September 20, 2000
Page A4
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Being
Intolerant of
Intolerance
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One might almost have felt some
sympathy for82-year-old Richard
Gimt Butler, looking frail and tired,
as he stood outside the Idaho State
courthouse in Coeur d ’ Alene late
last week.
After all, it’s quite a blow at any
age to be hit with a $6.3-million civil
judgement handed up by a jury
against the organization you’ve
built up over several decades. Be
cause o f that verdict, Butler stands
to lose his organization’s 20-acre
property in nearby Hayden Lake
and. vowed one o f the attorneys
who sued him, “ every desk type
writer and com puter” in it.
Yes, one might feel at least a
r
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
B
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M
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Gary Ann Taylor
A sst . P ublisher
Michael Leighton
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H ic h B. P rice
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Joy Ramos
4747 NE Martin Luther King,
twinge o f sympathy-were it not for
the fact that Richard Gimt Butler,
whose followers call him “Pastor”
Butler, is the founder and guiding
figure ofthe Aryan Nations, one o f
the most dangerous o f the white-
racist extremist groups which has
sheltered and inspired numerous
racists who have committed vio
lent bank robberies and murders,
has long been called "the elder
statesman o f American hate.”
One o f those who knows most
Butler and the Aryan Nations is
Morris S. Dees, Jr., a co-founder of
the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The nonprofit center, which is
based in Birmingham, Alabama and
has long been a stalwart crusader
against groups and individuals
who preach bigotry and violence,
brought the suit.
We can take heart that one jury
o f Americans "in a rural courtroom
in the back country o f Idaho" fol
lowed the law and refuted intoler
ance.
'Zero Tolerance
Spells Disaster
The Reverend Jesse Jackson,
Founder and President o f the Rain-
bow /Push C oalition, recently re
sponded to news o f the arrests of
several High school students in
Decatur, Illinois.
The Youth were among the group
that was expelled last fall for fighting
at a football game, prompting inter
vention by Reverend Jackson and
Governor Ryan.
“The incident leading to these ar
rests is tragic,” said Reverend Jack-
son. “It is clear that these youth are
troubled, it is unfortunate that inter
vention did not occur earlier in their
lives. Far too many o f our youth are
lost and live in the margins without
adequate support from the commu-
»
nity or the school system. Rather
than lend the support and guidance
necessary to help them become self-
sufficient adults, countless school
districts are shutting them out and
pushing them further toward a pat
tern o f self-destructive behavior that
lands them in trouble with the law.”
“ These arrests have absolutely
nothing to do with the issues that led
to our involvement in Decatur last
year," maintained Reverend Jack-
son. “We fully believe that individu
als should face the consequences for
their behavior. However, the rules
should be clear, the playing field
should be even, and the punishment
should fit the crime.”
None o f these principles were be
ing upheld by the Decatur school
board last year. Zero tolerance poli
cies that our children, whose future
opportunities are at stake, make them
doubly harmful.
Comparing the case o f the Decatur
students to that o f recently fired In
d ia n a b a sk e tb a ll co ach B obby
Knight, Reverend Jackson said, “We
are sending a mixed message to our
kids. For a high school student, it is
often ' one strike and you’re out. ’ But
Bobby Knight gets ten strikes and
overtime."
‘Zero tolerance’ is really is a mis
nomer for the treatment he received -
the university tolerated years o f vio
lent behavior and abusive conduct.
Had the Decatur youth received
half the support Knight has, it’s un
likely we would be discussing this
issue today.
called for by Al Sharpton.
We are committed to Burger
King ’ s corporate diversity philoso
phy and its five key provisions for
striving toward diversity and eco
nomic parity in the areas o f em
ployment, franchises, marketing
and advertising, procurement and
philanthropy.
For example, Burger King has
demonstrated its commitment to
forming strategic alliances with a
number o f minority companies.
This includes its 18-year partner
ship with the Uniworld Group, the
largest African American advertis
ing agency in the United States
and its 11-year partnership with
Bromley, Aguilar - its Hispanic -
advertising agency o f record.
Additionally, in 1991 Burger
King Corporation and the Minor-
ity Franchise Association formed
a Diversity Action Council. The
DAC was formed to extend eco
nomic and business development
provisions.
For the last 26 years, the Minor
ity Franchise asso ciation has
worked in partnership with Burger
King Corporation to stimulate eco
nomic growth and development in
ourcommunities.
It is our strong belief that the
people o f these communities in
cluding our employees, our com
munity-based business partners,
our suppliers and their families will
most harshly feel the effects o f a
national boycott. It is only with the
ongonig support o f our loyal cus
tomers that we can continue to
make positive contributions to the
communities that we serve.
Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 9 7 2 1 1
Letters to the editor:
503-288-0033
Latinos, Latinas
outraged over
Portland INS
Fax 503-288-0015
news@portlandobserver.com
septattandphaeiver.com
ads@portlandobserver.com
P ostmaster :
Send address changes to
Portland Observer
PO Box 3 1 3 7
Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8
Periodical Postage
paid in Portland, OR
Subscriptions are
$60.00 per year
Genaccion is a group ofover 80
professional young Latinos and
Latinas who have come together
to promote leadership and effect
social change in Portland.
We are outraged at the treat
ment o f Guo Liming by INS and
support any requests or call to
action from the Asian Community
on her behalf.
On August 25 th, the Oregonian
reported the story o f Chinese
businesswomen, Guo Liming. Ms.
Liming was forced to comply with
a strip search because the INS
throughout her citizens o f Non
European background experiences
whenever they come into contact
with the INS Department in Port
land. It is becoming increasingly
clear that communities o f color re
ceive severe treatment by Portland
INS officials.
A n exam ple o f The heavy
handed tactics used by INS were
demonstrated on Guo Liming’s
humiliating experience o f being
strip searched, jailed for two nights
and her business partners and the
Chinese Consulate not being con
tacted, as is local policy.
This a clear violation o f her hu
man rights.
We applaud the efforts o f Gov
ernor John Kitzhaber and Repre
sentatives D avid Wu, Darlene
Hooley, Earl Blumenauer and Peter
DeFazio in their request for the
resignation o f INS Portland Dis
trict Director, David Beebe.
Minority-Owned
Burger Kings’
Against Boycott
The following is a statement by
Burger KingCorporation’s Minor
ity Franchise Association in re
sponse to the national boycott
initiated by La-Van Hawkins:
There are 1,173 minority-owned
Burger King Corporation reassur
ance nationwide - 15 percent o f
7,830 franchised-owned Burger
King Corporation is a 26-year-old
national organization made up o f
75 minority franchisees.
"As a group, we are united in
our opposition to the national boy
cott o f Burger King restaurants as
on
4
w ith
To better serve a growing population and its increased
reliance on modems, wireless phones, fax machines, and
pagers, the phone companies o f Oregon have added a
new 971 area code to the 503 area. This kind of change is not just occurring in
Oregon, but throughout the country. And because the new codes differ in format from
previous codes that contained cither a ‘ 1’ or a *0’ in the second digit, you should check
all specialized Central Office-based systems for compatibility. Some of these systems
may require reprogramming or upgrading. Cellular phones must be reprogrammed by
your cellular service provider.
To test your equipment, call the new Oregon area code test line at
1-800-000*0000. If you have any difficulty dialing the new area
code, please call your operator to assist you in placing your call.
T h e O regon T elecom m u nication s A sso cia tio n and Y our Local T eleco m m u n ica tio n s P rovid ers
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