A hug for those who are frightened

Oregon was established as a “white” stronghold in the northwest, and the Ku Klux Klan still has a strong presence here. One part of Portland was an exception to that, an area called Vanport, built in the 1930s as a ship-building pre-fab town (rather like the mill towns of England, with its own schools, library, hospital, and utilities, but constructed as a temporary community). About twenty-percent of the population of Vanport was African-American, and in 1943, when the rest of the USA was segregated by perceptions of race, Vanport had integrated schools and housing where there were many interracial friendships among people bonded by the war effort. That lasted until 1948, when heavy spring rains caused a sudden and devastating flood that completely wiped out the entire town. It is now the site of an expo center, a golf course, and a speedway, but this weekend there was a celebration of the history and culture of Vanport, with exhibitions, a bus tour, and informational kiosks. Sue and I took Devorah on one of the bus tours of the area. 

On the bus with us was Carolyn Anderson, an activist for unhoused and African-American communities in Portland. She asked me to make a photograph of her in Vanport as she reached out with a hug for all who feel they are targets of hatred. 

We see fear of right-wing terrorism growing among the people we love. There are fierce arguments between people who defend what they perceive is the right to “free speech” of right-wing extremists and those who believe right-wing extremist speech is “hate speech” and is indefensible. I join Carolyn Anderson in the desire to embrace all who feel targeted or marginalized by organized hate groups.

We are especially concerned about what may happen on June 4, when extreme right wing  groups are holding, in a Federally-owned park (therefore not under the auspices of city government), a rally they are calling “Trump Free Speech Patriot Prayer.” At the same hour, on the same day, in a two-block radius, there will be three more rallies: the Rose City Antifa is holding an event called “No Nazis On Our Streets,” the International Socialist Organization is sponsoring an event billed as a peaceful mass mobilization called “Portland Stands United Against Hate,” and a group of unions is holding a rally called “Fascists Out of Portland.” 

During Devorah's visit I am not commenting, as we are talking non-stop.