At Our Children Oregon our mission is to be a voice and a force for the common good of all Oregon children and youth. To achieve this mission, our state must remove systemic barriers and embrace, celebrate, and maximize the potential of all children and youth. An Oregon where all children reach their full potential is a place where race, ethnicity, national origin, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and geography do not predict outcomes for children. We believe every child and youth in the state deserves to grow up happy, healthy, and safe.
We know that many children in Oregon are growing up in a world based on a foundation of white supremacy that was intentionally and systematically built to deny them opportunities. Oregon’s legacy of racial exclusion and disinvestment in communities of color has caused great harm to many children in our state. Biased decisions, both past and present, continue to create inequitable outcomes for children and youth, and Oregon’s racist legacy lives on in many of the policies, practices, attitudes, and cultural messages our children experience today.
Our Children Oregon’s staff and board continues to deepen our understanding of systemic racism, implicit bias, and white-supremacist culture all of which continue to have detrimental impacts on children of color and their long-term success. We are committed to centering racial equity in our work as we deconstruct racism and exclusion in our internal policies, practices, and processes. We commit ourselves to deep listening as we work to balance the urgent imperative of dismantling racism with the intentionality and thoughtfulness needed to not cause further harm.
The future our children deserve is possible. Through solidarity, collaboration, and collective action, we can advance racial equity to build an Oregon where all children thrive.
