Thread by @JoAnnPDX

My office and PBOT are aware that the “thin blue line” flag is being displayed by a City contractor doing work for PBOT. Full statement below.

The thin blue line imagery is viewed by many in our community as a symbol of white supremacy that has been prominently displayed by those that oppose the Black Lives Matter racial justice movement and we understand this is causing distress in the community.

You can count me as one of the many Portlanders that finds this imagery deeply offensive.

PBOT reached out to the contractor and asked them not to display the symbol while performing work for the City. Unfortunately, they declined, and we are limited in our ability to address this issue under our existing contracts and policies.

This incident is proof we have more work to do for Portland to live up to last year’s anti-racism resolution, including holding City contractors to the same standards we hold City government.

I will be working with PBOT and the City Attorney’s Office to look at systemic improvements we can make to address this issue going forward.

This incident also highlights the lack of diversity amongst City contractors, an issue I’ve been working to fix long before I was elected to City Hall. The lack of diversity in City contracts was recently the subject of this @OPB article: opb.org/article/2021/0…

I’m thankful to the community members that brought this concern to my attention. I know this statement will be unsatisfactory to many in our community, however I’m committed to a systemic overhaul to address this in the future.

I’ll need your support and engagement at City Hall to make these achievable policy goals reality.

At the end of the day, it is the values that this symbol represents that we must stand up against. If this contractor took down this symbol only as a performative measure after being asked by the City – it doesn’t change the hearts and minds of those who put it up.

It is up to all of us to do the difficult educating and organizing so that people can see the world more empathetically.