PORT ANGELES — Joycelyn Elders’ brand of frankness drew fire before, during and after her time as U.S. surgeon general, but she found a hero’s welcome here Friday night.
A crowd of some 215 greeted Elders with a standing ovation and then clapped, cheered and, in the case of one woman, said “Amen!” as she gave her speech.
At the podium at the Vern Burton Community Center in Port Angeles, Elders called for sex education that goes beyond abstinence-only, for an overhaul of America’s “sick care system” and offered a quick lesson on how to heal a community.
Elders came to the Olympic Peninsula from her Arkansas home to give the keynote talk at Peninsula Behavioral Health’s second annual fundraising dinner at the Vern Burton center.
She began by giving thanks for the agency, which last year provided some 3,000 clients, from young children to seniors, with mental health services.
A pioneer
At 78, Elders is supposedly retired after a career as a pioneer.
She was the first black woman physician to graduate from the University of Arkansas.
After serving as director of that state’s Department of Health, she became the first African-American surgeon general.
Elders was appointed the nation’s top doctor by President Bill Clinton in January 1993.
She was fired in December 1994 after she made controversial assertions about young people and sexuality.
From Washington, D.C., she went straight back to her previous post as professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas.
That was 18 years ago — and Elders still believes in open discussions about sexual health and responsibility.
Puberty starts at 11 years 4 months of age. The average marriage age in this country is 26, she told her audience.
And clearly, Elders said, parents have got to start talking to their kids early, talking and listening.
“Our statistics tell us they haven’t been abstinent all that time” between 11 and 26, Elders noted, as a wave of laughter washed across the room.
But “parents don’t want to tell them anything wrong. So what do they do? They tell them nothing.”
Birth control
Adults must discuss responsible use of birth control — with both boys and girls, she added, as the crowd clapped its approval.
Young people who can’t talk with their parents need clinics such as Planned Parenthood, Elders said, where they can find information and services to prevent unplanned pregnancies.
On President Barack Obama’s health care plan, Elders got still more applause for her view: “We need to stop fighting about not liking it and fix it!”
“We are the most diverse country in the world now,” she added. “We’ve got to make sure we take care of all our people.”
In the United States of America, it’s a given that each person who’s arrested has a right to an attorney.
Medical access
“But we in the medical profession haven’t been nearly as good advocates for our patients,” and the result is that every sick child does not have access to a doctor, she said.
Toward the end of her speech, Elders admonished her audience, which included a number of elected officials, from Port Angeles Mayor Cherie Kidd to 24th District state Rep. Steve Tharinger, a Democrat from Dungeness.
“If you’re going to be leaders in this community,” she said, “first, you have to listen.
“If you don’t listen, how are you going to learn?”
Education for young people — from infants and toddlers forward — is the key to a better future for all of society, Elders believes.
Sure, she’s heard the laments about “not enough funding” for schools, but “we don’t have enough money to pay for ignorance” and all of its ills.
“You’ve got to reach out,” Elders added.
“You’ve got to take some risks” when it comes to advocating for children.
She emphasized, too, that she has always sought to stay true to herself and her patients, regardless of what was politically correct at any time.
Yes, Elders admitted, she’s chosen to tackle some onerous national problems.
But “when you’re dancing with a bear, you can’t get tired and sit down,” she said.
“You’ve got to wait till the bear gets tired.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
