SHARE THIS SHOW:
RELATED CONVERSATIONS:
RECENTLY ON TOL:
TOL Our Town
- A tumblr site dedicated to the people and places that make up Oregon and Southwest Washington.
TAGS:
When longtime Oregon state senator Margaret Carter stepped down earlier this year, there was a lot of talk about who should fill her shoes. Clearly, it's a crucial time for the legislature, which will likely face a slew of difficult financial decisions in the upcoming special session. Race also entered into the discussion, since Carter was one of only two African Americans in the Oregon legislature. Ultimately, the Multnomah County Democrats recommended (and county commissioners appointed) former state representative Chip Shields, who is white, to replace Carter. This leaves his house seat open, which the commissioners will most likely vote to fill on Thursday. They'll choose from a group of three African American candidates recommended by the Multnomah County Democrats.
The questions of identity and representation that these vacancies have brought to the fore aren't limited to black and white. More than one in ten Oregonians is of Latino or Hispanic origin, yet only one legislator of 90 is Latino. Does this matter to you? Is it important that the legislature reflect the diversity of the state? Why or why not?
How important is it that your elected representatives share your ethnic or racial background? And how important are such parallels when you differ politically?
Tagged as: legislature · race
Photo credit: Annie&John / Creative Commons
-
As a U.S. citizen of partially African descent I pay attention to race, I can't help it. But the race of my political representatives aren't as important as their competence and compassion. Representatives represent all their constituents ideally.
Do more blacks and Latinos need to participate in the political process?
Northeast Portland has a much larger white population now. I'm still trying to figure out where the blacks have gone. When I was born all the households on my street block were black except one. Now all the households are white except mine. This neighborhood used to be predominately German before the blacks moved in.
-
Here we go again. I am certainly tired of saying it. But apparently no one understands it or they simply don't care. If race doesn't matter, if all races are commensurate, then having a diverse mix in any group should make no difference. But suggesting you need a diverse group to accurately represent the public, means you can't trust anyone, and presupposes that everyone is bigoted. So you go out the gate mistrusting everyone with a negative idea. This is a bad start.
-
At some point in time, superficial mascots were needed because apparently so many people were indeed racist, that even the unfairness of promoting or electing by the color of the skin or the gender of a human was less of an evil, then the evils occurring in the population at large. That time has passed. Having a mascot in office, theoretically shouldn't ensure or solve anything. The only thing it really accomplishes is aggravating borderline racists into becoming full-time racists because they have the injustice of these token officials to fuel the teensy flame into a full-fledged inferno.
-
We have the wrong goal. We should not aspire for a diverse culture in every setting. We need to aspire for a society were the outcomes are the same whatever the racial mix. Treating a complex problem with a superficial solution doesn't go very far and insults all sides in the process.
P.S. Sorry for the three comments but it said I could only post 1000 characters---for some reason.
-
Hmmm, another day where I can't listen to the show.
I'm not sure race really matters. It seems like the majority of problems/challenges/responsibilities facing a city of 560k people, a metro area of 2.2M people, a state of 3.8M people, or a country of 330M people are bigger than race.
Plus, we are so polarized these days that race is secondary to party lines anyway. A Latino Democrat is not really going to benefit from a Latino Republican or vice versa.
I'm pretty sure that polarization, lack of diversity in opinion, and rampant absolutism is hurting all of us way more than under-representation is hurting any one specific group.
-
Let's bring in another group we don't talk enough about. The rich and the privileged pull the puppet's strings out of the public's eye. Our system is rigged and jerrymandered so that a minority of rich and privileged dominate a majority of poor.
Where most people are uneasy is in the realm of their pocket books. Too many people don't have a fair opportunity to live a better life. This real deterioration of the so-called American way of life encompasses race, ethnicity, religion, gender and so forth.
We argue on TOL whether race is important to representation, but how many U.S. Senators are millionaires? How many congressional representatives can afford to buy their seats?
-
The social fabric of the future and its leaders is still a race issue. How many minority children can say they have an uncle who is a senator, mayor, doctor? The "establishment" is a social fabric created by time and contribution. For the strongest society we need a social fabric rich in texture and color. When a child looks at the picture of our representatives, how much color or texture do they see? It looks like a bunch of old white men. I think "leaders" realize the finest contribution you can make, if you really care about contributing, is to have power and give it away. Rule from a place of generosity (nurture the strength of others) and not fear (take and hold power). How do we get a social fabric that contributes to society? We have to shake the establishment still/again until we teach it to serve (nurture) and not take (fear) our social fabric.
-
The irony is that all human beings, all peoples, are descendants of the African “Lucy”, the first and only real indigenous hominid. We are all black first, black is the basic central core of our DNA. And we are all migrants from Africa.
I’m “white”, about half German and about half Welsh, but “Lucy” is my ultimate and black ancestor. I cannot and will not ignore that fact. -
Comments are now closed.
I pay about as much attention to their ethnic/racial/gender/sexual background as to what they say while campaigning... which is nothing.
I'm not a herd animal... What's important to me is how a person thinks, acts and whether or not they deliver results.