[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E572-E573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            EXPOSING RACISM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 1999

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, in my continuing efforts to 
document and expose racism in America, I submit the following articles 
into the Congressional Record.

                   Trooper Faces Probe Over Outburst

       Eugene, OR (AP)--A state police trooper accused of shouting 
     racial slurs and obscenities during an incident in Eugene is 
     facing a criminal charge.
       Joseph Michael Jansen, 28, assigned to the Madras patrol 
     office, was in town for a wedding when he allegedly caused 
     the 2 a.m. ruckus Jan. 24.

[[Page E573]]

       Jansen, who is charged with disorderly conduct, is on 
     ``modified duty status'' while police investigate, state 
     police spokesman Lt. Gregg Hastings said.
       ``That type of behavior, whether on duty or off duty, is 
     very serious and it's taken very seriously,'' Hastings said.
       Jansen and another man were on the first floor of the 
     Valley River Inn yelling racial slurs about blacks and 
     Mexicans, according to a Eugene police report.
       Jansen gave his badge and state police identification to 
     the officers, who didn't immediately believe he was a trooper 
     because of his behavior.
       Officers said they tried to calm him down, noting that 
     hotel guests were waking up to see what was happening.
       They said Jansen appeared to be extremely intoxicated and 
     continued to yell and swear, telling one officer to ``shut 
     up'' when she asked him to quiet down.
       As officers put him in a patrol car, they said, they warned 
     him that the car had a recording device, but he continued to 
     yell.
       Jansen posted $510 bail five hours later and was released. 
     Hastings said Jensen in on paid leave, ``duty-stationed at 
     home,'' meaning he has to be available to perform paperwork-
     type duties during normal work hours.
       Jansen, who was hired Jan. 1, 1997, could be fired, 
     Hastings said. However, a decision isn't expected until the 
     disorderly conduct charge is dealt with in court.
                                  ____


        School Says Symbol in Tile is Native American, Not Nazi

       Walled Lake, MI (AP)--A swastika-like symbol embedded in 
     the mosaic floor of a Walled Lake public school for 77 years 
     has brought the district under fire this week from the NAACP 
     and an attorney.
       The symbol, covered by a throw rug in the entryway of the 
     district's Community Education Center, is a foot in diameter 
     and was placed in the floor when the school was built in 
     1922.
       District officials said the symbol is from American Indian 
     culture. Unlike the Nazi swastika, the arms of the symbol on 
     the school's floor point counterclockwise.
       ``It has nothing to do with the National Socialist Party of 
     Germany,''Robert Masson, director of the center, told the 
     Detroit Free Press for a story Wednesday. ``The building and 
     the symbol precedes the Nazis by a considerable amount of 
     time.''
       School officials put a rug over the symbol in recent years 
     because of ``possible interpretation of its meaning as a 
     swastika,'' Masson said.
       Arnold Reed, an attorney representing a Walled Lake student 
     involved in a scuffle with an administrator, complained about 
     the symbol.
       ``When I pulled back that rug, I could barely move because 
     fear gripped me. I felt like I didn't belong here,'' Reed 
     told The Oakland Press. ``You'd be hard pressed to find 
     another African American who did't feel the same way.''
       Lawyer H. Wallace Parker, who represents the North Oakland 
     County NAACP branch, said regardless of its origin, it is 
     identified as a symbol of racial hatred and should have been 
     removed long ago.
       Reed said he wants a plaque mounted to explain the symbol.
                                  ____


             Clinton proclaims February Black History Month

       Washington (AP)--President Clinton has issued his annual 
     Black History Month proclamation, urging the Nation to `not 
     only remember the tragic errors of our past, but also 
     celebrate the achievements'' of the American descendants of 
     African slaves.
       Clinton said Monday that this year's events should focus on 
     the proud legacy of leadership blacks have built over their 
     350-year history in the United States despite the trauma of 
     slavery and government-sanctioned segregation. He urged 
     public officials, educators, librarians and citizens in 
     general to draw from the power of this collective achievement 
     as they seek to resolve racial problems.
       Specifically, Clinton listed notable blacks from NAACP co-
     founder co-founder W.E.B. DuBois to Martin Luther King Jr., 
     and said all Americans could draw from the ``skills, 
     determination and indefatigable spirit'' they displayed as 
     the were ``shaped but not defeated by their experience of 
     racism.''
       In his proclamation, Clinton referred to February as 
     ``National African American History Month.''

     

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