Black people struggling to be heard amid protests
PORTLAND, ORE.» Chaotic and often violent protests against racial injustice have topped the headlines for days, but lost in the shouting are the voices of many Black Portland residents themselves — and their feelings about the unrest are nuanced and diverse.
Some feel the overwhelmingly white crowds of protesters — and particularly those committing vandalism — are co-opting the Black Lives Matter movement. Others welcome white demonstrators because with their larger numbers they can draw attention to the city’s racial inequity in ways that Black demonstrators alone can’t.
Some believe deeply that there can’t be a Black Lives
Matter movement without defunding the police. Others say a recent vote to cut a specialized gun violence reduction unit is behind a sharp spike in shootings that’s devastated their community.
Primarily, there is a persistent worry that a critical opportunity for achieving racial justice in Portland’s tiny Black community could be lost. Many cite competing voices and the harsh glare of a national spotlight, which has reduced the situation to a culture war when the reality is much more complex.
“It happens so much that the things that we care about get hijacked and get put on the back burner. And that just gets put into a big barrel with everything else,” said Neil Anderson, a Black business owner. “We all want the same thing. But so often we get drowned out.”
The city’s Black Lives Matter protests rocketed into the national consciousness in mid-July, when President Donald Trump sent agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to protect a federal courthouse that had increasingly become a target of protesters.
The action galvanized the city and united demonstrators, but it also exposed a simmering tension between Black demonstrators and their white allies.
The Wall of Moms, a group of mostly white women and self-described parents, gathered nightly to form a human chain between protesters and federal agents. Within two weeks, the group had imploded, with some Black community leaders accusing its leadership of trying to monetize their movement. The group reformed under Black leadership and a new name.
Demetria Hester, a Black woman who leads the new Moms United for Black Lives, said the departure of federal agents and the dissolution of the Wall of Moms has refocused the protests.
“These are the moms who actually want to ... make our reparations happen. Make this revolution happen,” she said.
Seneca Cayson, who helped lead peaceful gatherings in downtown Portland, has mixed feelings. He feels white protesters who commit vandalism and taunt law enforcement are distracting from his message, but he also recognizes they are drawing attention to racial injustice in a way he could never do.