March 16, 2016
The
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INSIDE
Week in Review
This page
Sponsored by:
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L OCAL N EWS
Measuring and Measuring Up
Racism in Multnomah County’s justice system
pages 6-7
O PINION
M ETRO
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Arts &
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8-13
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
F OOD
A new report on racial and
ethnic disparities (RED) in Mult-
nomah County’s criminal justice
system has been attracting plen-
ty of attention in the last couple
of weeks. The RED report, using
data from agencies such as the po-
lice, the district attorney’s office
and the courts, shows that at every
stage on the journey through the
justice system alarming disparities
are either produced or perpetuated
for most people of color.
To put it another way, the report
clearly concludes that the justice
system in Multnomah County is
not equal and punishes you more
severely if you are black. That in-
formation will not be a surprise to
many, particularly not to commu-
nities of color, but it is helpful to
quantify the extent of the problem.
Problems demand solutions,
and while there’s been acknowl-
edgement for some time by many
of those who work in the local
justice system that discrimina-
tion and disparities are part of the
system, there hasn’t been much
action. This is not – in the main
sense - the overt racism of a few
bad apples who openly admit to
treating certain individuals differ-
ently because of race. This is not
the old Jim Crow laws that explic-
itly discriminated against people
of color. This is systemic; it is an
unconscious bias, based on stereo-
types and assumptions that impact
the hundreds of decision made by
justice system actors. Fixing this
problem will take time and effort,
but fundamentally it needs to start
with our city and county leaders
taking ownership of the problem
Pursuing Justice
by
b obbin s ingh
and making a commitment to ad-
dress systemic racism. This has
yet to occur in any meaningful
way.
Last week saw the closing of
the filing period for candidates
who plan to run in the upcoming
election. Sixteen people are asking
for you to vote for them as mayor
of Portland, 13 want your support
in the race for three seats on the
Multnomah County Commission,
and the district attorney is running
unopposed. There’s been a shock-
ing lack of public comment from
many of those running for office
in Portland and countywide about
the racial and ethnic disparities re-
port and how they plan to go about
eliminating the inequities it identi-
fies. Without energy and willing-
ness to drive change on the part
of those who are elected there’s a
grave danger that the RED report
is shelved and nothing is done.
That’s not to say that county
and city leadership have all the an-
swers. Addressing racial and eth-
nic disparities in our justice sys-
tem requires not only engagement
by elected officials with commu-
nities of color but genuine com-
munity oversight of the process
of reform. Those who oversee the
system and those who work within
it have to carry their share of the
blame and the responsibility for
change. But it would be a mistake
to think that they can produce all
the answers when they were part
of creating these disparities in the
first place.
The conclusions of the RED
report should make you angry. It
is the first time that we have a re-
port that clearly shows disparities
and discrimination clear across
our criminal justice system. It is
an indictment of that system. The
best thing you can do during the
next two months of the campaign
season is to help raise the issue.
If you meet a candidate, ask them
about the report. Have they read
it? What do they think we should
do about racism in our justice sys-
tem? What meaningful steps do
they suggest? Their answer – or
their silence – will speak volumes.
Here’s a link to a back-
grounder on the RED Report:
static1.squarespace.com/stat-
ic/524b5617e4b0b106ced -
5f067/t/56bd23abd210b88e-
65ae07b1/1455236012080/
RED+Report+Backgrounder+Up-
C ontinued on p age 5
Oregon Removes Confederate Flag
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Leaders of the Oregon Legis-
lature have followed up on their
promise to take down a symbol
of the Confederacy from outside
Oregon’s Capitol in Salem.
Rep. Lew Frederick, the only
black lawmaker in the Oregon
House and a representative of
north and northeast Portland,
proposed removing Mississippi’s
state flag last year after a picture
of the man charged in the South
Carolina black church massacre
showed up with him posing with
a Confederate flag.
South Carolina later voted to
remove the Confederate flag from
its Capitol after a prolonged con-
troversy, but Mississippi’s state
flag is unique as the sole remain-
ing state flag which still depicts
the Confederate emblem in its
design.
Frederick, who grew up
around the Confederate Flag in
the South, said he saw the symbol
as a way to taunt African Ameri-
cans and remind them of the rac-
ism and attachment to racism that
still exists for those who carry or
display the flag.
Oregon Legislative leaders
first wanted to give the state of
Mississippi a chance to change
the flag on its own sometime this
year. That didn’t happen and the
flag was taken down on March
4 after the state Legislature ad-
journed.
The action was taken by Sen-
ate President Peter Courtney,
D-Salem, and House Speaker
Tina Kotek, D-Portland, whose
House district is also in north and
northeast Portland.