Page A4
August 15,2001
(The ^Iortlanh (Dbseruer
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views
of
{In rtlan it (BbstrUer
S om ebody Ought To Say Som ething
Iiv T. K. Hass
^ o rtia n b
(Observer I t’s Not Just About the Words
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STA FF
E
d it o r
C
P
in
h ie f
,
u b l is h e r
Charles H. Washington
E d i
t
o R
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
B
M
u s in e s s
anager
Gary Ann Taylor
A sst . P ublisher
Michael Leighton
C
o pe
E
d it o r
Joy Ramos
C
r e a t iv e
D
ir e c t o r
Robert Parker
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King, Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 9 7 2 1 1
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O ne thing that the D erry
Jackson deb acle proved is
that w ords do hurt. They
can attack the spirit and pain
the soul. T hey even have
th e p o te n tia l to fo re v e r
change your heart and in
essence w ho you are. One
th ing that both the Jew ish
and A frican-A m erican com ­
m u nities know all to w ell is
this:
W ords m atter, fo r they
b e c o m e th e
pegs that ideas
are hung on.
W e ’v e a ll
been ch ild ren ,
w ounded or
d e v a lu e d by
w ords. So you
can rem em ber
w h at t h a t ’s
like. U nable to
u n d e rsta n d or
defen d ; often
fo rced to r a ­
tio n a liz e your Lydia K. Bass
w ay to c o m ­
p reh e n d in g the in co m p re ­
hensible. And w ith every oc­
c u r r e n c e y o u p r o b a b ly
a sk ed y o u rs e lf w hy? N ot
w hy m e, but why? A nd when
you got hom e, seeking com ­
fo rt and c o u n se l, i f y our
house w as like m ine, you
alw ays heard: “ T urn the
experience around and show
them w hat y o u ’re m ade o f.”
So, how do I feel som e
forty y ears later o v er the
‘Jack so n d e b a c le ’? D eeply
p a in e d . N o t j u s t by th e
w ords, but by th e ir p o ssib le
effect. W ill the lesions left
by the d e liv e ry o f the Jack-
son in terv iew leave us sore
i f untreated? W ill ethnic ten ­
sio n s sw e ll? W ill a non-
m onolithic A frican -A m eri­ dren, you do not have the
can com m unity, sorely in luxury o f publicly trading off
need o f tw o Portland Public during a board m eeting with
School advocates and hav­ ‘whose atrocity was w orse’.
ing tw o for the first tim e And frankly you don’t have
ever, find its e lf w ith only the right to conduct your­
one, am id a Jackson d e p a r­ selves in a way that jeo p ar­
ture? W ill this occurrence dizes the ultimate well being
b e c o m e a tw o -s te p s fo r­ o f children. You c a n ’t es­
w ard, 10 steps back e x p e ri­ pouse respect and parity,
ence for our com m unity as whi le at the same tim e being
a w hole? And the biggest disrespectful and callous -
concern o f all: W hat w ill be it’s incom patible; you c a n ’t
th e r a m if ic a ­ affirm if you are putting
tio n s fo r a ll down. What this climate does
children whose to the heart and spirit o f
e d u c a t i o n a l children is at minimum pa­
future is being thetic. We can only begin to
d i r e c te d
by imagine the damage that this
p e o p le w hose spell over has on children, to
tim e, focus and those that teach them and to
m onies are b e ­ those that support both.
ing spent on an
From all that I ’ve seen,
u n n e c e s s a r y heard or been witness to over
reality?
the last year, I ’m not so sure
Like m any, I that Jackson is the only bad
understand the apple in the bunch. All I know
so u rc e
o f is that it’s time not ju st to
Ja ck so n fru s ­ make a change but to be
tratio n s: not ju s t the on-go- changed. Individually or col­
ing achievem ent gap but the lectively, we all have defin­
reaso n s for it; findings o f ing moments in life and to
v io latio n s for seven years the PPS Board, I say this is
by th e O ffic e o f
d e fin ite ly one o f
C ivil R ights re ­
th em . M a rtin
g a rd in g ESL
“ S ticks an d ’ L uther K ing
children; the
Jr. show ed
stones may break
o n -g o in g
us
th a t
my bones, but
stru g g le for
p re ju d ic e
parity in edu­
words will never
can le a v e
cation... How­
y
o u
hurt me.”
ever, we get into
sc a rre d , but
certain roles in life,
s tre n g th e n e d .
and being an elected of­
T h e re ’s an o p p o rtu ­
ficial is definitely one o f them, nity here for the board to
where you do not have the show us all w hat th e y ’re
luxury o f venting anger and m ade of. Even m istak es
frustration. W hen you are en­ can turn out to be the one
trusted with the educational th ing n ecessary to m ake a
direction and future o f chil­ w orthw hile achievem ent.
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■ Install dimmers. The amount
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saved. For example, lights
dimmed 15 percent reduces
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■ Install motion sensors or
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sensor lighting is great for
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