Is there racism in Portland? Well, yes. Racism is alive in every community but because of the civil rights movement there has been remarkable progress in the last 50 years.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was here this week to protest the death of a man at the hands of Portland Police, received in Oregon the highest percentage of white voters of any state during the 1988 presidential election. That was a mark of progress. So was Barack Obama's solid support in Oregon in 2008.
However, a recent report by the Urban League of Portland notes:
...a statewide report on the condition of African Americans in Oregon reveals that black Oregonians remain at or near the bottom of every meaningful social and economic measure. African Americans in Oregon have significantly higher infant mortality rates, are more likely to live in poverty, have higher levels of unemployment, are half as likely to own their own homes and are far more likely to die of diseases such as diabetes than their white counterparts.Institutional racism is still alive. The legacy of slavery and segregation - and remember that segregation just ended within the lifetime of anyone 50 or over - still impacts us today.
But overt and outright hate is still alive today. Looking through blog posts and public Facebook status notes related to Rev. Jackson's visit to Portland this week has shown that. While there have been many supportive comments there have also been a lot of very ugly ones. Take a look at this exchange from one Facebook page:
You've got someone here calling for Rev. Jackson's death and other hateful comments. We have a lot of work to do still in Oregon as we seek to end racism and hatred. This should be a central concern of the church as we are called by God to be a people of reconciliation and justice.Kristi Hudson Golden un-friend me if you want... however... Jesse Jackson needs to get his riot causing self OUT OF OREGON!
