african americans in salem (Portland, McMinnville: school, college, taxes)

[robertamac]

Hi;
My husband & I are investigating retiring in the Salem Area.
He is African American, I'm of english heritage.
We've enjoyed an open a liberal lifestyle in California.
Will we find a community like that in the Salem area?

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by robertamac

Hi;
My husband & I are investigating retiring in the Salem Area.
He is African American, I'm of english heritage.
We've enjoyed an open a liberal lifestyle in California.
Will we find a community like that in the Salem area?

No, I'm afraid not. Oregon didn't start to develop a colored population until after WWII. Prior to that, various exclusion laws made it illegal for people of color to live in many communities. They were generally referred to as "Sundown Laws", because it was illegal for a colored person to be inside the city limits after sundown. During WWII, the barriers started to come down because many blacks moved into Portland to work at the shipyards building Liberty Ships. However, even into the 1950s, a Chinese man was not allowed to open a Chinese restaurant inside the city limits of McMinnville. He then started a very popular restaurant outside the city limits. Forty years later, when McMinnville finally annexed the area around his restaurant, he sold the restaurant and moved, rather than pay taxes to that town.

The exclusion laws went the way of eugenics laws, first by being ignored and then by being written off the books. By the start of the '60s, everyone had pretty much forgotten about that inconvenient little skeleton in the closet, but Oregon still didn't have much in the way of a minority population. I went to school with several Indian kids, but I had never even met an African-American until I started college.

That's the social substrate you will be moving into. There are more minorities than there used to be, but not that many in Salem. You probably won't encounter much racial hostility. People will just be confused and not know what to make of you. If you are outgoing and friendly, you will probably get along OK. If you are shy, I would expect you to get socially isolated.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[bobmulk]

I live in Salem. The biggest minority community we have is hispanics. There's also a relatively large Russian population. There are few blacks. I have a dear lady friend who is African-American. I asked her about meeting people. She said it's harder than the South, obviously, but she loves it here. I disagree that people will be confused or not know what to make of you. We're not Neanderthals. There will always be the moron who hates; that's a given. However, people in Salem and Oregon generally treat people well. If you're friendly and outgoing, they will respond in kind.

If you come to Salem, welcome!