Page A4
June 20, 2001
<Dp? JlorUaub (Dbeeruer
Opinion articles do not necessarily rejlect or represent the views
o f i l,v P o rtla n d (Dliarruer
CIjc
p u rttan i»
(Dbseruer
Lifting Old Glory to Celebrate Freedom
USPS 959-680
Established 1970
STA FF
E
d it o r
P
C
in
h ie f
Support for Racial
Profiling Bill
Youth Ambassadors
of Vancouver, a group
sponsored by the
Education Service
District, proudly hold
the stars and stripes
during Flag Day
ceremonies Thursday
at the Fort Vancouver
National Historic
Reserve. The
activities also
included a special
performance by the
Heritage High School
Band and a rousing
rendition of “You’re a
Grand old Flag."
An Oregon senate bill in­
volving racial profiling was
considered deadjust two short
weeks ago. It never got out of
committee. But the Portland
Branch o f the NAACP helped
reversed those fortunes last
W ednesday when the civil
rights group became involved
in the issue at the request o f a
few state legislators. "I am
glad to announce that the Sen­
ate Bill 415 was passed today
with “no opposition,” Port­
land NAACP President Roy
Jay said.
Jay, along with Portland
NAACP Committee Chair Rev.
Ronald Williams and the new
incoming president o f the Port­
land State University Chapter
,
u b l is h e r
Charles H. Washington
P hoto by M ark W ashing -
ton /T he P orti and O b ­
server
E
d it o r
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
B
o f NAACP met with Sen. John
Minnis in a closed door meet­
ing to discuss the merits o f the
bill. Minnis, who is also a
Portland police officer, listened
carefully, Jay said. The re­
sults were that Minnis pio­
neered the bill through the sen­
ate floor. Sen. Avel Gordly, D-
Portland, was extremely ex­
cited.
“Thank You NAACP for be­
ing there in such a professional
m anner,” G ordly said. Jay
added, “We want to also per­
sonally thank Senator Gordly,
Senator Minnis and others for
their leadership in passing this
important bill. This is just the
first step, but it will help in our
quest for racial justice..
M
u s in e s s
anager
Gary Ann Taylor
Somebody Ought
To Say Something
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WHOIEORINPARTWITHOLT
PERMISSIOMS PROHIBITED.
The Portland O bserver-O regon’s
Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a
member o f the National Newspaper
A ssociation-Founded in 1885, and
The National Advertising Represen­
tative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc,
New York. NY. and The West Coast
Black Publishers Association • Serv­
ing Portland and Vancouver
There are m any challenges to b e­
ing a writer. Y our w ords can provoke
thought, incite action or influence
others. They can hurt or help; clarify
an issue o rclo u d it up. Consequently,
every w riter faces great responsibili­
ties — especially if you ’ re only one o f
a handful o f Black colum nists in the
state.
L e s s th a n tw o
m onths ago, such a
colum nist w rote two
stories in a leading
d a ily lo c a l p a p e r,
w here the pot shots
w ere h ea rd aro u n d
town and are still reso­
nating — not favor­
ably, particularly in the
Black community.
There w as a com ­
Lydia K. Bass
bined total o f m ore
than one thousand painful to read
w ords, that d id n ’t enlighten or help.
It d id n ’t even m ake for enjoyable
reading, although m uch o f the prose
w as a rose, it sim ply was too thorny.
Both stories dealt w ith the current
Oregon chapterofthe NAACP, which
w as founded in 1909, m aking it the
oldest chapter w est o f the M issis­
sippi.
N ow , as if reading about Big
P im p in ’,
p ro cessed
h a ir,
“hym ietow n”, “niglets”, and scaring
w hite folk w eren’t enough, there was
the creative ruse o f a low scale ‘Orson
W ells like e-m ail’ from the Rev. Jesse
Jackson, that left som e people actu­
ally questioning it’s authenticity!?
I often wonder, w hen I read things
like that, w hat are people thinking?
W hat im pressions do they really get?
W hy do they believe it? W hat pur­
pose is being served in w riting som e­
thing like that? Is there som ething
positive in it? And if there isn’t, “Then
w hy w rite it?” Especially given the
clim ate o f today and the ongoing
declarations for cultural aw areness
and sensitivity.
This is not to slam the writer alone;
she sim ply subm itted it. W hy d id n ’t
som eone stop and say: “ H old the
presses.” D id n ’t anyone see som e­
thing w rong? A nd w hat about the
people w ho, if even for a m om ent,
believed the ‘Jackson e-m ail’ was
authentic? N ow th e re’s a com m en­
tary in that about p eo p le’s long held,
e m b e d d e d s te r e o ty p e s .
T hat story sim ply fed and
p erp e tu ate d m ore o f the
same.
W hen a leading w eekly
alternative new spaper, ran
a cartoon o f the Pope call­
ing him self a “Rock and Roll
‘N -g g -r” last year, m any
people from different ethnic
and religious backgrounds
w ere incensed and said so.
The African-American com ­
m unity is a little different
w hen it com es to our own.
(Herein lies another story. . ,)H ow -
ever, ju st because you aren ’ t hearing
our voices d o esn ’t m ean it w as w ell
received.
N ow , the bigger concern to m any
is the issue of: D oes that k ind o f a
story by a Black journalist, som ehow
legitim ize such preceding and suc­
ceeding stories? A nd i f it does, then
‘S om ebody really O ught T o Say
S o m ething’ in view o f the fact that it
is far from okay.
N ot m any ‘o f u s ’ are given op p o r­
tunities in the m edia. W hen w e are,
w e should not fail to accurately p o r­
tray our com m unity o r slow any
progress that w e are m aking. N ot to
say that w e sh o u ld n ’t print the new s,
but should w e print it in a fashion
that gives people som ething to laugh
at and m akes us look like clow ns?
M aybe ‘w e’ need to be a little m ore
careful how we write about our people,
because w hen others see us w riting
things like that, som eone is bound to
see it as a license to do likew ise. A s
m om m a alw ays said: “W hen all is
said and done, it’s not w hat you say,
but how you say it that counts.”
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