Unite Oregon Statement on Portland Mayor Wilson’s in Compliance of Trump’s DEI Mandate

As Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s office complies with Trump’s DEI mandates, Unite Oregon is concerned with this compromise in values in our City government. While our city programs and services cannot afford to lose funding, we cannot lose our moral clarity on our values of diversity, equity, and inclusion at a time when BIPOC communities are losing rights and under attack. As a community-based organization focused on promoting the rights, safety, and well-being of immigrants, refugees, and BIPOC communities, it is vital that we do not backslide or compromise our values in the face of an administration that is actively working to strip away our rights.

Complying in advance in this way opens up precedent for more demands on our city. The demands will not stop, and we need to stand up for our communities in an uncompromising manner. We fear that this sets a precedent for how comfortable we can get as a City which compromises our anti-racist, DEI policies and programs. At a political moment like this, as an immigrant-led organization, we are calling on our elected leaders to be steadfast in promoting and modeling anti-racist policies and practices.

We must work to ensure that our city government is not backsliding on its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and that despite these changes, our programs and services remain equitable and accessible to communities of color. When we do not acknowledge the historical, systemic harm that has been done to communities of color in Portland, we fail to recognize the active barriers that keep these communities from participating in our city’s services and programs. If the City of Portland is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as our elected leaders say they are, they must adhere to practices that break down barriers for our communities to gain access to the resources they need.

Unite Oregon remains an Abolitionist organization precisely because of issues like those we are facing today, problems that are not new to our communities of the global majority, and our country as a whole. We stand on the shoulders of those who believed in justice and many who lived in communities that deeply cared for one another. We will remain collectively rooted to avoid affirming our administration's acts of hubris. 

-Unite Oregon Reimagining Community Safety Pillar