Oregon-based Minority Group to Offer White Students Aid: PORTLAND, Ore.— An Oregon group that represents minorities plans to offer scholarships for White college students to study race relations and help champion issues important to minorities.
“I want to reach White students because I believe the more the majority is involved in our conversations and in our work, the more we are able to get to solutions,' said Promise King, executive director of the Oregon League of Minority Voters.
King told The Oregonian that details for the scholarships are being worked out, but the first are expected to be awarded this spring and will be about $2,000 over five years. Recipients must live in Oregon and can't be of Asian, African, Latino or Native descent.
Whites far outnumber people of color in Oregon, who make up about 20 percent of the state's population. Of the 90 members in the Oregon Legislature, all but three are White.
“The minorities we have in Oregon are not in a position to effect changes,' King said. “The ones in position to effect changes are White.”
Not all minority leaders are comfortable with the scholarships."
