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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
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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
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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.