Mailbox

[July 11th, 2007]

FAMILIA VALUES

Beth Slovic, writing about the raid on the Del Monte plant, suggests that immigration enforcement officials are not responsible for the long-term, perhaps permanent separation of a family in which a parent who immigrates to the U.S., apparently illegally, leaves behind a child in the native country ["The Chopping Block," June 20, 2007]. However, Ms. Slovic's idea that "the flow of labor to this country destroys families," as do deportations, should not be considered outside of the context of our country's restrictions on immigration.

Since our laws prohibit many people from immigrating to the U.S. and since entering our country illegally can be very dangerous and expensive, it would not be surprising if many families decide to temporarily separate, with one adult making the journey while the other stays behind with the children. With the constant difficulty of crossing the border, this separation could become permanent. Under a system in which immigration was unrestricted (while still processing immigrants to identify potential terrorists), we would see the end of these destructions of families resulting from the enforcement of our current immigration laws.

Joel Newman
Vancouver, Wash.

THE FULL DEL MONTE

Beth Slovic's article on the working conditions at the Del Monte plant became entangled in a subsequent immigration raid. It is understandable that Slovic would wish to comment. However, I came away feeling exasperated with her arguments.

She writes, "Readers often view stories through a lens that has little or nothing to do with the words on the page but everything to do with what they think they already know." At this point, I stopped reading "The Chopping Block" as a statement coming from a journalist regarding her role in the larger story, and started to see it as an indictment of her readers. We bring our own preconceived notions and cannot be expected to exercise objective reading comprehension. In other words, it's not me, it's you.

Here's my reader's lens: The original article did not offer much anonymity to the employees. Slovic went undercover and spoke to people who were already in a precarious situation in order to expose their working conditions. Along the way, the article also exposed the workers to staggering consequences. Was that a risk Slovic was willing to take, or even foresee? Her response did not say one way or another. Nowhere did I see any journalistic introspection in her latest piece—only roundhouse fingerpointing.

Jennifer Hoyt
Northeast Weidler Street

Beth Slovic responds: Officials from the U.S. Attorney's office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say they selected the June date for the Del Monte raid before "Chop Shop" appeared May 2. Also, immigration officials had been investigating the plant for more than five months before I got a job there.

ROCKY RACCOON CHECKED INTO HIS ROOM...

The Willamette Week article on raccoon relocation ["...And Let the Raccoon God Sort 'Em Out," June 20, 2007] left out several important facts:?First, the ODFW regulations regarding relocation of raccoons were the product of a task force that included not only Audubon Society of Portland, but also Humane Society of the United States, a biologist from Metro and THREE representatives from the wildlife relocation industry (including the Oregon representative from the National Wildlife Control Operator's Association). All parties supported the new regulations.?Second, the raccoon regulations were part of a much bigger package of regulations designed to ensure that the wildlife control operator industry handles wildlife in a manner that is both humane and ecologically responsible. This industry has exploded during the past 15 years. In the early 1990s, there was only one wildlife control business in Portland.?Today there are more than 30, and each year these businesses trap, relocate and euthanize thousands of wild animals. Prior to 2006, these for-profit businesses went virtually unregulated. The package of regulations adopted in 2006 included not only restrictions on raccoon relocation, but also training and testing requirements for wildlife control operators, caging and transport standards for trapped wildlife, and humane euthanasia standards.?The specific restrictions on raccoon relocation were not driven by any sort of antagonism towards raccoons, but rather by a recognition that large-scale translocation of raccoons was environmentally destructive, frequently inhumane and almost always ineffective.?The reporter was given these facts but chose not to report them. They are easily verified by going to: www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2006/october/004.asp.?For more information on wildlife relocation go to: www.audubonportland.org/livingwithwildlife/brochures/WildlifeRelocation.?

Bob Sallinger
Conservation Director
Audubon Society of Portland
Northwest Cornell Road

BUT THEY WEAR MUGGER MASKS!

Nicholas Deshais' article "...And Let the Raccoon God Sort 'Em Out" successfully highlights a blatant lack of compassion toward non-human urban animals on the part of the author, the Department of Fish and Wildlife and Portland's Audubon Society. Policies that promote indiscriminate euthanizing are both senseless and cruel and should not be the main tool for population control of various city-dwelling species.

Despite the authors' remarks, gathering up hundreds of raccoons and gassing them to death is neither humane or the answer to the more systemic issue of raccoon overpopulation. Maybe city officials should look into addressing issues around garbage disposal and sanitation and perhaps individuals can make more of an effort to reduce their own waste production before sentencing hundreds of animals to death.

Kirk Sutherland
Southeast Madison Street

OREGON NATIVE

Hey White Guy....

I have to address you like that because only a white man would, as editor, let a story like the one you printed ["Urban Indian," June 20, 2007] end up in an edition before it's put to bed. And only an uneducated (in Indian terms) white man would still be using the term Native American. Our ancestors did not call this land America before y'all got here, whites gave this land that name. So, yes, we are native to this part of Mother Earth, but we are not that other hideous term. Read Russell Means' book Where White Men Fear to Tread and then you may understand why all of the "skins" I know do not use that Euro-centric term. Shame on you.

Yes, we are an invisible minority, and yes, there are problems in our lives, but you left out the largest segment of Indians in this town: the ones who go to work, pay taxes, don't have addiction problems, or are living on welfare. The ones who dance at Pow-Wow. The ones who teach their children the creation stories, the ones who were their heritage proudly on their Pride shirts and caps.

There is a resurgence of Pride in our communities, and it does not always come with a casino dividend check. There is a renewed sense of our connection to the land, and to the spiritual practices that were handed down from our ancestors. My grandparents were of the generation that found themselves in horrid boarding schools, stripped of all that made them Indian, and taught to be white. Something that I believe causes many of the problems we see in Indian communities, and on reservations today. Without the things that bind us, we are left to find solace in a bottle or a bottle of pills, or as I saw just the other day, at the end of needle in a cardboard box called home.

Next time you want to tell a story about the life of a race other than white, you need to send a better reporter to do the job, have a better editor fixing the piece, and ask a few questions yourself about what makes a total package on a page.

In my career as a journalist, which ended many years ago, I would have been ashamed to write a piece like that. As an editor, I never would have published that article. Two teens does not a tribe make. What about talking to some elders that are working to keep a language alive. Or, what about talking to students at OSHU who plan on practicing medicine on reservations when they graduate. Or, how about doing so real research for a story before you put it out in a world that never understood us, and thanks to you, might never get passed the stereotype of a drunk Indian that needs Uncle Sam to save him.

Jai Malaquaya
One of the other Indians
Portland

SING IF YOU'RE GLAD TO BE GAY

On Stephen Marc Beaudoin's ill-tempered and ill-informed screed on the Portland Gay Men's Chorus (WW, June 13): The "wigs, pumps, and sequins" he decries have been rarely seen in my 27 years of PGMC attendance. The gay-lesbian choral movement, far from "limping," consistently maintains their double purpose: to perform good music for its own sake; and to enhance the pride and dignity of gay singers and audiences, and for straight audiences to increase their awareness and acceptance of their gay neighbors. This Chorus brings first-class music to many who might otherwise never step into a concert hall—as in their fine performance June 16.

As for the Chorus's demographics ("so white and so old"), unfortunately the Chorus shares with almost every other local arts organization a heavily white audience—a challenge to the whole society. As for "old"—is Mr. Beaudoin one of those for whom gay old age begins at 30 or 40? The age range at Chorus concerts is far broader than at many other arts events in town.

Do we still need such an institution? One wonders what utopian world Mr. Beaudoin inhabits. With physical violence against gays, right-wing resistance even to non-discrimination, and the indignity of "don't ask don't tell," the need remains to have gay men and lesbians come out from behind stereotypes (including Mr. Beaudoin's) as valued members of American society, freed from the prejudices of generations of condemnation and discrimination.

To Mr. Beaudoin's crotchety cavils, I prefer the Chorus' call—"Brothers, Sing On!"

Edward B. Segel
Professor of History and Humanities, Reed College
Southeast Rural Street

CORRECTION

Last week's story "Twin Piques" incorrectly stated who can sponsor legislator travel. Certain non-profits and governmental associations can, but unions cannot. WW regrets the error.

CLARIFICATION

Last week's story "No Twosomes," which characterized club member Bob Ball as "ambivalent" about the Columbia-Edgewater Golf Club's decision to end spousal equivalency privileges, should have been clear that Ball applauds the club's decision to recognize registered domestic partnerships, a change that Ball sought.