Portland is too white.
When ever I sing the praises of Portland to my friends who live elsewhere, they tend to say something like, "Yeah, but it's not that diverse. Sure, there are lots of things to do there and all…but it's just very…white." Those of us who live here know that Portland doesn't have the level of diversity of other cities like Los Angeles, Baltimore, or even Pheonix. But a recent article tells it to us plain and clear: Portland is not just very white, it's the whitest city of all. (Sigh)
From an article on chron.com:
PORTLAND, ORE. – Already the whitest major city in America, Portland is rapidly becoming even whiter at its core.
"The heart of the black community is gone," said Charles Ford, 76, a black activist whose neighborhood in Portland has flipped in recent years from majority black to majority white. "There ain't no center anymore."
Cities of 500,000 or more with the highest proportion of white residents.
• Portland, Ore.: 75 percent
• Seattle: 68 percent
• Indianapolis: 67 percent
• Columbus, Ohio: 67 percent
• Oklahoma City: 65 percent
• Nashville-Davidson: 64 percent
• Jacksonville, Fla.: 62 percent
• Phoenix: 56 percent
• Charlotte: 55 percent
Source: Washington Post analysis of 2000 census data
So there you have it. I'm writing this from a relatively new coffee shop in NE Portland on the corner of Shaver and Mississippi, which was in the recent past the core of Portland's black neighborhood. This area, plus the Alberta District and now St. Johns are also going through gentrification. New businesses, remodeled storefronts and homes, are sprouting up – all with mostly white money or loans to white people trying to get an edge in a growing market. This is a complicated issue that I'm not prepared to say I know how to solve. It's just weird to know I live in the whitest city in the U.S.
stumptown girl 
Portland is too white, but I don’t think this has a deeper meaning. Although it has a deeply racist history, I think Portland is a city that genuinely welcomes diversity. The problem is, if you’re nonwhite and you’re looking to relocate, how high on your list does the “whitest big city in America” climb? As my undergrad college (LC), we really scrambled to increase diversity, but the few nonwhite folks we managed to lure–generally not from Portland–felt that they were interlopers into whiteytown. They didn’t wish to be the token nonwhites that made the guilty white students feel diverse. And I think in general, they just wanted to be able to relax in culturally-familiar surroundings–which LC failed to provide. (In fact, as one of the relatively few nonrich students, I had my own issues trying to fit in. I remained friends with a handful of LC students and they are all–shockingly–not wealthy. We tend to coagulate with familiar people.)
In other news: Lagos, Nigeria is apparently 99.9% black. An effort is underway to pay for mass immigration of millions of White & Chinese & Arab people so we can lighten up Lagos a bit. Surely there must be something wrong with that many black people living together, come to think of it, the entire continent of Africa could use some diversifying… Pretty offensive when you put the same shoe on the other foot, isn’t it ?… Hating your own race is still RACISM. I honour my ancestry & would like the opportunity to have kids that look like me & neighbours who share my roots… European people will be a minority in every country in the world in 25 years… That’s called genocide & if you support that, then you are a racist.
Jeff, I think you’re right about Portland being generally welcoming and even nurturing of diversity. I wasn’t thinking about the historical context when I wrote this – and how important that is. And how invisible the history of nonwhites – blacks in particular – tends to be when we stop and consider the social situation here. The “center” of the black community – roughly N and NE Portland – was more or less a forced center as it was the only place that black people were allowed to live following the Vanport flood. So what does it really mean to lose this “center” if it wasn’t intentional in the first place?
Your friends are racist. Do you think I someone was talking to me about Detriot Michgan and I said: “Yeah, but it’s too black. Sure there’s a lot to do there, but it’s very, very black….” Would it be acceptable? It’s ime to be honest and realize the equity here.
Some of my best friends are white
Some of my most racially diverse friends are white!
Lol, no really. Even my non-white friends are pretty “white” in terms of social upbringing and all. I guess that living in the second whitest city in America that should be expected.
I guess the irony is that our area is known for being pretty open and accepting of diversity- maybe it’s because we don’t have any and we want our slice of the pie?
Someone has white guilt
I think it’s a funny thing that white people think that racism is something that only white people can perpetuate. In Los Angeles as a mixed couple (I’m white, she’s an Asian mix), I’ve experienced as much racism from latino and asian (my wife can pass for any number of things) men as my wife has experienced from white men. Thus diversity doesn’t equal tolerance.
In contrast when my wife and I have visted Portland (we’re thinking about moving there) neither of us have experienced racism to any degree. Usually most people look at my wife and try to figure out what she is and then when she opens her mouth and sounds like a blond valley girl they figure it out – she’s a Californian! And from that point on most people are very friendly – which is definately something you don’t usually find in LA.
Consequently, the only people in Portland who seemed to give either of us a hostile glare on occasion were the lesbians. They would check out my wife and then glare at me. Like it’s my fault that she likes men 🙂
In all seriousness though, I think Portland is a very tolerant place although I agree with the assessment that it isn’t particularly diverse (although downtown is better).
I was raised in Portland and upon turning 27 I had enough of it. I am a person of color and have had the oppurtunity (via my work) to travel around this country quite a bit and found for myself that Portland is one of the most racist cities in this country. Now don’t get me wrong much of this racism is not the southern kind where racial slurs are thrown about like baseballs (although the skin head groups which are in abundance in the Portland metropolitan area have no porblems with) but instead the northen kind where ignorance, privledge and presumed superiority seem to be the course of the day. Well actually the course of every day. Tanny above only reinforces this perspective. The ridiculous perspective that we are allready living in a country of equity and justice and therefore that racial observations are equal is one of ignorance, privledge and presumed superiority. Portland has a long way to go before it can acheive the kind of actualization that it seems to think it allready has among its citizenry. The white liberal population of Portland is the most ludicrous of all with their defensiveness about their racism living along side with their white guilt (which only perpetuates racism via lack of clarity and inevitalble backlash for many like Tanny above). If any of you liberal whites living in Portland really want to help to make a change try checking out http://whiteprivilege.com/ for a starter and do some reading (with some of the suggested books) try attending one of the many conferences around this country about this subject and just do the hard work of looking into yourself and then out to find equity and justice for all.
I wonder how ‘tolerant’ Portland would be to a mixed-race couple where the husband is Indian (as in from India) and the wife is Caucasian. We’re thinking moving to Portland for a new job opportunity that has come our way and one of the biggest ‘unknowns’ we’re faced with is the racial tolerance of this city / state.
What’s your point? Should we go out of our way to invite non white people to Portland so we can feel better about ourselves? The same could said about most European cities and the opposite could be said about most cities in the rest of the world. We should embrace the culture and society we have and not compare ourselves to others. Also just having a higher percentage of non white people doesn’t make white people more or less racist. This really isn’t an issue we can’t do anything about.
Portland is a great city with a very low crime rate of only about 20 muders per year, compare that with Detroit that averages almost 400 per year. I wonder why that is? Oh yes its because portland is white and detroit is black.
I belive the term ur lookin for is “Acute caucasianitus” … lol But yea i agree I have white friends an i have black friends, I even have striped friends (skunks lol) an if this country had no black ppl i would NOT want 2 live here… Bunch of stiffs is wat i say I mean C’mon where would all the good music comefrom then??? we would all still be listen to opera.. and all the good games u wanna be seein on the tube… An u can say goodbye 2 penut butter an penut oil.-ole man carver- he did a lot. an even tho im white ma self @ least i no how 2 change a flat tire… lol its just hoo i am…
Portland is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay white…and that is my biggest complaint living here…I used to live in St. Johns and people have this perception that it’s scary out there- I heard it from plenty of liberal whites. Portland has no ghetto and St. Johns is not scary- just b/c there are black people there doesn’t mean it’s dangerous!
My maybe even bigger complaint about Portland is that people are not willing to look at their own racism and want to say that it doesn’t matter or doesn’t mean anything to be the whitest city in America. Are you kidding me????
Eli writes “This is something we can’t do anything about”…well I’m not talking about recruiting black people to live here- but to critically examine how we treat ppl of color in our city- this belief that we are so liberal we can’t be racist disgusts me.
peace all
Doesn’t that 75% include Hispanics?
Racially Portland may not be considered diverse, but in most other ways it is very diverse, for an American city anyway.
YOU DONT THINK PORTLANDS RACIST? ALL MY FRIENDS AND I TELL N1GGER AND G@Y JOKES, WE DONT REALLY HATE EM JUS FIND FIND EM UGLY AND GROSS LOL, LIKE WHATS THE DIFFERANCE BETWEEN A NIG AND A PARK BENCH? THE BENCH CAN SUPPORT A FAMILY. WHY DONT NIGA BABIES PLAY IN THE SAND BOX? CATS KEEP COVERIN EM UP. SOOOO BE PREPARED TOO BE MADE FUN OF AND BE RIDUCULED, THE SPICS IVE MET REALLY HATE NEGROES FOR SOME REASON HERE HUH??????….NEWP
racheal hit it right on the head.
i’ve lived here three months and i’ve already had enough. i had no idea portland was this lacking in diversity. that fact alone, while bad, isn’t the worst part. the worst part is how white people act towards non-whites. i’ve never been stared at, talked down to, and just plain treated badly anywhere outside of portland like i have here.
I am latino and new to PDX. Currently my neighborhood is debating changing a street name to Cesar Chavez. Its seems to me Portlanders have worked hard towards their progressive culture. It also seems like many do no want it threatened by other groups. Yeah it sucks that I get told I “speak English so well.” It also sucks that people are often surprised by my level of education. I have a lot have in common with culture here. I am passionate about the environment, love coffee, think chuck palahniuk is a genius, and enjoy the outdoors. I lived in Chicago, where there are plenty of educated Latinos. So no one was ever “impressed” the same way they are here. I never thought about race before coming to this city. However, I can’t help but feel a chip on my shoulder these days and its not healthy. Although getting past these stereotypes has made it difficult to make friends, PDX is still mega dope.
My part of Portland was even whiter than Portland in general. The 2000 US Census has my town with about 93% white people. In my high school graduating class, Class of 2005, there was a single black person out of about 300 students. To be brutally honest, the lack of racial diversity did cause me to, against my will, have some subconscious racism and insensitivity.
I think I’m with most Portlanders in wishing we had more racial diversity. I just don’t know how that’s going to happen.
Newsflash: the demographics of the U.S. is about 75% white. The only reason other U.S. cities seem so low is because they live in the suburbs, and the minorities live in downtowns.
Portland has an urban growth boundary, that IS the city limits, which limits suburban development.
There is nothing wrong with Portland. It is just more well-balanced.
I don’t understand why people want more racial diversity. What does it do for you?
Honestly if more blacks came to Portland crime would go up and white flight would cause some of our newly gentrified neighborhoods to turn into slums.
Call it racist or ignorance, but its true. I like Portland being white. It’s safe.
I challenge anyone who cries about wanting diversity to go live in Detroit, or Cleveland or Philadelphia, then come back here and beg for diversity. Wont happen.
“Call it racist or ignorance, but its true. I like Portland being white. It’s safe.”
OK, Confused, you’re both racist and ignorant, and misinformed. Citing crime statistics is the biggest red herring in the “diversity” debate, and my fear is that there are more of you out there than folks, regardless of color, who actually have some perspective about the history of race and class tensions, both in our city and in our country. If you don’t understand white privilege, or if you are too scared/dumb/lazy to be introspective about it, then you will never see the ways in which our societal system, established by white people for white people, perpetuates this vicious cycle, which includes poverty, crime and lack of meaningful opportunities. Yikes, I’m very scared for this town…
to the above idiot juno:
typical dribble tripe from the shit-brained guilted white (assuming the moron is white) who successfully pass their white self hate baptismal orientation in the liberal cesspool university
for your enlightenment dumbass there is a direct and unavoidable correlation to a region’s black population and its crime rate, the blacker the city and region the more unsafe it is, the whiter the city and region the more safe it is
facts do not lie only the haters of the white race and their mass herds of guilted white trash who spread the multi-culti-diversity fascist ideology throughout society smear the excrement of their agenda lies where ever they see it can stick
do yourself a favor juno and spend 10 minutes on the internet and see for yourself just how crime ridden and violent the black race is by comparing city by city region by region black and white
but of course facts must conform to the political ideology you have been converted into and so just comparing black and white murder rates and seeing the vast and wide disparity that exists must be explained in some way to protect the black race and blame whitey some how
thank my lucky stars for the internet and the vast freedom it affords to search for truth and not be brow beaten into white guilt submission by some self appointed black race pimp like jesse jackass or some closet marxist college professor eager to see me deny my white racial heritage so that i might become ‘colorblind’
and as far as ‘white skin privilege’ juno you gnat brain why don’t you spend one full hour and read up on american history from 1620 to 1950 (i choose 1950 as the ending point as the beginning of this so called civil rights movement fraud) and see how very little non-whites contributed to the first 330 years of american history, but of course to white hating trash like yourself part of making the white race ‘colorblind’ is to make their history invisible and create it a crime that the majority race both in population and in social contribution have their place and position through some kind of unfair manipulation of class structure, it is ok of course if black people have their own black organizations excluding non-blacks because we are socially conditioned to cheer their ‘race bonding’ by openly excluding non-blacks from participation.
black skin privilege is the one true real unfair and hypocritical racial privilege that exists in this warped society, everytime a black face can check off that little box for his racial identity and go to the head of the line in front of more highly qualified whites —- that is the true skin privilege
if i had my way with you juno dope i would move your stupid ass right in the middle of detroit city and have you experience first hand what it is like (assuming again you are a white face as i might be wrong) for a white to be in the constant presence of wonderful black people, maybe after 3 days you will understand why those whites not having lost their racial identity cannot stand to be around these people when they are in the majority
I am finishing a master’s program in education. Most professors and guilt-ridden white classmates keep stressing the “benefits of diversity”. When I’ve asked for specific examples of such benefits, no one is able to give me one, at least not one that I can’t put holes in. They are usually vague things like “learning to interact with different people” and “experiencing cultural richness”. And no one ever talks about the benefits to non-whites of associating with whites. I guess all the good moves from glorious non-white cultures and people to the bereft whities.
I wonder if people today would expect Japan or Mexico to welcome vast hoardes of people different from themselves, to value those incoming cultures and peoples more highly than their own, and to allow the slow eradication of their own cultural and racial identity in favor of that of others?
Would we expect that of any nation and culture other than the U.S. and Wester European nations?
The thing that may people, especially whites, seem afraid to acknowledge is that IT IS NORMAL TO PREFER YOUR OWN! My Asian neighbors prefer a predominantly Asian community, many blacks prefer the company of blacks, and the huge latino populations in many areas of Southern California make it abundantly clear to whites like me each day that they prefer their own.
What is wrong with me preferring the company of my own people? I have a strong cultural identity, I value my family over the families of strangers (as anyone sane should), and I’ve lived in enough “diverse” towns and cities over the last 20 years to realize that predominantly white areas are usually safer, cleaner, and much more welcoming to me and my family than any others.
By the way, my spouse is Indian (call him Native American and he’ll go ballistic). Loving his own culture does not in any way devalue mine, and vice versa, but the political correctness police would make my esteem of my own race and culture a crime against humanity, while glorifying my husband’s cultural self-esteem, simply because I am White and he is not.
I think that many non-whites really just want us to disappear, but there are still too many of us for them to loudly proclaim such sentiments. Don’t worry, we’re disappearing fast. We will be less than 3% of the world’s population by 2100, according to the majority of current statistics on population and birth rates.
You’ll be rid of us soon enough. Only then, perhaps, will the tragic silliness of diversity policies be clear. When we are gone, who will you then blame for the problems that are happily attributed to us now? At least you will be able to enjoy, for awhile, all that we built and brought to the world. There is much to credit us for, whether you want to admit it or not.
Oh, and please allow me to apologize for my whiteness, and anything that my white existence takes away from the rich and diverse non-white cultures and identities that surround me. I am so very, very sorry…..
All of my black friends have been kicked out of my neighborhood, and luckily I got to stay where I was. Gentrification is happening on Mississippi and spreading like a disease. Take heart knowing that you “unintentionally” stepped over a culture with your grandma bikes, coffee shops, black-rimmed glasses and unwashed hair. Pretending to be poor never felt so good.
Come on be real. Communities with a large white populations have the lowest murder rates in the country. There were like only 20 some murders in Portland. Start using your head. Do some google searches for murder rates by race. Communities with high black and hispanic populations have high murder rates. If you hate it being too white why don’t you move to somewhere like Washington or Los Angeles? I guess you are searching for the excitement of the constant threat of being killed by stray bullets. I wish I lived in a large white community. I live in San Antonio, and the murders in San Anotnio is over 100+ every year. The vast majority of them are caused by the emerging Hispanic population. It is hard to address this issue in America without being called a racist.
And crime statistics are not subject to a racist justice system?
Unequal sentencing for crack versus powder cocaine anyone?!
I’m beginning to think it should be a requirement that all people take a race and ethnicity class. I think you’d have fewer anti-affirmative action whites and a lot more empathy. I always wondered why so few white people (who tell me they care) rarely take these classes. Maybe they really don’t care as much as they say they care. Like I said, white guilt is useless.
Incidentally, the latest news is that some in the city of Portland are trying to throw out a study that would look at whether or not Portland police actually racially profile. Sounds progressive to me. Sounds like “This really isn’t an issue we can(’t) do anything about.”
Racism is the last issue that “liberalism” has to conquer. Liberals have tackled homophobia and sexism (issues that more directly affected their ranks) but can’t or won’t tackle racism with the same vigor. Point out a racist comment to a white liberal and, unless it is overt (think Don Imus), expect a defensive response.
Jose, I feel for you man. Sam, right on.
As for the white guilt issue. Get over it. It’s useless to black people. If you really care, take a race and ethnicity class. As a “tokenized” black person, I am tired of trying to “educate” my white friends about racism and, let me tell you, I am not alone. When people care about a subject, they will educate themselves on said subject. How many books have you read that address white privilege and institutionalized racism?
Frankly, I think most white people will only really embrace anti-racism if they are “enlightened” by another white person. Tim Wise is a good place to start for anyone actually interested. You can check him out at timwise.org.
Anyway, kudos to Stumptown Girl for broaching the subject of gentrification. DC, Oakland and Harlem, NY are other examples of “the plan.” (For more on the plan, check out “This American Life”–NPR’s–segment “The Plan” featured on February 29, 2008.) Looks like Atlanta, a historic beacon of hope for blacks a la WEB Du Bois, is on the list too.
I used to live in Detroit, If you think Portland is too White, go live in Detroit for a while.
Having grown up in Chicago and Detroit before moving here, I agree with you Stumptown Girl. I miss having a variety of cultures around, and hope I’m not turning my kid into a closet racist (like the vile bigots above) by raising her here.
No, diverse cities are not bastions of love and understanding between all groups of people. Yes, most cities have higher homicide rates than Portland. But I’ve never been more afraid of the police than I am here, and until I moved to Portland I’d never been a victim of crime. In the past four years we’ve had our car broken into and cleaned out or vandalized three times, and had a bike and a bike trailer stolen. Judging from my utter lack of non-white neighbors, I can only assume the perpetrators have been white.
Yeah, Portland is safer, but as a latina walking around in inner-SE I can tell you it isn’t all that friendly. It never fails that the only people to make eye contact with me and say ‘hi’ are black or hispanic.
Why is it that every race hates on the White man. The white man has givin us everthing, cars, planes, computers, EVERTHING! every major invention has been from a White man. I guess that I am a racist for saying that right?
Those stats are not accurate at all. Illegal aliens are not accounted for, so I’d say that Portland is about 60 percent white.
You actually believe that Portland is 20% illegal immigrants????
i like portland… id rather live in an all white city to begin with where there seems to be less crime… because diversity can cause problems wit gangs and such i think living in an all white community is a better place for me… detroit is the worst place to live due to high crime rates and yes i know it’s mostly black… and i know most blacks or nonwhites are not bad people but there is always gangs on the streets that cause the problems in city living which is why i prefer living where theres less cultural diversity or most likely a smaller community… i dont think cultural diversity helps in a city because all different ethnic groups hang out with their own group of people instead of having them all live in the same areas…. i know for sure ppl are getting along more than the past but there is still lots of intolerance going on… i know before if you were white and ended up in a black end of a city you were seen as a villain and it was scary because there was always a chance they would go out and attack you…. now it seems to have changed but i still wouldnt go to detroit because i know people that could have gotten in trouble over there… i think if they can stop having gangs people would get more along where its more diverse… i am white and i grew up in an all white community which is why i kinda feel this way… besides the white man has created most major inventions besides japanese…. and yes the white man has given us almost everything…. i me a few black people and they seeme nice but living where theres a variety of people i dont know if i can do that…. ppl are probably gonna say im racist but really im just stating my choice of community
all white communities are accounted for less crimes which is why i choose to live where its mostly white… what does cultural diversity do for us? cities with less white population is proven to have more crime than cities with higher percentage of white…. this is why i dont believe in bein diverse
you can ship busloads of poor white trash to Portland and crime will go up. Crime is not a racial problem. Crime is an economic problem. People who have something to lose; family, business, job, economic status, etc generally do not commit crimes. The idiots who paint Detroit as a crime ridden haven are overlooking the fact that Detroit offers little to no opportunity to enrich its citizens. We fail as a society when we prevent or limit economic advances for everyone equally. If Portland wants more diversity they need to provide business loans/grants to minorities who want a better quality of life. Then if Portland is truly a city filled with intelligent people its citizens will patronize these minority owned businesses. In San Francisco, LA, Chicago, NY, Atlanta white people generally dont have a problem patronizing minority owned businesses. Its not because these cities are liberal, its because their citizens are intelligent and understand economics. The more economically viable minorities become, the better and safer our world becomes. People who dont understand this generally flock to “all white” cities like Portland and spend their lives living in fear. Fear and stupidity seem to be very prominent in Portland, OR.
I’m not sure how you think you’re a better person because of someone else’s invention. Are you financially independent because the Wright brothers invented the airplane? Are you more intelligent because Ben Franklin invented the light bulb? What or how does somebody else’s ideas give you a superiority complex? You’d have to be ignorant to find logic in your beliefs.
People are missing the point. Racism is not the issue. Ignorance is the issue. There’s no such thing as an intelligent racist. People like James, Portlander, Chuck, andy, Tom, truth, Val, JAXX , 6150 WHITEBOY are morons. They may be college educated but they are still mentally challenged (ie idiots).
Oh no. It’s too white. We can’t have that. I demand that the national guard be called in. I demand that they force more non-whites into Portland. We can relocate the Katrina victims into the whitest areas using taxpayer money.
And what is this I see? Portland is only 25% non-white. That is just not enough. We must use make sure to use the media to have people “sympathize” with our forced integration plans before we commit the national guard. After all. We are doing this at gunpoint. We need support from the public here.
And what’s this? I see there is a private school in Portland and it is 100% white. Illegal! We must close down the school or force busses of non-whites in while using the taxpayer money if they cannot afford it. It must be integrated. Otherwise some non-whites might see it and feel bad for being excluded.
And what is this I see? Portland as very low race mixing rate? We must force insemination of non-white sperm into WHITE WOMEN to celebrate diversity. I hereby decree all SPERM BANKS in Portland are only allowed to have non-white DNA. Any SPERM BANK caught offering white DNA will be fined $100,000. We are also offering tax incentives for mix race couples in Portland. This includes tax breaks on Real Estate for non-whites and mixed couples who buy in Portland.
And at the same time – tax hikes on white residents. That should drive them out.
Also if anyone has any ideas of how we can solve this horrible crime of having a large city in America that is 75% white please let us know. We are hosting a public town hall meeting to discuss our course of action.
Oh no. It’s too white. We can’t have that. I demand that the national guard be called in. I demand that they force more non-whites into Portland. We can relocate the Katrina victims into the whitest areas using taxpayer money.
And what is this I see? Portland is only 25% non-white. That is just not enough. We must use make sure to use the media to have people “sympathize” with our forced integration plans before we commit the national guard. After all. We are doing this at gunpoint. We need support from the public here.
And what’s this? I see there is a private school in Portland and it is 100% white. Illegal! We must close down the school or force buses of non-whites in while using the taxpayer money if they cannot afford it. It must be integrated. Otherwise some non-whites might see it and feel bad for being excluded.
And what is this I see? Portland as very low race mixing rate? We must force insemination of non-white sperm into WHITE WOMEN to celebrate diversity. I hereby decree all SPERM BANKS in Portland are only allowed to have non-white DNA. Any SPERM BANK caught offering white DNA will be fined $100,000. We are also offering tax incentives for mix race couples in Portland. This includes tax breaks on Real Estate for non-whites and mixed couples who buy in Portland.
And at the same time – tax hikes on white residents. That should drive them out.
Also if anyone has any ideas of how we can solve this horrible crime of having a large city in America that is 75% white please let us know. We are hosting a public town hall meeting to discuss our course of action.
My wife and I live in Jacksonville, Fl and everyday it seems there is news of another murder in town and day time home invasions are almost epidemic. The vast majority of which are committed by non-whites. We used to live in Chesapeake, Va which was mostly white and very very safe. We can’t wait to move back there next year. More than willing to take a loss on the house to keep our family safe. I am tired of the excuses made by people why non-whites get arrested more than whites. Stop doing bad things to innocent people and you will not get arrested.
I used to work nights and the vast majority of people I saw driving around town at 3 AM were groups of young black males giving middle aged white guys like me dirty looks and yelling racially charged crap to me at the stop lights. You white haters can have them. I do not trust them as far as I can throw them. And guess what, it doesn’t make me a racist. It makes me intelligent to avoid others who have a high potential to me or my family harm.
Talk about racism. A word way over abused. Prejudice or bigot is more appropriate most of the time. I am on the receiving end of it everyday. I can’t stand going to a store and getting a black person at the register or having to need them for service because it is usually done with a crappy attitude. I have on more than one occasion called them on it and they just freeze up. When we retire it will be in the whitest city in America with the lowest crime rate and I will feel great about it. And all my black friends are welcome to visit at any time.
2 more to add to the list of morons: Michael and Mark.
I just wanted to point out that at least one study has shown that crime is related to economic disadvantaged and that, when the economics of an area (and it’s people) are improved, the crime rate declines (whether it’s a white or minority area). Sadly and due to many factors (read your history books), poverty tends to be more prevalent in African-American and Latino communities. But, move to a poor white neighborhood and you will experience much of the same crime (minus the racial tension if you’re white yourself).
If people want to talk about living in less crime ridden communitiies, then they can talk about finding socioeconomically stable neighborhoods … BUT, when you think black=crime, you are being ignorant. Poor=crime.
Now … let’s think. Why are African-Americans in particular so poor in this country? Ahhh, so much history there. And you are completely in the dark if you think whites bear no responsibility there. They don’t bear all the responsibility at this point – every community must rise above it’s history of suffering and oppression. But, racism by and large, has kept black people poor in this country. Now you want to justify your racist attitudes by pointing out that black people are poor (and therefore, experience more crime in their communities, as do poor white people). Lovely circular logic.
Atlanta is too black and the blacks there are very racist and violent against non-black people. What can be done to diversify Altanta and institute an affirmative action program to ensure that non-black people have a “seat at the table” of diversity and human rights? What can be done to stop the black on non-black crime in Atlanta? Or should the non-black folks in Atlanta move to Portland where they can live the American dream and pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
This is the reason I’d like to move to Portland. I’m from Flint, MI and I’ve had enough of ‘diversity’.
Thank God there are still some cities left that are not infested with blacks. I bet the crime rate is much lower then other cities with larger black populations
Pin-heads like Stefanie Myer and others make me laugh…..you cant argue with statistics. We are all born equal but its our culture and upbringing that set us apart. We choose our own paths. Explain to me all the succesful people who came from back grounds of poverty ( black, white, latino, asian…) who put there nose to the grindstone and made it. CHOICES!!! FREE WILL!!!! My wife is a perfect example of that ability to make a choice for herself. Her own family called her “coconut” and “gringa” because she studied and stayed out of trouble. ( she is American of Mexican descent ) Now while her sister and cousins continue to blame the “gringos” for all thier failures and are welfare cases while my wife just drove home in a new toyota SUV that she wrote out a check for in full with her own money. Same background – different result. She didnt use the crutches that are so easily provided by pinheads like Stefanie…excuses ( economically disadvantaged, racism, etc… ) and low expectations are liberal rascists idealogy. They tell you they are on your side and want to help you but they feel superior to you because you need thier help……and they want to keep it that way. IDIOTS! I find it strange that everyone wants to keep New Orleans “black” ( or as the esteemed mayor said ” a chocolate city” ) but Portland is considered bad for being a majority of white people. Get over your ” white guilt ” America! The only real way to treat someone equal is to treat them equal….hand outs and special considerations ( are rooted in white racism ) because you cant believe that blacks or others can make it without your help. Lets save the savages……geeesh I cant believe black folks ( and other so called minorities ) fall for that left wing crap. As for diversity….well, seems that people who dont have to live in these “diverse” areas complain about it but I invite you to come to southeast Ga where I live and you will get tired of it real quick. Portland may be a good place to consider when we retire I dont want the excitement of murders, shootings, and convienient store hold ups on a daily basis. Those who crave this kind of excitement come on down and we will replace you in Portland.
go vince! … im so very tired and disgusted with the “white guilt” plague that has swept this country.. and it begins early too.. if u have children i would STRONGLY suggest u look into what they read and are exposed to everyday … there is now 2 month unit in my third graders class on slavery.. 2 months of being told how horrible the white man treated black. then forced to watch the inauguration (i kept my kids home and talked about George Washington) and now black history month (they of course don’t discuss std rates(off the charts) crime wherever they go .aids… prisons… white flight… black hate on white (which is very very real) .. it is nauseating.. liberals have found their god ….
If you want diversity, go move to Detroit and get raped by a nigger or move to Los Angeles and get murdered by a spic. Did you not stop to think that there are some benefits to living in a primary white community? If niggers are so great and all differences are cultural why couldn’t they build a single stone building or seaworthy ship prior to European colonization? Even today many of them are incapable of even feeding themselves without the aid of primarily white nations. For God’s sake use your head instead of just believing what the media tells you.
Why don’t you snot-brains think of this: Detroit is over 80% black, more black than Portland is white. Why isn’t anyone whining about this? Doesn’t Detroit need some gentrification and diversity? It’d probably reduce their staggering crime rate.
You don’t really give a damn about diversity or minorities, after all whites make up less than 8% of the world’s population, you just hate white people. I have no idea why. Electrification, your computers, your snobby lattes, the Internet, and just about everything else you enjoy was invented by white people. Even self-hating leftism is sadly, almost exclusively, a white issue. I never hear of non-whites whining about how they want more diversity in their homelands and feel guilty about how they’ve “persecuted” other peoples.
Leftists love to find any little of oasis of tranquility in the world and attack and destroy it. It’s because they are hateful anarchists at heart. Instead of looking at real sources of problems in the world, like the rapacious international bankers and corporations in America, or murderous dictators and mullahs in countries like Afrika and Arabia, and riling up the masses agaisnt those real evils, they instead, like all bullies, pick smaller, weaker targets, like little pockets of well behaved, pacifist white people minding their own business, and try to destroy them for being… white.
This kind of leftist muckraking is getting sickening, and someday, it will result in a real backlash if these leftist agent provocateurs don’t start minding their own business, and leave people alone to enjoy their rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Without having to worry about being slandered in their hometown newspapers, or made to feel guilty for coincidentally living around lots of other people who happen to share their same skin color.
Even if it is the leprous “white” these leftists have been conditioned to hate.
The more anti-white meddlesome stunts I see like this, the more I can see why lunatic dictators try to gain power and kill all self appointed, self righteous meddlers, because you drive them to it with your ill intentioned, slanderous campaigns against innocent people minding their own business in a supposedly “free” country.
I would suggest you little meddlers and petty self appointed social engineers start minding your own business, before you accidentally create the very thing you’re most trying to avoid, an ethnic based revolution… by pissing people off and backing them into a corner until they decide to become the very thing you’ve falsely denounced them as.
Let me explain something:
Freedom of Association is guaranteed in the US Constitution.
Freedom of Association also implies Freedom of Disassociation.
In other words, people have the freedom to associate or not associate with or without whoever they choose, without fear of government, religious or socialist meddling.
Forcing, browbeating or coercing people to associate with people they normally wouldn’t, or just haven’t for whatever reason, is unConstitutional.
To attempt to slander and intimidate people into using their own tax money to import people they may not want to associate with, or have not naturally mingled with, purely based on skin color, is wrong.
It’s also unnatural. It is Communist/Nazi/Fascist style social engineering at it’s worst… it’s just the mirror image of Hitlers Nazism, but portraying itself as “good” because it attempts to destroy groups of white people instead of create more of them.
The solution is to just leave people alone, and let natural mixing and movement take it’s course.
As long as they aren’t hurting anybody else, then it’s none of anyone’s business who other people live around.
If you leftist fascists want to see some black, brown or asian people, then go visit some where they live, instead of trying to drag them all to you using psychological guilt tripping and other peoples tax money.
Well now, we don’t want to deny these poor, deprived white women of their fair share of black cock now, do we?
Methinks that would be racist… and sexist too!
Oh no, whatever will we do?
I think I’m going to go and carve my white skin off as a protest against this racist outrage!
Quote from original article:
“African American hires… often can’t bear the social and cultural isolation of a metro area that is less than 3 percent black.”
So black people are racist.
Wow you folks are crazy! I grew up as a white girl in a very diverse city (Oakland) and I loved it! The benefit of mingling cultures is simply that there is more food to be tasted, more music and performances to be experienced, and different perspectives to be heard. I like Portland because the coffee and bike culture, and if thats “white” culture then that’s cool. But for whatever reason, it doesn’t make me feel any safer. You can point to crime rates but it doesn’t mean squat to me, I don’t live in fear nor bliss simply based on what stats say. I’ve lived in Los Angeles (the non-white part) for many years and have never had an issue with crime except being raped by a white guy in college. Plus, the meth lab problem is epidemic in white towns all over America, and its disgusting and dangerous. Detroit may have a lot of murders but its an extreme example, I doubt Portland is going to turn into Detroit just because a few PDXers are concerned with its lack of diversity! HA! There are MIXED cities that are awesome, like SF and NY, Boston, Chicago etc. A lot of you sound like fraidy cats who will never go outside your comfort zone and see the world and all it has to offer.
Fuck stupid niggers
christ, about the only city in the world that is getting whiter, and you have to make it a bad thing, if it was getting blacker or browner it would be a good thing ey? twat
He gripped Tykirs hip, lest they both topple from the strength of his thrusts. He looked so…vivid, almost more real than the other two men, or perhaps less real. You dont need help. She held her breath when Arkir dived underneath Lanthans arm, caught him in a hold. She wanted to lash out at Nialdlye, but that was wrong. They sat on the dusty floor of a wide cavern. She finished off her wine and set her goblet aside. Hyle was there, kneeling beside her. Her heart stopped at seeing him close after over a moon of avoiding him. Apologizing to her parents had been easier. Her lip curled, and she shoved at his chest. Brevin had stepped aside, a huge shadow beside Tykirs shoulder. Shouldnt you all be with Nialdlye? They still refused to relent. he growled into her ear. It didnt look like any of the stone or woodcarved trees. She considered lighting one or two of the lamps but discarded the idea. He adopted a teacher tone to replace the pained one. I only want to be with you, Nialdlye. His eyes closed the rest of the way, tongue teasing her fingertips.
Born in Portland , have lived everywhere, now in NYC, love cultures, but don’t dig the “white guilt” shit, Im from po’ whites so have nada to feel guilty about. That being said, in NYC the only time Ive almost got into a fight was with an Italian, the neighborhood most unfriendly:Boro Park with its Jews, friendliest?Manhattans Harlem round 125th, but noisy and lots of crime, however the brothers never gave me shit. I like Portland whiteness, miss it, miss the blue collarness I knew as a child, the interlopers have ruined it. Fucking cool fuckers
I agree with the article Portland is very white. I live here and always wished it was more diverse, especially because that brings in more hot girls. Anyway the sad part is P town is more excepting of diversity than the cities behind it. Then again (I’m white) their are so many fake extreme liberals (I am pretty much lib except for national securtity) that are more racist than conservatives. They have never even travelled or had a non-white friend, o wait they have one. They have so much white guilt it’s pathetic. They are so politically correct they sound racist as fuck. I hate these hippie wanna be’s. They are the worst. I hate the portlad is weird thing, they are the one’s keeping the city down and are the most racist, they just don’t know it. Once again I’m lib just not like that., Prob cause my whole life has not been surrounded by white jack offs my whole life like these stupid hippies or privalgled white folks that talk so politically correct they sound so racist. Fuck them, they don’t care about non-whites, they just think they do. But anway more non-whites should move here, even though I did a tirad, they are harmless and will suck your dick. the majority of peeps are much better than any other people in the country. Please move here.
thanks im posting this on facebook im a black studies major at PSU and i grew up in Oregon on the coast – i lived in LA the last 14 yrs but dang if i wasnt scared when i got here…..its not just white its terribly racist in many ways. portland wants to welcome diversity it has a long way to go. sorry portland i love you but your whiteness is blinding me.
So what? It’s not a government conspiracy or the agenda of an anti-non-white movement. It’s just a fact. There will always be a “whitest”‘city in the us. What do you propose? Forcing “non-whites” to live in portland to fulfill a racist ass ideal of “diversity”? This is not an issue that requires a solution, it’s a mere truth that has no deeper meaning to it.
The issue is that gentrification is pushing the minorities that are there out of Portland. I’m definitely confused that so many commenters missed the point of this article.
Kind of the way blacks pushed all the whites out of the cities after WW2 and the emergence of the welfare state? This whole discussion has been ridiculous,….. I grew up in South Philly in an Italian neighborhood which bordered black projects,……. the streets in my neighborhood were safe and clean but a few blocks away crime was rampant and the streets were filthy,…… do the math! Stephanie Meyer, Your a dumb cunt! and I hope you get ass raped by 10 black men!
Way too many Niggers in Portland
The heart of the black community is gone? I would say the we are better off.
Portland’s a white trash shit hole.