Is portland a welcoming city for blacks!!! (West Linn, Troutdale: crimes, unemployment)

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

I think that both the article, and citing it as an example of whether the city is welcoming to blacks (as the OP asked), are both very misleading. While specific census lots have fewer "people of color" (as classed on the census) and more whites, the overall numbers have grown city-wide. All it is saying is that neighborhoods that held historically more "people of color" have decreased their numbers. People are living wherever they please in the city, rather than grouping into a few neighborhoods. How can that possibly be seen as a bad thing?

Sorry, Enrico, that isn't quite true. Oregon has lost black population, period. When I was researching prior to my move (2009) blacks were 3% of Oregon's population. Now they are 2%. Most of that loss has been from Portland. Some of the blacks that left Portland moved elsewhere in Oregon but most left Oregon entirely, for Georgia or other south-eastern states.

H

[Nell Plotts]

Atlanta has a strong community of Black intelligentsia and business men/women. Spelman College is highly regarded. We don't have a comparable community... for any ethnic group .. unless high tech or athletic apparel is your field.

If I were a young, smart, ambitious, and Black would I attend any NW university if I could attend Spelman? No way!! Stanford, UC Berkley, Cal Tech.. maybe.

[Minervah]

Two of my African American friends moved to LA for better job opportunities. They were both well educated, ambitious women who felt Portland just did not hold the opportunities for them that a larger city like LA offered.

[Nell Plotts]

Hey, my well educated, ambitious daughter did not consider Portland because of lack of opportunities too, and she is white. She is in the Silicon Valley.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Hey, my well educated, ambitious daughter did not consider Portland because of lack of opportunities too, and she is white. She is in the Silicon Valley.

I know some white young people who left Portland for that reason too. It's a problem for many young people here.

But my African American friends just felt that being black was an additional hinderance in getting what they were looking for should anything be available.

[Nell Plotts]

Not if they are applying for positions at Portland's larger employers. They are playing on an even field. I know, I used to run the numbers. However, competition from a skill standpoint is fierce without regard to race.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Nell Potts

Not if they are applying for positions at Portland's larger employers. They are playing on an even field. I know, I used to run the numbers. However, competition from a skill standpoint is fierce without regard to race.

Well I think that is true but this is how they felt. I know the large companies I have worked for had African American people working there as well.

I can't really say why they felt that way but that was their perspective.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Minervah

Well I think that is true but this is how they felt. I know the large companies I have worked for had African American people working there as well.

Of course there are African Americans living and working in Portland but... how many? Given Portland's size and the appallingly small number of blacks living here (less than 30,000, the unemployment rate for African American's should be zero. Instead it is 3x what it is for whites... ... given the percentage of the population that African Americans are, there should be 64 black CEO's of Fortune 500 sized companies. There are four. The institution I work for has one African American employee... me. There should be at least a half dozen or more. Not even the janitors are black. They are ALL hispanic. This is why black people leave Portland, leave Oregon. Level playing field? What level playing field?

H

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Sorry, Enrico, that isn't quite true. Oregon has lost black population, period. When I was researching prior to my move (2009) blacks were 3% of Oregon's population. Now they are 2%. Most of that loss has been from Portland. Some of the blacks that left Portland moved elsewhere in Oregon but most left Oregon entirely, for Georgia or other south-eastern states.

H

What I wrote is true. I quote from the article "Statewide, the nonwhite population climbed from 16 percent in 2000 to 22 percent in 2010." You're speaking of black population only. The article is just talking about "non-white" and that is what I said in my post. The article cited doesn't address that specifically, so I have no idea the accuracy of those numbers.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

There are four. The institution I work for has one African American employee... me. There should be at least a half dozen or more. Not even the janitors are black. They are ALL hispanic. This is why black people leave Portland, leave Oregon. Level playing field? What level playing field?

H

Let me ask you this, what do you think Portland needs to do to be more open to African Americans without increasing the gang problems that are unfortunately associated with the population?

I'm seriously curious. My interactions with the African American community in the Portland area are rather limited.

One was my boss at the company I was working at. He was highly educated and very effective at his job, but had transferred within the company from Florida. He stated that he personally never felt any racism against himself, but his wife considered Portland very racist.

Another, at the same company, was constantly bugging the boss (above) to hire her full time (she was a contract-to-hire and wasn't very good at the job.) She would also turn every single conversation to a racial one and would constantly accuse people of being "racist," over the slightest comment. When her six-month contract was not turned into a permanent one, she sued the company for racism and caused several years of lawsuits.

I dated a lovely African-American girl for a couple of weeks, but she found a guy she liked better.

A few guys who ran in the same circles I did were heavily involved in drug running and throwing illegal parties in random North Portland homes. Underage drinking, drugs, and prostitution were common at those parties. Two of them were eventually arrested, the other had been shot in a gang fight and finally got some sense into his head and went back to college. Not sure what happened after that.