Report: Low Marks for OR Lawmakers on Racial Equity

January 16, 2012

Report: Low Marks for OR Lawmakers on Racial Equity

Chris Thomas, Public News Service - OR
AUDIO: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/mp3.php?f=rss-24236-1.mp3

SALEM, Ore. - As a group, Oregon lawmakers have not done much to ensure that non-white Oregonians have anything close to the same chances for success as white Oregonians. That's the finding of a new report that gives the state Senate a grade of "C" - and the House a "D" - based on their votes last session on bills that could have improved the financial security, health or educational opportunities for people of color.

Kalpana Krishnamurthy, director of the RACE Program at the Western States Center, says that is important because Oregon has become a real melting pot.

"A place like Malheur County is 36 percent people of color. Lake County is 13 percent; Jefferson County is 38 percent people of color. We're not just talking about I-5 and urban centers. We're talking about the entire state, and the demographics of our state really changing."

The report examines the fate of 23 pieces of legislation. Some of them, like home loan modifications, could benefit all families, no matter what their race.

According to the latest census, people of color make up more than 21 percent of Oregon residents. Joseph Santos-Lyons, a coordinator with the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), says public policies in the state have not kept up with the changing demographics.

"We believe that the Legislature has to understand that Oregon's future prosperity is linked to our ability to provide fair opportunities and economic stability to all residents - and there's a wide gap between white Oregonians and Oregonians of color."

Krishnamurthy says there are ways to minimize racial disparities - although in another tight budget year, the Legislature also risks making the problems worse.

"Oregon has some very tough decisions to make about what we fund, and about how to find a balance between revenues and expenses. But if we do these cuts in ways that don't look at racial equity, we will exacerbate some of these growing opportunity gaps in our state."

The report says statewide poverty figures reflect the legislature's inaction on some issues. For whites in Oregon, the poverty rate is about 13 percent, but for Native Americans, it is 23 percent. It's almost 29 percent for Latinos, 39 percent for African Americans and just over 40 percent for Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders.

The full report, "Facing Race: 2011 Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity in Oregon," is available at http://www.westernstatescenter.org/

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Remembering Dr. King's Dream

On August 28, 1963,  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his historic "I have a Dream" speech (originally titled "Normalcy, Never Again") on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The goal of the event was to pressure Congress and the Kennedy Administration to pass a Comprehensive Civil Rights Bill, put an end to voting rights injustices and to create economic opportunities for Black Americans.  King's "I have a Dream" speech which called for racial equality and an end to segregation was a defining moment for the civil rights movement. Today, 47 years later,  we remember and reflect on Dr. King's powerful words.




I Have a Dream - Address at March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.
 
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.  continue reading

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Remembering King's Dream

Today, people from all over the country traveled to Memphis to remember and honor Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and "his Dream" for this nation. Although many agree we have come along way, we still have a long way to go to truly realize King's Vision.

Dr. King's struggle is still very relevant today as it was 40 years ago. The fact that nearly half of all Black and Latino children are still growing up in poverty and suffer from unemployment almost twice that of their fellow Americans, is evidence that we still have many miles to travel. And with today's economic crisis, many of the gains African Americans and Latinos made during the 90's are now disappearing.

The racial disparity is revealed in many aspects of living including health care, schools, the criminal justice system and housing. And, is further demonstrated in the racist and anti-Latino rhetoric and anti-immigrant legislation occurring around the nation.

Although inequality and injustice still exists in the United States, the hope and will for change is very strong and is manifesting itself with individual. As one mother from Detroit put it, "I want my girls to know that freedom isn't free. They've got to stand up and keep up the fight and learn how to treat people no matter what color they are or where they come from you've got to treat people right."

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