June 12,2002
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R on H erndon S peaks
Education Comes First in Governor’s Race
The Portland Observer is proud to publish
a series o f interviews featuring community
leader and activist Ron D. Herndon. Our
correspondent Yugen Fardan Rashad re
cently sat down with Herndon to talk about
the election season and its impact fo r local
residents.
Yugen: Ron, the state is about to send a new
governor to Salem. What list of concerns and
recommendations would you put before the
two candidates?
H erndon: The candidates need to address
issues that are most important to us. Specifi
cally, what are you going to do about educa
tion and I’m not talking about money. Some
things can be done without money; like mak
ing sure schools of education turn out gradu
ates that know how to teach children to read,
write and do math. What will you (the new
governor) do to make sure we receive our fan-
share o f excellent teachers and principals in
the inner city? That’s a pretty simple request.
It’s an issue of equity.
Yugen: As you know, the highest concen
tration of black people in Oregon resides in
Portland, but the second highest percentage
is in prisons across the state. 1 would think this
should be a huge issue for the two candidates
to consider?
H erndon: Correct. How will you (the incom
ing governor) address the disproportionate
jail sentences that are sending a lot of folks
from our community to prison for crimes that
involve small amounts of drugs? They need
treatment, not incarceration! How will you
ensure that treatment will be available rather
then continue in this merry-go-round?
Y ugen: The issue o f drugs is under the
microscope following the indictment of a very
famous native and employee of the Portland
Trailblazers.
H erndon: The discussion about drugs such
as pot, should happen before a celebrity is
arrested. It’s easy to talk about drugs when a
celebrity is involved. But if you’re serious
about coming up with a solution, there should
be a broader discussion about addiction in our
community. The way it’s currently addressed
is harm ful because incarcerating people
doesn’t work.
Look, what happens when your average
person is caught with small amounts of pot or
crack-cocaine? They’re sent down the river
(jail) because they don’t have good lawyers.
They will be gone for a very long time for what
is essentially a disease. Addiction is a disease.
Y ugen: What about the bread and butter
issues?
H ern d o n : The candidates need to address
these issues. Economically, what are you (gov
ernor candidate) going
to do to stabilize the
black community in
P o rtla n d , at le a st
what’s left of*it? Job
developm ent? How R onH erndon
are you going to make
sure that we have access to capital? Not just for
emergencies, but on a long-term basis, to sus
tain economic development - and in a variety
of ways. Housing, care for the elderly?
Y ugen: Seems often this population rarely
reaches the age where there retirement kicks in.
H erndon; If the truth be told, the black
community subsidizes the social security sys
tem, and here’s why: Just look at the actuary
tables and you will find most black men don’t
live to be 65 years old. So we contribute to a
system where we rarely see a return on the
investment, period. Black women out live black
men, but not white women, so they too, will
subsidize the system for other people.
Yugen: This situation certainly represents
political value for the next governor to address.
H erndon: These are gut level issues involv
ing our families that are sometimes responsible
for destroying them. See, the less money you
have, the less likely you’ll be able to defend the
rights of your family in this city, state, and the
nation. Black people don’t have enough money
or influence on institutions that have money.
Nor do we have enough access to politicians
in this state, to use them for advocacy to
protect our rights. A democracy should work
to protect every citizen and not based upon
whom you know, or how you know him or her,
but this is what’s going on under the heading
of democracy. In fact, black people have done
plenty to expand democracy in this nation.
After slavery, w e’re the ones who said you
gotta have public education. We brought pub
lic education to the South. We said you need
programs to address those who are disenfran
chised.
Yugen: We just elected a new county sher
iff. Please talk about public safety and the need
for open discussion between citizens and law
enforcement.
H erndon: On the issues of public safety,
I learned som ething from form er county
sheriff Lee Brown, (currently Mayor of Hous
ton, Texas). If yo u ’re going to talk about law
enforcem ent, Lee told me, once you figure
out what you w ant, in a quiet m om ent, when
it’s not a crisis, go to the person(s) in power
and have a discussion about the changes
you w ould like to see. Then that person has
an opportunity, w ithout being under the
gun or the publicity or folks taking sides, to
say “yes or no” .
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