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February 18, 2015 The Portland Observer Black History Month Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. Page 23 O PINION Telling the Truth about Religious Violence Critique has GOP defending the Crusades BY D ONALD K AUL President Barack Obama commit- ted the ultimate political blunder the other day. He blurted out the truth. Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, he warned his Christian brethren against “getting up on our high horse” when condemning the vio- lence of Muslim terrorists. “During the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed ter- rible deeds in the name of Christ,” he said. “In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was jus- tified in the name of Christ.” Naturally, all hell broke loose. The Rupert Murdoch army launched into full attack, sup- ported by Rush Limbaugh air strikes. Rabid Fox News commen- tators, foaming at the mouth, fought each other for control of the mics to condemn the president’s remarks as “un-Ameri- can” and, even worse, liberal. He was derided as irreligious, weak, and not a real American. It was to be expected. People will forgive a politician for telling lies. Sweet deceptions, after all, are what politics are all about. But let him speak the truth just once, even inadvertently, and he becomes the object of scorn, ridicule, and contempt. Remember the case of George Romney? Running for president in 1967, he confessed that he had been “brain- washed” by Pentagon propaganda into believing that the Vietnam War was winnable. And he had been, of course, as had most of the American public at the time. But as soon as Romney uttered this truthful statement, his presi- dential hopes vanished in a blink — never to be seen again. I’d like to note that this lesson wasn’t lost on George’s son. As nearly as can be determined, Mitt Romney never told the truth once during his 2012 campaign. He lost anyway, proving that it takes more than a lack of honesty to fool the American people. But back to Obama. What he was trying to say, at an inter-faith event, was that we shouldn’t hold all Mus- lims responsible for the acts of a relative few. Christianity also has a skeleton or two in its historical closet. The Christian right, which in- cludes most of the Republicans in Congress, pounced. The Crusades were a righteous response to Islamic aggression, they said. The Inquisition? Highly over- rated as an atrocity. And Jim Crow? That was “a thousand years ago,” said Limbaugh. To which one can only say, “Oh come on.” The truth is, you can act as though terrorist violence against the West is unprovoked. But it’s not. It’s the bitter fruit of the past 100 years of subjugation of the Arab and Muslim peoples by Western powers, thirsty for the oil beneath the Middle East. For a century the United States and its allies systematically sub- verted any suggestion of democ- racy in the region in favor of vicious thugs we could control through bribery. And when a popularly elected politician would surface every once in a while, we’d get rid of him and install our own puppet. Think of the popularly elected Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran, whom the CIA overthrew in 1953, replacing him with the brutal and corrupt Shah. That’s the genesis of the mess we’re dealing with now. Not Islam, not pure evil, but 100 years of West- ern domination. In any case, it’s more than a little hypocritical for the Christian right to be up in arms over the perversion of Christianity. This is a group, after all, whose representatives in Congress have sought to take health insurance from the poorest workers among us. They’ve tried to deport young Americans because their parents brought them here without pa- pers many years ago. They’ve supported the use of torture and fought to cut off unemployment insurance to the long-term unem- ployed. Any of that remind you of Chris- tianity? OtherWords columnist Donald Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Mich. Three Years Post-Trayvon: What Has Changed? Movement grows to find solutions BY L AURA F INLEY On Feb. 26, 2012, supposed “Neigh- borhood Watch- man” George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a 17- year-old black man, as Martin walked home from visiting a conve- nience store in Sanford, Fla. The case ignited questions about racial profiling, vigilantism, and Stand Your Ground Laws. On July 13, 2013, Zimmerman, was acquitted of both the second- degree murder and manslaughter charges. Despite national and even international attention to the case, one has to wonder what has really changed in the three years since the killing. The murder of black men by po- lice or their wannabes has not stopped. This is a mere sample of cases that occurred after Martin’s killing. Kimani Gray, 16, was shot by two plainclothes officers in Brooklyn, N.Y., as he walked home from a birthday party on March 9, 2013. The two men who killed him claim he had a gun, but no weapon was found at the scene. Three of the seven bullets that penetrated Gray’s body entered from the back, suggesting rested multiple times since being more likely to be ruled justified as acquitted, most recently for aggra- white-on-white homicides. Three years post-Trayvon, little vated assault and domestic violence with a weapon. Zimmerman was has changed except there is now a accused of domestic violence in 2013 nationwide movement to fix this. I remain hopeful based on the coura- but no charges were brought. Stand Your Ground Laws also geous organizing I see occurring in remain. Although Attorney General most of our cities. For instance, Eric Holder stated that it was time to peace and justice activists are work- question Stand Your Ground Laws, ing with affected communities to no state has repealed its law. In fact, organize the first Truth Telling states like Georgia and Florida have Weekend in St. Louis, Mo., the Research by the Urban Institute has considered expansions of the Stand weekend of March 13-15. Rather found that in Stand Your Ground states, than simply expressing outrage, Your Ground protections. In Florida alone, at least 26 chil- these folks are acting to bring people white-on-black homicides are 354 times dren and teens have been killed in together to discuss solutions. Stand Your Ground cases since Really….It’s time for change. more likely to be ruled justified as white- Laura Finley, Ph.D., teaches in Trayvon’s death. Research by the on-white homicides. Urban Institute has found that in the Barry University Department of Stand Your Ground states, white- Sociology & Criminology and is On Dec. 2, 2014, 24-year-old fa- 20-year-old Reynaldo Cuevas on-black homicides are 354 times syndicated by PeaceVoice. ther of four Rumain Brisbon was was shot by police as he fled armed killed when an officer mistook his men who had attempted to rob his bottle of pills for a gun. bodega. The Bronx District Attor- Just seconds after seeing 12-year- ney did not find the officers at fault. old Tamir Rice at a park in Cleveland And of course, Office Darrin on Nov. 22, 2014, an officer shot and Wilson, who shot and killed Michael killed him. While Rice did have a BB Brown in Ferguson, Mo., was not gun, video footage seems to show indicted. Since Brown was killed, 14 that the officers arrived at the scene black teens have been killed by Attorney at Law and were not threatened but instead police officers, according to a Nov. decided to pull the trigger. 25, 2014 article on the Daily Beast. 1549 SE Ladd Unarmed Akai Gurley, 28, was It’s not just black men who suffer shot in the dark stairwell of an East from this official or quasi-official Portland, Oregon New York housing project on Nov. violence. On Feb.16, 2014, 47-year- Portland: (503) 244-2080 20, 2014. Even Police Commissioner old African-American Yvette Smith William Bratton has called Gurley a was killed when she opened the Hillsoboro: (503) 244-2081 “complete innocent.” door to officers responding to a Facsimile: (503) 244-2084 Officer Daniel Pantaleo killed 43- domestic violence call at her home. Email: Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com year-old Eric Garner by inflicting a Meanwhile, George Zimmerman prohibited chokehold when Garner has not changed. He has been ar- he was moving away, not threaten- ing the officers. No criminal charges were brought against the assailants. Randall Kerrick, a Charlotte, N.C., police officer, shot and killed former college football star Jonathan Ferrell as he sought police assistance after an automobile accident on Sept. 14, 2013. Kerrick was not charged for Ferrell’s murder. dared to speak out about being con- tinually targeted. Supposedly, Victor White III shot himself while handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser in Iberia Parish, Louisiana on March 22, 2014. Yet reports show that he had to have been Harry Houdini reincarnated to make that move---far more likely is that he was shot by officers. THE LAW OFFICES OF Patrick John Sweeney, P.C. Patrick John Sweeney
