The state's 2021 "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan" endangers Oregonians by prioritizing its mushy definition of "DEI" over protecting Oregonians from threats like LA fires
It will take a nice well-funded lawsuit against the State’s DEI program to have it ruled unconstitutional. Or, a voter Constitutional Initiative of some sort. However, having witnessed behavior by the Oregon Court of Appeals over time to simply ignore tested jurisprudence, it may difficult to pursue a remedy. I think that we have all seen the incompetence at all government levels, even before DEI, especially if you’ve had any personal interaction. I’m not surprised Jeff hasn’t heard back from Tina’s office about DEI.
Attorney John Dilorenzo at the DWT law firm is a tiger when challenging government agencies. He's the guy who sued Portland over bums and their tents blocking sidewalk access for disabled citizens. He won big. He also handled an action challenging Portland's seismic retrofit program. The judge persuaded the city to drop the program prior to trial, with his advice that the city would likely lose. I suspect he would relish the opportunity to challenge this DEI monster.
The best way to understand officialdom's tolerance of reverse racism at the state, county and local level in Oregon is as the de-facto implementation of the Kendi Doctrine. That notorious lightweight and race grifter wrote: “The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination."
The following news story details what is only the latest racist DEI-inspired action by local government. Here is the headline; excerpts from the story appear below.
"Multnomah County to lease 65-room motel shelter to help Black people experiencing homelessness."
The piece provides a gauzy fig leaf: "The program prioritizes people of color, but 'does not exclude anyone based on race or any other protected class' in accordance with fair housing regulations, officials said."
Those officials were talking out of both sides of their mouths. As a thought experiment, imagine what the reaction would be among the DEI set if a housing program were described thusly:
"The program prioritizes white people, but does not exclude anyone based on race or any other protected class in accordance with fair housing regulations."
Just how receptive would they be then to the claim that there's no unequal treatment based on race?
Multnomah County is preparing to move a successful motel shelter designed to primarily serve Black people experiencing homelessness to a larger location in North Portland.
County officials have negotiated a 10-year lease on a 65-room Motel 6 starting at just under $1.8 million a year. That price is expected to rise by 2% annually starting in 2026. That figure includes utilities, insurance, housekeeping and maintenance, officials said.
“It focuses on geographic distribution and geographic equity by creating a motel shelter in an area of the county where we did not have any shelter options previously,” Anna Plumb, deputy director of the county’s homelessness services department, said in a meeting Thursday.
The county Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the lease for the Motel 6 on North Schmeer Road near Delta Park on Thursday.
In addition to the building costs, the county will also pay Urban League of Portland, which specializes in services for the Black community and people of color, to run the facility. The county’s current contract with the nonprofit cost nearly $2.4 million this fiscal year. The county is still negotiating a new contract with the nonprofit, but the amount it pays the Urban League is expected to rise due to staffing increases needed at the larger building.
The shelter program, dubbed Jamii, launched at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to open socially-distanced shelter beds for people of color, officials said. Urban League is currently running the program out of a motel on North Interstate Avenue near Overlook Park. That lease, which expires Jan. 31, cost the county $1.1 million this year. Officials said they expected that rate to jump anywhere from 9% to 17% if the lease continued.
The program the motel will house has consistently shown results, officials reported. In a one-year period from July 2023 to 2024, 55% of people exiting the shelter moved into permanent housing. Others moved into drug addiction treatment, behavioral health services or other medical programs. Only 3% returned to the street, officials said.
The motel shelter program takes both men and women of different racial backgrounds. Around 97% of the 79 shelter participants last fiscal year were people of color, while 1% were white and another 1% were “unknown,” county data shows. The program prioritizes people of color, but “does not exclude anyone based on race or any other protected class” in accordance with fair housing regulations, officials said.
Urban League worked with county officials to narrow down the best location, the county said. The Motel 6 has 18 more rooms than the current building and better amenities, officials said. They also acknowledged its location in historic Vanport, which was devastated by a flood that washed entire homes away into the Columbia Slough over 75 years ago, disproportionately impacting Black residents in what was once Oregon’s second-largest city.
“We recognize the history of Vanport and the community impacted by the flood of 1948,” the county said in a statement. “This program is an example of the county intentionally investing in culturally specific services and serving communities that have historically been left behind by government services. That includes those same communities who were devastated by that historic flood.”
The City of Portland's Housing Bureau also appears to have dabbled in racial discrimination. In March, 2023, then-city commissioner Carmen Rubio announced the Alder 9 housing project. She wrote:
"In partnership with Related Northwest and Centro Cultural, Alder 9 will bring 159 affordable units to the Central Eastside targeting dedicated, impactful on-site services toward seniors as well as multigenerational and BIPOC families, who are too often overlooked."
The Portland Housing Bureau's website gave a similar description of the Alder 9 project.
"Related Northwest and Centro Cultural are partnering to develop 159 units of new construction affordable housing located in the Buckman neighborhood of Portland’s Central Eastside. Targeting seniors, multigenerational and BIPOC households who are disproportionally impacted by homelessness, this project offers a mix of unit types, including studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments."
As described, the project appears to violate the provisions of the federal Fair Housing Act that prohibit discrimination in the rental and advertising of housing on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status. Moreover, with respect to the plan to "target" seniors, there is no indication that Alder 9 qualifies for the Fair Housing Act's "limited exemption from the familial status prohibitions for housing for older persons." The specifics can be found here: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/fair_housing_act_housing_older_persons
Where are the conservative legal foundations' litigators when we need them?
Will Trump's U.S. Attorney for Oregon be willing to take the aggressive action required to challenge DEI's stranglehold on state and local government?
It’s a shame that the leadership in Los Angeles and California is so inept. 100+Billion in losses, not to mention the human struggle that is unfolding. The rest of the US seems to be waking up to the lie of DEI policies, will it take a like disaster in Oregon to effect change? VOTE matters folks, be courageous it’s the only way to stop the madness!
Maybe the movers and shakers who lived in Pacific Palisades and Hollywood will realize what their policies have created, though it looks like Newsom still has no clue.
as an aside, an article in the recent LA Times noted that urban fire practices recommend 3 trucks or 15 fire personnel for a single family dwelling. they would only need around 36,000 trucks or 180,000 fire fighters for the fires down there. not a chance.
Newsom was on the morning news shows throwing barbs at Trump instead of taking responsibility and looking inward. Part of leadership is learning from your mistakes, pretty obvious that in his mind (Newsom) he doesn't make any mistakes...... You can find help at URL......
Top-down diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are not just flawed—they are actively harmful. They create division, pit marginalized groups against one another, and serve as a distraction from addressing the real power structures that perpetuate inequity. The ruling class uses performative DEI as a smokescreen to appear progressive while doing little to nothing to dismantle the systems that cause the inequities in the first place.
The Real Problem with Top-Down DEI
At its core, top-down DEI pits people in need against each other. Take the example of prioritizing race over other forms of disadvantage, like poverty or disability. By claiming to “prioritize people of color” in homeless shelters, for instance, these policies implicitly suggest that one type of suffering is more valid than another. This framework forces marginalized groups to compete for scraps instead of addressing the systems that ensure those scraps are all that’s available.
This is exactly how the ruling class likes it. Divide and conquer is a classic strategy. As long as poor white people are resentful of programs they perceive as “for Black people,” and Black people are resentful of the centuries of systemic exclusion they’ve endured, no one is questioning why there isn’t enough housing, healthcare, or opportunity for everyone.
Performative DEI: A Tool of the Elite
Performative DEI is a PR strategy disguised as social progress. It’s about appearing virtuous while maintaining the status quo. Governments, corporations, and institutions tout their DEI initiatives to shield themselves from accountability, but these efforts are often hollow and fail to address the root causes of inequity.
Let’s be clear: DEI is not inherently bad. The principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical for creating a just society. But when these principles are implemented in a top-down, performative way, they perpetuate harm. They prioritize optics over outcomes and ultimately fail the very communities they claim to serve.
Pitting People in Need Against Each Other
The most insidious part of top-down DEI is how it divides people. Imagine being a poor white person denied access to a resource because it “prioritizes people of color.” Imagine being a Black person who finally sees a program designed to address systemic racism, only to face backlash and accusations of unfairness. Both groups are victims of a system that thrives on scarcity—and instead of uniting to demand systemic change, they end up blaming each other.
This kind of division is intentional. It keeps people focused on fighting for crumbs while the ruling class hoards the pie. The issue isn’t whether a homeless shelter should prioritize Black people or white people. The issue is why there aren’t enough shelters for everyone in the first place.
The Solution: Bottom-Up, Intersectional Equity
True equity cannot be achieved through performative, top-down measures. It requires a bottom-up approach that addresses systemic issues at their root. Here’s what that looks like:
• Universal Solutions: Create programs that address the needs of all marginalized groups, rather than prioritizing one over another. For example, instead of “prioritizing people of color,” create housing programs that address poverty, mental health, and systemic barriers for everyone.
• Intersectional Thinking: Recognize that people face overlapping forms of oppression. A poor Black woman and a poor white man may both be struggling with homelessness, but their experiences are shaped by different social forces. Equity means addressing all those forces, not ranking them.
• Build Solidarity, Not Division: Policies should unite marginalized groups to fight for systemic change, not pit them against one another. We need to focus on the real enemy: the systems that perpetuate inequality, not the people stuck in them.
The Bottom Line
Top-down DEI is not the solution—it’s part of the problem. It’s a tool the ruling class uses to maintain control by dividing marginalized groups and distracting from the need for systemic change. If we truly want equity, we need to stop settling for performative gestures and start demanding real, transformative change.
Equity doesn’t mean fighting over crumbs. It means questioning why there aren’t enough resources for everyone—and working together to change that.
Racism is destructive and evil - always has been, always will be.
DEI is unabashedly Systemic Institutional Racism.
That is literally fighting the worst of human rot with “better, more informed” human rot - WITH THE BLESSING AND FUNDING of the State.
It is factually correct to say the Original KKK and the present day Progressive KKK are fundamentally the same - nothing hyperbolic about that statement.
The thing that makes especially sad and evil is that we should know better. Weaponized State discrimination isn’t remotely progress - quite the opposite.
I also have not heard back from my email to guv and I suggest that more readers email her for answers. In my email I noted the nationwide tectonic shift that voters have expressed, and the Supreme Court's ruling concerning the use of racial preferences. I affirm equal opportunity but no where in the world will you find equal outcomes across racial or cultural groups. This phenomenon has been researched by scholars, e.g. Thomas Sowell, and these policies are not only taking tax payer dollars, but bumping up against constitutional issues...
It will take a nice well-funded lawsuit against the State’s DEI program to have it ruled unconstitutional. Or, a voter Constitutional Initiative of some sort. However, having witnessed behavior by the Oregon Court of Appeals over time to simply ignore tested jurisprudence, it may difficult to pursue a remedy. I think that we have all seen the incompetence at all government levels, even before DEI, especially if you’ve had any personal interaction. I’m not surprised Jeff hasn’t heard back from Tina’s office about DEI.
Attorney John Dilorenzo at the DWT law firm is a tiger when challenging government agencies. He's the guy who sued Portland over bums and their tents blocking sidewalk access for disabled citizens. He won big. He also handled an action challenging Portland's seismic retrofit program. The judge persuaded the city to drop the program prior to trial, with his advice that the city would likely lose. I suspect he would relish the opportunity to challenge this DEI monster.
The best way to understand officialdom's tolerance of reverse racism at the state, county and local level in Oregon is as the de-facto implementation of the Kendi Doctrine. That notorious lightweight and race grifter wrote: “The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination."
The following news story details what is only the latest racist DEI-inspired action by local government. Here is the headline; excerpts from the story appear below.
"Multnomah County to lease 65-room motel shelter to help Black people experiencing homelessness."
The piece provides a gauzy fig leaf: "The program prioritizes people of color, but 'does not exclude anyone based on race or any other protected class' in accordance with fair housing regulations, officials said."
Those officials were talking out of both sides of their mouths. As a thought experiment, imagine what the reaction would be among the DEI set if a housing program were described thusly:
"The program prioritizes white people, but does not exclude anyone based on race or any other protected class in accordance with fair housing regulations."
Just how receptive would they be then to the claim that there's no unequal treatment based on race?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Multnomah County to lease 65-room motel shelter to help Black people experiencing homelessness
Updated: Dec. 19, 2024, 7:09 p.m.|Published: Dec. 18, 2024, 7:00 a.m.
Multnomah County is preparing to move a successful motel shelter designed to primarily serve Black people experiencing homelessness to a larger location in North Portland.
County officials have negotiated a 10-year lease on a 65-room Motel 6 starting at just under $1.8 million a year. That price is expected to rise by 2% annually starting in 2026. That figure includes utilities, insurance, housekeeping and maintenance, officials said.
“It focuses on geographic distribution and geographic equity by creating a motel shelter in an area of the county where we did not have any shelter options previously,” Anna Plumb, deputy director of the county’s homelessness services department, said in a meeting Thursday.
The county Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the lease for the Motel 6 on North Schmeer Road near Delta Park on Thursday.
In addition to the building costs, the county will also pay Urban League of Portland, which specializes in services for the Black community and people of color, to run the facility. The county’s current contract with the nonprofit cost nearly $2.4 million this fiscal year. The county is still negotiating a new contract with the nonprofit, but the amount it pays the Urban League is expected to rise due to staffing increases needed at the larger building.
The shelter program, dubbed Jamii, launched at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to open socially-distanced shelter beds for people of color, officials said. Urban League is currently running the program out of a motel on North Interstate Avenue near Overlook Park. That lease, which expires Jan. 31, cost the county $1.1 million this year. Officials said they expected that rate to jump anywhere from 9% to 17% if the lease continued.
The program the motel will house has consistently shown results, officials reported. In a one-year period from July 2023 to 2024, 55% of people exiting the shelter moved into permanent housing. Others moved into drug addiction treatment, behavioral health services or other medical programs. Only 3% returned to the street, officials said.
The motel shelter program takes both men and women of different racial backgrounds. Around 97% of the 79 shelter participants last fiscal year were people of color, while 1% were white and another 1% were “unknown,” county data shows. The program prioritizes people of color, but “does not exclude anyone based on race or any other protected class” in accordance with fair housing regulations, officials said.
Urban League worked with county officials to narrow down the best location, the county said. The Motel 6 has 18 more rooms than the current building and better amenities, officials said. They also acknowledged its location in historic Vanport, which was devastated by a flood that washed entire homes away into the Columbia Slough over 75 years ago, disproportionately impacting Black residents in what was once Oregon’s second-largest city.
“We recognize the history of Vanport and the community impacted by the flood of 1948,” the county said in a statement. “This program is an example of the county intentionally investing in culturally specific services and serving communities that have historically been left behind by government services. That includes those same communities who were devastated by that historic flood.”
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/12/multnomah-county-to-lease-65-room-motel-shelter-to-help-black-people-experiencing-homelessness.html
================================================================
The City of Portland's Housing Bureau also appears to have dabbled in racial discrimination. In March, 2023, then-city commissioner Carmen Rubio announced the Alder 9 housing project. She wrote:
"In partnership with Related Northwest and Centro Cultural, Alder 9 will bring 159 affordable units to the Central Eastside targeting dedicated, impactful on-site services toward seniors as well as multigenerational and BIPOC families, who are too often overlooked."
The Portland Housing Bureau's website gave a similar description of the Alder 9 project.
"Related Northwest and Centro Cultural are partnering to develop 159 units of new construction affordable housing located in the Buckman neighborhood of Portland’s Central Eastside. Targeting seniors, multigenerational and BIPOC households who are disproportionally impacted by homelessness, this project offers a mix of unit types, including studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments."
https://www.portland.gov/phb/construction/alder-9
As described, the project appears to violate the provisions of the federal Fair Housing Act that prohibit discrimination in the rental and advertising of housing on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status. Moreover, with respect to the plan to "target" seniors, there is no indication that Alder 9 qualifies for the Fair Housing Act's "limited exemption from the familial status prohibitions for housing for older persons." The specifics can be found here: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/fair_housing_act_housing_older_persons
Where are the conservative legal foundations' litigators when we need them?
Will Trump's U.S. Attorney for Oregon be willing to take the aggressive action required to challenge DEI's stranglehold on state and local government?
It’s a shame that the leadership in Los Angeles and California is so inept. 100+Billion in losses, not to mention the human struggle that is unfolding. The rest of the US seems to be waking up to the lie of DEI policies, will it take a like disaster in Oregon to effect change? VOTE matters folks, be courageous it’s the only way to stop the madness!
Maybe the movers and shakers who lived in Pacific Palisades and Hollywood will realize what their policies have created, though it looks like Newsom still has no clue.
as an aside, an article in the recent LA Times noted that urban fire practices recommend 3 trucks or 15 fire personnel for a single family dwelling. they would only need around 36,000 trucks or 180,000 fire fighters for the fires down there. not a chance.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-11/fire-experts-asses-los-angeles-blazes-amid-changing-times
Newsom was on the morning news shows throwing barbs at Trump instead of taking responsibility and looking inward. Part of leadership is learning from your mistakes, pretty obvious that in his mind (Newsom) he doesn't make any mistakes...... You can find help at URL......
Top-down diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are not just flawed—they are actively harmful. They create division, pit marginalized groups against one another, and serve as a distraction from addressing the real power structures that perpetuate inequity. The ruling class uses performative DEI as a smokescreen to appear progressive while doing little to nothing to dismantle the systems that cause the inequities in the first place.
The Real Problem with Top-Down DEI
At its core, top-down DEI pits people in need against each other. Take the example of prioritizing race over other forms of disadvantage, like poverty or disability. By claiming to “prioritize people of color” in homeless shelters, for instance, these policies implicitly suggest that one type of suffering is more valid than another. This framework forces marginalized groups to compete for scraps instead of addressing the systems that ensure those scraps are all that’s available.
This is exactly how the ruling class likes it. Divide and conquer is a classic strategy. As long as poor white people are resentful of programs they perceive as “for Black people,” and Black people are resentful of the centuries of systemic exclusion they’ve endured, no one is questioning why there isn’t enough housing, healthcare, or opportunity for everyone.
Performative DEI: A Tool of the Elite
Performative DEI is a PR strategy disguised as social progress. It’s about appearing virtuous while maintaining the status quo. Governments, corporations, and institutions tout their DEI initiatives to shield themselves from accountability, but these efforts are often hollow and fail to address the root causes of inequity.
Let’s be clear: DEI is not inherently bad. The principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical for creating a just society. But when these principles are implemented in a top-down, performative way, they perpetuate harm. They prioritize optics over outcomes and ultimately fail the very communities they claim to serve.
Pitting People in Need Against Each Other
The most insidious part of top-down DEI is how it divides people. Imagine being a poor white person denied access to a resource because it “prioritizes people of color.” Imagine being a Black person who finally sees a program designed to address systemic racism, only to face backlash and accusations of unfairness. Both groups are victims of a system that thrives on scarcity—and instead of uniting to demand systemic change, they end up blaming each other.
This kind of division is intentional. It keeps people focused on fighting for crumbs while the ruling class hoards the pie. The issue isn’t whether a homeless shelter should prioritize Black people or white people. The issue is why there aren’t enough shelters for everyone in the first place.
The Solution: Bottom-Up, Intersectional Equity
True equity cannot be achieved through performative, top-down measures. It requires a bottom-up approach that addresses systemic issues at their root. Here’s what that looks like:
• Universal Solutions: Create programs that address the needs of all marginalized groups, rather than prioritizing one over another. For example, instead of “prioritizing people of color,” create housing programs that address poverty, mental health, and systemic barriers for everyone.
• Intersectional Thinking: Recognize that people face overlapping forms of oppression. A poor Black woman and a poor white man may both be struggling with homelessness, but their experiences are shaped by different social forces. Equity means addressing all those forces, not ranking them.
• Build Solidarity, Not Division: Policies should unite marginalized groups to fight for systemic change, not pit them against one another. We need to focus on the real enemy: the systems that perpetuate inequality, not the people stuck in them.
The Bottom Line
Top-down DEI is not the solution—it’s part of the problem. It’s a tool the ruling class uses to maintain control by dividing marginalized groups and distracting from the need for systemic change. If we truly want equity, we need to stop settling for performative gestures and start demanding real, transformative change.
Equity doesn’t mean fighting over crumbs. It means questioning why there aren’t enough resources for everyone—and working together to change that.
Keep asking her…..and the rest of those looney lefties hell bent on making our state unlivable,
Thanks for reading this so we don’t have to. Disturbing. DEI didn’t earn it.
"I talk to the trees..." - Loewe/Lerner
they just don't listen!
Racism is destructive and evil - always has been, always will be.
DEI is unabashedly Systemic Institutional Racism.
That is literally fighting the worst of human rot with “better, more informed” human rot - WITH THE BLESSING AND FUNDING of the State.
It is factually correct to say the Original KKK and the present day Progressive KKK are fundamentally the same - nothing hyperbolic about that statement.
The thing that makes especially sad and evil is that we should know better. Weaponized State discrimination isn’t remotely progress - quite the opposite.
I also have not heard back from my email to guv and I suggest that more readers email her for answers. In my email I noted the nationwide tectonic shift that voters have expressed, and the Supreme Court's ruling concerning the use of racial preferences. I affirm equal opportunity but no where in the world will you find equal outcomes across racial or cultural groups. This phenomenon has been researched by scholars, e.g. Thomas Sowell, and these policies are not only taking tax payer dollars, but bumping up against constitutional issues...
Great piece Jeff!