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Some Oklahomans are mad/defensive about my recent thread about the White supremacist history of OK.
I get that & can sympathize. "History is what hurts." Americans are hurting right now. We should be.
Many say:
What about YOUR state?
I'm glad you asked.
A THREAD ABOUT OREGON https://twitter.com/shamblanderson/status/1274358937169600514
I get that & can sympathize. "History is what hurts." Americans are hurting right now. We should be.
Many say:
What about YOUR state?
I'm glad you asked.
A THREAD ABOUT OREGON https://twitter.com/shamblanderson/status/1274358937169600514
I am from Oregon.
It takes NO DIGGING at all to get to Oregon's White supremacist roots.
It was founded as — to quote @WalidahImarisha — "a racist White utopia." https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-white-history-racist-foundations-black-exclusion-laws/
It takes NO DIGGING at all to get to Oregon's White supremacist roots.
It was founded as — to quote @WalidahImarisha — "a racist White utopia." https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-white-history-racist-foundations-black-exclusion-laws/
Oregon has been aggressively anti-Native https://www.opb.org/artsandlife/series/brokentreaties/oregon-tribes-oral-history-broken-treaties/
& there are modern-day White supremacist terror attacks https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2017/05/man_accused_in_max_attack_cont.html
& here's a recent threat of *beheading* in my VeRy pRoGrEsSiVe university hometown of Eugene, Oregon https://publicintegrity.org/politics/rising-hate-drives-latinos-and-immigrants-into-silence/
Like most other White kids in the USA (in every state), I grew up not learning any of this history.
What I learned was: "racism is bad."
But racism was defined as something that happened elsewhere, mostly in the South, bc of slavery, & it took obvious forms: violence and slurs.
What I learned was: "racism is bad."
But racism was defined as something that happened elsewhere, mostly in the South, bc of slavery, & it took obvious forms: violence and slurs.
I didn't question why there were no Black people in my life in Oregon. I thought it was just a natural fact of the ecosystem, like the presence of Douglas Firs.
I didn't realize, until shockingly late, that it was a product of deliberate legal exclusion.
https://www.dailyemerald.com/archives/minorities-still-feel-eugene-s-historical-link-to-the-ku-klux-klan/article_8c44bc8c-17f1-5ad3-a2b8-1d017eeb4af3.html
I didn't realize, until shockingly late, that it was a product of deliberate legal exclusion.
https://www.dailyemerald.com/archives/minorities-still-feel-eugene-s-historical-link-to-the-ku-klux-klan/article_8c44bc8c-17f1-5ad3-a2b8-1d017eeb4af3.html
Actually, it was Oklahoma that helped teach me about Oregon.
I tried to write a book about the history & shape of OKC, & I realized that you can't tell that story w/o White supremacy.
So I told it. It made me rethink my whole childhood, my whole identity, my whole origin story.
I tried to write a book about the history & shape of OKC, & I realized that you can't tell that story w/o White supremacy.
So I told it. It made me rethink my whole childhood, my whole identity, my whole origin story.
Yesterday was Father's Day — my father was a deeply kind and gentle man and VERY Oregonian. He wore flannel & played folk music & loved hiking. He adored Oregon and he taught me to adore it too.
He died last year & I still think about him every day. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/magazine/jeopardy-alex-trebek-cancer.html
He died last year & I still think about him every day. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/magazine/jeopardy-alex-trebek-cancer.html
Every July 4, my father ran the "Butte to Butte" 10k race in Eugene, OR.
(He has this spectacular vintage wardrobe of racing shirts from 40+ years.)
The run ended at Skinner Butte — an impossibly scenic thrust of volcanic rock right in the center of downtown.
(He has this spectacular vintage wardrobe of racing shirts from 40+ years.)
The run ended at Skinner Butte — an impossibly scenic thrust of volcanic rock right in the center of downtown.
As a middle-aged man, I finally looked up the history of Skinner Butte.
The Native Kalapuya knew it as "high place" (~"Ya-Po-Ah").
But it was renamed after Eugene Skinner, the town's 1st white settler.
In the 1920s, the Klan used to burn crosses up there so everyone could see.
The Native Kalapuya knew it as "high place" (~"Ya-Po-Ah").
But it was renamed after Eugene Skinner, the town's 1st white settler.
In the 1920s, the Klan used to burn crosses up there so everyone could see.
Eugene was a notorious Sundown Town — Black citizens knew they couldn't be there after dark. Later, a permanent cross was installed on Skinner Butte. There's still a plaque marking the spot. ("Illuminated Timber Crosses.") Eugene's Black population is still minuscule (~1.5%).
Here's an unofficial database of Sundown Towns. Click around — you will probably be surprised.
It turns out I lived EXCLUSIVELY in Sundown Towns (in Oregon & California) until I was 21. Which explains a hell of a lot.
https://sundown.tougaloo.edu/content.php?file=sundowntowns-whitemap.html
It turns out I lived EXCLUSIVELY in Sundown Towns (in Oregon & California) until I was 21. Which explains a hell of a lot.
https://sundown.tougaloo.edu/content.php?file=sundowntowns-whitemap.html
Oregon didn't *feel* racist to me. Bc it was designed for me, a White kid, to feel at home in. That's the point of systemic racism for the in-group: you don't have to be conscious of it/THINK of yourself as bad. It runs in the background shaping everything
https://www.dailyemerald.com/archives/minorities-still-feel-eugene-s-historical-link-to-the-ku-klux-klan/article_8c44bc8c-17f1-5ad3-a2b8-1d017eeb4af3.html
https://www.dailyemerald.com/archives/minorities-still-feel-eugene-s-historical-link-to-the-ku-klux-klan/article_8c44bc8c-17f1-5ad3-a2b8-1d017eeb4af3.html
(BTW most of this is so head-slappingly obv, & has been for so many decades/centuries, that it is a nat'l scandal that we W.P., myself incl, are still having these conversations—talking about IF/WHERE/HUH? rather than the hard stuff of what's next. Gotta start where you are FML.)
So when you say:
"Stop picking on Oklahoma—what about Oregon??"
(or California, NY, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, N Carolina, etc)
I say: yes, absolutely, all of them.
This isn't some hot potato White supremacy game: "You're it!!!" It's EVERYWHERE. It's the USA.
"Stop picking on Oklahoma—what about Oregon??"
(or California, NY, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, N Carolina, etc)
I say: yes, absolutely, all of them.
This isn't some hot potato White supremacy game: "You're it!!!" It's EVERYWHERE. It's the USA.
I wasn't arguing that Oklahoma (which I know deeply bc of my book) is *uniquely* racist.
I argue the opposite: it is perfectly representative of the White supremacist US.
OK's stories are just (bc of its origins) wildly condensed / dramatic versions of our nation-wide sins.
I argue the opposite: it is perfectly representative of the White supremacist US.
OK's stories are just (bc of its origins) wildly condensed / dramatic versions of our nation-wide sins.
Recognizing the true history of where you live doesn't invalidate your connection to the place. It doesn't even have to diminish yr love.
But it should definitely complicate it.
Complication is good. Humans are complex. Our culture is sick w childish myths of purity/perfection.
But it should definitely complicate it.
Complication is good. Humans are complex. Our culture is sick w childish myths of purity/perfection.
I don't actually think you can love a place until you see it honestly, for real. I love Oregon. I love Oklahoma. AND they're both incredibly messed up. It's my job to understand how and actually work against it.
White supremacy is a crime. It distorts everything it touches.
I keep coming back to Clara Luper. Justice isn't some zero-sum dominance ritual. We don't have to be bullies & terrorists. Educate yourself, understand, listen honestly, do work, get better. https://twitter.com/shamblanderson/status/1274358954219487238?s=20
I keep coming back to Clara Luper. Justice isn't some zero-sum dominance ritual. We don't have to be bullies & terrorists. Educate yourself, understand, listen honestly, do work, get better. https://twitter.com/shamblanderson/status/1274358954219487238?s=20
