luly 20, 2005
ŒlK^îortlanb (©hseruer
Page A4
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Must
Mexican
Come Clean on Racism
°F THÈ PEESÍPWTS poVUUteftV PAV h G t S :
about tw o percent of the popula
tion, and th a t’s only a
rough estim ate. The
M exican governm ent
propagates the myth
o f a color-blind soci
ety and has never des
ignated any racial cat
egories. There is no
form al ban in M exico
on em ploym ent dis
crimination.
Then th ere’s Pinguin. An en-
tire generation o f M exican school
?
children (and m any adults) has
many M exicans are quick to boast grow n up delighting in the zany
o f differences in skin color among frolics o f the popular com ic hero.
P inguin has gro ssly disto rted
their own fam ily m em bers.
A few years ago, a M exican- m onkey like features, a baldhead
American friend made me acutely and big ears. His m other is a gro
aware of the rigid race differences tesquely fat, bandanna-w earing
in the country. W hen I told him mam m y. The black mammy do
that I’d be traveling extensively m estic was the stock racist image
in M exico, he urged me to pay of black women in countless 1930s
close attention to the w orkers and 1940s A m erican movies. But
doing the hardest and dirtiest P inguin’s m other isn ’t a dom es
work in restaurants and hotels, tic. She routinely w ears her ban
and who the beggars and ped danna around their house, and
it’s a ram shackle house in a poor
dlers on the streets were.
They w ere overw helm ingly barrio.
The Pinguin series ran in M exi
dark, and in m ost cases w ith pro
can
new spapers and m agazines
nounced Indian or A frican fea
during
the 1960s and 1970s. It
tures. Many M exicans refer to
United States. The extent to which
was
created
by Sixto V alencia
dark skinned persons, both M exi
federal and state laws supported
Burgos,
one
of
M exico’s top c re
can, and non-M exican, as negritos
the institution o f slavery and years
ative
artists.
or little black people. This is not
of racial and economic oppression
The Pinguin series is so popular
seen as racially offensive, but
would also be studied.
that
decades after Burgos discon
rather as a term of affection, even
With a few notable exceptions,
tinued
the series, fan clubs still
endearm ent. Ads have featured
this bill, and the reparations move
sprout
up on both sides of the
blacks in A fros, black face, and
ment in general, has been met with
border.
The comic books are still
d is to rte d fe a tu re s. T he m ost
resistance from the powers that be.
wildly
popular
collector's items in
popular screen stars in film and
As a community, we should con
Mexico,
and
other
parts of Latin
i on TV, and the m odels featured
tinue to press this issue until the
America,
and
continue
to be much
on m agazines and billboards, are
government begins serious delib
discussed
and
much
read.
w hite or fair skinned w ith sandy
erations on the topic.
G ilberto Rincon, President of
or blond hair. T h a t’s the standard
As a result of discussions about
the
N ational Council to Prevent
o f beauty, culture, and sophisti
the Holocaust, Japanese interment
D
iscrim
ination, noted that a re
cation th at’s held up as the ulti
camps and the devastation colo
port
on
racism
in M exico was re
mate standard to em ulate, and
nists inflicted upon Native Ameri
leased
p
rio
r
to
F o x ’s racially
th a t sta n d a rd is u n a b a sh e d ly
cans, Jews and the Japanese have
loaded
quip
in
May
about blacks
com m ercialized, and peddled as
received reparations and Native
and
im
m
igrant
jobs.
T hat was a
top com m odities in M exico and
Americans have received land. A
sm
all
sign
that
top
M
exican
offi
other Latin A m erican countries.
good start for African-Americans
cials
grudgingly
realize
that
race
Mexican President Vicente Fox
would be congressional hearings
does
m
atter
in
M
exican
affairs.
and m ost o f M exico’s past presi
to determine what modem day cor
dents, top officials, business lead Now M exican officials can take
porations directly benefited from
ers, educators, and governm ent another sm all step and dum p the
the slave trade and how they can
leaders, for instance, are light Pinguin stam p. Then they can
begin to repay for the sins of sla
skinned or C astellan Spanish. take the bigger step and fully come
very.
They routinely boast that they clean on the country’s racism and
Judge Greg Mathis is Chair
can trace th e ir b lo o d lin e s to do som ething about it.
man o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a col
Spain.
Board and a National Board Mem-
um
nist fo r B lackN ew s.com , an
Blacks in M exico suffer from
b e ro f the Southern Christian Lead
those attitudes. They make up author and political analyst.
ership Conference.
'¿5-
rs,
r-aWNVf
-r
>W ¡U
by
E arl O fari H utchinson
The
M e x ic a n
governm ent’s sale o f the
racially offensive c a r
toon character M em in
Pinguin as a com m em o
rative stam p is an outra
geous sign that top M exi
can officials still refuse
to
deal
w ith
th e
country’s racism .
Racism goes much deeper in
the
exican
1
1 1 ^ v country.
v u n v t y • Even
* » » » »• w
»» • hile
• • • ■ » • M
- ——
w riters and politicians rail in ar-
tid e s against A m erican racism ,
Congress Should Hold Hearings on Slave Reparations
‘studding’ of black males caused a
breakdown
in the black family. Most
On July 7, a federal judge tossed
of
our
people
were denied educa
out a lawsuit brought against cor
tion
-
to
learn
to read was to die.
porations, including R.J. Reynolds
And,
as
slave
women
began to bear
Tobacco and Loews, that profited
the
master’s
children,
color issues,
from slave labor, saying Congress
introduced
by
whites
to separate
or the president should decide the
us,
further
divided
an
already
weak
‘political’ issue. While the judge’s
ened
society.
Unfortunately,
when
decision dealt adisappointing blow
slavery
ended,
the
suffering
con-
to the reparations movement, his
insistence that this is a topic the
iW
executive and legislative branches
should explore is justifiable. From
the 1450 to 1865, over 4-million
A fricans and their descendants
were enslaved in the United States;
this free labor allowed the United
States to build its wealth and posi
tion itself as the most prosperous
nation in the free world. To begin to
heal the deep racial wounds that tinued. To this day, millions of Af
continue to persist in this country, rican-Americans continue to feel
the U.S. government must first of the effects of slavery, in what is
ficially acknowledge that, without clinically known as Post Traumatic
slavery, A m erica - and m any Slavery Disorder. Psychologists
wealthy whites - would not be in the point to the disparate numbers of
blacks in prison, addicted to drugs
position they are in today.
While the U.S. economy flour and living in broken homes as evi
ished during the slave era, African dence of the damage slavery has
culture and communities did not; caused in our communities.
In January 1989, Congressman
languages and customs were lost
and families were destroyed. The John Conyers (D-MI) first pre-
by J udge
G rf . g M athis
sented H.R. 40, Commission to
Study Reparation Proposals for
African Americans Act, to Con
gress. Conyers has re-introduced
H.R. 40 every year since and says
he will continue to do so until it
becomes law. The bill would re
quire the American government to
establish a commission to study
slavery and the discrim ination
With a few notable
exceptions ...the reparations
movement in general has been
met with resistance from the
powers that be.
a'l't ^ßortlanb (0bseruer Established 1970
USPS 959-680 _____________________________________
4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
E d it o r - i n -C h ie f . P u b lis h e r :
Charles H. Washington
blacks faced once freed and exam
ine the impact slavery and Ameri
can apartheid has on modern-day
African Americans. The commis
sion would then make recommen
dations to Congress on appropri
ate solutions to addressing these
issues. Additionally, the commis
sion would look into the way slaves
were captured, transported and
sold, as well as explore how they
were treated once they reached the
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EDiroR:M ichael L e ig h to n
Katherine Blackmore
D is t r ib u t io n M a n a g e r : M a r k W a s h in g to n
C r e a t iv e D ir e c t o r : P a u l N e u fe ld t
O f f ic e M a n a g e r : K a th y L in d e r
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Tax Breaks for Millionaires Shameful
War climate wrong time for cuts
by
C huck C ollins
W as there ever a tim e when
congressional tax cuts for m ulti
millionaires were more unseemly?
R ecently, President G eorge W.
Bush spoke about the w ar in Iraq
on national TV, asking A m eri
vans
io UC
U.UC..V «..v.
w bear in
cans to
be patient
and to
silence the heavy sacrifice o f
A m erican so ld ie rs’ lost lives,
That num ber is getting close to
2,000.
M eanw hile, alm ost 60 percent
of A m ericans disapprove o f the
way Bush has handled the
w ar.Indeed in 2001, when
te rro rism c z a r R ichard
Clark was trying to get
high-ranking
An ongoing senes of questions and answers about America’s natural healing profession
Bush adm inistrators to
Dr. Billy R. Flowers
meet about the al-Q aida
threat, the adm inistration
was m ounting a cam paign
to pass tax cuts for m ulti
millionaires. In June of that
y e a r, it s u c c e e d e d in
flexible
and
well
rested.
If
you
used to be so stiff in the j vous system. As the nervous sys
achieving cuts of $1.35 trillion
have
had
problem
s
with
m
uscle
morning I could scarcely tie tem gets well, you will notice that
over 10 years. The m ajor benefi
stiffness,
trouble
resting
or
if
my shoes. W orst of all I was only the spine begins to lose the rigid
ciaries had the highest incom es
waking
up
gives
you
the
feeling
37 years old. Now th at’s all stiff feeling that it had. Muscles can
in the land.
that
you’ve
been
through
W
orld
changed since coming to your begin to relax because they don’t
In 2003, as our troops were
War
II,
it’s
a
great
tim
e
to
wake
office. I’m eternally grateful to have to work to make
marching
on Baghdad, Bush and
up
to
the
feeling
o
f
Chiroprac
T he body bend and m ove.
you and Chiropractic. I just don’t
Congress
were
pushing for $330
tic!
Call
today
for
an
appoint
see how it works so well, particu W hen the nerves are finally as
billion
in
additional
tax cuts, 57
ment.
Isn’t
it
tim
e
you
stepped
healthy as they should be, the
larly with-out medication.
percent
o
f
which
w
ent
to house
J
up
to
C
hiropractic?
: We very much appreciate body will reflect that by being
h o lds w ith in c o m e s o f o v er
your kind compliment. It is
$337,000. Last sum m er, as the
true that many of our patients do
death toll for A m erican troops
rest better at night and wake up
was passing
passing 1,000,
I,uuu, tne
was
the auiniiiis-
adm inis-
2124
N.E.
Hancock
Street,
Portland,
Oregon
97212
feeling more relaxed and refreshed.
tration was fighting hard to give
Chiropractic works by taking the
Phone: (5 0 3 ) 2 0 7 -5 5 0 4
corporate donors an additional
stress and irritation off the ner-
Association. Serving Portland and Vancouver.
—
THE
SPINA COLUMN
Partió: Chiropractic VS. Morning Stiffness:
A deadly blow to the agony of awaking.
A
Flowers* Chiropractic Office
$ 1 4 0 billion in tax breaks.
Now, the Senate is preparing
to vote on repealing the estate
tax, a tax that is only paid by
multi-millionaires and billionaires,
few er that 1.5 percent o f all es-
tates each year.
If there ever was a tim e to limit
tax breaks for m ulti-m illionaires,
this should be it. The cost o f o u t
military involvements is growing,
and we need to make additional
investm ents to protect hom eland
security. M eanw hile, our budget
Today the lives o f U.S. citizens
are again at risk as they face pro
longed service in Iraq. O thers are
feeling the pain o f recession, los
ing jobs, savings and security.
State and local governm ents,
facing the w orst budget cuts
since W orld W ar II, have gutted
crucial com m unity services.
Rather than facing these prob-
lems and appropriating the money
to resolve them , congressional
leaders are using the fog of w ar to
pass a n o th e r tax cut fo r the
w ealthy that would exacerbate
long-term budget shortfalls at all
The cost of our military
involvements is growing, and
we need to make additional
investments to protect
homeland security.
surplus has disappeared, shift
ing from a 2001 estim ate o f $5.6
trillion in the black to $5,2 trillion
in the red today.
Bush has asked for and gotten
close to $200 billion in emergency
war funds, and it is rum ored he
will ask for more. W here is this
m oney to com e from ?
It is unprecedented in U.S. his
tory to push for tax cuts to the
wealthy in a time of war. For over
2 0 0 years, estate and inheritance
taxation has been linked with mili-
tary m obilizations.
levels. W hile the public’s atten
tion is riveted on the w ar in Iraq,
Congress shirks its duty to find
m oney to pay for it, and instead
m oves to repeal the estate tax,
our most progressive tax.
There is only one word for ad
vocating such an inequality o f
sacrifice: Shame.
Chuck Collins, co-author with
Bill Gates, Sr. o f ‘W ealth and
O u r C o m m o n w e a lth : W hy
A m -------
erica Should Tax A ccum u-
----
lated Fortunes, is senior fe llo w
at U nited fo r a Fair Economy.
I