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Mayors pledge to fight discriminating laws JACKSONVILLE -- Three of Jackson County's 11 mayors have signed a proclamation against discrimination sponsored by the Jackson County Human Rights Coalition. The proclamation -- a commitment by city governments to prevent the kind of discrimination that took place in the state's history -- has been signed by Jacksonville Mayor Jim Lewis, Ashland Mayor Cathy Shaw and Medford Mayor Lindsay Berryman. The sponsor of the proclamation, Dan Portrait of Medford, says he will present the document to mayors or city councils in Central Point, Talent, Phoenix, Eagle Point, Shady Cove, Rogue River, Gold Hill and Butte Falls. The Proclamation in Acknowledgment of Historical Discrimination calls for city governments to "keep an eye on future policies" to avoid the mistakes of the past. It comes on the 150th anniversary of the Oregon Territories, where early legislation included a law forbidding people of African decent from residing, or even passing through, the territories. Discrimination continued across the state over the next century. In the 1920s, Oregon's Ku Klux Klan was the largest Klan group west of the Rocky Mountains and targeted people of color and Catholics. In the 1950s, some Oregon cities still had laws prohibiting minorities on the street after dark, according to the proclamation. "The lingering effects of this history combined with present-day discrimination continues to harm people of color and limits the quality and dignity of all our lives," the document reads. The mayors sign a promise to "acknowledge the injustice of such historical exclusions, and recognize how this legacy of discrimination can today inflict pain." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA