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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2012)
Black History FROM THE ARCHIVES L OST N EIGHBORHOODS v Williams continued from page and banking industries, left Port- land’s Black community segregated, ghettoized and, final- ly, scattered. And the same thing happened all over the country. “In cities across the nation, urban power brokers, with the help of the federal government, eagerly engaged in central-city revitalization after World War II,” na, so there was very little differ- ence other than geographic difference,” said early civil rights leader Otto Rutherford, in 1978. Gibson says her historical research uncovered a memo penned by a PDC official reassur- ing the federal Housing and Urban Development department about racial concerns in tearing out the homes and businesses for “Oregon was a Klan state—it was as prejudiced as South Carolina” —Karen J Gibson, “Bleeding Albina” Gibson wrote in “Bleeding Albi- na.” “Luxury apartments, convention centers, sports arenas, hospitals, universities, and free- ways were the land uses that reclaimed space occupied by rela- tively powerless residents in central cities, whether in immi- grant White ethnic, Black, or skid row neighborhoods.” The study includes quotes from oral histories gathered decades earlier about the region’s history. “Oregon was a Klan state—it was as prejudiced as South Caroli- Emanuel Hospital expansion in the early 70s. “The whole transition has been racial,” Gibson told The Skanner News this week. “People paid taxes in Albina – what did they get for their taxes?” In 1956 area banks could legally deny loans to any Black customer who applied, making the NAACP Credit Union — one of North Williams’ lost storefronts – a par- ticularly poignant marker. “Race was used, and the stagna- tion and redlining was racially based,” Gibson said. “The whole thing has to do with race, and it has to do with real estate. “White privilege means some- thing – it means a difference in wealth and the fact that you could just come in and take over the boulevard,” Gibson said. Housing Destroyed Despite Promises When the PDC, city of Portland officials and the federal Model Cities program rolled out the endgame on tearing down Albina homes and businesses for Emanuel’s expansion in 1971, many local residents did not real- ize the plans had been laid years before, according to “History of Portland’s African American Community.” The Emanuel Displaced Per- son’s Association was founded by Mrs. Leo Warren in 1970 after locals “were abruptly confronted with the expansion plans.” The city required residents to move out within 90 days, offering homeowners a maximum $15,000 payment and renters a maximum $4,000. A much-hyped agreement North Williams cuppola building, 1975 See WILLIAMS on page 15 Check Out The Skanner Turn-the- Pages WebPaper www.theskanner.com home page: click the “Full Print Version Online” button to view our full newspapers, just like they are printed. All you do is 13 click to turn the pages and click to zoom. February 22, 2012 The Portland and Seattle Skanner v BLACK HISTORY EDITION v Page 13
