Glendora Claybrooks: Black Lives Matter, especially to the future of Oregon
If Oregon and America are going to give all communities a fair shot to realize their potential, then a focus on Black Lives is not only warranted but necessary.
Glendora was born and raised on a plantation in Blytheville, Arkansas. She endured social injustices, school segregation, and other Jim Crow racial discrimination.
I agree with those individuals who say that all lives matter. All lives do matter. If you believe in this premise, then it is important to understand why Blacks emphasize this concept of why Black lives matter to those of this (my) ethnicity.
And, if all lives matter, including Black lives, then there’s a significant need to address the root causes driving the feeling that some lives are prioritized over others. Only by understanding these roots can we as Oregonians begin to understand why this state has such a long journey to go toward being a welcoming and inclusive community.
In America, the historical account of minority oppression and suppression are often unacknowledged, disbelieved, dismissed, and devalued. Nevertheless, the negative impacts of such persecution are undeniable. Racist rules and practices around social behaviors and attitudes such as segregated schools, churches, and workforces and interracial marriage bans were forcefully imposed upon us by the dominant white culture.
In Oregon, the oppression and suppression of Blacks went even further in at least one key respect – our State Constitution banned Black people from entering the state. Many decades later, when Oregon slowly became more diverse, Blacks and people of color were subjected to the same punitive social behaviors, norms, and laws as those who had been allowed to live in other states.
And because white majority culture imposed these racist policies and institutional practices, it is crucial to understand the perspective of Black people. Even when laws where formally lifted, society continued to adhere and adjust to these principles of guidance and governorship. The cultural ramifications of that racism linger today and continue to inhibit Oregon’s ability to be an inclusive and diverse state.
All Oregonians benefit from a more diverse, inclusive statewide community—one where people of all cultures and backgrounds feel as though they can bring their skills, talents, and passions to the table. That’s why it’s so important to spotlight how some of us, especially minorities, have acclimated to rules and regulations in extreme measures—not only seeking to overturn racist laws and reverse racist cultural norms, but also actively building a more inclusive society.
For example, as a member of the African and Native diaspora myself, I have developed a passion for justice, equality, equity, love, respect, understanding, compassion, and acceptance of these elements to share and explain the thoughts behind such racial-ethnic discrimination. These inherent traits both define and drive me. Therefore, it is this perspective from which I express the essential need to address and analyze the rationale behind why Black Lives Matter.
To begin with, Americans and Oregonians, let us ask ourselves, when and where did the disdain for Black lives start? Black people were stolen from their native country of Africa since the 1500s and forced into slave labor and inhumane living conditions. It was a practice justified by economic gains. All lives should have mattered at the onset of this Transatlantic Slave Trade and massive takeover of Native land and cultural practices, but these human lives did not matter. Since that era, respect for Black lives and other minorities has been deprioritized and dismissed more often than not, then and now.
In Oregon, economic motives similarly contributed to the deplorable treatment of Blacks. Fearful of the ramifications of free laborers entering the state, the “founders” of the state made sure that the labor market would remain competitive by excluding Blacks from entering the state. Racist motives also underscored how our state’s “founders” treated Blacks.
And, just as whites shaped the laws of Oregon, the white, property-owning males developed and implemented the provisions reflected in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which were not designed to benefit minority Americans. As a result, each state (including Oregon) created its social structures and rule of law that influenced socio-economic policies and practices that discriminated against minorities. From these policy developments—later manifested by the Jim Crow social law—a segregated mentality was born.
What were the motivations behind these egregious activities? Upon evaluating and analyzing the history of America and Oregon, discoveries highlight the racial-ethnic disproportionate disparities, socio-economic inequalities, cultural insensitivities, and blatant disrespect for the lives and livelihoods of minority people, including Black lives. For too long, the separate realities of Black and white America has been loosely discussed but never truly addressed.
However, the effects of coronavirus (COVID-19) have awakened the state, the country, and the world to the systemic racial inequalities and inequities that have haunted us for centuries. The time has arrived for us as a nation of people to re-examine our institutions, values, beliefs, cultures, and practices.
It is incumbent upon us to question both the historical and current socio-economic and political policies and our motives to address Why Black Lives Matter. The charge for social and racial inequalities and inequities is urgent, and silence is no longer acceptable.
White community-based organizational, governmental, and local elected leaders must ask the right questions and address the right issues with those most impacted by the adverse outcomes of centuries-long racism. Giving every Oregonian and American a fair start and a fair chance of reaching their full potential requires acknowledging and responding to the decades and centuries of racism that have stacked the deck against Blacks.
This approach is critical when addressing and analyzing the problems, resources, and impacts resulting from our historical environmental and institutional contemporary developments within America. This effort must include the cooperation, political will, and the courage to establish social norms, policies, and processes to improve minority communities, circumstances, entrepreneurial opportunities, and outcomes. This action will help eliminate continuing factors that haunt, maintain, and promote racial-ethnic discrimination.
In conclusion, the disproportionate socio-economic and cultural impacts from racist laws and histories in America and Oregon continue to result in cruel and unusual punishment to date. Consider that Black Americans have a life expectancy four years shorter than white Americans. That’s why our focus must be on disposing and dismantling unwarranted behaviors, prejudice, and racially-unconscious bias attitudes, legislation, policies, and practices observed in society today.
The so-called “life gap” shows that failing social systems, including ongoing inhumane housing, unemployment opportunities, inferior education, inadequate nutrition, lack of quality, affordable and accessible healthcare coverage, have failed Black communities.
If Oregon and America are going to give all communities a fair shot to realize their potential, then a focus on Black Lives is not only warranted but necessary. Importantly, this is not a call for a zero-sum society in which helping one group comes at the cost of another.
As has been pointed out by this blog, many Oregon communities are disadvantaged from the starting line of life. Recognizing that Blacks Lives Matter is part and parcel with recognizing that giving a fair start to all requires analyzing which specific communities are starting the race with weights tied to their belt. When we free Oregonians and Americans from systems and stereotypes that are holding them back, then all of society moves forward.
**********************************
Keep the conversation going:
Facebook (facebook.com/oregonway)
Twitter (@the_oregon_way)
Check out our podcast: