The Story of African Americans and Other Nonwhites in Portland, Part II

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Yesterday, I attended a wonderful museum bike tour where we visited the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center that displays the history of Japanese internment camps in Portland. And later we visited the Oregon Historical Society, and saw the All Aboard: Railroading and Portland’s Black Community exhibit, which is running through April 21st. As we looked through these exhibits of past acts of discrimination that Oregon committed, including institutionalized segregation, there was some discussion as to how it’s had a ripple effect to today. One person joked that it’s hard to tell that Oregon isn’t segregated today, as Portland is so…

February 24, 2013

The Story of African Americans and Other Nonwhites in Portland, Part I

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Since I moved here three weeks ago, and even when I visited, I noticed the dirth of ethnic diversity in central Portland and in the close-in neighborhoods. So I decided to investigate why this may be and found a great resource in Carl Abbott’s book, Portland in Three Centuries, the Place and the People, published in 2011. Below is the story of the nonwhite population of Portland, with an emphasis on the African American story, based on Abbot’s book. I will publish it in two parts. This is part I. In the 1860s, Portland’s African American population grew from…