Protests by Portland’s Black Lives Matter, which came to the fore in mid-July, have exposed tensions between Black protesters and their white allies, as well as agreements among Black residents about the significance of progress.
‘It happens so much that the things we care about are cut and put on the back burner. And that’s just put in a big barrel with everything, “said Neil Anderson, an owner of Black Company.” We all want the same thing. But so often we drown. “
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Demetria Hester, a Black woman who leads the new Moms United for Black Lives, said the removal of federal agents and the disbandment of white liberal agitators have fueled the protests.
‘These are the mothers who really want to … make our repairs. Make this revolution happen, ‘she said.
Seneca Cayson, who helped lead peaceful rallies in downtown Portland, believes white Protestants who commit vandalism and seek revenge are distracting from peaceful protests.
“What the white people have is something we do not have, and that is rights,” Cayson said as he prepared to lead another peaceful rally with several other Black men. “We fight alongside them to … be equal.”
In this July 22, 2020, photo, Mayor Ted Wheeler speaks with Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Ore. Protests in Portland have topped the headlines for days, but lost in the screams are the voices of Black Portlanders themselves and their feelings about the unrest are nuanced and diverse.
(AP)
Although Portland has a Black population of less than 6%, people of color were disproportionately stopped by a gun violence reduction team, prompting many activists to defuse the police.
An analysis published last month found that in 2019, politicians were much more likely to use violence against Black people – especially young Black men – than other targets, despite calls for less violence.
“It’s the whole culture of the Portland Police Bureau that is fundamentally unmanageable and needs to change,” said Jo Ann Hardesty, the city’s first Black councilwoman and an activist who has been pushing for police reform for 30 years. “Thirty years is a long time to ask for exactly the same reforms. The difference now is that there are tens of thousands of Portlanders who want the same thing. ”
In June, the city council cut nearly $ 16 million from the Police Department’s budget, ending programs such as the weight reduction unit, a youth services program and school resource officials in three school districts.
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There were 99 shootings last month – more than three times the amount of the previous July – and the city has reported 366 non-suicide shootings this year compared to 388 in the whole of 2019.
About two-thirds of the victims in July were Black, police said Sgt. Derrick Foxworth.
Some Black residents believe that vandalism and violence is appropriate compensation in protests to increase Black grievances after hundreds of years of oppression is appropriate, they say.
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Teressa Raiford, head of Don’t Shoot Portland and a former mayoral candidate, said people who question the legitimacy of protests through so-called “direct action” against police are on the wrong side of history. ‘
“There are people who are great at protecting the status quo and the system as it is, even if the outcomes do not serve us,” she said. “The politicization of Black people is not only evil, it is violent and we are not being heard.”
Raiford said: “The weary people, in my opinion, are the people with guns and tasers attacking people who are protesting. When we talk about anarchy … you know we stole people who brought them to steel land where they were used as slaves. And I think people realize that – including white people. ”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
