PaKe A4_____________________________________________ ï b e ^ J o r t l a n h ( ß b s e r u e r _______________________________________ May os, 2002
Opinion articles do not necessarily rejlect or represent the views o f
(Elji’|j n r t k i n b O fibscrurr
Il’r^portíanh (Ohsmwr
£ II I T I ) > - I K - C H I I F . P L1 I I I
C o ry
S H t I
USPS 959-680
B
u s in e s s
Established 1970
M
anag e
»
D
A
sst .
P
»
M
a n a g e
Mark Washington
u b l is h e s
C » E A T I V E
Michael Leighton
Portland, OR 97211
d it o
is t k ik u t io n
Gary Ann Taylor
4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.,
E
Joy Ramos
Charles H. Washington
D I X E C T O K
Paul Neufeldt
P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer PO Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8
Periodical Postage paid In Portland, OR • Subscriptions are $60.00 per year
503-288-0033 • FAX5 0 3 -2 8 8 0 0 1 5 • EMAIL: news&DOrtli
subscnption@ixrtlandQbserver.CQm ,
R on H erndon S peaks
prepared with a plan that antici
pates resistance (the ‘N ’ word -
NO), and takes the longer view.
H erndon: White people in po
sitions of power in Portland - when
you go to them with your bill of
grievances and they say no, what
are you prepared to do? Are you
going to write another letter, or go
to the civil rights commission,
what’s your next step? And this is
my point: Without study, or a
critique of the past, we short
change our community. When
vestiges of power said no to our
entreaties for justice in the past,
what was the response?
Yugen: So what are the les
sons, or strategies to wage a suc
cessful battle on this front?
H erndon: Know that you’re
bringing people together to con
front a status quo steeped in rac
ism. So, if you’re going to bring
black folks together and marshal
changes in politics, education,
employment, business - most gen
erals will study past battles, and
say: “Okay. Now I’mgoing to lead
you on to the battlefield” .
Yugen. So, we should value
past victories and review those
strategies and tactics that worked.
H erndon: W edon’tchronicle
even our local history, and end
up lacking a practical founda
tion to m ake decisions, and
evaluate the present, or future
The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest Multicultural Publication—is a member of the
National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Repre
sentative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers
Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver.
LETTER TO Tl IE EDITOR
Narrow Reading of History Hurts Blacks
Ron Herndon Speaks is a Port
land Observer series featuring
community leader and activist
Ron D. Herndon. The interviews
and editing are done by corre
spondent Yugen Fardan Rashud.
Yugen: Ron, you’ve talked
about how important it is for a
community leader to reference
history and use it as a compass in
terms of what works.
H erndon: Generally, this na
tion puts very little value on learn
ing from the past. History is con
fined to books, and most of what
w e’re taught or read, is a bastard
ized form of American and world
history - very Eurocentric, epi
sodic, and based on revisionist
thinking. This narrow reading of
history ends up hurting black
people the most, because our his
tory is distorted the most.
Yugen: What example would
you give when self-conscience,
unselfish leadership emerged and
obtained a victory for Oregon’s
black populace?
H erndon: The question to ask
in the beginning o f the very first
strategy planning m eeting is,
‘What are you prepared to do
when white folks tell you, ‘N O ’?
Yugen. I suppose the ‘N ’ word
is what brings black people to this
moment o f redundancy, and im
potence. So leaders need to be
less arbitrary or reactive, and more
»
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs
should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope.
All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used
in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager,
unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 199b THE PORTLAND
OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART
WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED.
Progressives Back Bev Stein
Ron Herndon
p ro g ress. Ju st look back to
W orld W ar II and the successes
achieved by black w orkers from
Portland and Vanport who orga
nized at the (K aiser) shipyards.
O r passage o f statew ide civil
rights legislation, which was
pretty difficult. Or, the death of
Tony Stevenson during the 80s,
and the successful push to ad
dress police m isconduct that
resulted in some officers loos
ing their jobs! The successful
push to end one-w ay busing of
black students in Portland.
Now, if you ask leaders in
volved in our community today,
‘What did you learn from these
victories?’ I would bet my pay-
check it would be rare to find any
one who studied these examples
of successes in this community.
And there is no systematic effort
to translate any of those efforts to
our struggles of the day.
I was very disappointed when the Rainbow Coalition took no position on the race for
governor. I was thrilled when my letter carriers union endorsed Bev Stein
Several of us old-timers in the Rainbow Coalition felt that newcomers did not know
enough about Bev, so were unable to make the obvious choice.
Here are a few quotes from past Rainbow press releases, when Bev ran for county chair,
a race we were very involved in.
“Beverly has lived and breathed community organizing for the last 30 years. Whether as
a legislator or as co-chair of our Rainbow Coalition, Bev has fought for and involved the
grass-roots people, the left-out, the women, the people of color, the working people.
"The Rainbow expects Stein to use her consensus-building skills and vast network of
community and government allies to bring new confidence and people-power to county
government.
“A long time resident of inner-NE, she co-chaired the Rainbow Coalition with Macceo
Pettis and spearheaded community crime-fighting, low-cost housing and anti-apartheid
efforts. As a legislator from inner-SE, her human investment and community development
strategies were nationally recognized.”
In her term as county chair, I was privileged to work with her on successful community-
based campaigns to raise the business income tax to benefit schools, to raise the living wage
for county contracted.janitors, security and food service workers and to oppose corporate
welfare.
If we’re about building people power, real democracy and a fair economy, the choice is
obvious. Bev Stein for Governor.
Jamie Partridge
Northeast Portland
Spring Auto Loan Sale
3.2%
Rates as low as
Use a Critical Eye on Tax Claims
Responding to the exaggerated
claims about taxes, the Oregon
C enterfor Public Policy is urging
Oregonians to use a critical eye on
the inflated claims of anti-govern
ment activists.
“Each year claims are made that
taxes are too high and that they
are rising even higher,” noted
Jeff Thom pson, econom ist
with the OCPP. “Nothing could
be further from the truth - taxes
on middle income Oregonians
are not very high and they are
actually declining.”
Recent analysis o f taxes
dem onstrates that both the
federal and the state and local
tax burdens have declined in
recent years.
A study by the W ashing
ton, DC-based Center on Bud
get and Policy Priorities shows
that the federal tax burden of
middle- income famil ies is at the
lowest point in many years.
Families in the middle of the
income distribution paid just
16.3 percent of their income for
all federal taxes (including in-
. come, payroll, excise and other
taxes) in 2001. This was the
’ lowest level in the 22 years for
! which the data exist.
Additionally, the typical
. four-person family with two
dependents paid just 6.8 per
cent of its income in federal
! income taxes, the lowest rate
since 1957.
A separate study, released
earlier this year by the Oregon
Center for Public Policy, showed
that, as a share o f income, state
and local taxes in Oregon have
also declined in recent years.
Additional analysis by the Or
egon Legislative Revenue Office
shows that the total state and
local tax burden on middle-income
households is 10.8 percent.
“When read together, these two
analyses suggest that middle-in-
come Oregonians pay roughly 27
percent of their income for all fed
eral, state, and local taxes,” said
Thompson.
AFFORDABLE
*
APR*
Through May 31,2002
•APR = Annual Percentage Rate.
Interest rates vary based on repayment
period, down payment and credit
standing. All loans are subject to
approval.
JJ
Serving all who live, work, worship or attend school
LOCK & KEY
503-284-9582
FULL LOCKSMITH - SERVICE
RE-KEY AND INSTALL LOCKS
LOCKED OUT?-WE MAKE KEYS FROM SCRATCH
HOUSE, OFFICE OR CAR
in the Portland communities o f Arbor Lodge, Boise, Bridgeton,
Buckman north o f Hawthorne, Cathedral Park, China Town. Concordia
west o f 33"’ Avenue, Concordia University, Downtown Portland, East
Columbia, G oose Hollow, Humboldt, Irvington, Kerns, King. Northwest
Portland, Northwest Industrial Portland, Old Town, Overlook, Pearl
District, Piedmont. Portland Community College-Cascade Campus,
Portland State University, Portsmouth, Sabin, St. Johns. Sullivan's
Gulch, University o f Portland, University Park, Vernon, and
W ILLAMETTE
Federal Credit Union
2151 N.W. Front Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97209
(503)299-4539 • (888)900-8559
\ A i n u l l :l tx. l t
Guns Do Kill People...
Think About It
SE Portland
Eastport Plaza
NE Portland
Lutheran Center for Christian
Ministries, 4219 NE M LK
Beaverton
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Station
13810 SW Farmington Rd. at M en lo
Hillsboro
Human Resources Building, Tuality
Hospital, 232 SE 8th Ave
Eugene
Coburg City Park
Gresham
Advertise
with diversity
¿Cítr j.ln v tlu u ii
(O b s rru c v
call 503.288.0033
or email:
ads@portlandobser ver.com
Gresham Eire Station #4, NE 192nd
Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation
9th ANNUAL GUN TURN-IN
Milwaukie
Clackamas Eire Station, 2 190 SE Gak
Grove Blvd at M flo u g h lin
For more information about
how you can build safe and
healthy communities free
from gun violence visit our
website at
MAY 11, 2002
Warn - 2pm
f
and Halsey
www.ceasefireoVegon.org
1