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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2017)
M artin L uther K ing J r . Page 30 2017 special edition O PINION January 11, 2017 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. Awash in Racially-Motivated Confrontations Standing out among the others “Mr. Paladi- no is an elected official charged with the respon- sibility to repre- sent children and families in a dis- trict comprised of over 70 percent black, brown, Asian, immigrant and other minority students and families; And, Mr. Paladino took an oath to ensure that students are afforded an environment which is free from fear and respects di- versity within the school district and the community and is subject to all district policies; …. These unambiguously racist, morally repugnant, flagrantly disrespect- ful, inflammatory and inexcusable comments by Mr. Paladino have garnered both local, national, and international attention that reflects negatively on the Buffa- lo Board of Education, the City of Buffalo and its leadership and its citizens, the State of New York, and every decent human being in America and abroad who has been shocked and offended by his words.” -- Resolution by the Buf- falo School Board demanding Carl Paladino’s resignation by M arc h. M orial The national wave of racist, vicious invective unleashed by the 2016 Presidential campaign is well-documented. Hundreds of hate crimes have been reported to watchdog groups like the South- ern Poverty Law Center. Social media is awash in cell-phone vid- eo of racially-motivated confron- tations invoking the name of the President-elect. But the recent hateful tirade of failed New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino stands out among the others. Warning: his words are difficult to read. When the Buffalo weekly newspaper Artvoice asked locals their hopes for 2017, many gave positive, community-minded an- swers: “A return to shopping in communities and brick-and-mor- tar stores,” “the Bills get in the playoffs,” or “more kindness.” Carl Paladino hopes President “Obama catches mad cow dis- ease after being caught having relations with a Hereford. He dies before his trial and is buried in a cow pasture next to Valerie Jarret, who died weeks prior, after being convicted of sedition and treason, when a Jihady cell mate mistook her for being a nice person and de- capitated her.” What do Buffalonians want to see go away in 2017? “Hate.” “Discrimination.” “Preconceived stereotypes.” Carl Palidino wants to see Michelle Obama “return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.” In response to the horrified national outcry over his repre- hensible remarks, Paladino first rebuffed inquiring journalists with an obscenity, then penned a defi- ant non-apology, defending his words as “deprecating humor.” Paladino is certainly no strang- er to this brand of so-called “hu- mor.” During his failed 2010 gu- bernatorial run, a local news site exposed racist and pornographic emails Paladino had shared with associates. While he lost the elec- tion in a landslide, garnering only a third of the vote, he managed to be elected to the Buffalo School Board in 2013. The Buffalo School Board is to be commended for its swift re- jection of Paladino’s hateful state- ments, and its recognition that a man who holds such views cannot be entrusted with the education of children. If Paladino does not heed the demands of the Board and resign, we expect NYS Edu- cation Commissioner MaryEllen Elia to pursue his removal. The president and chief execu- tive of our Urban League affiliate in Buffalo, Brenda W. McDuffie, has been outspoken on this issue, and we urge the entire Urban League community to unite in opposition to Paladino’s hatefulness by signing the petition urging his removal. In fairness, when ArtVoice asked Investigative Post editor Jim Heaney what he’s like to see go away in 2017, Heaney respond- ed, “Carl Paladino.” We couldn’t agree more. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League. Precisely the Wrong Man to Lead Justice Department Opposing the Sessions nomination c ornell W illiaMS b rookS America yet stands at the beginning of presidential ad- ministration but also in the middle of a Twitter age civil rights movement based on old divisions. Sen. Jefferson Be- auregard Sessions is among the worst possible nominees to serve as Attorney General amidst some of the worst times for civil rights in recent memory. Following a divisive presiden- tial campaign, hate crimes ris- ing, police videos sickening the stomach while quickening the conscience, protesters march- ing in the streets and politicians mouthing the myth of voter fraud while denying the reality of voter suppression, Sen. Sessions is pre- cisely the wrong man to lead the Justice Department. The NAACP, as the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, opposes the nomination of Sen. Sessions to become U.S. Attorney General for the following reasons: a record on voting rights that is unreliable at best and hostile at worse; a failing record on other civil rights; a re- cord of racially offensive remarks and behavior; and dismal record on criminal justice reform issues. Sen. Sessions supported the re-authorization of the 1965 Vot- by ing Rights Act in 2006, but called the bill “a piece of intrusive leg- islation” just months earlier. Ses- sions has con- sistently voted in favor of strict voter ID laws that place extra burdens on the poor and resi- dents of color, and drive vot- er suppression seeking to dismantle them. When Shelby County v. Holder gutted the protections of the VRA, Sen. Sessions cheered. For decades, he has pursued the rare and mystical unicorn of voter fraud, while turn- ing a blind eye to the ever-grow- ing issue of voter suppression. While Sen. Sessions’ histori- cal record on civil rights remains one of dismay, it is his unrepen- tant stance against the vote that remains our issue. The threat of Civil Rights Movement, then-At- torney General Nicholas Katzen- bach’s commitment to democracy allowed him to help write the Vot- ing Rights Act. Today, our nation stands on the verge of selecting an AG who has never shown the slightest commitment to enforcing the protections Katzenbach and others wrote into law. How can our communities who have born the both historical and current brunt of the attacks on the Rather than enforcing voting rights protections, Sen. Sessions has instead made a career of seeking to dismantle them. When Shelby County v. Holder gutted the protections of the VRA, Sen. Sessions cheered. For decades, he has pursued the rare and mystical unicorn of voter fraud, while turning a blind eye to the ever-growing issue of voter suppression. across the country. When the Su- preme Court struck down federal protections in 2012 that prevent- ed thousands of discriminatory state laws from taking effect since 1965, Sessions declared it was “a good thing for the South.” As a prosecutor in 1985, Sessions ma- liciously prosecuted a former aide to Martin Luther King for helping senior citizens file absentee bal- lots in Alabama. Rather than enforcing voting rights protections, Sen. Sessions has instead made a career of voter suppression is not a histor- ical but current challenge. At least 10 times in the past 10 months, the NAACP defended voting rights against coordinated cam- paigns by legislators targeting Af- rican-American voters in Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and many other states. While the NAACP could gain the assistance of the Justice De- partment in fighting back against voter suppression, a Sessions-led DOJ would likely lead to the exact opposite. During the height of the right to vote, sit idly by while an enemy to the vote is now given the responsibility of enforcing this right? The simple answer is that we can’t. Since 1997, Sen. Sessions has received an F every year on the NAACP’s federal legislative civ- il rights report cards. He’s voted against our policy positions nearly 90 percent of the time. Sen. Ses- sions has repeatedly supported lawsuits and attempts to overturn desegregation while shamelessly voting against federal Hate Crime legislation four times from 2000 to 2009. Notwithstanding, he has also repeatedly voted against the Vio- lence Against Women Act that ex- panded protection for victims of domestic violence and repeatedly stood on the wrong side of immi- gration and LGBT issues. During his failed 1986 feder- al judgeship hearing, four DOJ attorneys and colleagues of Sen. Sessions testified that he made several racist statements. J. Gerald Hebert testified that Sessions had referred to the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union as “un-American” and “Communist inspired” because they “forced civil rights down the throats of people.” Additional accusations of racist behavior were attributed to Sen. Sessions by Thomas Figures, an African American Assistant U.S. Attorney, who testified that Ses- sions said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was “OK until I found out they smoked pot.” Sessions lat- er said that the comment was not serious, but did apologize for it. Mr. Figures also testified that on one occasion, Sen. Sessions railed against civil rights cases, threw a file on the table and called him the derogatory racist term “boy,” and later advised him to watch what he said to white people. In a time of expanding pro- tests against the scourge of police c onTinued on P age 39
