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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 19, 2021)
May 19, 2021 Page 9 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 $5.00 TEES CLUBS FAMILY REUNIONS SCHOOL CLUBS BUSINESSES SCREEN PRINTING 971-570-8214 5010 NE 9th Ave Portland, Or 97211 Phone: 503 284-2989 They Hope to Destroy the Truth Living within a lie o sCar h. b layton Even a person who does not be- lieve a lie may be forced to live within it. For generations, people of col- or, while not believing in white supremacy, have been forced to live as if it was real. And we are still forced to live that way today. But the one glimmer of hope shining through the toxic cloud of racist lies enveloping the world for more than 500 years is truth. And critical race theory is one means of delivering the truth. White supremacists are now at- tacking critical race theory, how- ever, in an attempt to destroy it. By destroying critical race theory, they hope to destroy the truth and force all of us to continue to live within a lie. The truth that the color of one’s skin does not determine a person’s God-given abilities has always been evident to people of color. But within a global social struc- ture designed to advantage white people over everyone else, that truth has been denied and hidden from view. The orthodoxy of white su- premacy, reinforced by a will- ingness to employ gunpowder in a pan-global rampage, allowed white supremacists to amass most of the material resources of the earth, along with the means to exploit them solely for their own benefit. What school-aged child by has not seen graphic renderings of Europeans, cast in a heroic light, gunning down indigenous people of North America, South America, Africa and Asia? This oppression and annihilation of people of color have been characterized by British author Rudyard Kipling as “the white man’s burden” to bring civ- ilization to the rest of the world. Poisonous race hatred spawned by white supremacy has flowed through Western society like filth in an open sewer. Yet there are those who take offense at the as- sertion that America is a racist country. Race hatred began in America when European invaders, arriv- ing with Christopher Columbus, annihilated as many as 3 million indigenous inhabitants in the Ba- hama Islands and continued with the slaughter of indigenous people in the early days of every state in this nation. This genocide of In- digenous Americans, combined with the importation of enslaved Africans as unpaid labor, created wealth for the European invad- ers founded upon stolen land and stolen labor. The continued en- croachment on Indian land and exploitation of people of color through immorally low wages continue to underpin this dispro- portionate accumulation of wealth by white Americans. Current pol- icy decisions by lawmakers and corporate leaders such as refusing to legislate a livable minimum wage, redlining, discriminatory hiring practices, gerrymandering, and on and on, also continue to obstruct wealth accumulation by people of color. The facts are clear, written in the blood-soaked soil and the countless unmarked graves of people of col- or who were murdered, massacred and worked to death so that certain white people could accumulate wealth and live as they pleased. This includes mistreatment of the Chinese, who were barred entry into this country after they helped build its railroads, and Japanese Americans who were herded into concentration camps during World War II without due process of law, while German Americans large- ly were allowed to go about their C ontinued on p age 10 We specialize in a variety of cuts for men and women, hot towel razor shaves, braiding, hair extension, Shampoo, blow dryer and Platinum fade. Call Today or Walk in !!! Harris Photography 503-730-1156 On Site Printing 4x6 5x7 or 8x10 antonioharris@mac.com 4545 N.E. MLK 97211
