Last week, I attended a presentation on “Uniting Cultures in Portland: Bridging the Gaps in City Policy” held at City Hall. The presentation was made by Portland State University students who were involved in a capstone course on “Politics of Immigration.” Fourteen students were involved in a 10-week research project that focused on pulse-taking of immigrant and refugee communities in the Portland area.
Pictured is John Tranh, one of six students who presented class findings. In the foreground is Basko Kante, board chairman of the African Community Coalition of Oregon, a local group that advocates on behalf of African immigrants and refugees.
A collaborative effort among the City of Portland, the Center for Intercultural Organizing and a host of civic associations and grassroots groups, the project sought to lay the foundation to enhance the city’s inclusionary efforts and outreach to ethnic minorities.
According to Sam Gioia, one of the professors who led the capstone course, the city is evaluating the benefits of a task force focusing on immigrants and refugees in the city’s strategic planning. “We hope that our work will contribute to the formation of that task force and provide a charge or mandate for some places where work can begin,” he said. The final report is in the works and will be made available soon.
One of the topics brought up during the discussion was learning from the experience of other cities – particularly Seattle, our neighbor to the north – that have successfully addressed issues related to access and equality among immigrant and refugee communities. An op-ed piece that appeared in today’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer highlights the fact that while Seattle is now considered a politically liberal city – and one that is considered welcoming to ethnic minorities – Seattle has seen the dark side of racism and prejudice in her not-so-distant past.
Until the late 1960s, Seattle north of the ship canal was a "sundown" zone. That meant that virtually no people of color lived there and it also meant that African Americans were expected to be out of the area when the workday ended. After dark, a black man in particular was likely to be stopped by the police, questioned about his business and informed that he had better not be seen in the neighborhood again.
… writes James N. Gregory, a University of Washington history professor, in his commentary on “Remembering Seattle’s segregated history.” He is the director of the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, a multimedia educational Web site that examines the history of Civil Rights activism in the greater Seattle area. The oral histories collected cover a wide cross-section of ethnic communities.
Definitely worth a look.
Pictured is John Tranh, one of six students who presented class findings. In the foreground is Basko Kante, board chairman of the African Community Coalition of Oregon, a local group that advocates on behalf of African immigrants and refugees.
A collaborative effort among the City of Portland, the Center for Intercultural Organizing and a host of civic associations and grassroots groups, the project sought to lay the foundation to enhance the city’s inclusionary efforts and outreach to ethnic minorities.
According to Sam Gioia, one of the professors who led the capstone course, the city is evaluating the benefits of a task force focusing on immigrants and refugees in the city’s strategic planning. “We hope that our work will contribute to the formation of that task force and provide a charge or mandate for some places where work can begin,” he said. The final report is in the works and will be made available soon.
One of the topics brought up during the discussion was learning from the experience of other cities – particularly Seattle, our neighbor to the north – that have successfully addressed issues related to access and equality among immigrant and refugee communities. An op-ed piece that appeared in today’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer highlights the fact that while Seattle is now considered a politically liberal city – and one that is considered welcoming to ethnic minorities – Seattle has seen the dark side of racism and prejudice in her not-so-distant past.
Until the late 1960s, Seattle north of the ship canal was a "sundown" zone. That meant that virtually no people of color lived there and it also meant that African Americans were expected to be out of the area when the workday ended. After dark, a black man in particular was likely to be stopped by the police, questioned about his business and informed that he had better not be seen in the neighborhood again.
… writes James N. Gregory, a University of Washington history professor, in his commentary on “Remembering Seattle’s segregated history.” He is the director of the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, a multimedia educational Web site that examines the history of Civil Rights activism in the greater Seattle area. The oral histories collected cover a wide cross-section of ethnic communities.
Definitely worth a look.