Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 2000)
January 5,2000 Page A4 ïljv ÿ o rtlan ô ©bsvruer B Opinion Purtlauò Articles do not necessari ly reflect or • « represent the views of <ZZl|c |Jn rtIan b (Observer Wlje sportiani» (O bstruer USPS 959-680 Established 1970 STAFF E d it o r P C h ie f , in u b l is h e r C h a rles H. W a sh in g to n E d i to r L arry J. J a c k so n , Sr. I iie I am aw are that the new millennium technically starts in 2 0 0 1, but for the vast majority o f the billions o f people around the w orld, 2000 m arks the beginning o f the millennium. For most o f us, this is a crossing over period, a tim e when w e are pausing to assess ou r own lives and those o f our co m m u n ities an d o u r w o rld . In ordinary years, w e m ake resolutions to lose w eight o r stop sm oking or w ork harder in school. But this is no ordinary year. Thus, my resolution is not an ordinary resolution. It is a resolution to w ork ever harder for justice and reconciliation, not ju st for one year but for all th e years o f the new m illennium that I am allow ed to live. M y resolution is to w ork ever harder forjustiee in the new millennium. First, to work harder for racial justice. While w e surely have m ade progress as a nation on racial inequities, we have m uch yet to do. A s long as there are hate crim es b ased on race, as long as u s in e s s M anager G ary A nn T aylor C opy E d it o r Joy R am os C r e a t iv e D ir e c t o r S h aw n S trah an 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR 9 7 2 1 1 503-288-0033 Fax 503-288-0015 e-mail pdxobserv@aol.com there are system ic discrepancies in health care, education, housing, and em ploym ent we will have work to do. A s long as there are more black or Latino men in the crim inal justice system in this nation than in college, w e will have work to do. As long as toxic w astes are m ore apt to be dum ped in com m unities o f color or as long as people o f color are targets for police brutality and harassm ent, we w ill have w ork to do. But justice is more than racial justice to d a y . O u r w o rld crie s o ut for econom ic justice w here nochild goes hungry or with out shelter or clothes. O ur world cries out for econom ic justice where all people earn fairwages for their labor, w here child labor is abolished and w here there are no sw eatshops or unsafe w orkplaces. O ur w orld cries out for w omen to be paid com parable w ages for the sam e w ork and in this nation for safe, affordable, quality child care. Justice is more than economic justice as well. It is justice for those w ith disabilities, many ofw hom would like to work, but are never offered the options o f jobs. It is justice for those who are gay or lesbian and who too often are denied basic rights and find them selves victims o f hate crim es across this nation. Itisjusticeform illionsofw om enw ho are victim s o f domestic violence and for m illions o f children who see violence as a normal part o ftheir lives in their homes. T here’s plenty for me - and you - to be busy with in the next millennium. But part o f our justice work must in c lu d e w o rk in g to w a rd reconciliation. In the native Hawaiian culture I am told there is a concept called pono - o f making things right, resto rin g right relatio n s. In the A frican cultures o f the southern part o f the continent there is a concept called ubuntu - the idea that a person is a person in the context o f the com m unity. I have com e to believe that there can be no reconciliation w ithout justice, but 1 am also com ing to believe that there can be no real justice w ithout reconciliation. Only when the victims, only when the com m unity, only when nations work A Dialogue Between Generations eor T iie B P oke land O bserveh P ortland O bseryer Several w eeks ago I attended and spoke at a conference on race w hich w as organized at Stanford University. A fterdeliv erin g m y lecture, I w alked d o w n the step s from the stage. C lustered around the steps w ere several m ale and female graduate students. O ne young black man, about 25 years old, handsom e and confident, began to raise a series o f questions. I quickly apologized, and e x p la in e d th a t I h ad to le a v e im m ediately to be transported by car to the San Jose airport, to catch the red-eye evening flight back to New Y ork. The students expressed the desire to continue our conversation on foot, and would even help carry m y suitcase. 1 agreed. W e w alked across the large cam pus at a quick pace, as I was peppered with queries. T he young black man wanted to know ifl still considered myselfademocratic socialist, and if so, why? I started to talk about the rich tradition o f b la ck A m eric an le ad e rs and s c h o la r s p u b lic ly id e n tif ie d them selves as “socialists,” including P ostmaster : Send address changes to P o rtla n d O bserver PO Box 3 1 3 7 P o rtla n d , OR 9 7 2 0 8 Periodical Postage paid in Portland, OR Subscriptions are $60.00 per year D E A D L IN E S FOR ALL 'SUBMITTED MATERIALS: A R T IC L E S : M o n d a y by 5 p . m . ADS: F rid ay by noon The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions M anuscripts and photographs should b e c le a rly labeled and w ill be returned it accompanied by a sel t adrlrevsed envelope A ll created design display ads becom e the sole property o f the new spaper and cannot be used in other publications o r personal usagewithout ihe w ritten consent o f the general m anager, un less thecliem has pure based the composition o f such ad. C 199 6 T H E P O R T L A N D O B SERVER A LL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN W HO LE OR IN PART W ITH O U T PERMISSION IS PRO HIBITED. The Portland O b s e rv e r-O re g o n 's Oldest M ulticultural P u b lic a tio n -is a m em ber o f the National New spaper A ssociation-Fou nded in 1885. and T h e N ational A dvertising Represen tative Am algam ated Publishers. Inc. N ew V ork. N Y . and Ih e W est Coast Black Publishers I W.E.B. Du Bois, A. Philip Randolph, Paul Robeson, A ngela Y D avis, Bayard Rustin, A udre Lorde, June Jordan and Cornel West. At the end o f their lives, both M alcolm and M artin had increasingly com e to believe that capital ism as a social and e c o n o m ic sy ste m c o u ld n e v e r em pow er the overw helm ing majority o f black people inside this country as w ell as worldwide. “ But w hat makes you think socialism can be relevant or even m ake sense to black people, when everyw here its been tried it has failed?” the young black man asked sincerely. “W hat so c ia lis t s o c ie tie s can se rv e as realistic m odels for us today?” W ell yes. 1 replied, the concept o f socialism has been discredited largely d u e to th e c o lla p s e o f S o v ie t C om m unism , as w ell as the retreat o f European Social D em ocratic Parties into neoliberalism . But despite their problem s, socialist econom ies did deliver m any real benefits, such as free education, universal health care, low cost housing and pensions, far better than market societies. M arkets are engines o f inequality, I asserted. W hen a group o f people sits down to play poker, at the end o f the gam e everyone d o esn ’t go hom e with m ore money than they cam e with. It’s a zero-sum gam e, with winners and losers. And in a racist society, the econom y designed to en su re that A frican A m eric an s, Latinos, w orking class and poor people are almost alw ays perm anent “losers.” “ M a y b e y o u ’re w ro n g a b o u t h isto r y ,” th e y o u n g b la ck m an countered, as we walked to the parking lot, looking around for the car to take me to the airport. “ Look at the econom ic prosperity o f the 1990s. Even poor people in the U.S. have a much higher standard o f living than anyone in the Third W orld.” That fact is little com fort to the 44 m illion Am ericans w ho d o n ’t have medical insurance, I replied. In 1999, more than 500,000 A m ericans will go to hospital em ergency rooms and will be turned aw ay because they have no health insurance. A black man bom and raised in Central Harlem has life expectancy o f 49 years o f age, lo w er th a n m an y T h ird W o rld countries. How can any o f this be justified? from a comm itment to reconci 1 iat ion can we achieve true justice and peace. My resolution for the m illennium . then, is to w ork for ju stic e and reconciliation. May m illions o fo th er resolve to do the same. January 4 through January 18,2000. MAILER SALE! Everything in the store* SPECIAL SALE 2 DAYS ONLY-JAN. 14th & 15 th 40 ALL FABRIC extended hour> Saturday - »»pun l i l ‘>pm Limited to stock on hand! I LltKK DI POI ( OI PI IX McCalls Patterns tfl QQ t 1* // • l i m i t 6 p e r c o u p o n • V a lid 1 /1 3/OO - 1 /1 6 /0 0 • 4 d a y s o n ly BE SURE TO CHECK OUR STORE FOR “MANAGER’S SPECIALS” •Discounts do noi apph io prerioush discounicd or marked down items 1/4/00 thru 1/18/00 RETAIL-WHOLESALE """" 184 1 Í A f / STARK / STREET HI ÎAII HOI RS: Ml ) \-l Rl HiKi.un-0 (Kipni s \ 11 Kl).\> 9 * « U in"pin si \ I ) \ V |iim .iiii “ pin \\ HOI IS M I HOI RS: ★ M< >\-l Kl " Ah.tm-Ñ Ñiipm s \ l | Rl ) \> ‘ HHi.un-Spin s| \ l > \> II ix ».un- »pm 700 S.E. 122nd Ave. Portland, OR 252-9530 Visit our website at www. fabriedepot. tom 1 -8 O O -3 9 2 -3 3 7 6 • ••4 m B ernice P owell J ackson tor <44 ...And a resolution for the new millennium