The Oregon county that includes part of Portland voted to close the agency after commissioners agreed it was wasting critical resources and creating unnecessary division in the community.
Clackamas County, Oregon, stretches from Mount Hood in the east to part of Portland in the west.In July 2020, just weeks after George Floyd’s death, the county Equity & Inclusion Office And they poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into DEI staff and efforts.
county statement This report, published in April 2022, passionately advocated “raising voices within the community and making the invisible visible” through DEI measures. “We want people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people from historically marginalized communities to not only be welcomed, but valued and respected as core members of our team. We want to foster a workplace where people feel included,” said John Hennington, equity program manager. The City of Milwaukee said at the time.
However, the 2022 election will reorganize the Clackamas County Commission, and while the board's positions are nonpartisan, four of the current five commissioners are nonpartisan. reportedly Registered Republican. Starting in May 2023, the outspoken new Secretary, Mark Shull, has proposed cutting the entire DEI budget by a staggering $828,000, calling it “unnecessary funding” that will “only increase friction.” He claimed that it was a “cost''.
At the time, most commissioners used less aggressive language, but they seemed to agree with some of Schall's points. Commissioner Martha Schroeder, the board's only registered Democrat, vehemently disagreed, arguing that her Korean-American son and Chinese neighbors continue to endure racist attacks. “People need to understand that it's still happening,” she argued at a meeting last May. “Oregonians and Americans need to understand that such behavior is mutually harmful, and to me, the items of diversity, equity, and inclusion are important to us if we don't become sensitive to this. It's a constant reminder that we have to respect that.”
Instead, DEI often fosters a “victim mentality” and creates division within communities, argued Ben West, a Republican and Navy reservist who was in a same-sex relationship and adopted a black son. DEI “is not bringing our county and our local communities together,” he tearfully said at the meeting.
The board voted to close the Office of Equity and Inclusion effective February 5, which is the date Mr. West, Mr. Schall and others took over.
“We are no longer invested in that ideology,” West admitted in a recent article. fox news interview About voting.
“We believed it was really important to focus on merit, equity and equality rather than racializing the workplace and the county.”
“We value the individual,” he continued. “We value you regardless of your unchanging characteristics.”
“At Clackamas County, we really value the strengths and talents that everyone has and brings to our county. … A diversity of ideas is important to us.”
While many are celebrating the board's decision as a victory for true American values of freedom and equality, others see it as a setback. “It's sad. I feel like things are about to turn around,” he said. Emmett WheatfallFormer county diversity manager, retired in 2019. “I hope I can move forward again, but it takes a champion.”
Two full-time employees at the firm will be reassigned to other positions. It is unclear how his previous DEI budget will be used going forward.
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