Seriously—what’s going on in Multnomah County?
Another report has just been released by the Coalition of Communities of Color and Portland State (their previous reports had addressed the state of Latinos and Native Americans in Multnomah County). This time, the CCC looked at the situation of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the county. Once again, the statistics are hard to swallow. In fact, the preface warns, “This is an early notice to the readers of this report: it is a tough read.” No kidding.
A key finding of the report is that members of the API community have “been treated as outsiders—and not a legitimate part of the fabric of the USA, even when residents have been here for generations and lifetimes.” In many negative ways, Multnomah County stands out in contrast with those in other states. Integration and empowerment might be the only ways to make up for this.
The report looked at the rest of the country and found that the API community on a national level is a whole other situation than the local level. Across the country, the API community had better incomes and education and lower rates of unemployment than their white counterparts, according to statistics gathered in 2009. The story is very different in Multnomah County.
The report found that the profile of the local API community seemed to be consistent with that of most communities of color in Portland. In almost every category—income, poverty rates, education, etc.—they fared much worse than whites. Asians hold 69 cents for every dollar in wealth held by whites.
As the report rightly asks, what’s going on in Multnomah County? Why are the statistics so much worse and why does it seem that everyone but whites are facing inequality here?
The CCC points to history. A snapshot of the treatment of the API community in Oregon from the early 19th century on is disturbing.
In the 1850s, Chinese traders were forced to pay $50 a month for the “privilege” to work in some Oregon counties. In 1911, Asians were declared ineligible for citizenship, and soon afterward, Oregon passed a law prohibiting non-citizens from owning land.
Oregon also passed a law denying aliens fishing licenses, and not until 1949 did the legislature declare the banning of “aliens from working on farms, living on farms and even stepping onto farm fields” unconstitutional.
Though the Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed the practice of “red-lining,” the act of denying loans based on ethnicity, Oregon continued “to tolerate such practices until the 1990s by the real estate industry,” according to research obtained by Oregon State University.
Why does history matter? As the report explains, Asians have for decades been “denied access to traditional wealth-generating engines such as free land allotments, home ownership, government assistance for business development and income protection during times of unemployment.” These are rights that whites have had all along.
The API community is, in essence, playing catch up in almost every category. The report suggests that the endemic institutionalization of inequity in Oregon has led to preferential treatment of one race over others. So, how do we change? How do we move forward into a future of inclusion and empowerment?
The report outlines several policy and systemic changes, some of which are the expansion of access to English as a Second Language programs, better political representation, recognition of foreign credentials, and the passage of the Tuition Equity Bill.
But is it all up to the policy makers? Nhu To-Haynes, a Vietnamese American, doesn’t think so. “I’m not surprised by this report,” To-Haynes said. “It is hard when you’re not of the dominant culture and when you’re in an area that is slowly embracing immigrant populations.”
To-Haynes, however, is not waiting for the politicians to do the work for her. She and her husband, Craig Haynes, are starting an after-school program to reach out to immigrant families in a primarily Asian community.
“We’re recruiting bilingual and cross-cultural volunteers to support children of non–English-speaking parents,” said Craig Haynes, the program coordinator. “We want to provide a place where the community can come together and help not only the children but the parents engage in school.”
Ann Curry, one of the report’s authors, invites us all to become involved like the Haynes. “For white people,” she said, “we aim to understand our responsibility to be allies to people and communities of color…[and] be willing to let go of how we understand the array of hierarchies that exist around us.”
And through education, integration and empowerment, maybe those hierarchies can someday be a thing of the past.
