TRIMET OFFENDS READERS/TRANSIT RIDERS

TriMet has put their foot in mouth with putting clearly racial language in "our" faces, that is offensive and intolerable. For those that don't know what I'm talking about there is a new proposal concerning revamping the fare system. For those who had chosen to read these sets of posters. The posters in question shows a heading of "A,B,C,D" as the title. Go to the "C" column and read that paragraph. It says, "Our region has changed dramatically since "fareless square" was first introduced in downtown Portland back in 1975. We no longer have the air quality issues that prompted the creation of the freefare zone, and our transit system has expanded significantly. Service has improved in the suburbs, where communities of color and low-income populations have become more concentrated. While free transit has become a hallmark of Portland's tourist-friendly city center, Trimet aims to provide equitable service throughout the region and the free tail zone is a benefit exclusive to downtown Portland and the Lloyd district."

This is blatantly offensive to some of "us", even though "we" all should be offended by such derogatory statements about "us" and "our" riders in all of the communities "we" serve. Last I checked talking about people's ethnic backgrounds left with Jim Crow. What next, are they going to make statements about sexual orientated, gang, drug, "those-people" communities, where does it stop????? "We" all remember "The back story", http://atu757.org/backstory.html (written by Mr. Hunt), about correcting the perception of racial (sexual, etc.) inequality at Trimet. This is the 2nd time this type of language has reached "us" employees. What I'm saying is that "we" need to come together and create "real" change on a day to day level, "we" have "our selves" to carry the torch. "Our" issues are valuable to "us" and "we" need to be heard.