The last time neighbors congregated together for a BWNA general meeting was the second week of February. Then COVID-19 hit, and meeting after meeting, event after event, had to be canceled. By the time BWNA Board finally reconvened via Zoom the second week of July, there was much to be discussed--and at the top of the agenda was BWNA's policy on non-discrimination and racial equality (as stated in Part 1, Section 1E of the BWNA Bylaws, accessible on this website). Subsequently, the Board agreed to go public with the following message to the neighborhood: (drafted by Board members Tim Gillespie and Andrew Rinke)
Recently there was a racially-charged incident between neighbors in our community of Beaumont-Wilshire. It's easy to find examples of racism out in the world, but despite the yard signs and flags, it's here too. The BWNA Board appreciates the victim of this incident for informing us of what happened. Board members reached out to local resources including Portland United Against Hatred (PUAH) to best respond and assist where needed. This act of racial harassment is an event we cannot let pass in silence. It demonstrated areas where BWNA can improve to best help our community. We're learning, taking action, and open to feedback. Moving forward, we hope our neighbors continue to trust us and inform the BWNA. We are here to help. To further earn that trust, we would like to share our pledge to combat racism and discrimination for our neighborhood association: The Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood Association (BWNA) is committed to diversity and equity in all our activities. We welcome and celebrate everyone in our neighborhood and, as per our longtime by-laws, condemn any form of discrimination, exclusion, or expression of hatred based on race, ethnicity, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, legal citizenship, national origin, income, political affiliation, or any other basis of personal identity people might use to divide us. Accordingly, we pledge: 1) To listen and learn, and to assess our own practices and policies in regards to equity and inclusion. 2) To seek advice in particular on how to combat racism in our neighborhood and our city, and welcome feedback that makes us better allies to our neighbors of color. 3) To develop ways we can confront discrimination and support cooperation among Beaumont-Wilshire neighbors. In addition, please join us for our virtual BWNA General Meeting on August 10th at 7pm. Links to this Zoom meeting will be posted on the “Upcoming Events” page on the BWNA website (www.bwnapdx.org). We'd like to continue the conversation on diversity and equity and address questions from our community.
We deeply believe in the love and joy of our small community. We hope through small steps like these we can foster a stronger and more welcoming place for everyone. Please look for more information via email and subscribe to our mailing list if you haven't already.