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September 13, 2006
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O pinion
Brothas Must Keep Up with Sistas
c,'e JJurtlanb (Dh&ivtoer Established 1970
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Disparity between
sexes is cause for
concern
Charles H. Washington
M ichael Leighton
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J udge G reg M athis
Black women are doing
great things: they’re gradu­
ating from c o lle g e s and
graduate schools in record
numbers, running their own
businesses, buying their own
homes All over this coun­
by
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We should understand that
these harriers are there and we
spould help our men figure out
‘
Ways arOUnd them.
try, sistas are doing it tor
themselves. And they de-
serve all the success they
get: black women have over­
com e countless obstacles, battling racism
and sexism, both overt and subtle, to get
their just due.
But, for every black woman that wins,
there are numerous black men that don’t
even get the chance to play in the game. This
isn’t meant to com pare the two. It’s meant
to get brothas to realize that while the system
may not always be in their favor, they owe
it to themselves, their com m unities and their
women to step up and work it the best way
they can.
Statistics suggest that black women cur­
rently own more com panies than black men.
Data from the Small Business A dm inistra­
tion shows that businesses ow ned by black
a I
Some of the
biggest
changes in
50 years!r
women increased by 75-percent since the
last census, com pared to an increase o f 29
percent for black men. The disparities don’t
end there: black women now receive about
tw o-thirds o f all college degrees awarded to
African Am ericans, nearly 70 percent o f all
m aster’s degrees and close to 60 percent of
all doctorates. Sistas also outnum ber black
men in medical, dental and law schools.
The fact that black women are outdis­
tancing black men in so many areas is a
cause for concern. As our women succeed,
they are positioned to becom e tom orrow ’s
business leaders and decision makers. The
black male voice will becom e more and
more obsolete. O ur families, too, will suffer.
Education and income disparities make it
increasingly harder for black men and women
to relate to each other, causing rifts in and
breaking up families. O ver time, our young
men will have fewer male role models.
There are several societal obstacles that
keep many black men from success. During
slavery, our men w ere rendered powerless
as they watched their women and children
abused. Post slavery, our youngest men
were forced to work to help support their
families; going to school was a luxury that
many couldn't afford.
During A merican apartheid, brothas were
often made exam ples of, publicly beaten and
lynched for stepping out o f line. In modem
times, this translates to psychological and
social barriers that have our men convinced
that education is not ‘cool,’ that setting
goals is a useless exercise and that, no
m atter what, the system will find a way to
keep them down
From the schools systems that push our
boys into Special Ed, labeling them "behav­
ioral ly challenged’’ to the prison industrial
complex that feeds on our men, society does
keep many black men from reaching their
full potential. Not that black women haven't
had their struggles - they have - but social
program s, w elfare reform , for instance,
have helped many women pull themselves
up by their bootstraps.
As a people, we should understand that
these barriers are there and we should help
our men figure out ways around them. We
should not allow these obstacles to become
excuses for why our men aren’t shining as
brightly as they can. The coolest, most
macho thing our men can do is find a way to
work the system and defy the odds, show ­
ing everyone that expects them to fail just
how talented they are.
Judge Greg Mathis is national vice presi­
dent o f Rainbow PUSH and a national
board member o f the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference.
-WeekendToday Show
Bush’s Nonsense
V
U.S. R ep .
C harles B. R angel
President Bush says
the w ar in Iraq is strain­
ing the psyche o f the
American people. That's
nonsense. Americans are
tough enough to fight
any w ar - if it is justified like
W orld W ar II or Korea.
The American people are fed
up with the w ar and with Presi­
dent Bush's leadership. He has
finally adm itted that Iraq had
nothing to do with 9-11, but still
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insists as long as he is
president that he would
stay the course in order to
fight the w ar on terror­
ism.
The war on terrorism
cannot be won in Iraq.
That country is fighting a
civil war which goes back for
hundreds o f years. Last month,
3,000 Iraqi's killed each other.
O ur brave soldiers and m a­
rines are caught in the cross-fire.
Two thousand six hundred have
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Terrorism war can’t be won in Iraq
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w ounded and m aim ed. T hou­
sands are returning home with
terrible head injuries and em o­
tional trauma. An untold story is
that 137,000 women - most of
them m inorities - have served in
the w ar zone.
O ur military is battered and
stretched beyond the limit. Since
the start o f the war, 14,000 army
veterans have been called back
in to s e rv ic e . In the co in in g
m onths, thousands o f m arine
veterans will be recalled. Enlist­
ment bonuses as high as $40,(XX)
attract mostly poor and minority
recruits, but not enough to make
up for the shortages o f m an­
pow er.
W hile we are bogged down in
Iraq, O sam a Bin Laden is roam ­
ing free in Afghanistan - ordering
Iraq, we were creating more ter­
rorists than we killed. W orld­
w ide terrorist attacks actually
tripled between 2(X)4 and 2005.
U.S. taxpayers are spending
more than $1 billion a w eek in
Iraq. Yet today, we are as vulner­
able as the day after 9-11. In­
stead o f doing what it takes to
secure the nation, the president
m anipulates the people's fear of
terrorism to salvage his popular­
ity. The people o f New Orleans
are the tragic victim s o f this ne­
glect.
Our seaports, bridges, tunnels,
transportation system s - our en­
tire infrastructure - remain un­
protected. O ur m ajor cities are
shortchanged in anti-terrorism
funding.
Clearly, the president lacks the
I
I
I
I
.5. taxpayers are spending more than
Attn: Subscriptions, PO Box 3137, Portland OR 97208
I
$1 billion a week in Iraq. Yet today, we are
s u b s c r ip tio n s tire ju s t $60 p er y e a r I
(please include cheek with this subscription form) I as vulnerable as the day after 9-11.
I
N ame :
__________________ _____ I attacks around the world. His vision and leadership to mobilize
I friends have taken over Somalia a dom estic peace corps. O ur
A ddress :
T elephone :
I and killed thousands o f innocent young people could play an im ­
-------------------------------------------------- 1 people in the Sudan. W ith the portant, non-violent role in pro­
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| U.S. preoccupied in Iraq, North tecting the country.
u _ _________________________ ______ J
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Korea and Iran are developing
nuclear weapons.
This adm inistration is incom ­
petent at warfare and scornful of
diplom acy. Because o f its poli­
cies, A m erica is hated in the Mus­
lim world and disrespected hy
o u r a llie s . E v e n S e c re ta ry
Rumsfeld wondered whether, in
No, there is nothing wrong
with the psyche o f the American
people. But, what is strained is
the president's contact with real­
ity.
Congressman Charles Rangel
is a Democrat from New York
and a member o f the Congres­
sional Black Caucus.
investigation and ultimately safely
locate Chester, out-of-state, on
Sept. 6. Local police had contact
with Chester and I spoke with him
The Portland Observer recently by phone. He indicated that his
published information regarding having left Portland was voluntary
missing Portland resident Chester and that he wished to maintain his
“Ray” Barber. As I have come to privacy.
understand it, Chester is sort of an
For that reason, I cannot go into
icon in the Dawson Park area and. detail regarding the circumstances
seemingly, has many friends there. of his having left Portland, but I can
I had been unaware that the in­ tell ypu he is no longer considered
formation had been published. Due missing, and his welfare has been
to the concern for Chester's wel­ checked by police with further as­
fare. as well as the sense of commu­ sistance having been offered, but
nity responsibility that I believe declined.
On behalf of the Police Bureau,
went into the preparation and effort
to publish the information, I was I want to personally say thank you
contacted by a "witness" who read for your efforts to help Chester.
Detective Mike Weinstein,
the article.
As adireet result of that informa­ Portland Police Bureau, Missing
tion. we were able to fine-tune our Persons Unit
Missing Person
Found and safe