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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2019)
Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle April 24, 2019 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now On the Fallacy of Color ‘Blindness’ Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher What happens when you say ‘I don’t see color…’ Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor W 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 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 LOCAL EVENTS ebo m me • nts TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n n F ac it Updated daily online. d ay ! • L i ke u s o hat is the fallacy when someone says, “I don’t see color?” Immediately, when someone says this to me, a woman of color, two thoughts cross my mind. The first one is, “Is there some congenital abnormality that negates the ability to perceive colors?” The second, if more visceral: “If you don’t see color, does that render me invisible, un- important, or not worthy to be seen?” This statement prickles the hairs on the back of my neck. For, too often, these words are spoken by a White person to someone Black or brown. It almost fits into the trite utterance of “I have some (or a) Black (or brown) friends,” or, another, “You are not like them.” So, if you do not see color, how do you know you have some friends of color or that I am not like the illusive “them,” presumably others of color? Many of us have prejudices and/or stereotypes of those Barbara Parks-Lee, Ph.D., CF, NBCT (ret.) NNPA ESSA Awareness Campaign we view as “other” or ones different from ourselves in some way. It might be that culture, religious belief, eth- nicity, gender, class, marital status, socio-economic status, “ Regardless of the injury, all people’s blood is red and all of us can hurt or grieve, regardless of color or one or more of the –isms influence our perceptions. Some biases are so inculcated that, from infancy, we are pro- grammed to have fears, ste- reotypes, and negative views of those unlike ourselves. One part of this kind of fal- lacious thinking may hinge on the fact that in order for some groups to feel righteous and superior, other groups must have to be viewed as dangerous and/or inferior. Our perceptions of the val- ue of ourselves and others of- ten determine our treatment of and reactions toward those we view as less than or not as valued. Wars are fought over cultural and religious differences. Regardless of the injury, all people’s blood is red and all of us can hurt or grieve, regardless of color. In the classrooms across the United States, many children of color — and we all have a color — are castigated, segre- gated, and under-educated by least-qualified teachers who are sent in to work with chil- dren most needy. As our schools become more multicultural, many of their teachers are becoming more monocultural and unpre- pared to acknowledge cultur- al differences, different styles of learning, or ways of show- ing respect and tolerance. The resulting revolving door of teachers who hone their craft on these children not like themselves often exacer- bates the underachievement of students and the continual decline of the public-school system as we know it. Until all of us are willing to forego our color and cultur- al blindness, we perpetuate students being placed on an assembly line to mediocri- ty, frustration, and wasted, unacknowledged potential. This, in no way applies to all teachers, for many teachers are diligent, dedicated, and hard-working people who care and who have students, many of whom, succeed in spite of the odds against them. However, to “not see color “is, to a person of a differ- ent color, the height of insult from an arrogant, insecure, ignorant, condescending — even if unintentional — racist person! Are Blacks Close to Receiving Reparations? info@theskanner.com to y • Opinion Understanding the Importance of H.R. 40: Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans Act B lacks have been trying to level the economic and societal playing fields in this country for some time. When it comes to the concept of granting “rep- arations” to Black people as a form of restitution for the years that Blacks spent sub- jected to the barbaric insti- tution of slavery in America, it has seemingly been over- looked and ignored by the ma- jority of legislators that have come and gone in the U.S. Con- gress. Many Blacks have heard and even used the phrase, “40 acres and a mule,” which was a guarantee made to former- ly enslaved people of African descent that was the first at- tempt at seeking to provide some form of reparations to Blacks who had been en- slaved. Of course, history shows us that the decision makers who talked about the idea of pro- viding reparations to people of African descent who were previously enslaved, reneged on their promise, leaving Blacks to work harder and longer to achieve success than those who had enslaved them to begin with. This has proven to be extremely chal- lenging for Blacks. U.S. history has set prece- dent for providing repara- tions to several groups, in- cluding Japanese Americans, who have suffered challenges. In 1942, during World War II, the U.S. created internment camps where roughly 125,000 Jeffrey L. Boney NNPA Political Analyst people of Japanese descent were essentially enslaved as a result of an executive order from then-president Frank- lin Delano Roosevelt. The ra- tionale for their inhumane detention was that people of Japanese descent were sus- pected to have been conspir- ing against the U.S. Sadly, many of these people were American citizens, but that did not matter because they were forcibly detained and made to move from their homes to the internment camps. Congress decided to insti- tute a reparation fund after recognizing the actions of the U.S. government resulted in estimated losses of several billion dollars sustained due to the loss of property and the ability to make a living suffered by those of Japanese descent. As a result, each survivor was eventually awarded $20,000, with approximate- ly 80,000 people of Japanese descent claiming the repara- tions that they were entitled to. This action cost the U.S. gov- ernment approximately $1.6 billion in reparations and re- mains a dark stain on Ameri- ca’s history. Here in America, descen- dants of the people of African descent that were enslaved and experienced some of the cruelest ordeals imagin- able, should be looked upon no differently than any oth- er group. As with Japanese Americans during and after World War II, African Amer- icans continue to experience their own unique challenges and issues. From a historical perspec- “ African Americans continue to suffer debil- itating eco- nomic, edu- cational, and health hard- ships tive, approximately 4,000,000 Africans and their descen- dants were enslaved in the U.S. and colonies that became the U.S. from 1619 to 1865. The institution of slavery was constitutionally and statu- torily sanctioned by the U.S. from 1789 through 1865. African Americans con- tinue to suffer debilitating economic, educational, and health hardships, including but not limited to the nearly 1,000,000 Black people incar- cerated, an unemployment rate that is more than twice the current unemployment rate of Whites, and an aver- age wealth of less than 1⁄16 of that of White families, a dis- parity which has worsened, not improved, over time. While the focus has been on highlighting the social ef- fects of slavery and segrega- tion, the continuing economic implications remain largely ignored by mainstream anal- ysis. These economic issues are the root cause of many critical issues in the African American community today, such as education, healthcare and criminal justice policy, including policing practices. The call for reparations rep- resents a commitment to en- ter a constructive dialogue on the role of slavery and racism in shaping present-day condi- tions in our community and American society. Former U.S. Congressman John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) once proposed creating a Com- mission to study how to ap- propriately compensate the descendants of slaves for de- cades, with those conversa- tions falling on deaf ears. Understanding the unique challenges that African Americans face here in America, U.S. Congresswom- an Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) is hoping that a bill she is now championing, in the spirit of former Rep. Conyers, gets the level of support and traction needed. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve