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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2020)
October 21, 2020 The Page 3 INSIDE L O C A L N E W S Week in Review page 2 Dominique DeWeese (from left), Rose Wakefield, Marquita Corley and Benita Presley were all victims of recent cases of discrimination, according to four lawsuits showing how they were denied service based on the color of their skin. page 7 Discrimination Cases Explode M ETRO ‘Shopping while Black’ lawsuits sound alarm M iChael l eighton P ortland o bserver e ditor A Portland lawyer specializing in discrimina- tion cases is sounding the alarm over a rash of recent racial discrimination claims. Greg Kafoury reported that in more than 40 years of practicing law, he has not seen cases with the “straightforward racism” he is seeing now. His office, Kafoury & McDougal, has filed four “Shopping While Black” lawsuits in the last week. In each of them, the victims were denied service based on the color of their skin by Cauca- sian employees, Kafoury said. In one case, Dominique DeWeese was trying by Arts & page 6-8 ENTERTAINMENT to buy gas in a container to put into his lawmow- er when he was refused service because the em- ployee said he was a “black lives protester” who would use it to light dumpsters on fire across the city, Kafoury said. A video shows the employee repeatedly mocking DeWeese and threatening to call the police. In another case, Rose Wakefield needed gas on her way to work and was allegedly denied service at a Jackson Food Stores Gas Station in Tanas- bourne. Kafoury said after the employee refused her service but served several white drivers who ar- rived after her, Wakefield went inside to complain and the manager dismissed her. When she con- fronted the gas attendant, he allegedly laughed C ontinued on P age 4 NAACP Leader Steps Down Denies sex abuse allegations; won’t run again O PINION C LASSIFIED /B IDS page 9 pages 10 Established 1970 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or per- sonal usage without the written consent of the general man- ager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication--is a member of the National Newspaper Association--Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amal- gamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association PO QR code P ublisher : e ditor : Mark Washington, Sr. Michael Leighton Office Mngr/Clasfds: Lucinda Baldwin C reative d ireCtor : Paul Neufeldt o ffiCe a sst /s ales : Shawntell Washington CALL 503-288-0033 • FAX 503-288-0015• news@portlandobserver.com ads@portlandobserver.com• subscription@portlandobserver.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 The president of the Portland NAACP announced his resigna- tion Tuesday amid allegations of sexual misconduct. In a statement, the NAACP said Rev. E.D. Mondainé an- nounced his immediate resigna- tion as president of the Portland chapter. “The NAACP is firmly op- posed to all forms of abuse, as- sault, harassment, or discrimina- tion. Such behavior has no place in the Association, regardless of whether these instances oc- curred in previous or current ad- ministrations,” the NAACP said. The Portland chapter said it will continue to investigate the allegations, saying they will take further action if necessary. A report in the Portland Mer- cury last week detailed claims of sexual and physical assault E.D. Mondainé by Mondainé from former pa- rishioners at Celebration Taber- nacle, the church he leads in the Kenton neighborhood of north Portland. The newspaper said it spoke to three men who say they were repeatedly sexually and phys- ically assaulted by Mondainé during a period of time spanning the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. In a press conference last week, Mondainé strongly denied any wrongdoing, but said he was choosing to remove himself from running for another term as chapter president in a vote next month, and charged that he was a victim of cancel culture. He attributed the Mercury story to a relationship from two decades ago that he said “ended poorly and rocked the congregation.” Mondainé’s candidacy was already under attack from some NAACP members who were running under the banner Rise Up PDX, accusing him of mis-spending NAACP money and mistreating members with physical assaults. The group also criticized him for his involve- ment in supporting Mayor Ted Wheeler’s re-election in which the NAACP seal was used in campaign materials. NAACP rules do not allow the organiza- tion to endorse candidates. On the allegations of sexu- al misconduct, Mondainé was quoted as saying “It’s not true. There’s no truth to it. People can say whatever they need to say. I’ve never abused anyone.”