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Page 2 The Skanner January 24, 2018 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now To Truly Remember Dr. King, Political Action and Infinite Hope Must Outweigh Anti-Democratic Forces Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor O Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Melanie Sevcenko Reporter Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2017 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 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. ©2018 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar n F ebo m me • nts TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n d ay ! • L i ke u s o ac it SPECIAL ISSUE: BLACK HISTORY Feb. 21 to y • Opinion ften lost in our celebra- tion of Martin Luther King, Jr. is his unwav- ering testimony of hope and his political action in the face of despair and nihilism, forces that have the potential to thwart otherwise transfor- mative movements. We often remember Dr. King’s hope as a more passive “dream” instead of the definitive dec- laration of “Normalcy, Never Again” which was the intend- ed title of his revered 1963 speech. Nonetheless, no time is riper than 2018 to commem- orate Dr. King’s true legacy by exercising political action and demonstrating unwaver- ing hope in the face of circum- stances that naturally call for the blues. No doubt, anti-democratic forces have penetrated Amer- ican politics and those forces have the potential to breed widespread hopelessness and political apathy. For example, gerrymandering — the par- tisan act of creating voting districts in favor of one’s own political party — has led to situations like that in Virgin- ia, where 55 percent of voters pulled the levers for Demo- crats to only lose the House of Delegates by the drawing of straws. These Virginians, and other marginalized voters, Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) NNPA Columnist could lose hope and sit out fu- ture elections conceding that their votes and voices matter little. Anti-democratic proposals — including a bid by Jeff Ses- “ measures that suppressed mi- nority voters, like poll taxes and literacy tests, have despi- cable descendants that plague the modern-day electoral sys- tem. Discriminatory voter identification laws, voter roll purges, limitations on early voting procedures, and other impediments to voter regis- tration and ballot casting con- tinue to suppress Americans to this day. Despite the times, if the legacy of Dr. King means A number of democratic victories reaffirm Dr. King’s call to ‘accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope’ sions to require Census re- spondents to answer self-in- criminating questions about their immigration status — have the potential to discour- age participation in a process that determines the size of each state’s congressional delegation and each state’s re- ceipt of federal funds for es- sential programs like quality public education. Such forces do more to depress civic par- ticipation, and they create a disconnected class of Amer- icans, rather than encourage lawfulness. Many pre-civil rights era anything, today’s challenges are a call for increased in- volvement in our democratic process. A number of demo- cratic victories reaffirm Dr. King’s call to “accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” A recent federal court decision that found North Carolina’s parti- san gerrymandered districts, which unjustifiably favored Republicans 10 to 3, unconsti- tutional provides persuasive arguments as to why the Su- preme Court should conclude the same in two pending cases. If the Supreme Court adopts North Carolina’s rea- soning, the result may be a more leveled political playing field during 2018 midterm congressional elections, and a more accountable Washing- ton, as a result. Democratic Senator Doug Jones’ statewide victory in Alabama is also an example of why our infinite hope should always trump finite disap- pointment, especially in the electoral process. If only a few voters lost hope and de- cided to sit out the Alabama senatorial race, the result could have been status quo in the Senate during a time where resistance to anti-dem- ocratic forces in Washington is needed more than ever. We must heed the words of the great man we honor today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who warned us that “history will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this pe- riod of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” As Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus’ Political Action Committee, I am inspired by Dr. King’s infinite hope now more than ever before. This year, concerned citizens can make Dr. King’s philosophy real in the voting booth. Blacks and Politics: Either Get Engaged or Get Left Behind O kay, everyone, if you are reading this, welcome to 2018. You made it, and with that being said, I feel that this is the perfect op- portunity for us to be honest about an important truth. First of all, as I see it, it is extremely clear to me, and should be quite evident to anyone who would just sim- ply open up their eyes to see it for themselves, that the Black vote can either make or break an election. If you don’t believe me, I would encourage you to take a look at previous elections where the Black communi- ty was actively engaged and driven to get out and vote in a local, county, state or feder- al election, versus the times where they were not as excit- ed or motivated to do so. Take Alabama’s recent spe- cial U.S. Senate election race involving Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones, where people were overwhelmingly surprised to see the exit polls that showed that Black voters made up 29 percent of the overall voter turnout in the entire election — 18 percent of Black women and 11 percent of Black men. Exit polls also showed that 98 percent of Black women cast their vote for Jones, while 93 percent of Black men cast their vote for Jones. Jeffrey L. Boney NNPA Columnist These were phenomenal numbers, and definitely the type of numbers that Jones needed to pull off an unexpected victory in a historically and tradition- “ from Jones before engaging the Black community to come out and vote for him, and do- ing what the Black communi- ty always does when it is ex- pected to deliver the turnout and votes necessary to secure a victory for select candidates or select issues on the ballot? I believe it is, because the Black community has grown accustomed to not being re- spected, especially within the Democratic Party where they are the most loyal. And be- The Black community has grown accustomed to not being respect- ed, especially within the Demo- cratic Party where they are the most loyal ally red state like Alabama. It was exciting to see this type of political difference making by the Black community, but that excitement was imme- diately quenched and short- lived, after reading reports that a letter was sent to Jones on Dec. 19 from the Joint Cen- ter for Political and Economic Studies and 16 other organi- zations practically begging him “to commit to hiring a staff that reflects his constitu- ents’ racial diversity.” Why wasn’t this letter sent before Jones won? Why not get this type of commitment fore “loyal” Democrats come for my head, because they consider this an attack on the Democratic Party or as an op- portunity to try and have us compare the Democratic Par- ty to the Republican Party, I believe the Black community needs to ask itself some really tough questions. When it comes to the Black community’s involvement in the Democratic Party, how are Blacks truly viewed with- in the party? Despite the Black commu- nity having such a strong and dedicated voting bloc across the nation, how many Blacks actually hold key positions within the Democratic Par- ty on a local, statewide and/ or national basis? How many Black people are senior staff members in county, state or federal offices across the country? According to a detailed re- port released by the Joint Cen- ter for Political and Economic Studies last year, the majority of White Democratic lawmak- ers in the U.S. Senate, who have millions of Black con- stituents, have no Black se- nior staff members at all. The report also found that while Blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, they only make up 0.9 percent of the top Senate staffers. Is this by design or just an unfortunate oversight? See, it is one thing to look out at these local, county, state and federal Democrat- ic meetings and conventions and see this sea of diversity, with Black faces mixed in with faces from all other rac- es and backgrounds, but it is an entirely different thing to know that Blacks are not given opportunities to have a real impact in the Democratic Party from within, other than just voting. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve
