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P age A 4
Careers Ediu ativn
S P E C I A L
November 9, 2005
E D I T I O N
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Supporting a Plan to Eradicate Poverty
Start with making
hurricane victims whole
by
w ere so d ram atically ex p o sed and bro u g h t into
M ed icaid health co v erag e for those at o r below
historically black co lleg es and un iv ersities d a m ­
focus by H urricane K atrina.
the poverty line, m ore un em p lo y m en t c o m p e n ­
a g ed so badly by K atrina; p ro tect the voting
The legislation introduced by the C B C is co m ­
prehensive - com prised o f 12 sections
U.S. R f . p . M elvin L. W att
aim ed at
m aking H urricane K atrina survivors w hole by
sation to K atrina e v acu ees and create a fund to
rig h ts o f K atrina ev a c u e es and h elp resto re and
pay health insurance p rem iu m s for those w ho
replace election supplies, m aterials and e q u ip ­
have private health insurance.
m ent d am aged by the H urricane; reinstate the
restoring them to their pre-hurricane condition.
A fte r lead in g the d e ­
T he bill w ould create a V ictim s R estoration
b a te to h a v e C o n g re s s
T h e bill w ould also fund the rep air and re h a ­
bilitatio n o f p u blic housing units in the G ulf,
tive action law s susp en d ed by P resident B ush
a fte r H urricane K atrina and require the use o f
a p p ro v e o u r re q u e st to
The Congressional Black Caucus
made an important, tangible tribute to
Ms. Parks by introducing legislation to
respond comprehensively to the
victims o f Hurricane Katrina.
h a v e R o s a P a r k s , th e
m o th er o f the civ il rights
m o v em en t, lie in h o n o r in
the R otu n d a o f the U n ited
S tates C ap ito l, and after
p articip atin g in m em orial
services to R osa P arks in
W ash in g to n and D etroit,
D avis-B acon w age req u irem en ts and a ffirm a ­
m em b ers o f the
C o n g ressio n al B lack C au cu s m ade an im p o r­
tant, tan g ib le trib u te to M s. P arks by introducing
legislation to resp o n d co m p reh en siv ely to the
local and m inority co n tra c to rs and e m p lo y ees in
the reco n stru ctio n efforts.
Finally, the C B C legislation c a llso n the P resi­
den t to present a plan to erad icate poverty in the
U nited States by the year 2015.
T he m em bers o f the C B C need yo u r help. W e
m ust dem and th at o u r fellow citizen s disp laced
by H urricane K atrina be given a ch an ce and
m ade w hole. W e can n o t allow th e ir plight to
beco m e y e ste rd a y ’s new s as the nation goes
b ack to busin ess-as-u su al o r as the n ation goes
on to the next n ew s item o f the w eek.
victim s o f H urricane K atrina.
T he leg islatio n p ro v id es for the c o m p re h e n ­
Fund, pattern ed on the 9-11 V ictim s C o m p e n sa ­
provide 300,000additional Section 8 rental vouch­
C all yo u r m em b er o f C o n g ress and insist that
sive reco v ery , reclam atio n , resto ratio n and re ­
tion F und, un d er w hich each K atrina v ic tim ’s
ers, prohibit placem en t o f K atrina su rv iv o rs in
he o r she support the C o n g ressio n al B lack C a u ­
constru ctio n o f the G u lf C o ast region and for the
personal situation w ould be assessed by a S p e­
su b stan d ard dw ellin g units and require m ore
c u s ’ K atrina bill - th a t’s H ouse R eso lu tio n
reunion o f fam ilies in th at area. It w ill also
cial M aster to determ ine w hat is n eeded to m ake
ag g ressiv e en fo rcem en t o f F air H ousing law s.
4197. T he C B C needs y o u r support and thanks
provoke a d eb ate and ho p efu lly som e real action
the victim w hole.
It w o u ld p rovide ed u catio n fu n d in g fo r early
on the issue o f poverty an d its in tersectio n w ith
T he legislation w ould require co m prehensive,
ch ild h o o d serv ices (in clu d in g H ead S tart), for
issues o f race in the U n ited S tates, issues that
on -g o in g en v ironm ental assessm en ts; provide
e lem en tary and secondary sch ools, and for the
THERE’S MORE THAN ONE
WAY TO COME UP IN LIFE.
U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., is chairman of
the Congressional Black Caucus.
Honor Parks By Protecting Civil Rights
The playing
field is far
from level
J udge G reg M athis
Rosa P arks’ going hom e
celebrations were a sight
to behold. T hree citie s,
nearly a half dozen m em o­
rial services, becom ing the
first w om an and second
black person to lie in honor
in the C apitol R otunda,
thousands lining up to view
her body, dignitaries from around
the w orld eulogizing her. E x­
traordinary honors for a quiet,
reserved woman.
Beautiful as the tributes were,
they do not do the w om an or her
legacy justice. Pom p and c ir­
cum stance has its place and few
are m ore deserving than Mrs.
Parks. But the cerem onies are
by
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not enough. If we truly w ant to
honor the M other o f the M odem
Day Civil Rights M ovem ent, we
must follow the path she laid and
continue the w ork to protect our
civil liberties.
Parks is known
around the globe
for a simple, yet
historic act o f de­
fiance: on Dec. 1,
1955, she refused
to give up her seat
to a white passen­
ger on asegregated
Montgomery, Ala­
bama bus. H er refusal landed her
in jail. Three days later, the Mont­
gomery bus boycott began, set­
ting the stage for the fight for racial
equality and justice, a fight that has
spanned generations and contin­
ues to this day.
C om m ents have been made
over the years - some joking,
som e not - that, on that fateful
day, Mrs. Parks was simply too
‘tired’ to m ove from her seat.
Parks had been entrenched in the
grow ing Civil Rights m ovem ent
for years - she was volunteer
se cretary to E .D . N ixon, the
M o n tgom ery N A A C P branch
president; her decision to keep
her seat w as an act o f protest. On
that day, she made a conscious
decision and took a stand for not
only her rights, but for those of
all oppressed people. W e must
do the same.
As we approach the 50,h anni­
versary o f M rs. P arks’ coura­
geous act, it can be safely said
that civil rights in this country
have im proved. The playing field
how ever, is far from level. C on­
sider: O nly half o f all black high
school students graduate with
their class, com pared to 75-per-
cent o f w hite students; the num ­
bers are low er for black males.
Blacks are tw ice as likely to die
from disease, accident, and ho­
m icide at every life stage than
whites are. W e are three times
more likely than w hites to be
incarcerated once arrested, our
average jail sentence is six months
longer than a w hite’s - for the
same crim e - and blacks are sen­
tenced to death four tim es more
often than w hites. T o be fair,
m any factors contribute to these
disparities, but the underlying
cause is lack o f access, rooted in
years o f social and econom ic
discrim ination. These statistics,
recent cross burnings in D etroit
and D urham , N orth Carolina, the
reluctance o f som e politicians to
extend all the provisions o f the
Voting Rights Act and the federal
governm ent’s neglect o f H urri­
cane K atrina’s vast num ber o f
black victim s are clear signs that
there is m ore w ork to be done.
Mrs. Parks w ould have been
thrilled to hear A retha F ranklin’s
m oving voice bounce o ff the
walls o f D etroit’s G reater G race
T em ple during her final m em o­
rial service. A nd she w ould have
been delighted to hear Reverends
Jackson and Sharpton, form er
President Bill Clinton, Senator
H ilary Clinton and others sing her
praises. But, m ore than anything.
M o th er P arks w ould w ant to
know that those o f us still here
are doing our part to m ake sure
the struggle fo requality lives on.
Judge Greg Mathis is chair­
man o f the Rainbow PUSH-Ex-
cel Board and a national board
member o f the Southern Chris­
tian Leadership Conference.
Achieving True Equality
Best Damn Bones
Are we still at the
back of the bus?
in Portland
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net financial assets.
Predominantly white school dis­
tricts have graduation rates 31 per­
cent higher than those in predomi-
black, then 13 percent of high rank­
ing corporate positions should be
held by African-Americans, at least
13 percent of all teachers should be
B oyce W atkins
Rosa Parks opened the
door, now it is time fo r
our generation to walk
through it.
As I reflect on the life
and death of Rosa Parks,
I think about how far we
have come as a people
since that fateful day in
which she made sure she
was no longer going to
be the only one with tired
feet. Fifty years later,
African-Americans are now “floss­ nantly black school districts. The black, at least 13 percent of all po­
ing” like never before, “blinging” murder rate for black males is nearly lice officers should be black. The
out of our minds, and “bailin’’out of seven times greater than for white list goes on.
Such disparities in wealth and
control. We are more likely to be males. African-Americans are three
opportunity
are not rectified with
times
more
likely
to
be
bom
into
pushing a Benz than a broom, and
focus
groups,
friendly conversa­
poverty
than
white
Americans.
more likely to be one of the Huxtables
tions
and
an
agreement
to stop
Black
boys
are
2.5
times
more
likely
than we are to be a cast member for
burning
crosses
in
front
yards.
They
to
be
placed
in
special
education
the show “Good Times”.
are
corrected
through
progressive,
than
white
boys.
If so much progress has been
Rosa Parks opened the door, deliberate action on the part of all
made, why don’t 1 feel good about
now
it is time for our generation to Americans to resurrect this coun­
where we are as black people? As I
walk
through it. She endured per­ try from the crippling impact of past
reflected on this issue over a grilled
sonal
strife in order to create oppor­ indiscretions. At the funeral of Ms.
cheese sandwich, it finally hit me:
tunity.
It is important that we de­ Parks, everyone held hands and
There has been progress, but we
mand
these
opportunities and be sang, “We shall overcome." It is
are still, for the most part, sitting at
willing
to
endure
our own strife in time for our generation to give both
the back of the bus.
o f the hand holders something to
order
to
achieve
true
equality.
There are more black men in jail
sing about.
Some
o
f
us
have
forgotten
that
than there are on col lege campuses.
Boyce Watkins is the first black
equality
does
not
mean
that
we
Eighty-two percent of black men of
finance
professoral Syracuse Uni­
have
most
of
what
we
deserve,
it
college age are not enrolled in col­
versity
and
the author o f " What if
means
having
our
entire
share
of
lege. Sixty-one percent of all black
George
Bush
Were a Black Man ? ”
thiscountry.
If
a
state
is
13
percent
households have zero or negative
Association, Serving Portland and Vancouver
L
*