In response to the civil rights moment sweeping the nation following the
death of George Floyd, Clackamas County Commissioners showed they want
to listen and learn from residents’ experiences with issues of race and racism
in the county.

The commissioners hosted a digital town hall on Wednesday, Aug. 19 on the
topic “Race Issues in Clackamas County.”

The town hall was a listening-style session during which community members
shared experiences with race and racism in the county directly with the
commissioners. The event was moderated by Clackamas County Equity and
Inclusion Officer Martine Coblentz.

“Equity, diversity and inclusion have been important to the county for years,”
Coblentz said. “We want to continue building the public’s trust and that
includes rural and unincorporated communities in the Mount Hood area as
well.”

On June 18, commissioners passed "A Resolution Condemning Violence and
Racism Directed at Black, African Americans and All People of Color,"
censuring racism following Floyd’s death.

The resolution tasks the county to review all county policies and ordinances
for any discriminatory impacts.

The town hall was held in an effort to provide a safe space for residents to
share impacts and recommendations toward addressing inequities that exist.
The commissioners stated in a press release for the event that, “recognizing
racism is both an historic and present reality in Oregon and Clackamas County
specifically, the commissioners find it critical to listen to resident
experiences.”

Community members described their experiences with racism in the county
and shared recommendations for change.

Shared experiences included bullying and racial slurs in the county’s schools,
profiling in stores and encounters with “Proud Boys,” a right-wing group
designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Calls for action
included establishing methods for holding institutions and elected officials
accountable for systemic discrimination and addressing inequity in access to
housing, healthcare and bias by law enforcement.

Clackamas County is 85.8 percent white according to county demographic
data. The county’s 1.1 percent African American population is below the
state’s 2.2 percent average and the nation’s 13.4 percent total.

“We had a good representation from communities throughout the county,”
Coblentz said about residents' participation in the digital meeting. “I was
pleased; it was a very good first step.”

Coblentz added that the next step of the process of implementing the recently
based resolution involves reviewing what policies and procedures need to be
addressed for discriminatory impact.

Clackamas County will partner with the Coalition of Communities of Color
(CCC) for a full scan of minority communities throughout the entire county
including the Mount Hood communities. The CCC will use this data to help
assess how county policies and institutions impact these communities and
make recommendations.

More information about the county’s efforts to address equity, diversity and
inclusion is available at https://www.clackamas.us/diversity. A full copy of the
recently passed resolution is available at

https://dochub.clackamas.us/documents/drupal/9367ec38-f479-46c0-a732-
29dd9b917092.