Portland State Magazine Fall 2010

Murphy's personal and professional experiences convinced him that Oregon's social programs must be overhauled to eliminate racial disparities, and that people of color must be involved in designing new systems. "What happens mo,e often than not is that we run on Euro– centric tracks," he says. "It is not just overt racism. Whoever is at the cable when social policy is made, gees to shape chat social policy." Simmering prejudice Being born to well-educated, middle-class activist parents all but determined chat Shelli Romero MPA '01 would go to college and become a successful professional. And so she did. Romero's now a commissioner on the Hous– ing Authority of Portland Board, vice chair of the Portland Parks Board, and a public policy and community affairs manager for the Oregon Department ofTranspor– tation. Romero, 42, acknowl– edges that an advantaged childhood and her fair skin have protected her from hard-core discrimi– nation. Still, she's expe– rienced feeling less than welcome as a Latina in Multnomah County, most recently in the battle over renaming a Portland city street for Cesar Chavez. ''I'd go to public meetings and some of the things I'd hear out of people's mouths were just disgusting, hateful," Romero says. "Ac times, it made me disappointed Male African American role models helped Kory L. Murphy excel while growing up in Portland. and ashamed to live in Portland. It also gave me more drive and passion to do what's right." Equity and social justice are tied to income. People of color are more likely than whites to be among the poor and working poor, Romero says, and those who are stuck in poverty are at a lifelong disadvantage. Removing the financial aid and admis– sions barriers that keep undocumented immigrant students ouc of universities could chip away at generational poverty and boost the economy, she suggests. "We need a work force that these kids in a lot ofways cannot be a part of. We have all of these kids who are not contributing co the tax base in the way they could, and who aren't paying tuition the way they could." ■ Paige Parker is afreelance writer based in Portland. Shelli Romero took part in the renaming of Portland's 39th Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. FALL 2010 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 11