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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2015)
Page 6 New Prices Effective May 1, 2014 Martin Cleaning Service July 1, 2015 O PINION Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG. $45.00 $VPDOOGLVWDQFHWUDYHO charge may be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more(DFK$UHD 3UH6SUD\7UDI¿F$UHDV (Includes: 1 small Hallway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 ,QFOXGHV3UH6SUD\7UDI¿F$UHD (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services) Area/Oriental Rugs $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool) $40.00 Minimum Heavily Soiled Area $GGLWLRQDOHDFKDUHD (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) UPHOLSTERY CLEANING 6RID /RYHVHDW 6HFWLRQDO &KDLURU5HFOLQHU 7KURZ3LOORZV (With Other Services) ADDITIONAL SERVICES • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning $XWR%RDW59&OHDQLQJ • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment 6SRW6WDLQ 5HPRYDO6HUYLFH 6FRWFKJXDUG3URWHFWLRQ • Minor Water Damage 6HUYLFHV SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 $&ULPH$JDLQVW+XPDQLW\6HQW0HWR+DUYDUG 6ODYHU\VWLOO shapes our society S ARAH B ROWNING When I say pub- licly that I’m de- scended from slave RZQHUV , DOPRVW DO- ZD\V KHDU D JDVS , let the tension hang a moment DQG WKHQ , EUHDN LW ³:HOO someone has to be, right?” This usually gets a laugh, or at least a humph of recog- nition. Because many of us ZKLWH$PHULFDQVDUHGHVSHUDWH to disassociate ourselves from one of the founding horrors of RXUQDWLRQ¶VKLVWRU\VODYHU\ “My family didn’t arrive un- til after the Civil War,” some VD\ 2U ³:H ZHUH GLUW SRRU´ 2U1RUWKHUQHUV$QGZKRFDQ blame them? It’s a profoundly shameful history. %XWLIZHGRQ¶WIDFHWKDWKLV- WRU\VTXDUHO\²DQGDFNQRZO- HGJH WKH ZD\V LW VWLOO GLVWRUWV the structure of our society WRGD\²ZH¶OOEHLQFDSDEOHRI undoing its legacy. White peo- SOH ZLOO FRQWLQXH WR EHOLHYH that the extreme race-based BY ZHDOWK JDS LQ WKLV FRXQWU\ KDV RWKHU FDXVHV ² WKDW WKH\ VRPHKRZ GHVHUYH DGYDQWDJ- es denied to others based on their skin color. 6R OHW PH VD\ LW SODLQO\7KHXQSDLG labor of black peo- ple sent me to Har- vard. My great-grand- IDWKHU ZDV ERUQ LQWR D VODYHRZQLQJ IDPLO\ LQ 9LU- ginia’s Rappahannock Coun- ty during the Civil War. Like PRVW$PHULFDQVZKRHQVODYHG people, his family held onto their land and barely compen- VDWHG WKH IUHHG EODFN ZRUNHUV ZKR VWD\HG RQ DIWHU WKH ZDU ended. By the time my grandfather WXUQHGRUVRDURXQG KLVIDWKHUZDVDEOHWREX\KLP a farm in Culpeper, in central Virginia’s fertile Piedmont re- gion. ,QWKHVP\JUDQGGDG- dy started a real estate busi- ness. He bought up land sur- rounding Culpeper and put it into a trust for his grandchil- GUHQ¶VHGXFDWLRQ:KHQLWZDV my turn to go to college, my ODQGZDVVROGIRUDERZOLQJDO- ley and a Baptist church, cov- ering most of my tuition. 0\ JUDQGIDWKHU ZRUNHG LQ- credibly hard all his life, but he had an enormous leg up compared to his black neigh- ERUV DQG HPSOR\HHV ² ODQG he’d been given by his father. And I inherited that advantage ZKHQ , JRW D WRSQRWFK HGX- cation at private schools and then attended an Ivy League university. 0\VWRU\LOOXVWUDWHVKRZWKH FRQFHQWUDWLRQRIZHDOWKLQWKH hands of some folks and not others is perpetuated. 2I FRXUVH DOO ZKLWH$PHU- LFDQV EHQH¿W IURP WKH SULYL- leges accorded to us solely by dint of our skin color. Even if your family came long after the Civil War, you FDQ ZDON LQWR D VWRUH DQG QRW EH IROORZHG RQ VXVSLFLRQ RI VKRSOLIWLQJ 3HRSOH ZRQ¶W FKRRVH WR PRYH DZD\ LI \RX buy a house in their neighbor- KRRG <RX GRQ¶W ZRUU\ HYHU\ day that your son could be JXQQHGGRZQE\WKHSROLFH ,W¶V JURZQ KDUGHU WR LJ- QRUH KRZ RXU EODFN VLVWHUV and brothers are denied ba- VLF ULJKWV ZH ZKLWHV WDNH IRU JUDQWHG HYHU\ GD\ :H ZLW- nessed the murders of Tray- von Martin and Eric Garner. :HVDZDZKLWHSROLFHRI¿FHU violently subdue black teenag- ers at a McKinney, Texas pool party. And, motivated by an ide- RORJ\ RI KDWH D ZKLWH PDQ LQ &KDUOHVWRQ 6RXWK &DUROLQD murdered nine black churchgo- HUVLQDKRUUL¿FWHUURULVWDWWDFN ² LQ D VWDWH WKDW VWLOO ÀLHV WKH ÀDJRIVODYHU\LQLWVFDSLWDO +RZ GR ZH EHJLQ WR GLV- mantle this oppressive sys- tem? Part of this process must be a reckoning, a truth-telling DERXW KRZ ZH DUULYHG DW WKLV state of radical inequality. 'XULQJ WKLV WK DQQLYHUVD- ry of the Civil War’s end, let’s examine our history since that time. Let’s set ourselves on a QHZ SDWK RQH WKDW EHJLQV WR make amends. At the very least, let’s be KRQHVW ZLWK RQH DQRWKHU 0\ great-great grandparents may have taken your ancestors and held them as their property. It ZDVDFULPHDJDLQVWKXPDQLW\ Sarah Browning is execu- tive director of Split This Rock (splitthisrock.org) and is an associate fellow at the Insti- tute for Policy Studies.