch ild care, or
v io le n ce p re v e n tio n . I t ’s to o late
fo r m any stu d e n ts, an d w e grieve
d ee p ly for them . Is n ’t it tim e we
b eg an to learn from o u r m istak es
an d n o t re p e a t th em ? T h ere are
m illio n s o f c h ild re n w ho are d e­
p en d in g on us - fo r p ro tec tio n ,
fo r g u id a n ce , fo r th e basic n e c e s­
sities. B e fo re on e m ore ch ild is
lo st, w e m u st m u ster the n e c e s­
sary w ill to m ake sure all o f o u r
ch ild ren rec eiv e th e h ea lth y and
fair an d safe sta rt in life th ey re ­
q u ired an d d eserv e.
JJortlnnb ©beerutr eshyouNe&ibat,
✓ "J x
stand only too well that ostracism,
racism. anti-Semitism and tribalism
are all points along a continuum o f
intolerance, and that the "ism s" on
that continuum all entail defining one’s
own selfworth by demeaning the worth
o f others. Any “reason” will do.
In their m ost benign form , these
“ ism s” produce em barrassm ent and
isolation. Taken to extrem es, they
poison, m aim , and destroy fam ilies,
co m m u n ities, cu ltu res, p eo p les,
even nations.
W e adults need to in cu lcate in
m ore o f our ch ild ren — an d m ore o f
o u rselv es— a g reater sen se o f civic
resp o n sib ility , to the so ciety and to
the hum an beings w e share it w ith.
W e m ust show them how to reach
across the chasm s o f ignorance and
intolerance, across the b o u n d aries
o f race and religion, pov erty and
plenty, presum ed su p erio rity and
subjugation to forge a society based
on mutual hum anity, m utual respect
and m utual aspirations.
Ho w can we do this? W ell, w e can
start by pledging allegiance with more
vigor— and more m eaning— to that
scared phrase o f the D eclaration o f
Independence: "W e hold these truths
to be self-evident...”
W e can start by p rac ticin g w hat
w e preach.
Represent your neighbors
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people who live in Clackamas,
M ultnom ah and W ashington
counties and the 24 cities in the
Portland m etropolitan area,
provides regional services that
guide grow th and help ensure
that livable communities are
created for the future.
The M etro Committee for Citizen
Involvement is seeking applica­
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about the process of citizen
involvement, are active in the
community and are willing to
For more inform ation or
to request an application
packet, call 7 9 7 - 1 5 3 9
or send e-mail to
mcci@metro.dst.or.us
Visit M etro’s web page at
www.metro-region.org
make the commitment necessary
for meetings, subcommittees and
projects.
Members develop and maintain
programs and procedures to aid
com munication between citizens
and M etro’s elected officials.
The committee helps ensure citizen
participation in M etro decision­
making but does not set policy.
Meetings, held at 7 p.m. on
the third Wednesday of each
month, are open to the public.
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