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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2013)
Opinion On Race, Court is Out of Touch “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. © 2013 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 I n its decision Monday on affir- mative action, the Supreme Court punted. It reviewed the University of Texas affirmative action program — in which race is admittedly “a factor of a factor of a factor” in admission, one of many factors used with a universi- ty committed to the educational benefits of a diverse student body — and said the lower court had to give it even stricter scrutiny. Or in essence, take another, harsher look and come back next year. In making the decision, the court once more revealed how out of touch it is with reality. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was passed to provide equal pro- tection of the laws to African Americans emerging from slavery. But 150 years of slavery was fol- lowed by 100 years of apartheid, as the courts and the Congress per- verted the purpose of the Reconstruction Amendments (13- 15). Finally, under Chief Justice Earl Warren, the court, driven in part by the civil rights movement and in part by Cold War concerns that legalized discrimination might dis- credit the U.S. in the nations emerging from colonialism, ruled that segregation was unconstitu- tional and accepted affirmative action to bring equality of opportu- nity to all Americans. And that R AINBOW / PUSH The Rev. Jesse Jackson revolution in civil rights for blacks led directly to the women’s move- ment, the gay liberation movement, and the Latino move- ment. Now, conservatives on the court discriminatory. But African Americans still make far less than whites do. African-American unemployment is twice as high. The wealth gap has widened, not closed. African- American children still enter a world stacked against them. Too many are born to poverty, raised on mean streets. They go to crowd- ed and underequipped schools, starved by the “savage inequality” of funding. They are targeted by banks for higher interest rates, and the most exotic mortgages. They are more likely to be arrested for nonviolent crimes like those ... take a clear look at reality and sustain the original intent and clear mandate of the Constitution, particularly its 14th and 15th Amendments want to distort the Constitution once more, and rule that affirma- tive action based on race is unconstitutional, even when it is undertaken to provide opportunity to those who were locked out. In essence, the court is saying that equal opportunity has been achieved, and that considering race as a factor is thus inherently involving drugs, more likely to be jailed if arrested, more likely to serve time if tried. In red states across the country, conservatives pushed various measures to limit their right to vote. The pattern of continuing discrimination is per- vasive and inescapable for all who care to look. That’s why Justice Ruth Gins- berg dissented from the opinion, arguing that more scrutiny is not needed. After a yearlong review, the university, she writes, reached a “reasonable, good faith judgment that supposedly race-neutral initia- tives were insufficient to achieve the educational benefits of student- body diversity.” The purpose is constitutional; the means appropri- ate. Nothing else should be required. In this case, in the Voting Rights case likely to be announced this week and in future cases, the court faces a choice. It can ignore the reality of race in this country, enforce an ideological position and trample the basic constitutional mandate of equal rights under the law. Or it can take a clear look at reality and sustain the original intent and clear mandate of the Constitution, particularly its 14th and 15th Amendments. The rights of African Americans — but also the rights of women, of the GLBT movement, of Latinos — will depend to no small degree on how the court rules. The Reverend Jesse Louis Jack- son, Sr., is one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. You Can ‘Sag’ Butt it will Cost You D o you ever wonder what message our young men are really sending when their pants are sagging to the point of showing their underwear? Has it crossed your mind that they might be mooning us? Before we can figure it out, they pull up their pants, only for them to gradually fall right back down. Focusing solely on body language, it’s not a stretch to think they are saying, “Kiss my butt.” Or, words to that effect. Whatever they are trying to say, an increasing number of public officials are making it clear that they don’t want to hear it. Wild- wood, N.J. is the latest city to place a ban on sagging pants, clas- sifying it as indecent exposure. The ban, which goes into effect July 2, applies only to the board- walk in the Jersey Shore resort. Mayor Ernest Troiano, Jr. told the Associated Press: “It’s amazing — and this is a pun — how far decen- cy has fallen through the cracks.” This so-called fashion statement originated in prison. Yes, the joint. Prison clothing is often ill- fitting. But belts are prohibited in most institutions because they might be used for suicide or hang- ing. Still, that’s no reason extend that style beyond the prison walls. They are wearing pants so low that they are obstructing the way that they walk and exposing where the sun doesn’t shine. And their staunchest defenders aren’t doing a good job of arguing their case. Consider Hip Hop rapper The Game’s recent comments about Wildwood’s new law. TMZ reported that he said, “N****** should sag down to their socks out there. They trying to get people to Page 4 The Portland Skanner June 26, 2013 H IP H OP U NION Jineea Butler not sag, please. Can’t tell people how to wear their f***ing clothes. What time are we in? This ain’t the f***ing slave days. F*** that.” He goes on to say, “I am with the sagging movement. First five peo- ple to get fines, I will pay their tickets … I will go there and sag bans. In addition, school districts, transit agencies and airlines ban wearing pants that expose skin below the waist or underwear. Interestingly, before the crack down on those showing their crack, there were unofficial street standards for sagging. They called for wearing pants one or two sizes larger to sag below the elastic designer label on the boxers that matched and clearly defined your outfit. It was a requirement that boxers and the outfit had to show- case a brand from head to toe. The unspoken street rules went so far as to stipulate that if you didn’t No matter how relevant or powerful a rapper aspires to be we can’t allow them to plant messages that poison the mentality of our youth. cause I am a sagging Sagittarius.” Whether the law is valid, racist or unjust, we should not encourage our young people to break the law. After The Game pays the tickets for the first five people who defy this order, what happens to the next 10, 000 who follow suit? Because the first offense is $25 – $100, he’s only committing to a maximum of $500. The fine can go as high as $200 and 40 hours of community service. Is The Game going to do their community serv- ice, too? Other jurisdictions – including Lynwood, Ill.; Terrebone Parish in Louisiana; Albany, Ga.; Opa- Locka, Fla.; Collinsville, Ill. and Hahira, Ga. – have adopted similar wear a coordinating belt you were deemed improperly attired. Sadly, many young people can’t give you a good reason for why they are showing their butts – lit- erally. When asked, most will tell you that they feel more comfortable with their pants exposing their backside. People of my genera- tion used to say that we sag our jeans because we felt uncomfort- able with the sizes and styles that were available. Consequently, Urban Fashion was born. Design- ers for Karl Kani, FUBU and Cross Colours began to make clothes that addressed our vision for a more comfortable feel. As bad as the sagging looks, it’s difficult to sit by as people belittle our entire Hip Hop community on basis of only a slice of our com- munity. Mr. Mayor have you taken the time to speak with the young men in question? Fortunately, there’s more to them than meets the eye. And as one ACLU official said, having bad taste shouldn’t be a crime. Just as public officials have a duty to look beyond our clothes, rappers need to clean up their act, too. I think many of them don’t understand the saying made famous by French writer Francois- Marie Arouet aka Voltaire, “With great power, comes great responsi- bility.” My questions to The Game are: When these people follow you, are you going to give them a job when they are “sagging down to their socks”? Are you going to stop the paper trail that might hurt their careers? How will these five peo- ple even get in touch with you to pay the fines? No matter how rele- vant or powerful a rapper aspires to be we can’t allow them to plant messages that poison the mentality of our youth. If The Game is seri- ous about making change; why not pursue the proper protocol to over- turn this law. Critics say if young men wear- ing pants below their waist want to know how they are perceived by others, all they have to do is look at what “saggin’” spells when the letters are reversed. Jineea Butler, founder of the Social Services of Hip Hop and the Hip Hop Union, can be reached at jineea@gmail.com or Tweet her at @flygirlladyjay
