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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM M ARCH 7, 2012 P ORTLAND , O REGON V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 10 25 CENTS For The Skanner news alerts Text "NEWS" to 503-715-0890 or scan this QR code C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW School to Prison Pipeline COMMUNITIES Suspensions and Expulsions Part 2: Solutions and Failures By Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News PHOTO BY THOMAS LE NGO A n anonymous caller phoned The Skanner News office to say 5-year- old Camron Tarver is a real brat, and that fact hadn’t been adequately reported in our Feb. 23 story, ‘Suspensions, Expulsions of Black Students: The School to Prison Pipeline?’ While he admitted he doesn’t know the family and has never been to the school but has “friends who do,” the man angrily insisted that Camron’s nine suspensions since the start of kindergarten are not about race. In early February Camron’s mom, Tam- berlee Tarver, testified about her little boy’s well-documented disabilities and her con- sistent inability to access special education services from his school before Gov. John Kitzhaber’s Oregon Education Investment Board in Salem; subsequently the OEIB set up a public forum, held Tuesday, March 6 at the Center for Self Enhancement; the crowd was standing-room only. Sheila Warren of the Portland Parents Union is worried that the families most impacted by the racial disparities around discipline aren’t heard often enough – in part for the same reasons the anonymous caller tried to defame the courageous kindergartner and his mom last month. “Partnerships and teamwork are the key,” Warren says. “We must be intentional as well as persistent and consistent in relation- ship building through restorative listening and dialogue,” she said. The simple fact is that families caught up in the school disciplinary process are often not listened to, are often disrespected and shamed; they’ve “done something wrong.” It’s a process that continues as the chil- dren grow older and are disproportionately drawn into the criminal justice system – where, again, the families are not listened to, but rather disrespected and shamed. Representatives from the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon went to Salem to raise awareness about policy issues that impact API communities. Report Busts ‘Model Minority’ Myth Racism hurts Asian Pacific Islanders more in Portland than rest of USA By Helen Silvis Of The Skanner News W ith national figures showing Asian and Pacific Islanders outstripping Whites in educa- tion and earning power, many people believe racism doesn’t affect Asians. That’s just wrong— at least in Multnom- ah County. A dense, 225-page report released this week by the Communities of Color Coali- tion shows Multnomah County’s Asian and Pacific Islander communities fare far worse than their national counterparts. From education to health, earning power and more, the county’s more than two-dozen Asian and Pacific Islander groups have more in common with other people of color than with Whites. Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons, coordinator with the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, says the report is an important milestone that shows successes as well as the grim realities facing Asian and Pacific Islander communities. ‘What is really heartbreak- ing about the report is that it exposes that certain Asian and pacific Islander communities are in serious poverty, facing significant educational barri- ers and are living in poor health,” he said. “This is a wake-up call, not just for policy makers but for all Communities of Color to work together to ensure racial equity and racial justice in our public and private institu- tions.” The report paints a complex picture, where disparities vary among the many different Asian and Pacific Islander communities. About 74,000 Asian and Pacific Islanders live in Multnomah County, but they consist of more than 55 different communities, who speak different languages and bring their own unique histo- ries and cultures. Yet looking at the entire community, local and national figures a pattern emerges, which shows local Asian and Pacific Islander communities See REPORT on page 3 See SUSPENSIONS on page 5 INDEX News ......2,3,5,7,10-12 Opinion .....................4 Church ......................6 A & E ......................8,9 Bids/Classifieds ........13 Scrutiny of Bank Overdraft Practices ‘Candid discussion’ on why customers pay billions in unfair fees By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist W hen the Consumer Financial Pro- tection Bureau visited New York City on Feb. 22, a roundtable dis- cussion with bankers and consumer advocates began a day of focused discus- sion of bank products that cost customers billions per year in unfair fees. In his open- ing remarks, CFPB Director Richard Cor- dray called for a “candid discussion” and noted how less than 10 percent of checking account customers bear the brunt of more than 80 percent of all overdraft fees charged by banks. Director Cordray announced new a new initiative wherein the agency will examine the practice of reordering customer transac- tions to boost overdraft fees. CFPB will also look at disclosures and marketing, particu- larly with an eye toward impact on the low-income and young consumers. Roundtable participant Rebecca Borne, senior policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending, advised that overdraft fees are the number one reason bank cus- tomers lose their checking accounts. See BANKS on page 3
