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www.portlandobserver.com
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXV. N um ber 52
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Wednesday • December 28. 2005
P o rtla n d ’s U nited N ation s
Mob Beats Motorist
A t least 15 young people dragged
a M ilw aukee, W ise, m otorist out o f
his car and kicked and punched him
after he honked his horn to get them
to m ove out o f a street, police said.
T he 50-year-old man w as in critical
condition with head injuries T u es­
day, and it was unclear w hether he
w ould survive.
Surfer Slugged Shark
A Portland surfer w ho fended o ff a
greet w hite shark south o f Seaside
by punching it in the nose said he
learned the tactic by w atching tele­
vision show s such as the D iscov­
ery Channel ’ s “Shark W eek.” Brian
A nderson, 36, rem ained hospital­
ized M onday but w as expected to
m ake a full recovery from lacera­
tions on his ankle and calf.
New Orleans Shooting
Police officers shot and killed a man
brandishing a knife in a confronta­
tion in N ew O rleans that w as par­
tially videotaped by a bystander,
setting o ff another internal investi­
gation o f the em battled departm ent.
Rocks Force Evacuation
A series o f rock slides in M ontpe­
lier, Vt., dum ped boulders the size
o f cars across a dow ntow n street
M onday, forcing about 50 people
to evacuate as debris spilled up to
their doorsteps.
Rape Suspect Captured
A serial rape suspect accused o f
terrorizing tw o neighborhoods in
M iam i, Fla. sm iledaspoliceofficers
escorted him back to jail T uesday,
a w eek after he escaped by clim bing
through a vent and rappelling dow n
the jail using sheets.
Ex-Pitcher Charged
E x-pitcher Jeff R eardon, one o f the
top relief pitchers in baseball his­
tory, blam ed m edication for depres­
sion after his arrest for a jew elry
store robbery on T uesday, police
said.
Oprah's Jet Grounded
O prah W infrey’s private je t was
forced to return to the Santa Bar­
bara M unicipal A irport M onday
after its w indshield w as cracked in
a collision with a bird. W infrey and
her boyfriend, Stedm an G raham ,
w ere not hurt in the incident.
Helping arrivals
from around
the world
L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
In a c o m er o f the large reception hall on
N ortheast 103rd and G lisan Street, an elderly
A sian couple exam ines a legal docum ent. A
few paces aw ay a tall person o f color gives
a w arm greeting to a w om an in Somali dress.
A conversation erupts in one o f the lan­
guages o f Africa. A few paces aw ay the
conversation is E nglish and Russian.
The m ulticultural scene could be called
Portland’s version o f the U nited N ations.
It’s the headquarters o f the Im m igrant and
Refugee C om m unity O rganization (IRCO ),
w hose m ission is to help new arrivals from
all over the w orld adjust and blend into the
Portland area.
A ccording to IR C O ’s Jeff M cD onald,
O regon receives 1,700 refugees a year, with
m ost settling in the Portland or Bend area.
T he state is the 11th busiest as a refugee
destination, behind No. 1 C alifo m iaan d N o .
3 W ashington.
A bout 4 0 percent o f the new arrivals
com e from the form er Soviet U nion, espe­
cially the U kraine, and are escaping reli­
gious persecution. A nother 20 percent com e
from A frica, especially Ethiopia or Somalia,
countries w recked by civil wars. The third
by
M cD onald says. “Som e are illiterate even
in their ow n languages. Som e have to
learn a w hole new alphabet. W e provide
training based on their level o f co m p re­
h en sio n .”
1RCO also m aintains a Language Bank
that can provide translators fluent in 45
languages for businesses or public and
private agencies.
T he biggest w orry for new arrivals is
finding jo b s. IR C O trains new arrivals in
w hat will be expected o f them on the jo b
“ Immigrant and Refugee
sites - things like reporting for w ork on
Community Organuation
tim e, calling in sick when necessary, how
people are hired and fired, w ork safety,
and many "things we take for granted that
you ca n ’t expect new com ers to under­
stand," M cD onald said.
IR C O tries to find the new com ers jo b s
that m atch previous experience and cur­
rent interest. In this effort the o rganiza­
tion w orks regularly with 300 em ployers
in the greater Portland m etropolitan area,
m ostly in the fields o f m etal w orks, health
care and housekeeping, but in oth er fields
as well.
“ I could call the Portland O bserv er and
say, ‘I have a great jo u rn alist w ho ju st
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
arrived from T jadikistan and is ready to
Sokhom Tauch directs the multicultural mission o f the Immigrant and Refugee
w ork,” ’M cD onald explained.
Community Organization (IRC0) in Portland.
But finding suitable em ploym ent can
be
difficult,
especially for highly skil led pro­
with 155 full-tim e and several hundred part-
largest group is C ubans w ho com e by w ay
fessionals.
tim e em ployees, IR C O ’s jo b is to provide the
o f Florida. Others come from Laos and Burma.
“Som eone m ay have professional d e­
new residents with the training they need to
Until recently, there w ere large num bers o f
grees
from another country that are not
Bosnians arriving in the Portland area flee­ adjust to life in the U.S.
W hen they arrive, "Som e are quite fluent
ing the fighting in their hom eland.
continued
on page A9
in English, but th at’s usually not the case,”
The largest agency o f its kind in the U.S.
MONDAY-FRIDAY
B :30am -5pm
Portland Observer’s Top Stories
See pages A2, A3 and A6 inside
2005
REVIEW
in
Displaced residents of New Orleans wait days for
help to arrive after Hurricane Katrina slammed into
the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,300 people in 5
states. In the Big Easy, levies broke flooding 80
percent of the city, forever changing the landscape of
one of America's most historic settlements. The
storm also exposed the divisions of race and eco­
nomic prosperity in America.
Humiliating Charge is Lesson in Profiling
Shopping trip
turns sour
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
G.I. Joes has lost a custom er. On Dec.
19 A ndra Caston and her husband, Jerom e
Sr. and son Jerom e Jr. decided to shop at
the Johnson C reek G.I. Joes located at
96(X) S.E. 82™1 Ave. but left the store upset
and hum iliated.
A ndrea, a 53-year-old educator w ho
has taught school for 30 years, said she
w as shocked to be accused o f stealing.
She said her fam ily stopped at the
store to buy item s for their yearly skiing
trip in Lake T ahoe, Nev. U pon paying for
tw o pairs o f ski pants, store m anager Jeff
G racey allegedly told them they w ere not
w elcom ed back.
She said he falsely accused her o f
having a pair o f ski pants underneath her
jogging pants, an unlikely feat w ithout
putting obvious bulk on her m edium -size
frame. W hen she asked for store security
to investigate, she said G racey refused to
search her or arrest her.
T he store m anager would not com-
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Andra Caston and her husband, Jerome Sr. accuses G.I. Joes o f racial profiling.
1
ment on the accusations to the Portland
O bserver. R ob Sim on, a spokesperson
for G.I. Joes, also did not return phone
calls to discuss the incident.
“ I think I w as stopped because I was
A frican-A m erican," C aston said.
She said G racey adm itted that her fam ­
ily w as singled out and under w atch since
they w alked through the sto re’s doors.
A ccording to Ms. C aston. she tried on
three pairs o f ski pants in the fitting room
before returning the m erchandise to the
rack and finding tw o m ore pans to try on.
She said her husband, a U.S. Forest
Service w orker and form er em ployee o f
T uskegee U niversity, and son, had gone
to another area o f the store to look for
other sporting goods.
W hile groups o f shoplifters are know n
for splitting up in retail stores, Ms. Caston
believes her fami ly was wrongly profi led.
Even though hum iliated by the ex p eri­
ence, she said she w as glad that her 14-
year-old son saw the incident to sec how
racism is still alive.
“He has lead a sheltered life and as a
young A frican-A m erican m ale and he is
going to face discrim ination," she said.
continued
on page AH