®*?* Fortiani» (Ob ser Her O ctober 12. 2011 Page 7 Pressing On for Jobs and Equality Obama defends progressive values by M arc H. M orial After months of reaching out to the other side to find com mon ground on the issues of job creation and deficit reduction. President O bam a’s recent speech at the Congressional Black Caucus din ner signaled a shift towards a more robust defense of the progressive values he shares with the CBC, the National Urban League and millions of middle class and working class Americans. The President used the speech to contrast his vision of equal oppor tunity and shared sacrifice with those in Congress who are only looking out for big business and the wealthy. He also reminded us that de spite fierce opposition, his Ad ministration, with the help of the CBC, has accomplished much that has b enefitted A frican Americans. This includes a pay roll tax cut; an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit; enactment of the stron gest consumer financial protections in history; making college loans more affordable; investments in early childhood education, community colleges and HBCUs; and passage of a health care law that has already resulted in one million more young people having health insurance. This real progress has largely been drowned out by the loud and raucous partisan opposition that has domi nated much of the President’s first term in office. But President Obama also acknowledged that with unem ployment approaching 17 percent among African Americans and al most half of African American chil dren living in poverty, much more needs to be done. The blueprint for the work that lies ahead is contained in his Ameri can Jobs Act, which includes a num ber of measures I have personally pushed for in direct meetings with the President. These include sum mer jobs for teens, infrastructure investments and direct job creation. The President also shares our belief that funding for these and other provisions in his bill requires that the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations pay their fair share. He said, “Warren Buffet’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffet. A teacher or a nurse or a construc tion worker making $50,000 a year shouldn’t pay higher tax rates than somebody making $50 million ayear. That’s just common sense.” We agree. A nd w hile I su p p o rt the President’s demand that Congress pass this jobs bill now, I have also urged improvements to ensure that its benefits do not bypass urban communities. For exam ple, in frastru ctu re spending needs to be expanded beyond schools and transportation to include work on community cen ters and libraries to bring more jobs to urban neighborhoods. Job training is also needed to prepare more urban residents for work refurbishing foreclosed prop erties. And funding for these and other projects should be provided directly to municipalities rather than through the states to ensure that communities hardest hit by unem ployment are not left behind. The P resident’s speech paid homage to the leadership and sacri fices of civil rights legends like Rev. Joseph Lowery and Congressman John Lewis. He urged all of us to follow their example and “press on” for the sake of jobs, equality and our children. 1 urge him to keep up the pressure and carry that message to every com er of this country. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer o f the Na tional Urban League. Serious Case of Misguided Nostalgia? Learning from the Columbus’ story S ara J oseph Many of us will never forget that famous elementary school rhyme: "In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Colum bus sailed the ocean blue." At the time, it’s not likely that we would have sensed any loom ing co n tro v ersy behind those grade school lessons. With C o lumbus Day being observed this week, however, it’s worth asking w hether affection for the holiday is really a serious case of m is guided nostalgia. Columbus Day celebrates the "discovery" of the Americas. But it’s clear that the continent had al ready been inhabited by well-estab lished indigenous communities. The people who already lived in the region welcom ed the first European immigrants with curios ity and open hearts and minds. But it soon became clear that the explorers sent by European roy alty had come to dom inate, de feat, and destroy. On Oct. 12, 1492, Colum bus wrote of the native people he en countered: "They should be good serv an ts...they can all be subju gated and made to do what is required of them." Columbus is credited with forg ing the first links betw een A m eri can and European civilizations. But w hether the m anner in which by these cultures collided merits com m em oration as a federal holiday is doubtful at best. T hroughout m ost of the A m e ric a s, s c h o o lc h ild re n d o n ’t rem em ber C olum bus Day with cutesy images of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. In fact, it’s often called by an entirely different name: Dia de la Raza (Latin Am erican H eri tage Day). This is a way to recog nize indigenous roots in the Ameri cas. It also serves as a tribute to the lives and civilizations lost in the name of slavery and European expansion — beginning with C o lum bus'arrival in 1492. Today, Latin American and Car ibbean schoolchildren that migrate to the United States are unlikely to receive a hero's welcome. In fact, they are often forced to live in the shadows as their parents struggle to survive. Presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann recently went so far as to mock Rick Perry's state ment that anyone with a "heart" would want to protect the rights of immigrant children to an education — even if they were brought to the United States "through no fault of their own." M igration across what's now the U .S.-M exican border has ex isted for centuries. The reality is that this history was m arked by periodic shared interest in pro m oting imm igration. But as eco nom ic and anti-narcotic policies initiated by W ashington have in creased pressure on Latin A m eri can people to m igrate, im m igra tion has become a hot-button is- THE LAW OFFICES OF Patrick John Sweeney, PC. sue for people across the political spectrum . To many, the flow of im m igra tion seems daunting. Bachmann recen tly proposed a so lu tio n : "B uild a b a rrie r, a fe n c e , a w all.. .every mile, every yard, ev ery foot, every inch will be cov ered on that southern border." But spending billions on border militarization hasn’t stopped un documented migration. In fact, one of the only notable outcomes of beefing up the border has been more death, danger, and lives lost in the desert. Ideally, every October we would celebrate the coming together of the cultures of the Americas. Sadly, the legacy of cultural domination and separation continues with border 520 SW 3rd Ave., Portland, OR 97204 • 503-796-9250 A full service flower experience Attorney at Law 1549 SE Ladd Portland, Oregon (503) 244-2080 (503) 244-2081 (503) 244-2084 Sweeney @ PDXLawyer.com Sara Joseph is the communica tions associate fo r Witness fo r Peace. Avalon Flowers Patrick John Sweeney Portland: Hillsoboro: Facsimile: Email: militarization as a tenet of our for eign policy. According to President Barack Obama, it is Columbus' "intrepid character and spirit of possibility that has come to define America, and is the reason countless families still journey to our shores." To whom is Obama referring if not the immigrants who come to the United States for a chance to sup port their families? On this Colum bus Day, let's consider the discrep ancy between how newcomers are celebrated in our history but ostra cized in our society — and what we can learn from a modem analysis of Columbus' story. •Birthdays • Funerals • Anniversaries • Weddings Open: Mon.-Fri. 7:30am til 5:30pm Saturday 9am til 2pm. Cori Stewart— Owner, Operator Website: avalonflowerspdx.com email: avalonflowers@msn.com We Offer Wire Services