O c to b e r 11, 2000
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Articles do not
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tUlje IJnrtlanb (Ohaeruer
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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
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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 .
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