M arch 17. 2010
Æl?f Fortiani» (Observer
Page 15
Disturbing Tide of Intolerance
Poisoned thoughts wreak havoc
by
J udge G reg M athis
Since the election o f
President Obama, w e’ve
seen a resurgence o f rac
ism in every sector o f so
c ie ty . F rom g ro w in g
websites that allow users
to spew anonymously to
on-air personalities sharing their
prejudiced views with others, the
displays have been, to say the
least, disturbing.
Many people believe these
types o f acts are carried out by
lower class, uneducated people,
not yet aligned with m odem
views o f tolerance. The most
recent incident, which took place
on a co lleg e cam p u s, m ay
change all o f our views on that.
Last month, stu
dents at the Uni
versity o f Califor
nia at San Diego
held an off-campus
party where guests
w ere encouraged
to wear gold teeth,
mocking rappers and to dress in
baggy clothing style that is popu
lar among today’s urban youth
and wannabes.
A dding insult to injury, the
p a r t y ’s h o s ts s e rv e d up
w aterm elon... repeating an age
old - and overdone - slam on
A frican A m ericans. To com
pound the situation, a cam pus
television show highlighted the
party on air and used a racial
—
Saturday Mail Essential
Postmaster General John Potter's proposal to eliminate Satur
day delivery would be the most radical change to postal opera
tions in the 230-year history o f the U.S. Mail.
Eliminating six-day delivery would cut thousands o f postal jobs
at a time when the U.S. is experiencing near-record unem ploy
ment, and there are no comprehensive studies showing that doing
so would solve the economic crisis facing the USPS.
One o f the defining characteristics o f the U.S. Postal Service
is its policy — mandated by the U.S. Constitution — o f nation
wide uniform affordable pricing with six-day delivery. Com peti
tors either don’t deliver on Saturday or, if they do, charge a higher
price.
Small and large businesses rely on the delivery o f the mail six
days per week. Saturday delivery is especially important to
growing companies like eBay, Netflix and Caremark.
Billions o f prescriptions are delivered through the mail each
year— a two-day delay in their delivery could seriously inconve
nience senior citizens and others.
Americans living in rural areas where the Postal Service’s
competitors do not deliver rely especially on six-day USPS
delivery and would be adversely affected by any service cuts.
Farmers rely on the delivery o f seeds and other products through
the mail, while citizens who live far from retail outlets need the
USPS for mail-order delivery.
If the public postal service disappears, private delivery com pa
nies, based on profit motive, will not fill the void o f the universal
delivery service mandated by the constitution.
The U.S. Postal Service is vital even in the Internet age. As
letter carriers, we are concerned about not only job security, but
the importance o f preserving our centuries-proven public postal
service.
James Cook
Local president, National Association o f Letter Carriers
*
slur to refer to black students.
As if things c o u ld n ’t get
w orse, a student hung a noose
from a bookcase in the cam
pus library. O utraged students
thought the adm inistration was
slow to react and kept too low
a profile as the events unfolded.
They responded to the p er
ceived inaction by holding a
s it- in
th e
u n iv e r s ity
C h an cello r’s office.
D iversity is key in all as
pects o f life, especially in higher
education settings. I f students
from hom ogenous com m uni
ties are not exposed to a vari
ety o f cultures they m ay not be
able to adjust and dispel the
stereotypical im ages they may
bring to the table. A dditionally,
interacting w ith and, possibly,
befriending som eone from a
different culture m ay lead a
student to think tw ice before
saying or participating in som e
thing that is racially or cultur
ally offensive.
U n fo rtu n a te ly , th e re has
been a lack o f diversity in C ali
fornia colleges and universi
ties since affirm ative action
was struck down in the state.
C urrently, black students are
d is p ro p o rtio n a te ly
underrepresented in the sta te ’s
universities.
Those who do enroll are truly
m inorities w ithin the school;
they should not subject to rac
ist acts or im ages. The U niver
sity o f C alifornia at San Diego
- and universities and colleges
nationw ide - should begin to
offer mandatory diversity train
ing for first year students. F ur
therm ore, racist and offensive
behavior should carry w ith it a
stiff penalty, not necessarily
expulsion but perhaps exten
sive com m unity service in an
urban area.
C o lleg es can and sho u ld
work to shift and ultim ately
change p rejudiced b eh av io r
am ong students. If it is not
nipped in the bud on the cam
pus level, the racist ideals could
grow and these young people,
with their poisoned thoughts,
could go on to w reak m ore
havoc in society.
Greg Mathis is a retired
Michigan Court judge and
syndicated television show
judge.
te the GLditer
I Home Grown Support
tors. Also, to Farrell Realty and to the St. Johns
Boosters for using one o f their Gateway reader
boards to promote Roosevelt and our youth.
Thanks to St. Johns Theatre for the promotion
slides prior to the beginning o f the movies and to
several o f our churches who have eagerly sup
ported our neighborhood high school.
L et’s spend our money where people care
about our kids and the community that supports
them financially.
If ever there was a reminder that we all ought
to buy locally from our community owned small
businesses, I will share with you a most recent
encounter with the two different business ap
proaches to local consumers.
A week or so before the opening o f Roosevelt’s
“Wizard o f O z” production, I visited each o f the
businesses along Lombard with reader board signs
and asked each if they would be willing to support
Mike Verbout
the youth o f our community in promoting their play.
North Portland
Each local small business mer
chant was eager to be helpful
and supportive. Each Corporate
business would not participate,
citing corporate policies, etc. In
contacting the corporate offices
they had absolutely no interest in
allowing any flexibility to allow
for very limited usage o f their
reader boards to send a m es
sage o f support to the students
or their families or their neigh
Dr. Marcelitte
borhood.
Failla
Nearly all o f the corporate
Chiropractic
businesses are near Roosevelt
Physician
and are heavily patronized by
the students. Our com munity
m em bers spend hard earned
We are located at
money at these corporate busi
1716 N.E. 42nd Ave.
nesses and they are eager to
Portland, OR 97213
accept our money. But they find
(Between Broadway and Sandy' Blvd.)
all kinds o f reasons why they are
unable to support our youth in
• Automobile accident injuries
such a simple way.
• C hronic headache and jo in t pain
A special thanks to the Shell
• Workers Compensation injuries
s ta tio n a t P o rtsm o u th and
Call for an appointment! (503)228-6140
Lombard and to Don Lee Mo-
Your Care
Our First
Priority