![]() In this whitewashed world, Portland-Oregon's largest city then and now-was known as one of the most segregated cities north of the Mason-Dixon line: the law barring blacks from voting in the state wasn't revoked until 1927. The Klan's influence could be felt everywhere, from business to politics-the Klan was even successful in ousting a sitting governor in favor of a governor more of its choosing. It was commonplace for high-ranking members of local and statewide politics to meet with Klan members, who would advise them in matters of public policy. In the early 1900s, Oregon was a hotbed of Ku Klux Klan activity, boasting over 14,000 members (9,000 of whom lived in Portland). Its lack of diversity fed a vicious cycle: whites looking to escape the South after the end of the Civil War flocked to Oregon, which billed itself as a sort of pristine utopia, where land was plentiful and diversity was scarce. Until 1926, it was illegal for black people to even move into the state. When Oregon was admitted to the United States in 1859, it was the only state whose state constitution explicitly forbade black people from living, working or owning property within its borders. Portland's whiteness is often treated more as joke than a blemish on its reputation, but its lack of diversity (in a city of some 600,000 residents, just 6 percent are black*) stems from its racist history, of which Vanport is an integral chapter. But the intangible remnants of Vanport live on, a reminder of Portland's lack of diversity both past and present. city to make the list. In the park's northwest corner sits Force Lake-once a haven for over 100 species of birds and a vibrant community swimming hole, now a polluted mess. Around the lake stand various signposts-the only physical reminder of Vanport City. It's spaces like this-open, green and vibrant-that make Portland an attractive place to call home recently, it was named one of the world's most livable cities by the British magazine Monocle-the only U.S. Spread across 85 acres, it houses nine soccer fields, seven softball fields, a football field, an arboretum, a golf course and Portland's International Raceway. "It is almost a physical impossibility to throw 20,000 people out on the street."Īlmost-but not, the city would soon learn, completely impossible.ĭelta Park, tucked along the Columbia River in Portland’s northern edge, is today a sprawling mix of public parks, nature preserves and sports complexes. "The consensus of opinion seems to be, however, that as long as over 20,000 people can find no other place to go, Vanport will continue to operate whether Portland likes it or not," the 1947 Sunday Journal article explained. But, as one resident put it, the colored people have to live somewhere, and whether the Northwesterners like it or not, they are here to stay."įaced with an increasingly dilapidated town, the Housing Authority of Portland wanted to dismantle Vanport altogether. True, this is a high percentage per capita compared to other Northwestern cities. In a few short years, Vanport went from being thought of as a wartime example of American innovation to a crime-laden slum.Ī 1947 Oregon Journal investigation discussed the purported eyesore that Vanport had become, noting that except for the 20,000-some residents who still lived there, "To many Oregonians, Vanport has been undesirable because it is supposed to have a large colored population," the article read. "Of the some 23,000 inhabitants, only slightly over 4,000 are colored residents. In a city that before the war claimed fewer than 2,000 black residents, white Portland eyed Vanport suspiciously. Built in 110 days in 1942, Vanport was always meant to be a temporary housing project, a superficial solution to Portland’s wartime housing shortage. At its height, Vanport housed 40,000 residents, making it the second largest city in Oregon, a home to the workers in Portland's shipyards and their families.īut as America returned to peacetime and the shipyards shuttered, tens of thousands remained in the slipshod houses and apartments in Vanport, and by design, through discriminatory housing policy, many who stayed were African-American. The mere utterance of Vanport was known to send shivers down the spines of "well-bred" Portlanders. Not because of any ghost story, or any calamitous disaster-that would come later-but because of raw, unabashed racism.
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