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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2004)
500 Alberta Street Fair Saturday celebration to catch Northeast beat See Focus section, inside urtíanh ‘City of Roses’ Established In 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXIV • Number 36 TlWeekin TheReview Abortion Ban Unconstitutional A third federal judge ruled that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is unconstitutional, saying it fails to include an exception when a woman’s health is in danger. Troop Deaths Surpasses 1,000 Islam and Politics Bush Skirts Guard Order Addressing questions that have lingered for years, newly un ea rth ed m em os state that George W. Bush failed to meet standards of the Texas Air National Guard during the Viet nam W ar and that he refused a direct order and that his supe riors were in a state o f turmoil over how to evaluate his per formance after he was sus pended from flying. Antidepressants Dangerous for Children Federal health advisers con sidering more stringent warn ing labels for anti-depressants linked to suicidal thoughts among children were told on Tuesday that a new warning added in March appeared to have little impact on children’s use of the drugs. Wednesday • September IS, 2004 M ake W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver photo by Muslim leader speaks out on the war, election by J aymee With the number o f American military deaths in Iraq surpass ing 1,000, President Bush said, “we mourn every loss o f life” and declared that the United S ta tes w as m aking good progress in the war against terrorism. However, attacks against U.S. Forces in Iraq increase and in Afghanistan they continue. www.portlandobserver.com 32 million targeted in U.S., report charges R. C uti T he P ortland O bserver The role of Islam in politics may raise ques tions to W esterners, devout to the separation o f church and state. But in Muslim culture, these lines blur. In 1979, Ayatullah Khomeini was overheard saying “Islam is politics.” “Politics in Islam is not a separate entity. We are to be concerned with the community, the environm ent, all aspects o f human life,” said Shaheed Haamid, amir for the Muslim C om m unity C enter on N ortheast Martin Luther King Boulevard. Roughly a third o f the Koran, the Muslim holy book, is about legislating human behav ior, according to Haamid. Even the Muslim profit M uhammad was a politician o f sorts. He was the adm inistrator of the city o f Medina. At a recent national Muslim conference held in Illinois, American Muslims deliber ated about which presidential candidate to endorse, expressing a disconnect from both. A decision from The Am erican M uslim Taskforce, an alliance of major Muslim orga nizations, is expected next month. The American Muslim com m unity’s vote is particularly influential in this election as M uslims have a strong presence in battle ground states such as M ichigan, Ohio and Florida. Locally, Haamid says the war in Iraq heavily influences his vote. “I can’t speak for the whole nation o f Islam or all Muslims here in Portland but frankly I’m concerned that neither candidate represents what is necessary to win the so called war terrorism,” said Haamid. H aam id ’s o p in io n s are heard w idely throughout Portland on his many radio and cable television programs, which he says he produces out o f duty as a practicing Muslim. J Shaheed Haamid, administrator for the Muslim Community Center in northeast Portland and the host o f local radio and cable access programs, discusses political issues relevant to Muslims and African Americans. KBOO-FM 90.7 airs H aam id’s shows “An Islamic Point of View" on Sundays at 8 a.m. and “Proverbial Perspectives” every first Thurs day at 6 p.m. He is also host and producer o f “Imam W. Deen M ohammed," on Portland Community Access channel 23 Fridays at 3 p.m. and channel 22 on Sundays at 6 p.m. His show, “Al-Islamic Focus” also airs pe riodically on channels 22 and 23. Haamid often address stereotypes Muslims face and attempts to demystify the religion to outsiders. He also addresses hot-button issues concerning the Muslim or black community, including racial profiling, the erosion of civil rights, ramifications of the Sept. 11 terrorist at tacks and treatment of women within the religion. “The whole purpose is to deal with subjects directly or indirectly affecting African Ameri cans because we don’t have adequate repre sentation in the mainstream media,” he said. Haamid says that the concept o f holy war is continued on page A3 McVeigh’s Father Subject of Him Bud Welch, who lost a daugh ter in the Oklahoma City bomb ing, went from wanting to kill bomber Timothy McVeigh to becoming a leading opponent of the death penalty. Along the way, he came to know and have sympathy for M cVeigh’s father. Bill McVeigh. The jour ney o f these two men is the basis for "Bud & Bill,” a new film. Moms Lead March Against Violence Three local mothers who lost a son or daughter to deadly and senseless violence, Perlia Bell (from left), Areba Stickland and Lenetta Jones, lead a march and rally Saturday from Irving Park to Alberta Park in northeast Portland. The day also featured speakers, music, mime, dance and poetry. Writing Lesson For Workers It’s not just students who need to brush up on their writing. A majority o' U.S. employers say about one-third of workers do not meet the writing require ments of their positions, ac cording to a survey by the C o lleg e B o ard ’s N ational Commission on Writing. V riio T o by M ark W ashington ZT he S /g o c o zb O ’s ó o o P orti . and O bserver North and northeast Portland residents gathered on the third year anniversary to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York. W ash ington, D.C. and Pennsylvania Saturday to remember victims o f senseless and deadly violence in their own communities. A march and rally from Irving Park to Alberta Park drew more than 100 people. The day featured speakers, music, mime, dunce and Racial Profiling Deep Rooted poetry. The effort was an attempt to end a silence that surrounds the circumstances of many of the murders, but also to save our children from additional violence The activities also pro moted solutions to violence that continues to filter throughout our neighborhoods. A special honor was paid to Asia Bell James, a 24-year-old mother of four, a commu- nity college graduate and a gainfully employed contributing member of our community. On Nov. 29, 2002, she was senselessly and ran domly gunned down while sitting on the front porch of her home at North Mississippi Avenue and Jessup Street. Her murder not only affected her family, it continued on page A2 (AP) — Authorities’ targeting of people because of their racial background or religious affiliation is a deep-rooted problem in the United States, with nearly 32 mil lion people reporting they’ve been racially profiled, a human rights group said Monday. The report by Amnesty Interna tional USA also said at least 87 million people— one in three — in the United States are at high risk of being victimized because they be long to a racial, ethnic or religious group whose members are com monly targeted by police for un lawful stops and searches. Racial profiling is a growing problem as the government has expanded its war on terror, the re port said. Police, immigration and airport security procedures are the areas where the problem has got ten worse since the Sept. 11,2001, attacks, it said. Citizens and visitors o f Middle Eastern and South Asian descent, and others who appear to be from these areas or members o f the Mus lim and Sikh faiths, have become more frequent subjects o f racial profiling over the last three years, the study said. Such racial profiling is a distrac tion to law enforcement and there fore undermines national security efforts, the report said. As police primarily focus on Arab, Muslim and South Asian males, it said, they are more likely to overlook terrorists who are white. For example, recent cases of American Taliban John W alker Lindh and British shoe bom ber Ri chard Reid show that al-Qaida has an ability to recruit a diverse range o f sympathizers. These two would not necessarily have been identi fied by policies that focus on Arab, Muslim and South Asian males, the report said. Aside from the i ll-effects on vic tim s— depression and humiliation — racial profiling reinforces resi dential segregation, creates fear and mistrust and engenders reluctance in reporting crimes and cooperat ing with police officers. Amnesty International USA said. “In these times o f domestic in security, our nation simply cannot afford to tolerate practices and poli cies that build walls between indi viduals or communities and those who are charged with the duty of protecting all of us,” it said. State laws continue to be insuf ficient in addressing the problem, according to the report. Twenty-seven states do not ban racial profiling, the report said. Also, 46 states d o n 't ban religious profil ing, 35 continue to allow pedes trian “stop and frisk” searches and only six o f the 15 that ban these searches use a definition of racial profiling that can actually be en forced, the report said. No jurisdiction in the United States has addressed the problem in a way that is effective and com prehensive, the report said. A m nesty International USA came up with its estimate of nearly 32 million profiling victims by ana lyzing a collection o f recent polls, census figures and studies..