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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2017)
Street Roots • June 2-8, 2017 E d ito r ia l Page 3 TriMet incident tests a growing, changing city very now and then, something shocking rattles a aggressions for generations, right here in Portland. This event may have rattled hearts across the city - even reached across the nation - but it is definitely not a It s been one week since a man spewing racist new thing. epithets on a TriMet M AX train stabbed two men to And if the perpetrator had invoked Islam, we all know death and seriously injured another. The men k illed and he would be labeled a terrorist. Instead it was the wounded were trying to defend two young black women, language the target of the killer’s horrific attack. All of us at of the extreme right used in our highest office, and reinforced by broadcasters on our airwaves and Street Roots are saddened by these online. It is as much a gross distortion of “patriotism” events, the loss of life and the latest as most of us know it, as terrorism is of Islam. reminder of the toxic racism people The killer in this case may be considered an of color face people every have day. responded in We re also inspired by how individual and his violence an isolated incident, but he support of the victims, in opposition to hate, and in and many others are tethered together ideologically by solidarity with the whole community. It is impossible to white nationalist organizations that exist all across look upon the memorial at the Hollywood Transit Oregon and the nation. Station where the violence occurred without feeling the In fact, the Southern Poverty Law Center said that overwhelming love displayed there. It is difficult to among metropolitan areas, Portland has had one of the make room for it all. highest rates of hate incidents since the election. The In its wake, however, are rallies of the so-called alt- SP LC invited people to report incidents through its right, whose platform of racial and religious intolerance website, and since the election, it has gathered nearly the killer embraced. The online world is abuzz with 1,500 reports from the area - and they continue to roll political extrapolations over the event. Labels are flying. in. But it wasn’t politics that abused those girls or killed What happened on May 26 was horrific, even if it those men, it was hate and intolerance, fueled, possibly, wasn’t a total aberration. by mental illness. Still, national political leaders are validating and empowering the most basic impulses of We hope the emotions Portland is feeling now can bigotry in this country - exploiting ignorance and hate take deeper roots. There’s a vibrant network of cultural for their own profit and power. There are terrible and civic organizations people can plug into to learn events happening all across this country under the more about the diversity in our community and get banner this administration is waving. more engaged. If the white nationalist rhetoric is As much as we would like to silence the hate, trickling down into our community, then we will push Portland honors free speech and expression above all back from the ground up. else. Bring it on. We can take it. We’re stronger than As more people move into our city and region, with that. each passing year, Portland needs to reaffirm who and Communities of color have endured these kinds of what we stand for. We stand united. We stand for love. E community’s foundation. 503-228-5657, joanne@streetroots.org Street Roots 211 NW Davis SL J 503-228-5657 Fax: 503 227-3117 Hours: 7:30 a.m,-3 p.m. Mon-FfL, 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. and 7:30-1 p,m. Sun. Staff Israel B a y e r V : israei@streetroots.org Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org Vendor Program Director Cole Merkel cole@streetroots.org Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Sarah Cloud Jesuit Volunteer Development Assistant Patricia Romero Editorial Assistant Monica Kwasnik Reporters Emily Green, Suzanne Zafokar, Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Jared Paben, Amanda Waldroupe, Stephen Quirke Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode, Arkady Brown Canvasser Desmond Hardison Board of Directors Chairman Brad Taylor Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford Treasurer Heather Stadick Secretary Dan Jones Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Nels Johnson and Alison Hallett Volunteers Illustration by Elizabeth Considine Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali Rathore, Zoe Klingmann, Dan Jones, Dennis Hogan, Monica McKune, Susan Wolfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas Buell Jr., Jeanie Lunsford, Yasmin Amirsoleymani, Jason Cohen, Tom Ray, Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jon Raymond, Diana Richardson, Cherie Manning, Paul and Madeline Gefroh, Mary Anne Joyce, Del Shawn Davidson, Gillian Floren, Mark OIDani, Bridget Brown, Cody Travels, Bianca Butler, Robb Hengerer, Alex Cherin, Jenny Fames, Evan Firsick, Camber Hansen-Karr, Miranda Woods, Henry Brannan, Megan Smith, Luke Scheuermann, Annie Aube and Helen Hill. If you're interested in volunteering with Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or you can call for more information at 503-228-5657.
