Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2000)
O c to b e r 11, 2000 Page A 4 Sille ÿforUanfc (ßbeeruer X "V • Articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of tUlje IJnrtlanb (Ohaeruer * B Opinion {Jurtlaiiii ■BMHN ■■■■■■■Mm ■RHBM H Native Born Americans Can Unite America B i R .D , D avis A sla v em aste r m u st ro b a new slave o f his o r h er id en tity . O nce this is acco m p lish ed , further b ra in w ash in g an d d eh u m an izin g o f the slav e is po ssib le. O ur N egro A fri can an c esto rs w ere robbed o f th eir id e n tities in this m anner. T od ay , in the nam e o f M arxist- d riv en “p o litic a l co rrec tn ess,” all A m ericans are being robbed o f their tru e identities. W h a t’s really bad ab o u t this is the fact that u n lik e the new A fric an slav es arriv in g here h u n d red s o f y ears ago, the robbery tak in g place rig h t now did not re q u ire any force. I f you w ere b o m in A rkansas like 1 w as, you are a native A rkansan. •JJJortlanit (©bseruer USPS 959-680 Established 1970 Y o u are an A rkansan even if your p aren ts w ere from T im buktu. I f you w ere b o m and raised in A m erica, are you som e sort o f h y p h en a te d A m erican ? N o, you are sim p ly a N ativ e A m erican. O u r race has been categ o rized in sev eral d iffe ren t w ay s in m y life tim e. F irst, o u r race w as co lo red , then w e becam e N egroes. L ater on, w e w ere ca lle d b lack. S o m ew here along the line, we w ere A fro-A m eri can. T h en , in the ea rly 1990’s at a p ress co n fe re n ce, Je sse Jack so n m ad e it o ffic ia l by te llin g the g u ll ible m ass m ed ia, “ W e are no longer to be re fe rre d to as b lack s. W e are A fric an -A m erica n s.” W ho g av e Je sse Ja ck so n the au- STAFF E d it o r P C in h ie f Charles H. Washington E d i T o R Larry J. Jackson, Sr. B u s in e s s M anager Gary Ann Taylor A sst . P ublisher Michael Leighton C opy E d it o r Joy R am os C r e a t iv e D 4 7 4 7 NE M a r tin L u th e r K in g , Jr. B lvd. P o rtla n d , O R 9 7 2 1 1 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3 F ax 5 0 3 - 2 8 8 - 0 0 1 5 e-m ail n ew s@ p o rtlan d o b serve r.co m subschption@portlandobsen«rxom ad s@ p o rtlan d o b server.co m 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 FOR ALL SUBMITTED MATERIALS: ARTICLES: Monday by 5 p . m . ADS: Friday by noon The Pi irt land ( Ibserver w elcom es freelance sub m ission s M anuscripts and p hotograph s should be clearly lab eled and w ill be returned ilacc«im pam cdbyaselladdressedenvelope A ll created d esign d isp lay ads b ecom e th e so le property o f the new sp ap er and can n ot b e used in other publications or personal u sage w ithout the written con sen t o f the general m anager, unless theclient has purchased the com position o f such ad O 1996 TH E P O R T L A N D O B SER V ER By N ancie G, M arzllla B ill C linton beat G eorge B ush in the 1992 P resid en tial electio n b e ca u se the econom y at the tim e w as in a slum p, acco rd in g to m o st p o litical ob serv ers. T h e estab lish ed n o tio n that peo p le v o te th e ir p o ck etb o o k s w as cap tu red by the co lo r ful slo g an : “ it’s the eco n o m y , stu p id .” T h e C lin to n A d m in istratio n has b ee n b le ssed by an eco n o m y that a lm o st im m ed ia te ly su rg ed into h y p er d riv e, fueled in no sm all part by th e ex p lo siv e g ro w th o f te ch n o lo g ical adv an ces. That economic boom continues to day. So if A1 G ore defeats G eorge W. Bush this year, it will probably be be cause a strong economy favors the incumbent party candidate. T oday the A m erican econ o m y is en jo y in g u n q u estio n e d w o rld m ar ket d o m in a n ce that is b ased p rim a rily on the co n trib u tio n o f inven- tors an d creato rs an d th e ir in te lle c tual p ro p erty allia n ce co n firm in g th at U .S . co p y rig h ts p ro tec tio n is ro o ted in the F ifth A m e n d m e n t’s du e p ro ce ss and ju s t co m p en sa tio n cla u se in the h ea rt o f B ill o f R ights. P ro te ctio n o f in te lle ctu al p ro p erty is set forth in A rticle 1, Section 8 o f th e C o n stitu tio n , w h ich ex p lic itly co m m an d s C o n g ress “to p ro m o te the p ro g re ss o f science an d u se fu l arts, by se cu rin g for lim ited tim e to authors and inven to rs the ex c lu siv e rig h ts to their re sp e c tiv e w ritin g an d d isc o v er ie s .” T h u s , n o t s u r p ris in g ly , M ic ro so ft, a co m p an y at th e apex o f the co m p u ter in d u stry , is a h o m e g ro w n success. I t’s m ark et v alue, a w h opping $ 4 0 0 b illio n , d ep en d s d irec tly on this country ’ s com m itm ent to pro te c t its p aten ts, co p y rig h t, trade secrets, b rand nam e, m ark et p res en c e, and in tellectu al know how ir e c t o r Robert Parker 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 I O N IN W H O L E O R IN P A R T W IT H O U T P E R M IS S IO N IS P R O H IB IT E D . The Portland (Ib ser v er-O r eg o n 's O ldest Multicultural Public*! io n - is a m em ber o f the National N ew spaper A sso cia tio n -F o u n d ed in 1885, and The N ational Advertising R epresen tative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. N ew York. N Y . and The W est C oast Black Publishers A ssociation- Serving Portland and Vancouver peo p le o f all c o lo r v aria tio n s from as lily -w h ite as C asp er the G h o st to as je t-b la c k as the ace o f spades. A frica is not a o n e-rac e co n tin en t. W hen a “ lead er” h y p h en a te s a p o p u latio n o f A m eric an s, he is d i v id in g th em fro m th e re s t o f A m erica. T he d em ag o g u e now m ain tain s co n tro l an d p o w er o v er his b alk an ized p o p u latio n . T o p ro v e m y p o in t ab o u t how d iv isio n p ro m o tes rac ism , look to D av id D uke. I rec en tly saw this w h ite racist and fo rm er Ku K lux K ian lead er on a ca b le new s c h a n nel. H e had recen tly form ed a “ E u ro p ean -A m erican rig h ts” group. 1 g uess h e figured “ w h a t’s g o o d for th e g o o se is g o o d for th e g an d er.” Y ou see o n ly rac ists - no m atter w hat th e ir c o lo r - w o u ld w ant to h y p h en ate A m eric an s so th at they can d iv id e A m erica. 1 am a N ativ e A m erican , but 1 am also p ro u d to be b la ck o f A frican N eg ro h eritag e. A frie n d o f m ine, E zo la F o ster, th e p re sid e n t and fo u n d er o f A m eric an s fo r F am ily V alu es, w ro te b ack in Ju n e o f 1995 in w hat w as H ead w ay m ag azin e, “ By an y o th e r n am e, a ro se is still a rose. B y w h a te v e r m ean s o u r an c es tors a rriv ed , an A m eric an is still an A m erican . L ik e it o r n o t, o u r tru e ca te g o ry is A m erican . S h o u ld n ’t w e sh are th is w ith o u r c h ild re n ? ” To u n ite A m erica, w e m ust. p art o f o u r econom y — an d an en o r m ous p art o f w hat has b een driving eco n o m ic g ro w th ,” the platform does not even deem p ro p erty rights p ro tec tio n w orth m en tio n in g . A c co rd in g to G eorge W. B ush, “ G o v e rn m e n ts d o n ’t c r e a te w e a lth . A m erican s-b y cre ativ ity and e n te rp r is e an d ris k - ta k in g c re a te w ealth . T h e g reat en g in e o f w ealth has b eco m e the hum an m ind- creat ing v alu e o u t o f g en iu s,” Y et the R e p u b lic an p la tfo rm , w hich d e serves c re d it for its co m m itm en t to p ro te c tin g p ro p erty rig h ts in land, fail to m ake the connection betw een intellectual property p ro tectio n and Rights , u b l is h e r th o rity to d ec id e w hat o u r race is called , an y w ay ? 1 d o n ’t care w hat Jesse said: I ’m not an A frican -h y p h en ated -A m eri can. I ’m tire d o fc h a n g in g m y id en tity like a p ro fe ssio n a l w re stle r ch an g es his p erso n ality . A t som e p o in t, peo p le o f o th er races m ay begin to start th inking w e ’re c o n fused. B esides, A frica is n o t a co u n try . A frica is a vast co n tin en t th at c u r ren tly has 55 co u n tries w ith d iffe r en t id eo lo g ies, g o v ern m en ts, tra d itio n s and cu ltu res. M o reo v er, callin g o u rselv es “ A fric an -A m eri c a n s ” sa y s a b s o lu te ly n o th in g ab o u t the c o lo r o f our race. O n the co n tin en t o f A frica, you w ill find There’s No Better Time Than Now to Be A Black Republican Bi C arlton T. P earson For as long as I can remember, both sides o f my family been registered voter with the Democratic Party and unques tionably and often without thinking voted the Democratic tickets. But when Ronald Reagan was run ning for president in 1980 primarily be cause o f his emphasis on moral and ethical integrity, and his conspicuous embrace o f conservative concerns re garding taith in God and the church, I changed parties and voted Republican. I have done so ever since. For the firet several years after chang ing party affiliations, I was a closet Republican.’ ’Primarily because Republi cans and their party platform have been considered the enemy o f African Ameri cans and other minorities. The Demo cratic leadership knows that, for the most part they have our vote, so they don’t necessarily have t listen to us, and in many cases they don’t Inm y opinion, the “ one party system” African Americans has been our curse. W hen 1 saw Vice President Al Gore pandering to the N AACP crowed, even emulating the stereotypical oratory o f African American preachers, my stom ach turned. He and his liberal Democratic cronies assumed that if they played the music right, w e’d dance to their tune. I was insulted by his presumption and disappointed by our gullibility I wonder ifl.ee Alcorn, who resigned as president ofthe Dallas chapter ofthe NAACP after making anti-Semitic remarks about Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, would have been denounced as he was if Lieberman had been a Republican. Yet while the majority o f African American leaders have career commit ments to the Democrats, there are a small but growing n uni her ofblack urban pro- fessionals (“bu p p ies") w ho are re considering the long-and short-term benefits o f our carte blanche com m it m ent to the p a rt’s liberal agenda. W ithin the A frican A m erican com m unity, there are som e definite co n servative instincts and inclinations. To those people, I w ould say: It’s all right to be black and Republican. A frican Americans are making more money; seizingmore opportunities and accessing more power and influence than ever before. W e’ve never before realized the powerful advantages o f a capitalistic society. But after decades o f strong, forceful and consistent civil rights activism and the continuing influence o f the powerful and pro phetic dreams ofMartin Luther King JR., African Americans particularly the baby boom generation are be ginning to experience different op tions and political dispositions. Some high-profile AfricanAmen- can co m m en tato rs have d e nounced the Republican Party's attempt to include minorities in then- convention, accusing them o f “tokenistic” Motives and o f “air- brushing” their underlying disdain for interests that serve the African American needs and concerns. I agree withRepublicanNational Com mittee Chairman Jim Nicholson, However, when he sys that it was time for the party to start showing minorities that the GOP isbecoming a 'different party fora different time " Sure, there were more minorities on the Republican National Conven tion stage than among the delegates on the floor, but you have to star, somewhere. How could there be more minorities on tlie floor until there are on stage with whom they can identify? It is far more effective to address African Amencan con cerns from within the party than from outside it Gere Colin Powell had much greater impact and influ ence on issues such as affirmative action and broadening the appeal to minority concerns during the Demo cratic convention in I n s Angeles As African Americans, let’s le verage our political options by re moving the unspoken taboos asso ciated with party affiliation. I think George W. Bush could be a power ful catalyst for change. This could beagreatnewstartforthe two-party system, especially as i, relates to people o f color. There is no better time to be a black Republican than - its ’ in te lle ctu al p roperty rig h ts. In short, o u r econ o m y to d ay is b ased on p ro p erty rights, stupid. This tru th seem s to h av e been lost on both m ajor presidential co n tenders. A lth o u g h the D em ocratic P arty p latfo rm asserts th at “ te c h n ology is no lo n g er ju st w o n d ro u s gad g ets, it is an ev er m ore integral p ro p erty . Suffering from teleconfusion? Here's a simple, local, 1 friendly solution! ^Integra T E L E C O M *“ 2 BE HEARD. Visit our website; w w w .ln te g ra td e e o m .c o fn LOCAL, LONG DISTANCE & INTERNET FOR BUSINESSES Call Integra Telecom today at 503-748-7777 lu c k y for Begins Oct. 8.2ooo O dds o f w in n in g I 7 M ust be , 8 to purchase Be a sm art player Know your limit now. I lo ttw y
