April 7, 2021
The
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INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
Week in Review
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Vaccines to All by April 19
Governor’s order to get more shots in arms
M ETRO
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Gov. Kate Brown
All Oregon residents age 16 and up will be eligi-
ble for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 19.
In announcing the news, Gov. Kate Brown said the
state will pass the threshold of 2 million vaccines ad-
ministered on Tuesday and is focused on vaccinating
as many frontline workers and people with underly-
ing conditions as possible in the next two weeks.
People of color, who have been disproportionately
affected by COVID-19, make up a large percentage
of those groups, said Brown, a Democrat.
Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians became
newly eligible for shots Monday, including frontline
workers, their family members and those age 16 and
up with underlying conditions.
“We are locked in a race between vaccine distri-
bution and the rapid spread of COVID-19 variants,”
Brown said in a statement. “Today, Oregon will pass
the threshold of 2 million vaccine doses administered.
And yet, in communities across Oregon, COVID-19
is spreading at concerning rates. We must move as
quickly as possible to get more shots in arms.”
Brown also said she is working with the White
House to make sure Oregon receives a fair share of
the federal vaccine supply after the director of the
Oregon Health Authority expressed concerns that the
state wasn’t receiving as many doses per capita as
other states, such as Kansas and Wyoming.
Currently, four Portland area healthcare systems,
Kaiser Permanente, Legacy Health, OHSU and Prov-
idence, are working side by side to operate an All for
Oregon COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Oregon
Convention Center in northeast Portland. Visit get-
vaccinated.oregon.gov or call 211 for vaccine regis-
tration information.
Anti-Asian Hate Targets Candidate
School leader shares story to raise awareness
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
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O PINION
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Amidst a rise in anti-Asian
hate crimes nationally, Hoa
Nguyen, a candidate for David
Douglas School Board, was re-
cently the target of a hate crime
at her home in East Portland.
Nguyen is now sharing the story
publicly to raise awareness about
the lived realities of Asian Amer-
icans in our community and in the
public spotlight.
The crime happened at 6 a.m.
on Friday, March 19th, Nguyen
said, when there was a knock on
her door and an anonymous racist
note was left at her doorstep. The
note stated “Kung Flu” handwrit-
ten in sharpie on a white piece of
paper.
“My first reaction upon receiv-
ing this note was to brush it off,
ignore it and go about my day.
That is what we are so often con-
ditioned to do in the face of rac-
ism. As the day progressed and
I shared this incident with those
close to me, my thoughts and an-
ger started to grow, and I felt the
responsibility to take action, not
just for my own personal safety
but for my community.”
She followed up by reporting
the incident to local and state au-
thorities, including to Portland
Police, the Oregon Department
of Justice and the Portland United
Hoa Nguyen
Against Hate coalition.
With the increase of report-
ed hate incidents against Asian
Americans in the Portland area
and nationally, Nguyen said the
last few months have been an es-
pecially trying time for the Asian
American community.
“I am still processing the re-
cent events of the mass shooting
of the six Asian American wom-
en in Atlanta and finding ways to
best show up for my community
and myself as an Asian Ameri-
can woman and leader,” she said.
“The timing of the racist incident,
as well as my candidacy for Da-
vid Douglas School Board has
made me feel vulnerable and that
my safety has been compromised.
A hostile stranger knew that I am
Asian, knew where I call home,
and made an effort to leave an of-
fensive note.”
Nguyen said the incident points
to a lifetime of racial trauma for
many people of color, including
students and youth of color who
have to endure bias and micro ag-
gressions in and out of school.
“How many times have we
swept micro aggressions and bias
under the rug to make racists and
the status quo feel comfortable? I
realized how much we have nor-
malized this behavior of hate to-
wards communities of color. Hate
crimes aren’t just about physical
safety, but our mental wellbeing
and the value we have to our com-
munity,” she said. “We are not
providing the tools s and safe en-
vironment for our young people to
address these injustices.”
Nguyen is a second genera-
tion Vietnamese-American child
of refugees. She graduated high
school and college in Oregon and
has spent her career serving pub-
lic schools students and families,
most recently as a school atten-
dance coach in Portland Public
Schools.