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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2015)
August 5, 2015 Page 7 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. O PINION We are People of Distinction - Not Extinction We are the American society M. L INDA J ARAMILLO Author’s Note: I wrote this commentary in 2006, but in light of recent disparaging re- marks, it seemed appropriate today with some minor updates added in response to the cur- rent situation. Personal honor was a funda- mental value in my upbringing. However, honor was not about arrogance or conceit; it was about humility, honesty, and respect for oneself and others. We were to avoid boasting, yet there was no question that we were to be proud of our family heritage and ancestry. We were taught that we are a people of distinction. BY Our parents recog- nized that social sys- ni tems would tear us te down, so they worked do extra hard to instill a ex sense of history and se dignity in us. As chil- di dren, we were constantly told that we were not as smart or important as the Anglo children in our schools and neighbor- hoods. As a child, there were times that the discriminating practices in our segregated schools seemed insurmount- able, but our parents modeled the belief that we could make a difference in our own destiny and so we did. My grandfather, many gen- erations removed, was born in 1601 in the New Mexico Territory, which includes the southern border states of Ari- zona and New Mexico extend- ing into Colorado and parts of Texas. Yes, it was before the Plymouth Rock landing. Yes, it was before 1776. Yes, it was when the land was part of Mex- ico before being claimed by the United States. Yes, further back than many American his- tory books and would be poli- ticians account for. The truth is that many of us did not cross the border, rather the border crossed us. I am proud to claim this an- cestry and refuse to be accused of “being a problem to Ameri- can society.” When discussing immigration we should review the history of the settling of this land now known as the United States. We must not forget that the land was the homeland of American Indian brothers and sisters and stolen by European invaders, ending authentic civ- ilization for thousands of peo- ple. We should not forget that much of the western region of the United States region was Mexico. We must remember that 99 percent of us are im- migrants who came in search of the American dream. These historic realities are often dis- counted because our cultural elitism declares that we are en- titled to anything we want. Disparaging descriptions of immigrants, such as mur- derers, rapists, criminals, free loaders, leeches, illegal aliens, are thrown around without re- gard for their humanity or the potential for inciting hatred and neighborhood warfare. Generation after generation wages war; however, these GD\VWKHZDUVDUHQRWFRQ¿QHG to nation against nation. Sad- ly, the war now being waged against immigrants within the boundaries of the United States is resulting in fear and hatred of one racial group against another. As a Latina and a Christian, I reject these accusations. Incit- ing fear and hatred is certainly inconsistent with the teach- ings of Jesus who taught love, compassion, and human under- standing. Claiming a special preference for one race above another absolutely contradicts the basic Christian message of “loving our neighbor as our- selves.” Despite current soundbites, I will not be told that people who look like me are the problem of American society. We are the American society. We are peo- ple of distinction, not extinc- tion. And we vote. M. Linda Jaramillo is exec- utive minister for the United Church of Christ’s Justice and Witness Ministries. Protecting the Lives of our Young People God did not make two classes of people M ARIAN W RIGHT E DELMAN Democracy cannot breathe, and will die, if those enjoined to protect and uphold the law snuff it out unjustly and without con- sequence. Justice cannot breathe when black men and boys and women and girls are routinely SUR¿OHG DEXVHG DUUHVWHG DQG killed with impunity by police RI¿FHUV:H PXVW VWRS WKLV:H must protect the lives of our young people—all of them. God did not make two classes of peo- ple or children and America con- tinues to do so at its peril. Like so many I have been deeply disturbed by the sense- less loss of black male lives at the hands of law enforcement RI¿FLDOV , ZDV SDUWLFXODUO\ DI- fected by Tamir Rice’s sense- less death—a 12-year-old sixth grader who loved drawing, basketball, playing the drums, and performing in his school’s drumline. When Tamir was shot and killed last November, who was there to protect him? 1RW &OHYHODQG SROLFH RI¿- cer Timothy Loehmann—the man who shot him. Tamir was sitting outside a recreation center near his home holding BY a friend’s toy gun when Loeh- mann careened up in his squad FDU ZLWK KLV WUDLQLQJ RI¿FHU The surveillance video shows Loehmann took less than two seconds between getting out of the barely-stopped car and shooting Tamir. Worse, this child was left mortally wound- ed on the ground in agony for nearly four minutes while nei- ther Loehmann nor his trainer Frank Garmback administered DQ\¿UVWDLG An FBI agent who happened to be nearby responded to the SROLFHDFWLYLW\DQGZDVWKH¿UVW one to try to give Tamir help. When Tamir’s 14-year-old sis- ter ran to see and comfort him she was tackled by a police RI¿FHU KDQGFXIIHG DQG SXW LQ the back of a squad car unable to comfort her stricken brother. When Tamir’s mother arrived at the same time as the ambu- lance the police wouldn’t let her get close to her son and she said they threatened to handcuff and arrest her too if she didn’t calm down. She was then denied en- trance to the back of the ambu- lance to ride with or hold the hand of her son on the way to the hospital. I can only imagine the deep terror of both mother and child iso- lated from each other. Tamir died from his in- juries the next day. Who was there to protect Tamir? Not the Cleve- land Police Department, who VXSSRVHGO\KLUHG2I¿FHU/RHK- mann and put him out on their city’s streets before fully re- viewing his previous record as D SROLFH RI¿FHU +LV SHUVRQQHO ¿OH IURP WKH ,QGHSHQGHQFH Ohio Police Department shows he resigned in December 2012 MXVW¿YHPRQWKVDIWHUKHVWDUWHG training when he learned a dis- ciplinary process of separation had already begun—appearing WRKDYHTXLWEHIRUHKHZDV¿UHG His previous supervisors said he displayed “a pattern of lack of maturity, indiscretion, and not following instructions,” a “dangerous loss of composure during live range training,” and an “inability to manage per- VRQDO VWUHVV´ 7KHVH UHG ÀDJV for the Independence Police Department should have been warning signs for Cleveland or any police department in as- VHVVLQJ ¿WQHVV IRU VHUYLFH7KH Cleveland Police Depart- Cl ment m has a long history of bad ba policing that harms black boys and men and bl those with mental illness. th Just Ju days after Tamir was killed the U.S. Depart- ki ment of Justice released m harshly critical results of a civil rights investigation on overuse of force by the Cleveland police department and called for mas- sive reforms. The scene that unfolded in the minutes Tamir lay on the ground bleeding without com- fort from anyone is perhaps the hardest part to understand. What kind of human beings and responsible law enforcement RI¿FLDOV ZRXOG DFW WKLV ZD\" Gunning down a 12-year-old, threatening his distraught sis- ter and mother, and standing by watching a child just shot lying on the snowy ground dying? Who was there to protect Tamir? In the end, no one. Now a child who might have become a musician or an artist or any- thing else he wanted to be is dead, and his mother has joined a long, long list of black moth- ers crying out for justice. A few weeks after Tamir’s death she stood at a Washington, D.C. ral- ly with Trayvon Martin’s moth- er and the families of Eric Gar- ner, Michael Brown, and other unarmed black boys and men killed by police and told the crowd: “I have one thing to say to the police force: Don’t shoot. Our children want to grow up.” Our children want to grow up. Our children deserve to grow up. And it is the respon- sibility of every adult in every sector to see they grow up safe- ly and respected and seen and are not subject to “othering”— as someone less than or apart from ourselves. Until we can achieve a pro- found change in law enforce- ment culture and their taking as much care in protecting black boys’ lives as white boys’ lives, our children are going to remain at risk. That places a burden on black parents and faith congre- gations and community lead- ers and educators and everyone who believes in justice to stand up and do everything possible to make sure our children get home safely and can reach adulthood. Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children’s De- fense Fund.
