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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2013)
Opinion Blacks More Supportive of Spying “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor B RUCE P OINSETTE Reporter D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2012 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds A lthough the federal govern- ment secretly spied on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders in the past, Blacks are more willing than Whites to have their privacy rights invaded if it will help investigate possible terrorists. A recent joint poll by the Pew Research Center and the Washing- ton Post showed that a majority of Americans support the National Security Agency’s tracking of tele- phone and Internet records of mil- lions of Americans in an effort to make them safe from terrorists. On several key security issues, Blacks were more accepting of government intrusion than Whites. When you drill down to the race of registered voters who were interviewed, there were signifi- cant racial differences. Of Whites polled, 60 percent said yes, the government should be able to monitor everyone’s email and online activities; 36 percent objected. Among all people of color, 67 percent said yes and 30 percent said no. But among regis- tered African American voters, 75 percent – 15 percent more than Whites – replied that such inva- sions were fine with them while 23 percent objected. Respondents were also asked: As you may know, it has been T HE C URRY R EPORT George E. Curry reported that the National Security Agency has been getting secret court orders to track telephone call records of MILLIONS of Ameri- of Whites – 53 percent – found such activity acceptable, com- pared to 44 percent who consid- ered it unacceptable. Among African-American voters, 62 per- cent found the practice acceptable and 37 percent found it unaccept- able. Amazingly, Blacks are more trusting of the federal government even considering its past abuses. As I mentioned in a column col- umn last year: “From 1956 to 1971, the FBI operated a program called COINTELPRO, an If anyone has reason to distrust the federal government’s monitoring of its citizens, it’s African Americans. Yet, we continue to hope against hope, placing our trust in people and institutions that have sought to destroy us. cans in an effort to investigate ter- rorism. Would you consider this access to telephone call records an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Overall, 56 percent of Ameri- cans said the NSA action was acceptable and 41 percent said it was unacceptable. A bare majority acronym for Counter Intelligence Program. Initially established to spy on organizations suspected of communist ties, the program was expanded by J. Edgar Hoover to include the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Student Nonviolent Coordinat- ing Committee (SNCC), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Black Panther Party, the Nation of Islam, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the National Lawyers Guild and other left-leaning groups. “A congressional committee, chaired by Senator Frank Church, issued a report that concluded, ‘Many of the techniques used would be intolerable in a demo- cratic society even if all of the tar- gets had been involved in violent activity, but COINTELPRO went far beyond that…the Bureau con- ducted a sophisticated vigilante operation aimed squarely at pre- venting the exercise of First Amendment rights of speech and association, on the theory that pre- venting the growth of dangerous groups and the propagation of dangerous ideas protect the national security and deter vio- lence.’” The goal of COINTELPRO was to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, or otherwise neutralize” organiza- tions that the FBI deemed “subver- sive.” The FBI harassed harassed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. until his final days. Read the rest online at www.theskanner.com What Black Parents Must Do This Summer T turn off the television, here is a three year gap between Black and White R AISING B LACK S TUDENTS read a book and write a report that her sister students. Many people would grade! love to believe it’s due to Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu I have a theory that I income, fatherlessness, educa- tional attainment of the parent and lack of can go into your house and within 5 minutes parental involvement. I believe a major reason tell you the type of student who lives there and for the gap is we continue to close schools for the summer as if we are an agrarian economy. Very few Black youth will be farming this summer. If you mul- tiply 3 months by 12 years you will see the 3 year gap. There is nothing wrong with Black youth if their schools remained open during the summer and/or their parents kept them academically engaged. Middle-income parents who value education predict their future. I believe that engineers, enroll their children in some type of academic doctors, lawyers, accountants etc. need differ- experience during the summer. They also visit ent items in their house than ballplayers, rap- libraries, museums, zoos and colleges. Other parents allow their children to sleep longer, play more video games, watch more television and play basketball until they can’t see the hoop. These students will have to review the same work they had mastered in May in Sep- tember. Black parents cannot allow their child to lose 3 months every year. Black parents cannot say they cannot afford the library. It’s free! Most museums have discounted days. A male friend of mine shared his experience with me when he took his family to the muse- um. He wondered why so many people were staring at him. His wife and children had to tell him he was the only Black man in the building! I am appealing to every father to take his chil- dren this summer to the library, museum, and the zoo. I am appealing to every mother if he won’t, you will. We need every parent to make sure their child reads at least one book per week and to write a book report. I am reminded of the formula Sonya Carson used to develop Ben Carson to become the best pediatric neurosurgeon. This low-income single parent, with a third grade education, had enough sense to tell her sons to Page 4 The Portland Skanner June 19, 2013 pers, and criminals. I am very concerned when I visit a house that has more cd’s an downloads than books. My company, African American Images, has designed a special collection of books for boys. Research shows one of the major reasons boys dislike reading is because of the content. The set is titled Best Books for Boys. We also have one for girls, parents and teachers. Enjoy your summer. Let’s close the gap. I look forward to your child’s teacher asking your child what did you do for the summer? And your child answering we went to the library, museum, zoo, col- leges and other great educational places. I am appealing to every father to take his children this summer to the library, museum, and the zoo. I am appealing to every mother if he won’t, you will Author of, “There is Nothing Wrong With Black Students: Changing School Culture For Black Males and Raising Black Boys”
