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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 2015)
News Page 4 Street Roots Oct. Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2015 Dear white Portland... Racial injustice in the City o f Roses, from the perspectives o f young black m en who BY EMILY GREEN STAFF WRITER efore sharing the mic with the nine young men seated with him at the table, moderator and Multnomah County employee Kory Murphy solemnly listed off statistics illustrating the challenges they face as black youths in the United B States. ■ “Homicide is the leading cause of death for African-American males between ages 10 and 24,” he said. “How many of you are between the ages of 10 and 24?” Hands around the table raised. They all were. Murphy went on, “If the current trend continues, 1 in 3 young African-American men will serve time in prison.” He then counted around the table, slowly shifting his gaze and motioning toward each of the young men with his hand. “One, two, three. ... One, two, th re e .... One, two, three. “We could go on, and on, and on about the incredibly bleak current reality of young black males in our country.” The men were situated in the center of a conference room on the third floor of the Portland M arriott City C enter h otel ^I^HIPiHBSWrHHs rsracK m aie Achievement Initiative symposium. A couple dozen black leaders from across the country surrounded the young men, waiting to hear straight from the mouths of the demographic they were focused on lifting up. Representatives from cities participating in the Black Male Achievement Initiative had gathered in Portland to discuss ideas,, programs and policies aimed at changing the grim statistics facing these youths. Portland was selected as one of 11 cities to take part in Phase I of the initiative, which kicked off in January. National organizers hope to have 500 cities signed up by 2025. So far, 76 mayors are on board. Among the young men at the table were four youths from Portland and five others hailing from Florida, Virginia, Indiana, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The Portland men were four of eight graduates from a Summer Youth Experience program put on by the city, Multnomah County, Black Male Achievement Initiative and Worksystems Inc. The program included college internships and emotional intelligence-building workshops and culminated in a Summer Youth Summit in September, where the men facilitated discussions among their peers, discussing the relationship between race and economics, education and the justice system. What follows are excerpts from the responses these four young Portland men gave during the roundtable discussion and during a Street Roots-led question-and- answer session immediately following the event Question: Given the statistics and what P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F -C IT Y O F P O R T L A N D /O F F IC E O F E Q U IT Y A N D H U M A N R IG H T S Joshua Davis shares w hat he learned from leading discussions about race a n d economics with his peers a t the S u m m erY o u th Sum m it. H e’s joined on stage a t the S u m m er Youth Experience graduation in September by fellow graduates M alik Farrakhan and Stephon Hartley. ""Everybody wants to th in k they control themselves, hut pretty much Stephon Hartley, 1 9 : 1 was what people that one black kid in a classroom te ll you yon full of white kids. Me and my peers have been talking a lot about are, 11 yon hear building relationships with It enough, yon teachers and how that impacts the believe it. We way students will learn. A lot of hear people the white teachers - because I was the only black kid - were very say we're at standoffish. They didn’t always risk; we start to rush to help me. The school believe it." you know about the situation o f young black males, in your opinion, how does race and racism play a role? Q: We have a black president, though. Racism - is it real still? Joshua Davis, 1 9 : 1 was pretty young when Obama was elected, and I wasn’t really paying attention to a lot of issues before that, but I feel like because we have a black president, in some ways, even though it’s made things better, in other ways, it’s made things a little bit worse. It’s a lot easier to deny it now, because we have come so far. actually had to call my mother and joshua D avis , 19 We came from slavery, and tell her that they thought I was now the head of our nation is retarded - and I was in black. But it doesn’t change kindergarten passing second-grade city to city, state to state, all tests. the issues that have been going on since the Or, it’s Black History Month, and you’re 1800s, and back before that. All the issues - learning about black history. Everybody’s all the Black ’Lives Matter, it seems like giving their take on it, then they look to you when you bring it up with people, a lot of to give your African-American take on i t times, there’s a lot of anger on both sides. That’s happened to me multiple times. It’s the same take you guys have. I may feel You hear people say that exact thing, “We stronger, but everything is wrong. Why do I have a black president.” And to me it’s like, have to have a different take? so what? It doesn’t do much for people in Then there’s being an African-American real life. male and having that perception of danger, or whatever, in most white people - that Q: When you turn on the TV, or you watch does stop that level of relationship to be a video on your phones, o f multiple black built with students and teachers. I know it males being gunned down, regardless o f what affects a lot of kids. they did, how do you feel? Wesley Black, 21: It rains a lot in Portland, so I often wear a sweatshirt I used to live across the street from my job, which was at the Dollar Tree, and I would work the night shift, so I’m walking home, in the dark, probably when it’s raining. I remember specifically they said in the Trayvon (Martin) case, that he was looking suspiciously in other people’s cars. The time it takes me to walk home, I probably look in, like, 20-some cars. Some are empty, some are not, but still I look in the car. I remember this one night; I looked into a car, and I thought, I’m it - 1 am Trayvon. Somebody from neighborhood watch just saw me look in this car and thinks I’m going to rob them, then I’m going to turn the block and get shot by a bunch of Cops. H artley: A common thing that I see with my peers, the millennial, is that we support things that support racism, like WorldStar. (WorldStarHipHop is an aggregate video site known for posting videos of violent street fights.) All WorldStar is, is an outlet for racist people to get on there and bash blacks. But if you look at most of our phones, we’ll have the WorldStar app. We’ll be on it 24/7, supporting racism. So I just want to say we should pay more attention to the things we do and the things we support See YOUTHS page 5
