rt lattò (ßbseruer 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. 11,1 sportiani» © bscrucr on Web J &* Xtew Ftfrarle* laute ■ J j 3 flswa. j f w l . porttentob«« «r» com fir http 4pm Cates Open 6pm Sequel 8pm Loverboy Ticket* available a t Festival f a te C W e n under 13 tre» wttn Md went 2pm 4pm 6pm 8pm Cates Open The Touchables 5 Guvs Named Moe The Suprêmes starring Mary Wilson Special Attractions: BBQ Pit, Car Show, Beer & Wine Carden S nôqiîalmie Ä VANCOUVER •’ FORD HYunon è VtifiARDt« tapp« J o U fi a V e lu m * X X X II. N um ber ?4 © je JJortlanò (f)h semer w w w .p o r tla n d o b s e rv e r. c o m As it quickly becomes more and more an electronic world, The Portland Observer endeavors to meet the needs o f our read­ ers and advertisers by going online. With the capability o f the Internet, the Portland Observer now reaches a broader audience, and thus sets your business in fron t o f a new generation. http, "w w w porttenetehnervee cemZ I index Snorts FOCUS Health Opinion Police/Vancouver Religion T . p S to tlw ■RE Adam* High Await« Wracking BaH The Portland School District has proclaimed that there will be a new Whitaker Middle School to replace (tie empty and former Adams High School at 5700 N F 39lh Ave Of course the new building vwH look very different and wi« bring new housing with It — something that makes nearby existing neighbors a little nervous Observodor General News