Every week in Salem, people are discriminated against for being homeless, having a disability, being LGBTQ+ and for their race.
That’s according to this year’s community belonging survey conducted by the city’s Human Rights Commission and Western Oregon University, which surveyed over 800 Salemites about their experiences with discrimination, including slurs, feeling discomfort, intimidation and physical assault.
One third of housed respondents and 91% of unhoused respondents said they’ve personally experienced discrimination in the past year. Fifty-five respondents identified themselves as unhoused.
“It indicates that Salem has a lot of work to do, in terms of bringing more folks of more diverse backgrounds into the community and into this sense of belonging,” said Joaquín Lara Midkiff, a commission member who leads community engagement. “And I think we’re on the right track, we’ve laid a lot of foundation.”
Respondents took the survey online between April 23 and May 15 of this year. It was limited to adults who live or work within 20 miles of Salem, and was completed by 821 people. Some of the surveys were done in person at community events, and it was offered in English, Spanish and, for the first time, in Marshallese and Chuukese.
Survey organizers sought responses from marginalized communities in particular, and the results are not reflective of Salem’s general population. The commission’s goal is to help determine where and how discrimination is happening, with the aim of guiding city policy to help people feel safer and more welcome in the community.
“This is one way that’s helpful for us to really contour that conversation to more identifiable, specific numbers and ground us in that conversation in a more robust way,” Lara Midkiff said.
This is the sixth annual survey on discrimination in Salem.
According to this year’s survey, discrimination against people for their housing status happened the most frequently, with 60.3% who experienced it saying it happened daily or weekly, followed by mental disability and weight or body type.
The most common form of discrimination respondents personally experienced, witnessed and heard about in the past year was based on race, color and national origin. Around 70% said they’d witnessed or heard about it in the past year, and 32% said they’d experienced it.
“It’s undoubtedly the most racist place I have ever lived in my life. The racism is so overt, but covered by a veneer of white saviorism that is painful,” one respondent wrote.
This year’s survey took a closer look at the experiences of unhoused Salemites and people’s comfort level with the Salem Police Department.
Unhoused Salemites
This year, 82% of unhoused respondents said Salem had poor to failing levels of discrimination. That’s up from 59% who said that last year.
“They say ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover’ but people look at homeless people and do that all the time. They look at us like we are bad or lazy or criminals,” one respondent wrote.
In previous years, homeless Salemites have reported being urinated on, Lara Midkiff said, and some have been assaulted. Last July, a teenager beat 64-year-old Russell Mikolas, who was homeless, to death.
“We are seeing this sense of increasing anxiety and uncertainty, of feeling like they are in peril because of their status,” Lara Midkiff said.
Most often, unhoused residents reported discrimination happening in public outdoor spaces, like parks, or in businesses. They also reported discrimination when seeking health care and at government offices.
Gretchen Bennett, Salem’s homeless liaison, said she couldn’t point to a specific reason why more unhoused people rated Salem poorly this year as opposed to last.
The city is limited in its ability to address some types of discrimination, like drive-by insults, which are protected free speech. But she said knowing when and how it happens can help shape future solutions.
Bennett said the city plans to try to address the issue, including by holding a public information summit later this year to address misinformation and misunderstanding about homelessness.
In 2022, survey findings led to city policies such as amending city code to make it illegal to discriminate against someone seeking to rent housing or get a job because they are homeless. Bennett said the city is working to spread the word among the homeless community that they’re part of a protected class.
“We added housing status into our code as an identity, that you shouldn’t discriminate against a person based on their status as an unsheltered person,” she said. “We want to know and hear about when these incidents happen so we can do what we can to address it.”
Police
Over two-thirds of unhoused people said they weren’t comfortable reporting bias crimes to the Salem Police Department, compared with 41% of housed people.
LGBTQ+ respondents, especially genderqueer, non-binary and transgender people, were less comfortable reporting bias crimes than cisgender, heterosexual people.
A significant number said they were concerned about police inaction, according to the survey summary.
“We have a broken criminal justice system in the United States, and for a lot of folks, men and women in uniform are the most visible personification of that system. And there’s a lot of distrust, and a lot of that is well-earned through violent and carceral histories in the United States, and I would even go as far as to say especially Oregon,” Lara Midkiff said.
He said the commission has begun to work with the Salem Police Department to improve training on trauma-informed engagement with people of different backgrounds.
“There’s no easy solution, because you can’t repair damage inflicted over generations in a few years, with a few surveys or a few community gatherings,” he said, but that every step is important.
“One series of events is not going to cut it. It’s everyday work, it’s work in the moment,” he said. “I’ve found folks in the police department to be open.”
Bennett said the police’s homeless services team has focused on developing relationships, and hosts a monthly gathering with homeless service providers to talk about issues and answer questions.
The study recommends continuing to promote the Human Rights Commission and the state bias crime hotline as alternatives to calling the police. It also recommends evaluating the department’s current inclusivity training, and programs where police volunteer at homeless shelters and LGBTQ+ spaces “to lessen the ‘us/them’ perception.”
What’s next
Lara Midkiff presented the survey findings to the Salem City Council during its meeting on Monday, July 22.
The commission will work on its set of recommendations before presenting them to a new slate of city councilors early next year.
“That’s different from years past. Years past, we’ve had our little slot and said our little spiel, and then we’re carted off,” Lara Midkiff said. He said City Manager Keith Stahley has been welcoming to the commission, and invited them to present twice.
The recommendations in the study are not final, but include improving partnerships with the Salem Police Department, health care providers and government offices to raise awareness and improve sensitivity to issues of discrimination.
Another recommendation is to do outreach at the Salem Public Library and public parks, which were highlighted in the study as settings to build community and belonging. Around 6.5% of respondents said the library was important, and that they supported efforts to keep it funded.
“Create more spaces that welcome everyone and allow us as a community to be together. The library is a perfect example of a place where I see all of my neighbors from a variety of backgrounds getting their needs met. I don’t have to pay to be there and that makes it easy to simply exist. We need more places like the library,” one respondent wrote.
For anyone who wants to help improve belonging in the community, Lara Midkiff said that Salemites can familiarize themselves with existing city resources, and advocate for one another.
“It means listening, listening, listening. Always listening to folks and their experiences, and being open to changing our minds and to opening our hearts,” he said.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.
A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE.
Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.