Does Oregon have more racial issues than most?
 

I'm planning a trip to Oregon as everyone says it's just beautiful. However a friend of mind said something that kind of surprised me.

He said that Oregon has a lot of areas that are not very friendly if you are a minority. Maybe I'm now sensitive to it, but I've also heard the samething from two other people who have been there. It's not blatant, but they say there's a certain vibe.

Well, seeing as how I'm asian, that put a small cloud over the trip. Still going and I'm thinking they're exaggerating, but I thought I'd ask.

Are there areas to avoid?

I just wonder what the "vibe" coming the other way was.

I have lived in Oregon all of my life. I have never heard much racism through the valley (Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene). I know it exists, but I haven't heard much of it. I now live in Eastern Oregon (very rural) and there is quite a bit of racism towards the hispanic population that we have, but over all, everyone is friendly towards each other. I don't think it is any worse than any other place. The Portland area is very friendly and open minded. Enjoy your trip!

Yes, it is beautiful here and most people are extremely friendly. Oregon is quite large and most of the population is on the western half. I don't know the percentage, but we have quite a few Asians here. Of course, it goes along that most are in the more populated areas such as from Portland down through the valley. I have several Asian friends here and they have never said anything, so I don't know. But I do know that I have not heard anything negative either. Come and enjoy, and see for yourself:)

Depends on where you are going. In the larger towns and cities you should have no problems.

There are lots of Asians who go to college in Oregon and remain afterwards to work.

Portland should be pretty friendly.

The Pacific Northwest is more conservative than California, but it's not likely they will attack you or anything like that! LOL! It's just that they will be more reserved.

You shouldn't have any problems! Do enjoy Oregon! It's a beautiful state! :)

Thanks for the replies.

Of course I don't expect anything really dramatic to happen, but was curious about the outlook there toward minorities.

Anywyay, we'd be mostly in the "touristy" areas anyway, but will be driving through Bend (that's about as far east as we'll be going).

Any issues in that area?

No. Bend is a very friendly town with a young, active feeling. Great place to visit.

no, I think your fears are ungrounded.


and I live here.

Oregon is a very white state, but outside of certain rural areas (the ones you'd find in any state), it's also a very tolerant state. Portland just elected the nation's first openly-gay mayor of a major city, and the state voted heavily for Barack Obama in Tuesday's primary.

I personally don't think you have anything to worry about.

Oregon is probably one of the most racially tolerant states in the nation. Of course, it is one of the whitest. Even the city of Portland is very white.

Not being Asian I can't reply with any "minority issues" however Bend is pretty sophisticated so I think you can put your fears aside. Hope you have time to spend some time there enjoying the environment. My daughter Kristin was riding up the ski lift on Bachelor this winter with a Japanese girl whose eyes lit up when she spoke Japanese with her. So I guess there are nice people and some who aren't.

When I lived in Oregon (20 years ago, so keep in mind my data is old) it seemed to follow the sort of usual pattern of cities being more liberal/progressive and tolerant of differences of all sorts, while some of the rural areas were much less so.

I was so surprised at some of the racist comments I heard in some rural places in Oregon in the 1980's that I talked about it with various people who were native Oregonians. Several of them told me that at one time (back in the 20's I believe) Oregon had the largest KKK membership, per capita, of any state in the union. Hence the KKK evidently had some real political clout in Oregon in the 20's - Governor Pierce, for example, was elected with the support of the Klan, and while he was progressive on many issues, in 1923 he supported the Alien Land Law, for example, which prevented Japanese and Chinese immigrants from owning land in Oregon.

So anyway, I think some of those historical attitudes still lurk at some level with some people - just like they do many places. You can encounter ignorant, close-minded people anywhere. But most Oregonians, in my experience, are friendly and quite progressive.

There was a time - now past IMO - when southern Oregon - Jackson and Josephine counties in particular - were referred to as "Little Dixie," a term you still hear occasionally. It came from the differing patterns of settlement in the 19th Century - northern Oregon (Portland and Astoria in particular) being settled by "State of Mainers" i.e. from the US northeast; the Willamette Valley settled by Easterners and Midwesterners, and southern Oregon settled by people from the Southeast and Appalachians who came for the timber industry (having been involved in the same industry in Georgia and other pineland states in the South.)

Oregon very nearly joined the Confederacy, according to some accurate and not-so-accurate accounts. There's a great urban legend about several legislators who would have tipped the balance in favor of joining the Confederacy being tied up by Unionists in order for them to miss the vote. Probably bogus, but a great story anyway.

So there is <i>some</i> truth in saying the culture of some parts of the state having been more Southern than Yankee up to the middle of the last century, maybe later. There certainly was a reputation for redneck attitudes in those areas (as well as parts of Eastern Oregon) in the 1960s and 70s, but people were pretty confrontational in those days, so most likely more hyperbole than fact.

Whether that translates into prejudice today is pretty doubtful. There's no question the northern and coastal parts of the state are very liberal. There are way more Hispanic folk in Oregon than black or Asian, and it would not be accurate to say that the state is exempt from ethnic tensions regarding immigration and related matters.

hi seeingthesights,

i am asian too married to an english man. we went to visit oregon about 2/3 yrs ago per the recommendation of fodorites and i didn't feel any racial tensions at all. we only visited portland and the columbia river gorge area then back through washington to astoria and cannon beach. i never thought once that there were any wierdness from oregonians (is that the correct way to say that?). I love oregon, indeed a most beautiful state. Wish to come visit again very soon.

&quot;More racial issues than most?&quot; No, probably less in fact. Take cover though if you broadcast that you're from California and planning to move here! ;-)

I can only say that there are Japanese Gardens and Chinese Gardens and a Chinatown in Portland as well as Vietnamese and Thai restuarants, all owned and run by Asians, there is a nice community of Asians from what we saw..my son lives in Japan and he thought it was a very Asian friendly atmosphere... we are now the proud parents in law of a beautiful Japanese girl :D

I never noticed &quot;racial&quot; issues of any sort in our travels around Oregon...Portland is one of the most welcoming and tolerant cities for Everyone, not just race but everything else too..

Hope this helps put you at ease...

NorCal is correct. Oregon had a vibrant KKK in the 20s. At that time, Oregon had a very strongly white, Protestant population of English bloodlines which led to a strong anti-Catholic sentiment. The national KKK of the 20s was nearly as anti-Catholic as it was anti-black and, in Oregon, with few blacks to dislike, the KKK had more members who despised or resented Catholicism. Remember, the great immigration period of 1880-1914 was of very recent memory.

Very interesting feedback. My guess is that perhaps some who knew of Oregon's past let it influence them unduly in forming opinions about why some people acted &quot;unfriendly?&quot;

Perhaps they saw racism when the real reason was that they just happened to run into grouchy and unfriendly people.

Just jumping in here with my two cents. We live in Seattle - but have spent lots of time in Oregon - we vacation there as often as we can. I have lived all over the US - California - the midwest - New England and the South (Georgia). I have been in Seattle for 12 years and they will truly take me out &quot;feet first&quot; as my mother would say :) However, something that is a bit different about this part of the country - is that people are more &quot;to themselves&quot; - they are warm and kind - but they don't come off as vivacious as they may in other parts of the US. This could be perceived as indifference - or dislike - but I just think that it is in line with a more introverted personality that can prevail in this neck of the woods.

It would be a shame to miss out on what will likely be a wonderful trip for fear of running into racial tension. If I were in your shoes I would make the trip for sure, and if you experience any &quot;cold shoulders&quot; just chock it up to the independent nature of folks up here and don't let it get you down.

Just my thoughts. Have a wonderful trip!

A very little known fact is that Eastern Oregon and Idaho had, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, more Chinese who settled there.

A relatively famous pair were Doc Hay and Lung On (at the bottom of the article):

http://gesswhoto.com/beginning.html

The Chinese, as a group, were not able to increase their communities because they were prohibited from owning land and from marrying white women. Very few Chinese women came to the US.

The Chinese who came to work on the railroad and for the gold rush later scattered to many parts of the West but their descendants are mainly to be found in the big cities and along the coast.

If anything remains of those Chinese communities, it's in small museums scattered across the West.

Perhaps your friend himself/herself has memories of those discriminatory days or knew someone with memories of those days.

If in your travels around Oregon you chance across one of these museums, it might be interesting for you to visit one. :)