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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2003)
®l|e JIorHaxth (Bbacruer Page A4 O pinion 1116 Portland Observer ___________ USPS 959-680__________ Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer C iu n r i Si r Established 1970 /\ 4747 NE Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd., i ] E d it o » O n i c i j u M » n » c i * Kathy Linder M ichael Leighton M D itte r ò » Paul Neufeldt Charles H. Washington D is n iiu r io s i Portland. OR 97211 c i i R Mark Washington t r O K T t ! Jaymee R. Cuti PosruAtrt»: Send address changes to Portland Observer PO Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OP 97208 _________ Periodical Postage paid In Portland, OR i Subscriptions srs $ 6 0 .0 0 p » t y t « f ____________ 503288-0033• FA X503288C015 • EMAIL: news&portlandobserver.com subscnptJon&porUandobserver.com adsisbortlandobsener.com If It’s New or Informative, You Probably Saw It In ®*1* 'Portland (^bseruer The P o rtla n d O bserver is O regon's O ldest a n d L argest M u lti-C u ltu ra l Newspaper. T h e P o rtlan d O b se rv e r w elco m es freelance su b m issio n s. M an u scrip ts an d p h o to g rap h s sh o u ld be clearly lab eled and w ill b e retu rn ed i f acco m p an ied by a s e lf ad d ressed en v elo p e. A ll created d esig n d isp la y ad s b eco m e the sole p ro p erty o f th e n ew sp ap er an d can n o t b e used in o th er p u b lic a tio n s o r p erso n al u sag e w ith o u t th e w ritten co n sen t o f th e g en eral m an ag er, u n less th e clien t h a s p u rch ase d th e co m p o sitio n o f su ch ad. © 1996 T H E P O R T L A N D O B S E R V E R . A L L R IG H T S R E S E R V E D . 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 I T H O U T P E R M I S S IO N IS P R O H I B I T E D . T he P o rtlan d O b se rv e r—O re g o n ’s O ld est M u lticu ltu ral P u b licatio n —is a m em b er o f the N atio n al N ew sp ap er A s so c ia tio n -F o u n d e d in 1885, a n d T he N atio n al A d v ertisin g R ep re sentative A m alg am ated P ublishers, Inc, N ew Y ork, N Y , and T he W e stC o a st B lack P ublishers A sso ciatio n • S erv in g P o rtlan d an d V ancouver. Are We Punishing the Children of Prisoners Too? M arian W right E delman by Supports needed for kids o f incarcerated parents The Portland Observer’s distribution of nearly 40,000 papers encom passes a w ide cross-section o f residential and state readership, as well as a large percentage o f the local business community. Become a part of our community. 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To find out how to use your skills in a new way and become part of a group of financial advisors that's almost 10,000 strong, visit us at: americanexpress.com/ advisorcareers or contact: Ron A sch off - R ecruiter A lexandra R ikker American Express Financial Advisors Assistant to the Field Vice President IDS Life Insuraneei 'ompanv American Express Financial Advisors 1499SE Tech Center Place, Suite 220 IDS life InsuranceCompanv Mtncouver.WA98683 Phone:(360)882-7488 ext 241 10200 Grcenburg Road, Suite 110 Fax:(360)882-7507 Portland, OR 97223 email: n u jschoflfo aexp.cim Fax:(503)452-5855 Equal Employment Opportunity Employer TTY: 1 -800-766-2979 American Express Financial Advisors Inc. Member NASD. American Express Company is separate from American Express Financial Advisors Inc. and is not a broker-dealer. © 2002 American Express Financial Corporation. All rights reserved. 9/02 I August 27. 2003 W hen you think about prisons, preschoolers d o n ’t usually com e to m ind. B ut a grow ing num ber o f children o f all ages are finding that prison has becom e part o f their everyday w orld. T h a t’s because the num ber o f children w ith parents in correctional facilities is grow ing at an alarm ing rate. T he U.S. D epartm ent o f Justice reports thatclose to 1.5m illion chil dren had a parent in state or federal prison in 1999, a 6 0 percent increase since 1991. H ispanic children w ere three tim es and Black children were nine tim es m ore likely than W hite children to have a parent in prison. T he grow ing num bers o f chil dren w ith m others in prison is espe cially troubling. Betw een 1991 and 1999, the num ber o f children w ith a m other in prison nearly doubled to over 125,000. N early three-fourths o f the m others in federal prisons are there for drug offenses. M others are also m ore likely than fathers to have experienced hom elessness or unem ploym ent shortly before go ing to prison. Since the m ajority o f incarcer ated m others lived w ith their chil dren before being sent to prison, m any o f th eir children had already been ex p eriencing instability at hom e before this m ajor upheaval. B oth m o th ers an d fath ers say th ey try to k eep up c o m m u n ic a tio n w ith th e ir c h ild re n w h ile in p ris o n b u t c ir c u m s ta n c e s can m a k e th is d iffic u lt. O v e r 6 0 p e r c e n t o f p a re n ts in state p riso n s an d n e a rly 85 p e rc e n t o f p are n ts in fed eral p riso n s are b e in g h eld o v e r 100 m ile s a w a y from th e ir last re sid e n c e . A s a re su lt, m o re th an h a lf o f p a re n ts in p riso n say th e y h av e n e v e r h ad a p e rso n al v is it from th e ir ch ild ren . W hile adults are in prison b e cause th e y ’ve m ade m istakes, chil dren end up suffering too. In response to this grow ing cri sis, som e com m unities and correc- There is a role fo r all o f us in reaching out to these children. tional facilities are creating innova tive program s that help parents in prison m aintain closer contact w ith th e ir c h ild re n an d learn b e tte r parenting skills. S om e facilities offer parenting and child developm ent classes and other life skills training to help p ar ents get back on th eir feet. Som e pro m o te literacy for both inm ates and th eir children by tape-record ing parents reading bedtim e stories and giving the tapes and books to th eir children. O thers have dev el oped special child-friendly visiting areas w ithin prisons w here ch il dren can visit th eir parents, som e tim es even overnight. T hese program s serve both gen erations. Parents w ho are able to feel connected to theirchildren and have been taught specific w ays to be better parents have a very strong incentive to continue these posi tive behaviors and avoid old be haviors that m ight send them back to prison. A nd children are able to feel m ore secure and reassured that theirparents still love and care about them. T here is a role for all o f us in reaching o u t to th ese children. Faith-based and other com m unity organizations can offer m entoring and other supports for children o f incarcerated parents and sponsor activities that w ill prom ote parent- child interaction and strengthen p a r e n t - c h i ld r e l a ti o n s h ip s , parenting supports, and life skills training. T h e c h i l d r e n ’s s u r r o g a te caregivers also need help and sup port. A nd w e can push for alterna tives to incarceration for parents convicted o f non-violent offenses that encourage parent-child inter action. H aving a parent in prison is not a ch ild ’s fault but som etim es chil dren end up feeling like they are being punished too. Marian Wright Edelman is presi dent and founder o f the Children's Defense Fund. Thurmond Memorial is Insulting Honor not deserving for man who promoted bigotry by K wf . isi M fume and H ilary O. S helton T he late Strom T hurm ond, R- S.C ., w ho passed aw ay earlier this year served in the U.S. Senate longer than any o th er m em ber. U nfortu nately, his 48 years in the Senate w ere m arked by a bigoted and seg regationist p hilosophy that drove alm ost all he did. D u rin g h is te n u r e , S tro m T hurm ond w as w ell know n for giv ing exclusive representation to his w hite constituents, often at the expense o fh is constituents ofcolor. Furtherm ore, Sen. Thurm ond holds the dubious record for the longest filibuster in C ongressional history, Salary Outrageous The M ultnom ah C ounty C om m issioners C harter gives authority to the chair to fill director positions. W e rely on her to m ake prudent decisions based on recom m enda tions from a salary review com m is sion. H ow ever, in light o f the recent plea to M ultnom ah C ounty voters to approve a 1.2 percent tax in crease on th eir ow n salaries to pro vide critical services and the im ple m entation o f a 2 percent cut in cost o f living increases for non-repre- sented county em ployees in fiscal year 2004, it seem s unconscionable to increase the L ibrary D irector’s salary b y 27 percent. Lonnie Roberts, Multnomah County Commissioner I 24 hours and 18 m inutes, in his attem pt to derail passage o f the 1957 C ivil R ights A ct. In 1948, then-Presidential candi date T hurm ond, ran on a platform o f sta te s’ rights to preserve the “prerogatives o f the people o f a sovereign state to deal exclusively w ith dom estic problem s” such as “voting, qualifications for voting, segregation, law enforcem ent and private em ploym ent.” It w as during this cam paign that he to ld a g ro u p o f su p p o rte rs “th e re ’s not enough troops in the A rm y to force the southern people to b reak dow n segregation and adm it the nigger race into o u r th e aters, into our sw im m ing pools, into o u r hom es, and into our churches.” U nfortunately, there is currently a m ovem ent in C ongress to nam e the planned V isito r’s C enter in the U .S. C apitol, w hich m ay cost as m uch as $400 m illion to construct, for the late Strom T hurm ond. A bill has been introduced in the H ouse o f R epresentatives (H.R. 2661) by C ongressm an G ersham Barrett, R-S.C., and one is expected soon in the Senate to be introduced by Sen. L indsey G raham , R-S.C. The N A A C P opposes the be stow ing o f this high honor upon a m an o f such low character, and led by the South Carolina N A A CP State C onference o fb ran ch es is w orking hard to see that neither the H ouse o r Senate bill becom e law. T he U nited S tates C apitol is m eant to be a building o f the people, all the people o f the U nited States, and to nam e its visitors cen ter after a m an w ho fought so hard for exclu sion and division is insulting to A m erican citizens as w ell as the building itself. Kweisi M fume is NAACP presi dent and c h ie f executive ojficer. Hilary O. Shelton serves as direc tor o f the N A A C P W ashington Bureau. Bush on My Street I live at 9115 N . P ortsm outh. I got hom e late last night from a trip to M oscow , Idaho and craw led into bed. T his m orning I w oke up to find m y c ar has vanished w ithout a trace. A t first I thought it w as stolen, but then as 1 w alked around looking for it I noticed an a-fram e sign one block dow n from m y house that read “no parking.” I tried to rem em ber w hether they w ere planning construc tion on the street o r not w hen I suddenly realized B ush w as com ing today. M y neighbors began com ing out o f their hom es to go to w ork ju st as 1 had to find their cars m issing as w ell. I still d o n ’t know w here my car is, nor how m uch it is going to cost m e to get it back. Suffice to say m any o f the people on this street, m y self included are quite irate. T o top it all o ffB u sh isn ’t even here on som e im portant m atter that I should b e concerned about. H e is here to raise m oney for his ow n political cam paign. W ith all the stu ff he has gotten us involved in I d o n ’t understand how h e h a sth e tim e to g o g a lliv a n tin g around mak i ng even m ore m oney for him self. W e are irritated that sim ply because Bush w ants to have a lunch for his ow n private gains we now have to find a w ay to get to w ork w ithout our cars and most likely pay close to $ 100 each ju st to get them back. Don Elliott, North Portland A