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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2004)
Pa8cA4____________________________ Fortiani» © b acru er__________________________ Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of The Portland Observer O pinion Voting Rights under Threat Advertise with diversity in Îlîl October b , 2004 Oí)hserver call 5()3.288.(X)33 or email: ads@portlandobserver.com THE PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION CONGRATULATES th e A frican A m erican A lliance for H om eow nership on its 5th annual African A m e rica n H o m e Buying Fair. Saturday, October 16, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Emanuel Hospital Atrium 5 0 1 N. Graham FREE ADMISSION Justice Department should intervene bv J udge G reg M athis In the 1960s. the Justice Department was called up to help ensure that A frican- A m ericans were afforded their Constitutional right to vote. From election monitors to armed guards, the federal government had to ensure that American citizens were afforded their G od-given rights to exercise their vot ing power. Unfortunately, 40 years later, the Justice Department needs to, once again, intervene and en sure that citizens' votes are not suppressed or other wise compromised. To begin with, the Vice President’s general coun sel is leading a thinly veiled voter suppression m ove ment entitled "The Ballot Integrity Project.” When the current administration appears to be behind ef forts to deny and frustrate the right to vote, we should all be concerned and demand action. The problem, however, is not just on the federal level. It exists, open and notoriously, on the state level. No one needs to restate the problems in the 2(MX) Presidential election; there were almost too many to mention. In Florida, black voters were IO times as likely as white voters to have their ballots rejected. In Michigan, a state representative was so bold as to go on record as saying that the G O P needs to "suppress the Detroit vote,” In acity with an 83 percent African- American population, there is little doubt as to what the representative meant by his statement. I recently spoke to students at Prairie View A&M University whose right to vote was threatened by the county district attorney. Thankfully, these students fought back and maintained their voting rights and achieved the district attorney's resignation. Meanwhile, the Republican Party in Kentucky is so bold as to announce that they intend on placing voter challengers (read: intimidators) at predomi nantly African-American polling places. This is real, this is now and this is happening right here in A m erica. T he right wing know s that it has much to lose w ithout the use o f these illegal m easures. Federal intervention does not guarantee that there will be no problems come Nov. 2. However, Justice Department oversight is a step in the right direction of maintaining a fair and intimidation-free voting environment. Judge Greg Mathis is chairman of the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board and a national board m em berof the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The Portland Development Commission has been working in Portland neigh Adjusting to an Alienable City in providing excellent customer service and a friendly and experienced staff to assist you with: Racial climate is more o f the same by I lA' borhoods for over 40 years to build strong communities. We pride ourselves ■ Purchase with renovation loans f ■ Refinance with renovation loans ■ Home repair loans V i ■ Construction specialists on site to assist you through the construction process R onald W hite It is amazing that those o f us blacks that have resided here for the last several decades have ad justed to Portland’s alienable social policies. I have noticed a steady but significant change in the racial climate here. E ver since the infam ous police opossum th ro w ing incident about 25-years ago, som e o f our black self-anointed leaders appear dum bfounded in their response to atrocious police and civic behavior. O ur reigning black city official then was C harles Jordan. He made the heroic, bold and unprecedented m ove o f firing the police officers involved. He knew that the people o f the com m unity w’ere im portant. He also saw the im por tance o f a healthy com m unity and an ethical police force. Evey one seemed to bask in the after- math of what we saw as justice and seemed quite intoxicated by it. Shortly later the hatchet dropped. The mayor, Francis Ivancie demoted Mr. Jordan as if he was implying that this Negro had no right to fire a police officer. And we would later find that some outside arbitrator would restore their jobs along with back pay. I do n 't know how this affected everybody but I was overcome by disbelief and grief, a grief that I really never really got over. Mr. Jordan appeared to fade away into the night and I didn't notice a lot of people coming to his aid, which I thought was strange. I felt a grim uncertainty about the future for blacks in Portland. Well in the next 25-years, we would realize atro cious behavior by both the onslaught o f white and black gang activity and police. With the black leader ship response to these issues leaving much to be desired in the way o f justice. Given the all this historical evidence about dispar ate treatment o f blacks in Portland, why can ’t we be more proactive about these issues? Why haven't people like Al Sharpton, Johnny Cochran or other national black leaders been called to witness this injustice and get Oregon on the map? Mr. Jordan appeared to fade away into the night and I didn't notice a lot o f people coming to his aid, which I thought was strange. I felt a grim uncertainty about the future fo r blacks in Portland. Letter to the Editor JIM FRANCESCONI Yes on Medical Marijuana “I w ill fig h t for m ore d iv e r sity on P o rtla n d ’s p olice force to b e tte r reflect th e com m u n ity it s e r v e s .” — Jim F ran cescon i Jim Francesconi has a proven record of honoring and protecting all Portlanders. He has earned his reputation as a leader who speaks his mind, stands up for those without a voice, and gets the job done. Jim Francesconi is passionate about equal rights. As mayor, Jim will continue to work for good schools, a stronger economy, safe and affordable housing, and justice for every community. On November 2nd, Vote JIM FRANCESCONI FOR MAYOR. To read J im ’ s 100- day plan to move P ortland forward , please visit : www.JimFrancesconiForMayor.com “I met Jim when we were having problems with drugs, alcohol, gangs and shootings in my NE Portland neighborhood. We couldn’t get the police to come out half the time. Jim provided us with the tools to take back our neighborhood.” — M aggie Gibson 1724 NE GLISAN STREET I PORTLAND, OR 97232 I PH: 503-233-4987 I www.jimfrancesconiformayor.com I It is obvious that blacks here need some kind of galvanization given their lower per-capita income and low rates for home ownership. And not to mention proposals by the Aryan Nations to rid the Northwest of blacks and the government waging gentrification war on our communities. It appears that any pro-active response is stymied by our incessant psychosis. If we don’t get off o f our high horses and acknowl edge that we should heal ourselves psychologically, we may find ourselves here in Oregon in a spinout of poverty and self-denigration. Thank you for the story "Pain Relief with Legal Pot" in last week’s issue. I w asachiefpetitionerforthe Oregon Medical M arijuana Act passed in 1998. It is successful with over 10,000 registered patients, and more than 1,400 Oregon doctors have signed applications. Unfortunately, the original act forces patients to grow medical mari juana or find someone who will grow it for them without taking any reimbursement -even for itemized expenses. Your article’s descrip tion o f the expensive materials, gardening skill, and plain old luck necessary for a regular supply of medicine makes it obvious why dis pensaries are needed. Without dis pensaries, many patients are w ith out medicine. Measure 33. an amendment to the OM M A, provides improved access to medicine through regu lated dispensaries that will sell medical marijuana only toqualified patients. The dispensaries would act like pharmacies for medical mari juana. This would allow patients who need medicine immediately or patients who are too sick to grow safe access to the medicine they need. M easure 33 is not legalization, because one m ust be qualified by an attending physician and it will rem ain a felony to sell to any non- registered person. I encourage everyone to support patient ac cess to necessary m edicine in cluding medical marijuana. Please vote Yes on 33. Kick Bayer, M l) Southwest Portland Tax Keeps Our Promise In 2003, we as Multnomah County residents passed a three- year temporary tax measure to support basic school and human services. Our most vulnerable citizens are watching and waiting to see if we keep our commitment. As adults, we all need to remember that children look to us as their role models. Therefore, we are keeping our promise by voting ’ no’ on Measure 26-64. Stand For Children Team Au kiis tana Lutheran Church
