There are no words

FEMA conducts fake news conference, uses press officials as reporters.

I can't get mad over this - it's far too absurd.

GT Covers the Barometer/Blackface Issue

I will have more to say over the weekend about this - probably lots more - but for now just read the story, and if you're brave, wade into the comments. It's ugly.

h/t Roxy.

More On Native American Mascots & Oregon High Schools II

I am beginning to wonder if it's too late for Susan Castillo to get some buy-in when it comes to the recommendation to eliminate Native mascots and logos:

“We certainly heard from the superintendents loud and clear that they think this needs more discussion and more time,” said Gene Evans, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Education. “They weren’t ready to accept the proposal made by the advisory team. I think there was a lot of opposition.”

Superintendents said they want to bring the question to their communities. The results of those conversations will be gathered for further study by the committee, Evans said.

I'm thinking there is and will be a ton of resistance to this idea at the community level.

Also, there is this:

Some superintendents asked about other nationalities used by Oregon high school teams, such as the Fighting Irish, and whether they should also be concerned about criticism from animal protection groups regarding animal nicknames.

Part of me wants to say that this is evidence that whoever asked this question doesn't get why Native mascots and logos are a bad idea.

The other part of me is thinking about how lawsuit-conscious superintendents must be these days.

But I think the majority of me is the former - that asking the question suggests a failure to try and really comprehend why anyone would be upset in the first place.

In any case, from this commenter, here is the Powerpoint presentation that Che Butler gave. It's pretty darn good.

In fact, let me show you one slide:

Smart Prison Policy

This letter in the DH is spot-on:

More prisons don’t help

About Mannix’s measures: It must be tough being a genius. The answer to Oregon’s problems: more prisons.

Of course. Why am I not surprised? Probably because I’ve been to prison six times. Why? Well, let me give you the very short version: Because prison isn’t what’s going to keep me from going back to what put me there, to what I know.

What a lot of prisoners don’t know is how to get a job, make a resume and set goals. No one wants to hire a felon. Why not build work release centers instead of prisons? Why not try to help people get on the right track to leading a productive, normal life? How about more transitional leave programs? Programs that require inmates to be employed or in school 40 hours a week within the first 30 days of being released and for 90 days (total) or they will return to prison for the remainder of their sentence.

More prisons will not stop the rising rate of crime in Oregon. Wouldn’t the residents of Oregon rather have a more positive say in how their tax dollars are spent on the people that are stealing their belongings and victimizing them? Would they rather see something done to deter criminals from returning to their dysfunctional lives?

Anyone who responds to this in regards to me and not the issue at hand isn’t any smarter than I was when I made the choices that put me here.

Sheli Starr, Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, Wilsonville

Lebanon Rumors

Been hearing a few interesting things today....

For example, that the account given by LT as to how the newspaper knew about the complaint filed with the district? I've been told that's false - though since I've also been told it's true, both claims having been made by trustworthy sources, I'm withholding judgment.

Next, I've heard that there is more to the complaint filed with the district than the Lebanon Express story lets on. While the Express story relates Fandiño's claims of libelous statements being made on the LT blog (an issue that I have no stance on at the moment) and notes how that has been passed to the school board, I have been told that there was element to the complaint that referenced the LCSD's cyberbullying policy - basically, a claim that the writing of LT consitutes cyberbullying by existing district standards. I find that really interesting, since a) I had always assumed cyberbullying was done mostly by students (a terrible assumption, to be sure) and b), because I'm not at all sure if I think the statements made on the LT blog constitute cyberbullying. I just don't know much about it at this point. Furthermore, since this is a relatively new issue nationally, I'm sure it's relatively new to the district, which suggests that district policies that exist surrounding it have yet to really be tested... and I don't really want to see Josh and Rick doing the testing.

But the point is this: Nowhere in the Express story is the cyberbullying angle noted. Furthermore, that part of the complaint - if my information is true - is squarely directed at existing school district policy, which suggests that perhaps it should be dealt with in the Superintendent's Office or at least in the District Office and not at a School Board meeting. I wonder if all parts of the complaint have been passed to the board, or just the part dealing with Fandiño's claims of libel? If not, is Robinson dealing with the cyberbullying stuff? Should he be? Is it his place, or the board's place?

In any case, I also want to take this chance to ask a few more questions about the idea that blogger LT needs to be outed.

Fandiño has said that she wants the attacks to stop. Regardless of one's stance on whether or not what LT writes are 'attacks', let's take Kim's claim at face value.

Well, let's back up a step before that, even. What are the desirable outcomes to the filing of the complaint? (Obviously, different people are going to desire different outcomes.) What are the potential outcomes?

We know Fandiño's stated outcome; it was in the newspaper. Is that the same as her desired outcome? I suspect - but have no proof for - that Fandiño wants LT outed because Fandiño thinks LT is a teacher, and outing her will both end her blogging and let Fandiño exert some pressure on her.

Here's why I say this: If Fandiño wants the attacks to stop, is it possible to do so without outing LT? I think it is, depending on how the complaint is handled and who says what to whom. I value free speech fairly highly, and I think anonymous free speech is, for me at least (and my opinion may not be in line with legal interpretations), included in that category. Therefore, my desired outcome will leave the anonymity of LT intact (since their power to speak as they see fit partially derives from their anonymity). So, in my mind, if Fandiño and LT could find some common ground when it comes to what constitutes an attack and what constitutes libel - if they could talk, and I've not heard an account of them doing so (correct me if I'm wrong) - then maybe the complaint and the whole process could be avoided, and instead two folks who don't seem to get along could maybe start building a relationship based on communication and trust, even though they both know they disagree on many issues.

For me, it comes back to process and honest communication.

Gulf War Syndrom Hits Lebanon

[Just to be clear, I'm claiming the link between his illness and GWS, not the newspaper or his family.]

From the Lebanon Express:

Andrew Rounds, Iraq vet, passed away Saturday

A Waterloo man who spent the last nine months battling leukemia died at Samaritan Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Corvallis on Saturday.

...

The cause of his leukemia was unidentified. Because researchers found no genetic markers in his cells, it was not genetic but something environmental.

His family wonders whether the explosion of an ammunition depot in 2004, when he was serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq, could have exposed him to something that led to the disease.

More on Gulf War Syndrome can be found here.

Blackface on the Front Page of the Barometer

It looks like the intrepid investigator Eric Stoller found a physical copy of the Barometer's front page....I hope he doesn't mind if I steal his image:

More On Native American Mascots & Oregon High Schools

Via Blue Oregon, a story came out in the Oregonian today. It looks like a pretty good overview of what's going on, but it's missing on thing that I would really like to see: the content (or at least a summary of it) of the presentation that Che Butler gave in favor of eliminating Native mascots and logos. Without that, it's easy for onlooker to fill in the gap with "I don't see what's wrong with this."

While I am in favor of high schools not using Native mascots or logos, I am also in favor of good process, and one of the parts of good process is the inclusion of all affected voices. Thus far, that hasn't happened, but the O story makes it sound like it will. I hope it does:

After months of closed meetings, an advisory panel recommended banning Native-themed mascots...

The panel's report cites the "importance of respecting the cultures and sacred symbols of all peoples" and the "harmful effects of racial stereotyping in the social identity and development and self-esteem of (Native) American young people."

But Oregon schools with Native American mascots complained they were not consulted.

"I think we're being invited in after the fact as a kind of courtesy," says Craig Brewington , superintendent of the district that includes Warrenton High, whose mascot is a warrior...

Top state officials are trying to calm the waters, saying a lot more discussion must take place before a final decision is reached. Fans of the Warriors and other Native-themed teams will be listened to, they say.

Castillo will decide the issue, although she has no deadline, says Pat Burk, chief policy officer, who will lead today's meeting. Scheduled to last four hours, it is billed as a conversation in which affected schools can express "concerns, barriers and suggestions."

Could go either way, really, though if Castillo decides to order the removal of the mascots without first earning some buy-in from the affected school, I guarantee the students, staff, parents, and communities who will have to live with the change are going to be very, very upset.

Renee's Column

With her permission...

Blackface: It’s Just for Racists

Apparently I missed the memo that said it was ok to go out in public in blackface, although it was written on the front page of the Daily Barometer in Friday’s edition as students were encouraged to go in blackface to the Saturday game. Much to my chagrin an African friend of mine, Wolof, who is also an OSU student (one of the mighty 264), approached me and asked me what was going on at the paper and had I seen the issue? He promptly pulled it out of his book bag and told me to keep it. After reading it, I wondered why students and alumni were being encouraged to “blackout” Reser stadium for last week’s game. Apparently there were postings on Facebook as well as OregonLive regarding this effort. Also apparently, to me at least, we haven’t come as far as I thought we have in terms of diversity awareness, cultural understanding, or in terms of racism and what might well be construed as a racist act.

There are t-shirts for sale in the bookstore that read, “I see orange people” so I am wondering why an “orange-out” wasn’t planned instead of a “blackout”? The accompanying photo was equally disturbing. Perhaps people don’t realize how offensive it is to blacks to see white people wear blackface? Or to people who are not Black but are considerate of others? I’m not saying this to be politically correct; anyone who knows me knows that I could care less about political correctness but care immensely about deliberately offending someone else about their culture or personal beliefs. I don’t understand how a collegiate paper can print something so offensive on their front page, or any page for that matter!

On behalf of myself, since I do not speak on behalf of the Daily Barometer (read disclaimer below) I would like to sincerely apologize to every Black student, staff, and faculty member, as well as any community member, who may have been offended by reading Friday’s edition and seeing the accompanying photo of a white male in blackface. I would also like to apologize to those of you who are not Black and were also offended.

What do you think it might make a black person on campus think if they see such an article in our student newspaper? Do you think they feel welcome here? That the OSU environment is friendly or considerate to minority people?

Do we just shake our heads and tell each other, “What can you do, some people may never learn,” all with a casual shrug of our shoulders? Or do we encourage people to get diversity training? Do we ask folks to attend an event at one of the cultural centers? Do we just ignore it and hope that it ends up in the recycling bin and long forgotten? Do you think that the Black students on this campus are going to forget? Do you think that they felt honored by having other people suggest such a thing?

There was a recent video reenactment of the alleged Jena 6 assault which was pulled from the Facebook page of a student in Louisiana whose friends covered themselves in mud and jumped another friend, supposedly because they were drunk and having fun while referring to one another by the “N” word. There are also additional racially inflammatory images that have been posted by other students in other states. Isn’t racism what started the problems that resulted in the alleged Jena 6 assault in the first place? What is wrong with people? What is wrong with the Daily Barometer that we wouldn’t consider this before printing such an article? Just because it appears in Facebook, MySpace, or OregonLive, that doesn’t necessarily make it a good idea.

According to Dictionary Definition: “1. blackface – the makeup used by a performer in order to imitate a Negro.” The term blackface is usually tied to racism and prejudice. Not to mention outright bigotry. Ok, I’ll mention it. I personally found the blackface suggestion offensive, as I don’t appreciate seeing non-Native people try to dress like Natives for Halloween or in blackface in imitation of Black people.

I was at a pow wow in Florida once where I saw a White woman wearing a short buckskin dress that was cut thigh-high and she was wearing a long black wig with various other equally inappropriate accoutrements. My friends and I were so disgusted that we left the arena and the pow wow. I had immediately lost all desire to dance and had to suppress a desire to throttle. Ok, not really, but I did want to give her a piece of my mind as she had obviously lost some of hers. You don’t go to a pow wow scantily clad and you don’t go in blackface makeup anywhere.

After doing some research on blackface, and the history of it, I do realize that the minstrel shows of decades ago did provide some avenue for blacks to perform and some of them could not do so unless they too were in blackface. But, as time, and our world, has evolved, the realization that these minstrel shows promoted racist views of a large segment of our population also evolved. Just ask Ted Danson if it is acceptable to go in blackface, he can give you a very informative story about his adventures with that effort at the Friar’s Club way back in 1993 when he was dating Whoopi Goldberg.

While it’s none of my business what anyone wore to the game on Saturday, it is my hope that the “blackface” suggestion dies an untimely death. That this suggestion of a “blackout” be buried on the internet with a small reminder that anything you put on the internet can be found and will be there for future employers to find when they “Google” your name. In future, wear your own face wherever you go. It’s a good one, the Creator gave it you.

Walk a Mile in My Moccasins

By

Renée Roman Nose

Epiphany

What if Hasso Hering isn't really being sneaky, dishonest, and disingenuous when he pens all his nonsensical editorials?

What if he actually believes every words he writes?

Oooohhh, that's my scary Halloween thought for the year. It came early.