Oregon Student Protesters on the World They Want to See

Photo of the June 2 Black Lives Matter protest in McMinnville, Oregon, with organizer Cecilia Flores at center, by Marcus Larson for Yamhill County’s News-Register.

We cannot create the lives we want in isolation from the world around us. First, COVID-19’s contagion forced us to acknowledge our interdependence. Now, the global protests against police brutality and racism in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police are showing how many people embrace that interdependence. The current Black Lives Matter protests are no longer just Black people; unprecedented numbers of white people are joining to say that if the system doesn’t work for my neighbors, it doesn’t work for us either.

For this post, we’re turning the mic over to three of the high school students who organized the Black Lives Matter protests in McMinnville, Oregon, where Christine lives. McMinnville (affectionately called “Mac”), population 34,000, is 87.1 percent white, which is just slightly higher than the state of Oregon as a whole. 

One reason for Oregon’s whiteness is its racist history. The state passed a series of exclusionary laws in the mid-1800s prohibiting Black people from living there for more than three years, owning property, or entering into contracts. The last of those laws was repealed in 1926, but references to “free Negroes" and "mulattoes" remained in the state constitution until Oregon voters voted to remove the racist language in 2002.

The Mac High students first gathered as a small group in front of the McMinnville Police Department on May 29; then organized a protest three days later that attracted 400-450 people. 

Cecilia Flores, 18, is Mexican-American, originally from La Puente, California, and came to McMinnville in fifth grade. She just graduated from Mac High and this fall will enroll at Linfield University, where she plans to study education.

Kaiya Miller, 17, just finished her junior year. She is white, originally from Scappoose, Oregon, and moved to McMinnville in third grade.

Leobaldo Maldonado, 18, grew up in McMinnville, is Mexican-American, and, like Flores, just graduated and is headed to Linfield this fall; he wants to become a high school history teacher.

Christine spoke with them via Zoom on June 6. The conversation was lightly edited. (A shorter version appeared in Yamhill County’s News-Register.)

How did the protests come to be?

Flores: On Friday of last week (May 29), I stayed up really late with my mom. I was showing her the videos of the protests [nationwide] and the brutality going on within the protests. We went to bed, and I was thinking, “I live in McMinnville, it’s super white here and super conservative. Nobody’s really acknowledging it, or people are moving on with their lives like nothing is happening, as if there’s not this giant movement across our nation.”

I woke up at 10 and I told my mom, “I’m going to the station. I’m going to stand out there by myself with signs that say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ ‘End Police Brutality.’” I don't care if it’s by myself. Before I had signed a few petitions and shared them, but it didn’t feel like enough.

What did your mom say?

Flores: She knows that I’m this really outspoken person. So she was like, “Go for it.” My dad was cool with it too, which was pretty crazy, because he’s from Mexico, and he doesn’t understand just being able to do that. My mom was born here.

“Mac P.D. is a part of the justice system. So they also need to hear what has to be said, even if they weren't the ones who put their knee to the neck.”

I wasn’t protesting Mac [Police Department] specifically. But Mac P.D. is a part of the justice system. So they also need to hear what has to be said, even if it’s not happening here, even if they weren’t the ones who put their knee to the neck.

We had people say mean things. We had some people honk in support, put their thumbs up. Some people screamed, “All lives matter.”

Miller: One guy was asking us, “How do you propose we end police brutality?” It was a good conversation. The second guy that came up to us was like, “I’m super Republican, your classic Trump supporter.” I was nervous. Then he offered us his opinions and we offered our opinions, and he asked us about everything we were doing. At the end he was just like, “Keep doing what you're doing, and standing up for what you believe in, and defending your way of life. Even though I might not agree with you, you should still stand up for yourself.” It was really cool.

Flores: I posted it on my Instagram that I was going out there. I was actually quite hesitant to post, because I didn't want people that follow me to use it as an excuse to riot or get riled up or turn this into something else. So I posted it very last minute and then everyone was like, “You should organize something bigger; that would be awesome if you did that.” 

So then we went with it and posted it on our social medias and it just went from there and got bigger.

Miller: The thing that made it the most popular was Kacey [Lee, also a Mac High student] starting a Facebook group for it, because that obviously brought our older audiences – moms and all that. Our advisor told us that a business [Pizza Capo, a McMinnville restaurant] closed for an hour so all their staff could come down to the protest. I was like, “Wow.”

Flores: That's so cool. I didn't even know that.

Leo, when you first got the text from Ceci, what went through your head?

Maldonado: I was like, “Ooh, that's not really that safe.” Because I know Mac is a very conservative town.

Are there experiences that you’ve had that made you fear something would happen?

Maldonado: When my mom and my sister went to Walmart, they were talking in Spanish, and this lady started talking about how in America they speak English and to go back to their own countries.

I’ve seen people change the side of the street if I’m coming up next to them. I get mean stares sometimes just for being somewhere. I’m not scared for my life; I just feel like I’m not trusted because of my skin color.

Flores: It was really easy for people to get away with racism at our high school. I’ve had stuff said to me; like I was going to walk home and it was raining and they’re like, “Oh, it’s raining, Brownie, what are you going to do? Your skin color is going to wash off.”

That just made me rethink when Leo said that. So that’s why I was like, “O.K., let me invite some friends.”

Did you plan a second protest because you were happy or dissatisfied with the first?

Maldonado: A little bit of both.

Flores: I was going to go back out there by myself again. I just didn’t feel like Saturday was enough; I felt like there was a good response, but I felt like it wasn’t enough. I still feel like Tuesday wasn't enough.

We’re trying to figure out our next step, because we’re new to all of this. This kind of happened out of nowhere and it feels wrong to put a protest on and then just go back. You’ve got to keep the momentum going.

Kaiya, tell me about when you first heard about it.

Miller: My parents are also pretty conservative; I never talk about politics with them or else I end up getting in trouble or it just turns into a screaming match. So I was like, there's no way I can ask my parents about this; but I want to go really badly. But I was really scared to ask my mom. Finally I was like, well, the worst thing she'll say is no. I went outside and I was like, “My friend Ceci's asking me if I want to go do this little protest with her outside the library and the police station.”

I didn't really ask permission. I was just like, “I'm going to go do this.” She was like, “O.K.” She was super supportive, so that was a pleasant surprise. My mom made me bring mace, which was smart, I guess.

“It was super fun and fulfilling. It was like an activism high.”

We went and it was super fun and fulfilling. It was like an activism high.

So you had a mix of interesting conversations and some people driving by yelling?

Flores: Or they would rev their engines and peel out like they thought that was scary, I guess. They even went to the extent of calling us retarded. On Tuesday we didn't get any of that because there were so many people.

Maldonado: There was one lady that drove by screaming “All lives matter.”

Miller: On Saturday, there was one lady stopped at the red light and she was yelling something which didn't look angry, so I thought she was yelling something supportive. The light turned green and she drove towards me and she said, "You're wasting everyone's fucking time."

Flores: Someone told us to get a job.

What do you wish for McMinnville out of this?

Flores: My first goal was: McMinnville needs to wake up and look at what's going on around the world and around the country. Now people are forced to talk about it, because it's like a giant elephant in the room.

Now I want accountability here in McMinnville. I want people to be called out when they are being racist or when they are being inconsiderate or bigots. That's what needs to happen next here in order for real change to happen.

Miller: The [McMinnville School District] superintendent was asking us what we think needs to change in schools, and Ceci brought up how teachers need to be held accountable for calling out racism in classrooms. That should be a responsibility of teachers.

“Obviously this stuff isn't being taught at home. So it's time to bring it into the schools.”

Flores: Obviously this stuff isn't being taught at home. So it's time to bring it into the schools. It needs to be taught here: We have freedom of speech, but when does that speech become hate speech? 

I moved here for fifth grade and I didn't see a teacher of color until my freshman year [in high school].

Maldonado: Racism is an elephant in the room. We don't like to talk about it, because it brings up memories of our past. Slavery is still on the mind of the modern-day American; I heard someone refer to it like “the sins of our past.” 

When someone makes a snarky remark because I'm Mexican or someone makes a snarky remark because one of my friends is Asian, it doesn't feel great. I really hope that we can get a conversation starting about how we can make people feel a little bit safer. At school you're supposed to feel safe. Right? Some people don't and that's really sad.

Miller: I want to make racism less of a political topic and more like a topic that can be discussed as what it is, and not danced around. Because there are a lot of political aspects about racism, but I feel like it's way less political than it is just a human right or a civil right. I want a happy medium where people like my mom and myself can discuss it freely. 

Kaiya, what have you learned about how to be a good ally?

“In the past week I've learned more about how to be an ally than I have my whole life.”

Miller: In the past week I've learned more about how to be an ally than I have my whole life. I'm trying to use my privilege as a way not to shield people of color, but defend them or be an advocate, I suppose, for when people that maybe are white and uneducated say something snarky. As another white person, I can be like, “Shut up. That's not right. You can't say that.”

What do you want to say to your fellow McMinnville residents, who are mostly white and older than you?

Flores: I would say this isn't a political thing. This is not a religious thing. This isn't about sexuality or race. It's just honestly a human rights thing, like people should be treated equally regardless. If you cannot deal or handle that, you need to check your heart.

“It sucks that we're still fighting for the same things that many past generations have fought.”

Maldonado: I would have thought that maybe they would have figured it out since they've been here for a way longer time now. It sucks that we're still fighting for the same things that many past generations have fought. 

Has this experience changed or shaped your aspirations?

Flores: I already had in mind to become a teacher at McMinnville High School because I just want to be one of those teachers where it's like, okay, she's a teacher and she's a woman and she is of color. So students can have someone like me to help them. To be a role model.

Doing this motivated me even more. A lot of what happened this week is because of awesome teachers that helped me and showed me: Don't ever back down, you can accomplish anything. Having really amazing educators is what did that. I just want to do the same for another kid.

Anything that a particular teacher said to you?

Flores: Ms. [Erin] Brisbin, my history teacher. She said, “Don't ever stop speaking what's right. No matter how uncomfortable it makes people feel, no matter how much people are against it, just do not stop.”

That has stuck with me, and just knowing that she believes in me. I know my mom and my dad believe in me, and my friends, but knowing she believes in me stood with me even more.

Maldonado: I want to teach and instill those same ideas that my teachers have instilled in me because all of them—well, the majority of them—have told me everybody's born to do something good in their life, and everybody deserves an equal chance. Being born brown or Black doesn't mean that you have a worse chance than being born white, because we all—we should all—have an equal chance to become what we want to become. 

Flores: A lot of my teachers told me: Get out of that mentality of being oppressed. They never said those words, but they taught me that. I let myself be oppressed by the system and they would be like, “No, don't do that to yourself. You can do this. You can take these A.P. classes. You matter just as much as the white kid next to you.”

That's also what drew me to [want to] become a principal. At first I was just going to be a teacher, but I was like, I'll be a principal too after a few years.

Miller: I want to go to Southern Oregon University and major in musical theater. Say I grow up and I'm on Broadway; I want to be an outspoken, activist role model for kids growing up or people my age. That's my goal.

After so much that's happened this week, it's stuck out to me even more. This is something that I have to do, as the white person; I have to be this advocate because there are so many white people that don't care enough to. I want to be someone who really speaks to something I want to stand for.

How have the global protests and calls to fight structural racism affected your thoughts or ideas about creating the life you want? Tell us at hello@thelifeiwant.co.