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