Page 2 The Skanner October 12, 2016
®
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Arashi Young
Reporter
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Oice Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2016
MERIT
AWARD
WINNER
The Skanner Newspaper, es-
tablished in October 1975, is a
weekly publication, published
every Wednesday by IMM Publi-
cations Inc.
415 N. Killingsworth St.
P.O. Box 5455
Portland, OR 97228
Telephone (503) 285-5555
Fax: (503) 285-2900
info@theskanner.com
Opinion
White Acceptance Won’t Lead to Black Wealth
B
lack folks in America
have been so success-
fully programmed that
many of us are still psy-
chologically enslaved to the
point that we truly believe
we have “made it” when we
have reached a certain inan-
cial plateau or when we have
attained a certain position or
title. Far too many of us, as a
consequence of our psycho-
logical enslavement, have
turned our backs on our own
people, especially many alu-
ent Blacks who have gained
the status of being “accepted”
by White society. Remember
O.J. Simpson?
Our new “Talented Tenth”
has turned out not unlike its
predecessor of 1903, which
W.E.B. DuBois lived to regret,
as he stated in his speech to
The Boule in 1948. Forty-ive
years of watching the selish-
ness of his brothers and sis-
ters was enough for DuBois
to admit that he had made a
mistake. “I assumed that with
knowledge, sacriice would
automatically follow. In my
youth and idealism, I did
not realize that selishness
is even more natural than
sacriice,” DuBois lamented.
“There were especially sharp
young persons [at Fisk Uni-
versity] with the distinct and
single-minded idea of seeing
what they could get out of it
James
Clingman
NNPA
Columnist
for themselves, and nobody
else.”
DuBois let this country, a
sad and disheartened man,
never wanting to return
again, and we have seen his
words and his assessment of
our people magniied. Black
people spend an estimated
“
We are not using our tre-
mendous resources — or tal-
ents — to do good “and” to do
well. We are not using our
talents to help the least of our
brethren. We are not multi-
plying our resources. Instead,
we are virtually burying them
in the ground by succumbing
to every advertisement and
marketing campaign laid be-
fore us by corporate America.
We have taken on the title of
“Conspicuous Consumption
Champions of the World.”
Second, we have placed too
much emphasis on creature
comforts and have allowed
of us. That is so far from the
truth it is not even funny.
Besides, anyone or anything
that has the power to give you
all you need also has the pow-
er to take away everything
you have.
With $1 trillion, coupled
with trillions in intellectual
capital, Black people in this
country can do anything we
set our minds to. I think we
have gotten very lazy and
complacent, because it makes
absolutely no sense for us
to be in the situation we ind
ourselves today. It simply
means we have not been tak-
ing care of our business,
while everyone else has.
We must get back to the
way it was before inte-
gration and before Black
people in this country
were dis-integrated. For
almost 50 years we have
mimicked the Children of Is-
rael, wandering in this des-
ert called America, whining,
murmuring, and complaining
about our situation since we
let Egypt in 1964 when Pha-
raoh (President Lyndon John-
son) signed the Civil Rights
Act. Some of us even want to
return to Egypt. We must use
our $1 trillion to possess the
land.
Black people spend an estimated $1
trillion every year, much of which is
wasted everyday on anything and ev-
erything other people make and sell
$1 trillion every year, much
of which is wasted everyday
on anything and everything
other people make and sell.
We buy it all, but we are dead
last in every other economic
category. We also have the
worst housing, the highest
unemployment, the poorest
healthcare, the highest infant
mortality, the poorest educa-
tion, and our life expectancy
is not even long enough to
collect our hard-earned social
security payments.
ourselves to be deined by
what we do on someone else’s
job, rather than what we can
do to create our own jobs.
We have devalued business
ownership and business edu-
cation, and we have lost sight
of self-suiciency, self-reli-
ance, and collective econom-
ic empowerment. We have
been lulled into the trap of
thinking “the man” will take
care of us or the government
will take care of us, or our lo-
cal politicians will take care
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
www.TheSkanner.com
The Skanner is a member of the
National Newspaper Pub lishers
Association 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.
©2016 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in
whole or in part without permission prohibited.
Local News
Paciic NW News
World News
Opinions
Jobs, Bids
Entertainment
Community Calendar
RSS feeds
BE A PART
OF THE
CONVERSATION
#SkNews
Republicans Are Willing to Dance with the Devil to Win
S
peaker of the House Paul
Ryan (R-Wis.) is antici-
pating a Trump win in
November. Or, at least,
he is preparing for it. He says
that if Republicans hold sway
in the White House, the House
and the Senate, he plans to
use budget reconciliation to
repeal the Patient Protection
and Afordable Care Act (also
known as Obamacare) and
give tax cuts to the wealthy.
Ryan says he will not even at-
tempt any bipartisanship, as
he shoves his regressive agen-
da down the throats of our
people. Instead, he says that
he can make it work, especial-
ly if he has a Trump White
House.
This is, perhaps, why Re-
publicans who appear to have
at least a little bit of good
sense are going for Trump’s
nonsense. They know that Mr.
Trump, with his head in the
cloud and his rhetoric in the
gutter, will let them get away
with anything they want. He
will agree to their tax cuts, be-
cause they coincide with his
agenda to reward the wealthy.
Trump will go along with
cuts to Obamacare, because
he wasn’t loving it in the irst
place. He will let conservative
Republicans hold sway, espe-
cially if they reward him with
their votes in November.
Paul Ryan calls his plan a
“Better Way” policy agenda. It
Julianne
Malveaux
NNPA
Columnist
is an aggressive move that as-
sumes that Republicans will
control both the House and
the Senate. They might not –
if people vote, and vote down
ballot, there is a real chance
“
single payer care, but it pro-
vides opportunity and takes
the irst step in expanding the
social contract since the Roo-
sevelt years. The Afordable
Care Act (ACA) can be used as
a foundation to expand health
insurance coverage and, in
my mind, get us closer to the
ultimate goal of a single-pay-
er system. But legislators re-
jected the single-payer plan
that Senator Edward Kenne-
dy (D-Ma) proposed for de-
cades. The Afordable Care
Lawmakers need to move forward
in improving the Afordable Care
Act, not backward in repealing it
that Democrats can control
the Senate. The House is a
much bigger challenge, and it
is likely that Republicans will
continue to hold sway in the
house. But there are too many
folks who say they won’t vote,
and their votes could make a
real diference. In Ohio, Wis-
consin, Michigan and Florida
(among other states), those
who choose to refrain from
voting are really voting for a
Trump-Ryan agenda.
The attack on Obamacare
is especially problematic.
While the President’s Af-
fordable Care Act is clearly
lawed, it expanded health in-
surance for more than 20 mil-
lion people. It isn’t the desired
Act is a compromise. We need
to move forward in improv-
ing the ACA, not backward in
repealing it.
According to Politico, Paul
Ryan thinks that a divided
government contributes to
gridlock. He’d be happy if the
presidency, the House of Rep-
resentatives, and the United
States Senate were all con-
trolled by Republicans. What
about the rest of us? Does he
see our voice in this? Not ac-
cording to Ryan. He seems
to ignore the fact that there
are legitimate diferences
among legislators and that
these diferences need to be
worked out. He is uninterest-
ed in compromise. Paul Ryan
has explicitly called Donald
Trump a racist. He has es-
chewed many of his policies.
Other Republicans have been
openly repulsed by their bel-
licose standard bearer and
disturbed by his racist blus-
ter and his wacky rhetoric,
but they have thrown their
discernment to the wind, em-
bracing the man they have
described as a rabid racist,
because they prefer him to an
embrace of integrity.
As we count down to the
election, people are coming
forward to say they are ei-
ther undecided, conlicted, or
would rather vote for a third
party candidate, because they
can’t tolerate Clinton Trump.
The bottom line is that either
Clinton or Trump will win
the Presidency. Really. Those
Republicans who support
Trump are openly support-
ing evil. They will dance with
the devil to their detriment.
African Americans, espe-
cially, need to look at what
Trump has promised. He has
promised
discrimination.
He has described our lives as
hell. He has been a bully and
a documented discriminator.
He has been too much. He
should be enough to repel us.
Paul Ryan has called Trump
a racist, but he is willing to
dance with the devil because
it serves his purposes. What
about you?