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Black History Month
lanuary 31, 2007
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Smith, Dungy and Obama:
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C reative D ir e c to r : P aul N e u fe ld t
O ff ic e M anager : K athy L in d e r
R eporter : Sarah Blount
Breaking barriers at the top of their fields
by M arc H .
M orial
For the firs t tim e in history, not
one but tw o blacks - the Chicago
Bears’ Lovie Smith and the India
napolis C olts’ T ony Dungy - are
leading their teams to football's pre
m ier contest - the Super Bowl.
And another black man - Illin o is
Sen. Barack Obama - took the first
step toward throw ing his hat in the
ring in the ultimate political contest
- the battle fo r the nation's highest
office.
What a delightful coincidence
that these historic developments
w ould occur in the month that
celebrates the birthday o f Dr.
M artin Luther K ing Jr.
Obama’ s hardly the first A fr i
can American to vie forthe presi
dency: He stands upon the broad
shoulders o f the Rev. Jesse Jack-
son, Shirley Chisholm , the Rev. A l
Sharpton, Carol Moseley Braun
and others.
N ot since Jackson in 1988 has a
black been considered a serious
contender fo r the Oval O ffice . But,
unlike his predecessors, Obama
probably stands the best chance o f
becoming the firs t A frica n A m e ri
can to w in his party's presidential
nomination in 2008 or beyond.
In a recent Z ogby p o ll, the I l l i
nois Democrat led the fie ld in New
H a m p s h ire , a h is to ric te s tin g
ground fo r presidential candidates,
w ith 23 percent o f voters favoring
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him compared to 19 percent for Sen.
H illa ry Rodham C lin to n and John
Edwards. Up until 1992, the candi
date w ho won the prim ary usually
made his way to the W hite House.
B ill C linton and George W. Bush
have defied that trend in recent
elections.
That Smith beat out his mentor
Dungy by a few hours to be the first
black coach to guide his team into
N a tio n al Footbal League's
populating the coaching ranks. In
1989, A rt Shell became the first
A frican-A m erican head coach in
the N F L 's modern era.
In his ow n way. Dungy, a form er
Pittsburgh Steeler w ho got his
coaching start in 1981, played his
own role in d ive rsifyin g the profes
sion by recruiting Smith to be line
backer coach fo r the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers in 1996.
The institution o f the so-called
They give our children
hope that the American
Dream is possible for all
members of society to attain.
crow n-jewel game makes up fo r the
fact that his Bears handily defeated
my beloved New Orleans Saints to
get there. I'll forgive L o vie this year
because it is tru ly a great day in
history when tw o black coaches
meet at the pinnacle event o f pro
fessional football. I cannot make
promises fo r next year, though. I f
Lovie robs my Saints o f their Super
B ow l dreams next year, I'll have to
take it personally.
R oughly 66 percent o f National
Football League players are A fr i
can Americans but blacks have long
faced form idable obstacles to their
"Rooney Rule'' broke down barri
ers in the N F L ’s 'old-boy' network
by requiring teams to consider at
least one m in o rity candidate in their
h irin g processes. By the start o f
this year's season, there was a
record seven black head coaches.
"F or years and years, the coach
ing decisions and many other deci
sions in professional football really
fo llo w e d the old way o f doing
things," D arrell M illn e r, professor
o f black studies at Portland State
U n iv e rs ity , to ld the O regonian
newspaper recently. "These tw o
black coaches today are reflection
that that is changing. T h e ir suc
cess gives an additional impetus o f
the continuation o f that kind o f
change."
In a recent television interview .
Bears fan Obama made a great point
about these tw o men that speaks
less to the color o f their skin and
more to the content o f their charac
ter, to invoke Dr. King. "What makes
it even better is that they're both
men o f h u m ility. They're both men
o f God. They never trash talk.
They're not yellers o r screamers
on the sidelines. They're a couple
o f class individuals," he said.
In a Letter to the Editor to his
local paper, Hal Nelson, execu
tive director o f secondary educa
tion fo r the Sarasota C ounty
School District, wondered i f d i
vine intervention played some
role in bringing tw o black coaches
together in the Super Bowl to "illu m i
nate the potential o f the American
experience" and underscore the im
portance o f three keyqualitiesexhib-
ited by Dungy and Smith - compe
tence, character and tenacity.
Sm ith, Dungy and Obama are
positive role models fo r future gen
erations to aspire to. They give our
children hope that the American
Dream is possible for all members o f
society to attain.
Marc H. Morial is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na
tional Urban League.
Demand More Education Spending
1 -866-450-4940 toii-fne
503-335-6613 locally
Reform starts with financial commitment
by J udge
Contain the Rain
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For storm water discount registration,
inform ation and class schedules
or call the Clean River Rewards
hotline 502-823-1371
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C ity of P ortland
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Sam Adams, Commissioner Dean Marriott, Director
Call 503-823-7740 with disability accommodation requests.
G reg M atiiis
5 years ago, President
Bush signed into law the
NoC'hild Left Behind law.
This piece o f legislation
was intended to im prove
the public school system
by increasing the penal
ties fo r schools that d id n 't meet
academic standards.
I f a student was struggling, he/
she could receive free tutoring and,
i f the school continued to fa ll short
o f expectations, students are a l
lowed to transfer schools. Schools
that repeatedly fail were subject to
harsh penalties, including closing.
Though controversial, the law
was an attempt to provide Am erica’ s
publ ie school children w ith a qual ity
education. There was one huge flaw
with the bill, however. Expectations
fo r schools went up, but federal
spending on public education didn’ t
increase sufficiently.
W ith o u t adequate fu n d in g ,
schools c o u ld n 't im plem ent the
strategies need to im prove their
schools. They were doomed to fail
and, in turn, so are our c h il
dren. The No C h ild Left
Behind A c t is up fo r re
newal. W ith the Democrats
e xertingtheirrecently won
power in the Congress, now
is the tim e fo r progressive
thinkers to fig h t fo r an in
crease in education spending.
School systems have, fo r years,
routinely used standardized tests
to gauge student progress. But,
w ith the passage o f No C h ild Left
Behind, these tests went from be-
i ng an assessment to, in many cases,
being the deciding factor in whether
or not a student w ill move on to the
next level.
For students in under-funded,
i.e. poor, school districts, passing
these tests is next to impossible.
The odds are stacked against them.
M any o f those affected by this
biased system are black.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has
proposed a plan that calls fo r states
to w ork to develop consistent aca
demic requirements for students: this
w ould ensure students, regardless
o f where they live, would leave school
equally prepared fo r college or the
workforce. Kennedy has also called
for an expansion o f social programs
fo r poor children; social workers
w ill be in every school that has a
large population o f students liv in g
below the poverty line. When stu
dents liv in g in urban areas are able
toe m o tio n a lly and psychologically
‘deal w ith ’ the violence and pov
erty that may surround them, they
leant better.
I f federal and local governments
w e re to a d e q u a te ly fu n d the
nation's publ ic schools, the schools
co u ld im plem ent the program s
needed to ensure student success.
Instead, the country has poured its
money into the crim inal injustice
system and defense spending, leav
ing our children, our future, vulner
able and unprepared fo r an increas
ing com petitive society. The public
education system needs to be re
formed. Real reform starts w ith a
financial comm itment from the fed
eral government.
Judge Greg Mathis is national
vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a national board member o f
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
State of the Union Brush Off
ézetter * lhí(3üdU(?r
by R alph B. E verett
Me, are a regular pharmacy Ì
V \Ne fill p r e s c rip tio n s — in c lu d in g a n tib io tic s ,
h ig h b lo o d p re s s u re m e d ic a tio n s ,
a n ti-d e p re s s a n ts , b irth c o n tro l, a n d m o re .
| r W e h a v e k n o w le d g e a b le , frie n d ly p h a r m a c is ts
w h o h a v e th e tim e to s h a re in fo rm a tio n .
O u r p ric e s a re c o m p e titiv e . W e a c c e p t m o s t
in s u ra n c e p la n s a n d a re a d d in g o th e r s as
re q u e s te d .
I t W e s p e c ia liz e in c u s t o m c o m p o u n d in g .
M e e t y o u r P h a rm a c is t.
M o lln d a B u tle r
Y O U R L O C A L L Y O W N E D , N E IG H B O R H O O D P H A R M A C Y A T A R B O R L O D G E
N IN T E R S T A T E A V E N U E & P O R T L A N D B L V D • 5 0 3 .4 6 7 4 8 4 8
w w w .n e w s e a s o n s m a r k e t . c o m • M O N -F R I 9 a m - 7 p m • S A T 9 a m - 6 p m • S U N 1 0 a m - 4 p m
clear that the Congress w ill have to
demonstrate both leadership and in
novation to ensure that issues o f
economic security, hope, and oppor
tunity are addressed in a substantive
way.
I was dismayed that the President
made no mention o f New Orleans or
the broader issue o f poverty in the
United States. We recall his pledge,
made in Jackson Square a few days
after Hurricane Katrina came ashore,
to "do what it takes" to help citizens
rebuild their comm unities and their
lives.
The President's State o f the Union
address was an opportunity to get a
glimpse o f his domestic priorities fo r
his final tw o years in office.
I applaud his call fo r a bipartisan
approach to issues o f pressing im
portance to people o f color, particu
la rly health care, education, and re
tirem ent security. But I ’ m concerned
that the war in Iraq has di minished his
adm inistration's a b ility to address
these issues.
W erem em berhisprom iseof "bold
For so many Americans, particu a ctio n " to address the persistent
la rly people o f color, security is about poverty that exists in the region and
having a jo b to support your fam ily, has its roots in racial discrim ination.
liv in g in a safe com m unity, having Given the absence o f this subject in
access to q u a lity education and health the State o f the Union address, A fr i
care, looking forward to a decent life can Americans and other G u lf Coast
in retirement, and being able to cast residents who have suffered so much
one's vote w ithout intim idation and can be excused fo r w ondering i f their
have it count.
federal governm ent has forgotten
To be sure, the war in Iraq is a about them.
Ralph B. Everett is president and
matter o f deep concern fo r us all, and
we must do everything we can to chief executive officer o f the Joint
support our troops and ensure that Center fo r Political and Economic
they come home safely. But the o b v i Studies, a group dedicated to improv
ous constraint o f the domestic agenda ing the socioeconomic status of black
that the President put forth makes it Americans and other minorities.