Agenda Packet 9-12-18 Work Session

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13 • I have been in places where I felt comfortable and then I realize that I am not comfortable – stares, whispering, you feel people move away from you. (African American) • Constant micro-aggressions occur. You need to be with other people of color to survive them. (Asian American) • People tell me I am in America, to speak English. (Latinx Family Member) • I was rejected by a customer (while working at a City of Eugene service counter) as someone to provide him with customer service. (Trans individual) • I am trying to teach my son to drive, driving slow, white guy flips us off, tried to run us off the road, “go back to where you came from” (go back to Seattle?? My kid is in the car…). Ignorance. (Pacific Islander) • Last week we were doing a training on the computer and this one group named themselves the Knee Grows. We asked them about the name and they acted like they were joking. (African American/Biracial Youth) • Commonly individuals are asked to “speak for your community”. No white person is going to ask you to speak for all whites. (Latinx) • People have come to me to say they have voted for Trump and then say sorry; I don’t have time for that. (Muslim) • People expect Muslims to apologize if terrorism occurs elsewhere; it’s not my job to apologize for these acts. (Muslim) • Racism is not recognized; people get mad if you point it out. (Native American/Alaska Native) • We need to support each other. We are out there on our own, and there is no-one advocating for us. (Pacific Islander) • Am hypervigilant. When guard is let down, that is when bias incidents happen. (Trans) • As a trans person, relate to not seeing people like you in authority. (Trans) Theme #6: Isolation and Need for Safe Space Members of all of the focus groups talked of the need to be with others like themselves. Many newcomers to Eugene said the first thing they did was to seek out others who would be accepting and supportive. A few groups had a safe space in which this could happen. Native Americans had longhouses, Muslims had a mosque and older African Americans had black churches. Most of the focus group participants said there was not a safe space in which persons like themselves could regularly gather, make new friends, network with others and enjoy a sense of belonging. Many expressed a desire for there to be such a gathering place. • No place to go. No barrio, tortillas, a place to feel supported. You need physical space, a place where you can go and feel safe. (Latinx) • If you don’t want to talk about where you come from, who you are, you do not have to worry about that coming here (to longhouse). (Native American/Alaska Native) • Need some news in Spanish or Spanish caption, especially when dealing with safety and with things the whole community needs to know about. (Latinx Family Member) • Still don’t see a safe place here in Eugene for LGBTQ people of color; they opened the Lamb, great place to go dance, but not open to dance to other music and experiences. (LGBTQ) • “[Church] is where we are safe; doesn’t extend into the community.” (African American) • It is not safe to be invisible—the majority assumes you are doing well even when you are not. Don’t feel like I belong, am thinking of leaving. (Asian American) September 12, 2018, Work Session - Item 1