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Nobody on a forum knows if the OP didn't get hired based on racial inequity. To not have a discussion on race just perpetuates the problem. People on this board generally avoid the discussion of race. I find that the forum represents a majority of Portlanders in real life. It is rare that I meet people here that are comfortable discussing race. People like to make extremely racist comments in certain situations,Wink...Wink...in private. It's like living during the 1950's. These are my personal observations but I am entitled to them. Yes, I am a mixed race person whose father was a non practicing Jew. I have learned over the years to hear"code".
How come most "Liberal Meccas" have less than 10% black population? I know we're about 12% of US but most of the US is not liberal so we should actually have a higher percentage in "progressive cities". Lived in Dallas for 4 years and returning to TX wouldn't feel forward.
Seattle is a white city with a black homeless problem and that makes being black in Seattle embarrassing and uncomfortable sometimes. I can't afford most Seattle neighborhoods/suburbs anyways. I'm a city guy (30, single, no kids, educated). I think I will end up in Sacramento, small but the black pop is 16%. I really like that number.
Cheers,
Most of the "liberal meccas" are on the west coast and the west coast has always had a small black population. Numbers didn't really grow until WWII when there were a lot of jobs that needed to be filled and people migrated from the south and midwest. Because the numbers have always remained low it hasn't drawn large numbers of black people to move here.
Asian populations are much larger because family members moved here (as in west coast) either early on for labor jobs (Chinese) or during refugee periods (VietNam, Korea, etc), then sponsored family members. Immigrants in recent history have been sent to a variety of places where there is already a community and sometimes it's in a really odd place. Watch the Boys of Sudan, where they stick them in I believe Syracuse where they totally don't fit it and try to learn to adapt. Some do fantastic and some really struggle. BTW, (since you mentioned Ethiopians) Portland has a large number of ethnic Somali and Somali Bantu refugees which has likely added to the black population a bit but obviously they're culturally very different than the average black American. The ethnic Somali and the Bantus hate each other which adds another twist.
Latino population is large in part for obvious reasons--i.e. the Latinos and Native Americans were here before the rest of us, particularly in CA.
All the immigrant groups experienced racism. The Chinese had it the worst at first and then of course things filter down to whatever immigrant group started appearing next. WWII Japanese had horrible experiences with the camps. I think west coast history is different in part due to the historical reasons people started coming--land grants, gold rush, etc. And of course they didn't give land grants to a lot of black people in the 1800s so mostly white people moved to the west coast.
If you like the PNW I think you'll find Sacramento not so great, but that's just me.
Also, I assume by using the term Negro you're being sarcastic. Otherwise that's a bit F'd up.
I believe both hamellr and minervah. Its just that people like myself can't help but wonder if we're hurting our chances of getting hired when checking the African-American box. I guess it's racial paranoia.
I understand how you can feel that way because when I was out there looking for work and I felt extremely qualified but was turned down, I couldn't help but feel I was facing ageism. But maybe that wasn't the reason and the competition was just more qualified. Who knows? Portland isn't any different than any other city in that respect.
Years ago and I am talking about the 60's and early 70's I was turned down for jobs because they were considered to be "men's jobs." In those cases there was no doubt about it. I was told to my face that was the reason. But at that time it was so ingrained in society that no one even thought of it as discrimination. That was back in the big city of Chicago where one would think people would have been more enlightened.
I think there is racial discrimination and gender bias still today but it is not as overt as in the past. So it is difficult to say what is at play in a given situation. But when you see certain trends, like the one I described in my other post, where people of a certain age group are continually being turned down for jobs, you know there is a bias.
Since Portland has a reputation of being such a liberal city, people don't like to think that there is any kind of discrimination here. But human nature being what it is, no one can give anyone guarantees they won't run into it.
How come most "Liberal Meccas" have less than 10% black population?
Because most black people are social conservatives and actually shun the things white liberals like. 12 years of interacting with black kids of all socioeconomic backgrounds while in the Air Force taught me that. Most black people would be the perfect republican if they were white. You dicecobb are more of an exception and a minority within black people when looking at the entire black population of the US.
I was surprised how many black people (26-30 something I know personally) are adamantly anti-gay, anti-arts (other than rapping), anti-illegal immigration, and pro Jesus. I find most of them that thought that way came from AL, MS, LA, GA, VA and TX. They would constantly talk crap about Mexicans and say really racist horrible things to Mexicans. Things that if a white person said to a black person would get them fired or excommunicated. I found it quite ironic. I will say black troops from the west, midwest, and northeast rarely if ever said things like the ones from the SE and TX did.
I don't know how many times I have heard "Don't do gay s&!t around me" or would casually throw the word "F#G" around like it was nothing. "Speak f^$#@ English" was a common thing heard at the taco truck in the morning and it wasn't white rednecks saying it.
Now granted the US military dosen't bring out the best and brightest from any race, but I was quite shocked after getting to know black people better.
Hopefully you find happiness in Sacramento. I don't believe you will, but that's your best bet.
Last edited by AndyAMG; 12-22-2013 at 11:44 PM..
Reason: us military disclaimer
I frequently have to wonder how often a huge number of problems are exactly that. "When you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." For the same reason I can't tell you racism never happens, you can't tell me it always happens.
Nobody on a forum knows if the OP didn't get hired based on racial inequity. To not have a discussion on race just perpetuates the problem. People on this board generally avoid the discussion of race. I find that the forum represents a majority of Portlanders in real life. It is rare that I meet people here that are comfortable discussing race. People like to make extremely racist comments in certain situations,Wink...Wink...in private. It's like living during the 1950's. These are my personal observations but I am entitled to them. Yes, I am a mixed race person whose father was a non practicing Jew. I have learned over the years to hear"code".
Yankeemama, this is some real stuff! I've never lived in the 50s but seeing whites and blacks sitting on opposite sides of the light rail in Seattle reminded me of the era.
Most of the "liberal meccas" are on the west coast and the west coast has always had a small black population. Numbers didn't really grow until WWII when there were a lot of jobs that needed to be filled and people migrated from the south and midwest. Because the numbers have always remained low it hasn't drawn large numbers of black people to move here.
Asian populations are much larger because family members moved here (as in west coast) either early on for labor jobs (Chinese) or during refugee periods (VietNam, Korea, etc), then sponsored family members. Immigrants in recent history have been sent to a variety of places where there is already a community and sometimes it's in a really odd place. Watch the Boys of Sudan, where they stick them in I believe Syracuse where they totally don't fit it and try to learn to adapt. Some do fantastic and some really struggle. BTW, (since you mentioned Ethiopians) Portland has a large number of ethnic Somali and Somali Bantu refugees which has likely added to the black population a bit but obviously they're culturally very different than the average black American. The ethnic Somali and the Bantus hate each other which adds another twist.
Latino population is large in part for obvious reasons--i.e. the Latinos and Native Americans were here before the rest of us, particularly in CA.
All the immigrant groups experienced racism. The Chinese had it the worst at first and then of course things filter down to whatever immigrant group started appearing next. WWII Japanese had horrible experiences with the camps. I think west coast history is different in part due to the historical reasons people started coming--land grants, gold rush, etc. And of course they didn't give land grants to a lot of black people in the 1800s so mostly white people moved to the west coast.
If you like the PNW I think you'll find Sacramento not so great, but that's just me.
Also, I assume by using the term Negro you're being sarcastic. Otherwise that's a bit F'd up.
First, I didn't mean to offend anyone in using Negro. African-American is inaccurate for me and black has too many negative connotations in the English language. Negro sounds organic and hip to me, I don't know why.
I will have to research your examples but all was very well-stated.
I frequently have to wonder how often a huge number of problems are exactly that. "When you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." For the same reason I can't tell you racism never happens, you can't tell me it always happens.
How come most "Liberal Meccas" have less than 10% black population?
Because most black people are social conservatives and actually shun the things white liberals like. 12 years of interacting with black kids of all socioeconomic backgrounds while in the Air Force taught me that. Most black people would be the perfect republican if they were white. You dicecobb are more of an exception and a minority within black people when looking at the entire black population of the US.
I was surprised how many black people (26-30 something I know personally) are adamantly anti-gay, anti-arts (other than rapping), anti-illegal immigration, and pro Jesus. I find most of them that thought that way came from AL, MS, LA, GA, VA and TX. They would constantly talk crap about Mexicans and say really racist horrible things to Mexicans. Things that if a white person said to a black person would get them fired or excommunicated. I found it quite ironic. I will say black troops from the west, midwest, and northeast rarely if ever said things like the ones from the SE and TX did.
I don't know how many times I have heard "Don't do gay s&!t around me" or would casually throw the word "F#G" around like it was nothing. "Speak f^$#@ English" was a common thing heard at the taco truck in the morning and it wasn't white rednecks saying it.
Now granted the US military dosen't bring out the best and brightest from any race, but I was quite shocked after getting to know black people better.
Hopefully you find happiness in Sacramento. I don't believe you will, but that's your best bet.
Andy just spilled the beans, folks. My father could be Clarence Thomas' twin. Because of Negro America's voting record, one would believe they're liberal minded but it's really not the case generally speaking. The Black Church (I'm a son of a pastor) is a reason for this and another is lacking education. Liberals tend to be more educated than conservatives. So, maybe Rush Limbaugh is correct in saying we're on the "democratic plantation". Negroes are voting for a party they don't truly identify with. Conflicted and confused is Black America. It answers my question and I admit your other examples are realistic. It's a shame though.
I am an exception *pause* like Django!
Last edited by dicecobb; 12-23-2013 at 04:55 PM..
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