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More Hate---More Need For
New Legislation
By B ernice P owell J ackson
(Elie ^ o rtía n h (©beerüer
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I have seen evil in my life and 1
ha ve alw ays been aw are o f its p re s­
en ce w hen 1 w as n ear it. I could
feel evil in the air w hen 1 trav eled
to ap arth eid South A frica in the
1980’s. It w as p alp ab le, like static
elec tricity in the air and I w as
alw ays co n scio u s o f the b attle b e­
tw een good and evil w hich w as
going on around me. 1 saw evil
again a few w eeks ago in a little
tow n in southern Illinois. I saw it
in the eyes o f the lead er o f the
W orld C hurch o f the C rea to r, a
C h ristian identity, w hite su p rem a­
cist group w hich claim s B enjam in
S m ith, the m an w hose shooting
ram page ended in the w ounding
an d death s o f b lack s, orth o d o x
Jew s and A sian A m erican s in Illi­
n o is and Indiana. It w as to that
sam e church that tw o C alifo rn ia
b ro th ers belonged and w ho have
been charg ed in the m u rd er o f a
gay couple and w ho are th o u g h t to
be b ehind the b u rnings o f three
sy nagogues in S acram ento.
N ow , these hate crim es seem to
b e e s c a la tin g a n d l i t t l e p r e ­
sch o o lers at a Los A ngeles Jew ish
co m m unity cen ter program h av e
been shot it seem s by an o th er w hite
suprem acist from a d ifferen t group
o f hate m ongers. D esp ite the fact
that w e no lo n g e r read ab o u t them
in n ew sp ap er h ea d lin e s or see the
reports on C N N , A frican A m eri­
can and m u lti-ra c ia l ch u rch es are
still b u rn in g , som e even on the
sam e F o u rth o f Ju ly w eek -en d
where B en jam in S m ith carried out
his killing sp ree, w h ile the rest o f
the nation c e le b ra te d o u r in d ep en ­
dence. We are still n o t free from
the hate it seem s.
A nd so the q u estio n m ust com e
- how m any p eo p le have to be
m urdered, how m any ch ild ren and
innocents sh o t, how m any Jam es
Byrds or M atthew S h ep ard s have
to be k illed in o rd er for o u r C o n ­
gress to act to ex p an d the federal
hate crim es le g isla tio n ?
The p ro p o sed leg islatio n has
been languishing in the halls o f
C ongress for m onths and w as fi­
nally passed by the S enate in late
July. The H ate C rim es Prevention
A ct o f 1999 w as inco rp o rated into
the C om m erce, S tate, Ju stice A p­
propriations bill. T his m odest leg­
islation w ill elim in ate the highly
r e s tric tiv e c irc u m s ta n c e u n d e r
w hich crim es based on race, n a­
York. N Y , and 7tie W e « C o m Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and V aneouver
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O
C
T O
R
W
a r
n
s
More Shootings To Come
Say Treatable “ Biological Unhappiness" Causing Problems
Teenagers shooting classmates.
Employees killing coworkers. Suicides
accounting for more deaths that murder.
Mental health costing $200 billion a
year in the US alone. “Unless we do
something about the causes behind these
problems, they'll continue and even
escalate,” says Dr. Leland Heller, a
Florida family physician, mental health
expert, and author o f the new book,
“Biological Unhappiness” (Dyslimbia
press, 1999).
The irony, says Dr. Heller, is that
virtually all o f die problems are biologi­
cally based and treatable.
“There are common neurological
p roblem s b eh in d m o st o f these
shootings," explains Dr. Heller.
“And these problems are treatable
with the right combination o f medica­
tion and counseling. Making all the
diagnoses and treating them compre­
hensively is crucial, but rarely done.”
Dr. Heller has a free screening test to
find out if a person has one or more
neurological disorders leading to un-
As we leam more about Buford Oneal
Furrow, the man who reportedly opened
fire on children at a Jewish daycare
center in Los Angeles, we experience a
sick sense o f d6j8 vu. Once again,
prejudice - this time against the Jewish
community has turned violent Sanford
Cloud, Jr , national President and CEO
o f The National Conference for Com­
munity and Justice, had the following
reaction to the pattern o f hate cranes
seen in recent months
“This pattern leaves us with choices
W e can be silent, but we know that is
wrong. Wecancondemnthehatecnmes.
but we know that is not enough Wecan
support comprehensive national and
y*-» »,•« » • • » !►»» - •
happiness, substance abuse, violence,
or
even
su icid e
at
http //
www.biologicalunhappiness .com.
The test helps determine if someone
has any o f a variety o f disorders, from
Attention Deficit Disorder or Bipola
Disorder, to Borderline Personality Dis­
order or Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
A recenlstudy conducted by the World
Health Organization, the World Bank,
and Harvard University, reveal that men­
tal illness, including suicide, accounts for
over 15% o f the burden of disease in
established market economies, such as
the United States. This is more than the
disease burden caused by all cancers.
“If we catch the problems now, we
can help stop more shootings,” says Dr.
Heller. “No one has to suffer, or die.”
Dr. Heller has answered a thousand
"ask the doctor” questions for a website
on the borderline personality disorder.
You can email a question to him at
the “Borderline Personality Disorder
S a n c tu a ry ”
at:
< h ttp ://
www .navicom.com/ -patty>
state hate crime legislation.. .but that is
not the complete answer. We must
actively participate in the solution, come
to know one another and leam how to
work better together, and make our
communities more inclusive for all."
And we must do that in Oregon. It is
Qmewecameoutofourcommunitiesof
isolation and stood together in the effort
to build a community where we all
understand that a hate crime committed
against any group is a crime committed
against all humanity and only serves to
deteriorate the very fiber this country
was built upon.
Nurofla Doum/tt
I, NCCJ
lead er o f the W orld C h u rch o f the
C reato r, d ressed up an d w ent on
m o rning talk show s w ith the ap ­
p ea ra n c e o f b ein g u n ju stly a c ­
cused, and claim ing that B enjam in
S m ith had no lo n g er been asso ci­
ated w ith his group, w hen only
w eeks b efo re he had g iven Ben
S m ith his g ro u p ’s h ig h est p rize
a n d m a d e h im h is a s s is ta n t.
T o d a y ’s hate groups not only re ­
cruit in b eer jo in ts and back w oods,
but th ey use the in tern et and look
for lo n ely young m en on college
cam puses.
So o u r n a tio n ’s w ork ag ain st
hate crim es m ust b eg in w ith law
e n f o r c e m e n t a n d e n d in o u r
sch o o ls, o u r co m m u n ities and our
hom es. W e m ust w ork h ard to end
the h ate, to stop the scap e-g o atin g
and b lam in g o f o th ers in a v ariety
o f w ays. E nding the hate m ust be a
p rio rity for us all and w e can begin
by le ttin g o u r co n g re ssp e rso n s
know w here w e stan d on the H ate
C rim es P rev en tio n A ct.
(N o te : y o u c a n w rite y o u r
co n g ressp erso n at U n ited S tates
H ouse o f R ep resen tativ es, W ash ­
ington, DC 20515 o r call (202)
2 2 4 -3 1 2 1 )
The Slow And Silent Disaster
ad. © 1996 TH E P O R T L A N D O B SE R V E R . A L L R IG H T S R E S E R V E D , R E P R O D U C T IO N IN
W H O L E O R IN P A R T W I T H O U T P E R M J S S IO N IS P R O H IB IT E D .
ThrPotdanilO beerver-O regonsO U est Multicultural PoM ieanon-iiam em ber o fthe NaaonalNewspaper
Asaociaboo-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Reptwrtuaiiye Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. New
tional origin or religion can be pro s­
ecuted and extend the coverage to
in d iv i d u a ls w ith d i s a b i l i t i e s ,
w om en and gays and lesbians. N ow
it is up to the H ouse o f R ep resen ta­
tives to pass this im portant leg isla­
tion w hich is now before the H ouse
Ju d iciary C om m ittee.
C lea rly , to u g h en in g the law s
w ill not legislate hate crim es aw ay,
b ut it w ill at least send a m essag e
that th ese crim es w ill not be to le r­
ated and that w e as a n atio n w ill
use every tool to elim in a te them .
B ut our w o rk ca n n o t stop there.
H ate groups are found in every
region in this nation. T oo often w e
w rite them o f f as a few kooks or
p reten d that they d o n ’t exist. T oo
often the actions o f young m en w ho
are on the fringes o f these groups -
cro ss-b u rn in g s, sp ray painting, h a­
rassin g o f people o f co lo r in their
com m unities - are excused as “boys
b eing bo y s” or as kids w ho had a
few too m any beers.
B ut m ore and m ore h ate g roups
are tak in g on new clo th es o f re ­
sp e cta b ility . D avid D uke, o n ce a
K.KK g ran d d rag o n , has run for
p u b lic o ffice an d co v ered up som e
o f his o ld rh eto ric. M att H ale, the
B y A griculture S ecretary D an G lickman
Despite its devastating effects,
drought doesn’t get the attention it
w arrants because, unlike hurricanes,
tornados or floods, it is the kind o f
disaster that has to be around for
aw hile before anyone feels its ef­
fects. The fact is, year in and year
out, drought causes many more prob­
lems for A m erican agriculture than
the natural disasters we hear about
more often.
Drought sneaks up on you. A long
dry spell can happen alm ost any­
where in the nations, but you never
know specifically where or when it
will hit. But every year there is
drought somewhere. Last year it was
the southwest - New M exico, A ri­
zona, Texas and Oklahoma. This year
it’s the mid-Atlantic, northeast and
some areas in the northwest. The
mid-Atlantic region is experiencing
the worst drought since the 1930s,
and there is no end in sight.
The droughts o f the past two years
are making a bad situation worse.
They are com pounding and already
tough situation for farmers w ho are
experiencing historically low com ­
m odity prices for row crops.
In this decade alone, U SD A had
paid out $3.4 billion in crop in su r­
ance benefits due to drought, co m ­
pared to $268 m illion for corps
dam aged by floods. U SD A is p ro ­
v id in g so m e e m e rg e n c y r e li e f
through low cost loans. A nd w e are
p r o v id in g c o s t- s h a r e b e n e f its
through our E m ergency C o n serv a­
tion and E m ergency W atersh ed
P rogram s, to help w ith w ater needs
such as installing pipes, drilling
new or deepening ex istin g w ells,
supplying em ergency w ater for ex ­
isting irrigations system s, and more.
But, most importantly, this Ad­
m inistration is working very hard
with Congress to m ake sure farmers
and ranchers receive sufficient em er­
gency assistance to help them get
through the present crisis. In doing
so, we need to heed the lesson w e are
being taught by repeated disasters -
be prepared.
In addition to helping farm ers to
be b etter prepared for em ergencies
like drought, we m ust also provide
aid for fam ily operations to help
them cope w ith adverse conditions
beyond their control. Rem oving the
cap on loan rates, expanding and
im proving crop insurance and en ­
larging the C onservation R eserve
Program are the kinds o f actions
w hich will give farmers greater flex­
ibility. I also w ant to see a new
farm bill that w ill grant m ore em er­
gency authorities for the S ecretary
o f A griculture - for exam ple, ex ­
tending com m odity loans, helping
to provide on-farm storage, tncreas-
ing food aid d o n atio n s, aid d ona­
tio n s, o r p ro v id in g a d e q u a te ly
funded liv esto ck feed assistance.
L ast m o n th , I o p en ed th e first
m eeting o f the N atio n al C o m m is­
sion on D ro u g h t, w hich w ill rep o rt
back to the P resid en t w ith a co m ­
preh en siv e p lan on how to p rep are
for drought.
Som e o f the issues the co m m is­
sion will review include co o rd in at­
ing drought m anagem ent through a
single governm ent agency, enhanc­
ing crop insurance, a rapid response
style program to p rovide im m edi­
ate re lie f in em ergencies, d ev elo p ­
ing b etter preparedness, w ater co n ­
servation program s, and m ore tech ­
nical assistan ce that w ill help farm ­
ers w ith stand drought, for exam ple,
b etter irrigation techniques or ro ta­
tional grazing.
I also want to see better coordina­
tion betw een federal, state, local and
tribal officials.
W e m ust recognize that m anag­
ing o u r w ater resources is not ju st
an ag ricu ltu ral issue. It is so m e­
thing urban, suburban and rural
com m unities all have a stake in. So
as w e act qu ick ly to help farm ers
and ranchers now - and I believe
that the A dm inistration and C o n ­
gress w ill do so - at the sam e tim e,
w e m ust leam from this experience
and act for the long-term .
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