Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2008)
^iLUirthnib (Oiiam-vr Black History Month Page A4 lanuaiy 30. 2008 O pinion Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer PRESIDENTIAL PEBATES: Pueu^oRpRÌWTE? A WW overtly pro - war a C overtly SORRY, . HoRTReMÎ<Sl4 TRÎS . SECURITY-' / !, Ä 0IÜUAHÍ F b « . A VtfEE W E SS. *. Ä -J ’’V»**1 -Ms«»«-0!*»— Suffering under the Conservative Agenda 1.6 percent per year under the health insurance has increased current administration. In 2006, from 18.5 percent to 20.5 per African A m ericans’ median in cent. This is a much different come was $ 3 2 .132, picture com pared to the 1990s which was $2,603 when the num ber o f uninsured lower than in 2000. A frican A m ericans decreased A frican A m eri from 20.1 percent to 18.5 per cans' usual median cent. The growth rate o f the num w e e k ly e a rn in g s have stagnated un ber o f em ployed African A m eri der President Bush. cans has been 4.2 times slower In 2006, the usual median earn under the current administration. ings o f African Americans em Between 2000 and 2006, the ployed full-time was $554 per num ber o f em ployed A frican w eek— $136 dollars less than Americans grew on average by just 0.7 percent each year, which that o f white Americans. Under Bush, the percent o f is markedly lower than the 2.8 A fric a n A m e ric a n s w ith o u t percent annual growth rate expe- The state of black America D aniella G ibbs L egek As people across the coun try celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Center for American Progress took a look at the state o f black America to see how African Americans fared since conser vatives have been in charge of the economy. The answer? Not very well. H ere's a look at the numbers. African Americans' median in come declined by an average of by Î ! Û Subscribe’503'280033 U U Ô V IIU U : | - • i F i ill n v O y u u t i & o t u Send v i i u To: iw . The Portland Observer Attn: Subscriptions, PO Box 3137, Portland OR 97208 j subscriptions are just $60 per year (please include cheek with this subscription form) I J N a m e : ____________________________ T elephone : ___________________ A ddress : o r em ail subscriptions© portlandobserver.comj •¡tlortianb (Ohscvucr Established 1970 USPS 959-680 ________________________________ ___ Send address changes to Portland Observer, P 0B o x3137, Portland, 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Btvd., Portland. OR 97211 OR 9 7 2 0 8 Enin, k - is -C h i f i . P hhi . ishfk : Charles H. Washington Em i ok : M ic h a e l L e ig h to n D i s ik im t i o n M \s,\m k : M a rk W a sh in g to n C k fa tiv f D ik f c t o k : P a u l N e u fe ld t A m i k i i s i h u : K a th y L in d e r O r n c i M ahac . tr : S h a r o n S p e rry H fp o h tfk : R a y m o n d R e n d le m a n Subscriptions are S60.00 per year 503-288-0033 PAX 503-288-0015 news® portlandobserver.com subscnotioiis<& portlandobserver.com ads@portliuidobserver.com classifieds @ portlandobserver. com The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be returned it accompanied by a sell addressed envelope. A ll created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in oilier publications or personal usage without Ihe written consent ot ihe general manager, unless ihe client has purchased the composition o f such ad © 199b IH E PORTLAND OBSERVER A L L RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN W HOLE OR IN PART W ITH O U T PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member o f the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 18X5. and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Ine. New York. NY. and The West Coast Black Publishers rienced in the 1990s. O ver the past six years, the em ploym ent to population ratio - the percentage of the civilian population that is em ployed — for African Americans declined by an average o f -0.4 percent each year after increasing by 0.8 percent on average between 1992 and 2000. In 2007, the unemployment level o f African Americans stood at a distressing 8.3 percent while w hite A m ericans hovered at 4.1 percent. This is a sharp con trast to the movement o f these levels throughout the 1990s, when African A mericans' un em ploym ent averaged an an nual decline o f -0.8 percent. T h e in c re a se in A frican- American hom eow nership has been slow er under Bush than the 1990s. During Bush. The hom eow nership rate for Afri can Americans increased by an average annual growth rate of just 0.1, from 47.2 percent to 47.9 percent, whereas w hites' hom eow nership rate increased by an average annual growth rate o f 0.3 percent. M ore A frican A m erican s were in poverty in 2(X)6 than in 2000, just after we saw a vast im p ro v em en t the 1990s. In 2006, 24.2 percent o f African- American individuals were in poverty. Com pare this to 2(XX), when 22.5 percent were below the poverty line. Daniella Gibbs Leger is the vice president fo r com m unica tions at the Center fo r A m eri can Progress. Intimidation Won’t Stop Our Progress me. T his is a serious issue that, as adults m ost o f us can p ro c e ss an d sh a k e o ff. O u r young children are by J udge G reg M athis not so adept at sim L y n c h in g , e v en as a ply 'letting it g o .' In threat, has long been used D ecem ber 2(X)6, in to in tim id a te A fric a n Jena. L ouisiana, a A m ericans. A t the height o f A m erican apartheid, m obs fight broke out betw een six black w ould g ather to beat and torture teens and a w hite teen ag er fo l blacks, en ding their act o f evil low ing an incident w here three w hite students hung nooses from by hanging th eir victim s. S peaking up for basic rights, a tree at the local high school. attem pting to vote, looking at a N ot possessing the skills to real w hite w om an in acertain w a y ... ize the students w ho hung the all o f these actions and others nooses w ere w eak and ig r could easily incite a lynch mob. rant, the six black students let W hile the actual act o f lynching their rage festeruntil itexploded. A s a people, w e cannot let is now illegal, the threat is not. A nd m any still play on the hor th e in tim id a tio n s to p o u r rible im agery to invoke fear in progress. Sen. B arack O bam a the hearts o f those o f us w ho certainly h a sn ’t. Im m ediately upon launching kicking dow n doors and blazing new trails. But do not fear; the h is p r e s id e n tia l c a m p a ig n , tactic w ill not w ork. T he threat O bam a began receiving death o f lynching did not stop blacks threats. T he threats cam e so across the south front pressing often that he received secret- for justice. N o m atter how m any service detail ea rlie r than any v ic tim s th o se e a rly freedom presidential candidate in history. Don’t give in to fear / too have received threats, suggesting I be lynched fo r my outspoken political comments. Thankfully, I don't let the ignorance shake me. fighters saw hanging from trees, they m arched on. A nd so will we. A g o lf analyst recently sug gested the only w ay to defeat g o lf e r e x tr a o r d in a ir e T ig e r W oods w as to gang up on him in an alley and lynch him . T o add insult to injury, G olfw eek m aga zine then put a noose on the co v er o f its Jan. 19 issue. The analyst w as suspended and the m agazine ed ito r w as fired. But the co m m ent and im ages still linger. In the last h a lf o f 2007, M adonna C onstantine, a black professor at C olum bia U niver sity found a noose hanging from her office door. She told m edia outlets that, upon seeing the noose, tears im m ediately sprung to her eyes. C onstantine, w ho had been outspoken on race and gender issues felt it w as the w ork o f an insecure person. I too have re ceived threats, suggesting I be lynched for my outspoken politi cal com m ents. T hankfully, I d o n 't let the ignorance shake But O bam a has not let this stop him . A nd nor should w e as a people. M any o f us so fear for O b a m a 's life that w e d o n 't w ant him to run for president. Som e say they w ill not vote for him because they w ant to keep him alive. D o not give in to the fear. H ad w e given in to fear, slavery could possibly still be a part o f our reality. O r Jim C row . O r a m yriad o f other social sins that w e collectively overcam e b e cause w e dared to hope. It is th at h o p e , th a t fe a rle ssn e ss, ch aracteristics A frican A m eri cans can naturally em body, that corrected m any o f the w rongs co m m itted against us. A nd it is that sam e hope and fearless ness that will bring change, not ju st in o u r personal lives, but the lives o f everyone around us. Judge Greg Mathis is na tional vice president o f Rain bow PUSH and a national board member o f the South ern Christian Leadership Con feren ce. Association. Serving Portland and Vancouver. Chiropractic Auto Injury Clinic, PC Zchon R. Jones, DC 333 NE Russell S t, #200, Portland, OR. 97212 (503) 284-7838 Tntly making a difference in the lives of Auto Accident victims and Injured Workers for 16 years. If you or someone you know has been in an accident, call us so we can help you with your needs. (503)284-7838 Pakina Are« I 3 3 NF Riiteli >•200 Riuscii St 1 i Where are our regulatory watchdogs? by J im H ightower IV? are located on the corner o f MLK and Russell Street, on the second floor above the coffee shop. \\ Don’t Blame China - Blame Us The “Made in China" has become a warning label. Look out - toxics in tooth paste. arsenic in shrimp, lead in toys! Politicians are pointing their fin gers at China's lackadaisical ap proach to product safety. But wait a minute - where, oh where, are our own regulatory watchdogs? The big shock is not that Chi nese-made toysare laden with lead, but that America' sConsumer Prod uct Safety Commission is a tooth less watchdog that employs exactly one inspector to oversee the safety of all toys sold in the United States. Likewise, the Food and Drug Administration has licensed 714 Chinese plants to manufacture the key ingredients for a growing per centage of the antibiotics, painkill ers, and other drugs we buy, but pro vides practically no oversight of these plants. In 2007, for ex am ple, FDA in spected only 13 of them. An even bigger shock is that our consumer-protection laws are so riddled with kxipholes that unsafe products can legally come into our country. Take phthalate, achem ical ad ditive in plastics that is su s pected by scientists here and in Europe of inhibiting testosterone production in infant boys. Yet, Mark Shapiro, author o f “Ex posed: The Toxic Chem istry of Everyday Products," reports that while the European Union has banned the use o f phthalates in products aimed at children under three years of age, our govern ment has refused to act. Thus, China has factories that manufacture two lines of toys — one without phthalates for ship ment to European countries, and one with phthalates for export to our children. The problem is not with the Chi nese, but with our own corporate chieftains who have moved their manufacturing to China specifically to get these kinds of low-cost short cuts in production while simulta neously demanding that Washing ton cut back on regulations that protect us consumers. We must put our own house in order. Jim Hightower is the author o f "Thieves in High Places: They've Stolen Our Country and it's Time to take it Rack. "