Jo Ann Hardesty at the Site of Keaton Otis Vigils

July 29, 2014 - Jo Ann Hardesty at the corner where Keaton Otis was killed and where vigils have been held monthly in the five years since his death. Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian

(Beth Nakamura)

Just as Rachel Dolezal did in Spokane, Portland NAACP chapter president Jo Ann Hardesty inherited an NAACP chapter in need of revitalization. The Portland NAACP coffers were dry, and membership was low when she took over in January. But the group is rebounding, Hardesty said.



Hardesty grew up in Baltimore, but moved to Oregon in 1990. She's been active in Oregon politics and community organizing since. She was a state representative (as Jo Ann Bowman) from 1995 - 2001 then led Oregon Action for another six years.



The Oregonian spoke with Hardesty about how the Rachel Dolezal story has affected the local chapter and about what the right role is for white people who want to join the NAACP's fight for equality. The interview has been edited and condensed.





As the chapter president of Portland's NAACP, what has been your reaction to the coverage of Spokane's former president Rachel Dolezal?



Initially, knowing the history of the civil rights movement, I was suspect. I didn't believe the early reports, which really focused on what the police said. Civil rights leaders have been targeted and discredited, and the police have been a tool to make that happen.



But as it's played out, clearly there are community members who feel disappointed. The only thing we have as NAACP presidents is our integrity. We don't get paid. This is a voluntary position. Many people think we're making big bucks and sitting in a big office, but most of us are investing our own resources in revitalizing our chapters and trying to be responsive to our communities.



Has the media frenzy about Dolezal harmed that?



In my view, as seeing the cup half full, I'm hopeful that there is a broader understanding that the NAACP welcomes all people who want to work for equality. Now people have a better understanding that it's not just for black people. It's always been multicultural and multi-generational organization.



What is the right role for a white person who wants to fight for that equality?



They should become an NAACP member. They should get active on a committee, support the leadership development of young people who are coming behind us. There's a role for everyone.



White people have to have conversations about race with other white people. It's important that they have those conversations with the people who are closest to them, the people they work with and the people they worship with. With all the new people moving to Portland, I suspect there are a lot of people who don't know Oregon was created as a white homeland, that don't know how recently we took discriminatory language out of our constitution. They're moving into neighborhoods that never could get resources before.



Do you feel like the NAACP is as needed in Portland as it was 100 years ago?



Desperately. Whatever social determinant of health you look at, you will find Native Americans at the bottom and African Americans right on top of them, then Latinos right on top of them. It has been consistently that way for 30 years. When we talk about living in a progressive state, then you look at those determinants, it doesn't add up. African-American graduation rates in Portland are 53 percent. White people would be rioting in the street. But that has become the acceptable norm for African-American students. That's why the NAACP is still so important. And the only thing that has ever been successful is a multi-racial, multi-generational approach to putting pressure on legislators to make policy changes that are necessary.



What is the state of Portland's NAACP now? It had its own scandal last year, when the chapter president violated national bylaws and spent nearly the chapter's entire budget on a ballroom.



I ran because I was fearful of losing an organization with this long, rich history. First thing I did was appoint a CPA as my treasurer because I wanted to ensure that people knew if they gave money to this administration, it would be well utilized, that it would be transparent and open for inspection.



What I have found is there are many people who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for leadership to emerge with the NAACP. Now that they have confidence, they are willing to put their time, money and energy in rebuilding this chapter. We meet monthly, the last Saturday of the month, at the Portland Red Cross. Our meetings are efficient. We start on time. We end on time. We treat each other with respect because we're all volunteers.



Wednesday night, after several days of Dolezal news, a white gunman killed nine people in a historically African-American church in South Carolina. What have this week's headlines taught us about the state of race relations in America today?



Just like Trayvon Martin and every unnecessary death that has taken place since then, there is a new awareness in middle-class white America that all is not well as it relates to race in this country. We better get a handle on it quickly. We are really sitting on a powder keg. Unless we start building coalitions and really have those conversations about race and privilege, these kinds of things will continue to take place.



We have a generation who has grown up thinking war is normal. We have normalized violence in such a way in our society. We have been at war with people of color all over the planet during that child's lifetime. We as a society have a responsibility for that. We always have a brown face that we call the enemy. This was an act of domestic terrorism. It will be interesting to see whether or not this young man is prosecuted as a terrorist like we did with the Boston marathon individuals. That would be justice.



Given those health determinant stats you mentioned, given that you could be killed for being black, why would a person who is not black want to pretend to be?



Actually, I think they probably wouldn't unless they think all of that is unjust, unless they want to create a community that's respectful of all the voices, all the nationalities, all the sexual orientations. I think if that's the world we say we want to create, it's up to white people to point out where they see inequality, just like people have color have pointed out. Unless our voices are joined, we really don't do the fundamental changes that are so necessary. It's a matter of survival that white people take on the battle of racial justice.



-- Casey Parks

503-221-8271

cparks@oregonian.com; @caseyparks