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A p ril I. 2009
Page A5
J ustice
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Best of Times, Worst of Times
Urban League scores progress
A s th e en tire c o u n try o b ­ age points. T his was largely
served the historic election of because the gap narrowed for
President Barack O bam a am id those without health insurance.
one o f the worst econom ic cri­
The report this year takes a
ses this nation has ever seen, a look back at the past five years
new National Urban League re­ o f the Equality Index to view
p o rt sh o w s th a t
trends o f progress
these are the ‘best
and decline.
o f tim es and the
B e tw e e n 2003
and 2007 the pov­
worst o f tim es’ for
black America.
erty rate and home
T h e S ta te o f
ow nership rate d e­
B lac k A m e ric a
clined for blacks but
2009 report shows
in c re a s e d
fo r
w h ite s. E v en as
that while the en­
tire country is hurt­
both groups made
ing d u rin g these
progress in educa­
Marc H. Morial
to u g h e c o n o m ic
tional attain m en t,
th e p ro g re s s w as
tim e s , A fric a n -
A m ericans are disproportion­ slow er for blacks.
ately hurting worse. It reminds
During the same period while
the country that the election o f w hite children saw increases in
P re s id e n t O b a m a d o e s not “ p re p rim a ry ” e n ro llm e n t o f
mean the work o f civil rights is about 3 percent, black children
done.
saw a decline o f about 1 per­
T he annual S tate o f Black cent, causing the education gap
A m erica rep o rt in clu d es the to grow, not shrink. The report
Urban League’s Equality Index, this year shows the trend con­
a statistical m easurem ent o f the tinues.
disparities betw een blacks and
“T h e e le c tio n o f the first
w hites across five categories: black president does not mean
econom ics, education, health, we can all now close up shop
civic engagem ent and social and go h o m e ,” said the N a­
tional Urban League President
justice.
This y ear’s report show s an and CEO M arc H. M orial. “In­
overall slight decline in the sta­ stead, it’s more important than
tus o f blacks as com pared to ever that the N ational Urban
w hites, moving from 71.5 per­ League and other organizations
cent on the equality scale in and individuals com m itted to
2008 to 71.1 percent in 2009.
p o sitiv e c h a n g e w o rk ev en
The only sub index that in­ harder to lift up our com m uni­
creased over the past year was ties and m ove this country for­
in health at about 1.1 percent­ ward.”
Barack Obama enjoys lunch at a Latino eatery in Woodburn, Ore. during his presidential
campaign last May. A new Urban League reports reminds the county that while his
election as President was a milestone for equality, the work for civil rights is not done.
(AP photo)
Martin Luther King III, in the
fo rew o rd to the rep o rt, says
P re sid e n t O b a m a ’s e le c tio n
d o e s n ot m e an his f a th e r ’s
dream has been realized.
“His election is not the ful­
fillm ent o f the D ream ,” King
wrote. “T his is because Presi­
dent Obama is not the only char­
acter in this narrative, nor is he
the sto ry ’s only w riter. T he
A m erican narrative cannot re­
alize its greatest promise unless
the narratives o f all its peoples
are part o f th at prom ise. In
o th e r w o rd s , r e a liz in g th e
American Dream must be a com-
p le te p o s s ib ility fo r e v e ry
Tutu to Speak on Reconciliation
University of
Portland hosts
May event
A rchbishop D esm ond Tutu
will visit the University o f Port­
land in M ay to speak on “The
T ransform ative Pow er o f Rec­
onciliation in Society," at the
north Portland sc h o o l’s 40th
annual Collins Lecture.
A m u ltic u ltu ra l c o n c e r t,
“Voices o f Reconciliation,” will
p re c e d e th e A r c h b is h o p ’s
speech, scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
on M onday, M ay 4.
A rchbishop T utu has led a
formidable campaign in support
of justice and racial reconcilia-
Your Care
Our First Priority
C alift^ r^ap p o m tn K 'n t'
r
A m erica,” M orial said. “We
want to make sure that we work
with the adm inistration to en­
sure that urban America is in­
cluded in the policies coming
forth to help this country re­
cover economically. Only then
can we begin to close the equal­
ity gap.”
F o r th e fifth c o n s e c u tiv e
year, Pfizer has sponsored The
State o f Black America report.
“We applaud the National Ur­
ban L eague on its continued
effort to spark im portant na­
tional dialogue around crucial
issues, such as the health sta­
tu s g ap e n d u re d by b la c k
Officer’s Conduct Draws Apology
chair the Truth and Reconcilia­
tion Commission— the body set
up to probe gross human rights
violations com m itted during
apartheid in South Africa.
S in c e th e n , A rc h b is h o p
Tutu has been a visiting pro­
fesso r at E m ory U niversity,
Atlanta, the Episcopal D ivin­
ity School, B oston, and the
U niversity o f North Florida,
J a c k s o n v ille . He has p u b ­
lished several books, the lat­
est o f which is titled “God Has
a Dream.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Tutu is revered as a moral
tion in South Africa. His tire­ voice to end poverty and hu­
less w ork w as recognized in man rights abuses. While he is
1984 with the Nobel Peace Prize. an Anglican Archbishop em eri­
In 1996, he was appointed by tus and steadfast in his religious
President N elson M andela to beliefs, he places great value on
religious inclusiveness and in­
terfaith dialogue.
Tickets are $20 and can be
purchased at the University of
Portland Chiles Center box of­
fice at North W illamette Bou­
levard and Portsmouth from 11
a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday. Tickets are also avail­
ab le th ro u g h T ic k e tM a ste r
outlets with an additional ser­
vice fee.
• Automobile accident injuries
• Chronic headache and joint pain
• Workers Compensation
American.”
The them e for this year’s re­
port is “M essage to the Presi­
dent.” There are essays from
experts, and letters to the presi­
d en t from o rd in ary citiz en s
about the condition o f African-
Am ericans with recom m enda­
tions on how President Obama
and his adm inistration might
address them focusing on key
areas such as green jobs, hous­
ing and schools and education.
“For the first time we have a
president whose political base
is in a city so we feel that he
can better understand the is­
sues an d co n c ern s o f urban
A m erica,” said Forest Harper,
vice p resid en t o f C ap ab ility
D evelopm ent at Pfizer. “ We
have a lot to do before we can
achieve the goals o f elim inat­
ing health disparities, and en ­
suring that all A m ericans have
affo rd a b le ac cess to q u ality
health care regardless o f health
status or incom e.”
This y ear's report also looks
at trends from another perspec­
tive - econom ic expansion pe­
riods. W hat the num bers show
is that trends betw een blacks
and w hites were more sim ilar
than different in key areas like
m e d ian h o u s e h o ld in c o m e ,
poverty, u n em p lo y m en t and
hom e ownership.
During the econom ic expan­
sion period from 2001 - 21X17
(known as the jobless recovery
period) there was a decline in
real median household income
for blacks and w hites and an
increase in the rate o f poverty.
Real median household income
from 21X11 - 21X17 declined 1.7
percent for blacks and 3.9 per­
cen t for w h ites and p o v erty
rates increased 7.9 percent for
b la c k s a n d 5.1 p e rc e n t fo r
whites.
By contrast, during the 1990s
while trends were still similar,
African-Americans saw tremen­
dous progress. For the dura­
tion o f the ‘90s expansion, real
m e d ia n h o u s e h o ld in c o m e
grew by 23.6 percent for A fri­
can- Americans and 13 percent
for whites while poverty rates
declined by 30.6 percent and 17
percent, respectively.
NFL player
delayed as
relative died
(AP) -- A Plano, Texas police
officer was placed on adm inis­
trative leave Thursday over a
traffic stop involving an NFL
player whom he kept in a hos­
pital parking lot and threatened
to arrest while his mother-in-law
died inside the building.
O fficer Robert Powell also
drew his gun during the March
18 incident involving Houston
Texans running back Ryan Moats
in the Dallas suburb o f Plano,
police said.
"I can screw you over," he
said at one point in the video­
taped incident. W hen another
o ffic er cam e w ith w ord that
Moats' mother-in-law was indeed
dying, Powell's response was:
"All right. I'm almost done."
D allas Police C h ief D avid
Kunkle apologized to the family
an d a n n o u n c e d th a t P ow ell
would be on paid leave pending
an internal investigation.
Powell, 25, a three-year mem­
-
ber o f the force, stopped Moats'
SUV outside Baylor Regional
M edical Center at Plano after
M o ats ro lle d th ro u g h a red
light.
Moats' wife, who was in the
car along with other relatives,
said Powell pointed his weapon
at her.
"He was pointing a gun at me
as soon as I got out of the car,"
Tamishia Moats said.
Ryan Moats said that after the
officer pointed the gun at his
wife, he pointed it at him. "I just
tried to stay as still as possible
to not scare him or do anything
to make him react," he said.
Video from a dashboard cam ­
era inside the officer's vehicle,
revealed an intense exchange in
which the officer threatened to
jail Moats.
He ordered Tamishia Moats,
27, to get back in the SUV, but
after pausing for a few seconds,
she and another woman rushed
into the hospital. She was by
the side of her mother, 45-year-
old Jonetta Collinsworth, when
she died a short time later from
breast cancer.
"Get in there," said Powell,
yelling at Tamishia Moats as she
exited the vehicle. "Let me see
your hands!"
"Excuse me, my mom is dy­
ing," Tamishia Moats said. "Do
you understand?"
Ryan Moats explained that he
waited until there was no traffic
before proceeding through the
red light. When Powell asked for
proof of insurance, Moats grew
more agitated and told the of­
ficer to go find it.
"My mother-in-law is dying!
Right now! You're wasting my
time!" Moats yelled. "I don't un­
derstand why you can't under­
stand that."
As they argued, the officer got
irritated.
"Shut your mouth," the officer
said. "You can either settle down
and ctxiperate or I can just take
you to jail for running a red
light."
By the tim e the 26-year-old
NFL player received a ticket and
a lecture from Powell, about 13
minutes had passed. When he
and C ollinsw orth's father en ­
tered the hospital, they learned
Collinsw orth was dead.
The Moats family, who are
black, said they can't help but
think that race might have played
a part in the white officer's be­
havior.
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