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|ul>2l. 2004
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African-American Voters Discovered
Disenfranchisement
of the black
vote catches fire
by
(503) 890-1858
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Victory Has . . .
G reg P alast
L ike C h risto p h er C olum bus
blinking in shock at first seeing an
American Indian, John Kerry has
just discovered African-American
voters.
On Thursday, Kerry landed at the
NAACPconvention, steppedoff his
slow-moving campaign boat and
announced that he was exploring for
one million missing black voters.
Let me explain — because the
New York Times won’t. In the 2000
elections, l .9 million ballots were
cast which were never counted —
“spoiled” is the technical term.
Ballots don’t spoil because they
are left out of the fridge. There’s
always a technical reason: a stray
mark, or my favorite, from Gadsden
County, Fla., writing in Al G ore’s
name instead o f checking a box.
According to data from the US
Civil Rights Commission and the
Harvard University Law School
Civil Rights Project, about half the
nation's spoil ballots— one million
— were cast by black folk. Just as
African American communities get
the worst schools, the worst hospi­
tals, they also get dumped with the
worst voting machines which eat,
mismark, mangle and void ballots.
Poof! A mi 11 ion black votes gone,
zapped, vanished.
And the nasty secret is that for
years, that suited many white lead­
ers o f local and state Democratic
organizations— Zell MillerofGeor-
gia is a case in point — who feared
black voters as much as Republi­
cans.
But change is coming, and not
because John Kerry and the men
who think for him have changed.
Change is coming because Afri­
can-American leaders are getting a
little uppity about the Democratic
Party taking or leaving the African-
American voter as the mood and
Just when Edwards thought he
could have a sip o f coffee, Jackson
required him to watch the segment
of our BBC television special, “Bush
Family Fortunes,” with the latest
analysis on the non-count o f black
votes in Florida. In the 2000 race,
95,000 A frican-A m erican votes
were dumped in the Florida swamps,
marked as spoiled.
Edwards, succumbing to hun­
ger, caffeine deprivation and Rev.
Jackson’s intense interrogation,
caved in and promised to take the
message o f the missing black votes
Change is coming because
African-American leaders are getting
a little uppity about the Democratic
Party taking or leaving the African-
American voter as the mood and
arithmetic pleases.
%
arithmetic pleases.
H ere’s how Sen. Kerry got the
message. Two weeks ago, when I
was in Chicago, Jesse Jackson
asked me to join him for breakfast at
the Marriott Hotel. To my surprise,
h e’d also invited Senator John
Edwards. Jackson had made copies
o f my editorial for the San Fran­
cisco Chronicle on the missing one
million votes... and wouldn’t let the
wannabe Veep touch his bagel until
he’d read every word.
to the white side of his party.
Congresswoman Corrine Brown
joined us. When she read the story
and saw the film, she was ready to
spit bullets. She was especially
upset that British television cov­
ered the story while, in the USA, the
black story was blacked out.
The film clip would get the Con­
gresswoman in hot water. This past
T hursday, in W ashington, she
again watched a preview of the
BBC film, marched down to the
Capitol and denounced the Repub­
lican Party for stealing the election
in Florida. For telling this truth, she
was censured by a straight-up
party-line vote by the House of
Representatives and her remarks
stricken.
Sen. Kerry is noC orrine Brown.
The man who would be president is
first trying out the ‘D ’ word in front
o f the frien d ly n ativ es at the
NAACP. But still, it’s a step: m en­
tioning out loud the massive, sys­
tematic disenfranchisement o f the
black vote.
But the real change w on’t come
until Kerry can say the ‘D ’ word in
front of say, a gathering o f the
members of his wife’s country club,
and until he confronts the boys
holding the electoral lynchingropes
in both parties.
I have a dream. I imagine John
Kerry taking this message to the
floor of the convention next week,
proclaiming, ‘T h ree decades after
Martin Luther King’s murder, one
million African Americanscast bal­
lots never counted. This will not
stand!” Imagine it: at that moment,
for the first time in a generation, the
Democratic Party will have nomi­
nated a Democrat.
Greg Palast is an investigative
reporterfrom London. He is known
for his reports on the theft o f the
election in Florida and the con­
nections between the Bush family
and the Bin Ladins which form the
basis for Michael Moore's latest
film "Fahrenheit 9/11. ”
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Letters
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t the Editor Make Healthy Choices
City Bureaus Outdated
I hold no position on the merits o f police reform on the City C ouncil's
• Grades Based on Performance
agenda. However, I do believe that members of the council should have
• Before and After School Help
the right, at any time, to submit an ordinance or resolution or whatever
on any topic.
• 6 Annual Field Trips
• ESL and Special Ed Welcome
Our city needs a city manager or strong mayor with commissioners
elected at large but required to live in defined districts similar to the
Portland School Board.
The current candidates for mayor and commissioner should immedi­
ately put this issue on their public speaking agendas.
VICTORY
Middle School
This business o f “you d o n 't mess with my bureaus and I w on’t mess
with yours” is outdated, counterproductive and should come to an end.
Making good public policy is every com m issioner's business.
Richard Ellmyer
North Portland
Another study by the U.S. National Institutes o f Health has called
for a further reduction in the tolerable level o f cholesterol. The
guidelines were endorsed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute, the American Heart Association and the American College
o f Cardiology.
So w hat’s new? Health authorities have been cautioning us for
years to replace cholesterol-laden meat and dairy products with
vegetables, fruits, and grains, which contain no cholesterol.
How many more studies will it take? How many more people must
die of heart disease and stroke, our nation's top killers, before consum­
ers get the message?
Eating a cholesterol-free diet is a snap these days. Every supermar­
ket carries a rich variety of veggie burgers, soy dogs, soy-based lunch
meats, microwave-ready dinners, dairy-free ice cream and other des­
serts, and of course, a huge selection of vegetables and fruits.
We have the means to lead a healthy, productive life. All we need
is the will.
Lionel Inman
Southeast Portland
5250 NE MLK (Near Killingsworth)
(503) 890-1858
(503) 249-2003
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Kgutl Opportuaity for All Victory Middle School admits students o f
any nice, color, nationality and ethnic origin to all the rights,
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