Oregonians show strong interest in black history, advocacy

As protests over police brutality and systemic racism continue, there is evidence of increased support among the mainstream public.

Experts say that the mainstream public is looking for more information about racism and equality with renewed interest as protests continue nationwide.

Kezi 9 news reporter chris lueneburg has a look at signs that public opinion is changing in our community.

Nats though only open in a limited capacity-- j.

Micheals books can't meet demand for anti-racism titles.

"how to be an anti- racist is one of the titles.

White fragility.

Me and white supremecy."

From histories to childrens books-- owner jeremy nissel is keeping a waiting list.

"many people are just on board now with fixing the racism problem in this country and that's why they are looking for this material."

He hopes to have enough copies to meet demand by the end of the month.

"while many hope to learn about racism at a societal scale, experts say that local histories can be illuminating too-- but many of those stories aren't well represented."

The lane county history museum says oregon's white pioneers are glorified in history class-- but the community wants a more representative history including communities of color.

"if we can circle back and look deep into our history i think that we can understand that it's not just a matter of making reperations for this moment, but its generations of reperations."

Oregon state university associate professor of political science christopher stout says these are signs that people are becoming more interested in racial politics... he says polls show widespread public support for racial equality efforts.

"people are more concerned about this than they have been ever.

So i think there's an interest that we may not have seen since the civil rights movement in the 1960s."

And people are making an effort to learn.

"it's a good thing that everybody wants those books right now."

In eugene chris lueneburg kezi 9 news.

Looking ahead