Approximately 1500 protestors gathered on the steps of the Oregon Capitol for a rally to “end white silence.” The rally consisted of three hours of speeches from leaders in the local black community, elected officials and other allies. Following the speeches, protestors marched to city hall where they took a knee by Mirror Pond to honor George Floyd. They then returned to the Capitol to listen to a panel of some of the speakers.
Despite heavy rain showers throughout the day, the crowd grew substantially throughout the event. The rally began at noon with a modest showing of a couple hundred, but by the time that the march began, the crowd swelled to around 1500. This number makes it one of the largest rallies in Salem in recent years, however, it was not as large as last Saturday’s rally and march.
Although the event was geared towards helping white people better understand systemic racism and to help them become better allies, the protest drew a diverse mix of people. There were people of all races and ages, from young children to students from local high schools to grandparents. There were also a number of dogs in the crowd, some with signs attached to their harnesses such as “I Bite Racists” and “Silence Is Complacency.”
Like last Saturday’s event, the organizers provided a variety of services for attendees. Alluvium, a volunteer health clinic, was there providing free COVID-19 testing for anyone in attendance. There were also half a dozen booths set up on the Capitol Mall. One booth was registering people to vote. Another was set up by Salem’s Human Rights Commission and had information on how to get involved. A couple more were local businesses selling shirts in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
There were people in the crowd who had been trained in basic protest first aid who served as medics, in case the protest got violent or other assistance was needed. There were also people who had been trained in de-escalation and crowd monitoring who served as “peacekeepers.” They were charged with identifying potential agitators, warning law enforcement about potential threats and handling minor issues that could distract from the event.
There were only a handful of officers from Salem Police Department [SPD] and Oregon State Police [OSP] visible during the rally and they all maintained a distance at the request of the event organizers. The police presence was more visible along the march route and at City Hall. Although some protesters asked police officers to march with them, the organizers’ request that police not participate in the protest or “proactively interact” with protesters meant that recent scenes of SPD officers kneeling and marching with protesters were not visible at this event.
This decision comes on the heels of a series of meetings between local leaders, SPD and OSP. Gregg Simpson, one of last Saturday’s organizers, was very involved in these meetings because he wants to “create a dialogue with the police.”
“Now do I trust the police all the way? No, but I’d like to,” Simpson said in his speech.
Other speakers talked on a wide range of topics, with the speeches being translated into ASL and Spanish to make them more accessible.
State Representative Paul Evans, who represents parts of West Salem, Independence and Momnouth, talked about how white men, like him, have been front and center in conversations for far too long. He urged those gathered to use their own privilege to fight for a better country, but encouraged them to not “let the perfect get in the way of the much better.”
“We are all citizens in a country with a duty to work to create a more perfect union,” Evans said, “And that cannot happen until racism is dead.”
Speakers also encouraged those gathered to learn more. They told them to learn more about the experiences of their black community members and about the history of racism in the U.S. and Oregon.
“Educate yourself. Don’t be afraid of hard things… Don’t stop because you’ve hit a wall, because if black people stopped every time they hit a wall, we wouldn’t have gotten very far,” Julianne Jackson, one of the organizers, said.
Speakers told the crowd that learning more about racism and how to be a better ally is not easy. Wilma Marchbanks urged those gathered to “lean into the discomfort” and to accept that they will make mistakes. She told them that they will be “imperfectly perfect” in combating racism.
“[Learning to be anti-racist] is not a linear process, people! You will mess up, especially when you are learning and unlearning, especially when you are dismantling systems. You will do harm. You will learn and do better,” Marchbanks said.
Black community members went on to share their own personal stories of racism. Jackson shared that the first time a gun was pointed at her was when she was 15-years-old. Jonathan Jones of Epilogue Kitchen and Cocktails said that the first time he saw a Klan rally was when he was ten. They both discussed how they had been alienated and treated as inferior because of their race throughout their lives.
Multiple people also discussed the need to acknowledge the racism in many other facets of society, beyond policing. Shelaswau Crier, a local community leader, talked about racism within the education system, across the nation and in the Salem-Keizer School District. She urged those gathered to look at how schools with largely white student bodies, such as Sprague and West, have much better tools, learning equipment and buildings than schools with larger POC populations, such as McKay and North. She also discussed how history that is taught in schools has been “whitewashed” and urged those gathered to “learn about the real history.”
Jones reminded protestors of Oregon’s roots in white supremacy. He emphasized to those gathered that it is imperative that they not overlook and forget Oregon’s past.
“It is not lost to me that this state was built as a white utopia,” Jones said.
The final pillar of the speakers’ main messaging was the need for societal change and reform. Speakers called for mandated racial sensitivity training, a divestment from the militarization of the police force and investments in the community as a whole, as well as in SPD’s community outreach and programs. They called for an end to school resource officers in Salem-Keizer School District and to police unions. Finally, they demanded background checks of all SPD officers by a separate civil agency looking for ties to white supremacists.
“You cannot protect and serve when that hate [of white supremacy] is in your ranks,” Jones said to SPD and police as a whole.
The speeches were not the only way organizers gave participants tools to expand their knowledge on the subject of racism in society. They also distributed packets titled “An anti-racist’s non-comprehensive guide to smashing white supremacy, enacting local change, and celebrating black culture.”
These packets contained books for children, teens and adults to read, such as “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” and “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander.
The packets also listed ways that protestors can get involved at the city level, such as by contacting the city council and “demanding a defunding of the [general] police [fund],” and an end to “the stockpiling of surplus military equipment.” They encouraged those gathered to ask the city to put more resources into “sociological training, community involvement initiatives, body cameras, non-lethal training, mental health staff within the police force, and other community focused policies.” Finally, it listed contact information for elected officials and places to donate both locally and nationally.
Following the speeches, Rich McCloud a local musician, played a song and then the crowd marched to City Hall and the police station. On the way, protestors chanted “Hands up, don’t shoot,” “Say his name, George Floyd,” “Black lives matter” and “No justice, no peace.”
After they arrived at City Hall, much of the crowd marched down to the Mirror Pond, although some remained up near the building. Protestors then silently took a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in honor of George Floyd and others. They then marched back to the Capitol.
After the march, most of the crowd quickly dispersed. However, about a hundred remained for a panel of local black community leaders. The panel gave members of the crowd the opportunity to anonymously ask questions. The final discussion lasted for about 45 minutes.
Panelists discussed more of their experiences as POC in Salem and offered additional opportunities for people to get involved. The actionable steps that they listed included showing up to government meetings, diversifying who people interact with, starting conversations, voting, signing petitions and contacting elected officials. The protestors dispersed after the panel.
Members of the armed group that had tried to disrupt last week’s Black Lives Matter rally and march were gathered near Willson Park just west of the Capitol during part of today’s event. There was also a young man armed with an AR-15 pistol across Court Street, but he appeared to be unrelated to the armed group.
A number of the armed group were previously seen at a beauty salon on Liberty Street where several white supremacists were stationed last week. The woman who had been accused of assaulting one of the Aztec dancers was seen leaving the End White Silence event with her face covered accompanied by an unidentified male. There is an open investigation into last week’s alleged assault. Both OSP and SPD responded to reports of the group’s continued presence at BLM events.
More Black Lives Matter events in Salem are planned for Juneteeth and June 20.
