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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2022)
Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle December 21, 2022 Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Are Black Individuals Like Kanye West, Van Jones, and Stephen A. Smith ‘Perpetrating a Fraud,’ or is Self-Hate a Primary Motivator for Anti-Blackness Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer I Saundra Sorenson Reporter Aurora Hernandez Digital Content Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 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. ©2022 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Updated daily online. ebo m me • nts o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n n F ac it Hear about it first. Sign up for Breaking News and Events at TheSkannerNews Stacy M. Brown NNPA Columnist Walker’s campaign against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock infuriated Black Americans, many of whom “ “How does he not know he is being used?” called him a “House Negro,” and an “Uncle Tom.” “Herschel Walker being in this election is an insult to Black Americans,” Rutgers University Professor Valerie Fitzhugh determined. “How does he not know he is being used?” Earlier this month, a photo of Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones surfaced, showing him among the crowd of white people in 1957 who blocked six Black students from de- segregating a high school in Arkansas. Before Jones responded to I LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS LOCAL EVENTS d ay ! • L i ke u s o n the 1960s, African Amer- icans embraced a locally fashioned brand of Black pride, and “Black is beau- tiful” was their traditional motto. According to writer Ronald E. Hall African Americans mostly embraced the Black pride movement in the 1960s. “Unfortunately, such ac- tivist idealism manifested in Black pride expired with the passing of the times,” Hall as- serted. The author then noted that Black Americans “remain the most despised” among the community of human races, reinforced via media images. “In response,” Hall deter- mined, “is Black self-hate acted out by the political con- servatism of Black American Supreme Court Justice Clar- ence Thomas as an icon.” In the eyes of many in Black America, Justice Thomas – disparagingly described by some as “Uncle Thomas,” isn’t alone. Recently, the antics of Re- publican Georgia Senate Candidate Herschel Walker, hip-hop star Kanye West, sports commentator Stephen A. Smith, CNN contributor Van Jones, and others have drawn the ire of fellow Afri- can Americans. the criticism, Smith quickly jumped to the owner’s de- fense, and the uproar from the Black community proved swift. Most observers noted that in his four decades owning the Cowboys, Jones had never hired a Black head coach. Further, the owner had vociferously blasted for- mer 49ers quarterback Col- in Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick hasn’t received an NFL job since. “Sometimes a fruit falls from a tree and rolls so far away from its roots that it’s no longer of the tree,” assert- ed Brother Jamaal Nelson, the owner of the app Knowledge of Self. Continuing his quoting of Malcolm X in describing Smith, Nelson said, “the hard fall, and long journey, bruises the fruit so much that it total- ly changes it. But, unfortu- nately, it’s the same for some of our people.” West, the rapper, now known as “Ye,” also upset many of his own race with comments ranging from “slavery is a choice” to assert- ing that George Floyd died of a fentanyl overdose. He further angered the masses by donning white lives matter shirts alongside Candace Owens, whom many Black people dismiss as a self-loathing individual. “Many millennials viewed West as an older brother,” writer Minda Honey wrote. “Losing hope in him can feel like losing hope in our- selves like we’re looking at what’s waiting for us after a few more successes after we find out that white validation is gold-plated and something green and corrosive waits for us beneath it,” Honey, the owner of TAUNT, insisted. “If West can’t be Black and brilliant in America, some- one like me can’t survive it either. So, we’re resistant to giving up on him,” Honey as- sessed. As for Jones, the CNN con- tributor, his “apology” for what he deemed the lack of response by the Black com- munity to West’s anti-Semit- ic comments drew the ire of nearly all social media. “Now, I must have missed the meeting where we all came together on Black Twit- ter and elected Jones the rep- resentative of the ‘communi- ty,’” Jessica Washington wrote for The Root. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com Refocusing America’s Pursuit of Perfection Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar to y • Opinion n his January 20, 2022, In- augural Address, President Joe Biden called on us to, “look ahead in our unique- ly American way – restless, bold, optimistic – and set our sights on the nation we know we can be, and we must be. But many Americans were looking back to the unprec- edented and tumultuous at- tempted insurrection of Jan- uary 6th. Backward looking is not normal for a democra- cy – especially one like ours that is always in “pursuit of a more perfect union.” But you won’t find perfection by looking backwards. President Abraham Lincoln reportedly once said, “I walk slowly, but I never walk backwards.” President Lincoln led this country through an earlier period of internal turmoil, when there was no certainty that America would emerge intact. I believe President Biden faces similar challeng- es today. In addition to the political challenge that faced our country as he took office, our country was struggling to reduce the toll of Covid-19, restore our place on the world stage, reform community po- licing, keep our communities safe, combat climate change, and the list goes on and on James E. Clyburn Congressman and on. President Biden took a page from President Lincoln’s me- thodical approach to move us forward. Within the first six weeks of his administration, “ I urged mem- bers to step outside their comfort zones President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. That law made Covid-19 vaccinations available, stabi- lized families, unshuttered businesses, reopened schools, and got people back to work. He followed that historic leg- islation with another historic bill, the Bipartisan Infrastruc- ture Law that is investing $1.2 trillion in roads and bridges, clean air and water, ports and rail, electric vehicles and making high-speed internet accessible and affordability to every resident and business. During our lively debate over the Bipartisan Infra- structure Law, competing in- terests within our party were threatening that agenda and our continued pursuit of a more perfect union. I urged members to step outside their comfort zones and find com- mon ground. We were able to subsequently craft the bill that President Biden signed into law. President Biden’s poll num- bers dipped dramatically as the pandemic lingered. But Democrats entered the 2022 election cycle comfortable with his approach and confi- dent in our agenda. We con- tinued to focus on the future and passed much-needed leg- islation: the CHIPS & Science Act to keep skilled technical and manufacturing jobs in the U.S; the PACT Act to provide health care and resources for military heroes who had been subjected to toxic burn pits and Agent Orange, and the Safer Communities Act to combat gun violence and pro- vide more law enforcement officers in rural communities. We also passed the Inflation Reduction Act. While it was the largest investment ever to combat climate change, it also authorized Medicare to ne- gotiate for lower drug prices and capped the cost of insulin at $35 for seniors starting Jan- uary 1, 2023. President Biden and Congressional Democrats were putting the best interest of the American people over the politics of the moment, and the voters knew it. While our legislative wins were impressive and unprece- dented, the pundits remained focused on the noise and name calling. They bought into the dire predictions that the voters would turn Demo- crats out in droves. I was often asked, “What would it take to get beyond the acrimony?” My answer was always the same, “a definitive election, one in which massive num- bers of Americans would step outside their comfort zones.” That is what happened on November 8th. Many Repub- licans and Independents who are not usually comfortable voting for Democrats did so in record numbers. The election results seem to have changed the narrative from one of looking backward to one that is forward focused. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve
