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Page A4
July 14. 2004
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views of The Portland Observer
O pinion
Criminal Justice Changes Long Overdue
Lawyers’ right to
join equity fight
Ji dce G reg M athis
H ats o ff to A m erican
B ar A ssociation P resi
dent D ennis A rcher for
his efforts in rally ing law
yers to advocate change
in our crim inal ju stice
system . As the first A fri
can A m erican to head the
largest law yers’ asso cia
tion in A m erica, A rcher
has rightly sought to tackle one o f
the m ost pressing issues for black
by
A m ericans.
T he unfair crim inal ju stice sys
tem and the high incarceration rate
o f black m en have increasingly
becom e the num ber
o n e d e s tro y e rs o f
black fam ilies. O ver
one m illion A frican-
A m erican m en are
im prisoned and un
available to support
and help raise the
children they have
left b eh in d in the
outside w orld.
C o n s e q u e n tly , m o st o f o u r
w om en are try in g to raise c h il
d ren by th em selv es, m any in p o v
e rty , try in g to teach m an h o o d to
a y o u n g ste r g ro w in g up w ith o u t
a fath er. M any o f o u r sisters are
su c ceed in g in carry in g th e load
alo n e, but c h ild ren need the fi
n an cial su p p o rt and g u id an ce o f
th eir fath ers. T h a t’s w hy ch an g es
in the crim in al ju s tic e sy stem are
so im p o rtan t to o u r fam ilies and
o u r co m m u n ity . In d eed A frican -
A m erican m en re p resen t n early
6 0 p ercen t o f A m e ric a ’s p riso n
p o p u la tio n , but o n ly 5 p e rc e n t o f
A m erican society.
T he A m erican Bar A ssociation
has now w eighed in on this issue
with pro posals to overhaul m anda
tory sentencing law s, com bat racial
profiling and assist w ith societal re
vict re c e iv e s little re h a b ilita tio n
and is re tu rn e d to so ciety w ith
little a b ility to b eco m e p ro d u c
entry p rogram s for prisoners. T heir ti v e s o th e y c a n v i c t i m i z e
efforts are not designed to free the a g a in ...u n til they a re re tu rn e d to
guilty, but to provide balance and the re v o lv in g d o o r o f the p riso n
fairness to a system that has been w a re h o u se .
u n fair and u n b alan c ed to w ard s
S o m eth in g m ust be d o n e an d I
A frican-A m ericans for far too long. b eliev e th a t A m erican B ar A sso
M a n d ato ry m in im u m s e n te n c c ia tio n , a m a jo rity w h ite o rg a n i
ing law s h av e re d u c e d ju d g e s to z atio n c o m p rise d o f n early all o f
c le rk s by ta k in g aw ay th e ir se n A m e ric a ’s law y ers, is in a un iq u e
ten cin g d iscretio n , leading to long p o sitio n to in flu e n c e m a in stream
p riso n se n te n c e s fo r n o n v io le n t A m e ric a o n th is issu e. S u b se
p etty c rim in a ls and h ig h e r p riso n q u e n t to ap p ro v in g the p ro p o s
c o sts fo r ta x p a y e rs w ho m ust foot als at th e ir o rg a n iz a tio n s c o n v e n
the bill. O nce im p riso n ed , the con- tion in A u g u st, the g ro u p p lan s
to u se th e ir c o n s id e ra b le in flu
e n c e to lobby sta te an d fed eral
le g isla to rs to e n a c t th e ir p ro p o s
als in to law .
W e can do o u r part by calling o u r
legislators and voicing our support
for the A m erican B ar A ssociations’
proposed changes to the crim inal
ju stice system . Indeed, it w ould be
crim inal for us not to rally around
this cause. T he future o f o u r c o m
m unity depends on it.
Judge Greg Mathis is chairman
o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board
and a national hoard member o f
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
Remember the Long March July marks anniversaries in freedom struggle
b y M arc
H. M o riai .
A m erica has ju s t turned again to
its m ost treasured m om ent o f sp iri
tual refreshm ent - the celebration o f
the Fourth o f July, literally the birth
day o f the U nited States.
T hat the D eclaration o f Inde
pendence w as signed on that day
in 1776 m akes the m onth the one
m ost historically resonant for most
A m ericans. But I’ve been rem inded
that July is also a m onth full o f
pow erful historical anniversaries o f
A frican A m erican s’ long m arch to
freedom as w ell.
Forexample, this July 2 we marked
the 40th anniversary o f the signing
o f the 1964 C ivil Rights A ct, the
m ost sw eeping civil rights leg isla
tion enacted by C ongress since the
R econstruction Era a century be
fore.
In the fam ous photographs o f
President Lyndon Johnson sig n
ing the A ct in the East R oom o f the
W hite H ouse we scan the sm iling
faces o f those present as the p resi
dent distributes the signing pens
to the senators and representatives
w ho sh ep h erd ed the legislatio n
through the C ongress, and to one
oth er m an, an ou tsider to the frater-
Letter to the Editor
ocumentary Strikes a Chord
T hese days, a lot o f hype surrounds m edia events like the m ovie
Fahrenheit 9/11. It’s easy to dism iss that kind o f hoopla, but this m ovie
clearly transcends the usual frenzy associated w ith blockbuster re
leases. T he reason this m ovie w as so anticipated is because M oore
steadfastly addresses the biggest threat to o ur nation. B u sh ’s re
sponse to terrorism .
W hile it may ap p ear that it’s ju st a B ush-bash for liberals, in reality
Fahrenheit 9/11 is m ore broad based than that. M oore show s ordinary
A m ericans doing extraordinary things in service to this nation o f ours.
In response to B u sh 's raising m ore questions than answ ers, m ore
feeling o f despair than leadership, we are presented an alternate, m ore
hopeful view o f w hat is possible for o u r nation.
D espite the m ess we find ourselves in dom estically, the lack o f
adequate healthcare and a sluggish econom y, and internationally, Iraq
and our recent laughable credibility, it isev en ts like Fahrenheit 9 /1 1 that
rally all o f us to determ ine for ourselves w hat kind o f nation we are.
T his m ovie’s success w ould not be possible w ithout so m any
citizens of all stripes being fed up with B ush’s m isdirection on so m any
fronts. T o dism iss M o o re’s m ovie as sim ple d iatribe is to dism iss the
groundsw ell o f countless A m ericans across this land w ho dem and and
w ill only accept a ju st and truly dem ocratic nation.
Chris Gates, Southwest Portland
ju l y
V A N C O U V E R
M U S IC
F E S T IV A L
J u ly 16-17, 2 0 0 4
3 -1 0 p m
Downtown Vancouver
Esther Short Park
T " f= ? i j f =
n n j« 5 i c :
nity o f politicians present.
T hat man w as the Rev. M artin
L uther King Jr.-the ch ief sp o k es
man o f the civil rights m ovem ent
and the principal representative o f
the people w hose struggle and sac
rifice and indom itable w ill had
brought that m om ent into being.
Sixteen years earl ier, on July 26,
1948, President H arry S. T rum an
had affixed his nam e to ano th er
im portant docum ent o f freedom :
Executive O rd er9981, w hich ended
the longstanding official bigotry
w ithin the m ilitary against A frican
A m ericans that had persisted right
until the end o f W orld W ar II.
T rum an w as responding both to
the m oral im perative o f history and
the m om entous new determ ination
that coursed through black A m erica
in the po stw ar years.
P ow ered by the decades-long
black m igrations out o f the South to
the urban N orth and W est, w hich
had given them a m easure o f free-
dom and opportunity, and by their
co n trib u tions to the A m erican ef
fort to “ m ake the w orld safe for
d em o cracy ,” A frican A m ericans
well understood they had once m ore
proved their fitness fo rcitizen sh ip ;
a n d th is tim e th e y
w ould take th eir share
o f it.
So, in the im m ediate
afterm ath o f the w ar
w ould com e well ing up
from o rd in ary black
p e o p le in o rd in a ry
black co m m unities in
South C arolina, D ela
w are. and K ansas the
challen g es to official
Marc H.
school segregation at
the local level that led to the S u
prem e C o u rt’s decision in B row n v
B oard o f Education.
A nd a y ear after that landm ark
decision cam e the first flashpoint
o f the m odem civil rights m ove
m ent, the M ontgom ery Bus B oy
cott, w hose leaders drafted as its
c h ief spokesm an a new ly-m inted
m inister w ho had ju s t arrived in
town: M artin L uther K ing Jr.
B ut Ju ly ’s specific im portance
to A frican-A m erican history goes
back even farther, back
at least to July 5 ,1 8 5 2 .
F o r o n th a t d a y
F re d e ric k D o u g la ss,
w ho had been bom into
slav ery and esc a p e d
his bondage to becom e
the m ost fam ous cru
sader for the rights o f
A frican A m ericans o f
his tim e, spoke before
the R o c h e ste r (N ew
Moriai
Y ork)L adies’ Anti-Sla
very Society.
D o u g lass’ speech, “W hat to the
S lave is the F ourth o f July,” w as
both a paean to the ideals set forth
in the D eclaration and the C o n sti
tution, and a scathing indictm ent o f
w hite A m erica’s failure to extend
them across the c o lo r line. S peak
ing at a tim e w hen slavery itself
seem ed a p e rm an en t fix tu re o f
A m erican society, D ouglass th u n
dered, "W h eth er w e turn to the
declarations o f the past, or to the
p ro f e s s io n s o f th e p re s e n t ...
A m erica is false to the past, false to
the present, and solem nly binds
h erself to be false to the future.”
O n e h u n d red a n d tw elv e Ju ly s
w o u ld p ass b e fo re it c o u ld be
said th at th o se w o rd s w ere no
lo n g e r true.
T hus, Ju ly ’s im portance to A fri
can-A m erican history underscores
the fullness o f the history o f A fri
can A m ericans in and o f itself, and
also how profoundly intertw ined it
is w ith the forces and ideals w hich
led to and flow ed from the actions
o fth eC o n tin en tal C ongress on July
4,1776.
Marc H. Moriai is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na
tional Urban League.
__________
,'i_________ ,
■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■ ■■ ■ ■■ ■ ■■ ■■ ■ I
Shortchanged on Homeland Security
Cities don’t
have the tools
necessary to
keep us secure
W ellington E. W f . bb
It’s every m ayor’s w orst night
mare: getting a call that their city has
been hit by a terrorist attack. A fter
talking to my form er colleagues at
the annual meeting o f the U.S. C on
ference o f M ayors, I’ve concluded
what really keeps them up at night is
knowing that they do not have the
resources to prepare for or respond
adequately to such an attack, espe
cially one using biological, chem ical.
or radiological weapons.
It’s been tw o-and-a-half years
since the attacks o f Sept. 11 and
by
alm ost just as long since anthrax breathing apparatus for only one-
spores sent through the mail killed third. In addition, the study found
five people and terrorized the nation. that three-quarters o f state public
Since then, we have created a w hole health laboratories are overw helm ed
new federal departm ent to handle by testing requests.
hom eland security, yet we have not
T o this, the Bush A dm inistra
given our nation’s m ayors and local tion has proposed cutting the state
governm ents the tools necessary to and local b io -p rep ared n ess p ro
keep our hom eland se
gram by 11 percent or
cure.
$105 m illion fo r next
F irs t, th e r e ’s not
year. A nd the A dm inis
enough m oney to get
tration has nearly elim i
the jo b done and further
nated the C O P S p ro
cuts threaten the ability
gram — w hich has put
o f m ayors to hire and
114,000 m ore policeof-
e q u ip th e n e c e ss a ry
ficers on the street - by
firefighters, police offic
gutting its budget by
Wellington E. Webb
e rs , an d e m e rg e n c y
another 80 percent.
health personnel. A ccording to a
E ven m ore frustrating to m ayors
report done by the Council on F or is that the m oney sent by the fed
eign Relations, fire departm ents na eral governm ent to local co m m u n i
tionwide have only enough radios to ties is being disbursed inefficiently
equip half o f those on a shift, and through state governm ents.
A s the M ayor o f D enver for
m ore than a d ecad e and form er
head o f the U .S. C onference o f
M ayors, I know that the federal
governm ent can allocate m oney
directly to cities since the D epart
m ent o f H ousing and U rban D evel
o pm ent already d o es so. If we can
do it for affordable hom es, we can
surely do it for h o m eland security.
U nfortunately, the challenge o f
keeping o u rcities ready to respond
to a terrorist attack is one that m ay
never go aw ay. B ut if the federal
governm ent m akes sm art invest
m ents and em pow ers m ayors w ith
the funding to do w h a t's best to
protect their neighborhoods, it is a
challenge that w e can be prepared
to m eet.
Wellington E. Webb was mayor
o f Denver, Colorado from 1991 to
2003.
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