NEWS
LANE COUNTY AREA
BY MORGAN THEOPHIL
‘MARGINALIZED
VOICES’
Eugene Human Rights Commission in-
volves community to battle discrimination
F
unding a summit for Eugene’s marginalized communi-
ties is among the many goals for the city in the recently
published “Marginalized Voices in Eugene” report by the
Eugene Human Rights Commission.
The report, approved by the HRC last month, explains
how the commission’s Anti-Discrimination Work Group sought
to understand discrimination in the city and provide tangible
goals to make a change. According to Ken Neubeck, former chair
of the commission, it was time for “outreach to marginalized,
vulnerable communities in Eugene, focusing on many groups
that haven’t ever been approached before.”
The commission formed ten different focus groups that met
over the course of a year. The groups — African American, Af-
rican American/Biracial Youth, Asian American, Latinx, Latinx
Families, Muslim, Native American/Alaska Native, Pacific
Islanders, LGBTQ and Trans — were made up of community
members in Eugene.
Kris Galago, an attendee of the Pacific Islander focus group,
is a native Hawaiian. Galago, her Samoan husband and their two
children say that they encountered discrimination for the first time
in Eugene. “I never knew I was a person of color before coming
here,” she says. “In Hawaii, people don’t judge others by the color
of their skin, so we had never encountered racism before.”
Neubeck and Bonnie Souza, co-chairs of the project, wanted
to involve the community from start to finish. “We wanted to
emphasize the voices of people from these ten communities, and
through this process, we have,” Neubeck says.
The groups met for dinner and discussion. They were asked
the same questions, ranging from “How do you feel about living
here?” to “When you have experienced discrimination, hate or
bias, what do you think could be done to help you?”
Discussion flowed freely. “It was very refreshing to hear that
other marginalized communities in Eugene are experiencing the
same things as us,” Galago says. “It brought validity to our argu-
ment that the way we are treated here isn’t right.”
When all the focus groups had concluded, Neubeck and Souza
found eight themes — micro-aggressions, intersectionality, iso-
lation and need for safe space, to name a few — that ran com-
mon among each group. According to the report, “the themes and
statements collectively serve to demonstrate how it feels to be a
member of a marginalized group in Eugene.”
After relentless advocacy, the 82,500-acre Elliott State
Forest in the Oregon Coast will remain in public ownership. To
celebrate this environmentalist victory, Cascadia Wildlands,
Mountain Rose Herbs and Thinking Tree Spirits are hosting a
Victory Celebration for the Elliott State Forest from 6 to 10 pm
Saturday, July 29. Musical entertainment includes Soul Vibra-
tor, Tony Riedl’s La Famille and Norma Fraser Reggae Band,
and there will be cocktails, food carts and face-painting for
kids. It’s free and open to the public and will be held at Thinking
Tree Spirits, at 88 Jackson Street.
On Saturday, July 22, there will be a protest in solidarity
with the #DisruptJ20 defendants. These are the 214 protest-
ers who were mass-arrested on inauguration day for “felony
rioting.” The protesters face up to 75 years in prison for ex-
ercising the constitutional right to free assembly and free
SPRAY INFORMATION
“There were forms of discrimination that many groups had
in common and forms that were unique to each group,” Galago
says. “In this community, we just aren’t being heard.”
In a final meeting in May, attendees from nearly all of the fo-
cus groups came together and looked over the report to ensure its
accuracy and to create recommended goals for the city.
“We need the people in our community to say that, yes, dis-
crimination is a real problem and we want to create a change,”
Neubeck says. “The report itself is only a jumping-off point to
making that change, to helping people from marginalized com-
munities to feel safer, more included and a part of the community
as a whole.”
According to the report, short-term goals include requiring
city staff members to “systematically reach out to marginalized
communities each year to find out what events they would like
to see occur, what events they would like to participate in and if/
how they would like to showcase their presence to the broader
community.”
Long-term goals include establishing a “centrally located,
city-owned, multi-cultural center that provides a home base
where members of marginalized communities – young and old –
can gather, meet, teach, provide information and celebrate their
cultural traditions.”
Last week, the city released the “2016 Hate and Bias Report,”
saying that 82 bias crimes and non-criminal incidents took place
last year, up from 59 in 2015. According to the report, “results
indicate race continues to be the leading motivating factor for
reported hate and bias activity.”
After receiving and reviewing both the Hate and Bias report
and the Anti-Discrimination report last week, Mayor Lucy Vinis
says that city representatives feel the report is “timely, powerful
and important — now more than ever.”
“People shouldn’t be waking up in our community not want-
ing to leave their homes because they’re afraid of what might
happen to them on the streets,” Vinis says. “If life is okay as you
know it, that doesn’t mean that it is for everyone — this report
shows that.”
Mayor Vinis says the short-term goal to implement a “rapid
response policy” for city officials to respond to hate crimes and
harmful activities in the community can likely be a first step.
The Anti-Discrimination Work Group plans to meet with
city council to discuss each goal in turn, making sure this report
doesn’t get ignored. Galago says she hopes to get more involved
with the Work Group to help find a solution, despite being a vic-
tim of the problem.
“For now, we will continue to face issues being racialized and
discriminated against — we are still fighting the battle,” Galago
says. “There are small victories but there are bigger challenges,
and we need to be heard so we can all move forward.” ■
speech. The protest coincides with the Saturday Market and
will take place at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza on the
corner of Eighth Avenue and Oak Street from 10 am to 5 pm.
This Sunday, July 23, there will be a Buy and Trade Swap
Meet for the unhoused. Those participating will have a blan-
ket on the pavement of the plaza, and will display items they
no longer need and swap for those others no longer need. The
event will take place 3 to 6 pm in the Wayne Morse Free Speech
Plaza at Eighth Avenue and Oak Street. Those lucky enough to
have housing already are encouraged to donate goods for this
event, either by dropping them off in plastic bags at the plaza
between 1 and 3 pm on Sunday, or calling or texting Wayne
Martin, 831-601-0022, to pick up items from your home. Vol-
unteers are also needed to help the event run smoothly.
Roseburg Resources, 541-
679-3311, plans to spray
122.1 acres in Douglas and
Lane Counties with a long list
of chemicals on their lands
south of Veneta and in the Ox-
bow Burn area. See ODF notifi-
cation 2017-781-08835, call
Dan Menk at 541-935-2283
with questions.
Franklin Clarkson Timber Co
LLC, 541-214-1435, plans to
spray 1641.9 acres south of
Blue River and north of Dex-
ter Lake with imazapyr, tri-
clopyr, Crosshair, Foam Buster,
Grounded, MSO Concentrate
and/or No Foam. See ODF noti-
fication 2017-771-08761, call
Brian Dally at 541-726-3588
with questions.
Weyerhaeuser Company, 541-
746-2511, plans to spray 559
acres in the greater Marcola
area with imazapyr. See ODF
notification 2017-771-08670,
call Brian Dally at 541-726-
3588 with questions.
Giustina Resources, 541-485-
1500, plans to spray 21.7
acres south of Dexter Lake
near Noisy Creek with imaza-
pyr. See ODF notification 2017-
771-08646, call Tim Meehan
at 541-726-3588 with ques-
tions.
Giustina Land & Timber Co,
541-345-2301, plans to hire
Northwest Reforestation Ser-
vices LLC, 541-520-6215, to
spray 36.7 acres near Marlow
Rd with imazapyr, glyphosate,
and/or Forest Crop Oil. See ODF
notification 2017-781-08749,
call Dan Menk at 541-935-
2283 with questions.
Weyerhaeuser Company, 541-
746-2511, plans to spray 19
acres near Low Pass with ima-
zapyr and other chemicals.
See ODF notification 2017-
781-08698, call Robin Bie-
secker at 541-935-2283 with
questions.
Weyerhaeuser Company, 541-
746-2511, plans to hire North-
west Forest Management
Services LLC, 541-520-6215,
to spray a total of 130.3 acres
near Moke Rd, Rust Rd, and
Low Pass with imazapyr. See
ODF notifications 2017-781-
08456, 2017-781-08511 and
2017-781-08512, call Robin
Biesecker at 541-935-2283
with questions.
Compiled by Gary Hale, Forestland Dwell-
ers: 541-342-8332, forestlanddwellers.org
eugeneweekly.com • July 20, 2017
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