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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 2003)
(The ^Jnrtlauò (Observer Page A4 O pinion 1 he Portland O bserver ___________ USPS 9 5 9 -6 8 0 __________ Established 1970 4 7 4 7 NE M artin Luther King. Jr. Blvd., Portland, OP 9 7 2 1 1 lune 18. 2003 Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer J E d / t o k -i N - C H i e r , P u t L t s H r. » Charles H. Washington S T A F F E o lio » Michael Leighton C i m i l i D i » t c i o » Paul Neufeldt « O r fic i W c í i Kathy Linder m o s M in e n Mark Washington D u r ili PosiuAsiea: 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 s c rip tio n s are $ 6 0 .0 0 per year 5 0 3 2 8 8 0 0 3 3 • FAX5 0 3 2 8 8 0 0 1 5 • EMAIL: news@Dortlandobserver.com subscriDtion@Dortlandobserver.com ads@oortlandi 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 w ithout the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN W HOLE OR IN PART W IT H O L T PERM ISSIO N IS PRO H IBITED . The Portland Observer—Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication—is a member o f 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. Newspaper Editor Leaves 4 Big Shoes to Fill’ for the T im es’ series, “ How Race is Lived in A m erica,” w hich was published in 2000 and aw arded a Pulitzer Prize for National Report ing the follow ing year. Boyd, a longtim e NABJ m em The N ational A ssociation o f ber w ho w as nam ed as the NABJ Black Journalists is saddened and Journal ist o f the Y ear in 2 0 0 1, has disappointed to learn that Pulitzer also been a tireless m entor to Prize-w inning jo u rn alist G erald hundreds o f young reporters and Boyd has resigned as m anaging editors, and a strong supporter e d ito ro fT h e New Y ork Times. o f blacks and o th er jo u rn alists o f As one o f the highest-ranking co lo r in our n a tio n ’s new sroom s. A frican A m ericans in U.S. new s G erald B o y d ’s acco m p lish papers, Boyd had been a leader in m ents in jo u rn alism before being editorial quality, jo u rn alistic ex nam ed m anaging editor at The cellence and new sroom diversity New York T im es spoke volum es for decades. He led the coverage about his ability and leadership Black Journalists saddened by Boyd resignation skills. To have the actions o f a self-d estru ctiv e m iscreant like Jayson B lair cost G erald his post at the Tim es m akes me sick to my s t o m a c h ,” sa id C ondace Pressley, N ABJ president and assista n t p ro g ram d ire c to r at W SB R adio in A tlanta. B o y d 's resignation cam e at the sam e tim e as the resignation o f th e T im e s ’ e x e c u tiv e e d ito r Howell Raines, and in the wake o f the new sroom scandals involv ing B lairan d Rick Bragg. “ It is a sham e that other report e rs ’ ethical problem s have led to New York Times Managing Editor Gerald Boyd (left) and Execu the resig n atio n o f an acco m tive Editor Howell resigned in the wake o f the Jayson Blair- plished jo u rn alist w ho has held scandal. (AP photo) You Owe It To Yourself! Save Time, Save Money! DO IT NOW! CALL 1-877-432-5394 Good Credit? Get Pre-Approved, We offer all of the best rates available whether through Credit Union Direct, Manufacturers, or any of our other lenders! Call For Your Best Deal! Bad Credit? Get Pre-Approved, We offer all of the best rates available for your situation! NOGIMMICKS Be treated with respect. FREECREDIT ANALYSIS! tLl!l' I J n r t l a n b ( iM is e r u e r OnWeb NABJ, founded in 1975, exists to promote newsroom diversity, expand job and recruiting op portunities fo r African-American journalists and journalism stu dents, and to advocate fo r fa ir ness and balance in media cov erage o f the African-American community and o f the African- American experience. betters to the (Süditor System Caters to Well-to-Do DEALERSHIPS one o f the m ost im portant new s room m anagem ent positions in this co u n try ,” said W illiam W. Sutton Jr., deputy m anaging ed i tor o fT h e N ew s and O bserver in Raleigh, N.C. and NABJ im m edi ate past president. “ He leaves big shoes to fill.” I am sickened by the May 5 kill ing o f Kendra James, which like the murder o f Jose Mejia Poot, is yet another injustice in a long list o f murders, civil rights abuses and crimes by the Portland police. This is a tragic result oftraining officers to be trigger-happy and then un leashing them onto P o rtlan d ’s streets. I disagree that Jam es' death was caused by "bad cops." Officers demonstrate a pattern o f blatant disregard for the lives and rights o f working people. W hen’s the last time we heard about police “acci dentally” strangling a Portland Policies Have Impact on Crime If you listen to what people are saying in northeast Portland right now, you will hear o f many ways that the police can improve their relationship with the community. But we also need to be thinking and talking about the impact o f our public policies and funding priori ties that favor law enforcement over mental health and drug treatment. Fortunately for us, we now have a vantage point from which to ex amine the impact of20 ycarsofdrug policy on Portland’s comm unities o f color. The inequities are now obvious. We can longer talk hon estly about justice and race w ith West Hills resident or pepper spray ing one o f Port land's well-to-do? The fact is, the jo b o f the men in blue is to bully and intimidate the have-nots while protecting large property owners and big business. The real corporate crim inals, like Enron executives who stole retire ment funds and created an energy crisis to boost utility costs or Bush and crew who slashed our social services and Constitution in the cause o f war, get aw ay with their lawless behavior and laugh all the way to the bank. KendraJames' lifewas stolen, like so many before her, whi le the perpe trators are freed by a grand jury and the good ole boy system. Mayor Katz and C hief Kroeker are not held accountable for the policies that led out talking about the im pacts o f these policies on com m unities o f color. We need to look at the impact o f our policy choices and how they contribute to the environm ent in w hich K endra Jam es and Jose Santos Victor Mejia Poot were shot and killed. We need to think about the impacts o f our choices on our neighbors’ civil and human rights. The answers to the self-destruc tive drug and alcohol problems and the crime associated with those behaviors is comm unity policing, crime prevention strategies, edu cation, treatment and addressing risk factors like poverty and inad equate housing. But our current funding priori ties and comm unity policing strat egies are back to relying too much to Jam es' shooting. How is this jus tice? The officers involved, the chief and the mayor should all be indicted by a grand jury. The only way we can begin to curb police abuse o f power is to have public oversight o f their ac tions. We, the taxpayers, should oversee police behavior through an elected civilian review board, independent o f City Hall and the Police D epartm ent. The board should have the authority to disci pline and fire officers. If the public has no control over the police, we should not fund them. Give their budgeted allotm ent to Portland Public Schools and let the police hold bake sales and walk-a-thons. Jennifer Laverdure, Organizer for Radical Women on police, courts and jails. Couple that with the scarce resources for food and housing assistance and the misery that is often at the root o f drug abuse is only compounded. Instead o f blam ing the police, instead o f blam ing the victim, we have to take personal responsibil ity for how public dollars are spent in this community. Ultimately it is up to all o f us to work with our local leaders to com mit the necessary resources, politi cal will and creative imagination that will strengthen peace and ju s tice, protect the rights o f all, and assist in the redevelopment o f our economic, social and cultural life as a peaceful multi-ethnic community. Paul Dinbert, NE Portland Crime Prevention specialist w w w .p o r tla n d o b s e r v e r .c o m As it quickly becomes more and more an electronic world. The Portland Observer endeav ors to meet the needs o f our readers and advertisers by Kiting online, ffith the capabil ity o f the Internet, the Portland Ob server now reaches a broader audience, and thus sets your business in fron t o f a new generation. IŒ fa» t* -N»»*« Jo ran, FjvutM înoh J J J .rtWa*««- -w t J J V Oâ tTlie JJortlaub (Observer index I f $»« A da m * H igh A w a it* W recking B «ll The Portland School Distnct has c*ocla«med that i w e m l be a new Whitaker Middle School io re v e re the empty and fonner Adams High School at 5 ZOO N E 3$Mh Aye Of course the new budding . wifi took very different and w il bring new housing vett it — something that makes nearby netghhors a kttle •Ti ir |io r tL u id (fX iw n irr reach more people with banner ad* call 503 288 0033 K » » p m * a C lo s e E y e O n C rim e OtMMt» pn j f jm t u o jn»j bi«jijv FUlurrMnç North«»»! 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