B lack H istory M on th .W
s p e ç ia l
ca o e ra ye
Page A2
Februaiy 25. 2004
Education Secretary Apologizes
Retracts ‘terrorist
organization’ label
on teachers union
(A P) — Education Secretary Rod
Paige ap o lo g ized a fte r c a llin g the
nation’s largest teachers union a “ter
rorist organization” Monday.
P a ig e ’s com m ents, taking on the
2.7-million-member National Education
A ssociation, were made to the nation's
governors a, a private W hite House
meeting.
T he education se c re ta ry ’s w ords
were “pathetic and they are not a laugh
ing matter,” said NEA President Reg
W eaver, whose union has said it plans
to sue the Bush adm inistration over lack
o f funding for dem ands included in the
“ No Child Left B ehind" schools law.
Paige said later in an Associated Press
interview that his com m ent was “a bad
joke; it was an inappropriate choice o f
w ords."
“As one who grew up on the receiv
ing end o f insensitive remarks, I should
have chosen my words better,” said
Paige, the first black education secre
tary.
He said he had made clear to the
governors that he was referring to the
W ashington-based union organization,
not the teachers it represents.
W eaver dismissed Paige’s distinc
tion between the union and its m em
bers. "W e are the teachers, there is no
Winfrey Gift Supports
Black Male Students
(AP) — Talk-show host Oprah
W infrey has given Morehouse
College, the nation’s only private,
historically black, four year liberal
arts college for men, another $5
million donation to fund scholar
ships at the Atlanta school.
The gift, announced Saturday
night, brings to $ 12 million the total
contributions to the college by
Winfrey, making her the school’s
largest individual donor, said
M orehouse spokeswoman Elise
Durham.
Winfrey was in Atlanta Satur
day to accept Morehouse’s first
“Candle for Lifetime Achievement
in Humanitarian Service" award.
So far, scholarships funded by
the talk-show host have helped
about 250 students continue or com
plete their education, Durham said.
Winfrey said her original goal
had been to put 100 students
through school. She told the audi
ence Saturday that she now wants
to see 1,000 students get their di
plomas.
W infrey was one o f several
Oprah Winfrey
people honored during the 2,800-
student school ’ s gala. Other hon
orees included actor Ossie Davis,
sy n d ic a te d ra d io host Tom
Joyner, A tlanta businessm an
Jesse Hill and U.S. Rep. Sanford
Bishop.
distinction,” he said.
Paige has made no attem pt to hide his
frustration with the NEA, which has
long supported D em ocratic presiden
tial candidates.
Education Secretary Rod
Paige gestures during an
interview with the
Associated Press at the
Education Department in
Washington Monday.
During a private meeting
with governors at the
White House Monday,
Paige called the nation's
largest teachers union a
‘terrorist organization.'
(AP photo)
Education has been a top issue for
the governors, who have sought more
flexibility from the adm inistration on
B ush's “ No Child Left Behind” law,
which seeks to improve school perfor
mance in part by allow ing parents to
move their children from poorly per
forming schools.
Democrats have said Bush has failed
to fully fund the law, giving the states
greater burdens but not the resources
to handle them. The union backs the
intent o f the law but says m any o f its
provisions must be changed.
When Faith and Politics Intertwine
continued
from Front
Party. Its origins can be tied to a
ballot in Oakland, Calif, that failed,
but still created the idea o f the com
munity controlling policing.
“The B lack P anther Party,
through its national effort accentu
ated and educated the nation in the
concept of community policing, of
the community controlling polic
ing. The national organization cre
ated an awareness in the nation of
community policing,” Haynes said.
Would the gun toting tactics of
the Black Panther Party be appro
priate against the modem Portland
Police Bureau? Probably not.
In the 1960s, the party’s activi
ties occurred in a context of a social
reform movement involving the
Vietnam War, desegregation of
America and the struggle for an
African-American Bill of Rights,
which essentially was an extension
o f the A m erican R evolution,
Haynes said.
The efforts o f the Black Pan
ther Party led to activism by other
m in o ritie s such as H isp an ic
One o f my major critiques o f the Black
Panther Party in contrast with the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference and Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. is that the party lacked
a spiritual movement to sustain it.
- Dr. Rev. Leroy Haynes of Allen Temple Church.
Americans, Native Americans and
Asian American, which remain
relevant today. The W om en’s
M ovement also is a legacy of
activism , b eg in n in g w ith the
Black Panther Party.
Haynes’ experiences in 1963 with
the student chapter of the South
ern Christian Leadership Confer
ence established by Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and his experiences
with the Black Panthers led him to
ask whether or not national reform
efforts for African Americans could
be accomplished through peaceful
or violent change.
“O neof my majorcritiques of the
Black Panther Party in contrast with
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference and Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. is that the party lacked a
spiritual movement to sustain it,”
said Haynes.
Haynes uses the modem example
of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela
being the head of the African Na
tional Congress and the Army of
South Africa during the changes
leading to the revolution from apart
heid. Archbishop Desmond Tutu
was the spiritual leader of the South
African revolution.
It was the combination of the
revolutionary Army o f South Af
rica under Mandela and the spiri
tual leadership of Tutu, which led
to the changes which have trans
formed South Africa. Haynes notes
theBlack Panther Party needed this
kind of spiritual guidance.
“A great many people died in the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee. People are still in prison
today from the B lack Panther Party.
We call them the political prisoners
of the Black Panther Party,” Haynes
said.
The Civil Rights Movement of
the 1960s led to significant national
reforms for African Americans, but
work remains to be done. Haynes
believes such change can be ac
complished, but it must be spiritu
ally based.
Vancouver NAACP Honors Teen Director
Johnnie Stevenson Tucker, di
re c to r o f teen se rv ic e s fo r
Vancouver-Clark County Parks and
Recreation, has been selected as
the recipient of the 2004 Vancouver
Branch NAACP Diversity Award.
The local civil rights group
cited T ucker’s achievem ent and
commitment to young people and
his work with the NAACP, City of
V ancouver, the Forest Service
and
the
U .S .
D ep t. o f
A griculture’s Coalition of M inor
ity Em ployees to develop and
sustain an Urban Youth Camp
Out program. This program pro
vides environm ental education.
outdoor recreation, and em ploy
m ent
o p p o r tu n itie s
for
u n d e r r e p r e s e n te d g ro u p s in
V ancouver and Clark County.
“Johnnie continues to provide
an inclusive leadership model that
values all cultures,” said Earl W.
Ford, president of the Vancouver
Branch NAACP. “I am honored to
be associated with this man. We
thank him for his work in making
children of color an integral part of
the parks and recreation programs
that he manages.
Vancouver Safeway Stores will
receive the group’s “Employer of
the year Award."
Ford praised Karen Seivert, the
hiring coordinator for Safeway for
her work with the V ancouver
NA ACP's Youth Employment Pro-,
gram.
“Karen employed over a dozen-
young people in Vancouver and’
Portland stores through our YEP
program. Some of these students
have continued their employment
after graduation from, high school,”
Ford said.
Also recognized was over 20
African American students from
V an co u v er M iddle and H igh
Schools who have maintained at
least a 3.00 grade point average.
MULTNOMAH
COUNTY
We want to hire you!
If you can do any of the following jobs, contact us.
We recognize and appreciate
all of our heroes, big and small.
Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon
celebrates Black History Month.
Multnomah County Job Listing
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Mental Health Consultant, Program
Development Technician, Probation/Parole Officer, Investigative Technician,
Applications Architect, Applications Systems Manager, Acute Care Coordinator, Clinic
Medical Assistant, Community Licensed Practical Nurse, Community Health Nurse,
Mid-Level Provider. Dentist, Expanded Function Dental Assistant, Dental Hygienist.
City of Portland Job Listing
Office Support Specialist II. Accounting Clerk, Accountant I, Police Officer, Fire
Fighter, Fire Fighter Trainee. Police Records Specialist Trainee, Building Inspector,
Emergency Communications Operator Trainee, Engineering Associate, Financial
Analyst, Information Systems Technician, Information Systems Analyst, Plan Review
Code Specialist, Customer Accounts Specialist.
Completed job applications will only be accepted for those positions which are open.
Contact us to receive information regarding current job openings.
ßfueCross BlueShield
o f Oregon
For your health
Multnomah County
www.multcojobs.org
Job Hotline 503-988-5035
City of Portland
www.ci.portland.or.us/jobs
Job Hotline 503-823-4573
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYERS
t