A Message to the CAT Community on the Death of George Floyd
Dear CAT family,
Yesterday, George Floyd’s body is being laid to rest in Houston, Texas. Memorial services will take place in the three cities that he called home.
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police is an unspeakable tragedy. Sadly, police brutality against the Black community remains a deeply rooted method, used to preserve the system of slavery and tragically continues to be ever-present today. The arrest of all four officers responsible is the first step towards justice for George Floyd.
The uprisings, both violent and peaceful, taking place in Minneapolis, across Oregon, and nationwide are a result of the anger, fear, sadness, and distrust that have manifested9 for years throughout history. Ahmaud Arbery, shot and killed by a former police officer and his son, as Ahmaud jogged through the neighborhood. Tony McDade, killed by police in Tallahassee nearly two weeks ago. Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in her own home, a space meant to be sacred.
In Oregon, as well as across the nation, housing remains a critical system through which racism continues to harm Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. CAT continues to focus on this form of systemic racism with the understanding that it is also one of the many ways in which racism is perpetuated in our communities. However, we refuse to sit idly by while police and white supremacists brutalize our communities and threaten our families. Oregon’s history is one of continual white violence.
Militias and other armed groups have mobilized across Oregon with the intent to shut down the voices of Black community members and silence this conversation. Proud boys and white supremacist groups have merged on Portland. Portland’s police presence included the indiscriminate use of tear gas, which was preceded by a performative kneeling in solidarity with protestors. In Medford and other areas across Oregon, white supremacists have worked hand in hand with militia members. In Medford particularly, white supremacists escalated to threatening protestors with guns and rammed several vehicles through peaceful protests.
These are NOT isolated incidents. They are directly related to the systemic racism that plagues our country at an even more alarming rate than COVID-19. The systems of white supremacy are a sickness that has plagued this country for generations. These systems can and must be dismantled.
In 1845, the term “manifest destiny” dangerously emerged to describe the commonly held belief that white settlement and expansion across North America was inevitable and even divinely ordained. Oregon was formed on this concept and with the promise of a white utopia. This ideology provided the justification for ethnic cleansing and systematic displacement. In many ways, it continues to inform policymaking to this day. Community Alliance of Tenants remains committed to shifting the power to the people most affected and impacted by these policies. We focus on dismantling these oppressive systems.
Tenant leadership at CAT is angry & saddened. We are channeling those feelings to work toward a better future for us and generations to come. We continue to raise the voices of Black leaders, inside and outside of CAT. We call on our non-Black membership to stand up and also to step back, now is a time to follow the leadership of Black leaders who are organizing and mourning around the state. We cannot allow those voices to be drowned out by well-meaning non-Black folks. We will make space for expressions of grief or anger from that community.
We know that the fear and anger of this moment stretches far and wide, that grief does not know borders, that this moment is one of extraordinary pain. We ask those who feel that pain to redirect it into action in support of those who are at greatest threat today.
Quanice Hayes.
Christopher Kilonji.
Aaron Campbell.
Matthew Burroughs.
Keaton Otis.
Andre Gladen.
Kendra James.
These black people; young, women, and men all were killed by different police departments in Oregon, along with many others. We continue to say their names, and we will not forget them.
We remain committed to our goals of dismantling systemic, oppressive systems that exist to uphold white supremacy in all its forms. There have been many different calls to action from Black leaders here in Oregon, including multiple calls to defund police bureau programs; including the call in Portland for the police department to divest from its resource officer program, as well as the direct call to PSU to remove campus police. We stand with our Black relatives in this moment and beyond.
In Love and Solidarity,
CAT Organization
Links
Dont Shoot Portland: Jail Support Fund, and General Donation link www.dontshootpdx.org/support-our-work/
Mutual Aid Resources Compiled and vetted by Don’t Shoot PDX
How to be a Better Ally:
www.greatbigstory.com/guides/how-to-become-a-better-black-lives-matter-ally
www.reflections.yale.edu/article/future-race/becoming-trustworthy-white-allies
Black-Owned Restaurants to support:
https://iloveblackfood.com/pdx-directory/
Self Care Links:
http://www.poconlineclassroom.com/self-care
www.jordangrayconsulting.com/60-day-radical-self-care-experiment/
Notes: Including past actions from the Federal Government splitting up and destroying families and displacing people of color. Not allowing Black people to buy homes or live in many areas. In smaller communities, some of these laws are still on the books.