On the third day of our North Portland civil rights immersion experience, we met with community leader, poet, and activist Velynn Brown at One H.O.P.E. Fellowship. We listened to her and her family’s story of their experience as a Black family in Portland. As part of our time with Velynn we wrote about our personal Racial Autobiographies. This activity led us through questions that made us consider our own racial backgrounds and experiences. Some of these questions made us reflect on our experiences with racism, our privileges, and how to move forward while considering these issues.
Reid: As a Japanese person born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i, I would be considered a minority in much of the world. However, this is much less so the case in my hometown where Asian people make up a much larger part of the population there than in the rest of the continental United States where white people make up much more of the population. Since Asians are highly represented in Hawai’i, this activity made me consider the privilege I was granted, especially as a Japanese person, considering Japan’s history of imperialism. Though I am considered a person of color, in Hawai’i I have the privilege of not having to think about my skin color and background as well as not having to fear violence or discrimination against me or my family either. This activity also made me consider my own biases I had formed during my development, even as a minority, and how I ought to address them in the future.
Sheridan: As a white woman who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, this activity made me address my privileges and consider how I do not always think about my race. Growing up my parents never felt the need to have a discussion with me about race. This lack of conversation is a form of white privilege itself. When completing this activity, we tried to reflect on our first encounters of race and racism, and I realized that I did not have a particular moment growing up that race stood out to me. My hometown is a diverse area and I could not pinpoint what my first encounter with race was, until I visited my family in rural Missouri. I remember recognizing how different rural Missouri was compared to the Bay Area, and the lack of diversity in the area shocked me. It was on these family trips back to Missouri where I also had my first encounters of racism, from off hand racist comments from older family members who did not know many non-white people and thought nothing of their racist jokes. Through this writing activity I also thought about how I could have productive conversations with these family members and if there is a way for me to share what I have learned so far on this immersion with them. I really appreciated the difficult issues that this activity made me reflect on and I hope to continue to grapple with my privileges and biases throughout this immersion and the rest of my life.
Speaking with Velynn Brown and completing this activity helped us create an action plan for moving forward and addressing our biases, as privileged members of our hometowns. We feel immense gratitude towards Velynn and the community members we are meeting on this immersion, as we hear their stories, learn about Portland, and strive to become more culturally aware of the spaces we occupy.
By: Reid Matsuda and Sheridan Todd