‘r,K’-P o rtia n i (©bseruer
Page A4
lune I. 2005
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
‘Black-Brown Coalition’ Wins
Ushering in new era of unity
by J udge
Equality Suffers with School Closures
Time to look at what really works
by R ichard L.
W atson
To paraphrase a popular book
title, it takes a neighborhood to
educate a child. W hile debates go
on w ithin th e P o rtlan d P ub lic
Schools about budgets, grade con
f ig u r a tio n s ,
d e s e g r e g a tio n ,
achievem ent gaps, inequality o f
opportunities, lack o f com puters,
etc., w e are losing our understand
ing about w hat really constitutes
effective education - direct atten
tion to the needs o f our kids.
Portland w as fortunate co m
pared to m any other cites and sub
urbs in that it once recognized the
pow er o f neighborhood schools in
their ability to reach and teach our
children. H ow ever, that pow er is
being eroded by system atic clo
s u r e s o f th e s e n e ig h b o rh o o d
sc h o o ls. D is tric t-w id e m ag n et
schools are now providing an elite
education for som e, w hile consoli
dations into “big-box” schools are
supposed to dispense education
to the rest w ith W al-M art-style e f
ficiency. Yet the achievem ent gap
rem ains and even w idens with each
change. Segm ents o f our city then
end up with unequal access to edu
cation. It’s tim e to look at w hat
really works.
The time-tested way toeffectively
educate our children, especially in
the early, formative years is to in
volve parents, relati ves, teachers and
neighbors in the process. Education
o f our young people requires a “kid-
friendly” environm ent - a com m u
nity that cherishes its children, teach
ing them moral and social virtues as
well as the three Rs. G ood scholar
ship and good citizenship usually go
hand-in-hand.
C hildren are not w idgets. T hey
cannot be fully educated with m ass
production techniques. In addition,
those at risk youngsters w ith sp e
cial needs require m ore, not less,
attention or they lose o p portuni
ties to bootstrap them selves into
those higher standards o f learning
and living.
W e can rightly blam e the P ort
land Public Schools for closing
neighborhood schools and arro
gantly riding that dow nw ard spi
ral that is dem olishing our neigh
borhood school system.
W e can rightly blam e som e par
ents for not including good ed u
cational and behavioral habits in
their children - causes o f class
room disruptions and obstacles
to learning.
Richard Watson is a grandfa
ther and lives in Kenton neigh
borhood o f north Portland. He
mourns the loss o f notjust one, but
both Kenton neighborhood
schools in the Jefferson Cluster.
Powerful
History
Lesson
In reference to your coverage o f
the Emmett T ill kidnapping, torture
and m urder (Em m ett T ill M issis
sippi M urder C ase Reopened: Ju s
tice sought 50 years after death), I
was fortunate to see and hear the
recent dram atic docum entary on
his life by New York filmmaker Keith
Beaucham p on O PB, C hannel 10
It w as pow erful and m oving,
e v o k in g th a t d ark n ig h t w hen
Em m ett, ju st 14 years old, the ch er
ished only son o f M am ie and Lousi
Till, was seized from his uncle’s
hom e in a sm all M ississippi D elta
community.
T he T ill fam ily e x e m p lifie d
m iddle-class, w ell-education black
G reg M athis
L o s A n g e le s C ity
C o u n c ilm a n A n to n io
V illaraigosa toppled in
cum bent m ayor Jam es
H ahn last w eek to be
c a m e th e c i t y ’s firs t
L atino m ayor since the
late 1800s. G oing into the
election Villaraigosa, naturally, had
a large L atino follow ing. H ow ever,
it cannot be denied that the black
vote helped put him over the top.
W e only need to look back to 2001
to find the truth in this statem ent: it
w as th e n th a t H ah n d e fe a te d
V illaraigosa, thanks in part to his
large A frican-A m erican follow ing,
many o f them loyal to his father, a
popular political figure.
V illaraigosa knew how im por
tant the black vote w as this tim e
around and he m ade a push to se
cure it. W ith endorsem ents from
U.S. Rep. M axine W aters, D-Calif.,
and form er LA L akers star turned
entrepreneur M agic Johnson, his
popularity in the A frican-A m eri
can com m unity began to grow.
B ut Vi 1 laraigosa didn ’ t rest. The
Sunday before the election, he vis
ited black churches throughout the
city, M acedonia Baptist Church and
First A M E C hurch am ong them,
and delivered his m essage to po
tential voters. It w orked in a big
way: V illaraigosa received nearly
59-percent o f the total vote.
W ith this victory, V illaraigosa
has, hopefully, ushered in a new era
in politics: A frican-A m erican and
L atino unity.
There is a long history o f political
- and social - unease between blacks
and Latinos. For generations, politi
cal powers have pitted the two groups
against one another, causing m em
bers o f both groups to believe that
gains made by one will com e at the
expense of the other.
M any black voters in particular
have been reluctant to surrender
A m erica. Em m ett grew up in C h i
cago, exposed to m iddle-class val
ues, freely able to indulge in light
hearted, youthful open apprecia
tion o f girls and w om en, as typified
by a w o lf w histle.
B ut in M ississip p i, h e a p p a r
en tly co m m itted th e u n p a rd o n
ab le sin o f w h istlin g at a w hite
w o m an ; so m e th in g a b lack m ale
o f any age d id not do if he v alu ed
h is life. H e w as a b d u c te d th at
night. H is b ro k en body w as found
th ree d ay s la tte r in the T a lla h a s
see R iver.
W hen E m m e tt’s ca sk e t w as
brought to C hicago, it w as sealed.
His m other requested that it be
opened. W hen she w as refused,
she dem anded, “G ive m e a ham m er
and I’ll open it m yself.” Finally, she
w as assisted in opening the casket.
political and econom ic
gains m ade during the
civil rights era. This gap
betw een African-A m eri
can s and L atinos was
e v id e n t ju s t re c e n tly
w hen M exican President
V icente Fox com m ented
that Mexican immigrants
are w illing to d o jo b s that “not even
blacks w ant to do.” W ith this state
m ent. Fox not only insults A frican-
A m ericans and takes aw ay from the
generations o f our people w ho have
w orked in thankless jo b s, but also
show s he is unaw are that both
groups have been subject to eco
nomic exploitation.
W hile the tw o groups do often
find them selves with com peting
political interests, they also have
agendas that are very m uch in sync.
A ccess to jo b s, im proved schools,
violence prevention and co m m u
nity developm ent. These are issues
that both blacks and L atinos alike
have rallied around in recent years.
V illaraigosa’s win is a pow erful
exam ple o f the im pact blacks and
Latinos can have w hen they band
together. H e is not the first big-city
m ayor to benefit from such an alli
ance: experts have pointed out that
in the past, D avid D inkins o f New
Y o rk , H a r o ld
W a s h in g to n ,
C h icag o ’s first black m ayor, and
Federico Pena o f D enver profited
from a ‘black-brow n co alitio n ’.
O ver the next several decades,
blacks and Latinos will m ake up the
m ajority o f the U.S. population.
W ith this increase in num bers will
com e increased political presence
and power. W e’ 11 all be better served
if both groups can find a w ay to
unite and represent our com m on
interests.
Judge Greg Mathis is chairman
o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board
and a national board member o f
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
revealing the rem ains o f her pre
cious only child.
M am ie Till w as determ ined that
the casket rem ain open for the fu
neral and that h er son, unrecogniz
able because o f the severe beating,
be photographed so that the entire
county could see how a black youth
w as m urdered for his indiscretion
by Southern w hite men.
F o llo w in g th e u n an im o u s S u
p rem e C o u rt d ec isio n the p re v i
o u s y ea r o u tla w in g seg reg atio n ,
th e b ru ta lity o f E m m ett T ill’s
d eath w as o n e o f the p o w erfu l
e v e n ts th a t fire d u p th e C ivil
R ights m ovem ent. L ater that same
year, R o sa P arks brav ely sat dow n
in the w h ite sectio n o f a M o n t
g o m e ry , A la. bus!
June Potter Acosta
Southwest Portland
____________ THE____________
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Part 9. Low Back Surgery:
The unkindest and most unnecessary cut of all.
: Should I try chiropractic sive hospital bills. W ith C h iro p rac m ake any d ec isio n , heed the
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o d s o f co n se rv a tiv e care before
right?”
the recurrence o f vitality.
: W hich technique has better c o n sid e rin g su rg ery to the lu m
: W e h ea rth isq u e stio n q u ite
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often and considering many
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problem is mechanical. Chiroprac 99% are unsuccessful. B efore you b e r d isp la y e d below .
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Q
Q
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02005
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