Our Own Shame

Someone painted "Black Lives Matter" along N Edison St, about a mile from here a couple of weeks ago. I heard about it, but didn't realize they also wrote, within each large letter, the history of the treatment of black citizens here. 
We walked along the large letters from the end to the beginning, and read a reverse history getting more depressed, angry, and horrified as we walked. It's so hard to believe people so mistreated and marginalized can even function. Honestly, we should all have to walk in those shoes for a week or something. Truly shameful.
Two examples:
"In 1994, voters pass the 'One Strike, You're Out' law creating mandatory minimums and requiring 15-year-old kids to be tried as adults . . . Oregon convicts black kids at a 17x higher rate than whites." 
And: "in 1970, the Mayor declares that Jump Town, Albina's booming black business district is "blighted." They order it torn down so they can expand Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Residents have 90 days to move. Bulldozers destroy 300 homes, stores, cafes, jazz clubs,  banks, churches, and the Black Panther Free Health Clinic. Then, the budget "runs-out." The area remains vacant for decades."

Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.