opinion
king Memorial: Fix the Quote
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D
r. Martin Luther King, Jr.
was anything but an “arro-
gant twit”. Yet Dr. Maya
Angelou called it entirely correct-
ly when she said that one of the
quotes engraved on the side of the
new memorial to Dr. King por-
trays the man as a braggart, not the
humble servant leader that he
was. “I was a drum major for jus-
tice”, the memorial reads. The
actual “drum major” speech is a
profound speech about the herd
instinct that many human beings
have, much to their detriment. As
part of a herd, we often buy what
we can’t afford, put on airs that
serve no purpose, and fail to speak
up when it is unpopular with the
crowd. Dr. King said, “If you
want to say that I was a drum
major, say I was a drum major for
justice. Say that I was a drum
major for peace. Say I was a drum
major for righteousness. And all
of the other shallow things will not
matter.” Maybe that full quote
was too long for the slab of stone,
but the “if” clause is extremely
important to its meaning. Dr.
Angelou, a personal friend of Dr.
King’s, raises her voice represent-
ing so many when she says the out
B ENNEtt
c oLLEgE
Julianne
Malveaux
of context quote does not do Dr.
King’s message justice.
I am amazed at the glib excuse
major” speech. I am also bothered
at the response that some of the
King memorial leaders had for Dr.
Angelou. “She didn’t come to
meetings,” said one, implying that
absence is consent. Did she ever
get the minutes? Was there a
vote? Executive architect Ed
Jackson, Jr., says they ran the
change by an oversight group, the
U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and
“they didn’t have a problem with
it.” I’d like to know whether this
Dr. Angelou, a personal friend of Dr.
King’s, raises her voice representing so
many when she says the out of
context quote does not do Dr. King’s
message justice
for editing the quote, because of
“space constraints”. Find another
quote that fits better into the space,
instead of mangling one and tak-
ing a civil rights icon’s message
out of context, changing the mean-
ing, intent, and spirit of the “drum
group’s major concern is aesthet-
ics or historical accuracy. Dr.
Maya Angelou’s principled stance
is appropriate.
Many of us may know the cor-
rect quote and its context, but
many do not. A generation from
now, when millions of people
from all over the world are coming
to visit the monument, will the
quote show Dr. King and his mes-
sage in its full authenticity? This is
the only monument on the
National Mall that lifts up an
African American. It is a tremen-
dous accomplishment. It ought to
be correct. I can already hear
someone say “don’t sweat the
small stuff”. A quote out of con-
text is no small thing, especially
not when it alters the meaning of
the message.
My grandmother is not the only
elder who made young’uns cringe
when she railed, “If you are going
to do something, then do it right.”
I sure hope the folks who made
quote decisions had those kinds of
grandmothers. Then they would
understand that
Dr. Maya Angelou is simply an
advocate for historical accuracy,
for Dr. King’s dignity, and for a
monument that fully reflects the
years of dedication, commitment,
and effort that have gone into it.
Do it right. Fix the quote. Don’t
take Dr. King out of context.
Obama: Demonstrate Bold Leadership
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A
ny compromise President
Obama reaches with
Congress will fail to sig-
nificantly reduce Black unem-
ployment unless the plan is crafted
to address joblessness in the three
industries
where
African-
American workers are concentrat-
ed – government jobs, education
and health services.
According to a University of
California-Berkeley Labor Center
research brief titled, “Black
Workers and the Public Sector,”
20.9 percent of African-Americans
are employed in what is called the
public administration sector and
18.5 percent work in education
and health services.
The report, written by Steven
Pitts, shows some variations with-
in the Black community. For
example, most Black males (18
percent) are employed in the pub-
lic
administration
sector.
However, most African-American
females (27 percent) are employed
in education and health services.
Public administration is the sec-
ond-leading employer for Black
women at 23.3 percent.
But the gender differences don’t
stop there. After public adminis-
tration, the next highest employers
for Black men are manufacturing
(14.7 percent), wholesale and
retail trade (14.3 percent), profes-
sional and business services (9
percent) and educational and
health services (8.4 percent).
By contrast, after education and
health services (27 percent) and
public administration (23.3 per-
cent), Black women were
employed in wholesale and retail
trade (11.3 percent), professional
and business services (7.2 percent)
and manufacturing (7.1 percent).
Thus, when looking at the top
five employment industries, the
sector most likely to hire Black
women – education and health
services – was the one least likely
to hire African-American men.
page 4 The Portland Skanner September 7, 2011
t hE c urrY
r Eport
George E.
Curry
Any successful job plan must take
into account these gender differ-
ences.
UC-Berkeley Labor Center
research challenges President
Obama’s contention that a rising
tide lifts all boats.
In a 2009 interview, Obama
said: “The most important thing I
can do for the African American
Latinos.
Overall unemployment peaked
at 10.1 percent in October but fell
to 9.1 percent in July and August.
Black unemployment had peaked
at 16.5 percent in March and April
of 2011. But that was eclipsed last
month when Black unemployment
rose to 16.7 percent – twice as
high it was when Obama assumed
office.
Although President Obama
shouldn’t be blamed for the
increase in Black unemployment,
he does have a responsibility to
effectively address the issue. And
there are no simple solutions.
There is a tendency to discuss
Black unemployment in the
abstract, but a look at the numbers
When looking at the top five
employment industries, the sector
most likely to hire Black women –
education and health services – was
the one least likely to hire African-
American men
community is the same thing I can
do for the American community,
period, and that is to get the econ-
omy going again and get people
hiring again.”
But as the Labor Center brief
observes, “…Often policy pre-
scriptions that, on the surface, are
race-neutral can have decidedly
racial impacts.”
That’s crucial when considering
Black unemployment is at the
highest level in 27 years. As the
U.S. Department of Labor report
titled, “The Black Labor Force in
the Recovery” notes, the unem-
ployment rate of Blacks in 2007,
the year the recession began, was
8.3 percent, compared to 4.1 per-
cent for Whites and 5.6 percent for
reveals gender and racial varia-
tions. The overall unemployment
rate in August was 9.1 percent.
The unemployment rate for
Whites was 8 percent, 11.3 percent
for Latinos and 16.7 percent for
African-Americans.
Unemployment among Black
females edged up slightly from
July to August from 14.3 percent
to 14.5 percent. Over this same
period, Black men saw their
unemployment rate jump from
17.7 percent to 19.1 percent.
African-American female teens,
ages 16-19, had a higher unem-
ployment level (47.9 percent) than
their male counterparts (45.2 per-
cent). The teen female unemploy-
ment rate has risen steadily, from
26.8 percent in December 2007 to
33.8 percent in June 2009, to 40.4
percent in July 2011 and to a top of
47.9 percent in August.
Black male teens experienced a
more uneven ride, increasing from
39.8 percent in December 2007 to
45.1 percent in June 2009 before
falling to 38 percent in July 2011
and rising again to 45.2 percent
last month.
Commentators like to remind
President Obama that his ability to
keep his job in 2012 is contingent
upon how well he handles the jobs
issue. From time to time, President
Obama places the unemployment
issue at the top of his agenda.
Often – as part of an agenda driv-
en by his political opponents – his
attention is diverted by some
superfluous issue as his birth cer-
tificate or the phony debt ceiling
debate.
As evidenced by his speech
Thursday night to a joint session
of Congress, job creation is back
at the top of the White House
agenda. After a net loss of jobs in
August, the president can’t afford
to allow himself to be diverted
from his main challenge again.
That will necessitate taking bold
action to restart the economy and
not proposing only what he thinks
can be passed in Tea Party-domi-
nated House of Representatives.
Great presidents – including
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S
Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson –
are still respected decades after
leaving the White House because
they molded public opinion during
a time of monumental crisis. If
Barack Obama wants to be consid-
ered a great president or to even
get re-elected, he must demon-
strate strong leadership as his
opponents try to deliver on their
pledge to deny him a second term.
george e. Curry, former editor-
in-chief of emerge magazine and
the nnPa news Service.