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( © b s e r u e r ______________________________________________ March 2 ,200s
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Hate Crimes Are Not Going Away
Studies and stories
underscore more
work to be done
M arc H. M orial
Y ou may recal 1 that 2(X)4 and 2005 mark
the 40th anniversary of tw o o f the greatest
monuments to American ideals of dem oc­
racy. the Civil Rights Act o f 1964 and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965. Yet, in recent
weeks several policy studies and news
stories have underscored how far from the
promised land of equal opportunity Ameri­
can society remains.
For example, statistics compi led by the
FBI indicate that racial bigotry was the
cause of more than half of the nearly 7,500
hate crimes reported to the agency in 2003,
and that the 2,500 acts of bigotry against
African Americans were far greater than
the number against any other racial group.
The year’s totals, which were slightly
above 2002 figures, are largely comprised
by
o f acts of intimidation,
vandalism and destruc­
tion o f property. But they
also include a total o f 14
murders, more than 2,700
assaults and 400 robber­
ies, burglaries and thefts,
and 34 incidents of arson.
The federal documents
shows that crimes catego­
rized as anti-Islamic re­
mained at about the same ------------------
level as in 2002 -149, although some ques­
tion whether these crimes are significantly
under-reported. By far, most of the hate
crimes motivated by religious bias were
against Jews - the 927 incidents were about
the same as in 2002.
Spokesmen for civil rights groups said
the figures show a need for stronger fed­
eral laws against hate crimes as well as
increased Justice Department assistance
to local law enforcement agencies to pros­
ecute such crimes.
Such legislation passed both houses of
Congress last year but was tabled when
Statistics compiled by the
FBI indicate that racial bigotry
was the cause o f more than half
of the nearly 7,500 hate crimes
reported to the agency in 2003.^
differences in the House and Senate ver­
sions couldn’t be reconciled.
That need takes on greater urgency
when one considers that the Southern
Poverty Law Center, a respected monitor
of acts o f bigotry and extremist groups
and individuals, contends the federal sta­
tistics substantially under-report the real­
ity.
Noting that that because several states
have weak hate-crime laws (some don’t
recognize bias against sexual orientation
as a basis for a hate crime) and the report­
ing done to the FBI by local police depart­
D irect F lights
TO
ments is entirely voluntary
(less than 20 percent of the
nation’s 1 l,90()departmentsdo
so), the Center estimates the
real annual number o f hate
crimes is about 50,000-nearly 7
times the federal estimate.
Thus, it’s even more alarm ­
ing to read that a recent by
S yracuse U niv ersity c o n ­
cluded from its review o f Jus­
tice Department data that fed­
eral court actions against violations of
civil rights laws have fallen significantly
since 1999-to less than 2,000-even as the
total number of complaints has held steady
at about 12,000 a year.
But it’s not only government inaction
that causes concern: Some seem to feel
that issues of race and a commitment to
tolerance and inclusion now can be
pushed lower on the public agenda.
Certainly, the most bizarre example of
this was the astonishing vote in Novem­
ber of a majority of A labama’s white elec­
torate to keep language in the state’s
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FINALLY RELEASED!!!
PepperBird Books is pleased to finally release “AKEE TREE,
A Descendant’s Search for his Ancestors on the Eskridge
Plantations," by Portland writer Stephen Hanks.
It began as mere curiosity when the funeral letter from
Kansas arrived. It ended with discovering his African roots
and preserving the saga of four matriarchs who kept the
fam ily bloodline alive during 140 years under American
Slavery.
Four wom en: Akey, Jenny, Rose, and Eliza, labored to
keep different generations of the fam ily together while
under slavery until it was finally abolished and the family
left Mississippi for Kansas after changing their last name.
Author Stephen Hanks’ painstaking 10-year research takes
him back in time through four plantations, ending up at
the early 18th century plantation of a Virginia attorney
whom George Washington was named after. AKEE TREE
delivers to readers a fresh, raw, and revealing account
that will have them turning each page until reaching the last leg of the journey: to Africa! AKEE TREE
is not only a dramatic fam ily biography, but also a com pelling investigative search for identity.
Paperback. 420Pages. $28.00 ISBN: 0-976-58660-6. Order at your local bookstore or send mail
order to: PepperBird Books, 4515 N. Interstate, Suite 4, Portland, OR 97217,503-282-6696.
Stephen Hanks reads from his book and signs copies, 3 p.m., Sunday March 6, Genealogical Forum
of Oregon, 1505 SE Gideon St., Portland (North of Powell Blvd and SE 13th Place) 503-963-1932.
Subscribe!
c o n s titu tio n m a n d a tin g se g re g a te d
schools “for white and colored children”
along with language referring to the poll
taxes that in the era o f segregation were
used to disenfranchise blacks.
This mean-spirited and pathetic cling­
ing to the now-unused remnants of the
anti-democratic regime of the Old South -
some o f which still litter several other
southern state constitutions, too - con­
trasts even more sharply to the vision for
America that the Civil Rights Movement
o f the 1950s and 1960s advocated: one in
which the meaning o f such words and
phrases as freedom and justice and the
pursuit of happiness are not limited to one
class of Americans but are a living reality
that applies to all.
African Unity Can
Start Here in U.S.
¿3** .daucfTtfut'j,
jVtRSIDE
Marc H.
Morial is
p resid en t
a n d CEO o f
The Na­
tional Urban
League.
Since the days of the Honorable
Marcus Garvey many Black activ­
ists have looked for opportunities
to unite all people o f African de­
scent under one banner. In recent
decades, a large number of African-
born Blacks from a variety of coun­
tries have moved to the United
States. This movement has created
a unique opportunity to further the
cause of Pan Africanism, a cause
also championed by W.E.B. Dubois,
which strives for international unity
among all people of African ances­
try. The belief is that if we unite
throughout the world we will have
the purpose and power to pursue
an agenda that will uplift the entire
race of Black people wherever they
may be.
New hope for Pan Africanism to
catch hold in America can be found
in the historic migration from Africa
to the United States since the 1990’s.
According to the 2000 census re­
port, the number of African-born
Blacks in America has doubled
since 1990. With a constant migra­
tion of Blacks from the Caribbean,
along with an additional 50,000 or
more from Africa each year, the
opportunity to get to know and
love all our brothers and sisters
from around the world is better than
ever.
The migration is coming from
several countries throughout the
continent of Africa and the Carib­
bean. Those arriving are generally
more educated and have higher
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~ With a constant migration of
Blacks from the Caribbean ... the
opportunity to get to know and love
all our brothers and sisters from
around the world is better than ever.
paying jobs than American-born
Blacks. They are coming voluntar­
ily from the West African countries
our ancestors were captured from
during the slave trade, in what some
may regard as an ironic twist on
history. Indeed most of the African
immigrants are from Nigeria, Ghana,
and Liberia. All countries that were
primary targets for slave traders
during our slave holocaust. In fact,
the voluntarily migration from Af­
rica to the United States is said to
now surpass the forced arrival
through slavery. A lthough that
does not account for the hundreds
o f millions w hodied in the Atlantic
Ocean, or in the holes of slave ships
before their arrival. They also share
their American prosperity by send­
ing more than $ 1 billion ayear back
to Africa for families and friends,
according to a report in the New
YorkTimes.
Imagine what it could be like if we
were to unite here in America, all of
the African-born, Caribbean and
American-born Blacks on a com ­
mon agenda. A political and eco-
nomic agenda that would allow us
to influence A m erican foreign
policy toward Africa and people of
African descent throughout the
world. An agenda that would per­
haps allow us to begin in America,
reclaiming the wealth that was sto­
len from Africa and African-Ameri­
can slaves.
Many question whether such
unity is possible considering our
history of division and ethnic tribal
disputes. They would remind me
that the ideology o f w hite su­
premacy was specifically designed
to make sure we remain divided by
skin tone, age, gender, and geogra­
phy. I would remind them however
that no race of people in the history
of mankind have overcome as many
barriers and obstacles as people of
African descent. Disunity is noth­
ing but another wall preventing our
progress that will soon fall.
Judge Mathis is Chairman o f
the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board
and a National Board Member o f
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
Social Security Does Matter
Excuse of shorter life
expectancy bogus
by U.S.
5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3
J i ix ; f ; G reg M athis
R f . p . C harles R angel
President Bush is now seeking to
privatize Social Security. As a part o f his
campaign, he and his allies have been
claiming that Social Security is a bad
deal for African Americans, since Afri­
can Americans tend to have a shorter
life expectancy. This is really an outra­
geous argument.
If the President really was concerned
about shorter life expectancies for African Americans
he should try to do something about it. Instead, he
wants to assume that African Americans will always
die younger than whites. Talk about soft bigotry of
low expectations. But, the President doesn’t even
have his facts right. Much of the life expectancy gap
results from higher infant mortality.
What matters for Social Security is life expectancy
at retirement. And the older we get, the lower the gap.
By age 65, the difference is about a year-and-a- half.
There is indeed a gap at retirement age. but not nearly
as large as the President and his supporters claim.
I^et me tell you why Social Security is a good deal
for African Americans: It not only provides retire­
ment benefits, but also disability and survivor ben­
efits as well. African Americans only represent 12
percent of the U.S. population, but 18 percent o f all
persons receiving disability benefits are African
American and 22 percent of all children who receive
survivor benefits are African American.
The way Social Security benefits are
calculated is also beneficial to lower
income families, who, disproportion­
ately tend to be, yes, African American.
As Americans we pay into the Social
Security system and we all benefit. It
gives us the confidence that we will
have the resources to be independent
and proud o f whatever happens.
Private accounts only add to the challenges of
Social Security that we already face. They lead to a
vast benefit cut that undermines the independence
that Social Security gives to all Americans. I want to
work with the President to have an honest debate
about Social Security’s future. And. I want to work
with him to improve health care for African American
communities. The life expectancy gap has been shrink­
ing for years. With his help, maybe we can eliminate
it rather than use it to sell a Social Security program
that will harm America and is important to our commu­
nity.
Congressman Charles Rangel is the senior Demo­
crat on the Ways and Means Committee in the House
o f Representatives.