Is Conflict a Distraction From BLM and Portland, Oregon's Racist Legacy
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Is Conflict a Distraction From BLM and Portland, Oregon's Racist Legacy
Oregon has an ugly history of anti-Black policies -- some written in the state's constitution up until 2000.
While protestors and federal officers have continuously clashed outside a federal courthouse in Portland, others are pointing to this being a distraction and a continuation of the ugly legacy. Some Black leaders say the Black Lives Matter movement is being co-opted.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn Providence on Saturday night, a "support Portland" protest had five arrests. All of those arrested were white.
See Timeline of Portland and Oregon's Racism Below
E.D. Mondainé is president of the Portland branch of the NAACP, and says the Portland protests are co-opting the BLM effort.
He wrote in an opinion piece. "Early in his activism, Malcolm X was asked by a young white woman what she could do to help the cause of civil rights. He famously replied, 'Nothing.' Years later, he regretted dismissing her so abruptly, because he came to believe there was much she could do to advance the cause of justice for black people in the United States. But I am quite certain that striking yoga poses nude on the streets of Portland, OR., was not on his list of actionable items."
He adds, "Images of 'Naked Athena,' as the protester has been labeled, have gone viral, her unclothed confrontation with police earning her accolades as a brave ally of the cause. But I see something else: a beneficiary of white privilege dancing vainly on a stage that was originally created to raise up the voices of my oppressed brothers and sisters. In this, she is not alone. As the demonstrations continue every night in Portland, many people with their own agendas are co-opting, and distracting attention from, what should be our central concern: the Black Lives Matter movement."
Oregon’s history of exclusionary laws forced Blacks and other minorities out of the state with the punishment of a lashing. These policies led to fewer minorities in the state to the present day. Experts say the state’s discriminatory past has aided in the lack of diversity. More recently, the "progressive" city of Portland has allowed more and more of its minorities to be pushed further and further out of the city as gentrification exploded.
Portland’s ever-increasing gentrification has caused the poor and minority residents in the region to have among the biggest increase in commute time in the United States. For white and middle-class residents, there is functionally no change.
With fewer jobs in their own neighborhoods, many residents must travel farther for employment, costing them money and time. Some have commutes close to an hour.
“That’s unhealthy—to spend that much of your life getting to or from work. It’s an equity issue, and it needs to be addressed,” said Nick Christensen, former chair of the Lents Neighborhood Association.
Data released by the Brookings Institute in 2015 found that residents in Portland’s high poverty neighborhoods access to jobs within the average commute time dropped by 10.9 percent between 2000 and 2012. Neighborhoods with a minority-majority saw the largest drop by far—a 35.6 percent. It was the second-biggest decrease of the largest metro areas in the United States.
Constitutional Racism
It was not until 2000 that Oregon voters eliminated blatantly racist language from the state's constitution -- one such excerpt removed was "No free Negro, or mulatto, not residing in this state at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall come, reside, or be within this State, or hold any real estate.”
From an act that granted free land to whites but excluded non-whites from claiming land -- even if they had already settled it -- to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in Southern Oregon, the state’s history of racism is long.
The early laws were pushed by racist legislative leaders.
Today, Oregon remains one of the least diverse states in the nation. The lengthy history of racism, coupled with the fact that it took so long for the state to correct its discriminatory laws, is a large reason for the small minority population, experts say.
Today Oregon's population is approximately 87 percent white.
See The Timeline of Racism Below
Portland and Oregon’s Legacy of Racism
1848
Slavery is declared illegal in the Oregon Territory but the state passed a so-called “Lash Law” that required blacks, “be they free or slave – be whipped twice a year until he or she shall quit the territory.”
The “Lash Law” was the brainchild of Peter Burnett, who came to Oregon from Missouri and later became the the first governor of California - and the state’s first governor to resign after criticism from the legislature.
The whipping law was considered too harsh and was never enforced. The punishment for staying in the territory was changed to forced labor.
1850
The Oregon Donation Land Act was enacted by the U.S. Congress to promote homestead settlement in the Oregon Territory. This increased the number of emigrants on the Oregon Trail.
The act granted free land to “Whites and half-breed Indians” in the Oregon Territory. The act also prevented non-whites from claiming land in Oregon even if they had already settled here.
The act resulted in about 3 million acres being claimed in Oregon and Washington.
1848-1857
In 1848, the state passed an exclusion law banning any Blacks or anyone of mixed ethnicity from residing in the state. The law was repealed in 1854.
Another exclusion law, keeping Blacks out of Oregon, was added by popular vote to the Oregon Bill of Rights in 1857.
The law to exclude Blacks received more votes than another constitutional change that would have banned slavery.
An enforcement law for the exclusion, however, was never passed and the 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution voided them.
1862
Oregon adopted a law requiring all "Blacks, Chinese, Hawaiians, and Mulattos" residing in Oregon to pay an annual tax of $5.
If they could not pay this tax, the state made them maintain state roads for 50 cents a day.
Interracial marriages between Blacks and whites were also banned.
It was against the law for whites to marry anyone one quarter or more Black.
The law banning interracial marriage was not repealed until 1951.
1920s
The Ku Klux Klan flourished in Oregon. By the mid1920s its membership was estimated at between 14,000 and 20,000 with numerous sympathizers, who were not official members.
The KKK was very active in Ashland, Ore. in the 1920s.
“While the Klan may have been new to the state, the attitudes and issues it exploited were not. Racism, religious bigotry, and anti-immigrant sentiments were deeply entrenched in the laws, culture, and social life of Oregon, and few Oregonians questioned the Klan's doctrines of white supremacy, “ Eckard Toy of the Oregon Historical Society stated.
PHOTO: Oregon Historical Society
1923
The Oregon Legislature, dominated by members of the Klan, passed a number of restrictive laws. The Alien Land Law prevented first-generation Japanese-Americans from owning or leasing land.
The Oregon Business Restriction Law allowed cities to refuse business licenses to first-generation Japanese-Americans.
Then-Oregon Gov. Walter Pierce, though not a member, was supported by the Klan and promoted the Klan’s agenda.
Pierce won his election to the state’s top position in 1922 with the help of the Klan. He also served in Congress from 1932 to 1942, representing Oregon's 2nd District.
1926
The 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution granting equal rights to all and nullified Oregon’s exclusion law.
But, the state didn’t repeal its exclusion law, amending the state constitution to remove it from the Bill of Rights, until 1926.
In 1927 the Oregon State Constitution was amended to remove a clause denying blacks the right to vote.
Photo: A bill was introduced shortly after the first exclusion law came into effect, seeking exemption from the law for some current black residents
1935-1953
Oregon law officially segregated Mexican students on the basis of being of Indian descent.
It exempted “White Mexicans,” those fair-skinned descendants of the Spaniards who do not have “Indian blood."
The NAACP fought segregation during the 1930s and 1940s and pushed for an Oregon Civil Rights bill that wasn’t signed until 1953, according to the Oregon Historical Society.
The Public Accommodations Bill made it illegal to discriminate in public.
Photo: Lane County Historical Society
1967
Racial tensions escalated into riots in Portland’s Black communities in Portland.
What was supposed to be a movement to galvanize the community turned into a multi-day riot in which residents threw bottles and rocks and damaged property.
Police, who were mostly white, clashed with young residents of North and Northeast Portland, where a large number of Blacks lived at the time.
The riots came during the Civil Rights Movement when Black Americans were fighting against racial segregation and discrimination.
1974-2003
Charles Jordan spent 10 years as Portland’s first African-American city council member beginning in 1974. He also served 14 years as director of Portland's Bureau of Parks & Recreation, retiring in 2003.
The city renamed a North Portland building the Charles Jordan Community Center in 2012. He died in April 2014 of a long illness.
Jordan was lauded for his work with Parks & Recreation.
"Jordan changed Portland’s landscape - under his leadership, 44 new parks and natural areas were added to Portland’s parks system," said city officials.
1984
Portland’s second and last-to-date black city councilor, Dick Bogle, was elected in 1984 and served until 1992.
He died in 2010.
Bogle was also the first African-American TV journalist on the West Coast and and served for years with the Portland Police Bureau before getting elected to council.
Bogle served from 1984 to 1992.
Photo: Maynard Institute
2000
Oregonians voted to remove all racist language from the state constitution, but not until 2000.
Though the discriminatory language was unenforceable due to federal laws and amendments to the U.S. Constitution, it was not until this election that removal of several examples of institutional racism were taken out.
The language included:
"No free Negro, or mulatto, not residing in this state at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall come, reside, or be within this State, or hold any real estate.”
