Commissioners Susheela Jayapal and Commissioner Lori Stegmann joined dozens of state and community leaders at a May 8 rally to condemn racist attacks against Asian and Pacific Islanders. The two County officials have been leading voices against the startling increase in bias crimes since 2020 when the Trump Administration blamed Chinese people for the COVID-19 virus. Commissioner Sharon Meieran also attended.
Stegmann, who was adopted as an infant from Korea, was the first Asian American on the Multnomah County County Commission. Jayapal, who was born in India, joined Stegmann and others in posting on Twitter after the rally their support for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: “I am Susheela. I am an Indian immigrant. I am Oregonian. I am American. I am home. #IAmAAPI”
Stegmann’s post read: “I am Lori. I am a first generation Korean in America. I immigrated in 1960. I am an Oregonian. I am a Korean. I am home. #IAmAAPI”
The commissioners spoke at an outdoor rally at the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland. The event included virtual remarks by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and Gov. Kate Brown. The Oregon Attorney General has tallied more than 1,600 reports of bias incidents in Oregon since the pandemic began. The full text of the commissioners’ prepared remarks are below.
Good afternoon, my name is Lori Stegmann and I am your Multnomah County commissioner representing much of East County. I want to thank Ann Naito Campbell for gathering us here today as we stand in solidarity to denounce the violence, the vitriol, and racism inflicted on Asians, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and other BIPOC community members.
I believe we are at a crossroads. And the actions we take today will forecast our future. If we choose to say nothing, and do nothing while Black and brown people are being attacked, assaulted, and murdered then we have chosen complacency over humanity. I am here today to tell you that your board of MC commissioners stands firm in our commitment to address the racial inequities our systems were built on.
As one of the largest safety net providers in Oregon, we have looked inward to identify what role we should play as we serve our most vulnerable communities. The pandemic has laid bare the inequities that are embedded in our systems - from testing to vaccinations, from healthcare to housing, from education to employment, and from the school to prison pipeline to our criminal justice system.
With the oversight of 32 health clinics we have witnessed the results of institutional racism within our country’s systems and structures. We must acknowledge that racism shortens lives and reduces the quality of life. COVID-19, diabetes, high blood pressure, and infant mortality are just a few of the poor health outcomes that BIPOC communities suffer from at a significantly higher rate than their white counterparts. And that is why Multnomah County’s declaration of racism as a public health crisis was and is our duty. I’d like to share with you, part of our declaration:
The state of Oregon was founded on the notion of creating a white utopia, and around the functional and implicit removal, exploitation and/or exclusion of BIPOC individuals and communities. From Black exclusion laws and restrictions that barred Black and Chinese people from voting, to a steady stream of discriminatory laws and the practice of redlining in Portland, the legacies of Oregon's founding ideals continue to perpetuate harm, oppression, and marginalization within communities of color today.
Racism is codified into our laws and institutions, which were created on a foundation of the ideology of white supremacy; it upholds systems, structures and policies that were created to advantage white people while neither serving nor benefiting people of color. But racism also shows up between individuals through slurs, offensive language or hate speech; bullying, harassment and discrimination; and other acts of bigotry, all of which reinforce and perpetuate inequities.
This is why we are here with you today - to rise up against this hate.
For many communities of color, and especially Asian and Pacific Islander communities, discrimination doesn’t differentiate between those who were born here, those who work or reside here, or those who are only visiting. Unfortunately, discrimination only sees the surface of our identities. We are all part of this community and we must stand against hate and discrimination.
As the first Asian American immigrant to serve on this board, I believe that declaring racism as a public health crisis was one of the most important votes I have ever cast as a county commissioner. This declaration represents our commitment to address the racism that our county and country were built on. We have the data, we know the outcomes, and we must take bold action.
If our community is to heal, then we must be willing to do the work at hand. And we must have a commitment not just from our electeds and leaders, but from our friends, our neighbors and our families.
And seeing all of you here today gives me great hope that someday we can truly live up to MC’s mission of being a place of safety, trust, and belonging for all.
I’m Susheela Jayapal, Multnomah County Commissioner for District 2, representing North and Northeast Portland, and I use she/her pronouns. Thank you so much to Anne and Erica Naito-Campbell, for organizing this event; and to all of the volunteers and participants who helped make it happen. It couldn’t be more timely.
I came to the United States in 1979, as a 16 year old, to go to college. At the time, I thought I was in the vanguard of South Asian immigrants to this country. I’ve since learned, however, that there was a much earlier wave -- people from the Punjab region of India, who arrived on the west coast in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
They settled up and down the coast, from British Columbia to California, working in lumber mills, agriculture, and building the railways. In fact, there was a community of Indian workers right here in Multnomah County, in what was then the independent town of St. Johns.
And one night in March of 1910, that small group of Indians was set upon by a mob of more than two hundred white residents of St. Johns, who beat them; threw them out of windows; and ran them out of town.
That history is a reminder to me, and of all us. That we Asians have been here for centuries; and have experienced racism and violence for just as long.
So this hate and bigotry isn’t new. It’s rooted in the systemic racism that has been reflected throughout our history -- in American colonialism and militarism overseas; and in racist immigration and other policies at home. That systemic racism has not only fed anti-Asian hate, but has rendered many Asian communities more vulnerable to that hate.
It isn’t accidental that most of the people killed in Atlanta were Asian women; were low wage workers; and were immigrants. Our Asian communities hold enormous reservoirs of strength and resilience, rooted in family, faith, and tradition. But barriers to economic mobility, poor wages and working conditions, barriers to mental and physical healthcare -- all these things render our communities vulnerable to violence.
Multnomah County’s declaration of racism as a public health crisis reaffirms our commitment to eradicating racist policies and practices from our own systems; and our commitment to devoting the attention and the resources necessary to redressing the historic and present impacts of those racist policies and practices.
This includes implementation of the Preschool For All ballot measure, which will support all families in Multnomah County, but will be particularly transformative for low income families of color; it includes our work to ensure that COVID vaccination and related services are reaching Asian communities in culturally appropriate and effective ways; and it includes supporting culturally specific organizations like the Asian Health & Services Center and the Asian Family Center, both of which support and serve Asian elders and families.
Access to mental health care is an area in which Asian communities face particular disparities. Many of those in our refugee communities, in particular, arrive carrying the trauma of war and violence; trauma that’s exacerbated when the country they thought would be safe -- the United States -- proves not to be. They need support that promotes mental health and healing. So that’s an area in which we’ll continue to focus attention and resources.
Finally, a few words about the category of “Asian.” Asian communities are incredibly diverse. That category comprises hundreds of languages and ethnicities, dozens of countries of origin, and a myriad of circumstances under which we arrived in the United States.
That diversity is one of our greatest assets. But when we lump all those communities together in the category of “Asian”, it hides the needs of specific communities. I’ve advocated for - and the County Chair’s executive budget includes -- a mapping study to strengthen County services to immigrant and refugee communities. This will support our anti-racist public health work by documenting the diversity and needs of our Asian and other immigrant communities in Multnomah County, which in turn, will result in more relevant, culturally specific services for our aunties, our elders, our children, and our families.
Thank you, again, for being here, whether virtually or physically. Thank you -- for standing with us. Thank you -- for standing against bigotry and hate.
Together we are resilient. Together we are strong. And together we can create a Multnomah County where all of us will thrive.
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