Oregon Senator Lew Frederick Makes a Case for Reparations

If there is anyone in the Oregon vanguard most known for making historic strides in the realm of equality and justice, it is Senator Lew Frederick.

As a leader in the Oregon Legislature for over a decade, Senator Frederick learned the importance of public service as a young man in Atlanta during the height of the civil rights movement.

"It's a requirement from where I came from, where my family came from and what we were involved with," he remembered. "My playmates in elementary school were the sons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition to telling me not to run through the house, Dr. King and my parents told me that while it didn't matter what kind of career I have, my job as an adult was to make things better for people coming up after me. That's been a requirement for me whether I was a molecular biologist, artist, actor, reporter, whatever. That's what has propelled me to stay and whenever I had the opportunity, to step up and do what I can."

Frederick's legislative focus has been reflective of his commitment to justice in education, economic security, public safety and "quality of life" issues for his District and beyond. He has also been an outspoken proponent for law enforcement accountability for more than a decade prior to the high profile murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis, MN. police.

"Back in 2010, when we had the shooting of Aaron Campbell, I had just gotten appointed to the legislature and had a conversation with a group of legislators about what to do about the Portland Police," he remembered. "I began to put together programs and ideas addressing excessive use of force, discipline issues, how you tracked what was going on, how you recruited people, how the case is investigated, etc... I managed to pass bills requiring police body cameras and giving people the right to actually film what was going on because at one time you could be arrested for that in Oregon. We started tracking racial disparities and in response, created bills supporting minority teachers and curriculum that is designed to talk about the contributions of African Americans, Native Americans, Latinx Americans and so on."

His leadership capabilities and problem solving have been put to the ultimate test by the COVID -19 pandemic, which has unveiled systemic inequities and disparities formerly covered up and ignored. "The COVID pandemic exposed real problems that have been there for quite some time," he said grimly. "In addition to the public safety and law enforcement problems that have been exposed, it also exposed healthcare issues, housing issues, education issues, and economic issues."

Much to his dismay, the Senator also discovered that inequities persisted throughout the various response networks set up to mitigate the disaster. "If you recall, the initial money that came in from the federal government went out to folks, but a significantly small number of Black businesses got any of that because in many cases, they were not connected to the banks, which is how the money was dispersed," he informed us. "You had to have a relationship with banks to receive money, so a lot of these people weren't getting any funds. Looking at the numbers, we also discovered that a disproportionate number of people getting ill with the virus were Black and of these, a disproportionate number of affected people also work in the service industry and in the essential workers industry, putting them at even greater risk."

Frederick wasted no time in stepping up to the plate and helping craft a novel response to the 'crisis within a crisis'. "151 organizations and leaders ranging from Pacific Islanders, to Immigrants, Natives and Latinx people stepped forward and said we needed a solution for Black folks. In response, we, in bipartisan fashion, passed The Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief and Resiliency."

As an effort to address racial disparities in the impacts of the pandemic, $62 million of the $1.4 billion in federal COVID-19 relief money was earmarked to be dispersed to Oregon's Black residents, business owners and community organizations enduring pandemic-related hardships.

Approved by State lawmakers last July, the move was not without its fair share of critics and detractors. Arguing that the fund violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by solely benefitting Black people, a class action lawsuit was filed to challenge disbursement of funds.

"Unfortunately, folks who want to divide people as much as possible started saying it was unfair, that they were left out and didn't receive anything like this," he explained. "We made our point really clear, but some of them filed lawsuits. Some of these were dismissed immediately and so they filed another lawsuit which was also dismissed. They then filed a couple more and while we had managed to hand out all but $8 million of the total fund, they froze the remainder which we are dealing with through the courts."

Frederick has since doubled down on his efforts for racial justice and is one of the first to propose a redress of one of history’s most gruesome grievances: Slavery.

"(Senate Bill) 618 really says there is a case to be made for reparations -- that's what 618 does," he said. "(Senate Bill) 619 says if there is a case to made, how that will be done."

"The department shall pay to each eligible applicant the amount of $123,000 in the form of an annuity payable annually for the life of the applicant," SB619 reads. In addition, memorial bill, SJM4 urges Congress to enact legislation to begin the process of implementing reparations for African-Americans based on slavery and discrimination.

"It's time to talk about what has actually taken place with African-Americans in Oregon, how that has affected people and what we should do about it," Frederick stated resolutely. "When you start talking in terms of money, people pay attention. We've had resolutions, we have had days dedicated to these issues but when you start talking about the kind of redlining that has taken place or the fact that people haven't had enough money to start a business or send their kids to college because they couldn't get loans or their homes were destroyed to build a freeway, a hospital, a coliseum, it becomes clear that these people deserve some compensation."

Despite omnipresent hurdles and challenges on freedom road, Frederick is encouraged by the strides made by people of color in Oregon who now hold positions of power in ever greater numbers. "Someone recently told me if you aren't sitting at the table, you are on the menu," he said with a laugh. "We have a BIPOC caucus that has 12 people in it and we are now at the table, making it clear that we are demanding changes. 3 African-American men are in the Senate and 9 minority folks are in the house including 5 Latinx leaders, a Native American Woman, Tawna Sanchez who is from my district and a female Vietnamese Representative, Khahn Pham. When you get 12 of us, you get a caucus who have decided to do something and things can change."