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I think the point you're getting at is mirroring what the "first person" narratives from those people who grew up in Oregon/Portland are saying. There is an overwhelming sincerity to not WANT be racist, and not think of ourselves as racist... but from lack of diversity exposure, not many of us live up to our ideals.

When "not being racist" in Portland is being boiled down to how many people of colour you know by name, if any... that's just not enough to desensitize the actuality of being immersed in a diverse culture.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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"I find that a lot of people are interested in my background, but what that means to me is that they are not interested in me as a person."

I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm half-Japanese, the other half being Irish, English, French, and German. I've always appeared "ethnic," but many Oregonians can't place my ethnicity. I've noticed that I'm actually offended by people who latch onto my ethnicity as my identity, but I've not been able to verbalize WHY an interest in my ethnic background is first and foremost off-putting.

I think you hit the nail on the had with that simple sentence.

Thank you for your perspective!

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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I'm born and raised in Oregon, and have the unique perspective of being half-japanese. I hadn't realized how much the lack of diversity in Oregon had effected me growing up until I began traveling around the country in young adulthood. I'd always thought of Portland in particular as being very relaxed and tolerant, but I guess I'd just not realized how sheltered we are from diversity.

2 experiences of mine stick out in particular:
(1) I was a camp counselor in Michigan for a summer which took mostly inner-city Chicago children. After the couple-week counselor orientation, the campers started showing up, and I was startled to find most of the children were black kids. I had never been around as many black children before, and frankly, I was scared of them at first. I was convinced they would not respect me, and I would not be able to connect with them. Needless to say... this fear was COMPLETELY unfounded, and I quickly learned they were children, that's all. There was no reason for me to have panicked initially, and I couldn't help but be ashamed of my first reaction... but it was engendered by the (unintentional) complete lack of diversity from my own life up to that moment.

(2) I had a summer internship in the bay area while I was in graduate school. I had an amazing self-actualizing summer simply because I was surrounded by people with my cheek bones, or eyelids, or hair type. I had been so used to being the only kid who looked like me, and this summer I realized that I wasn't alone, and I wasn't nearly as unique as I had originally thought.

For Oregonians and specifically Portlanders who believe they are open-minded and non-racist... I challenge you to travel a little bit and deal with your own inner feelings on actually being AROUND other races.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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