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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2003)
Page A4 (Ehe JJortlanò (Observer O pinion Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer Thc Portland Observer E o i r o a -i n -C h i t f ,P i i i i it h r k (1 1 Charles H. Washington i n i i D 111r r t i P a u l N e u fe ld t USPS 9 5 9 6 8 0 t m Established 1970 n n A s s o c 1t r 1 t m M ic h a e l L e ig h to n 4 7 4 7 NE M a rtin L u th e r King. Jr. B lvd ., Portland. OR 9 7 2 1 1 D i s r » i k i r i o \ W a is 4 c e » Mark Washington im W ynde D y e r U n ir c i, P h o io i . i i c D avid Plechl h c i 5 0 3 -2 8 8 0 0 3 3 • F M 5 0 3 -2 8 8 O 0 1 5 • EMMC.nws@tMl.la l he Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be relumed i f accompanied by a se lf addressed envelope. A ll created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage w ithout the w ritten consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. © 1996 TH E P O R T L A N D OBSERVER A L L R K iH T S R E S E R V ED, R E P R O D U C T IO 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 . t he Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest M u lticu ltu ra l P u b lic a tio n -is a member o f the National Newspaper Association—Founded in 1885. and The National A dvertising Repre sentative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. New York, N Y , and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serv ing Portland and Vancouver. Posruxsrea: S en d address changes to P o rtla n d O b s erver PO Box 3 1 3 7 , P o rtla n d , OB 9 7 2 0 8 P e r io d ic a l P o s ta g e p a id In P o r t la n d , OR 1 S u b s c r ip t io n s a r e $ 6 0 . 0 0 p e r y e a r iserver.com sub$criDtion@Dortlandobserver. com Discrimination Leaves Lasting Marks Justice Thomas and his colleagues should remember our history by M artha B i rk The Supreme Court recently re visited the issue o f affirmative ac tion, on a date marking the end o f Women's History Month. Linking these is important because both point to our society’s remarkable abi I ity to forget or ignore historical context. America has a racist and sexis, past, which translates into a racist and sexist present, although admit tedly less so with each passing year. But we have not yet achieved a race- and gender-blind society, and we should not pretend that we have. Historical discrimination leaves lasting marks. The culture created by its legacy continues to keep women and minorities out o f positions of education, wealth and power. Forgetting historical context is what leads Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to question the admissions policies o f historically black colleges. With regard to en- —>7- We have not yet achieved a race- and gender-blind society, and we should not pretend that we have. — Martha Burk, Centerfor Advancement of Public Policy couraging diversity in predomi nantly white institutions. Justice Thomas asked, “ Would the same arguments apply to [historically black colleges]?" Justice Thomas’ question im plied that these colleges were cre ated to keep whites out. In fact, the opposite is true they were cre ated to offer opportunity where none existed. Having been denied admission to the “regular” colleges, women and minorities were forced to start their own schools to net work, exchange strategies and cre ate support systems. As race and sex barriers came down in main stream institutions, these schools w ere less and less necessary. T hat’s why we now have the term “h isto rically b la ck ” (m eaning whites are admitted) and why most “w om en's” schools actually admit men, wh i le continuing to serve their traditional audience. We must strive for a society where this “separate but equal” segregation is no longer necessary that’s why affirmative action is still so crucial. Each year when W om en’s His tory Month is over, it presumably gives way to the next 11 months o f M en’s History, just as the end o f if e v e n b rig h t th in g s g et y o u d o w n . Black History Month allows us to resume with White History Year. Our historical forgetfulness is more easily accomplished when we ig nore the inequalities faced by women and people o f color for 11 months o f the year. Justice Thomas and his co lleagues on the court should remember our his tory o f racism when decid ing the future ofaffirmati ve action policies. We all look forward to the day when we have over co m e o u r h isto ry , and reached a level o f equality in o u r so ciety that m akes tweaking ofadmissions poli cies to achieve fairness no longer necessary. But we still need affirmative action to get there. Martha Burk is a politi cal psychologist who heads the Center for Advancement o f Public Policy in Washing ton, D.C., a think tank focus ing on the wisdom of provid- ingformore equal treatment o f women in society. Affirmative Action Builds Strong Military by C ongressm an E ari B lumenauer W ashington D.C. was electri cally charged as argum ents be gan at the Suprem e Court over the critical case on the future o f affirm ative action. Even more conservative voices are being heard as newspaper edi torials and leaders from all over the country share their support for ex isting affirmative action policiesof colleges and universities. Particu larly energizing are the masses of supporters o f all ages who have descended on the nation's Capitol. As our nation continues to struggle with the vestiges o f sys temic bigotry, we should not un derestimate the critical importance o f affirmative action efforts for mi norities and women. We are not talking about quotas. We are talk ing about efforts to address the egregious inequities o f the past and to make sure that our institu tions reflect the communities that they serve. In this time o f war, it is also important to note the importance that affirmative action has played in promoting diversity in our Armed Forces. We simply wouldn’t have credible leadership today without aggressive affirmative action poli cies. Today, minorities make up about 40 percent o f the U.S. mili tary. We need officers that reflect this reality. While the Bush Administration is out o f touch on the importance of affirm ative action, the Arm ed Forces have reaffirmed their sup port. I am im pressed by the am ount o f support w e'v e seen in W ash ington, D.C. I hope the Suprem e C ourt will understand w hat is at stake. A decision striking down cuijent affirmative action policies w ould be a step backw ards for New Vision of Criminal Justice Applauded B y D a v id M. B aker Last week marked a new direc tion for the dialogue in Oregon around criminal justice issues when Commissioner Serena Cruz success fully introduced a proclamation declaring Restorative Justice Week in Multnomah County. The proclam ation reflects a growing awareness of, and demand for, this new paradigm o f criminal justice policy. Unlike the costly revenge-based “tough on crime" approach favored by policy makers, restorative ju s tice promotes the values o f respon sibility, restoration and healing for victims, communities and offend ers by emphasizing policies that do more than simply warehouse of fenders. April 16. 2003 Not only are restorative ap proaches m ore cost-effective (a significant advantage in cash- strapped states like Oregon), they are also m ore effective and ty p i cally enjoy much lower recidivism rates. Exam ples include restitution for com m unities and survivors o f crim e, alternative sentencing and com m unity service, victim -of fender m ediation and crim e pre vention through w ell-funded so cial programs like education, sub stance abuse treatm ent and job training. “ D espite a significant invest ment o fd o llars and tim e, the cur rent crim inal justice system characterized by idea that we can punish our way out o f crim e is simply not delivering on its prom ise o f justice for crim e survivors," said SAFES co-founder and d i rector Arwen Bird. “This is a small but significant step forward for Oregon. The more we confront the failure o f our system with for ward thinking, com passionate, and effective crim inal justice, the better o ff w e’ll all be. Q uite sim ply. i f s time to abandon the costly and failed policies o f the past and to move forward with a m ore sen sible paradigm for crim inal ju s tice.” , David M. Baker is a spokesper son fo r Survivors Advocating for an Effective System, a statewide organization o f crime survivors who advocate a restorative crimi nal justice system. America. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumen auer. D-Ore., represents Portland in O regon's Third Congressional District. jo in o u r d e p r e s s io n Have you or someone you care about been experiencing some or all of the following symptoms for at least a few months? • Hopelessness • Sadness • Loss of interest in daily activities • Difficulty concentrating If so, participants between the ages of 18 to 64 may qualify for a research study of an investigational drug for the treatment of DEPRESSION re s e a rc h s tu d y All office visits and medical evalua tions related to this study will be provided to qualified participants at no charge. To get more information about taking part in this study call: X ----------- Saturday, April 19 9 am - 3 pm A CELEBRATION OF SPRING! Candy egg hunts every 20 minutes, fun and games, puppet shows, Mad Hatter's Tea Party, plus pettable bunnies! All FREE with zoo admission! Metier ta the (SLditer Bill Attacks Constitutional Rights Oregon Sen. John Minnis and those who set a hearing for Senate Bill 742, a blatantly unconstitutional bill,areclearly unfit foroffice. This bill threatens anti-war pro testers and labor strikers with life sentences for broadly defined crim esof“terrorism”. The bill also overrides laws that forbid the po lice from spying on people who are not committing crimes, and from working with the FBI to target immi I gration violations. Anti-waractivists, unionists and immigrants have the right to orga nize against this profit-driven war on Iraq, to fight George Bush's attempt to smash unions under the guise o f fighting terrorism and to live free from police persecution. SB 742 is a major building block in the police state that we are sup posed to be protected from by the Bill o f Rights. The dictionary defines patrio tism as devotion to one’s country. What country are Minnis, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, Bush and company devoted to? I think they are patriots o f big busi ness and corporate ruthlessness. For them, war is necessary and unions are an obstacle to their in human greed. Meanwhile the rest o f the country is left to fend for itself. We are doing that by stand ing up for the wages and working conditions o f ordinary people, or ganizing to stop this war from forc ing us to kill and be killed for mega CEO s’ profits and exposing the rac ist round up o f immigrants. Stop SB 742. Stop John Minnis and his cronies from savaging our state and federal constitutional rights. Adrienne Weller Freedom Socialist Partv »888» CS) zoo SAFEWAY foot £ M ( T R 0 a mmk w w w .oregon zoo.org • TAKE MAX TO THE ZOO! CALL 503-238-RIDE I
