Page 2 The Skanner February 14, 2018
®
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Opinion
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Celebrating Diversity at PCC-Cascade Campus
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
J
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2017
MERIT
AWARD
WINNER
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tablished in October 1975, is a
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ust recently, here at the
Cascade Campus of Port-
land Community College,
a group of people saw fit
over the winter holiday to
come onto our campus and
leave behind an assortment
of anti-Semitic and white-su-
premacist posters, fliers, and
stickers. The current political
climate, it seems, has embold-
ened some racists and bigots
to come out of the shadows
and impose their views on
others.
It is safe to say, I think, that
we are experiencing a peri-
od of profound transition
in American life. At no time
since the Civil Rights Era have
we witnessed such a sustained
and insistent questioning of
the existing power structure
in our nation. Movements
like Black Lives Matter have
repeatedly shown — some-
times in excruciating detail
— the yawning gulf between
how communities of color
and the white community
experience the criminal jus-
tice system. The Occupy Wall
Street movement laid bare the
corrosive effect that extreme
concentration of wealth has
Dr. Karin
Edwards
President,
PCC -
Cascade
Campus
on our social fabric. And
more recently, a procession of
women has come forward to
declare “Time’s up!” and hold
powerful men accountable
for their misdeeds.
Yet even as all these move-
ments have unfolded, we are
seeing a pushback, an uptick
in the sort of public racism
and sexism we have worked
so long to put behind us.
Nonetheless, our quest for so-
cial justice will not wane.
This is why I am proud to
say that at the Cascade Cam-
pus, we take this responsi-
bility very seriously. We are
consciously, deliberately, and
unapologetically
commit-
ted to making our campus a
warm and welcoming place
for everyone who chooses to
study or work here, and to
make ourselves a beacon of
free thought and discourse
for our community. And this
is why there is no room at our
campus, or in our communi-
ty, for the kind of racist and
bigoted propaganda that was
distributed here over the hol-
idays.
Over the past couple of
years, we have endeavored to
develop a road map — the Cas-
“
It is safe to
say, I think,
that we are
experienc-
ing a period
of profound
transition in
American life
cade Inclusion Plan — to take
our campus to where we want
it to be. Using critical race
theory as our guidepost, we
are intentionally working to
reshape our campus culture
into something better, more
enlightened, and more com-
passionate. A key component
of this effort lies in examin-
ing, challenging, and decon-
structing privilege.
I’ll be the first to tell you
— this effort has made some
people pretty uncomfort-
able. When your life has been
shaped by the privilege you
enjoy, even an attempt to sim-
ply question that privilege —
let alone dismantle it — can
feel like a personal attack. But
to this I say — you’ve got to
lean into that discomfort, be-
cause what’s on the other side
is worth it.
We’re not perfect at the
Cascade Campus. We haven’t
found the silver bullet that
will transform us into a mod-
el of enlightenment for the
world. But I can promise you
this: if you choose to enroll
here and begin shaping your
future, you will find a place
that welcomes you no matter
your background; that af-
firms your worth as a human
being; that is actively work-
ing to remove the barriers
that divide us; that is part of
the greater effort to move hu-
manity forward.
And if all the haters have to
push back with some tired old
posters and stickers — I’d say
we’re already winning.
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BLACK HISTORY
MONTH
Special Edition
FEBRUARY 21:
“Pioneers
in STEM”
Euphemia Lofton Haynes, first
African-American woman to earn
a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1943
Trump’s Parade Plan a Waste of Money
Why President Donald Trump really wants an elaborate military parade
N
ow “45” wants a parade.
He wants it in Novem-
ber, probably before
the mid-term elections.
Some see it as move to mo-
bilize his base and stroke
his own ego; others actually
believe that he wants to cele-
brate and honor members of
the military. It’s been report-
ed that he wants the parade,
because he saw a parade in
Paris on Bastille Day. If he
went to the zoo, would he
want zebras and tigers roam-
ing the lawn at 1600 Pennsyl-
vania Avenue next?
The last parade we had in
Washington was in 1991, when
we “won” the Gulf War. That
parade cost $14 million ($21
million in today’s dollars), and
drew 800,000 people. Given
45’s propensity for wanting
the biggest and “the huuuug-
est,” he’d probably want to
spend twice what George
H.W. Bush spent in 1991. That
$42 million represents less
than a millionth of one per-
cent of the nearly $500 billion
federal budget increase that
the Senate proposed in bipar-
tisan legislation on February
7. I am among the many who
will look askance at the possi-
ble cost of a parade. There are
lots of things we could do with
$42 million, like job creation,
small Pell grant increases,
or even more amenities for
our armed forces. But in the
scheme of things, some will
argue that $42 million is not
Julianne
Malveaux
NNPA
Columnist
that much money; they might
suggest that a parade is more
about symbolism than any-
thing else.
What does a show of mil-
itary might signal in these
“
So, why do we
need to show
off? Because
45 is a show-
off, a blow-
hard, and an
Electoral Col-
lege-selected
buffoon
times? There has been no
significant military victory,
nothing to celebrate, except
45’s already-inflated ego.
France’s Bastille Day parade
is a response to the fact that
France had been invaded
twice, most devastatingly by
the Germans in World War
II. Their parade is as much a
show of military might as it
is of European unity. These
days, troops from several
countries, including Germa-
ny and the United States, par-
ticipate in the parade. Some
carry the flag of the European
Union, even though the EU
has no military. Would 45’s
parade include other coun-
tries, or is this exhibition just
about “us”?
Instead of the show of unity
that Bastille Day parade rep-
resents, 45’s parade will like-
ly be a reflection of his brag-
gadocio. His button is bigger,
so is his parade, and so is the
U.S. military. The president’s
parade sounds like a show of
muscle, but to what end? Even
the inhabitant of the world’s
smallest country must know
that the U.S. has the world’s
“greatest” military. So, why do
we need to show off? Because
45 is a show-off, a blowhard,
and an Electoral College-se-
lected buffoon.
Meanwhile, consider the
impact a parade might have
on the District of Columbia,
the used-to-be majority Black
city that is mostly occupied
by Democrats. How will the
streets survive huge tanks
rolling down Pennsylvania
Avenue, and who will pay for
repairs? How extensive will
this parade be, and will it hap-
pen on the weekend or a week-
day? What will it mean for
workers, transportation, and
the District’s infrastructure?
The president could care less
about any of it. He passed
the hot potato of the parade
to the Secretary of Defense,
and now General Jim Mattis
and his team are stuck with
the task. Both Democrats and
Republicans have verbalized
opposition to the parade, and
they are likely to be labeled
“treasonous” by 45, since
anyone who disagrees with
him, or fails to clap (or bow)
when he speaks is obviously
a traitor. He is behaving like
a despot like his rival, North
Korea’s “Supreme Leader”
Kim Jong-un.
While 45 finds it convenient
to idolize the military and in-
sist that the rest of us do so,
as well, he didn’t find it conve-
nient to serve in the military.
He was excused from military
service during the Vietnam
era, because he had flat feet or
bone spurs or something like
that. More than likely, he was
excused from military ser-
vice, because his family had
money.
The president wants a pa-
rade to celebrate the military
and glorify our country’s mil-
itary might. Next he will want
to have someone crown him
king. Yes, it is a good thing
he doesn’t go to the zoo, be-
cause we might end up with a
menagerie in the backyard at
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Julianne Malveaux is an au-
thor, economist and founder of
Economic Education. Follow
Dr. Malveaux on Twitter @
drjlastword.