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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 23, 2012)
» till ®‘i* ^Jortlanh (Observer May 23, 2012 O pinion ________________ Put Aside the Politics and Celebrate Obama is right on gay marriage by M ichael N euroth President O bam a sent the m edia and public “a-tw itter” w ith his public support fo r gay m arriage earlie r this m onth. N ew spapers, blogs and social n etw ork ing sites have been buzzing with opinions and articles regarding the im plications o f this announcem ent. In his interview on A B C new s on M ay 9, O bam a stated unequivocally, “ I've ju st co n clu d ed that — for me personally, it is im portant for m e to go ahead and affirm that— I think sam e-sex couples should be able to get m arried.” M any U nited C hurch o f C hrist friends celebrated this m om ent on Facebook and the U C C ’s G eneral M inister and President, Rev. G eoffrey B lack, issued a pow erful affirm ation o f O b a m a ’s state m ent attesting to the “countless testim o nies” o f sam e gender couples in the U C C w ho live the “vocation o f m ar riag e ” as w ell as anyone. A s a m em ber o f H ope U nited C hurch o f C hrist, an O pen and A ffirm ing U C C church w ith several sam e gender couples, I ex perience this truth as well. N ot surprisingly, though, not everyone is celebrating this m om ent. A s I found not reflect m y opinion and it m ight be hurtful to those for w hom this m om ent is one o f deep celebration. T his co m m en t, though, cau sed m e to think and w restle w ith this q u estio n the past few days. N o doubt w h atev er a P resident does ...polls have shown that despite a slim 51 percent public support fo r Obama’s position, those states expected to be close in the presidential election have laws or constitutional provisions that prohibit same-sex marriage. on my ow n Facebook w all, m any o f my friends are d ivided on the issue. A m idst a flurry o f co m m en ts c e l e b r a tin g th is m o m e n t, o n e f r ie n d d ism issively suggested that it w as “ju st po litics.” R eally? He d ism issed this as a historic m om ent for civil rights because o f his b e lief that the P re sid e n t’s state m ent w as politically m otivated. I re m oved this com m ent know ing that it did d uring an election y ear can easily be broken dow n, polled, and assessed for its political im pact. Y et o v er the past few days polls have show n that despite a slim 51 percent public support fo r O b a m a ’s p o sitio n , th o se states ex p ected to be close in the p resid en tial electio n have law s or constitutional provisions that p ro hibit sam e-sex m arriage. In these states, the P resid en t’s statem ent m ay hurt his ch an ces in the election. A nd he d id this fo r pure political g ain ? I ’d like to think that O b a m a ’s “e v o lu tio n ” on the topic o f gay m arriag e had so m eth in g to do w ith the fact that he spent o v er 20 years in a U nited C hurch o f C h rist co n g reg atio n . T he U n ited C h u rch o f C hrist has a long history o f affirm in g and w orking for equal rights fo r L G B T Q persons. I know fo r m e, m y ow n p ersp ectiv e w as sh ap ed through ex p erien cin g the g en u in e love I saw in sam e-g en d er rela tio n sh ip s o f my friends and co lleag u es in sem inary. W h atev er O b a m a ’s m o tiv a tion to declare his support fo r sam e-sex m arriage, there are m om ents w hen w e m ust put aside politics and celebrate. T his is one o f those m om ents. L e t’s celeb rate this historic point fo r o u r co u n try. A nd even m ore im portantly, le t’s celeb rate this p ro fo u n d m om ent fo r the m illions o f sam e gen d er loving couples in o u r ch u rch es and co m m u n ities. Michael Neuroth is a policy advo cate fo r international issues in the United Church o f Christ. Look What Law and Order Has Wrought by W illiam R eed D o n ’t you think that it’s tim e to re f o r m A m e r i c a ’s crim inal ju stice sys tem ? It’s an unfair, racist and d ishonest system in need o f abandonm ent. In the last 4 0-years an in sid i ous prison industrial com plex has d ev elo p ed to the detrim ent o f A frican -A m erican m ales. It a p pears that politicians o f all stripes are m ore interested in sending A fric a n A m e ric a n s to p riso n than to college. I f s tim e to sound th e a la rm on th e h a rm th e c o u n try ’s prison industrial c o m plex is causing. H ow is it that A frican A m eri cans are so d ism issive o f the m ass in c a rc e ra tio n o f o u r m ale pop u latio n ? It’s tim e to publicly scrutinize the dispro portionate prison population num bers. G oing to prison rep resents lifelong exclusion from “pro p er society” including jo b discrim ination, elim ination from ju rie s and vo ter rolls, and d is qualification from access to food stam ps, public housing and stu dent loans. B lack leaders need to address the devastating e f fect o f the w ar on drugs on our com m unities. T he A m erican ju stic e system is racist, outm o d ed and d eserv ing o f public scorn. T oday, black m ales are the c o u n try ’s m ost socially d isen fran ch ised group. It should be o f m ajo r concern that 10.4 percen t o f the A frican- A m erican m ale p o p ulation ages 25 to 29 is incarcerated. W e all know so m eo n e “ in tro u b le.” M ore th an 3 m illion b lack j I J I generates, but su ffer the m ost in law en fo rcem en t and the legal system . A p p ro x im ately 13 m il lion A m erican s buy o r sell, c o cain e, E cstasy o r w eed on a reg u lar basis. W h eth er it’s for recreational use o r for profit, th e y ’re not the o n es w ho go to jail for drug crim es. A m erican drug sales and th eir huge profits exist outside B lack co m m u n i ties. It’s estim ated that $ 1 0 to $30 billion in d ru g profits goes are w ealthy bankers w ho lau n d er m oney, land o w n ers w ho g ro w and ex p o rt p ro d u ct, and W all Street in v esto rs and b u si ness folk w ho profit from d e signing, building, supplying and m anaging prisons. C an d id ate R on P aul is the only one w illing to say: “T he true racial p ro b lem s in this co u n try involve drug law en fo rcem en t. T he drug w ar is out o f c o n tr o l... and und erm in es o u r civil lib er ties. It m agnifies o u r p ro b lem s on the borders. W e spent, over the last 4 0 years, $1 trillio n on this w a r ... It ju st h asn 't w orked. It has to do w ith en fo rcin g the drug law s.” W e m ust take m ore a g g res sive political p o sitio n s to rid our people o f this crim inal ju stic e and prison system . Stop the geno cide. People o f co n scien ce m ust let o u r elected o fficials know that w e w ant to d ecrim in alize cocaine, heroin and m ariju an a in o rd er to clo se the do o rs o n d ia bolical p riso n s and policies. south to C o lo m b ia and M exico each year. T he real b en eficia ries o f the A m erican drug trade William Reed is publisher o f Who's Who in Black Corpo rate America. The true racial problems in this country involve drug law enforcement. The drug war is out o f control... and undermines our civil liberties. It magnifies our problems on the borders. _ ROn Paul, presidential candidate hou seh o ld s have a close relative currently o r p reviously on parole o r probation. T he nu m b ers have grow n to the po in t that m ore A frican -A m erican m en are in 503-"88^0037"” | ja il than in college. Since the Attn: Subscriptions, The | “W ar on D ru g s” w as launched, ■ $45.00 for 3 months • $80.00 for 6 mo. • $ 125.00 Portland Observer, PO Box ■ the U .S. has spent m ore than a for 1 year (please include check with fo rm ) 3137, Portland OR 97208. , trillion dollars incarcerating m il lions o f y o u n g people on drug N ame : _______________ charges. T he “W ar on D ru g s” T elephone : __________ h a s c r e a te d a m a r g in a liz e d und erclass th a t’s d en ied equal A ddress : ____________ access to jo b s and educational I _________________________________ opportunities. I or email subscriptions@portlandobserver.com Isn ’t it tim e to take elected p —— — — — — — — — — —■ ■ S u b s c rib e officials to task fo r the law s they helped to design, w rite and leg is late? T o allow these law s and law m akers to rem ain in o ffice is a crim e. B lacks receiv e little o f the $321.6 billion the global drug trade
