August 28, 2019 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 3
News
land Business Alliance.
In response, the city
launched the “Shop. Eat.
Play” promotion the fol-
lowing Aug. 24, with free
parking on the street and
at SmartPark garages, as
well as complimentary
Biketown rentals and a
number of promotions
at local shops and restau-
rants.
The day was meant to
be a bright spot after a
weekend marked by fear,
according to Mayor Ted
Wheeler.
“We lost something
else,” Wheeler said at a
press conference held in
front of Travel Portland’s
newly opened Director
Park Visitor Center on
Aug. 21. “We lost the abil-
ity to be in our city, in
our home, and to enjoy
it and experience it the
way we should be able to
on an August Saturday.
We’re here today to help
take back our city.”
Some minority-owned
businesses were enough
outside the fray, and are
less dependent on a lei-
surely customer base,
that they didn’t notice
an interruption to busi-
ness on the day of the
protests. Nor did they
notice an uptick in sales
last Saturday. Lenora
Hall, who owns G Station
American Diner inside
the Greyhound Station
downtown, said that be-
cause most of her clien-
tele are Greyhound rid-
ers, she didn’t close her
restaurant. She also said
she was not aware of the
“Shop. Eat. Play” initia-
tive.
And while many busi-
ness owners appreciated
Woke
the effort, some said they
wished that the city had
done more to promote it
-- and given them time to
promote it as well.
“I don’t remember hear-
ing or seeing any brands
or businesses talk about
it,” Ian Williams, owner
of Deadstock Coffee on
NW Couch Street, told
The Skanner.
Williams
decided
to keep his shop open
during the rally.
“That day ended up
being really, really, re-
ally slow, to where I was
mad we were even open,”
Williams said. “But if we
had closed, we were go-
ing to be giving power to
(the far-right rally). We
would’ve been succumb-
ing to what they wanted.”
Like Hall, Williams
said he did not feel per-
sonally threatened by
the presence of White
nationalists downtown,
and said he felt the ral-
ly was largely “a lot of
noise.” His coffee shop
acted as a check-in point
for an activist friend
who attended the count-
er-protest, and as a ven-
ue for the local Age to
Come Apparel’s pop-up
shop. Williams regrets
that the latter did not get
more foot traffic, and that
another local business
-- Kate’s Ice Cream -- can-
celed plans to temporari-
ly set up outside.
Williams appreciates
the city’s effort, and
hopes it sets a precedent
for assisting with future
interruptions to busi-
ness.
“It was cool that they
did that, but nothing was
done when we had all the
snow a few years ago,”
Williams said. “There
was no ‘Hey, let’s make
parking free for a week!’
or whatever. We drop
down to 25% of our busi-
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TheSkanner.com
Loaded Back to
School Drive
Kiauna Nelson, passing out tennis shoes at
the first annual Loaded Back to School Drive
Aug. 21 on NE Beech and Martin Luther King
Jr Blvd. More than 300 pairs of Adidas shoes,
along with backpacks, EarPods, dental kits
and hygiene essentials were distributed.
Vendors also provided free food at the event,
which was held in conjunction with Planned
Parenthood’s annual block party.
Bruce
cont’d from pg 1
about his death – and the trial
and sentencing of Russell Court-
ier, who was convicted of Bruce’s
murder in March and sentenced
to life in prison in April, and
Colleen Hunt, who pled guilty to
manslaughter in March and was
sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The family has not seen it — it
aired on British television Sun-
day and Monday, but has yet to
air in the U.S. or be posted to the
BBC’s streaming services, though
an extended audio clip from the
film is available. On the heels of
the trial and their advocacy for
change in Oregon’s hate crime
statute, the Bruces are now work-
ing to help other families affected
by racist violence.
Larnell Bruce Sr. and Natasha
Bruce formed the nonprofit Lar-
nell Bruce, Jr. Foundation last
year to advocate for better hate
crime laws, educate the public
about hate crimes and advocate
for culturally competent therapy
for victims of hate crimes.
“I didn’t have a place to release
the negative energy,” Larnell
Bruce Sr. told The Skanner. “It
would be hard to talk to a White
counselor. I couldn’t be myself.”
After looking for a year, he said,
he just gave up, though he still
struggles periodically with feel-
ings of intense grief and anger.
The family also wants to use
the foundation to provide and
advocate for material assistance
they needed and didn’t get during
the immediate aftermath of their
“
It would be
hard to talk to a
White counsel-
or. I couldn’t be
myself
son’s death and the trial of his
killers, as well as victim’s advo-
cates in the courtroom, and as-
sistance with things like parking
and meals.
Better advocacy might also have
helped keep the family and kill-
ers apart in the courtroom: Lar-
nell Bruce Sr., was banned from
the court room for six months,
the family said, after lunging at
Courtier, who was walked past
him every day on the way to trial.
One reason for the lack of ad-
vocacy specifically around hate
crime trials is that offenders of-
ten accept a plea deal, avoiding
trial altogether, Natasha Bruce
said.
The Bruces are proud of the
impact their son’s legacy has had
so far: as an organ donor, they
said, he helped save five lives.
The state’s hate crime statute has
been renamed from intimidation
to bias crime and situations like
the Bruce murder would be a fel-
ony, rather than a misdemeanor.
The state has also added “gender
identity” to its list of protected
categories, and is tasked with bet-
ter tracking hate crimes and cre-
ating a hotline for reporting.
“They fought and fought for a
hate crime [charge]. All the time
I thought there would be more
punishment for him,” Natasha
Bruce said.
The family is also hoping to cre-
ate more awareness of White su-
premacist groups. Natasha Bruce
told The Skanner that during the
pretrial hearings and the trial
process, she received an exten-
sive education on the history and
proliferation of hate groups in
the Northwest.
“We’re hoping we bring some
awareness to what’s going on and
help people speak up for their
neighbors,” Natasha Bruce said.
cont’d from pg 1
listened to because if people want to
persuade them that’s the best way to
persuade them.
TSN: If I told someone in Portland,
Oregon that this person is a racism
skeptic, they wouldn’t want to listen to
them at all.
DC: Well, people need to get over that.
Yes, they wouldn’t. That’s precisely the
problem. The problem is that people
who think of themselves as woke or
down or understanding or allies, they
think that the best way for them to ef-
fectuate change is to read people the
riot act and become all condescending
,and give people lectures about racism
when somebody manifests either racist
attitudes or just racially ignorant atti-
tudes. And it turns out that is precisely
the opposite of what needs to be done.
If you want to think of yourself as
really helping the cause as opposed to
just making yourself feel good, then
you need to do what’s most effective.
And what is most
effective is not
[act] with your
impulse which
is to be harsh,
condescending
and superior to
people.
That’s
precisely what
doesn’t work. So,
Dr. David Campt
yeah, that’s why
they should do it. I mean you can do
that, you can make yourself feel good
about ‘I just read somebody the riot
act’... Who are you helping? You’re not
helping people of color by doing that.
You’re just making yourself feel good.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID CAMPT
“
We’re here
today to
help take
back our
city
cont’d from pg 1
PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER
Downtown
TSN: Why are the principles of the
White ally toolkit so important in a
city like Portland, Oregon  —  one of the
Whitest cities in the country?
DC: People here can be really com-
placent. They can be complacent about
being part of a better future and also
incredibly nervous. They don’t know
what to do, a lot of people will be like
‘I’m woke, I check my privilege so I
guess I’m doing what I can.’ They got
cousins either here or in other places
that have racially problematic views,
“
‘Well, I’m woke. I
check my privilege.
I’m done.’ No, you
are not done
but they don’t want to talk to them, so
they isolate themselves in this little
bubble and don’t do anything. And you
can do that in a place like Portland, but
you still got cousins you’ll see at holiday
time. Part of what we’re trying to teach
is — no matter where you are or who
you are  —  if you know people in your
broad circle of influence, or circle of
contact even… who have racially prob-
lematic views, you can do something to
achieve, to pursue racial equity.
You shouldn’t just sit up and decide
‘Well, I’m woke. I check my privilege.
I’m done.’ No, you are not done. You
need to be talking to Brett or Hannah or
Skyler, or whoever you know, whatever
white name you know, you need to be
talking to them if you want to feel like
you’re really doing something. You can
start doing something tomorrow. You
can start engaged, learning compas-
sion-based skills and using them and
start practicing them, so that when [ra-
cially problematic] stuff comes up… you
can start engaging it. We have a culture
here that’s way too wokity woke. [The
White Ally Toolkit is] about talking to
your cousin when he says that racially
problematic stuff so that you can move
him. Portland is a great place for that to
ripple out within the anti-racist, woke
community. This is like Woke Central
so people really need to learn this... so
they can influence other people.
Read more at TheSkanner.com