May 6, 2015
Page 5
Urban League Roadmap for Progress
Report looks
at dismantling
racial inequities
Dismantling the state’s legacy of racial
inequity is key to the future growth and
prosperity of all Oregon, concludes a com-
prehensive overview of the status of black
Oregonians statewide that was published
Tuesday by the Urban League of Portland.
The State of Black Oregon 2015 re-
port, the result of a two-year program of
research, provides an updated look at how
people of color are doing in schools, jobs,
and both urban and rural communities
throughout the state.
Among the findings are that the dis-
parities in employment, health, education
achievement, and housing instability have
persisted or gotten worse since the first
State of Black Oregon report was released
in 2009. And that the wealth gap between
blacks and whites has widened even fur-
ther.
For example, 30 percent of black fam-
ilies live below poverty levels, compared
with 11.7 percent of white families. Black
families face more than double the rate of
food insecurity as well, with 44.1 percent
of black families affected, compared with
18.7 percent of white families.
Other disparities include a rate of in-
carceration for black Oregonians that is
six times higher than their white counter-
parts, and nearly double the rate of black
unemployment in the State of Oregon
when compared with the white majority;
That rate rises to nearly triple in the city
Filling
the Gap
C ontinued from P age 1
with at least two other local colleges on
credit transfers, but no other special trans-
fer deals were announced yet.
Tiffany Kraft, a higher education con-
sultant for the Service Employees Inter-
national Union, has helped work to hold
schools like Heald accountable.
She pointed out that the recent govern-
ment action against shady business prac-
tice like aggressive recruiting, graduate
underemployment, low faculty pay and
outrageous administrative costs at for-prof-
it colleges like Heald is long overdue.
“They make sure their tuition is the max
GI bill,” she said.
In considering what’s next, Kraft said
students shouldn’t forget about good old
fashioned community college.
“You can get a better degree for a hell of
a lot less”, she said, noting that community
colleges employ many of the same quality
instructors as four year public and private
schools.
prove health outcomes for black women
and children by investing in the crucial first
1,000 days of life.
“As Oregon works to build a healthy
and prosperous state, we risk failing to
fulfill our potential and our promise if we
do not dismantle the legacy of inequity
and institutional neglect of communities
of color,” said Michael Alexander, Urban
League of Portland president and chief ex-
ecutive officer.
“We acknowledge that we have made
some progress. However, public and pri-
vate systems still operate in ways that per-
petuate income and racial inequality. This
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Michael Alexander
of Portland, where Black unemployment is
at 20.7 percent compared with 7.6 percent
for whites.
The 2015 report also lays out an ambi-
tious policy agenda - including a compre-
hensive jobs plan and a proposal to im-
is confirmed by the findings of our State of
Black Oregon 2015,” he said.
The 200 page report also features 18
essays from leaders throughout Oregon on
issues including universal childcare, health
equity, gentrification and entrepreneurship.
There are 21 case studies from across the
state, from Medford in the south, to rural
Pendleton in the east to Astoria and the
central gentrifying urban centers.
Taken together, the report is a road-
map to address longstanding inequities in
employment, education, housing, health,
criminal justice and wealth creation - and
to pave the way for success.
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