The Oregonian (Portland, OR) 
December 23, 2007 

PEACE GROUPS' INNTER TURMOIL
Latino, African American and Asian activists insist that to fully involve them in the peace movement, the discussion needs to widen to address race and social injustice.

By Nikole Hannah-Jones

When peace activists rallied in Eugene earlier this year, they called on their Latino and African American allies for support.

But the choice of speaker led to friction. The politician was anti-war, but he upset the activists of color because of his anti-immigrant sentiments. Many white activists didn't see a problem -- the rally, after all, was about peace and not immigration.

That tension illuminated a deep fissure in Oregon's peace movement. White activists want more people of color among its mostly white, middle-class members, but many also want a narrow focus: U.S. foreign policy and ending war. Latino, African American and Asian activists insist that to fully involve them in the peace movement, the discussion needs to widen to address race and social injustice.

"There is such a gap between the peace movement and people of color," says Kayse Jama, a Somali refugee who founded the nonprofit Center for Intercultural Organizing in Portland to get immigrants and refugees involved in peace and social justice causes.

Jama's group and five others in the state -- the American Friends Service Committee, Community Alliance of Lane County, Oregon Action, Pineros y Unidos del Noroeste and the Rural Organizing Project -- will spend the next three years working to diversify Oregon's peace movement and help activists find common ground. The McKenzie River Gathering Foundation in Portland, which funds grass-roots organizations working for social change, has given each agency $50,000 to fuel the efforts. The foundation says the peace movement, which is mainly white and middle class, will be strengthened by bringing in the poor and working class, immigrants and refugees, veterans and people of color.

"People in the peace movement often say they want to be more inclusive, but they often don't know where to start," says Anita Rodgers, McKenzie River program director. The foundation wants to grow numbers and also build understanding about the connections between social justice and peace issues.

As the peace organizer for the Community Alliance of Lane County, Michael Carrigan says white peace activists want to see more people of color at anti-war rallies or picketing military recruitment offices.

"Peace activists tend to think that we're progressive and great allies," he says. "But once the rally is over, the tendency is for people to return to their all-white groups."

When peace groups in Eugene formed a coalition this fall, Carrigan says, not a single person of color was at the first meeting. When it's time for a big rally or march, peace groups often call on black, Latino, Asian or Native activists to speak and participate. But that's usually as far as it goes, Carrigan says.

Many peace activists, already a small group, say they fear taking stands on race could dilute their mission and alienate activists.

"You have the view that if we want to draw people into the movement, we need to focus on the issues that unify us and avoid the issues that divide us," says William Seaman, a white, longtime activist and member of Portland Peaceful Response Coalition. He says that's a mistake, but "it is a fundamental question that the peace movement has had to struggle with."

The American Friends Service Committee wed social justice and peace work from its founding 90 years ago. But Portland-area director Kelly Campbell says, "We can't have everyone doing every aspect of social justice all of the time." These activists support groups that work against racial profiling or employment discrimination -- but concentrate any active efforts directly on ending the war.

That's not enough to appeal to people of color.

"People say, 'Don't bring those divisive issues because it will disrupt our unity,' but for people of color, that's what we live everyday," says Jo Ann Bowman, an African American activist who heads Oregon Action, which works with low-income and racial minorities. "It's a bit arrogant to think that we are going to work on your issues and you're not going to work on the issues that impact communities of color the most."

Ramon Ramirez calls it the war at home. How can one fight for equality and peace abroad but ignore inequities at home, asks Ramirez, who works with Pineros y Unidos del Noroeste, a farmworkers union in Woodburn.

"A multicultural, multiethnic peace movement must relate all the issues of oppression as one struggle," he says, from disparate incarceration rates to poor educational opportunities.

Race, one of the most divisive issues in the country, is still taboo conversation, says Jama, of the Center for Intercultural Organizing. He understands that white activists may find it difficult to bring race into the discussion or even see its relevance. That connection can be difficult for people for whom race isn't a daily part of life.

But wars and U.S. foreign policy have a racial tint. African Americans are more likely to fight in these wars, accounting for 22 percent of new enlistees but less than 13 percent of the U.S. population. Modern wars impact mostly countries with nonwhite populations.

"There's a disconnect with the people who have direct experience with wars and the peace movement in Oregon," Jama says. "People who are affected by the issues have to take leadership in solving them."

Yet, the groups realize they need each other.

Jama started a training on race earlier this month for white activists. Simultaneously -- and separately -- he's teaching immigrants and refugees how to advocate for their needs and take their place in the movement. Later, Jama hopes to bring the two groups together and form an alliance. Ramirez's group will educate Latinos about their interests in the anti-war movement. Oregon Action plans to do the same with the African American community and help them set the peace agenda for a change. The Community Alliance of Lane County launched training for white activists on white privilege and the role it plays in the peace movement. It also will use its grant to reach out to young people, communities of color and labor unions.

As part of the grant, all six of the groups will meet frequently to discuss efforts and share strategies and means to collaborate. The hope is that a newer, more cohesive and inclusive peace movement will break through after three years.

It's a lofty goal, but at its heart, the peace movement thrives on hope.

"Our country is at stake," Ramirez says, "and unless we unite, we are not going to make change at all."

Perhaps, with the prod of the grant money, activists of all colors will make peace among themselves.

Nikole Hannah-Jones: 503-221-4316; nhannahjones@news.oregonian.com

Copyright 2007 - The Oregonian