OREGON – Portland kickstarted on Thursday, August 3, a local hate crime documentation and response system, giving community groups grants with the total amount of $350,000 to document incidents.

“The city cares about the very diverse community that we have. We want to send a message that we’re trying to build an inclusive, safe community where everybody can live and thrive,” Linda Castillo, immigrant and refugee integration program coordinator of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, told Portland Tribune on Thursday, August 3.

The city initiative, called Portland United Against Hate, is now accepting applications for $350,000 in city grant money, which will be divided among 10 winning organizations by late September.

The groups will be expected to design and pilot recommendations for a hate crime documentation and response system.

Having city support is very promising for groups that already have been doing this work, says Shweta Moorthy, a research analyst for the Coalition of Communities of Color.

“This isn’t really due to Trump’s election in November — we’ve worked so long just fighting institutional hate and reports of violence on an everyday basis for a long time,” Moorthy says.

The initiative followed a spike in hate crimes targeting Muslims and immigrants.

Last May, two good Samaritans, 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and 53-year-old Ricky John Best, were stabbed to death by 35-year-old Jeremy Joseph Christian  on MAX train after trying to stop him from harassing two young teens.

Muslims in Portland, Oregon, have thanked the community for its support and said they were raising money for the families of the victims.

Tracking System

The Southern Poverty Law Center and ProPublica document hate crimes nationally, and local officials are keenly aware of that.

The initiative is not an attempt to replicate these groups’ work, says Michelle Rodriguez, management analyst for the city Office of Neighborhood Involvement.

Although the pilot project is being funded by grant money from the city of Portland, the city will not collect or control the data yielded from the documentation and tracking systems.

Rodriguez thinks this added layer of privacy will make people more likely to thoroughly report instances of hate and aggression.

“Considering the climate right now, we’re really concerned that people won’t answer,” Rodriguez says.

Officials from Portland United Against Hate are adamant about ensuring representation of as many marginalized communities as possible.

“We’re not going to fund nine organizations that all serve the same community,” Rodriguez says. A tenth organization will be selected to analyze the data.

Portland United Against Hate officials want to select organizations that are going to work for the representation and protection of all communities affected by hate crimes.

“It’s OK to be narrowly focused. If your organization only works with the Latino community, don’t pretend you work with everyone else. Focus on that strength,” Rodriguez says.

“But you will be working with other organizations. You can’t have blinders on. The strength will be around the coalition and the collaboration.”