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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2010)
The Page 10 Portland Observer Black History Month February 10, 2010 Portland’s Katrina co n tin u ed ¿ ^ j r o m F ron t Ozarks, the Sierras, and the Great Plains. Many o f Vanport’s residents were African Americans from the South in search o f a better life. Shortly before it was washed away, about 40 percent o f the population was black. "Like locusts, they h ad m oved in Overturned vehicles and other debris are left in the wake of the upon... before, a nd h ad nibbled up all 1948 flood that destroyed Vanport, a multicultural community the shelter in sight. A population fro m north of Portland's city limits. The town was Oregon's second many regions, they were exiles fro m largest city at the time. better homes, exposed to new condi O ne o fth e m ost rem arkable things w ho lived there as backw ard bum p- tions, new climates a n d new work, and about V anport w as the racial inte- k in s . A f te r th e flo o d , th e not y e t integrated with any’community, g ration that m arked the city, espe- g o v ern m en t’s response w as harshly presents m any problems, not only o f cially w hen the rest o f O regon had criticized for not acting sw iftly to physical housing, but o f human values adopted the racist public accom m o- help displaced residents, m any o f as well-health, education, recreation, dation practices o f the deep South, w h ich en d ed up in su b sta n d a rd safety, andmorale," read an article from H A P n ev er m ade segregation its g o v ern m en t-issu ed m obile units- the Oregonian when the project was o fficial policy. A nd w hile housing not unlike the infam ous F E M A trail- opened up in 1943. in V anport w as n ev er entirely inte- ers.. Life in Vanport was gritty. Grocery grated, public places w ere-includ- But freshly-displaced black residents stores, parks, libraries, shopping cen ing the schools. T he library even faced an additional layer ofdiscrimina- ters- all the am enities com m on in hired a black assistant librarian. tion in a state that had largely widely Portland neighborhoods now adays- But Vanport wasn't exactly a para- Southern-style segregation, A human chain is formed to help rescue survivors of the Vanport were slow to be developed. It was gon o f racial harmony. A study that " I f it is n ecessa ry to bring in flood o f 1948. The multicultural community between Portland and noisy from constant construction, appeared in a 1946edition o f the Ameri- large num bers o f N eg ro workers, Vancouver was wiped out when a railroad dike collapsed from the crow ded, and far-removed from Port can Sociological Review found that a locate them on the ed g e o fth e city. flooding Columbia River. (Oregonian photo) land and V ancouver. top complaint from white residents was It w o u ld be m uch b etter f o r a ll con- For much o f its existence, V anport the racial integration o f Vanport. For cerned. I f they are a llo w e d to fa n had a transitory environm ent. People blacks, it was discrimination. o u t through the city’ it soon w ill The sequel to la s t year's h it Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type. lived there because they priced out o f B ut the ex p erim en t w as w ashed [b e] necessary’ to sta tio n a p o lice- Portland due to sim ple lack. A s the aw ay in M ay 1948, w hen a leak in a m an on every c o r n e r said the presi- w ar was w inding dow n, 100 families dike turned into a flood that fo rev er dent o f the C entral E ast Portland a day w ere leaving the project. d estro y ed the city and left thou- C om m unity C lub in 1942. “ W e fe e l th a t m o s t o f th e sands hom eless. M any blacks from Vanport had V a n p o rt re sid e n ts w o u ld n o t be It w as com m on know ledge that money, but the racist environment in liv in g in a h o u sin g p ro je c t i f th e re V anport w as built on a flood plain, Portland severely restricted their hous- w e re an y o th e r liv in g q u a rte rs and H A P had to p erio d ically reas- ing options. Albina soon became the a v a ila b le ,” H arry Ja e g e r, th e g e n sure residents o f th eir safety. only part o f town displaced African eral m a n a g e r o f V a n p o rt, to ld th e Just a w eek before the disaster, a Americanscouldrelocate. Interestingly, O re g o n Jo u rn a l in 1947. H A P flier read, “D ikes are sa fe a t somepeopleviewedVanport’sdestruc- But shortly before Vanport was de p resent. You w ill be w a rn e d i f nec- tion as a positive development since it stroyed, people began to grow roots in essary. You w ill have tim e to leave, pushed the black population in closer a place that HAP created in the middle D on t g e t excited. ” vicinity to the rest o f Portland. NEWMARK THEATRE o f nothing. By 1947, it had its own ChiLdt-eK^ In addition to being in a naturally H ow ever, the com m unity created schools and libraries, and Vanport Col CALL FDR TICKETS 503-228-9571 unstable area, V anport w as view ed by survivors o f V anport w as soon lege opened its doors to meet the grow as an im poverished and undesir- shaken. This tim e the flood w as the •«piar* tk« «tag« ing educational demand o f returning a b le p la c e to liv e b y m a n y building o fM em o rial C oliseum and FUwi w I m * t>, O m m C umr M ciuik s > ¡W a i.ewin fcUpttri n> Jomra f Grab « id G e n * How tta » tor tomes E .I M t. Muse tn G eoje M a « ¡»ms to Jam« F (koto and Grafc H ow veterans. Portlanders, w ho stigm atized people steady gentrification. 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