Street Roots attended a civil rights forum Friday afternoon put on by Attorney General John Kroger's office. Kroger spoke for more than 30 minutes to a group of who's who among community leaders and organizers from Portland and around the region. Kroger spoke about the mission and goals of a new civil rights unit created under the umbrella of the Oregon Department of Justice and how to engage his office.
According to Kroger, the goals of the new civil rights unit moving forward will focus on investigating and filing civil or criminal actions to stop and deter unlawful conduct targeting protected and vulnerable populations in Oregon, work with law enforcement, public agencies and private entities to identify patterns of discriminatory conduct targeting groups, and work with state agencies to insure compliance with civil rights requirements.
Kroger then opened up the forum for questions and answers— telling the group that "the new civil rights unit will be taking small steps." He also said that if organizations work with individuals, or a group of people that are being discriminated against, "we want your cases."
Lastly, Kroger and the group talked for nearly 15-minutes about the Aaron Cambell case before heading over to the Park Blocks to address a crowd of protesters who had gathered at Pioneer and marched to Portland State University to listen to speakers, including Kroger.
Posted by Israel Bayer