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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2007)
<Th p|JnrtIanb ©hsertu'r Page A4 October 10, 2007 O pinion Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer Break the Silence about Racism Confronting the evil in our midst by b e tte r 10 (Scditor Advertise with tiiversity in il!* }Jiivtlanh (.Obaevuer Call 503-288-1)033 ads@portlandobserver.com Seasons change. Smiles are timeless. T im e fo r C h a n g e Portrait Package Special Package Includes: One - 10 X 13 Two - 8 X10 s Four - 5 x 7 ’s Four - 3 X 5 s 32 Wallets PLUS 6 Free Personalized Portrait (lards 40 Card Designs! I m u , No sitting fees or charges PO RTRAIT The Streets o f Tanasbourne 2219 N W Allie Avenue. Suite 1460 Hillsboro. O R 97124 • 503.645.9900 I Innovations Studio Hours: Tuesday - Sunday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m, We’ve totally re-invented the studio experience. www.PortraitInnovations.com Appointment» I liglih KecnmmetMlrd. \fcalk in* art wckontc hut tnav he limited havtd on faw>nr<- pose per »a,ml. nr gm tip during r u b p-on .m tonal pcrtod |4c.nr ( Hfct not v-akd h - hu«n liability. No »uhjcct fee nr additional charges. O nh ■•iw $9.95 Portrait I ’ackag. Sjnxwl of ynttr purposes, nxlishltiti *luh sutnecO* or unaccompanied m iitnn. Oftcr m l »tec t to change at any ante Thank you for your profile o f my race for the Oregon Legislature. Of ten. I am asked "why are you running for office?" Primarily, 1 am running because I believe northeast Portland is a special place challenged by is sues that have answers in Salem. There is a chance for the Oregon Legislature to strengthen its laws around housing, jo b development, public education and preventative health care, all o f which are just some issues effecting our families and friends in my district. Also. I recognize that when hom e grown people bring a historical and relevant perspective to authoring these laws, progressive solutions for all Oregonians emerge. I am one o f these people. I have dedicated my life to expand ing emergency services and opportu nity in northeast neighborhoods. Fi nally, in Oregon, we are at a turning point as many of our elected leaders retire. Now is the time fortheemerging generation to bring their perspectives to the lawmaking process. A sa27-year-old African A m eri can woman, I am a proud m em ber of this dynam ic generation. I look for ward to a bright future o f hard work and collaborative problem solving for the com m on good o f this state. Cyreena Boston Democrat fo r House District 45 AT A R B O R L O D G E y&f/ I a )& are a rectorpharmacy! 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 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 r m a tio n . ✓ 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 . t r 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 . Meet your Pharm acist Mel oda Sutler 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 ,0 a m - 4 p m M. L inda J aramillo I c a n ’t stop thinking about how racism is ravaging this nation. I just c a n ’t get it out o f my mind because I d o n 't know if we realize how seri ous it is. T h ousands across this land were shocked and angered by the in cid en t in Jen a, L o u isian a,w h en white students hung nooses from a tree outside the local high school. However, thousands more are tak ing this opportunity to revive "white pride” movements that encourage racial divide and bigotry. Ju st tw o w eek s ago, 1 w rote th at the in c id en t in Je n a w as an ex am p le o f how racism co n tin u es to rear its u gly head in c o m m u n i ties acro ss this nation. U n fo rtu n ately , I w as right. N o o ses are a sym bol o f h atred and b ig o try , a vivid rem in d er o f the ever-present evil o f racism in th is co u n try . H anging nooses from a stage rigging inG erm antow n.T enn. J u s t a m onth ago w as m otivated by racism and it w as m eant to intim i date. N ooses hanging from a tree at the high school in High Point, N.C. ju st tw o w eeks ago were m otivated by racism and it was m eant to frighten students and the co m m u nity. N ooses strung on the back of a pickup truck driving past the peaceful dem onstration near Jena on Sept. 20 w ere m otivated by rac ism and it w as m eant to bully the d em onstrators. Y es, in ea ch o f th ese three ca ses, the p erso n s resp o n sib le w ere held ac co u n tab le fo r th eir actio n s. S om e lost th e ir jo b s and o th ers w ere ch arg ed w ith v arious crim es. For ex am p le, the 18-year-old m an d riv in g the p ick u p truck w as b ooked on ch a rg es o f inciting a riot. P o lite Sgt. C liffo rd G atlin o f A lexandria, La. stated, "I w ish we had a ch arg e in L o u isian a fo r a g g rav a ted ig n o ran ce, becau se this is a classic c a se .” G atlin said the cro w d o f ab o u t 200 people at the b u s s ta tio n r e m a in e d c a lm th ro u g h o u t the ep iso d e. He also ad d ed , "They w ere ju s t o ffen d ed a n d a p p a lle d th a t s o m e b o d y w ould be that stu p id to do th a t.” M y q u estio n is w hy did this young man seem to think that this kind o f b eh a v io r is even a c c e p t ab le? 1 b eliev e th at m any o f the resid en ts o f th ese co m m u n ities are h o rrifie d by the actio n s o f som e. I tru st th at m any did not realize how racism is threaded in the fab ric o f th e ir co m m u n ities. 1 w ould subm it that m any o f us do not realize that such in cid en ts are h ap p en in g in o u r co m m u n ities ev ery day. If w e are aw are, too often w e rem ain silent. T h ere is no d o u b t that the rac ism r e v e a le d in J e n a , G e r m an to w n , H igh P oint and A lex an d ria w as d irec ted at A frican A m erican s. H o w ev er, we can n o t d irect blam e at the d o m in an t c u l ture in these co m m u n ities alone. W e are all resp o n sib le for a social cu ltu re th at sees racism , yet says and d o es nothing. Dr. M artin L u th er K ing said, “O u r liv es begin to en d the day we b eco m e silen t about things that m a tte r.” T h e racism w e are w itn essin g today m atters and it is tim e to break the silen ce and co n fro n t this ev il in o u r m idst. M. Linda Jaramillo is the executive minister o f Witness fo r Justice Minis tries in the United Church o f Christ. Next stop: César E. Chavez Boulevard Make your voice known A manda S hank “E verybody know s that Rosa Parks did not like to sit in the back of the bus,” a resident on M ayor Tom Potter's blog wrote recently, sug gesting that we should have given Parks a more prominent honor than renaming Portland Boulevard as Rosa Parks Way. On the other hand, during the heat o f the debate around the street’s fate last year, resident Rich Little urged the m ayor to scratch the idea entirely and “name the street after someone w hohelpedeverybody and just not vocal minorities.'’ From changing Union Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in 1990, to this year's talks about hon oring César E. Chavez, a labor orga nizer who worked to improve the lives o f farmworkers, decisions to rename streets to remember our na tional heroes have been anything hut unanimous Looking back, the Martin Luther King Jr. street proposal em erged not from a shared desire to honor a hero o f the civil-rights movement, but from acrisis. The name change was meant to curb the increase in crime along the street, which was famous for its streetwalkers and boarded-up store fronts. The decision, when finally made by the City Council in 1990. was picketed in front ofCity Hall, and a petition to change the name back to Union Avenue gathered over 50,(XX) signatures, but was ultimately un successful. In the case o f Rosa Parks Way. many Portland residents expressed concern that Portland Boulevard was selected because it was a non-cen tral neighborhood thought to be primarily African American. Incom munity meetings and in online dis cussion forums, some suggested that it would be more appropriate to name the downtown bus mall after Parks. Still others argued that Portland by Boulevard had a history o f its own and that to change the name equaled social blasphemy. In the end, the street name was changed by a unani mous vote o fcity com missioners in October of last year. The current question o f whether to renam e Interstate Avenue has also brought much public comment. In the context o f the Del Monte im migration raid last June that detained 160 immigrant workers, as well as Bush’s failed attempts at immigra tion reform, the question of honor ing a prominent Chicano hero strikes a chord in many Portlanders. The Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard Com mittee has said that their inten tion is “not only to rename a Portland street, but to draw attention to the legacy o f one o f our country's great est leaders and to create a concrete rem inder that the struggle for civil rights for all people still continues today.” But there remains a rift between those who are for it and those who w ould rather not see the name changed. “He did nothing for the ‘American’ people, but bring in more work for the illegals," writes Marie Pokomy on a petition against renaming the street. Still others believe that it is mis guided for the com munity to focus on a street name rather than on bor der security and what many see as inhumane immigration laws. Every street renaming has been discussed at length by community members who feel a deep connec tion to theireity. And perhaps in that case it is more about the journey than the destination. It will be up to Port land residents in the weeks and months ahead to show up to commu nity meetings, to make their faces known to each other and their voices heard. Amanda Shank lives in north Portland.