Page A4
October 3, 2007
O pinion
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
Modern Lesson in Race Relations Gone Wrong
Jena 6 prosecutor
overstepped his
authority
M arc H. M orial
O nly hours after the mass protest in
support of the Jena Six in northern Louisi­
ana, Rosalyn C arpenter, the president of
the Urban League affiliate in M iddle T en­
nessee w itnessed a rather frightful sight
not too faraw ay in Alexandria: two white
youths, one allegedly under the influence
o f alcohol, and a red pick-up truck with two
dangling yellow nooses.
The incident put a major dam per on
w hat was otherw ise a "powerful journey
o f support" for the Jena Six, she told me.
T he affiliate had joined together with
T ennessee State University students and
others to travel dow n there and observed
a stark rem inder o f a shameful chapter of
U.S. history.
C arpenter and her group weren't the
only folks to be victim ized by copy-cat
noose hangers in recent weeks. Just days
later, four nooses were hung at a high
school in North Carolina. W eeks earlier, a
sim ilar incident occurred on the cam pus of
the U niversity o f Maryland. A neo-Nazi
by
W eb site recently listed the addresses and
phone numbers o f the Jena Six with the
encouragem ent - "get in touch, and let
them know justice is com ing."
These events prove that racism isn't
isolated to a small town o f less than 3,(XX)
based in the heart o f what was once Ku
Klux Kian country. But unlike in Jena
where local authorities dismissed the hang­
ing o f nooses from a tree at the
town's public high school as an
innocent prank perpetuated in a
"b o y s w ill be b o y s" s p ir it,
A lexandria's mayor went to great
lengths to bring justice to the per­
petrators and to calm the nerves of
African-A m ericans in the area.
" "The police and city o f A lexan­
dria w ere very responsive to the
incident and our safety. M ayor
Jacques Roy got out o f bed and
came over to personally ensure us that we
were safe," Carpenter told me. One o f the
youths - an 18-year-old m ale - was ar­
rested.
Still, that such incidents continue to
take place in this day and age tells us that
we've still got some work to do and that we
must exercise continued vigilance in pro­
tecting our civil rights more than half a
century after the first civil rights m ove­
ment.
Vick can be Forgiven,
but not Defended
J une P otter A costa
On her first day as co-host and
m oderator o f the daytim e talk
show 'T h e V ie w ,’ com edian
W hoopi G oldberg spoke out in
defense of the A tlanta Falcons’
fallen football hero Michael Vick.
V ick, as w e know has pleaded
guilty to engaging in dog fig h t­
ing, a hideous exam ple o f illegal
gam ing still going on in our ‘civi­
liz e d s o c ie ty .’ T o the p rize
q u a r te rb a c k ’s c re d it, he did
a p o lo g iz e an d e x p re ss som e
contrition.
G o ld b e r g s a id th a t fro m
w here V ick com es from in the
S outh, ‘‘dog fighting isn 't that
u n u su al.” In o th e r w ords, I t 's
traditional.
I rem ind G oldberg that it was
also trad itio n al, w ell into the
2 0 th c e n t u r y , f o r w h ite
tow nsfolk to g ath er w ith b lan ­
kets and picnic baskets to o b ­
serve the spectacle o f the lyn ch ­
ing o f a black m an w ho had been
accused o f rape. No m ore proof
o f com m ission o f the deed than
the accusation by a w hite w oman
o r her relative.
R etreating further into our
hi story o f slavery, before em an ­
cip atio n it w as also traditional
fo r a w hite m aster to choose a
y ou n g black fem ale for sexual
p urposes. T he first instance o f
m iscegenation.
M y e s te e m f o r T h o m a s
Je fferso n , w ho had penned such
p ro fo u n d and eloquent w ords
in the ‘D eclaration o f Indepen­
d e n c e ’ . plum m eted to zero when
I learned that Jefferson, at age
4 6, had taken Sally H em m ings,
ju s t 16, as his m istress. She was
his sister-in -law , half-sister to
by
his deceased w ife, both fathered
by the sam e w hite m an. S u p p o s­
edly, she strongly resem bled his
w ife, though o f co u rse, w ith
darker skin.
Sally bore Jefferso n six c h il­
dren, during their years together,
none o f w hom w ere ev er a c ­
know ledged as his.
H ow ever, by the term s o f his
w ill, those six w ere freed, the
only slaves — not ev en Sally —
he em ancipated.
To turn to a h ap p ier and m ore
positive them e, I v o lu n teer one
m orning a w eek, at O regon P ub­
lic B roadcasting in the G olden
H ours R adio division. M y boss,
the sta tio n m a n ag e r/p ro g ram
d irector, Jerry D eL aunay, is le­
gally blind, though has earn ed a
degree in broad cast jo u rn alism
from C alifornia State U niversity
at Los A ngeles.
Jerry and the volunteers, some
disabled, all skilled in handling
radio controls by touch alone, d e­
pend on their w onderful service
dogs, who com e along with them
to work. I’ve seen these dear ani­
mals work, out on the street, and
they are amazing.
M ichael V ick has d isg raced
him self. H ow ever, w e a re a lld e -
serving o f forgiv en ess, cap ab le
o f learning and grow ing.
V ick needs to be acq u ain ted
w ith a w h o le new c irc le o f
friends, including th ese w o n ­
derful service dogs offering their
unconditional love and loyalty.
June Potter Acosta is a long
time civil-rights advocate from
south-central Los Angeles who
now lives in Portland. She is a
regular contributor to the Port­
land Observer.
F e a tu r in g
B r e a k in g D o w n th e W a lls T o u r
F e a t u r in g T h e L ig h t, R a jim e
In Jena, La., it al I began more than a year
ago when a black student dared to inquire
about sitting under a tree w here whites
usually congregated. A day later, nooses
in school colors dangled from said tree.
T he school's principal rightly reco m ­
m ended expulsion for the three w hite per­
petrators but was overruled by the school
board. Instead, they were sent to an alter­
The events that transpired
serve as yet another reminder
that our nation is damned to
repeat history if we fail inform
our future with our past.
native school for three months.
W hen Jena High School students at­
tem pted to raise concerns about the inci­
dent, local district attorney Reed W alters
antagonized them for com plaining about
an "innocent prank" and allegedly threat­
ened to make their lives hell with the swift
stroke o f a pen.
As Spelman C ollege President Beverly
Daniel Tatum noted in a W ashington Post
editorial, school officials and local au ­
minated last D ecem ber with the beating o f
a w hite classm ate by six black youths now
know n as the Jena Six. But instead o f
c h a rg in g th em w ith m is d e m e a n o rs,
W allers threw the book at them - attem pted
m urder charges. The w eapon? A pair of
tennis shoes.
In June, an all-w hite jury in the mostly-
white town convicted 17-year-old M ychal
Bell, who was 16 at the tim e o f the incident,
o f aggravated battery, w hich carries a
sentence o f up to 15 years. An appeals
court threw out the conviction, conclud­
ing that Bell should have been tried as a
juvenile. It bodes well for the fate o f the
rem aining four charged as adults but fails
to m ake up for the likelihood that the
prosecutor's overzealousness will leave
an indelible im print on them for life.
W alters o v erste p p ed his au th o rity
m uch the w ay a N o rth C a ro lin a d istric t
atto rn ey d id in ch arg in g D uke lacrosse
team m em b ers w ith rape. H is actio n s
m ust carry co n seq u e n ces w ith them to
send a stro n g sig n al that unequal ju s ­
tice will not be perm itted in 21 st C entury
America.
Instead o f th ro w in g oil upon a sm o l­
d erin g fire, Je n a au th o rities co uld have
used the han g in g o f no o ses, in the w ords
o f T atu m , as a "teach ab le m om ent - a
c a ta ly s t fo r im p o rta n t d is c u s s io n s "
ab o u t race rela tio n s past and present.
Instead, they ju s t allo w ed the fire to go
o ut o f co n tro l, m aking the en tire tow n a
victim.
T he events that transpired serve as yet
another rem inder that our nation is dam ned
to repeat history if we fail inform our future
with our past.
Mare H. Mortal is president and chief
executive officer o f the National Urban
League.
Overhaul No Child Left Behind
Tests don't teach; empowered teachers do
The No Child Left Behind Act
was designed to i mprove America's
public schools. Passed in 2001, he
law increased accountability in the
nation's schools, putting pressure
on school districts, principals and
teachers to ensure students met
federal progress standards.
From the very beginning, the law
had its critics, and with good rea­
son: The bill failed to adequately
address the way resources were
disproportionately distributed in
public schools. It also ignored the
fact that children learn in different
ways, m aking standardized teach­
ing and testing virtually ineffec­
tive. The bill is now up for renewal.
If it is to becom e the sw eeping
education reform tool that was origi­
nally envisioned, a m ajor overhaul
is needed. The first thing that needs
to go? The teach to the test' m en­
tality the law has created in our
country's schools.
'
a
NCLB requires public schools in
T eachers m ust have the skills
the U.S. to test students in third needed to develop a w ell-rounded
through eighth grades and 10th curriculum based on their students'
graders in reading and math at the individual needs. C lassroom sizes
end o f each school year. If the m ust be sm aller; teachers need to
school fails to meet annual progress be able to provide individual atten­
goals tw o years in a row. it is put on tion when needed. Tutoring pro­
'school im provem ent' status and gram s m ust be improved.
must, am ong other things, offer
students the opportunity to attend
another school in their district.
W ith the pressure to meet these
annual goals and with such a nar­
row curriculum , school adm inistra­
tors in many districts have been
forced to cut back on classes in
science, the arts and even physical
education. The result? Students
Funding m ust be provided to
w ho could, hopefully, pass a basic ensure social-service program s -
skills test, but w ho are not well- stress and anger m anagem ent, etc.
ro u n d ed , c ritic a l th in k e rs, ad ­ - are worked into each school's
equately prepared for college or the overall plan. A m erica m ust begin
work force.
thinking o f schools as com m unity
If N CLB is to really im prove centers, w here children can go to
A m erica's public schools, it needs learn - about science, math and art,
to be rebuilt, from the bottom up. o f course - but also about coping
S chools m ust be given the au­ with life and grow ing into a respon­
tonom y to recruit, hire and coach sible citizen.
qualified teachers.
A revamped NCLB must also make
C ésar E. C havez's work was
rooted in his belief in peaceful and
nonviolent action. U nfortunately,
this same legacy o f respect was not
present during a recent neighbor­
hood discussion o f a street com ­
m em oration in his name.
As I've said before many times:
good people can disagree. And
many do in this case. The exchange
o f opinions is healthy foracom m u-
nity to better understand all sides
o f an issue. But when an opinion is
delivered with negativity and dis­
respect, it is not healthy, it is de-
structive. And this should be unac­
ceptable to every Portlander.
Will Rogers once said "you have
to go out on a lim b som etim es,
because that is where the fruit is."
I believe this is an opportunity for
Portlanders on al 1 sides to go out on
that lim b together. Yes, we might
still com e out disagreeing. But what
we m ight achieve is a more authen­
tic understanding o f all the differ­
ent people, places and things that
truly m ake this City who and what
it is today.
I urge al 1 Portlanders to learn more
by
J udge
G reg
M athis
The first thing
that needs to go?
The 'teach to the
test' mentality.
S how y o u r lo v e fo r th e
U p r o o te d G o s p e l Show
5 0 3 -9 2 2 -0 0 0 6
about this project and what it means
the Latino com m unity. T ake the time
to listen - and I mean really listen -
before making a fearful reaction to
the ideaof change. More importantly
in this debate, let’s respect one an­
other. For when we do this, we are
really saying to one another "I re­
spect your right to be here."
The Office o f Transportation and
O ffice o f N eighborhood Involve­
ment have planned two opportuni­
ties to learn about this proposal. I
urge everyone interested to attend
and respectfully share your o pin­
sure states offer pre-kindergarten
classes to all students; studies show
students who attended pre-K do
much betterin school later on. Local
leaders also must make sure parents
know the classes are there. In C hi­
cago, for instance, pre-K classes in
black neighborhoods are relatively
empty, even though black kids tend
to benefit most from this early intro­
duction to education.
W rite your local legislator and
rem ind them that tests don't teach.
Em pow ered teachers and a rich,
varied curriculum do. Itisu n w iseto
focus the nation's resources on
reading and math, at the expense o f
other subjects and activities that
play a critical part in the learning
process. M ore im portantly, focus­
ing solely on test scores is detri­
mental to the intellectual health o f
our children and, ultim ately, our
nation.
Judge Greg Mathis is national
vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a national board member o f
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
ions with the City on this matter.
C om m unity m eetingson renam ­
ing Interstate A venue to C esar E.
Chavez Boulevard are W ednesday,
Oct. 3 at O ckley G reen Middle
School,6031 N. M ontana Ave. from
6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and again T ues­
day, Oct. 9 at O ckley G reen, also
from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
If you are unable to attend these
meetings, please call my com m ent
line at 503-823-4127 orem ail m eat
m a y o rp o tte r@ c i.P o rtla n d .o r.u s
with your opinion.
Tom Potter, Mayor
‘ri’r JfJnrthnib (Ob server Established 1970
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In t e r v ie w w ith L o c a l a n d
N a t i o n a l R e c o r d in g A r t is t s
thorities in Jena were "unw illing to ac­
know ledge the enduring pow er o f the
noose as a sym bol o f racial hatred and
intimidation."
The relatively lenient punishm ent o f
the w hite students coupled with local
authorities’ indifference triggered an es­
calation o f racial tensions and set o ff a
series o f confrontations. T he unrest cu l­
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