When and how did Portland become so liberal? (Sherwood: crime, credit card)

[Trimac20]

Around when did Portland get it's reputation for being liberal, left-wing.etc? And also for being relatively irreligious, at least in terms of Christianity. I saw a documentary on Billy Graham where they say Portland was the most 'Godless city in America' which got me wondering why this should be the case.

Was it the influx of California hippies after the 60s? If so wouldn't it have a lot of New Ager types, moreso than straight Atheists? Or is that the case, more New Age/Eastern religion/Liberal Christianity instead of Atheism?

Was Portland as conservative as say, the Midwest prior to say the 60s? Was it also a pretty racist place? Or has it always been somewhat progressive like Boston?

[SETabor]

Oregon as a whole has always been pretty unchurched. That started with the original settlers who built homes and businesses instead of churches.

Portland and Oregon was very racist and had exclusion laws in the state constitution until 1927. Old habits die hard and while Portland is known far and wide as a liberal bastion there are still undercurrents. Oregon is a very white state and you can still grow up in places without much first hand knowledge of people who are not your race.

[AllenSJC]

I believe it was a historically Republican city, but the kind of Republicanism in Portland was similar to that found in some other West Coast cities such as San Francisco-socially progressive, reformist Republicanism, opposed to political machines and corruption.

Some of the major events in its history include the 1934 waterfront strike, which many Portland longshoremen participated in. They voted to arbitrate, and the arbitration decision improved working conditions, pay, and hours. Also, organized crime was big in Portland in the 1940s and 1950s, so it wasn't immune to corruption.

There are some other factors that should be looked at:

1) Portland, as its name suggests, is a big port city, which means that a lot of different people from different cultural backgrounds came to it. Such cosmopolitanism generally breeds a rather socially progressive atmosphere.

2) Oregon has had many Republican state officials in its history, but like I said before, they were often left-leaning on social issues and foreign policy-in fact, there was one Senator in the mid-20th century who was a Republican AND a Democrat (or Independent?) at different points in his career, and strongly opposed the Vietnam War.

3) Portland in particular has seen a lot of growth in its artistic community, as well as its high-tech economy (the so-called "creative class"). Many of these people are post-graduates, some of them are gay, many are single or otherwise "unconventional" in their family background and marital status. All of this makes the culture decidedly left-leaning, especially on social issues.

I hope this helps somewhat.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Around when did Portland get it's reputation for being liberal, left-wing.etc?

Was it the influx of California hippies after the 60s?

Yes. This is the 100% answer. As the Californians came in the liberalism went up. Same in Washington.

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Was Portland as conservative as say, the Midwest prior to say the 60s? Was it also a pretty racist place? Or has it always been somewhat progressive like Boston?

It was very conservative. Maybe too conservative. It was also racist. It's a litle known secret that this was a fairly racist city in the 1950's and 1960's. I've read some articles about it and it's pretty shameful.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

I remember racist skinheads around Portland until the early '90's.

I would say that Portland's major changes started in the mid to late 80's early '90's.

Until then, it was pretty much a bland Oregon small city.

That time frame is about the time we got "discovered".

[hamellr]

I don't think that people who were willing to uproot their families and travel 2000+ miles across country with a higher then average likelihood of dying along the way are by definition Conservative.

[Kimballette]

Originally Posted by hamellr

I don't think that people who were willing to uproot their families and travel 2000+ miles across country with a higher then average likelihood of dying along the way are by definition Conservative.

I don't think that's the context for the initial question. Political conservatism (social, fiscal, etc.) is not the same thing as being adventurous and seeking out new lands and opportunities, IMHO.

[Nell Plotts]

It was shameful by today's standards but well before the advent of the civil rights laws many community organizations not only fought against that but changed the practices of places that served the public. Back in the 40s the Chapman Grade School PTA held a luncheon at a leading hotel which tried to not serve a Black member. My mother and the other women attending told the hotel that they must serve all in the group or they would make a scene as they left as a group. No more issues with service to Blacks in that hotel. There was not outright segregation but there was discrimination.

Blacks were not the only group to be discriminated against, women were as well in the workplace and in credit. When I married one retailer canceled my credit cards and required that I re-apply under my husband's name. Need I say I didn't patronize them again?

Even then the community was largely un-churched but it is basically main line Protestant. Moderator cut: off topic

Remember that most of the folks who came over the Oregon Trail in the mid 1800s were from Missouri and brought southern attitudes with them which were reflected in early laws.

[AndyAMG]

1. The neo-conservative undercurrent is huge in the metro area, they all just got pushed out to places like battle ground, Camas, Sherwood, Camby Mollalla. etc. You'll find most Oregonians to be moderate or independent whether they think so or not.

2. There are a lot of churches and high membership in the outlying areas. Seventh-Day Adventists and Mormons have a large presence in Portland, they just don't go announcing it to the world.

3. Portland is passive aggressive with it's racism. People will disagree, but Portlanders have always talked out of one side of their mouth about diversity. They want to seem welcoming and not racist. But covertly they try to keep diversity to a minimum. The weather is probably the biggest factor keeping Portland mostly white.

4. It was all the Californians in the 80's and 90's. Now it's the internet, with all these articles about Portland being so weird and livable. Now, every idiot with tattoos piercings and an Art Degree think they have to come here, because everyone here is unique just like them.

5. Ask my grandpa and father or uncles what they think of having a black president or gays getting married. Then ask my cousins and siblings. Its a generational thing, influenced a lot by the media. The city changed greatly in the 70's from ultra conservative to liberal.

[PNW-type-gal]

Portland does most definitely have a pretty ugly past, but the big thing that kept the area from being a huge draw was the lack of a big employer that would attract a wide cross section of people. The shipyards drew people in during WW2, but after the war ended and the Vanport flood took out the biggest section of employee housing, there wasn't a reason to stay, not like the way people stayed in Los Angeles after the war to keep working in aviation and defense.

The "Silicon Forest" tech industry didn't really kick in to gear into the late 70s and even at the height the manufacturing portion wasn't as big a percentage of employment as other high tech areas.