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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2012)
October IO, 2012_____________________________ ( © b s e W e t __________________________________________________________ Page 9 _ - - ___ __Ori mon In Pursuit of Justice and Peace W hy I Vote M . L inda J a r a m il l o As far back as I can remember my mom and dad were engaged in public life, taking their civic resp o n sibilities seriously at the local, state, and national level. It m ay com e as a surprise to learn that for years my parents did not belong to the sam e political party - one w as D em ocrat and the other R epublican. H ow ever, it did not get in the w ay o f them learning all they could about candidates and issues. T hese discussions and debates w ere com m on in household c o n v er sations especially during the e le c tion season. I can still hear m y m other, w ho cam e from a co m m u nity cloaked w ith injustice, calling by on people to step up and step out. So, first, I give credit to m y parents for the significant role they played as in v o lv e d c o m m u n ity members. A t the sam e tim e, our family was active in the Roman Catho lic C hurch. W e w ent to M ass every Sunday and attended the required c a te c h ism ed u ca tio n a l p ro g ram s regularly. A s a child, I did not co n nect the tw o, but I suspect that my parents surely did. W hile their civic w ork w as fo cused on the com m on good, they c o u ld n o t u n c o u p le th e m se lv e s from a church that w as a significant part o f com m unity life. T im e passed and generations evolved; how ever, those teachings rem ain im bedded in the values that drive m y b elief ................. """ ........ .. that people o f faith m ust be part o f 's o c ia l e n g a g e m e n t b e c a u se the business o f ju stice and peace is central to o u r core C hristian teach ings. C uriously, the question regularly com es up about w hy political in volvem ent is the c h u rc h ’s business Social activism is part o f the jo y and cost o f discipleship. It is from my place in the pew s o f the local church - in this b eloved U nited C hurch o f C hrist that I discovered that the church has som e business in all o f this. It is in the pew s that I hear the scriptures read proclaim ing that G od is a G od o f ju stice. It is in the pew s that it becom es vividly clear to me that w e are responsible to one an other. It is in the pew s that I learned to shout out w ith courage. W hat is the c h u rc h ’s business in all o f this - it m ay sound like a rhetorical question - but it is one we need to answ er. M y faith has m oved me to w ork tow ard the com m on good, w hich drove m e to seek public office as a m em ber o f a school district board o f education. T he tw o com pelling is sues w e faced w ere equal access for all children and adequate funding for schools, both o f w hich have steadily deteriorated for decades. W hen I w as serving as the ch air o f the board, we w ere forced to close school three w eeks early because o f the funding crisis. It becam e clear to m e at that tim e that o u r society w as headed dow n a slippery slope, p ay ing 10 tim es the am ount o f annual funding per child for juvenile d eten tion centers than we did for public education. T ragically, this pattern has w orsened over tim e. As a person o f faith, I vote b e cause I am convinced that Jesus w alked am ong us to dem onstrate w hat it m eans to love and care for one another. A s a m em ber o f the com m unity, I vote because I believe in the co m m o n good that is only achieved through an effective dem o cratic process - one for w hich we yearn. M y faith and com m unity life are as inter-connected for m e as they w ere for m y m om and dad. I m iss them every day and prom ise to do m y best to m odel their values that w eave my C hristian teachings w ith civic responsibility. M. Linda Jaramillo is executive minister for Justice Ministries in the United Church of Christ. -niiww Diversity in Colleges and Universities Hopeful court will reaffirm our values M H. M o r ia l adm issions process that factors T he U nited States race into the decision. S uprem e C ourt this W hen she applied to U T in w eek w ill h ear argu 2008, A bigail Fisher was not a m ents in a case that top 10 percent student and was once again challenges turned down. Claim ing racial dis the right o f colleges crim ination, h er argum ent d i and universities to co nsider race as rectly challenges the landm ark 2003, a factor in ensuring that all students G ru tte rv . B ollinger Suprem e C ourt receive the educational benefits o f case w hich ruled that “student body diversity. diversity is a com pelling state in ter In F isher v. U niversity o f T exas est that can ju stify using race in at A ustin, A bigail Fisher, a w hite university adm issions.” student w ho w as denied adm ission T he N ational U rban L eague is to the U niversity in 2008, argues am ong 70 organizations and indi th at her race w as the only reason viduals to file Suprem e C ourt A m she w as not adm itted. icus B riefs in support o f diversity in W hen race-based college adm is the U niversity o f T exas case, m ore sions w ere outlaw ed 16 years ago in than a dozen M em bers o f C ongress; T exas, the state passed a law g ran t the fo rm er C hairm an o f the Joint ing adm ission to the state ’s c o l C hiefs o f Staff, G eneral C olin L. leges to all students in the top 10 Pow ell; and the N A A C P Legal D e percent o f their graduating class. fense Fund, A m erica’s prem ier legal Since then race-based adm issions organization fighting for racial ju s have been reinstated and the re tice. m aining slots now go to students T he case w ill be closely w atched w ho m ust qualify through a regular by those o f us in the civil rights by arc 'riH flortlauf» (PhsrrUrr Established 1970 USPS 959-680 ________________________________ 4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 co m m u n ity w ho understand that cen tu ries o f o p p ressio n and d e cad es o f exclusion that still linger today require rem edies that only affirm ative action can bring. It should be rem em bered that until 1950, A frican A m ericans were barred from attending the U niver sity o f Texas Law School. In its 1950 Suprem e C ourt victory, Sw eatt v. Painter, the N A A C P Legal D efense Fund m ade it possible for H em an M a rio n S w e a tt to b e th e law sch o o l’s first black student. In its Fisher v. U niversity o f Texas A m icus Brief, the N A A C P Legal D efense Fund states that “From 1997 through 2004, U T did not consider race in adm issions. T he im pact was d e v a sta tin g .” D espite the fact that 13 percent o f T ex as high school graduates w ere A frican A m erican, “at no point b e tw een 1997 and 2004 did A frican A m erican students com prise m ore than 4.5 percent o f the entering year class, N early four out o f every five U T undergraduate classes had zero o r one A frican A m erican students.” Som e progress has been m ade in recent years, but the num bers are still low and the U niversity o f T exas adm its that it can and m ust do b et ter. D ebo A degbile, the defense fu n d ’s acting president and direc tor-counsel said, “ In G rutter the Suprem e C ourt recognized the sig nificant educational benefits o f d i versity - not ju s t for students o f color, but for all students. A diverse college experience better prepares s tu d e n ts to p a r tic ip a te in o u r N atio n ’s civic life.” T he balance o f the co u rt has shifted right since G rutter. But w e are hopeful that the Suprem e C ourt w ill reaffirm the n a tio n ’s highest values by continuing its support o f diversity in o ur colleges and univer sities. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer o f the Na tional Urban League. Your Care Our First Priority Dr. Marcelitte Failla Chiropractic Physician The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submis sions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be returned i f accompanied by a self addressed envelope. A ll created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and can Charles H. 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