If Pittock and Scott were on trial in absentia (well, they'd have to be, wouldn't they, since they're both long dead) for their alleged hate crimes, the prosecutor would be able to lift the start of his opening statement from The Oregonian's mea culpa:
"The now 161-year-old daily newspaper spent decades reinforcing the racial divide in a state founded as whites-only, fomenting the racism that people of color faced."
"It excused lynching. It promoted segregation. It opposed equal rights for women and people of color. It celebrated laws to exclude Asian immigrants. It described Native Americans as uncivilized, saying their extermination might be needed."
For all the tone checking and other forms of woke quality control The Oregonian's self-criticism passed through before it was published, nobody at the paper gave any thought to the historical context. Had they done so, they would have found that The Oregonian and Oregon were hardly alone in their attitudes and beliefs, perhaps worse than some and undoubtedly better than states in the Jim Crow Deep South.
Moreover, the urgent tone of the essay and the far-reaching penance The Oregonian imposed on itself would cause a reader with no knowledge of American history to think that our state is just as racist today at it was when The Oregonian was excusing lynching and such. It seems that, in The Oregonian's moral ledger, blame and fault are indelible while reform, progress and apologies don't even merit an entry.
For example, in the bleak world the woke inhabit, the 1972 Community Reinvestment Act, which made redlining illegal and obligated banks to provide services and make loans in low- to moderate-income communities - even Portland! - never happened. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were signed into law on some other planet. Affirmative action, which made it possible for some blacks to obtain the education that allowed them to view the world through the lens of critical theory, was just a cynical ploy to maintain the status quo. The billions of dollars of state and federal spending to improve the lives of black people, like the moon landing, were a hoax.
We have not heard the last of this. If the ultra-progressive wish list that's the amended city charter is approved by the voters, it does not take much of an imagination to envision the city council mirroring both the process behind The Oregonian's anti-racist project and the outcome. A wag could be forgiven for saying that it's not a matter of whether but when the City of Portland will establish its Office of Degentrification. Whatever else might come of Bottomly's public self-flagellation, the foundation for reparations on a state and even local level has been set in place.
As the O gets further out of touch with its ever-diminishing reader base, and becomes more and more parochial - it is certainly not a "state wide paper" any longer and cannot really even claim to be a newspaper that covers the metro area.
Most revealing to me was this line:
"The newsroom leadership is committed to holding listening sessions beginning in early 2023 to hear directly from communities of color about how we can improve our coverage. We'll use that feedback, along with recommendations from the senior editor for inclusive journalism, to help guide staffing decisions."
That is very instructive. The O has NO INTEREST in engaging with certain races,, certain classes of readers.
I just emailed this piece to her a few minutes ago.
I've written to her several times over the last year. For a variety of reasons, one time to point out the constant typos of the kids she employs as what she calls "Reporters" and "Journalists" and how disappointing that is. And I'm sure you've read her Letters to the Editor, apologizing for the constant typos. They were from my stand point, HILARIOUS.
The public apologies only draws more attention to the incompetence of these children who don't know how to proof anything, least of all a VERY long article of say, 400 words? (Note the Sarcasm).
When she published her SECOND letter apologizing for the constant typos from the kids, I suggested I'd be happy to work as a proofreader for their articles and that NOTHING would get past me. She never responded. When I told her I was working on a a profile of a double homicide, with help from my husband Don DuPay, former homicide detective with PPB, and that we had a very good idea who the killer was, she explained that she could not take me on, because what if I was wrong, or published something that had not been vetted or confirmed to be true, or based on actual evidence or documentation. Then she supplied a story from one of HER journalists who had written a story and screwed it up.
It was funny. I'm 56 and even though I only took 2 journalism classes when I was completing my double major, minor, masters degree, masters certificate, I am STILL a better overall writer than those kids at the Big O. She's a disappointment. In so many ways, she simply does not have a clue.
This O editorial and the series of sanctimonious, self-promoting O articles it references is perhaps the apotheosis of current O editor Therese Bottomly’s pharisaical loathesomeness.
Pharisees, as Sunday school survivors will attest, were repugnant because they located supposed moral superiority in denunciations of everyone else in their peer groups BUT them.
Needless to say, good and decent and sophisticated readers credit the moral courage and stirring abasement in Bottomly’s apologies for what people other than Bottomly have done.
Concerning the modern-day virtues she allows? Crime suspect descriptions which include race alongside the other standard, retained descriptors are impermissible “vague” thereby?
Witness descriptions of the suspect vehicle’s color, or the jacket he had on, are acceptably solid and remain included, alongside perceived age, or (gasp!) sex/gender? Pure political bosh.
White “experts” like Sam Sachs tell the O that all Native mascots are demeaning, period. The state’s only Indian school, Chemawa of Salem, the Braves, knows less than Sachs and Bottomly.
Thank goodness Bottomly now officially runs O stories past paid Colorized Mascot Readers to ensure that “negative stereotypes”—from facts and crime statistics—allocate social fault correctly.
In the ‘50s, apple-polishers wrote paeans to flag and country, scapegoating Reds. Today’s prigs and prats on other side of the same coin, denounce flag and country, scapegoating America.
Thanks for the great article. Just when I thought the Oregonian couldn’t virtue signal any louder they brought in their ace reliever. Doesn’t matter that Ms Bottomly is over a year late! It’s the thought that counts. Well done! Please keep it up.
Sometimes I want November to see a doubling down on the status quo all around. Go for it Portland. Make the rubble bounce, you bastards
The linked article points up a neologism that might be handy for all: neurodivergent.
https://pjmedia.com/columns/benbartee/2022/10/24/whos-to-blame-for-the-damaged-adult-children-staging-sad-milk-pour-protests-n1639546?bcid=41915d9d57aac8ed49314d9df1cfc31c0c0a83f1f280d71755cbc81e3a28652a&recip=28451302
A brave vice-principal implements improvisational atonement:
https://wheelgunr.blogspot.com/2022/10/school-employees-lets-armed-gunman.html
Of course, sometimes is the legal system and elected judges that know best, social justice-wise.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/10/the_real_reason_woman_who_killed_firefighter_went_uncharged.html
If Pittock and Scott were on trial in absentia (well, they'd have to be, wouldn't they, since they're both long dead) for their alleged hate crimes, the prosecutor would be able to lift the start of his opening statement from The Oregonian's mea culpa:
"The now 161-year-old daily newspaper spent decades reinforcing the racial divide in a state founded as whites-only, fomenting the racism that people of color faced."
"It excused lynching. It promoted segregation. It opposed equal rights for women and people of color. It celebrated laws to exclude Asian immigrants. It described Native Americans as uncivilized, saying their extermination might be needed."
For all the tone checking and other forms of woke quality control The Oregonian's self-criticism passed through before it was published, nobody at the paper gave any thought to the historical context. Had they done so, they would have found that The Oregonian and Oregon were hardly alone in their attitudes and beliefs, perhaps worse than some and undoubtedly better than states in the Jim Crow Deep South.
Moreover, the urgent tone of the essay and the far-reaching penance The Oregonian imposed on itself would cause a reader with no knowledge of American history to think that our state is just as racist today at it was when The Oregonian was excusing lynching and such. It seems that, in The Oregonian's moral ledger, blame and fault are indelible while reform, progress and apologies don't even merit an entry.
For example, in the bleak world the woke inhabit, the 1972 Community Reinvestment Act, which made redlining illegal and obligated banks to provide services and make loans in low- to moderate-income communities - even Portland! - never happened. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were signed into law on some other planet. Affirmative action, which made it possible for some blacks to obtain the education that allowed them to view the world through the lens of critical theory, was just a cynical ploy to maintain the status quo. The billions of dollars of state and federal spending to improve the lives of black people, like the moon landing, were a hoax.
We have not heard the last of this. If the ultra-progressive wish list that's the amended city charter is approved by the voters, it does not take much of an imagination to envision the city council mirroring both the process behind The Oregonian's anti-racist project and the outcome. A wag could be forgiven for saying that it's not a matter of whether but when the City of Portland will establish its Office of Degentrification. Whatever else might come of Bottomly's public self-flagellation, the foundation for reparations on a state and even local level has been set in place.
Well, Richard, what can I say. I’m sitting here in blackface trying to make amends.
Meanwhile, this goes on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNGsZ5I2juA
I had no idea mainstream media was this bad. And to think that society just tolerates this? Hutu TV indeed.
As the O gets further out of touch with its ever-diminishing reader base, and becomes more and more parochial - it is certainly not a "state wide paper" any longer and cannot really even claim to be a newspaper that covers the metro area.
Most revealing to me was this line:
"The newsroom leadership is committed to holding listening sessions beginning in early 2023 to hear directly from communities of color about how we can improve our coverage. We'll use that feedback, along with recommendations from the senior editor for inclusive journalism, to help guide staffing decisions."
That is very instructive. The O has NO INTEREST in engaging with certain races,, certain classes of readers.
Bill Hilliard would roll over in his grave.
This is damn brilliant!
I just emailed this piece to her a few minutes ago.
I've written to her several times over the last year. For a variety of reasons, one time to point out the constant typos of the kids she employs as what she calls "Reporters" and "Journalists" and how disappointing that is. And I'm sure you've read her Letters to the Editor, apologizing for the constant typos. They were from my stand point, HILARIOUS.
The public apologies only draws more attention to the incompetence of these children who don't know how to proof anything, least of all a VERY long article of say, 400 words? (Note the Sarcasm).
When she published her SECOND letter apologizing for the constant typos from the kids, I suggested I'd be happy to work as a proofreader for their articles and that NOTHING would get past me. She never responded. When I told her I was working on a a profile of a double homicide, with help from my husband Don DuPay, former homicide detective with PPB, and that we had a very good idea who the killer was, she explained that she could not take me on, because what if I was wrong, or published something that had not been vetted or confirmed to be true, or based on actual evidence or documentation. Then she supplied a story from one of HER journalists who had written a story and screwed it up.
It was funny. I'm 56 and even though I only took 2 journalism classes when I was completing my double major, minor, masters degree, masters certificate, I am STILL a better overall writer than those kids at the Big O. She's a disappointment. In so many ways, she simply does not have a clue.
Great article Richard, another home run. :)
This O editorial and the series of sanctimonious, self-promoting O articles it references is perhaps the apotheosis of current O editor Therese Bottomly’s pharisaical loathesomeness.
Pharisees, as Sunday school survivors will attest, were repugnant because they located supposed moral superiority in denunciations of everyone else in their peer groups BUT them.
Needless to say, good and decent and sophisticated readers credit the moral courage and stirring abasement in Bottomly’s apologies for what people other than Bottomly have done.
Concerning the modern-day virtues she allows? Crime suspect descriptions which include race alongside the other standard, retained descriptors are impermissible “vague” thereby?
Witness descriptions of the suspect vehicle’s color, or the jacket he had on, are acceptably solid and remain included, alongside perceived age, or (gasp!) sex/gender? Pure political bosh.
White “experts” like Sam Sachs tell the O that all Native mascots are demeaning, period. The state’s only Indian school, Chemawa of Salem, the Braves, knows less than Sachs and Bottomly.
Thank goodness Bottomly now officially runs O stories past paid Colorized Mascot Readers to ensure that “negative stereotypes”—from facts and crime statistics—allocate social fault correctly.
In the ‘50s, apple-polishers wrote paeans to flag and country, scapegoating Reds. Today’s prigs and prats on other side of the same coin, denounce flag and country, scapegoating America.
I know Sachs. I worked alongside Sachs. He is exactly what you would expect.
Reminds me of this display:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdX6aVzPgHs
Clearly, America is dealing with another kind of pandemic.
That was hilarious. How did I miss that? Such buffoons. LOL...
Thanks for the great article. Just when I thought the Oregonian couldn’t virtue signal any louder they brought in their ace reliever. Doesn’t matter that Ms Bottomly is over a year late! It’s the thought that counts. Well done! Please keep it up.