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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2005)
Œlîl’|J n rtla n b © bseruer Page A4 luly 27. 2005 Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer O pinion Truth and Justice Denied in Kendra James Case Blatantly biased laws favor officers in shootings The fo llo w in g statem ent is fro m the A lbina M inisterial A lliance, a group o f local A frican-Am erican m inisters who re view ed and held p ublic hearings on the p olice shooting death o f Kendra Jam es: T he A frican -A m erican C om m u n ity and civ il-rig h ts su p p o rters w aited 41 y ears fo r truth and ju s tic e to com e in the ab d u ctio n and m urder o f civ il-rig h ts w o r k e r s J a m e s C h a n e y , A n d re w G oodm an and M ichael S ch w erm e r in P hiladelphia. M iss. T hat day o f ju stic e finally cam e for the fam ilies, civ il-rig h ts w orkers and su p p o rters o f the m o v e m ent for freed o m , ju stic e and eq u a lity w ith the co n v ictio n o f w h ite su p re m a cist E d g ar Ray K illen on Ju n e 22. In sp ite on the v icto ry , the local A f rican-A m erican com m unity is once again den ied tru th and ju stic e by the state and federal ju d ic ia l system . A prior d ecisio n by a M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty G ran d Ju ry and a recen t d ec isio n by a fed eral civ il co u rt ju ry v alid ate and su p p o rt the u n n e c e s sary use o f d ea d ly fo rce in the k illin g o f u narm ed m o th er K en d ra Jam es by P o rt land P olice O ffic e r Scott M cC o llister. These decisions dem onstrate that we have not m ade as much progress as is necessary in developing a fair, ju st and equal judicial system for all citizens in When an officer is allowed to call ridiculous belief reasonable belief by merely verbally affirming that he was afraid, we need change. Portland and A m erica. Persons o f color and poor people w onder how long they m ust suffer injustice and inequality in a judicial system that prom otes itself as fair, just, and equal? Whi le we have m any outstanding offic ers within the police bureau w hoon a daily basis perform an outstanding jo b , there ____________ THE_____________ Supreme Court Insult SPINACOLUMN Or. Billy R. Flowers An ongoing series of questions and answers about America’s natural healing profession Part 17. Understanding Pain: Why do you have it? How can you get rid of it? A ' V My friend constantly takes and nervous system . W hen the health in other areas o f the body pills. I've tried to convince body yells, “Fire!" and you experi as well. O u r specialty is finding her to see a C hiropractor. Can you ence pain; it is trying to get your the cause o f your problem and m ake any suggestions? attention that it is being injured. taking care o f it. painlessly, w ith : You might try asking your W hen there is stress in the nervous o ut d ru g s ...J u s t as n atu re in friend this: “If you heard a system , this is a serious problem . tended. If you suffer from pain, fire alarm going off in the middle of The nervous system controls stop pulling the alarm w ires from the night, would you call the Fire every other function o f the body the walls. T ogether, we can put Departm ent or w ould you and left untreated can cause ill- the fire o u t.. .for good! Y ank the wires out o f the wall and calm ly go back to sleep?” You see, pain is your nervous system 's fire alarm. Pain pills may 2124 N.E. Hancock Street, Portland, Oregon 97212 alleviate the pain but will do noth Phone: (5 0 3 ) 2 8 7 -5 5 0 4 ing to take the stress o ff the spine A are those w ho are unfit for the high re sponsibility o f protecting our citizens. W hen an officer is allow ed to call ridicu lous b elief reasonable b elief by merely verbally affirm ing that he was afraid, we need change. T he laws as w ritten are so blatantly biased and prejudicial in favor o f exoner ating officers in all circum stances by sim ply affirming “ 1 was fearful for my life.” We need a change! A lthough the ju d icial system denied ju stice to K endra Jam es’ fam ily, people o f color, poor people and the com m unity in general - we m ust not give up on the dream o f Dr. M artin L uther King Jr. W e must continue to struggle each day to create a ju st and equal society. W e m ust continue to fight for an accountable police bureau, reform in training, policies, investigation and discipline as w ell as legal changes in the grand ju ry and deadly use o f force laws and juries o f peers. F or m ore inform ation, contact Dr. T. A llen Bethel, p re sid e n t o f the A lbina M inisterial A llia n ce a t 503-288-7241 o r Dr. LeR oy H aynes, A M A vice president. Bush pick is no friend to civil rights by R ev . J esse L. J ackson S r . With President Bush’s nom ina tion ofJohnG . Roberts, the Supreme Court would have one less woman and one less vote to protect w omen ’ s constitutional rights to self-determ i nation. A Supreme Court with just one out o f nine justices a female and no H ispanic does not look like America. It is an insult. President Bush is a m aster o f w olves in sheep clothing politics. He gives the im pression o f m odera tion, but deep within he is the leader rightwing direction the nation has seen in over 50 years. B ush’s legacy will be one o f turning back the clock to the p re-1954 Supreme Court that gave us Brown vs. Board o f Educa tion, Roe vs. W ade, and other land mark cases involving the protection o f civil rights and liberties. If confirmed, women everywhere will have even greater reason to be alarm ed. Judge Roberts clearly is a vote to overturn Roe v. W ade. W h ile w o rk in g u n d e r b o th Reagan and Bush, R oberts w as a progress this country has made o ver the past 55 years are under attack. W ith his n om ination o f Judge R oberts, President Bush sig nals his desire to stack the courts with justices who are anti- civil rights and an ti-w o rk ers’ rights. As the radical rightw ing rejoices, there is no good new s for those w ho live in A m erica’s margins. T here is no good new s for advo cates o f w o m en ’s right to self-de term ination, for w orkers and civil rights. A m e r ic a c a n n o t w ith s ta n d a ra d ic a l rightw ing conservative appointm ent to the Su prem e Court. W e want a Suprem e C ourt ju s tice w ho is fair, upholds the C o n stitu tio n and d efendscivil rights and w orkers rights. W e w ant a Suprem e C ourt that m odels the le a d e r s h ip d e m o n strated by the Suprem e C ourt o f 1 9 5 4 .1 call on A m ericans o f co n science to jo in us in resisting Judge R oberts’ confirm ation and bring forth ajustice who will take America forw ard not backw ards. Rev. Jesse L. Ja ckso n Sr. is fo u n d e r a n d p resid en t o f the R ain bow P U SH Coalition, a p ro g res sive organization, w hich seeks to p ro te c t, d e fe n d a n d g a in c ivil rights, even the econom ic a n d ed u cational pla yin g fie ld s in all a s p ects o f A m erican life a n d bring p ea ce to the world. With his nomination o f Judge Roberts, President Bush signals his desire to stack the courts with justices who are anti- civil rights and anti-workers' rights. Flowers' Chiropractic Office o f the radical right w ing in our na tion. W ith his nom ination o f Judge Roberts, Bush strikes another blow to A m erica’s public policy position and he sets o ff a new phrase o f our struggle for an independent court which upholds the C onstitution and protects civil rights and civil liber ties. W hile Sandra Day O ’Connor was a swing vote in dozens o f cases that cam e before the court. Bush’s nom i nee dem onstrates his desire to swing th e c o u rt in th e m o st ra d ic a l radical opponent o f affirm ative a c tion, supporting hard line policies that opposed affirm ative action and efforts to desegregate A m erica’s public schools. Ifconfirm ed, people o f color and civil rights will have plenty to fear. Judge R oberts’ law firm was heavily involved in the fight over F lo rid a’s vote count and played a m ajor role in the “appointm ent” o f Bush in 2000. Supporters o f voting rights, fair elections and judicial independence have m uch to fear. T he civil rights gains and the Unequal Access to Health Care Disparities reflect past injustices by U.S. TERRORISM As a truck driver in the Army National Guard, you can serve your country as you receive career training and money for college. If you want to keep the Nation moving forward, join the Army National Guard today. I-800-GO-GUARD www. I -800-GO-GUARD.com/truck.html Vlvertise in ill‘ P o r t l a n d ( O b s e r v e r 50? 2ss oo.u R ep . A lcee H astings Equal access to affordable and quality health care is a high priority o f mine, and the C ongressional Black Caucus. Dr. Ben C a rso n , the d ire c to r o f p ed iatric n eu ro su rg ery at Jo h n s H o p k in s U n iv e rsity , sa y s th at A ID S, cancer, and m any other d is B ut to d o th at also m an d ates eases w hich are often preventable, th at w e tak e it upon o u rselv e s to treatable, and m anageable. learn a b o u t o u r ow n p erso n a l S tu d ies h av e sh o w n th at, had h ealth ca re n eed s an d th e needs eq u al h ealth care been a v a ila b le o f o u r co m m u n ity . to A fric an -A m erica n s th ro u g h Indeed, ju st because we did not o u t the 1990s, alm o st 9 0 0 ,0 0 0 grow up in households in which m o re A fric an -A m erica n s w o u ld access to health ed ucation w as be aliv e to d ay . readily available, does not mean In fact, A frican-A m ericans are that we have to continue a cycle in tw ice as likely as w hites to have w hich w e do not inform ourselves diabetes, 11 tim es more likely to g et a b o u t o u r h e a lth n e e d s an d diagnosed with AIDS, and die tw ice proactively pursue them. as often from prostate cancer. O ur com m unity has agitated for A nd although A frican-A m eri civil rights, social rights, and em The sad truth is that the African- American community as a whole does not often emphasize our community's health care needs as an essential tool for achieving equality. b irth p la c e is n ot a p erm a n en t address. B eing born on the w rong side o f the trac k s is n ot w h ere we are g oing but rath e r w h ere we have co m e from . Indeed, while the African-Ameri can com m unity is today faced with very serious disparities in o u r ac cess to health care, this does not have to be a perm anent fixture of our society. . M any o fu s and our fam ily m em b ers hav e re la tiv e s an d c lo se friends afflicted with diabetes, heart disease, sickle cell anemia, HIV and cans com prise about 12 percent o f the population, they represent al m ost 20 percent o f the uninsured. T h e sad tru th is that the A fri ca n -A m erica n c o m m u n ity as a w h o le d o es not o ften em p h asize o u r c o m m u n ity ’s h e a lth c a re n eed s as an e sse n tia l to o l fo r a c h ie v in g eq u a lity . T his goal requires not only par ticipation from o u r own com m u nity, but also a com m itm ent by our n atio n ’s elected officials to ensure universal access and affordability for all A m ericans. ploym ent rights, for access to ed u cation and to serve in our nation’s m ilitary, to elect m em bers o f our com m unities to political office and to participate in every sport. W e m ust also pursue w ith equal v ig o r a c ce ss to h ealth ca re that is affo rd a b le an d ex c ellen t, h ealth care th at m eets the u n iq u e needs o f the A frican -A m erican co m m u nity an d th at is av a ila b le re g a rd less o f g eo g rap h y . U.S. Rep. A lcee Hastings, D-Fla. is a m em ber o f the C ongressional B lack Caucus. I
