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Portland Mayor Charlie Hales issued a statement this afternoon on a police shooting and resulting protests in Ferguson, Mo., saying the racial violence shows why it was important for the city to hire an outside consultant to host a diversity seminar for white men only.
"The training, called White Men as Full Diversity Partners, was controversial to some but understood by many," Hales says in his statement. "But this week's headlines provide just one example of why such training is vital."
WW reported in June that Hales, his male staff and command staff from the Portland Police Bureau would attend a 3½-day seminar in July that a city document says is "designed to help white male personnel learn how to react to issues in a white male-dominated culture." The training cost $56,000.
In July, the mayor's office told media that the costs included hotel rooms and food at a golf resort near Mt. Hood. "I'm told there is some golfing between many hours of classes," a mayoral spokeswoman told WW.
Police staff who attended the seminar testified that it changed their perceptions of how their white male culture affected their decisions.
Here's the full text of Hales' statement today.
WWeek 2015