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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 2003)
Page A4 November 19. 2003 (Elje ¡Portland (Observer O pinion Ihc Portland Observer Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer E -C h i e r . P u i L i s H t t Charlen H. Washington d i t o k - i n C « * A T I V X ti I K X C T O I The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should he clearly labeled and w ill be returned i f accompanied by a self 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 written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. © 1996 TH E P O R T LA N D Paul Neufeldt ___________ USPS 959-680__________ E D IT t ll Established 1970 Michael Leighton 4 7 4 7 NE M artin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 U lS T K ItV T IO N M A N A G K X Mark Washington O r n a SI 4 N a g i x Kathy Linder g x r o OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTIONS WHOLEOR INPART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. x r x x Jaymee P Cuti The Portland Observer—Oregon’ s Oldest M ulticultu ra l Publication—is a member o f the National Newspaper Association-Founded in IX85, and The National Advertising Repre sentative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, N Y , and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver. P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer P0 Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8 P e rio d ic a l P o s ta g e p aid in P o rtla n d , OR i S u b s c rip tio n s a re $ 6 0 .0 0 per year 503-288-0033 • FAX5 0 3 -2 8 8 0 0 1 5 • EMAIL: I Sidelines Show Hiring Injustice Issue is Jobs, not African-American coaches deserve chance to star C o n s e r v a t i v e J u d g e s fall, it’s quite a different story Brand points out that only four heavily dependent on a limited, old- On the sidelines, and in the o f o f the 117 head coaches in Division boys netw ork and is often done “in fices o f collegiate athletic depart 1A are black and, excluding the a week or a w eekend from a short I ist ments, it’s still largely a m atter o f historically black colleges and uni o f candidates know n only to a the leadership positions being re versities, ju st 15 out o f 547 colle closed circle o f confidants.” served for white males. g iate head football coaches are C ollege presidents, he says, are T h a t's unjust, and inexcusable. African-American. the ones to change that process. A m o n g th o s e m a k in g th a t The dearth o f black and Latino They "m ust not yield to the pres charge— and w anting to change coaches d o esn ’t just exist in foot sures o f m aking quick decisions, things for the better— is M yles ball. O f nearly 14,000 head coach even when m edia coverage is in Brand, the new president o f the ing positions (excluding historically tense, if that haste excludes a full and fair hearing forqualified m inor ity candidates.” His proposal is that the hiring, for example, o f a head footbal I coach should involve a search com m ittee representing the athletics depart m ent, faculty, adm inistrators, and perhaps alum ni and others from outside the institution. Its jo b w ould be to develop a diverse pool o f candidates, and recom m end the three o r four best qualified to the National C ollegiate A thletic A sso black colleges and universities) in president. The president would then ciation, the giant association over the N CA A, few er than 8(X) are A f interview the finalists and, in con seeing intercollegiate athletics. rican-A m erican m ales and few er sultation with the institution’s ath Brand, the form er president o f than 200 are A frican-A m erican fe letics director, either m ake the final the U niversity o f Indiana, says males. decision o r recom m end that candi bluntly that too often, “qualified Furtherm ore, excluding the his date to the institution’s trustees. minority candidates w ho have d em torically black colleges and univer B rand’s point is that som ething onstrated ... talent, determ ination, sities, there are only 29 African- must be tried now. African A m eri and effort have been figuratively A m erican male and three African- cans have long show n they can stiff-arm ed by a process that pre A m erican fem ale directors o f ath star on the playing fields. They vents them from competing forhead letics am ong in stitu tio n s in all deserve the chance to star on the coaching positions o r jo b s in se N CA A divisions. sidelines, too. nior athletic adm inistration.” Brand says that much o f the prob As he says, “This is not a prob A gain, statistics help tell the lem is rooted in the hiring process lem to be addressed next year. It is story, and they are startling. for these positions, which now is a problem for each cam pus to ad dress now. W e’ve waited far too long.” M arc M okiai . by Now that the T hanksgiving holi days are w ithin sight, the annual fall frenzy surrounding college foot ball has shifted into high gear. College football, w hetherplayed before crow ds o f a few thousand nestling on w ooden bleachers or a hundred th ousand roarin g fans packed into gigantic stadium s, goes a long way tow ard displaying the variety o f the A m erican populace itself, and the variety o f its sources o f talent, too. Unlike in the past, when black players were alm ost universally barred from the tw o leadership "thinking positions” in football— quarterback on offense, middle line backer on d efen se— to d ay , it's largely talent that w ins out. The guy out there on the field calling the form ation's signals is likely to be black as well as white. Statistics help tell the story: 43 percent of all varsity players in D i vision I A, com prised o f the largest 117 colleges, are black; and their num bers are rising. T hat’s on the field. But on the sidelines, w here the head coaches and the assistant coaches pace up and dow n w atch ing their team s' fortunes rise and Excluding the historically black colleges and universities, just 15 out o f547 collegiate head football coaches are African American. Marc Morial is President and CEO o f the N ational Urban League. by U.S. R ep . A lbert W ynn On Capitol Hill much is being made of the Senate’s so called ‘reverse filibuster’ to encourage action on the Bush Administration's right-wingjudicial nominationscur- rently being blocked by Demo crats. The U.S. Senate held all night sessions to push for confirmation of ultra-conservative nominees such as Judges Janice Rogers Brown, Carolyn Kuhl, Charles Pickering, and Priscilla Owens, who are all strongly opposed by the Black Caucus and the civil rights community. Meanwhile, the Department of Labor reported promising signs that the economy is rebounding. But what does this really mean for the African-American community? While it is encouraging that the economy is gaining jobs rather than losing, in the grand scheme of things this Administration still has a long way to go to regain the nearly 2.4 million jobs that have been lost since the economy began to slump. Recently, The Washington Post reported that African-Ameri can males have a 59.9 percent employment rate. To some this may seem encouraging, but compared to a 70.3 percent employ ment rate of white men, 75 percent for Hispanic men, and 70.1 percent for Asian-American men, it is clear that in the race for jobs, African Americans are falling behind. Congress needs to focus on helping smal I businesses to create more jobs to address the disproportionate rate of unemployment in the African-American community, not on confirming right- wing judges determined to turn back the clock on civil rights, civil liberties, and Affirmative Action. Congress can and should do better. Congressman Albert Wynn is a member o f the Congres sional Black Caucus and represents Maryland’s 4'h Con gressional District. Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health A program of Bie African American Health Coalition. Inc Sponsored by the C0C (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Wellness Within REACH Activity Calendar All classes are free of charge, DRUG TEST Did you know... Mon TTNEhT Satvaboa Anny 5325 N WiffiauB. • Alcohol Is the number-one drug problem amongyouth? • More youth drink alcohol than smoke cigarettes or use illegal drugs? • Alcohol use contributes to the three leading causes of death among Oregon teens? Alcohol use among youth is a serious health problem that can lead to addiction, poor performance in school and sports, violence, other drug use and other risky behaviors. But help is available... Call 503-244-1312 today OREGON PARTNERSHIP Preventing Substance Abuse. Changing Lives. www. orpartnership. org Fri Stretching.Both Stretching Body Scolpirne Scolpirne 10:00-11:00am 7-84m Inis 7-8am loo Addo Water Aerobics lái da Water Aerobics Contact AAHC 6:30-730pm Cortad AAHC Henry 503-4131850 Isles 503413 1850 African Dance Voss Voga Body Conditioning 7308:30pm 7.30-8.30pm 93010:30am O'Ronrkr 0 ’Rnarke Nickerson Walking Gronp- Walking Group- Walking Groap 6J)0-7.D0pm 6:00-7:00 pm 1230pm Woods Woods Wrmds Aerobics Aerobics Aerobics 530-620pm 530820pm 5:30 6:20pm GrannHe Gr aoville Granville 6:30-7:30pm 630-7:30pm 6:30 7 30pm Niikerson Nickerson Nickerson Aerobics Aerobics Aerobics Aerobics Aerobics 6:00 7:00 « 6d)O-7JH)pra 6:00-7:00« 6:Ofl-7:0(lpm 6:00-780« Pierce Keller Pierce Keller Pierce Wt. Management Wt. Management Wt. Management Conditioning Conditioning II Conditioning 9:00 10:00am 600 70flam 9:00 10:00am Hasan Hasan Hasan Oregon Partnership HouthLine provides free and confidential services for individual seeking assistance with alcohol or other drug problems. Th urs Salsa Penisula Park. 700 N Portland H«UadUiital (larch of G rid 4635 NE 9tk Ave. Whtoker Track 42nd & Uhcswertk Wed 6 3 0 - 7:30pm W3d Oats Market 3535NE15A. Mallory Averne Qratas Oairh (Gym) 126NEAIw ti Tues Walk Io Ron Walk Io Ran 6:30pm Thorne 6 31) pm irvnpoa C o n u rtC b re b 4008 NE M il BW D m l* ! Notarial Cbrcfc 1 2 * A C ^ m r ih Aerobics Aerobics 730 8:30pm 8:00 9:00am Keller Norris Low Impact Aerobics • 7:15-8:15pm Granville ’ ’ Must be 21 or older to participate Please check with AAHC before showing up to the first clads 503-413-1850 Please receive approval from your doctor before beginning exercise class ♦ Walking group meets inside Lloyd Center in front of Sears Esa African American Health Coalition, Inc. 2800 N Vancouver Ave . Suite 100 ♦ Portland OR 97227 • Phone 503-413-1850 E-mail: kdempsey@aahc-portland org • Web www aahc-portland.org
