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August 25, 2010 il,v |JortIanb (Obstruer Page 17 We’re Still Not Colorblind Racism as American as apple pie W ell, th e y 'v e g o t a p o in t. E v e ry th in g th a t h a p p e n s th e se d ay s s e e m s to b e r e c o r d e d o n s o m e b o d y 's c a m e ra an d fin d its to Y o u T u b e w ith s ta rtlin g ra p id ity , y e t th e re are no by D onald K ahl p ic tu re s o r re c o rd in g s o f T e a p a rtie rs g e t th e in c id e n t a t th e C a p ito l. u p se t w h e n yo u call M ay b e it d id n 't h a p p en . th em ra c ists. "W e 're M aybe th e n o t r a c i s t s ," th e y c o n g re ss p e o p le m ish e ard . y e ll. " W e 're G o d T h e p ro te s to rs c o u ld hav e fe a rin g A m e ric a n s b een y e llin g "F re e d o m fo r w ho d o n 't lik e N ig e r," o r s o m e th in g like O b a m a's so cia list, a ffirm a tiv e -a c th a t. tio n w ay s. W e ju s t w a n t free d o m R i g h t - w i n g e r s lik e G le n n from g o v e rn m e n t in te rfe re n c e in a "L o o n y T u n e s" B eck h a v e tak en c o lo rb lin d so c ie ty ." u p th e p a r tie r s ' c a u s e w ith a So y o u say , "W h a t a b o u t th a t c o u n te r-a tta c k , c h a rg in g th e b lack tim e a b u n c h o f y o u lin e d up at the le g is la to rs an d th e ir a llie s w ith C a p ito l a n d y e lle d ra c ist e p ith e ts " re v e rse ra c ism ." at b la ck c o n g re ss p e rso n s as th ey I d o n 't k n o w e x a c tly w h a t th at w e n t in to th e b u ild in g ? " m e an s b u t I'm g u e ss in g "N y ah , "It n e v e r h a p p e n e d ," th e tea n y a h , y o u 're a n o th e r" is c lo se to p a rtie rs sh o u t. (W h e n th e y 're n o t it. y e llin g , th e y 're sh o u tin g .) "S h o w It is m y c o n sid e re d o p in io n that us the c lip s. T h ere are no v id eo s th e y are b o th rig h t. T ea p a rtie rs o f the a lle g e d in c id e n t. It n e v e r are ra c ists. So are A fric a n A m e ri h a p p e n e d ." c an s w h o o b je c t to tea p a rtie rs. R ac ism is w o v e n in to the v e ry fa b ric o f o u r so c ie ty . It's w ritte n in to th e C o n stitu tio n , o u r fo u n d ing d o c u m e n t, w h ic h fo r p u rp o se s o f r e p re s e n ta tio n a n d ta x a tio n c o u n te d b la ck p e o p le as th re e - fifth s o f a p e rso n . (In d e n tu re d w h ite se rv a n ts w e re c o u n te d as w h o le p e o p le , b u t n o t b la c k s .) W e p ra c tic e d c h a tte l sla v e ry h ere fo r n e a rly a c e n tu ry a fte r w e b e c a m e a n a tio n an d a b a n d o n e d it o n ly a fte r a b ru ta l c iv il w ar. F o r the n ex t 100 y e a rs o r so, m o st o f the c o u n try in d u lg ed in so m e form o f ra c ia l s e g re g a tio n . A n d w e 're n o t ra c ists ? A ll o f a su d d e n w e 're c o lo rb lin d ? C o m e on, g e t real. R ac ism is as A m e ri can as a p p le p ie. T h e re 's no re a so n tea p a rtie rs o r th e ir p la y m a te s sh o u ld be e x e m p t fro m it. A s fu rth e r e v id e n c e I o ffe r a c o lu m n by C h a rle s B lo w o f T he N ew Y o rk T im es. B lo w w rite s a b o u t p o lls h e 's fo u n d in te re st in g , c o m p le te w ith c h a rts an d g ra p h s. R e c e n tly he la id o u t th e re s u lts o f a Q u in n ip ia c p o ll on a ttitu d e s to w a rd P re sid e n t B arack O b a m a, b ro k e n d o w n by ra c e and e th n ic ity . F o r e x a m p le , th e p o ll a sk e d p e o p le w h e th e r th ey w o u ld v o te lo r O b a m a i f th e e le c tio n w e re b e in g h eld to d ay . E ig h ty -se v e n o n w h ic h o n ly 38 p e rc e n t th o u g h t he w as d o in g a g o o d jo b . T h a t c o m p a re s to 28 p e rc e n t o f w h ite s w h o like w h a t h e's b e en d o in g . A ll o f th a t w o u ld s u g g e s t th a t p e o p le 's v ie w s o f O b a m a 's p re s i d e n c y a re b e in g c o lo re d by c o lo r, so to sp eak . W h at clin ch ed it fo rm e , th ough, w as th e q u e stio n : "D o y o u th in k th a t B arack O b a m a has b e e n a b e tte r p re sid e n t th an G e o rg e W. B u sh ?" O n ly 37 p e rc e n t o f the w h ite re s p o n d e rs th o u g h t he h ad b een . G e o rg e W . B ush! W h o ran the e co n o m y in to a d itc h . W h o to o k us to w a r in Iraq on a false p rem ise. W ho fid d le d w h ile N ew O rle a n s flo o d e d . W ho so m e s c h o la rs c o n s id e r o n e o f th e tw o o r th re e w o rs t p re s id e n ts in o u r h is to ry . T h a t G e o rg e W . B ush. A n d tw o -th ird s o f th e w h ite p e o p le in th is c o u n try th in k he w as b e tte r th a n O b a m a. T h a t's ra c ism , b ab y . p e rc e n t o f A fric a n -A m e ric a n re sp o n d e n ts said th e y w o u ld . T h is c o m p a re d w ith o n ly 4 9 p e rc e n t o f th e L a tin o s in te rv ie w e d . W h ites? A m ere 28 p e rc e n t said th e y w o u ld v o te fo r th e p re s id e n t th is tim e aro u n d . T hat re m a rk a b le g ap is re p e ate d in th e p o ll on a v a rie ty o f issu e s. D o es the re s p o n d e n t a p p ro v e o f the w ay O b a m a is h a n d lin g the p re s id e n c y ? N in e ty -o n e p e rc e n t o f the b la c k s say y e s as a g a in s t 37 p e rc e n t o f th e w h ite s. O il s p ill? S e v e n ty -tw o p e rc e n t o f the b la ck s said O b a m a w as h a n d lin g it w ell, o n ly 37 p e rc en t o f th e w h ite s th o u g h t h e w as. O n fo r e ig n p o lic y th e sc o re w as 72 to 38. L a tin o s te n d e d to b e d iv id e d e v e n ly o n m o st q u e stio n s, th e e x OtherWords columnist Donald c ep tio n b ein g illeg al im m ig ratio n , Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Mich. iiSiiimKJîfiiiSÎW»®: Blood Diamond Atrocities A destructive market exposed J udge G reg M athis D iam onds are a g irl’s - o r rapper or bailer's - best friend; this w e know . But, these precious stones are also at the core o f som e o f th e g re a te s t a tro c itie s know n to m an. by “ B lood d iam o n d s” o r co n flict diam onds, as they are called, are diam onds m ined in w ar zones and then used to fund violent m ilitias; th e y ’re m ost com m on in A frica, w here about tw o thirds o f the w o rld ’s d ia m o n d s a re p r o d u ced . A s g o v e r n m e n ts and o r g a n iz a ti o n s around the w orld have ^^IJorttanbO hBcnicr becom e m ore aw are o f ‘blood d ia m o n d s’ and the roles they play in w ar, actions have been taken to lim it their appearance in the m arket place. W e too can and should do o u r part to m ake sure any bling w e m ight buy is co nflict free. F o r th ree y ears, fo rm er L iberian p re s id e n t C h a rle s T a y lo r has been on tria l for, a m o n g o th e r th in g s, sex tra ffic k in g , m u rd e r, an d re c ru itin g an d u sin g c h ild so ld ie rs. T a y lo r a lle g e d ly u sed b lo o d d ia m o n d s to fu n d th e se c rim e s. T he Established 1970 USPS 9 5 9 -6 8 0 ______________________________________ 47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 Billy Webb Elks #1050 6 North Tillamook St. E ditor - in -C hief , P ublisher : Charles H. 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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART c ase has a ttra c te d in te rn a tio n a l In 2 0 0 1 , th e U .S. p a ss e d law s m e d ia a tte n tio n an d has e v en in th a t p re v e n te d ro u g h d ia m o n d s v o lv e d te stim o n y fro m in te rn a from Sierra L eone and L iberia from tio n a l su p erm o d el N a o m i b e in g im p o rte d in to th e c o u n try . C am p b ell w h o re c eiv e d b lo o d d ia In 2 0 0 3 , th e C lean D iam o n d T rad e m o n d s from T a y lo r’s m en in 1997. A c t w as p a ss e d an d s ig n a le d the T a y lo r’s c a se is im p o rta n t b e U . S . ’ s p a r t i c i p a t i o n in T h e c a u se it illu s tra te s v e ry c le a rly K im b e rle y P ro c e ss, a U .N . m a n th e d e s tru c tio n an d te rro r th a t d a te d c e r tific a tio n s y s te m th a t b lo o d d ia m o n d s, o n ce th e y ’re so ld p re v e n ts c o n flic t d ia m o n d s from - c a n b rin g . T h a n k fu lly , m u ch has e n te rin g th e m a rk e tp la c e . T o d a y , b e en d o n e a ro u n d th e w o rld to try o v e r 99 p e rc e n t o f all d ia m o n d s to c u rta il th e tra d in g o f th e se c e rtifie d th ro u g h p ro c e ss are from s to n e s . c o n flic t free so u rc e s. T h o u g h th is is an im p re s siv e fete, a tin y n u m b e r o f b lo o d d ia m o n d s are still so ld - k n o w in g ly o r u n k n o w in g ly - b y je w e le rs , u s u a lly sm a ll, in d e p e n d e n ts s e ll ers. A sk y o u r je w e le r o r re s e lle r to Portland, Oregon 97227 p ro v id e d o c u m e n ta tio n c e rtify in g 503 284 4853 th e d ia m o n d s are c o n flic t free. I f th e y c a n n o t d o th a t, lo o k fo r a n o th e r je w e le r . 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