National Expert Weighs in on Portland & Equity

Myron Orfield, whose work helped inspire CLF’s formation in 1994, returned to the Portland-Vancouver area on October 27th to share his recent research findings at CLF’s annual member meeting. Without a doubt, his presentation continued to stir our pot. Most provocative was the data he shared showing that our public schools are becoming more racially segregated, despite the fact that our region is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse overall.

What does this say to us about advancing equity and building a multicultural vision for our region’s future? First, it means that regional development should support geographic mobility that is self-determined, but limits geographic displacement and dispersal of cultural communities. It also means we need to assure the next generation is well-equipped for life and leadership in the 21st century. Our children must emerge upon the stage of local and national democracy motivated to increase fairness between them, valuing the strengths of cultural difference, and capable of working across cultures. This means that our public educational system must be free of oppression of all types, teach the philosophy and practice of inclusion and equity so that building a sustainable, inclusive society becomes an attainable process. We’re not sure that racially integrated schools will deliver on the vision of a multicultural, equitable region--particularly if integration leads to the cultural erosion of vulnerable communities. Critical changes to shift school curriculum, culture and other system changes will likely deliver more positive results.

Despite current local demographics, all it takes is a quick trip to Woodburn or down SE 82nd in Portland or to Hillsboro to realize a multi-racial, multicultural U.S. is indeed overtaking a White majority by 2042…even in Portland. But let us imagine something equally hopeful in the form of our children’s level of engagement with each other. Let us strive for a highly-engaged, new citizenry that studies racial segregation as we have with Orfield—but for them it should be a history lesson rather than assessing a threat to the future.

Click here to view Orfield’s complete presentation.