April 18, 2018
edition
CAREERS special
O PINION
Page 17
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A Candidate Who Will Take on the Establishment
Why I’m
voting for Julia
DeGraw
s kiPPer o sborne
As an African-American who
has lived most of his life in Port-
land, I have seen a lot of chang-
es—some for the better, many of
them not. While Portland contin-
ues to grow and expand, minori-
ties are losing their homes and
businesses through gentrification,
and our local politicians are in no
rush to change antiquated policies
that are designed to suppress mi-
nority progress.
I have seen countless city
elections and participated in
many campaigns over the years,
and I have noticed one constant
throughout: The only time you’ll
ever see white politicians in Af-
rican-American neighborhoods
is when they’re running for of-
fice. They make their promises to
us, win their elections and, once
they’re back in City Hall, it’s busi-
ness as usual.
With this in mind, I was reluc-
tant to endorse any candidates in
the current local election cycle.
However, a few months ago I met
and learned about Julia DeGraw,
who is running against Nick Fish
for Portland City Council (Po-
by
Portland activist Skipper Osborne and Portland City Council
candidate Julia DeGraw.
sition 2). I truly believe, in my
heart, this is a rare candidate who
is not afraid to take on the estab-
lishment and follow through on
her promises.
Julia DeGraw doesn’t simply
want to improve policy—she wants
to end the system as it currently ex-
ists. She’s taking on the Portland
electoral system, which is built on
at-large elections with no term lim-
its. This puts lower-income candi-
dates at a severe disadvantage and
is a huge reason why minorities are
so underrepresented.
Moreover, Julia DeGraw has
boldly called out the Jim Crow
roots that are at the heart of this
process. She is advocating for a
more representative City Hall—a
districted system where elected
officials will have to answer to
Portlanders in all communities,
not just their assigned bureaus and
corporate lobbyists.
Here’s what impressed me the
most about Julia DeGraw taking
this stance: She isn’t just saying it
to communities of color. She has
pointed out the racist history of
Portland’s elections on her web-
site and campaign materials, in
the media and to voters of all races
and classes. It’s a major issue of
her platform.
These are not the words of a
“business as usual” candidate. Ju-
lia is also sacrificing significant
campaign funding by refusing
corporate contributions, because
she will represent the people over
the lobbyists. These are not the
actions of a “business as usual”
candidate.
Julia DeGraw is a fighter. For
nine years, she fought to prevent
Nestlé from bottling public water
in the Columbia River Gorge. She
built a grassroots movement and
won. We need that kind of tenaci-
ty in City Hall. We need someone
who will actually fight for their
principles and won’t soft-pedal
around Portland’s biased political
structure.
There was a time when I sup-
ported Nick Fish and I’ve seen
him soft-pedal for almost 10 years,
repeatedly turning his back on the
promises he made to our commu-
nities. It’s time for a change.
This isn’t about one candidate,
it’s about finally turning the page
on Portland’s Jim Crow era struc-
tures and returning power to the
people. It starts with voting for
Julia DeGraw on May 15 for Port-
land city Council Position #2.
Skipper Osborne is founder of
Truth and Justice for All and a
former president of the Portland
NAACP.
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