Community Leaders Speak Out Against Hateful Political Comments

Responding to a rise in hateful political rhetoric heading into the Elections of 2016, Oregon elected and community leaders have issued an Open Letter calling on candidates and politicians to publicly pledge to reject hateful and extreme political comments, and instead focus on real solutions that address the need for immigration reform and growing income inequality.

Causa has joined a diverse list of signatories that include elected leaders and Oregon’s leading community organizations working for racial equity and immigrant rights.  Full text of the Open Letter is below.

September 4th, 2015

As we enter the 2016 Presidential Election, and an ultra competitive Oregon landscape with ballot measures and statewide races, we feel compelled to call out increasingly divisive comments and actions.  In the news recently, a City Councilor in Springfield OR publicly opposed a Salvation Army minister because his Pacific Islander race would bring a “minority element”, anti-immigrant forces are proposing statewide ballot measures targeting immigrant families, and Presidential candidates are engaging in hateful rhetoric that demean our communities to win political points.  For the sake of our democracy, our diverse communities, and our future, we can do better.   

The stereotypes of Asian and Latino communities as “anchor babies”, “birth tourists” and “criminals”, simply inflame racist and xenophobic attitudes of some voters who fear changing demographics, rising electoral power of communities of color, and distract from the real policy issues like living wage jobs, reproductive justice, and comprehensive immigration reform.  

Voters deserve the facts - (1)  Communities of color are strengthening America’s economy, boosting the average wages and stimulating investment., (2) Overall crime is on decline thanks to a shift towards prevention and restorative justice, and away from over-incarceration.  (3) The vast majority of immigration is about keeping families together, protecting, providing and reuniting with loved ones.  

The recent comments made by politicians in the media are stigmatizing, portraying Asian Pacific Islanders and Latinos as the perpetual foreigner, dismissing our strong roots, and ignoring the generations of contributions immigrants, refugees and people of color have made, and treating us as expendable. These expressed views can have damaging consequences that have historically led to the incarceration and removal of families, employment discrimination, bullying in schools, and hate crimes.  

We are also mindful of how the struggles of Asians and Latinos are linked with Black communities, and how rhetoric around immigrants has been used to distance our communities from anti-Black sentiments, Black communities whose historical role in creating the wealth of this nation has never been fully recognized.  We stand for the rights, resources and recognition for all communities to thrive, and against the over-criminalization, over-policing, economic disinvestment and political neglect that has disproportionately impacted Black communities.

We demand better from our leaders.  We expect legitimate candidates and elected officials to engage in meaningful policy dialogue with constituents, not pit communities against one another with racially coded messages.  We all have a responsibility to counter the anti-immigrant rhetoric with efforts to understand the root causes of economic inequality.  We need solutions instead of scapegoats.   We call on all candidates and political leadership to publicly pledge to reject dehumanizing and deceiving political rhetoric, and to instead promote collaboration with diverse communities. Oregon and our country can and will do better.

Add your name here

Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons, Executive Director

Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)

Andrea Miller, Executive Director

Causa

Carmen Caballero Rubio, Executive Director

Latino Network

Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury

Multnomah County Board of Commissioners

State Representative Lew Frederick

North/Northeast Portland

State Representative Jessica Vega Pederson

Southeast Portland

State Representative Rob Nosse

Southeast Portland

State Senator Michael Dembrow

Northeast and Southeast Portland

State Senator Chip Shields

North/Northeast Portland

Metro Councilor Sam Chase

Northwest/North & Inner Portland

Multnomah County Commissioner Jules Bailey

District 1

Ramon Ramirez, President

Pineros y Campesinos Unidos (PCUN)

Kayse Jama, Executive Director

Center for Intercultural Organizing

Alberto Moreno, Executive Director

Oregon Latino Health Coalition

Tom Chamberlain, President

Oregon AFL-CIO

Ken Allen, Executive Director

AFSCME Local 75

Nancy Haque & Jeana Frazzini, Co-Directors

Basic Rights Oregon

David Rodgers, Executive Director

ACLU of Oregon

Michelle Stranger-Hunter, Executive Director

NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon

Meg Niemi, President

SEIU Local 49

Jonathan Ostar, Executive Director

OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon

Julia Meier, Executive Director

Coalition of Communities of Color

Toc Soneoulay-Gillespie, Director of Refugee Resettlement

Catholic Charities

Anselmo Villanueva, Executive Director

DisOrient Film Festival of Oregon

Nikki Fisher, Executive Director

The Bus Project

Aubrey Harrison, Executive Director
Oregon Voice

Mel Rader, Executive Director

Upstream Public Health

Sharon Gary-Smith, Executive Director

MRG Foundation

Matt Morton, Executive Director

NAYA Family Center

Gloria Lee, President

Chinese American Citizens Alliance Portland

Darlene Huntress, Executive Director

Oregon Action

Andrea Paluso, Executive Director

Family Forward Oregon

Misa Joo

Pan Asian Community Alliance of Lane County

David Tam

Eugene, OR

Ann Wetherell

Salem, OR

Paul Millius

Portland, OR

Michael Bloom

Portland, OR