racism in portland and other stuff for newcomers (Salem, Hillsboro: house, employment)

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by Smiled

(in one year alone Californians files over 150 lawsuits against the city of Florence)

This I have to see.

You guys are all storytellers.

P.S. I agree we should charge SoCal immigrants oh, say, $10K or so.

Well, I read it in the Oregonian some years ago. It was a full feature about the influence of Califormians when they fled California and the "influence" they had in places like Montana, Utah and Oregon. Florence was highlighted in the article.

Sadly, it's no "story". It's true.

I mean, I may get my facts mised up now & then, but not this one.

[carolinajack]

the OP started the thread about racism here and yet never actually talked about it, wonder why? i still dont know what invasive plants have anything to do with racism or californians.

btw op, Oregon has a long history with segregation, look up the history before starting a thread.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by carolinajack

the OP started the thread about racism here and yet never actually talked about it, wonder why? i still dont know what invasive plants have anything to do with racism or californians.

btw op, Oregon has a long history with segregation, look up the history before starting a thread.

I came across this a couple years ago as I was beginning my research into Portland and the Pacific Northwest:

This documentary chronicles the little known history of racism in Oregon and the moving story of people, both black and white, who worked for civil rights. There are moments of highly disturbing racism in a state not known for diversity. But there are also moments of inspiration and courage as people take a stand to bring about important change.

http://watch.opb.org/video/1593884540/

[ColoNative]

Although I don't agree with it, the analogy of removing non-native plants refers to trying to exterminate things that are deemed not from around there / don't belong.

It's not just Oregon, most if not all the western states try to remove non-native plants. Here in California I tried to grow pampas grass. I like it, it's tall and nice. I get a hard time, and the city encourages its removal because it's not native to California. They want to remove all non-native plants...except palm trees. God forbid they remove the palms, even though they aren't native to CA. I finally got rid of the grass and planted another non-native species lol. I want to go to the southeast and get some kudzu and green this place up.

And yes Khyron, early in Oregon's history there was a policy that excluded blacks from entering the state. That was a long time ago and couldn't possibly impact modern Oregonians thought processes (except maybe a few fringe groups). I know of two skinhead groups in SE Portland, but they are small and not representative of the population at large. Not even close. I've found Portlanders to in general to be race blind. Even as an outsider (sort of, I have California plates) I get no friction. Give them a chance and don't look for clues of racism. If you expect it, you'll just be unhappy.

[carolinajack66]

when i lived in portland before in the 90s, I was a member of Oregon Uniting. a group that works on battling racism by seeking reconciliation through dialogue. It was interesting to learn of the history of the state giving us a clear understanding of the behaviors we were experiencing day to day, b ut also in helping to understand where we have common ground and work to change things in ourselves first and then in society.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

As a touchy "native" Oregonian, perhaps I can offer some enlightenment.

Oregon used to be a very (and I mean VERY) conservative state. We were also independent and progressive (first bottle bill in the nation...). We had a stable economy and it was (and is) a beautiful state. We all had a chip on our shoulder.

Then, during the late 1970's and in to today, the mass emigration from California began. Very liberal, very selfish, very litigious (in one year alone Californians files over 150 lawsuits against the city of Florence, a small coastal town that averaged about 2 per year. Virtually all were frivolous, but it's what Californians do. The town had not the money to defend against them, so they defaulted on almost all...) Anyway, as the forest industry dried up (partially thru years of land abuse/poor management and partially thru lawsuits and activism from the newly arrived hosts, the state went from one of staid and stable conservatism to a gradually poorer economy and extreme liberalism that really rubbed natives the wrong way. We have come full swing to a state run by special interests. In the meantime, they brought big money and forced housing prices from very low to southern California out of control... neighbors were sued for things like having trees that blocked mountain views, bushes that blocked a sunset... it just pissed people off. There’s a great story from a few years ago in the Oregonian about a family that moved to Portland from socal and a neighbor across the street from them had a nice, old tree, but it blocked their view of Mt Hood. One day, in front of numerous people, the father and his teen age son calmly walked across the street and drove a poison stake into the tree. They didn’t bother to hide it. When authorities were called, they just glibly denied it and eventually the tree was removed. They made it clear that if it were replaced, they would sue. Another famous example regards a house built in the National Scenic Columbia River Gorge Area (drew nationwide attention, and I was personally involved in). A contractor from California moved to the gorge area and wanted to build a house in the designated federally protected area. Piles of red tape. Anyway, he submitted all the proper plans- one story only (he stated there might be a small loft added, but that would require approval if he did so and he agreed), had to be set back 150’ or so from the cliff…. All kinds of stuff. So the construction started and he began building a 3-story house on the cliff- he just flat out lied in all his plans he submitted and made no effort to hide it. The feds made him stop and demanded he trim the house down and move it back to where it was supposed to be. He ignored them and filed a series of lawsuits, but the feds refused to back down. In the end he got what he wanted all along and was very laughed about how lying all along got him what he wanted. He became a poster boy for all natives bout what they disliked the most about Californians.

So people who have lived thru this transformation get real touchy about non natives. And, of course, the vast vast majority of the Californians are wonderful people one would want as neighbors. But the transformation was pretty swift and therefore people who couldn't handle change as well as saw their state go from one extreme to another over about 12 years and thereby lose their voting power have never really forgiven the Californians. It's unfair, but that's the story. And, of course, people now unfairly blame almost everything on the emigrants. I suppose it’s easy to do.

What does any of this have to do with racism?

[docwatson]

How is a guy building a home in violation of environmental laws related to "liberal Californians"? Usually, conservatives want to give the guy the right to do anything he wants with his land - build a few more houses and cut all the trees down if he feels like it (unless, of course, they live next door and are of the wealthier conservative type). On the other hand, liberals would be accused of preventing the poor guy from building his dream home, all to save some view or some silly endangered flower!

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by khyron

I came across this a couple years ago as I was beginning my research into Portland and the Pacific Northwest:

This documentary chronicles the little known history of racism in Oregon and the moving story of people, both black and white, who worked for civil rights. There are moments of highly disturbing racism in a state not known for diversity. But there are also moments of inspiration and courage as people take a stand to bring about important change.

Local Color | OPB Specials | PBS Video

I saw that. The Oregonian also has stories it every so oftern. Portland does have a fairly deeply racist history. It was kept very quiet. Do we still have race issues? Well, any big city (and I mean every big city) has them. But overall I think we're not one of the more racist cities.

[docchance]

Interesting discussion, this. I am a native Californian - something that used to be a source of pride, but no more. I left 20+ years ago for the politics and overall narcissism and entitlement that has grown up around what was once a laid-back culture. I will never defend what many Californians have done to many states - OR, AZ, CO, NM, and others.

My reason to stumble in here is a question about racism. I am planning a move to Portland, after having lived in a number of states where I found the levels of racism and segregation to be unacceptable (my CA upbringing was quite the opposite of this). After earning one of those 100% fraudulent degrees (I am an ND), I want to settle someplace where this is accepted, people are friendly, and culture is integrated in a way that makes life interesting. Portland has long called me, and now that it's time for me to set down roots, is where I want to live.

Comments?

Thank you!

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

So people who have lived thru this transformation get real touchy about non natives. And, of course, the vast vast majority of the Californians are wonderful people one would want as neighbors. But the transformation was pretty swift and therefore people who couldn't handle change as well as saw their state go from one extreme to another over about 12 years and thereby lose their voting power have never really forgiven the Californians. It's unfair, but that's the story. And, of course, people now unfairly blame almost everything on the emigrants. I suppose it’s easy to do.

Most of the California in-migration prior to 2000, except for the hippies, was people who were white, educated, middle class and would be indistinguishable from Oregonians living in Wilsonville, Beaverton or Clackamas. The "oh" only came up when asked your place of origin, and you could see people's reactions.

There is really no racism in PDX. It wouldn't be cool. They deal with it by ignoring you, be it Mexican, Russian or Ethiopian. I think it's a little better for the kids of those parents who went to school in the area. The typical power broker in PDX went to Wilson/Lincoln (those public Presidential schools in SW) or Jesuit HS, and then goes to UofO or OSU, has parents who did the same, and then benefits from that nepotism.