Tai Harden-Moore Is Running for Office in the Center of a Battle Over Anti-Racism in Schools – Willamette Week

In few places in Oregon are cultural politics as toxic as in Newberg, where the school board in September banned displays of Black Lives Matter symbols and Pride flags.

Tai Harden-Moore traces the fracture to her unsuccessful bid to serve on the school board in 2020.

Harden-Moore, 41, a diversity and inclusion consultant, moved to Yamhill County when she returned to Oregon in 2015 because renting a house in Portland was unaffordable for her family.

On Nov. 30, she announced shes running for office againthis time for Yamhill County commissionerwith priorities to tackle the homelessness crisis, the economy and the lack of access to good-paying jobs in Yamhill County. But in Yamhill County, any bid for elected office means a confrontation with the Newberg School Boards racist and homophobic policiesthe states most prominent example of conservative panic over critical race theory.

We asked Harden-Moore what she makes of the political outrage Yamhill County has sparked in Portland.

WW: Is there something in particular that inspired your run for office?

Tai Harden-Moore: I ran for school board in the last election cycle, and I lost that election, and weve seen the repercussions of that loss with the Newberg School Board and the racist and discriminatory policies that theyve put forward, banning Black Lives Matter and Pride symbols. And that was a direct result, I think, of my loss.

But I was very committed to helping this community, to addressing the issues that need to be addressed in this community. This is my home. And, as a Black woman, I have just as much right to say what I like and what I dont like about the community I live in. Im going to do something to fix it.

How did your loss result in this?

The other candidates ran as a slate of Save Our Schools. And the question continuously was: Save our schools from who? And [the answer was] from them, those women of color, those outsiders. And so there was a lot of drama around my run, and folks were tearing down my sign, saying that I was un-American, I was unpatriotic and things like that based on nothing more than the fact that Im just a Black woman. And so a Black woman living in Newberg and Yamhill County, they felt I could not be patriotic, could not be a proud American, which is completely untrue. My father was a veteranhes buried in the national cemetery in Washingtonso thats not true.

And that really did help me make the decision to make this run because those people cant have the loudest voice.

Whats the most alarming thing to you about the decisions that have been made by the school board?

I think the potential illegality of it. There hasnt been a legal decision made yet on the policy or the firing of the superintendent or any of the things going on in Newberg.

Have you experienced a change in how youre treated in the community because youre a Black woman?

Newberg has not been a completely unwelcoming place to me because Im Black, but it hasnt been a completely welcoming place either.

My primary concerns were always for my children. And my son left the district at his request because he was called the N-word in seventh grade and just felt like he wasnt able to make real connections with friends. He was kind of boxed in by teachers. Hes an athlete. So he was the Black athlete and no one wanted to see him as any more than that, but hes also a brilliant student who gets straight As now that hes at another school.

Is there anything hopeful for you about whats happening around the school board or the high school?

Were not this racist place where nobodys welcomed here. Thats not Newberg. If it were, I wouldnt live here, but thats the narrative thats being pushed by some folks that dont like Black Lives Matter.

You mentioned surviving cancer: What does that experience mean you bring to elected office?

Im actually currently still in treatment. Im in treatment for stage IV metastatic breast cancer, and will be in treatment for the rest of my life. Ive been in treatment for four years [as of Nov. 30], so the launch date of the campaign was not by accident.

I had cancer in law school and it didnt stop me, then why would it stop me now?

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Tai Harden-Moore Is Running for Office in the Center of a Battle Over Anti-Racism in Schools - Willamette Week