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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2000)
O cto b er 4, 2000 Page A 4 ¿Ütje ^lortianb (Dhseruer Opinion Portiani» (Oh, Articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of (T b r J J o r t t a n b (Jf)b »eru er Racial Profiling Incident Draws Moose Apology ^ïo rtlarth (Dhserrter USPS 959-680 E stablished 1 9 7 0 STAFF E d it o r P C in h ie f , u b l is h e r Charles H. Washington Eo I T O R Larry J. Jackson, Sr. B M u s in e s s A sst . P ublisher Michael Leighton E opy d it o r Joy Ramos C r e a t iv e D pointed at us. W e w ere both then handcuffed by the police officers. T he pistol and shotguns w ere aim ed at us until we w ere handcuffed. A t this point, I asked a police officer w hy we were stopped and treated in the m anner decried above. He responded by ask ing if I ow ned the vehicle I was driving, I said yes. He then asked me for my identification. He reached into my pockets and took out my driver's license. A few seconds later he said w e m ade a m istake. At that point, they took the hand cuffs o ff us. I then told him that 1 was a law-abiding citizen and have al ways supported the w ork o f our law enforcem ent officers, but my wife and I w ere em barrassed, hum iliated and afraid for our lives and did not appreciate the w ay we w ere treated. He then indicated that a black man had stolen a black infinity SUV at gunpoint earlier in the evening and they w ere looking for the individual. I then told an officer that m y wife and I w orked at the W hite H ouse and had not broken any laws. A n officer then apologized to us and let us go. I asked for and received his business card. I la ter th en ca lled th e S ilv er Spring, M aryland District H eadquar ters and asked for the officer in charge. A gain, I m ade it know n that my wife and I w ere strong support ers o f law enforcem ent officers, but w e w ere traum atized as result o f the stop by the police officers. H e then told m e that a black m ale had stolen an SUV at gunpoint and that is why covenant on B ush’s house, written in 1939, started, “ Said prem ises shall be used for private dw elling pur poses only and by w hite persons only, excluding bona fide servants o f any race.” They w ere com m on at that point in our history, and prob ably fairly com m on in older homes in the South. It’s unknown, how ever, if Bush even knew the covenant existed since it was part o f any o f the docum ents he signed. The covenant w as am ong docum ents held by the county gov ernm ent. Bush bought the house in 1988 and sold it in 1995. Even ifh e wanted to, he could not have enforced the racial covenant on the hom e because racial covenants were found uncon stitutional in 1948. In the case o f S h elley v. K raem er, the U ntied States Suprem e C ourt ruled that the 14th A m endm ent to the Constitu tion does not p ro tect racial cov enants because they require the gov- em m ent to discrim inate against its citizens. Furtherm ore, the Fair H ous ing A ct o f 1968 outlaw ed new racial covenants and any discrim i nation in housing. A nd the Texas legislature specifically outlaw ed racial covenants in 1984. Racial co venants are no w an anach ronism -much like a law that is still on the books in Newark, New Jersey making it illegal to buy ice cream after 6 p.m. without a doctor's note. An oppressive law, to be sure, but Ben and Jerry need not wony about ending up in prison sifting through millions o f documents and micro film - all to remove racist doctrine that is no longer enforceable. Clearly, it would be a waste o f tax dollars. There are probably hundreds of black Americans and other minori ties living in homes with racial cov enants that were supposed to keep them from being there. But they are, and no one is going to remove them. F orm er P ortland P olice C h ie f Charles M oose apologizes after a couple accuses his M ontgom ery County, M aryla n d p o lice fo r c e with racial profiling. we w ere stopped. 1 asked the officer to fax m e a copy o f the incident report regarding the stolen vehicle. A fter receiving and review ing the incident report and reflecting on the report betw een 11 p.m. and nearly daw n, we becam e m ore upset be cause o f the follow ing facts: 1) . W e did not violate any traffic laws that w ould ju stify us being stopped. 2) . The incident report indicated that the suspect w as a 5 ft. light skinned black male. I am 5 ’ 11 and dark-skinned. 3) . M y vehicle is blue, not black. T he street w as w ell lit and there w ere num erous spotlights on my w ife the vehicle and me. 4) . M y tag num ber is registered to m y w ife and I, not to the ow ner o f the stolen vehicle. W e a p p re c ia te d M o n tg o m ery C ounty Police C h ief C harles M oose calling m e and apologizing for the m istake. H ow ever, w e should have never been handcuffed and had nu m erous pistols shotguns aim ed at us given the facts o f the situation. Let m e b e clear: W e do not feel en titled to an y special treatm ent b ecau se o f o u r p o sitio n s in the W hite House. But, we do not w ant any m ore innocent people to have to go through w hat w e w ent through. W e also w ant to m ake it clear that our outrage is personal. It in no w ay reflects the policies o r positions o f the President. In fact, w e have both w o rk e d h a rd to s u p p o r t th e P resid en t’s blanched and effective approach to crim inal justice, w hich includes putting m ore police on the street and giving them the tools they need to do their jobs. This approach has resulted in the crim e rate going dow n seven years in a row. The Presi dent has been a strong supporter o f the police and has w orked hard to im prove the relationship betw een citizens and police. And, he has taken a strong stand against racial profil ing, including issuing a directive to collect data on the race, ethnicity and gender o f individuals stopped is to help us to determ ine w here prob lems exist in the Federal Law en forcem ent context, and to guide the developm ent o f solutions to help us increase the fairness o f Federal law enforcem ent activities. In summary, we are upset at how we were treated and hope the attention fo cused on our unfortunate incident will help prevent innocent people from be ing treated this way in the future. anager Gary Ann T aylor C S tu te m en l by B ob J. N a sh u n d J a n is F. K earney regarding stop by M ontgo m ery C ounty, M a ryla n d Police. O n Sept. 6, at ap p ro x im ately 10:15 p.m ., we believe w e w ere vic tim s o f racial profiling by M ont gom ery C ounty Police. Until that m om ent, we had an intellectual un derstanding o f the bogus crim e o f (Driving W hile Black). But, in a few terrifying m om ents, w e felt it more deeply and more personally than any w ords could ever convey. There has been grow ing interest on the part o f the m edia and others about w hat happened. W e w ant to take this opportunity to tell you in our own words. First o f all, w e w ere returning from a dinner at a relativ e’s hom e and had not violated any traffic laws w h atso ev er. S u d d e n ly , a p p ro x i m ately eight police cars and twice that many police officers surrounded our vehicle and pointed spotlights, pistols and shotguns at our vehicle. At this point, neither one o f us had said one w ord to the police and we follow ed each and every order very carefully and slow ly because we feared for our lives given the large n um ber o f p isto ls and sh o tg u n s ir e c t o r Robert Parker 4 7 4 7 NE M artin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR 9 7 2 1 1 5 03 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3 Fax 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 1 5 George W. and His Racial Covenant B y Tara Wall, N ational A dvi sors C ouncil o f P ro ject 2 1 a n d a id e to M ic h ig a n G ov. J o h n E ngler (R). Y ou may have heard the rum or that presidential candidate G eorge W. Bush ow ned a hom e w ith a racial covenant that kept him from selling it to m inorities. It's true, he did. But so did the late President John F. Kennedy. For the two o f them to have a clause in the deeds to their hom es does not m ake them racist because such covenants are com m on but unenforceable. A largely hidden relic o f our nation’s past ignorance, racial cov enants w ere m eant to keep neigh borhoods exclusively w hite. The 1 Economy Leaves Children Behind C hild poverty in A m erica drops from 13.5 m illion children in 1998 to 12.1 m illion in 1999, according to new U.S. C ensus Bureau figures. W hile the percentage o f children living in poverty in A m erica is at its low est level since 1979, the per centage o f poor children in w orking fam ilies continues to clim b w ith 77% o f poor children living in fam i lies w here som eone is w orking. T he C h ild re n ’s D efen se Fund hopes the dow nw ard trend contin ues but believe that 12.1 m illion children in poverty is still too high and that too m any A m erican chil dren rem ain at the bottom o f the nation’s agenda. “W e are very glad that 1.4 m illion children are no longer poor, but we are very sad that 12.1 m illion chil- dren are still poor and a great m ajor ity o f them in w orking fam ilies,” s a id M a ria n W rig h t E d e lm a n , fo u n d e r a n d p r e s id e n t o f th e C h ild re n ’s D efen se Fund. “ It is sham eful that m ore children are liv ing in poverty now than 20 years age. W hen has there ever been a better tim e for this nation to invest in its children than w hen it has huge fed eral and state surplus, billions in tobacco settlem ents, billions in w el fare reform m oney, m illions in un spent child health m oney in the state, and 8 years o f prosperity? I f not now, w hen?” The Census poverty figures show that more families are struggling to stay afloat in the workforce, and that the percentage o f poor children living in working families continues to rise. e-mail news@portlandobserver.com sub8cripttan@porttarxtotoervw.axn I ads@portlandobserver.com P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer PO Box 31 3 7 Portland, 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 SAFEWAY FOOD & DRUG L o o k For Y o u r S afew a y W e e k ly Safeway Coffee S hopping G u id e FOR ALL SUBMITTED MATERIALS: ARTICLES: Monday by 5 p . m . In Your Oregonian FOODday ADS: Friday by noon ...and save more by shopping in the Portland Metro Area at Safeway. Beef Chuck 7-Bone Roast Bone-in. SAVE up to $1.29 lb. The Port land! Ibsen erw elcom es freelance Ib,0 Safeway Club Price 34.5 to 39-oz. Special Roast, French Roast or 100% Colombian. 26-oz. Decaffeinated. Limit 1. 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