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Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle December 5, 2018 ® 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 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 LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS Updated daily. TICKETS ON SALE! The Skanner Foundation MLK Breakfast January 21 2019 Opinion The Congressional Black Caucus Needs to Get to Work on the Western Sahara T he transition towards a new Congress is under- way. Democrats are be- ginning to assume lead- ership positions as a result of their gaining a House major- ity. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) should now have many issues to bring for- ward and one of them needs to be the Western Sahara. Once upon a time the CBC was one of the most signif- icant so-called mainstream players in the realm of US for- eign policy. In the 1970s - 1980s the CBC was central to work against white minority rule in Southern Africa. Some of its members also pushed the envelope on the US blockade of Cuba. Yet, over the years the voice of the CBC on US foreign policy has become far more distant. Yes, they have paid attention to matters such as US trade policy with Afri- ca, but they have shied away from addressing conflicts in Africa, let alone other major international issues. The question of the West- ern Sahara, a former Spanish colony illegally occupied by the Moroccan government, is one such conflict site that the CBC has spent precious little time addressing. It is not that they don’t care, at least from Bill Fletcher Jr. The Global African what I can tell. Former Con- gressman John Conyers, for instance, was the co-chair of a Congressional committee on the Western Sahara. Yet, what has been missing is the passion and engagement that should be associated with re- solving Africa’s last remain- ing colonial question. The Western Sahara is not a matter on the tip of every- one’s tongue. In part because there has been a long-term truce between the Moroccan occupation forces and the national liberation move- ment known as POLISARIO, Morocco’s litany of human rights abuses and its denial of national self-determination to the Sahrawi population rarely gets into the headlines. Yet the potential for regional destabilization is ever pres- ent particularly as Morocco ignores United Nations and African Union calls for the respect of national self-deter- mination. Quite obviously, the con- flict in the Western Sahara is an inner-African struggle. This colonialism is carried out by one African country against another, rather than a struggle against European “ The Mo- roccan gov- ernment is permitting the people of the West- ern Sahara to be robbed by foreign corporations in search of cheap natural resources colonialism. Nevertheless, it represents a struggle over the future of Africa not only because it may explode once again but because it calls into question the terms un- der which peace and justice can truly emerge on a conti- nent divided as it has been by boundaries originally estab- lished by European colonial powers. The CBC can take an active role. It needs to put the pres- sure on the USA to pull back from its nearly unqualified support for the Moroccan monarchy and its illegal occu- pation of the Western Saha- ra. This can begin by the CBC making the Western Sahara a very public issue and show- ing the world the manner in which the Moroccan govern- ment is permitting the people of the Western Sahara to be robbed by foreign corpora- tions in search of cheap natu- ral resources. The CBC truly needs its own foreign policy platform with- in which the Western Sahara should play a prominent role. Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the for- mer president of TransAf- rica Forum. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and www. billfletcherjr.com. He is the author of the new thriller The Man Who Fell From the Sky from Hardball Press. Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the former president of TransAfrica Fo- rum. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and www.billfletch- erjr.com. He is the author of the new thriller The Man Who Fell From the Sky from Hardball Press. The White-Washing of Santa Claus F or starters (spoiler alert) Santa Claus is an imag- inary character — not real. The jolly guy in the goofy red suit is an American icon of popular culture. Al- though portrayed as magical, he’s mythical. The Santa sto- ry is a fabled fairy-tale — not true. A lavish legendary yarn. The roly-poly male with the white beard is a fictional char- acter. Flying reindeer, a toy manufacturing center at the North Pole, and hardworking elves — not real. And Mrs. Claus is imaginary as well. Santa is modeled after St. Nick, a real man, but what was the color of the bishop’s skin — and does it matter? Saint Nicholas of Mira, fourth-cen- tury Christian saint, was a breathing and sneezing per- son. Santa Claus is not. Santa Claus is also known as Kris Kringle and Father Christ- mas. Because Santa is a myth, he can be made into whatever race or ethnicity his followers want him to be. Does Santa only speak the English language? How does he communicate when he drops off toys to children in other countries? Is there a translator at the mall? And Santa doesn’t claim a Melissa Martin, Ph.D. Guest Columnist religion. Do Americans as- sume he’s Christian? And if so, is Santa Catholic, Protes- tant, Baptist, Mormon, non- denominational, or other? “ Because Santa is a myth, he can be made into whatever race or eth- nicity his fol- lowers want him to be Aisha Harris penned a 2013 article on Slate about grow- ing up Black in a world with a White Santa Claus. Harris writes, “Seeing two differ- ent Santas was bewildering. Eventually I asked my father what Santa really looked like. Was he brown, like us? Or was he really a white guy? My father replied that Santa was every color. Whatever house he visited, jolly old St. Nicho- las magically turned into the likeness of the family that lived there.” Let’s revisit the landmark 1954 civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education. Research- ers questioned small children using a Black doll and a white doll to measure perceptions about race. The tool measured attitudes about what color has to do with being (“pretty” or “good”) or (“ugly” or “bad”). The “Doll Test” was cited by the Supreme Court in sup- port of its conclusion that seg- regation harmed the psyches of Black children. And An- ti-black racism is internalized by young Black children. Former Fox anchor Megyn Kelly, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O’Reilly (all Caucasian) spoke out to proclaim and defend a traditional White- skinned Santa. Folks, Santa is not a real person. And he’s neither conservative nor lib- eral — Santa doesn’t vote. Why is there racial contro- versy over the color of a fic- tional character’s skin? Just because it’s a long-told tradi- tional tale does not mean San- ta real. My list of solutions: 1. Make Santa’s skin the col- ors of the rainbow, 2. Stop lying to kids about Santa being real and do away with him, 3. Be inclusive and respectful of an African American Santa, a Hispanic Santa, an Asian Santa, a Native American Santa, a multi- racial Santa, an African Santa or a Santa Claus of any color, race, ethnicity, culture. White families can still vis- it their White Santa at the mall; however, they need to zip their lips when families of other skin colors choose to visit with their Santa of color. And stop telling White chil- dren that Santa is only white- skinned. Santa can be any col- or of skin because Santa is not a real person. And Santa can represent all human beings. Racism in our celebration of the Christmas holiday needs to end in the USA and in other countries. Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educa- tor, and therapist. She lives in Ohio. www.melissamartinchil- drensauthor.com.