What happened with your little tiff with the city auditor? It seems the story, and related comments, fell off the blog.

What happened with your little tiff with the city auditor? It seems the story, and related comments, fell off the blog.

What happened with your little tiff with the city auditor? It seems the story, and related comments, fell off the blog.

Rooooo, you've posted that comment in a few places, and I'm not sure what you're getting at. The post about Matt and the auditor is still on Blogtown's front page—scroll down a bit, to Thursday's entries.

It's also on the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies' homepage.

coughcough.

Strange that its not showing up in my browser. Well, that's fine. Keep up the good work Amy!

(BTW, I'm not intentionally posting this 3x. I'm not really sure why that's happening.)

Strange that its not showing up in my browser. Well, that's fine. Keep up the good work Amy!

(BTW, I'm not intentionally posting this 3x. I'm not really sure why that's happening.)

Strange that its not showing up in my browser. Well, that's fine. Keep up the good work Amy!

(BTW, I'm not intentionally posting this 3x. I'm not really sure why that's happening.)

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! Please just hit "post" once, and be patient!!

Cripes! That is annoying! I only hit 'Post' once, I promise! Now I look like an impatient imbecile! Which, of course, couldn't be farther from the truth.

Cripes! That is annoying! I only hit 'Post' once, I promise! Now I look like an impatient imbecile! Which, of course, couldn't be farther from the truth.

Cripes! That is annoying! I only hit 'Post' once, I promise! Now I look like an impatient imbecile! Which, of course, couldn't be farther from the truth.

More blacks are waking up to find that MLK and Democrats have left them little to be happy about.

A reader writes:
"Date: January 21, 2008 11:06:02 AM PST
To: lovenotes@portlandmercury.com

Dear Mercury Staff,

When I turned to "My, What a Busy Week" I was utterly disappointed with your flippant treatment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I understand that your articles must be taken with a grain of salt, and usually I enjoy the humor that your publication brings to my weekly grind. However, this particular listing struck me as insulting and offensive, not just to a leader who gave his life for equality, or to our minority communities, but even (gasp) to your cynical white readers. Some like to celebrate MLK's memory and life's work for reasons other than "white liberal guilt." The fact that MLK Day symbolizes a fundamental turning point for civil rights in our country - that's a pretty good one.

If the Mercury strives to represent itself as a progressive publication, it needs to do a better job. How about starting with an examination of its own inappropriate use of irony and distasteful tone; it is in fact disconcerting that MLK Day won't affect your "productivity." The Mercury's assumed lack of diversity among its staff is an issue that shouldn't be taken so lightly, especially on a day when we have the opportunity to take a serious look at our ongoing struggle for equality.

How are we to be hopeful for the future of our country, let alone city, when the Mercury tells us to "Dream On"? Tongue-in-cheek or not, shame on you. I expected better.

Yours Truly,

White Liberal Reader"

"The paper’s editorial page leads with an article on one of Oregon’s proudest African American traditions: The Pendelton Round-Up."

I know this was made in jest but please allow me to tell a happy MLK day story about the Pendleton Round-Up over-coming racism in 1911 for a day, and thus defend the character of my home town.

In the 1911 round-up, the three top bronc-riders competing for the world champion saddle were John Spain (a white guy) Jackson Sundown (a Nez Perce) and George Fletcher (a black ranch hand). Even though the audience clearly viewed Fletcher the winner, the Judges couldn't bring them selves to give Pendleton's Highest prize to a black man or an Indian, and so John Spain was named the winner.

The crowd booed the judges decision and chanted "FLETCHER!". Til Taylor (the last great western sheriff and, at the time, president of the round-up association) rode out into the arena, took Fletcher's hat from him, cut it up into pieces and began selling the bits of hat to the crowd. when the hat was all gone he gave the money to Fletcher for a new saddle and declared him "The People's Champion" and to this day in the Rainbow Cafe along the wall of photos of the all-round champions of every round-up, 1911's frame has a photo of George Fletcher and not John Spain. He is the only black man on that wall. A few frames down is Jackson Sundown.

The last book Ken Kesey wrote before his death was about the 1911 round-up dubbed forever as "The Last Go-Round"

I wish the O would have told that story on this day that is meant to inspire "The content of our character" to overcome racism in our lives. So as sarcastic as you were Matt, Pendleton's history does have material fit for MLK day (The Oregonian just doesn't know...)

Oh yeah, FYI tomorrow Gordon Smith's home town holds a debate with the guys that want his job. I hope you will report on that.

Happy MLK Jr. Day and Let 'er Buck!

I agree with "reader." The whole story of Portland lacking diversity and being a white town is a giant myth that we perpetuate every time we repeat statements like "Portland doesn't have any diversity."

The more we tell ourselves this, the more it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

It's simply not true. Portland IS a diverse city and our joking about the lack of diversity only denies the lives and experiences of thousands who live here.

(Before anyone comes back at me with statistics, I'll tell you right now, I don't care if there are "only" 5 percent African Americans in Portland.

.00000001% would be enough for all of us to care. That kind of talk is merely justification.)

I should probably respond to our "white liberal reader" as follows.

If I wanted to present the Mercury as a "progressive paper" I could probably do so, but writing that busy week, I felt an obligation to address two issues: One, this paper's lack of editorial diversity is well known. And two: no Portland newspaper appears to take MLK day seriously. Therefore, cut through the crap.

Sincerely, I'm no happier about the state of Portland's racial harmony than our "white liberal", and my wife just called to tell me the busy-week was "deplorable." And now she's commenting to that effect on here.

It seems what I was trying to do may have missed, and I apologize.

Chalk it up to expectations. The busy-week was funny in an alternative-paper-taking-a poke-at-the-paper-of-record sort of way.

Unfortunately in this case, the busy-week was not an alternative take on anything--it was the only take, which in itself is quite interesting.

45 years since that speech and it feels like we've barely moved an inch. Now instead of the racism being outright it's behind smiles with clenched teeth.

"Now instead of the racism being outright it's behind smiles with clenched teeth."

...and the Oregonian's front page story on Martin Luther King day just happens to highlight the most racially divisive issue we've seen in the last 25 years.

Cripes.

Some questions:
I know this is getting spirited and all but do you really think we have barely moved an inch? Considering when our parents were kids blacks weren't allowed to piss in the same toilets or sleep in the same hotels, the case could be made for some progress.

Why does the Mercury not observe MLK day? His civil rights contributions are pretty significant to all Americans, not just blacks.

Too right, MP. Let's petition.

Matt said: "If I wanted to present the Mercury as a "progressive paper" I could probably do so, but writing that busy week, I felt an obligation to address two issues: One, this paper's lack of editorial diversity is well known. And two: no Portland newspaper appears to take MLK day seriously."

Au contraire, mon frere. There's one paper that takes it very seriously, and that's the Skanner, which is absolutely and totally invisible in both Portland's mainstream press and its snarkapedic "alternative" press.

The Skanner's been publishing since 1975, covering issues related to the Portland black community. It presents issues and voices completely unavailable in other Portland media and runs syndicated columnists that the Oregonian never runs, giving the lie to the notion of a monolithic "black community" where everyone has the same goals and viewpoints.

The Skanner's won journalism awards. It has a weekly circ of 75,000. And yet the city's only black-owned newspaper is so goddamn invisible here that it's not even worth a link on the site Oregon Media Insiders, which even lists college papers, for Christ's sake, but doesn't seem to have room for one of the city's few minority voices.

The reason I bring up the Skanner is that they take MLK Day seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they had a breakfast this morning in his honor. In attendance were Sen. Gordon Smith, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Gov. Ted Kulongowski, and Mayor Tom Potter.

You cannot tell me that if those four men gathered for a breakfast in downtown Portland to honor gay rights that someone from the Merc wouldn't be there covering it, as they should.

Invisible. Invisible.

I just looked at the Skanner's program for their breakfast (it's on their website) and saw this:

"MEDIA PARTNERS

Oregon Economic and Community Development Department

Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission

Portland Development Commission

Portland Community Media

KBOO"

Not one other newspaper. Not one TV station.

That's not "white liberal guilt." That's plain-and-simple looking at the guy right next to you...and not even seeing him.

Skanner? What Skanner?

Joke.

You're right, Kevin. And it's a fair cop.

Matt, in regards to your comment that today is “about reflecting on King’s legacy and message, but we’ve got to take it seriously all year round or our lip service to ‘black issues’ is offensive,” why is there no specific mention of Dr. King's opposition to the war in Vietnam; to militarism; to United States imperialism; to poverty? His message was not just about racial equality within the current system, but encompassed even more broad humanitarian dimensions, incorporating class and a need for a radical revolution of values into his social analyzes. Are you familiar with his demand that "the whole Jericho road" must be transformed, that flicking a coin at a beggar is not enough, that "an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring" -- capitalism? On top of listening to the “I Have A Dream” speech, please suggest that readers listen to his speech "Beyond Vietnam," which he gave a year to the day before his death. Or maybe his address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, "Where Do We Go From Here?": "There are forty million poor people here, and one day we must ask the question, 'Why are there forty million poor people in America?' And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising a question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's marketplace. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. And you see, my friends, when you deal with this you begin to ask the question, 'Who owns the oil?' You begin to ask the question, 'Who owns the iron ore?' You begin to ask the question, 'Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that's two-thirds water?' These are words that must be said…Now, when I say questioning the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.” This is not to make some anti-capitalist rant, but I would like to see a more nuanced articulation of Dr. King’s message for once. Every year the “I Have A Dream” speech is dragged out, and then put to rest again until next year, burying the other aspects of his message continually deeper under the weight of its status as some kind of summing-up of his philosophical complexities.

The Skanner event was held at a location that workers are on strike at for fair wages. And shame of everyone at the Skanner and those who attended for not pulling out of the location.

The Skanner is invisible because its reporting sucks.

Well, if that's true, there's your story: top state and city officials cross a picket line on MLK Day.

"no Portland newspaper appears to take MLK day seriously."

Ya think, Matt? Do you honestly believe a majority of American citizens take this particular "holiday" too seriously?

No, Moleman. You've misunderstood.