We're all equal. Our blood is the same color so we should all be treated the same and not be divided.
I feel like it's the, the white people's responsibility to, I feel tremendous amount of responsibility. It should not be on the shoulders of communities of color to make it right.
OREGON’S HISTORY
Discrimination, oppression, and violence towards Black, Indigenous and People of Color came up in the Regional Dialogues as something experienced as part of life for many. Many referenced Oregon’s blatant history of racism – its violent oppression of communities of color in the state constitution, policies and actions – and how this history challenges Oregon. Businesses don’t locate here because of the concern that existing non-white employees may not feel welcome and they see Oregon’s workforce as non-diverse. This is relevant because employers want their workforce to represent the country and states changing demographics, to have cultural competency and to represent the people that they are serving or courting.
This is a challenge for Portland as well. Businesses and residents adorn their entrances with signs messaging “Everyone is welcome here” or “Love wins,” but Portland is often described as polite, as in friendly but not interested in becoming friends. Residents also seem to use Portland’s progressive reputation almost like a shield: I live in Portland therefore I would never harm a Person of Color. Participants shared that this makes having truthful conversations about race difficult because talking about racism means acknowledging that it exists and Participants of Color shared that White people don’t want to have that conversation. They don’t want to see or hear that oppresssion exists in the progressive City of Portland. Someone shared that an African American colleague who had moved to Portland moved back to Oklahoma because of the race issues in Portland. “He was more comfortable in Oklahoma than he is Portland” shared the Participant.
Oregon was created as a white supremacist state. It is embedded in Oregon's DNA. Until we actually are honest that we actually have never been an inclusive community, we'll continue to just keep going in circles. (Portland Dialogue)
That's Oregon's history is caring for its land in its place but not the people. (Portland Dialogue
There are many, many People of Color around Oregon and the Pacific northwest that are part of important industries and we're not anywhere in the books. (Warm Springs Dialogue)
RACISM AND THE URBAN RURAL DIVIDE
Participants of Color shared the fear of being disparaged or harmed and how this shapes their definition of the urban rural divide. In rural areas, an African American woman shared that she would never go jogging alone on a rural road. Another always has a safety plan when she travels to rural areas: she tells some friends and family where she will be, when, and then checks in with them when she arrives. She has traveled across Oregon frequently and she’s had enough experiences that have led her to this. “It’s jarring. People are telling you to your face that they don't want you in their establishment. That is happening more and more – even in urban communities than I've ever seen in my lifetime. And I'm a child of the civil rights movement,” she shared.
Other People of Color described experiences of attending a training in a rural community and seeing individuals with racist tattoos sitting in front of the building where they were meeting. Seperately, a non-profit board that consisted of primarily People of Color from Portland and White southern Oregonians had a meeting in southern Oregon. While the meeting was not focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the converation turned to that as White members witnessed the fellow board members be watched, followed, and questioned.
One Person of Color described loving Oregon’s incredible landscape, “I've always been thankful to have a place that I can go do that has mountains and water because I think the natural world is so healing.” She and her husband love to share it with their children, though they are conscious about where they go and where they stop. Per another African American, “the image of being outdoors is foreign to a lot of us. I have family that liked to fish and hunt, but many of my friends don't go out outdoors. They don't even necessarily go to a city park at the rate that others in the community go.” Another Participant added, “It’s not just fear of the unknown. There's actually a documented white supremacy groups in some of these rural areas.” Another reflected, “It will never be the same experience for People of Color to go into any Oregon rural community that a white male would have. It will always be radically different.”
In Bend, people will look at you if you're different, smile, and maybe even say hello. Whereas another parts of the state, they kind of ignore or pretend you're not there, ignore you. It's a cultural divide.” (Warm Springs Dialogues)
We have a diversity equity inclusion problem in Southern Oregon that's around poverty, class, racism, LGBTQ, and stuff like that...I think that's in the center of the circle of all of the issues. (Medford Dialogues)
The fear of being threatened or harmed rests not just with just with People of Color. A family with a gay child wanted to start a Gay/Straight Alliance. The school suggested they move to Eugene where they might fit in better. The child eventually moved to San Diego to live with an aunt. “We're literally pushing people out of our communities… because they just, it's not safe for them to be at school.” Another Participate lamented that gay couples also leave rural areas because of intolerance. “That’s the rural urban divide because we export our youth and rural is left with older people,” they shared.
A white gay woman who described her dress and haircut as obviously queer recounted a time she was traveling in rural eastern Oregon. She was driving an old RV on a road that became rougher and rougher. Her thoughts went to worry and fear and she wondered if it would be easier should her car give out to try to pass as a male. She elaborated, “The extent to which physical safety is on people's minds because of their identity when visiting places outside of an urban area is a big deal. When it is a part of the skin you're in day in and day out, I don't think we can ignore that when we talk about the experience of visiting.”
A southern Oregon tribal member spoke of American Indians being disparaged in the letters to the editor and articles in the newspaper, as well as getting dirty looks. “It’s like the old west,” they shared. They continued, “ The history of being killed, the bloodshed on the land… It affects us in our community right now. It affects how our young people feel about who they are in our community.” Further, American Indians are often told, “to get over it,” with it being the losses of land, culture, language and people. This is a heavy history to move on from, particularly when one’s own on family lineage fell victim. It’s also heavy when faced with regularly faced with racism.
Warm Springs Participants described situations where the “n” word was shouted at them from a car window or African American friends of a Participant had stuff thrown at them from cars. Another’s son is worried that he will get racially profiled and her son is nine. A man walked with Japanese wife into a store, and a passerby yells, “Hey Chinese chick.” He added, “We encountered things like that from time to time. Just straight up racism.”
A young Native American at the Warm Springs Dialogue is consistently challenged by her own classmates who, because of their exposure to other cultures, believe that that gives them the right to stereotype and label her tribal community. “It’s not okay when they haven’t taken the time to learn. We want to have our own voice heard,” they shared.
I drive by fields and see people out there working: I see a plantation. My white colleagues, it doesn't strike them at all. Hispanics, they all have low-end jobs, bussing tables, probably not chefs. That bothers me. There’s a disparity. (Baker City)
In rural Oregon, the sense that there are no people of color. People don’t have to be inclusive then. There is a heightened sense of racism in rural areas.
It’s important to go back to this section’s first paragraphs describing Portland polite. Even though Participants shared fears about racism in rural areas, they also shared fear of racist acts in Portland. From a Person of Color living in Portland, “There’s a consciousness for me about stepping outside of my home and what I'm going to confront each day, no matter where I'm navigating in my town or in the world.” People of Color don’t always feel safe in their neighborhoods and community. Participants discussed micro-aggressions that they experience or witness. People of Color are treated differently until their White spouse shows up. There’s not a sense of safety in the police as Persons of Color react differently to the police. Some would never call 911 in a time of need. There’s also the media in both rural and urban that, per one Participant, does a great job of creating heroes and villains.
My city leaders sent out a message that acknowledged and valued diversity and the benefit that immigrants bring to our community. But the mayor got on the radio the following week and touted that it was all a tourism thing. (Warm Springs Dialogues)
People just want to go back to the way things were… it wasn't all that good though. People only remember the good part. If you were a minority, if you were a woman, it wasn't all that good. It was good if you were a white male. Really, just putting it out there. (Medford Dialogues)
It’s not all bad. Participants had experiences where their skin color did not seem to matter at all. One Participant, whose husband is African American, shared, “he’s just one of those people that likes to stop and help people. I say, 'Are you sure this is a good idea?' He is a black man, but he comes with a smile and says, ‘Hey, do you need any help? He's never had an experience where someone has been like 'Get away from me.” Another Participant shared, “When I first moved here, obviously being African American, I was very concerned about the stories I heard – that eastern Oregon is not friendly to People of Color. None of that has happened.” People of Color do go to Portland to experience because they feel more accepted there and its healing. Or another case where an African American man moved to one of Oregon’s smaller cities and has become part of the community because he is a music teacher and leads the choir. He senses that the community protects him and stands up for him because they know him. Though still, what is like to live that with that feeling that you need to be stood up for?
TRAUMA
Trauma was another theme that came up in the discussions around Communities of Color and rural, disadvantaged communities. Participants mentioned historical trauma, with a few elaborating on past genocide, violence, and overt discrimination in laws and policies directed at Communities of Color. The connection to these past atrocities, in addition to daily racism, can become powerful yet invisible weights to bear for a person or a whole community. Differing language and culture from White norms is one thing, but worry of being harmed and that their ancestors were harmed, threatened, and/or marginalized is another level of fear and anxiety.
It's the stress of the unknown. Being arrested. Not just arrested, but being deported (Warm Springs Dialogue)
I don't think we get to get away from intergenerational trauma as a person of color. Doesn't matter what color you are. I don't think you get to get away from it. Like you wake up and you feel it in your bones. (Portland Dialogue)
SYSTEMIC RACISM
While not all Regional Dialogues specifically used the words "systemic racism," Participants in all Regional Dialogues referenced community systems with overt bias and racism against People of Color and favoring White culture and White norms. A Medford Participant stated that public services are not trauma-informed, leaving public service agents to do and figure out on their own. Health care systems don’t consistently have nurses and doctors speaking the language of their clients or understanding their culture. In addition, a Participant shared, “When we look at all the social determinants of health[1]. Native Americans are still at the very bottom. African Americans are still on top of them and Latinos are right on top of that… we have data that supports that.”
RACISM IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM
Participants in three of the Dialogues noted the tracking in schools where the children of color are placed in the least challenging or slower moving peer groups. An eastern Oregon Participant shared a similar story, which weighed heavily on their mind for days after seeing it: “It bothered me. It bothered me so much…it took me a while to recover.” This kind of placement by skin color impacts the children for the rest of their life. Whether it’s the child of color’s own expectation of academic achievement, the recognition that they are less than because of their skin color, the early memory of such judgment cast upon them, or other impacts, the are profound events with potential to generate lasting fear, sadness, and internal adversity.
A Medford Participant gave the example of the impact of this tracking. Lacking potentially both a strong educational core and comfort with learning, Latinx individuals pursue low-wage farm work to earn incomes and provide for their households; Latinx men and women have a long history of working Oregon’s farm fields. With generation after generation farming and no sound educational base, it’s a tough cycle to break and these folks can feel stuck. The more recent legalization of cannabis has added more issues. With fruit orchards and vegetable fields being turned to cannabis, the farmworkers are feeling stigma and judgment around farming cannabis; they are seen as drug dealers.
Further, consider the impact that this placement has on White children and what they are deducing by seeing only White children in the groups with the advanced curriculum – that White children are smarter? that Children of Color are slower? that they deserve to be placed ahead because of their skin color?
The bullying, the taunting, the intimidation that goes on… it's not just the kids, right. It's also, teachers. (Warm Springs Dialogue)
It was always like school just wasn't for us. There was a lost of my sense of self and knowing that I was not going to see teachers that look like me. I only had one Black teacher in my entire school career. He was my math teacher and that was the best I ever did in a math class. (Portland Particpiant)
In Salem, Participants often see that rural, Latinx, and Native American students don’t have the access and financial resources to attend even high school, much less college. They lack the early education, which allows student to go on to better education later. A Participant said that 65% of the tribal community does not continue on to higher education. Another felt like the past two generations have lacked technical trade skills for the blue-collar jobs that pay on the higher end.
Other Participants shared that the low-wage jobs that families of color often have mean that parents work multiple jobs and children have at least one job too. White parents may judge or get frustrated that parents of color are not involved, but these families may be living paycheck to paycheck and working in the evening. “It’s a very skewed understanding, a privileged perspective that we're using to kind of evaluate how people are able to be involved.”
Another shared that when he interviewed students for jobs, he asked about their extracurricular activities. Most students had them except for one student who said he worked instead. The Participant said, “Well, why? Why did you work instead play basketball or something? They said I have to support my family.”
The curriculum of history class came up with Participants; coursework focused on America’s colonization of America. African American’s history began with slavery and ended with the Civil Rights Movement. Tribal history has never been accurate. Tribal Participants hope for more education around how the United States came to own the lands, how it involved genocide and loss of land, home, and culture for the tribes. “People don’t have a clue about where their private property came from,” shared one Participant. A Participant of Color shared, “Just acknowledging the role that intergenerational wealth has played… not just financial wealth but also the wealth of knowledge, things that just simply don't exist within all communities.”
These are examples of systemic disadvantages confounding personal and professional growth for Communities of Color. Some Participants see similarities with Children of Color and children of all races growing up in proverty.
“I want to see educational outcomes improved for all children in Oregon. And it's interesting, when you look at children of color in the urban areas and rural children. The outcomes are pretty similar and they're both pretty awful.” A tribal Participant recognized struggles of all people, “ I mean maybe we can say that we've been victimized to an extent, but even the folks that have brought the troubles… are still struggling, I think there's healing on all sides that needs to happen.”
COUNTERING RACISM AND BUILDING TRUST
Participants discussed repercussions of oppression and racism. “When we dehumanize a certain group of people, then it's harder for them to have access to certain resources.” The impacts are big. Communities of Color lose trust in anyone out of their circles. There is an experience of having no allies and perhaps not even wanting them. Per one Medford Participant, “The native community gets very insular, not wanting outsiders in their community. A lot of it is self-preservation.” A Latinx Participant shared, “It is the same with the Latino community. It's very hard to get all the groups to open up and be trusting.” Attempts to outreach to these communities, whether from well-intended non-profits or public agencies, may fall flat as they communities have accumulated far more negative experiences than positive from the entities and people outside of their circle.
CHALLENGES OF IMMIGRANTS WORKING
The sentiments in these groups leaned much more towards accepting immigrants as integral parts of our communities and devoting resources to help ensure their health and success. They work in farm fields, growing and picking fruits and vegetables, at vineyards, restaurants, and other jobs vital to small and large businesses integral to our economy and quality of life.
These are people are contributing to our communities... We're eating because they're working, …I don't know that we can get to solutions around individual issues until we can work well with one another, trust one another and show that we're not trying to take each other out.
Participants discussed the challenges around recent changes in the rules of the provision of driver’s licenses and identification cards. As related to having a job, people need transportation. Outside of Oregon’s largest cities, cars are the best if not only form of transportation. Given that, one needs a driver’s license. When people don’t have licenses, they put others on the road at risk whether it’s not being able to drive well or causing an accident and not having insurance. “The essence of the problem is that in order for you to get a driver's license, you have to have legal status and you have a social security number. So without that that you can not get a driver's license… In Oregon, that was implemented, in 2007 or 2008... they can't even get an ID.” A side effect of this is the challenge of renting an apartment, which tends to require showing an identification card. If a ticket is issued, that leads to more problems such as figuring out how to get to the courthouse and missing work. Many forms of public service require showing a government-issued identification card and those may come with background checks. Immigrants and People of Color can be afraid to provide information. They don’t know the language nor the systems. A Warm Springs Participant contributed, “There's this fear because I think we have probably lots of undocumented people in our community and I think they're scared. And when you look at the national dialogue that we have going on right now, why wouldn't you be scared? Why wouldn't you lay low?”
RURAL POPULATIONS AND CENSUS
This fear directly impacts counting done in years of the U.S Census. Many Participants pointed out that rural areas have growing Populations of Color, but numbers are often under counted because people do not want to be counted. They are afraid that being counted will mean that they may get arrested or deported and several Participants named that this fear has lasting impacts for the community as demographic information collected in the census [2] helps to determine federal funds spent on hospitals, schools, roads, and other public efforts.
A few Participants have made overtures in creating programs or materials in languages beyond English. One shared, “My radical move was to start a bilingual story time, but then someone wrote a letter to the editor about how we should not be doing it.” Another shared that her industry has tried to print materials in other languages and faced resistance, “I don’t know why. I would think we would want everyone to know the rules, but there's an inherent bias that if they [non-English speakers] want to live in this country, they should speak English… I don’t think they see it as being racist.” Multilingual radio spots and book collections written in languages representative of the surrounding population are other examples of efforts Participants have seen or implemented to expand the reach of their work in southern Oregon.
BUILDING TRUST AND CONNECTION
A Lincoln City Participant stated that he simply wanted us to stop the game of “us versus them.” That single idea is a challenge, however. As many Participants shared, quelling racist thoughts and judgments inside individual’s minds as well as through all of society’ systems is a multifaceted, continuous journey. A Participant shared their work on a college campus where students were asked to name one person from your racial or ethnic background that did social justice work. White students didn’t know anyone. When White students don’t know of White people who have done social justice, then they think it’s not their story. It’s important that they see themselves as part of this conversation. The Participant followed, “So we shared the names of White people who did social justice work.”
As shared in other chapters of this report, Participants named that listening and learning from one another would go a long way towards addressing community and state challenges, Particpants also see listening and learning as part of the solution towards ending racism, too. Hearing these accounts of fear and understanding what goes through a Person of Color’s mind on a daily basis could potentially help ease tensions and build understanding. “Maybe it’s race talks statewide,” wondered one Participant. There was a wide acknowledgment of the lack of connection that communities feel between each other; there is a lot of segregation in both rural and urban communities. Yet, Participants leaned into the idea of building community, trust, and not adding to mistrust and fear. “We all have to call each other out or to make things right as a system, as a group, as a society,” one person shared. Another Participant acknowledged that it’s not easy to do every day, “I think for human beings to walk up to somebody who looks different from them or anyone in a different environment, just approaching people in general… It's really hard to take that first step to say, you know, tell me something about you.”
Participants noted the value of listening to the pain and hurt of previous generations, of White people being okay with the discomfort of their hurt, and understanding how structural racism takes place today. As much as Communities of Color need to vocalize their experiences of being oppressed or hurt, White communities need to listen and sit with discomfort. Per one Participant, “There are the have’s and the have not’s, but the biggest problem is the racial hierarchy.”
The listening from the side of White people cannot be underestimated. The pain runs deep for many of the Participants and the communities that they are part of. As one tribal member shared, “When someone says, ‘I feel your pain.’ No, you don't. You'll never feel our pain. Institutional racism is alive and well today as it ever has been. That was the policy of America. ... kill the Indian, save the child. We are recovering from that.” He continued that it is hard to always be speaking out against things and always be fighting. “It’s important because I know what it was like to be a kid and be called names. My white teachers wouldn’t stand up to it. My other native classmates didn’t feel like they could stand up to it.” He continued that they look for their younger generation to understand who they are, where they come from, who their family is, their function and other such things about themselves. This helps to give them a foundation of who they are as an Indian. He finished, “Then it's up to them to work to how they fit in America and Oregon.”
I traveled to Canada in the fall, to amazing places that were so primitive. You could see people were aware of the tribes around the area. You could tell they honor it. It was just like stepping into another world that was before what it used to be, what it should be. It was so nice that we were invited, that we were welcomed. (Native American, Medford Dialogues)
Whether it is ethnicity, race, income, age, or other ways that people are different, representation is often lacking and participants discussed this. A Medford Participant contributed, “Too often we're represented by those that haven't had to struggle to make ends meet or struggle to find work…more diverse leadership would be great.” Participants expressed the need for Persons of Color to serve on as counselors, coaches, principals, corrections officers, and on boards like the chamber of commerce. Participants again and again brought up the importance of training diverse leaders to ensure more voices are heard and that leadership looks like the people that it is representing. Such diverse leadership could provide security and build understanding for the people that they serve.
Participants that attended diversity, equity and inclusion trainings said that these gave them the time, space, and setting to better understand the perspectives and experiences of their non-white peers. Participants described these trainings as being able to hold themselves and others accountable for racist actions. They see a benefit, shared a Partcipant, to discussing and sharing similarities and differences. Likewise, People of Color want to be able to say, “Ouch, that's not okay with me” and for the response to be “What did I do? Help me understand,” instead of responding defensively. Without the experience, well-intended nonprofits and other efforts may not know how to create inclusive actions that carry out the desired impact.
I've gotten some training in diversity and equity in the last few years. It's been really educational. There was stuff there that just never even occurred to me. (Baker City Dialogues)
The effort needed to be inclusive is not yet well understood or practiced. In order to create that connection with the community, you first have to develop trust. Without that there's very little you're going to accomplish. (Medford Dialogues)
Participants expressed the desire for efforts to expand and create equitable opportunity for all to be somehow stepped up in education, the job markets, and all systems. Challenges exist for these populations and the right approaches can make a difference to bring understanding between and among people. “Diversity is a strength,” one Participant noted and contemplating diversity, equity, and inclusion can help us work together and decide who we are going to be as a community.
[1] From the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
[2] U.S. Census, Why We Conduct the Decennial Census, www.census.gov