September 6. 2006
Page A4
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views of The Portland Observer
O pinion
Remembering the Dream
Bush’s Attack on Affirmative Action
Target this
time is school
diversity
ferent program s fo r ensuring d i­
Since B ro w n , the c o u n try has
C o n v e n tio n C enter, I am m oved to m ake a fe w com m ents.
President Bush has, on several
F irst o f a ll, I en jo yed the program im m e nsely. I was im pressed w ith
occasions, spoken o f his desire to
the presence o f so m any pro m in e n t A fric a n A m e rica n people, but
a q u a lity education.
verse schools, but each has quotas
A fte r atten din g the A ug . 28 "R em em bering the D re am " program
sponsored by the N ortheast C o a litio n o t N e ig h b o rh o o d s at the
fo r m in o rity e n ro llm e n t. T he par­
struggled to integrate its schools.
u p lift the p ix ir.' O ne pathway out o f
ents in each c ity lost in the lo w e r
There has been progress, how ever,
poverty is education. The president
c o u rts but the S up rem e C o u rt
and m any o f the e a rly program s are
has also insisted that he isco m m itte d
agreed to hear the cases,
s till in effect. B ut, since the 1980s.
to an A m erica that provides jobs and
an unusual m ove. I t ’ s rare
the nation s schools have steadily
opportunities fo r all, regardless o f
m Ji ix.i G kkg M irais
fo r the Suprem e C o u rt to
race. The better educated you are,
O v e r three years ago,
con sid er a case when the
resegregated.
C o urts have pu lle d back from
the Bush a d m in istra tio n
lo w e r courts are al I in agree­
the issue, leav ing in d iv id u a l school
sustainable jo b . I f Bush is to keep his
announced that it w o u ld
m ent.
T h is m ove leads
d istricts to test d iffe re n t program s
prom ises to people o f co lo r in this
I believe Dr. K in g w as the best speaker 1 have ever heard. He inspired
file legal h rie fs c h a lle n g -
m any experts to believe that
designed to prom ote integration.
cou ntry, he has to support school
us to lo ve o u r persecutors and to act against b ig o try w ith non­
school
d e s e g re g a tio n
In co m m u n itie s o f c o lo r, there is
desegregation.
vio len ce. In short D r. M a rtin L u th e r K in g Jr. is a saint in some circles.
plans and a ffirm a tiv e ac­
often some co n fu sio n as to what
action program . The announcem ent
tio n , as set fo rth by B ro w n is at risk.
’ in te g ra tio n ' re a lly is. It is not a
was made on w hat w o u ld have been
The current cou rt is very conser­
desire Io go Io schools w ith w hites,
Dr. M a rtin L u th e r K in g Jr.'s 74th
v a tive : the tw o newest judges were
to be w h ite. Integ ration is a gate­
b irth d a y ; the papers were file d the
ap po inte d by the President and
w ay to a better education.
Judge Greg Mathis is national
vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a national board member of
llte Southern t 'hristian Leadership
Conference.
very next day. T he Suprem e C o urt
oppose a ffirm a tiv e action. It is also
in g the U n iv e r s ity o f
M ic h ig a n 's a ffirm a tiv e
The Bush Administration took
this extra step to make sure the
court understood just how badly
they want the practice to end.
e ve n tu a lly ruled in fa v o r o f the
not a require m en t fo r the S o lic ito r
U n iv e rs ity . T he ru lin g , fo r the tim e
G eneral to file briefs on cases pend­
b e in g , preserved the le ga cy o f
in g before the Suprem e C o urt. The
B ro w n v. the Board o f E ducation,
Bush A d m in is tra tio n took this e x­
the 1954 landm ark case that ended
tra step to m ake sure the cou rt un­
legal segregation in the n a tio n 's
derstood ju s t how badly they want
p u b lic schools.
the practice to end.
T he Bush a d m in istra tio n , he ll
C lem en t, in discussing the b rie f,
bent on m a kin g sure a ffirm a tiv e
com m e nted that the purpose o f
actio n is done aw ay w ith fo r good,
B ro w n vs. the B oard o f E ducation
is back in the courts and, this tim e,
was to ensure a ra c ia lly unbiased
they pose a s ig n ific a n t threat to
school system. W ith that statement,
a ffirm a tiv e action and e ffo rts to
he u n k n o w in g ly made a case fo r
desegregate scho ols to ach ie ve
pre servin g a ffirm a tiv e action and
equal education.
d e s e g re g a tio n plan s. R esearch
Paul D. C lem en t, the s o lic ito r
shows that schools that are m ostly
G eneral o f the U n ite d States, file d a
black o r L a tin o receive less fu n d ­
b rie f last m onth oppo sing school
ing, have inexperienced and under­
desegregation plans in Seattle and
q u a lifie d teachers and a substan­
L o u is v ille , K y.
dard c u rric u lu m .
W h ite parents in both citie s say
A t integrated schools, c h ild re n
the p u b lic school systems d is c rim i­
o f c o lo r pe rfo rm better academ i­
nate against c h ild re n based
skin
c a lly because they have equal ac­
co lo r. The d is tric ts each have d if-
cess to the resources necessary fo r
o il
the better y o u r chances o f fin d in g a
oPSJ L °0 K S
e xtre m e ly disap pointed w ith the o v e ra ll attendance.
A s a p a rticip a n t in the M o n tg o m e ry bus b o yco tt o l 1955-56, the
program gave me cause to rem em ber those days o t m any years ago.
I con sid er m y s e lf ve ry fortunate to have been able to see and listen to
Rev. D r. M a rtin L u th e r K in g w e e kly d u rin g the year lo ng b o ycott. A ll
o f the m eetings were held in black churches and in some instances
people had to stand outside and listen th ro u g h loudspeakers.
C o n sid e rin g that we liv e in one o f the w h itest b ig citie s in A m e rica ,
I th in k it is am azing that we have a M a rtin L u th e r K in g Jr. B o u le va rd
and a M a rtin L u th e r K in g Jr. statue at the C o n v e n tio n Center.
Sam Jackson Jr.
Northeast Portland
'
a c r You T o
j - f , F fO p L Ç y
HIV/AIDS Now in Our House
We must build
a new sense of
urgency
m Ji i. ian B ono
The provocative, romantic drama and outstanding musical score
have beguiled audiences for generations. Tune in to Oregon Public
Broadcasting for an enchanted evening and a magnificent concert
production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic. Reba McEntire
heads up a dream cast performing at Carrtegie Hall.
Monday, September 11 at 8pm
Only on OPB TV
Channel 10
It's been 25
years since we first
learned of a dis­
ease that was kill­
ing a handful of
w hite gay men in a
few of our nation's
largest cities - a disease that later
became known as AIDS.
But lulled by media images that
portrayed AIDS mainly as a white,
gay disease, we looked the other
way: Those people weren't our
people. AIDS was not our prob­
lem. It had no, entered our house.
We had our own problems to
deal with, so we let those people
deal with their problem.
But a lot has changed. Now
almost 40 million people world­
wide have HIV and 25 million are
dead. And most of those who
have died and are dying are black.
That's not just because of the
devastation the pandemic has
wreaked upon Africa.
The face of AIDS in the United
States is primarily black as well.
The majority of new HIV infec­
tions here are black, the majority
of people who die from AIDS
here are black, and the people
most at risk of contracting this
virus in the U. S. are black. AIDS
is now in our house. It's now our
problem, and we must come up
with solutions.
Black leaders at the recent In­
ternational AIDS Conference in
Toronto put AIDS in our com­
munity at the top of the national
agenda. All of Black America
must do the same. Every African
American must stand with us,
take ownershipof AIDS and fight
this epidemic w ith every resource
we have.
When AIDS hit the gay com­
munity, its members couldn't af­
ford to wait for the gov­
ernment to save them: they
instead worked to save
themselves - in part by
using tactics and strate­
gies out of our civil rights
playbook. AIDS is a major
civil rights issue of our
time.
We cannot wait for the
government to com e and res­
cue us either - that help may
never come. Part o f our re­
sponse must be to elim inate the
rabid hom ophobia that lives in
our schools, our hom es and
especially our churches.
of urgency in Black America,
so that no one accepts the idea
that the presence of HIV and
AIDS is inevitable.
W e 're c a llin g on B lack
America to get informed about
the science and facts about
AIDS. Knowledge is a power­
ful weapon in this war.
We're calling on black Ameri­
cans to get tested and find out
your HIV status. I have - it took
20 minutes and was bloodless
and painless. Knowing your HIV
status and the status of your
partner can save your life.
We must also pressure our
government and elected offi­
cials - at local, state, and na­
tional levels - to be far more
responsible partners than they
Every African American must
stand with us, take ownership
o f AIDS and fight this epidemic
with every resource we have.
Our inability to talk about
sex, and more specifically ho­
m osexuality, is the single great­
est barrier to the prevention of
HIV transm ission in our com ­
munity.
Intolerance has driven our
gay friends and neighbors into
the sh ad o w s. M en lead in g
double lives - on the "down-
low" - put our women at ex­
treme risk.
We must also overcom e our
resistance to safer sex prac­
tices that can help prevent the
spread of AIDS, and we must
ensure that our young people
know exactly what AIDS is
and how to protect themselves
against it.
We must build a new sense
have been in the past. We must
lift the federal ban on funding
for needle exchange programs
that have been proven to slow
the spread of AIDS. We must
also work with elected officials
to p ro m o te co m p re h en siv e,
a g e -a p p ro p ria te , c u ltu ra lly
com petent AIDS prevention
efforts that give young people
the tools they need to protect
them selves.
We must heed Martin Luther
K in g 's w a rn in g , o rig in a lly
meant for others, but right for
us now: "Nothing in the world
is more dangerous than sincere
ignorance and conscientious
stupidity."
Julian Rond is chairman o f
the NAACP Hoard o f Directors.