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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 2003)
Page A4 (Elfe ^Lìortlanò (Observer O pinion ihe portiand Observer __________ USPS 9 5 8 6 8 0 _________ Established 1970 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 April 23. 2003 Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer E D 1 T U » -I H -C H I E F , P C » L I S H t » S Charles H. Washington I A F F E d it o i s s u e 14 r I E d i t o » Wynde Dyer » Michael Leighton D C » e 4 t i v e D 1 1 i c n i i Paul Neu/eldt M 4 n 4 c b Mark Washington i s t k i b u t i o . x » Ü m i s , P ho r o c » 4 » h ik David Plech! Posrs»4src»: Send address changes to Portland Observer PO Box 3 1 3 7 . Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8 P e rio d ic a l Postage paid In P o rtla n d . OR ■ S u b scriptio n s are $ 6 0 .0 0 per year 5 0 8 2 8 8 0 0 3 3 • FAX503-2880015 • EMAIL:/ 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 o f 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 o f such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER A H . RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN W H O l.EO R IN PART W ITHOUT PERM ISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer-Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member o f the National Newspaper Association-Founded in I885, and The National Advertising Repre sentative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. New York. NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver. C r im in a l J u s t ic e o n T r ia l by H ugh B. P rice clared the word was no longer “as profane" as it once was. Colem an’s own descriptions o f his undercover methods border on farce. He said he worked alone and never tape-recorded his supposed drug buys, instead writing down detailson, o f all things, his leg. Some o f those Coleman had accused escaped this travesty o f ju s tic e b ecau se they could p rove, via a cash ed ch eck in on e case, and em p lo y ee tim e sh eets an d an e m p lo y e r’s testim o n y in an o th er, that they w ere in n o cen t o f C o lem a n ’s claim s. But m ost o f the d efe n d an ts had no such d efen se a g a in st w hat Bob H erb ert, the “N ew For several years in the 1990s, a gang o f A fric an -A m erica n alleg e d drug d ea le rs tra n s form ed T ulia. T exas, a sm all tow n o f 5,000 h alf w ay b etw een A m arillo and L ubbock, into one o f A m e ric a 's m ost p ro sec u ted drug traffick in g capitals. Most o f these supposed black drug dealers belonged to families who had lived in T ulia’s small black com m unity for decades, and they seem ed to be as bereft o f money and as m odest and sober in their habits as anyone in a town that is often described as "dirt poor.” But this didn ’ t deter one Thomas Coleman, a white law officer hired by the regional narcotics task force and the Tulia sh eriff s department to go undercover and root out drug trafficking. In 1999 C olem an gave his su p e rio rs so m e thing to crow a b o u t-th e arrest o f 46 peo p le on su b stan tia l d ru g -tra ffick in g ch arg es. M ost o f those arre ste d w ere A fric an -A m erica n s. They m ade up nearly a tenth o f T u lia ’s black p o p u lation. T he few w hites arrested w ere frien d s o f — Hugh B. Price the blacks. Trials were soon organized, with Thomas Coleman the sole witness against the defendants. Convic Y ork T im e s” co lu m n ist w ho first w ro te ab o u t tions quickly followed, and the sentences were harsh: th e case, d escrib ed as “the nightmarish blend o f 60 years for this defendant, 90 years for that defen incompetence and malevolence.” dant, 434 years for still another defendant. Other Now, thanks to publicity and the legal aid pro defendants, fearful o f being sentenced to decades in vided the defendants by private attorneys in Texas prison, pleaded guilty and received shorter but still and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational substantial time. F u n d .aju d icial h earin g is u n d erw ay in T u lia to Justice had been served, the local prosecutor’s d eterm in e w h eth e r fo u r black m en co n v icted office maintains to this day-even though no drugs on C o lem a n ’s te stim o n y sh o u ld be freed b e were ever found. No money that could be even cau se his te stim o n y w as false. remotely tied to drug-trafficking was ever found. No T he h earin g has a lre ad y h eard fo u r law o ffi weapons o f the kind routinely used by drug-traffick cials w ho had p rev io u sly w orked w ith C olem an ers were ever found. say such th in g s as “ I do not b eliev e Tom All prosecutors had was the word o f Thomas C olem an is an h o n est in d iv id u a l," and "Y ou Coleman-a man with a distinctly checkered legal past ju s t c o u ld n 't d ep en d on w hat he to ld y o u .” The and a well-knownpenchant for publicly referring to real q u estio n is w hy the p ro se c u to r’s o ffic e in any African American as “nigger" because he de T ulia, T exas e v e r th o u g h t and still th in k s it sh o u ld . This glaring injustice is but further evidence that America's criminal justice system is seriously flawed. Racial bias among police officers, prosecutors, juries and judges; toleration o f poorly-prepared de fense attorneys for indigent defendants; state legis latures’ cynical decisions to build prisons in rural white communities in order to provide jobs and infusions o f state funds to ease those areas’ eco nomic depressions, not fight crime, are just a few o f the problems that deserve attention. First and foremost, o f course, there is the wrong o f the death penalty, in which the accumulating \ We should remember that as the declarations resound about America fighting for freedom and democracy in foreign lands, the fight for freedom and democracy in this land, too, is still being waged. instances o f questionable convictions and convic tions proved to have been wrong-that is, o f men who were innocent o f the crime for which they were charged and convicted-cry out for a national mora torium on the death penalty. T h ese issu es are m ore than m a tte rs o f legal p rec ed en t and p ro cess. T hey go to the h eart o f w hat A m erican s d e c la re freedom and d em o c racy in v o lv es and p ro v id es for in d iv id u al hu m an b eings. We should remember that as the declarations resound about America fighting for freedom and democracy in foreign lands, the fight for freedom and democracy in this land, too, is still being waged in places likeTulia, Texas. HughB. Price is president o f the National Urban League, a leading civil rights organization. Vanport name Welcome Bridge will honor town with African American history Vanport Bridge was the overwhelming choice by people voting to rename Interstate M AX’s Long Bridge in a contest held by TriMet. The bridge will bededicated as Vanport Bridge in a ceremony on May 30th, the 55th anniversary o f a flood that washed away the city o f Vanport. “W e’ve received overwhelming support for Vanport,” said Fred Hansen, TriMet general man ager. “The name invokes the area’s past, while the bridge symbolizes its future.” The 4,000-foot bridge spar - from Kenton to Portland International Raceway. Vanport was located in the area between 1942 and 1948. It was Oregon’ssecond largest city and the country’s largest housing project. Men and women, including thousands o f African Ameri cans from over 40 states, were drawn to the city by wartime jobs at the Kaiser Shipyards. At least 15 people lost their lives and 18,000 residents became homeless after a dike burst and waterswept through the city. At the bridge dedi cation ceremony, a plaque commemorating the city and those who lived there will be unveiled. W ELLS FA RG O The Next Stage* The right loan for wherever you're headed next. 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