^ ^ o r t l a n h (ßhseruer
Page A4
December 14. 2005
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Deeply Rooted Racial Injustice:
sations.
A frican A m ericans were
The recent Hurricane Katrina
stunned
and perplexed by white
crisis has generated a national
debate over whether racism America's general apathy and
played a part in the human trag denial about the racial implica
edy we have witnessed in dev tions of the Katrina catastro
phe. On a nationally televised
astated New Orleans.
Two weeks after the trag
edy, 60 percent of African
Americans surveyed in a na
tional poll expressed theirbelief
that the federal government's
delay in helping the victims in
New Orleans was "because the
victims were black." By con
fundraiser for the hurricane’s
trast. only 12 percent of white
victims, rap artist Kanye West
Americans agreed.
In response, the Bush admin sparked a new controversy by
denouncing “the way America
istration unleashed its black
is set up to help the poor, the
apologists to deny any racial
black people, the less well off as
intent of its policies and actions.
slow as possible.”
Secretary of State Condoleezza
Black Americans were es-
Rice insisted. “Nobody, espe
pecially infuriated with the de-
cially the President, would have
scriptions of poor black evacu-
left people unattended." Black
ees as "refugees” by officials
conservative ideologue John
and the media. Black Con-
McWhorter ridiculed the accu
by
I) r . M anning M arable
gressw om an Diane W atson
protested
vigorously, “ ‘Refugee’ calls
up to mind people that come
here from different lands and
have to be taken care o f.. .These
are American citizens!"
Black suffering and white power
Am erica.’
W est’s provocative query
ought to be explored seriously.
T he U .S. go v ern m en t and
A m e ric a ’s e n tire p o litic a l
economy were constructed on
a racial foundation. Blacks were
African Americans were stunned and
perplexed by white America s general apathy
and denial about the racial implications o f
the Katrina catastrophe.
But the racial stigmatization
of the New Orleans outcasts
forced many African Ameri-
cans to ponder whether their
government and white institu-
tions had become incapable of
expressing true compassion for
the suffering of their people.
Prominent Princeton Professor
Cornel West pondered whether
"black suffering” is required for
the p reserv atio n o f w hite
excluded by race from civic par-
ticipation and voting for several
hundred years. They were seg-
regated into residential ghettoes,
denied credit and capital by
banks and relegated to the worst
jobs tor generations.
O ver tim e, popular cultural
and social attitudes about black
subordination and white supe-
riority were aggressively rem
forced by the weight of dis
crim inatory law and public-
policy. Psychologically, is the
specter o f black suffering and
death in some m anner reaf
firming the traditional racial
hierarchy, the p ractices o f
b la c k
e x c lu s io n
and
marginalization?
Even before K atrina’s ra
cial debate had receded from
the media, the question of ra
cial insensitivity was posed
again by form er Reagan Edu
c a tio n S e c re ta ry W illia m
B ennett’s rem arks in a na
tional radio broadcast. In early
O ctober 2005, Bennett a n
nounced to his radio audience:
“ 1 do know that it’s true that if
you wanted to reduce crim e,
you could - if that were your
sole purpose - you could abort
every black baby in this county,
and your crim e rate would go
dow n.”
“New York Times” colum
nist Bob Herbert interpreted
Bennett’s remarks as the cen
tral aspect of the Republican
Party’s bigotry, racially divisive
tactics and outright anti-black
policies.
“That som eone w ho’s been
a stalw art o f that outfit might
muse publicly about the po
tential benefits o f exterm inat
ing blacks is not surprising to
me at a ll. B ill B e n n e tt’ s
twisted fantasies are a m alig
nant outgrow th of our polar
ized past,” Herbert said.
Bennett’s repugnant state
ments, com bined with most
white Americans’ blind refusal
to recognize a racial tragedy In
New Orleans, illustrate how
deeply rooted racial injustice
remains in America.
M anning M arable is p ro
fesso r o f public affairs and
history and director o f the
C e n te r f o r C o n tem p o ra ry
Black H istory at Colum bia
University.
Shocking New Gang Laws Proposed by Congress
Advances
criminalization
of our youth
by
J udge G reg M athis
Most of us have watched our
communities deteriorate under
the weight of gang crimes and
we’ve watched in horror as our
young men and women con
tinue to be sucked in by the
supposed allure of the streets.
As laws aimed at curbing
gang crimes were enacted, we
were further shocked to see
that law enforcement officials
were setting up a justice system
that feeds off imprisoning our
young people.
The Gang Deterrence and
C om m unity Protection Act
(H .R . 1279) c o n tin u e the
governm ent's trend of tough
laws and long sentences. This
proposed legislation will not only
fail to deter gang activity, but
young people prosecuted under
it will be exposed to hardened
criminals while in prison. They’ll
be returned to the streets angry
and full of resentment.
The House of Representa
Are you
o r^
someone
you know
pregnant
tives passed H.R. 1279 this
spring; the Senate is currently
considering the bill. If passed,
gang activity would be consid
ered a federal crime and juve
niles accused of gang activity
could be transferred to adult
courts; if convicted they could
serve their sentences in adult
prisons.
Gang crimes resulting in a
death will be eligible for the
death penalty. The bill provides
no exception for mentally chal
lenged young people and im
poses strict mandatory sentenc
ing laws.
H ealthy B irth Initiative can help.
Healthy Birth Initiative (HB1) is a program for
African American women and their families living
in N /N E Portland.
HBI offers:
• transportation to medical and social
service appointments
• Home Visits
• Incentives
• Health education classes (free childcare and
transportation when attending any HBI
group or class)
• Information and referrals to community services
F or m ore in fo rm a tio n contact:
Health Department
Subscribe!
Healthy Birth Initiative
5329 NE Martin Luther Kingjr. Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 9721 I
503-988-3387 x22242
503-288-00: 6 A
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Republican supporters of the
bill say it will deter crime by
removing gang members from
the street. But study after study
has shown that this type of leg
islation not only fails to reduce
crime, but it also contributes to
the criminalization of youth.
Research shows that youths
transferred to the adult criminal
justice system are more likely to
re-offend, committing more se
rious crimes once released. Part
of this can be attributed to the
fact that, while being held in
adult prisons, these young people
are five times more likely to be
raped and 50 percent more 1 ikely
to be assaulted with a weapon,
than if they were in a juvenile
facility.
According to the Department
of J ustice, young people housed
in adult jails are almost eight
times more likely tocommit sui
cide than those in juvenile facili
ties. Those who make it back to
the streets are mentally and
emotionally wounded, resulting
in a more violent criminal.
Of course, these tough sen
tencing laws disproportionately
affect youth of color. More than
70 percent of juveniles admitted
to state prisons in this country
increasingly violent crime.
Write your U.S. Senators,
asking them to vote against this
bill. Tell them that gang and
crime intervention; counseling
and job training centers are
needed to keep urban streets
safe. Let them know that our
We want to keep our
streets safe, not create a
never-ending cycle of
increasingly violent crime.
were minorities.
Ourcommunities will have to
deal with the Hood of young
people, psychologically dam
aged. unskilled and unemploy
able, being released from prison.
As such, we have to fight the
passage of H.R. 1279. We want
to keep our streets safe, not
create a never-ending cycle of
community will no longer toler
ate legislation that seeks to tar
get and destroy our chi ldren and
our people.
Judge Greg Mathis is chair
man o f the Rainbow PUSH-
Excel Board and a national
board member o f the South
ern Christian Leadership Con
fe re n c e .
Support Tobacco Prevention
Goal is reducing
smoking, deaths
by
D r . M ei . K ohn
Many of us are proud to live
in a state that is often on the
cutting edge — whether it's
open beaches, independent liv
ing for seniors or recycling pro
grams. Yet when it comes to
education. From 1996 to 2003,
the share of adults who smoke
dropped from 24 percent to 21
percent.
And many of those who con
tinued to smoke did so less, lead
ing to a 40 percent drop in per-
capita tobacco consumption —
almost twice that seen nation
ally.
In 2003, the Legislature cut
We are in danger o f
being left in the dust —
or, perhaps more
accurately, in a haze o f
secondhand smoke.
preventing tobacco use, we are
in danger of being left in the dust
— or, perhaps more accurately,
in a haze of secondhand smoke.
According to newly released
data from the Campaign forTo-
bacco Free Kids, Oregon ranks
35th nationally in fundingto keep
kids from smoking and helping
people to quit tobacco.
O nly a few y ears ago,
Oregon’s tobacco prevention
and education program was a
national model of effectiveness.
In 1996, Oregon voters approved
a 30-cent increase in cigarette
taxes, designating 10 percent of
that for tobacco prevention and
I
funding for O regon’s preven
tion program to less than half
the 1996 v o te r - a p p r o v e d
amount. Currently, the pro
gram is funded at less than
one-sixth of the minimum level
recom mended by the federal
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
W e’ve fallen behind in an
other way, as well. In 2001, the
Legislature passed a law ban
ning smoking in many indoor
workplaces. This was a step
forward, but the law has large
loopholes: It exempts bars, bowl
ing alleys, bingo parlors and res
taurants with a bar included.
That means people working
there are unprotected from sec
ondhand smoke. The law also
forbids citizens from working
for stronger local laws.
Since then, the tobacco-pre
vention m ovem ent, both na
tionally and internationally, has
m oved ahead — but Oregon
has not kept pace. For ex
ample, in Novem ber W ash
ington became the 10th state
to m ak e all w o rk p la c e s
sm okefree. In protecting all
workers, it joins states such as
C alifornia, New York, Dela
ware and M assachusetts and
co u n tries such as U ganda,
New Zealand and Ireland.
Regaining our leadership in
tobacco prevention and edu
cation is well within our reach.
Adequate funding for com m u
nity and school program s and
strong laws lim iting smoking
in all workplaces can jumpstart
our efforts and lead to further
dram atic declines in smoking.
The evidence is clear — we
can reduce smoking and the
death and disease that follow.
W e’ve already shown we know
what to do and how to do it. The
only question rem aining is
whether we have the will.
Dr. Mel Kohn is state epi
d e m io lo g is t in the p u b lic
health program s o f the O r
egon Department o f Human
Services.