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lune 20. 2007
O pinion
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
Choosing Hope over Fear The way forward after tragedy
will we still be able to recognize
ourselves as a people?
before we can gain some
Since the terrorist attacks
p e rs p e c tiv e on the
of Sept. 11,2001, the federal
events in our lives and
g overnm ent’s answ er has
our world. This is espe
been simple and direct: Be
cially true in the w akeof
afraid, be very afraid. The
a tragedy, when the sheer
combination of legislation
h o rro r o f things can
and executive action emanat
make calm deliberation
ing from 9 /1 1 has eroded the
writ of habeas corpus (the
next to impossible. The
heartbreak of Virginia Tech is still right of Americans to not be held in
fresh in our minds, but it is lime to prison without being charged with
consider its ramifications on our a crim e); vastly increased the
lives as Americans.
government’s ability to monitor the
What freedoms, if any, should lives of Americans, in many cases
we sacrifice in the name of safety? without a search warrant; and has
As members of a free society, how embroiled us in a foreign war which,
much do we alter our daily lives in in addition to being unconnected
acknowledgement of the world's to 9/11, has by every measure exac
dangers? And perhaps most pro erbated the tensions that helped
foundly, if we sacrifice too much. lead to the attacks and led to the
by
A egik C. G atewood
Sometimes, a little lim e must pass
deaths o f tens of thousands of
people.
And to make matters worse.
Hurricane Katrina exposed the dark
underbelly o f class and race in
America, as well as the seeming
unwillingness of the establishment
to intervene on.
Many of the responses to the
Virginia Tech tragedy have been
sim ilar- some have advocated turn
ing college campuses into virtual
police states, while others have
claimed that the shooter could have
been stopped early in his rampage
if only his fellow students had been
armed. Be afraid, be very afraid.
In my opinion, the mindset be
hind these responses - both to
the Virginia Tech shooting and to
the larger question of terrorism -
is one that leads us in the wrong
. its.
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direction, away from our birth
right as Americans and away from
the ideals o f intellectual freedom
and collective responsibility em
bodied by colleges and universi
ties.
Should we be wary? Should we
have a healthy respect for the dan
gers that beset us in the modem
world? Absolutely, we should. But
security enclaves?
We have at our disposal two
distinct and powerful advantages
- a flexible form of government
designed to withstand the ebb and
flow of internal and external pres
sures; and, more importantly, a
culture, shaped by that govern
ment that is inclined toward open
ness, tolerance, and freedom. The
Can we rightly claim to be the defenders
o f freedom in the world if we foster an
environment that is ever more paranoid,
more fearful, more restrictive?
at what cost?
Is our society worth defending
if, in so doing, we slide inexorably
down the slippery slope toward
authoritarianism? Can we rightly
claim to be the defenders of free
dom in the world if we foster an
environment that is ever more para
noid, more fearful, more restrictive?
Are colleges and universities still
bastions of discourse and intellec
tual exchange if they become high-
way forward after 9/11, the Iraq
War, Katrina, and the VirginiaTech
tragedy lies in maximizing liberty,
not restricting it. The way forward
lies in reaching out toother nations
and cultures, not alienating them.
We must be on our guard, to be
sure, but we must not continue
down the road to being less than
what we are. We must make the
Algie C. Gatewood, Ed.D., is
advantages of intercultural and in president o f Portland Community
ternational cooperation so evident College's Cascade Campus.
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Supreme Court is No Friend of Women
members of Congress aren't wait
ing. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N. Y„
is introducing a bill to give women
a fairer shake by allowing a longer
timeline for action.
Meanwhile, sex discrimination
by M artha B i rk
in corporate America marches on.
The Bush Supreme Court under In a case filed against General Elec
Chief Justice John Roberts recently tric two days after the ruling, female
delivered what could be a devastat lawyers and senior management
ing blow to women experiencing dis employees put forth damning evi
crimination in pay and promotion. dence against the company. Citing
After many years of employment at pay and promotion data on top
Goodyear, Lilly Ledbetter learned management, the women demon
that she had been paid less all along strate that GE's claims of “diver
than the 16 men at her management sity” and valuing female employ
level, including those with less se ees under lead defendant Chairman
niority.
She sued under
the nation's main
gender discrimina
tion law. Title VII
of the 1964 Civil
Rights Act, but the
Court said she had
no case. Why? In an opinion deliv Jeffrey Immelt are, as they say in
ered by Bush appointee Samuel Alito, Texas, all hat and no cattle. We
the majority said Title VII only al shouldn't be surprised.
Immelt, along with his board
lowed Ledbetter 180 days to sue
from the time her discriminatory pay members Sam Nunn and Douglas
was initially set, even though it had W arner (also named in the suit),
been a tightly held secret in the com stood staunchly against women a
pany for over a decade before she few years ago by maintaining their
found out about it.
memberships in the biggest o f boys
While the statute does indeed cult of all, Augusta National Golf
call for an employee to act within Club. Even in the face of a national
180 days of experiencing a specific controversy over the club's poli
discriminatory event, courts for the cies, they defied their own corpo
last 40 years have treated each new rate statements about fairness.
short paycheck as such an event -
At the same time, Immelt was
- until now.
engaging in what I call the “diver
Legal scholars are arguing about sity dodge," that many companies
the long-term implications, but employ to make themselves look
good on race and gender while
doing nothing, or worse, hiding
outright discrimination.
Immelt was saying all the right
words, touting the “GE Women's
Network” as a pipeline for top jobs.
But the numbers, then as now, were
Others promote
‘diversity’ in
place of fairness
----- M
O re g o n
D e p a r tm e n t
o f T ra n s p o rta tio n
Interstate 5 is under construction!
Be safe, be prepared and be patient as the
Oregon Department of Transportation
repairs and modernizes our highways
and bridges.
Between Portland and Medford, drivers will
pass through 19 active construction zones
on 1-5 in 2007. In the Portland metro area,
SLOW DOWN!
BETTER ROADS AHEAD
crews are currently replacing two highway
bridges outside Wilsonville, and a paving
project between Capitol Highway and the
Tualatin River will be complete this fall.
How can you prepare? Stay informed with
up-to-the-minute information about traffic
and construction by visitingTripCheck.com
or calling 5-1-1.
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NEW S E A S O N S
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damning. O f the 16,000 women in
the network (not all female employ
ees belong), only 22 had made it to
officer level in 2003.
The current suit tells us nothing
has changed at GE. Citing a clearly
male dominated “officer's club" in
the senior ranks, the complaint
shows that female representation
at the officer level is still languish
ing at 13 percent. If women at high
levels are so blatantly shut out,
what are the prospects for those in
the rank and file?
Big corporations use diversity
departments and meaningless ini
tiatives all the time to obscure the
Big corporations use diversity
departments and meaningless initiatives
all the time to obscure the truth.
ODOT IS KEEPING
OREGON ON THE MOVE
AT
that violence and terrorism are easy
to see as the dead-ends that they
are. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
tells us, “Darkness cannot drive
out darkness; only light can do
that. Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.”
I am happy to see that this view
appears on its way to becoming
predominant. An overwhelming
majority of Americans want to see
the Iraq War come to an end. A
growing consensus sees the ne
cessity of changing our lifestyle to
address the issue o f global warm
ing. And more and more of us are
rejecting the notion that increasing
government secrecy and surveil
lance make us safer.
In a free society, we will never
be able to com pletely eliminate
every threat to our safety and
security, and nor should we - an
acceptance of a certain amount of
risk is one of the prices o f liberty.
But given the choice between
hope and fear, I will choose hope
every single time.
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V W e fill p r e s c r ip tio n s — in c lu d in g a n tib io tic s ,
h ig h b lo o d p r e s s u r e m e d ic a tio n s ,
a n ti- d e p r e s s a n ts , b irth c o n tr o l, a n d m o re .
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 r e in fo r m a tio n .
| r O u r p r ic 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 r a n c e p la n s a n d a re a d d in g o th e r s a s
r e 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 eet y o u r P h a rm a cist.
M elm da B utler
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 rk 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
truth. It's sort of like Exxon Mobil
claiming to be "green" while dodg
ing responsibility for the Exxon
Valdez, oil spill (they've yet to pay
out a dime).
It's unknown what effect the
latest ruling from the Supreme
Court will have on the women at
GE and thousands o f their sisters
at other com panies getting paid
less, prom oted less and often
patted on the fanny to boot. But
one thing is sure — big corpora
tions headed by men who say
one thing and do another will try
to sell "diversity” in place of fair
ness as long as they're allowed to
do it by lax laws and fem ale-hos
tile courts.
Congress ought to act fast to
right this wrong.
Martha Burk is the author o f
"Cult o f Power: Sex Discrimina
tion in Corporate America and
What Can Be Done About It. "
A L e g a c y o f S h am e
of people trying to sur
vive at the bottom of the
wage-earning ladder in
stead of focusing on the
hard-core criminal ele
ments that pose real risks
by S en . A vel G ordey
to public safety.
My office has received
Many o f the negative
numerous responses to my
comments my office has
previous statement in support of received could have been (and
Mayor Tom Potter on the recent were) used in previous anti-immi
immigration raid in north Portland, grant and race-based campaigns
both pro and con.
against Chinese. Japanese. Mexi
Many of those who wrote in can. African and other populations.
opposition made exaggerated or
The same level of hate has been
erroneous claims, including lump leveled against African Americans
ing the lettuce choppers arrested in since the founding of the nation,
North Portland with the terrorists regardless of citizenship and the
who hijacked airliners on Septem fact that they were brought here
ber 11 and turned them into bombs. against their will and in chains.
Others did not understand that
It is a legacy of shame, and its
both Mayor Potter and I spoke inheritors are among us still.
against the misallocation of limited
Sen. Ave I Gordly represents
and costly law enforcement re northeast and southeast Portland
sources to make wholesale arrests in the Oregon Legislature.
Immigration
raid stirs
hatred