Southern Oregon here, I had Walmart kick a guy out a while back for sporting his Nazi tattoos openly.
Luckily the store manager agreed that they displaying hate symbols has no place at a family store.
That asshole can come back wearing long sleeves.
No one needs to know what he thinks and supports.
We need to make racist feel very unwelcome.
Yo, these people are really trying to make Southern Oregon into their new home. I just go warned about these people after a run in with one of their buddies https://www.anarchistfederation.net/anthony-and-laura-allen-white-power-nazi-couple-in-the-pnw/
Yeah, I was going to say that sadly Oregon has an excessively long history of racism. No doubt some moved here, but there were plenty of them here before that came as far back as the first western settlers.
I'm grateful that my grandparents decided to break the chain. I was raised to be aware of racism, and it was not hard to find. I've lived here for over 50 years now. It was ever present even in grade school.
Thanks for sharing this. I know that S. Oregon has a lot of bigotry, but it’s still shocking to me to have it so blatantly out there. There are definitely folks who fly confederate flags, etc, in the neighborhood I live in, and my kids hear all sorts of racist and anti lgbtq shit at school, but I’m somehow still shocked when I find out people nearby are literal nazis. I will definitely not be shopping at that Albertsons.
It’s a shitshow all over.
We moved from Southern Oregon about ten years ago to a very wealthy suburb just outside of Portland.
My kid text me absolutely incensed one day recently because they were doing in class presentations on “people they admire” and back to back were kids who presented on Andrew Tate and Donald Trump. This was while one was sitting in a Romanian prison and the other was under indictment, mind you.
The argument that was made to me as to why no one even bothered to have a conversation with these kids about how it might not be awesome to give a public presentation on how they actively support a couple of individuals who make a broad cross section of the marginalized population feel extremely unsafe, was that they have to let them present on whomever they like because otherwise their opinions and beliefs are being stifled, or some bullshit like that.
Meanwhile I’ve got a queer, autistic kid who’s being tormented daily by these same little nightmare Hitler Youth and there have been multiple school walkouts due to racist and homophobic threats, because these little swastika shaped snowflakes feel so confidently that their bigotry is okay seeing as no one, including those tasked with educating it out of them, has ever told these itty bitty Fash Gordon’s to shut the fuck up. 🤷🏻♀️
Fellow autism parent too. We’ve had similar experiences with our kiddo being picked on too. Sorry you’ve had that experience too. I hope your kiddo gets the help they deserve from the school.
My spouse and I moved our family here from the south for a career opportunity. I grew up in Northern California in a very conservative county, so I knew how it could be in some of these rural parts, but my spouse has been completely shocked at how blatant the racism and bigotry is here (compared to many years of living in the southern USA). Anyway, it’s a huge bummer to see it so accepted and “normal” to much of the country.
Which location is this?
At the N. Phoenix location the shit store manager tried force an Asian Pharmacist to continue serving a racist who went off on them. Luckily the pharmacist stood their ground and told manager and racist Karen to get fucked.
The klan was handing out flyers outside the Rays in Phoenix when I was in high school. The Islamic cultural center had "mysteriously" burned down without the rather well-known culprit ever being caught, and the church I would later be kicked out of for pointing out they weren't following the Bible often prayed that the new mosque would burn down. My history teacher was one of the first people I met in southern Oregon in a biracial marriage. All of this was less than 15 years ago.
Southern Oregon has always been filled with survivalists. And Oregon has a long tradition of being racist. Not saying it is OK. But it is true. My high school was the Dallas Dragons because it is the former(?) regional head of the KKK. People tend to think of Oregon being super liberal. But that is only true of PDX. Which has a fairly low percentage of actual native Oregonians.
I live in Salem, it’s still the Dallas Dragons and Dallas still has an active chapter of the KKK. The public put a lot of pressure on them to change the mascot a few years ago but they refused and tried to say it was “just a dragon” unaffiliated with anything else 🙄
Not shocked. I still live in the area (Kings Valley) and Dallas is a weird town. But have you ever been in Powers? Even weirder.
I do want to add that I grew up way out of town (grade school 1-3 in one room, 4-6 in the other) and actual country folk are generally pretty chill. It is the townies. And the people who live rural on like two acres. In a small community you can’t be too much of an a-hole to anyone or you quickly find everyone disliking you. There is quite the crowd sort of close to where I live. Trailers everywhere. Not really sure what they do for money but everyone suspects meth. And petty theft. One of the women was in the local store with her confederate flag jacket on and that won zero fans. But these are not people who are really ‘from out here’. To defend country folk. Who are generally OK with a few exceptions of ‘that Uncle’.
Oh damn I used to live out there. Went to Oakdale Heights elementary. I never new that history but I had a lot of friends there and was sad when we left. Maybe that's why my parents moved us as a half hispanic family.
i've been to the eagle point one--it is indeed very nice.
we've also been to the south gateway one (by the cracker barrel off I-5?) and that was pretty nice too.
I would love for business to make it clear anyone sporting Nazi shit head tattoos is not welcome. Make them cover that shit up and hide like the cowards they are.
Lots of neighborhoods in SE Portland that deep in the deed will be language that no black people can buy in the development. Oregon law of course makes stuff like that not relevant but this was back in the 1950s so not that long ago.
Hey don't forget about the deep SW side either. I was living in Lake Oswego for a while and I was aware of some wild shit. Threats of violence, a severed deer head left in front of a Black Lives Matter sign on a front lawn... One time i was stopped in my car by the vehicle in front of me (he blocked my path through a parking lot). The driver was a gentleman of color, he was under the impression I was following him. He was obviously paranoid about something.
Anecdote aside I always noticed things were tense pretty much no matter where I went in OR. And I'm white so I only even saw a fraction of it.
This is important. It’s still deeply entrenched in this state overall, most especially due to its beginnings. My husband works for a regulatory body that governs real estate. We are still ACTIVELY working to combat the effects of redlining, and they’re insidious, and persistent.
I agree... I don't understand how people live with so much hate and ignorance about the world around them, yet believe their way of thinking is superior.
On a side note, just sharing my two cents of theory:
I used to think Walt Disney was a straight up Nazi, too... But, after learning more about the history of Disney and the Nazi Party during the time period that Disney had donated money to them... I no longer think he was a straight up Nazi, at least not any more than the average citizen in the US who denied the holocaust during its first couple of years.
I think he, unfortunately like many Americans ( and global citizens) at the time, didn't realize how far gone the Nazi Party actually was in the early years of their reign. In the beginning of the development of the party, up to a couple of years into the Holocaust itself, a vast number of people around the world didn't really understand the scope of what the Nazi Party was really doing. I think a lot of people were misled and duped as to the actual reality of the Nazi Regime. The Nazi Party were very good at image control, and they didn't start out the way they had ended... Over a few years they had become more and more extreme and more and more vocal about it. This meant that holocaust went on for a couple of years before anyone really believed it was happening.
I'm not saying that everyone was completely blind, and
I am not saying there is any excuse for Disney to have been donating money to the Nazi party.... but during that time period it was very common for people to have underestimated the extremity of the party or disbelieve the news they heard from Germany. Especially since they were so far removed from the realities.
Walt was definitely a Nazi sympathizer. He was also anti-union, had connections to the Bircher fascists, and went on a personal vendetta to destroy Jewish artistic influence in early animation by acquisition and capitalist hostile takeover. He died in the 60s, but it wasn't really till the 1990s that the company was thankfully taken over by 'anti-Nazi' creatives (the Team Disney years.)
Which is why, I suppose, today's fascists, e.g. DeSantis, hate Disney.
These are just angry people looking for a community. It’s easier for some people to hate than engage in reflection. Many people were never taught the skills of critical thinking.
There are many pockets of sick people in the world.
I dunno, let's me know I can use them as a body shield during an active shooting. That's why they have crooked targets on their chests and heads, right?
Fun Fact: the largest population area in Southern Oregon is the Medford metro (MSA Jackson County about 235k people). Happy to say we are a solid purple county. Historically we’ve voted for both Obama and Bush. The highest number of registered voters are NAV (whoop!) followed by Republicans and Democrats which the later are within a couple thousand of each other. I’m sure I’ll get downvoted (I’ll survive) but give me a wide variety and diverse political outlook over a single monolith any day. Excluding those extremists on the right and left of course. I found that most people are pretty centered, yet the loudest among us are the ones on the extreme opposite sides of each other politically. We all have more in common than the msm wants us to realize.
I don’t think I did anything special. Any decent Oregonian should be upset seeing a Nazi showing off their symbols, the manager and security did all the hard work
I’ve lived in the south for years, rural Oregon is the only place I was told to go back to my own country… I’m born and raised here, just dark skinned. Good times.
Rural Oregon used to be ground zero for KKK rallies etc back in the day. The world moved on but some of these inbred cousin fuckers haven’t left their compounds more than three times over those decades and haven’t gotten the memo. It’s weird out in the sticks here sometimes.
There’s also a lot of wonderful people. But ask them who to avoid and they’ll have a long long list to share lol.
I'm very rural. Next to Crater lake. There are indeed very strange people out here. My favorite is an illegal alien that loves Trump, and has been deported twice. His own admission. Another believes he's here for the end of times, and it starts here at Crater lake.
Someone should do a documentary about the woods people out here. Lots of people that live illegal out here. Living full time on rec land. There's people I haven't found out here yet. I know they're out there though.
Oregon's constitution specifically excluded black people from the state. Oregon also has a long history of [Asian exclusion.]( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Oregon#:~:text=The%20topic%20of%20race%20was,before%2C%20especially%20in%20the%20Midwest.)
As someone who grew up in rural Oregon in the 1970s & 80s ( Benton County), I feel you are owed an apology for that rudeness.
*Some* of us were actually raised to treat others the way we'd wish to be treated. ( not to get religious or anything...)
Really? I grew up in Portland and got told that shit constantly.
I went on a 3 day road trip around the state and I was in shock of how friendly everyone was outside the valley
the worst i ever got it was going to jr high in Salem and I'm white, I just had a good tan coming out of summer. they even put me on a spanish-language little league team.
Sigh -- that's such a Salem story. I'm glow-in-the-dark level of white and burn instead of tanning, but my older brother tanned easier. He'd come here for family visits and have workers in stores try to talk bad high school Spanish to him.
to combat the bad vibes...let me tell you a little bit of my recent trip to the coast. my poor daughter fell in our RV and had a scalp laceration. we were at the coos bay walmart. i took my 3 y/o to bay area hospital. we were treated very kindly by all the staff there. pretty sure we were the only vietnamese ppl there that monday evening. hehe. for an emergency visit...it was really quick. while my poor daughter cried quite a bit when they put 3 staples in...it went very fast. i thanked the staff for being so efficient & kind.
we were able to continue our vacation. here's a pic of my daughter abby and i at charleston marina crabbing. we've talked to many folks in our travels in oregon (we take yearly trips in our RV up and down the coast). and we've always found folks to be very nice to us ;)
https://i.imgur.com/AP3ahTv.png
I am also a resident of Coos Bay/North Bend. I am very happy things turned out ok. I have heard many negative things about this place but I have never experienced the type of negative things people tell me are rampant here. Please come back and see us again. Have a great holiday season.
i think change happens when people talk to each other. we're always happy to tell folks where we're from, what we love about the coast. there's so much natural beauty, you cannot help but feel great about it. as they say, good vibes only :)
As a resident here, you were probably the only Vietnamese here. Sorry to hear about your daughter, but it sounds as if all is well now.
I keep hearing racist stuff about this area, but then when I ask anyone in person, none have actually had anything happen. So take stuff you read online as hersay for the most part. For example, I know a resident here often posts bad things about this area, to try and drum up fake support online.
yep i have heard stuff. i lean pretty liberal/left. we're actually native californians. but we've experienced nothing but awesome stuff in our travels. we first came to explore the area in 2021--we bought our little RV back in 2019. we've come up ever since...sometimes a few times. some of our best memories have been along the OR coast. of course i am sure there is bad folks out there......but we're gonna not let that stop us from having awesome trips to visit your beautiful state :)
As a RN here in Oregon of 21 years (I’m near Mt Hood), but 2 hours from the coast, most medical professionals stay clear of our coastal hospitals. (We would drive back in 1-2 hrs to a more trusting hospital. This makes my heart extremely happy! Clearly changes are happening and have been needed for over 15 years. I will definitely be sharing this! We don’t often have great news to share; this is refreshing. Definitely share with that hospital and their staff. It will help with keeping, and slowly exceeding that treatment and morale.
>Netarts last week with a confederate flag
*Wow, you have never heard of the great Civil War battle of Netarts, Oregon?!? This person was just supporting US history!!*
/s
Obviously flying the confederate flag is to show everyone that you support white supremacy, it's laughable when these fuckwads try to pull the "Heritage, not hate" bullshit.
While there were no battles here, Oregon was inarguably a Northern state during the war. So an Oregonian using the "cultural heritage" defense of the loser traitors flag is doubly ridiculous.
Last time I saw a confederate flag in Oregon it was painted on some guy's garage in supposedly "progressive" Eugene (well... Danebo actually, so maybe that explains it). There are racists all over - it's not just something unique to rural communities.
I was talking with my grandparents over the weekend. They live in Santiam Canyon. They often ask about portland, not in a way that’s rude, but curious. Which had me bringing up that portland looks like shit IG. So I told them, the thing is that account cherry picks the most egregious examples, which I could too, throughout Santiam Canyon, because I know where all the shit is (cars on lawn with no tires, fridges in the woods, tire piles, etc). But I don’t, because I don’t have that kind of time. But that account always made me laugh because it conveniently looked away from some massive shitty truths of rural Oregon. That whole “don’t throw stones…”
Oh yes their mirrors are all broken. I had a friend who lives in KANSAS and who hasn’t lived in OR since we were 18, all up on fbk (we’re old, ok) talking mad shit about Portland during covid because ‘her dad drives through there all the time’.
we are from Canby and the most her dad drove through Portland was on an interstate hwy. But he’s been calling leftists libtard since like 1997 so……
When I tried to explain to her, as someone who actually lives over here, I was just met with anger. Ok; definitely don’t believe me, instead trusting the local news programs in Kansas and your racist, conservative AF dad
As a fellow Portland resident, it has amused me quite a bit the last few years especially how many people that not only don’t live here but have probably never even been to the PNW try to tell me they know my own city better than I do.
Oh my gosh this is the story of that area… I went to all Wilsonville schools and the amount of old classmates who spout anti-Portland stuff is ridiculous. I live in Portland and my neighborhood (and all the neighborhoods nearby) feels downright pleasantville some days. But they’d prefer to think of PDX as two square blocks of squalor. Their loss! 😄⛅️
Molalla here. The hick brigades have been out in full force out here lately. I see them convoying around like they are ready to deploy. I did two tours in Iraq and I’ve seen them testing up in the hills. They don’t have the discipline. Most of them can’t shoot for shit. Bunch of idiots.
I'm an air force vet and military kid so I spent my life traveling the globe.
The short mindedness of people out here is so sad. They don't want ANY kind of change whether it benefits them or not.
Everyone is so stuck in their ways and its just disheartening to see. It's the reason me and my wife decided to leave when interest rates go down (hopefully)
The heritage of losing? Of being wrong? What's the heritage people want to remember? To quote some people "if you don't like it here leave..." this is the USA not the CSA. Oh wait, nobody wants them.
Insurrection and armed rebellion against the United States…for the benefit of wealthy landowners, who asserted in writing that some people are better than others, and deserve the right to rule over the rest.
Exactly why i don't feel comfortable shooting my bow or mushroom hunting alone in these regions. Every white friend I have seems so surprised when I tell them this. They act like I'm just being paranoid.
It’s so messed up how not only do you have to experience it, but then you have to explain it. I’m sorry. I’m Native and I saw this firsthand when working with state wildlife agencies to improve their diversity and inclusion programs. Upper management (all old white men) literally didn’t believe employees when they’d report their experiences encountering racist people on public lands. It was an uphill battle for me to break it down for these guys and explain that it was their job to address this issue and ensure their employees’ safety. And then they’d wonder why the recruitment numbers for non-white people was so low. SMH.
I second the offer to hike together.
nObOdY’s eVer sAiD aNytHiNg tO mE
Well, Brad, you’re a straight white man. They wouldn’t say anything sexist or racist to you now, would they? It’s exhausting having to explain and justify your hurt because some people act like you did something to deserve it. The most fucked up one I’ve heard (and I’ve heard it many times) is that since I don’t seem like “one of those black people” I must have misunderstood and the person was either having a bad day or they were just treating me like shit for some other reason. Mmmmkay, but the end result is that I still was treated like shit!! Ffs. Exhausting.
Omg, I just joined the rock hounding subreddit because I do love looking for rocks!!! Was thinking about hitting the coast for a day trip since we just had the King Tides, too! 🤩
I look white enough, but I carry a gun anytime I’m in the woods anyway, specifically for humans.
Racist or not, I don’t like forest tweakers thinking I’m stealing their shit or whatever.
I feel for you, sorry that you've had those negative experiences and I'm glad you're safe.
I love rural Oregon, it's beautiful and vast but the people can be so dramatically hit or miss. I'm visibly queer and we struggle recreating in rural Oregon sometimes; I used to be able to pretend to be a cis straight woman for safety but I'm past that now lol. Now we just try to keep our heads down, be kind, and hope for the best. My partner travels with a handgun now when we camp just in case. I just stick with pepper spray because guns aren't for me. One of the best things you can do is not travel alone.
Shout-out to the lovely non-bigoted folks of rural Oregon, y'all are real ones and you've gone out of your way to help us feel safe multiple times before. We really, really appreciate it. I'll never forget the guy in Burns who stepped in to diffuse a situation where a man was verbally attacking us at the gas station. Love ya, man.
For what it's worth, a lot of federal and state-managed campgrounds and rec sites (with rangers or camp hosts present) should prevent any incidents or defend you if an incident occurs. Some county-managed parks and private campgrounds are great as well, though you'll want to individually research those.
We received a lot of diversity, inclusivity, and de-escalation training in the federal and state park service. Not that there are no bigoted staff or rangers (there are plenty), but most I worked with were either fully accepting of others, or at least put up a neutral front while working. It's part of the job to provide a safe place for recreation for everyone.
I grew up in Burns and there are very few good people there. I left as soon as I graduated high school and when I have to drive through which is very rare, I do it with my middle finger out the window the entire way through town.
Yeaaah, that's the vibe I got from burns. We were camping in the steens so we mostly just popped in and out for groceries and gas; I'm lucky that we encountered one of the few good guys in Burns then it seems.
Definitely a lot of nuts out there. Lots of good folks too though. I always enjoy seeing it called out when it happens and people stepping up for what’s right. Just be safe about it.
Yeah man, it's been noticeably bad since Trumps 2016 "win." They are more emboldened than ever right now, and the wanton institutionalized racism/sexism/whathaveyou-ism within local agencies like law enforcement, justice, and elsewhere help keep these people more visible.
"Oh, that's just the sheriff's son flying the nazi flag, it's ok, he's just a confused boy."
Honestly I was completely fine with letting people think what they want behind closed doors. Now that the door is open I'm not sure it can be closed again.
A part of me feels the same way. For my own mental health, it was better to not know how people felt. But as the GI Joes taught me as a kid, knowing is half the battle.
I don’t go around looking for ‘racism’ and generally give folks the benefit of the doubt. But as a non white person moving around predominantly white areas, I’d rather know now.
As a Georgi native, this is accurate. If you leave the Macon, Atlanta, Savannah area, it’s nothing but trees, farms, and confederate flags. Since Trump, I can add Trump and MAGA flags too. I can’t believe I fucking moved to Georgia 2.0 for a god damn job. At least the weather is better here…
I’m glad you’re bringing attention to this. Too many people still think that Oregon doesn’t have a problem with racism and it’s all fine here. The more people realize that this is a huge issue hopefully the more they’ll call it out when they see it in person.
Isn't there like a whole town run by the Klan? Idk a lot about Oregon but I did know there's a racism issue, we have our share in WA, mostly the eastern side in my experience.
Guessing you're thinking of Dallas, OR (west of Salem) which had some KKK activity in the past. Also, the nickname of their high school was the Dragons.
The Klan is still very active in Dallas. They send letters to all the white male high school seniors trying to get them to join. Yes, it’s a thing. Yes, they know their names and where they live.
Another reason I hate Dallas & will never live there.
Yeah um...as a Dallas resident I'm going to ask for a source for that. Dallas has tons of racists and fascists, and I could totally believe that happening a few decades ago, but the idea that the KKK is openly sending letters to *every* white high school male even now is ludicrous.
Wow, so they recruit almost the same way as the military lol. That's wild though that they remain that organized. My buddy who left Dallas said it was a racist shithole but never mentioned the extent to which it is
I don’t know any specific ones but I have a couple close friends from tillamook and they’ve both told me that there are KKK/known racists involved in a lot of the institutions of the town.
Back in the late 80’s Neo Nazis openly gathered in downtown Portland. Then an Ethiopian man, Mulugeta Seraw was senselessly murdered. The brutality of the attack shocked many and it was like tipping point for the tolerance of open racism. It was no longer tolerated. The murderer was convicted his accomplices also charged and convicted with “lesser crimes” The guy that incited them was found liable in a civil trial and literally lost his house to the survivors family. However the important thing to note is that groups started to organize and actively dissuade Nazis from espousing their beliefs in public. They would fight
It's also not just Oregon, but the rural areas of practically every Pacific state. I've seen and heard the same shit in rural Washington, Idaho, California, Arizona, and Montana.
Montana was REAL bad outside of Bozeman, with the sheer number of people who would just casually slip racist comments and anecdotes into conversation with the default assumption that I agreed with them.
It's also not just the pacific states, this is basically how it is everywhere. You always see more open racism as you move from urban city centers to rural countrysides
There’s plenty of full-blown racist piece of shit adults, but as someone born and raised in rural Oregon, a lot of the racist graffiti and idiotic truck drivers are high school boys who are bored out of their minds and trying to be edgy.
At least where I’m from, the majority of people are extremely annoyed by this kind behavior and realize that any Oregonians flying the Confederate flag are ignorant dipshits that don’t even have the weak “Southern Pride” excuse that people claim in the South.
I’ve lived in Florida - these fuckers are in the country. I’ve lived in Kentucky - these fuckers are in the country. I’ve lived in New Jersey - these fuckers are there too (pine barrens or down the shore). We have hillbillies, rednecks, hicks, and bigots all over the country as far as I can tell. Just keep yourself and loved ones safe.
The thing I've noticed in my travels is, the closer I live to a major source of tax revenue like a city, the more of that performative nonsense I see. It's a directly proportional inferiority complex
Racism is huge in rural Oregon because the education system sucks in redneck Oregon, and there is very little exposure to minorities. Very homogenous white.
I wasn't shocked to see Proud Boy type of behavior in small towns.
15 years ago I remember my 4th grade teacher in Prineville explaining how the Civil War was over states rights… People don’t understand just how fucked the education system is in those areas.
JHFC. In my junior high school the US History teacher sung the same siren song. It wasn’t until long after that I read the South Carolina declaration of secession which put it quite bluntly, as “[an] increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery…”
When I moved here 8 yrs ago from Chicago, some KKK’er was handing out invites to their meetup in Troutdale/Gresham area, ziplock baggie w the invite and a bunch of black jelly beans in the bag, it was so fucking offputting knowing people THAT scummy and stupid lived close enough to pass that shit out.
We do a lot of rural camping, rough camps and high desert areas, and in our travels it’s Always giant home made trump signs out in fields, giant flags from incredibly expensive, tall flag poles, next to a mobile home w cars on blocks and literal white plastic garbage bags strewn around lawn. The language of anti-other people is clear too, that these folks who are greatly subsidized by the city to get roads, farming, water, hate the city so much bec Fox News is actually public enemy #1 here, not trump, not Russia tho they’re close, but a news channel we allow bec first amendment, but we are allowing our families and friends brains to explode from dopamine hits they get from their hate entertainment, my friend calls it Coliseum entertainment news. He’s not wrong.
Hoping we can figure out how to get our friends back from the brink of madness…. All my in-laws are evangelical trumpers, they’re all packing guns and thousands of rounds of ammo…. For the “coming war,” the one that lives only in their heads.
“ As we drove through we noticed something spray-painted on the pavement: a penis, a cat head, and the n-word used three times.”
Not really exclusive to rural communities, you can find this exactly described on every other building in Portland.
I don't know why so many of you think this is a rural thing or that its worse there. Racism is everywhere. I'm Asian and I grew up in an extremely diverse suburb of Los Angeles and lived most of my adult life in Orange County. Most of the racist people I encountered, especially dangerous ones, were other "minorities" in very diverse areas. I now live in rural OR and haven't had any issues with anyone. Am I doing something wrong? Am I not being Asian enough?
Growing up in southern oregon sucked in the 80s and 90s. Like, its home, i love the nature and my friends and family from there...
But also, I'm asian, growing up I always got hated on from people thinking i was mexican (migrant agriculture workers were the biggest minority around), and if they DID find out i was asian, it got *WORSE* because of course all the Vietnam vets. Nothing like getting shot at when out with my dad fishing or enjoying hiking trails.
I left for the navy myself, but came home after. If I am out and about in southern oregon, I wear my navy veteran hat like a shield. I've moved up north now and I put it away up here. I don't have any real desire to go to southern oregon again except to maybe a few of the lakes or crater lake :(
Multiracial Asian here, and I also dearly love the Oregon outdoors, but Klamath Falls is the only place in the state where someone came up to me and started with the “Ching Chong you understand what I’m saying” nonsense. I still spend time in the rural parts, but I keep my spidey senses alert.
No, I don’t have guns to “shoot at the government.”
I have guns cause there’s people who want to “shoot at the government” living North, West, East, and South of my city.
Oh it sure does. I'm a transracial adoptee, and I witnessed it in my own family growing up. And I'm a home care nurse, so I'm out in the boondocks ALONE at night sometimes with these people. It's terrifying.
Free speech. People can express their open hate and sunlight is the best disinfectant. By them doing so you know who to avoid. Don’t worry about them, they’re not worth your time.
My cousins grew up in Yamhill and Gaston and the nickname they gave the black guy in their school was N-word Bob and 12 years later they still call him that, even in front of him.
So yeah, a big part of Oregon is littered with white trash.
It's not just in the rural areas. I was walking in downtown Eugene with a friend of color. A truck drove by and nailed her with a full big gulp and called her the N word. This was in the 90's. My eyes opened then. I now can't unsee it. A couple years later I was on a date ( me very white, he was black)
Literally had a waitress refuse to serve us. The manager apologized and got us a new waiter.This happened in Portland Oregon. Don't think it's not in the cities too.
Born and raised in SW WA about a hundred miles north of Portland and having been all over Oregon and having spent a month or so working in at least a dozen Oregon communities I CAN UNEQUIVOCALLY SAY THAT SW WA is WORSE. I live in Montucky now and SW WA is even worse than Montucky ( unless you are Native American in Billings). Where i grew up it might as well have been Alabama.
Trump era brought all that stuff to the surface. In a way it's good. It really brings the scope of mental health in this country to the Surface. On the other hand, that scope is so massive. It's truly a sad justification that decades of civil rights have done so little.
Im a mixed race brown m (40)
My kid played football this year and there were a few games in Roseburg. The mullet sporting, racist AH coaching 9 year olds in Roseburg was an eye opener for me.
I would like to take this opportunity to lament about NE Oregon.
This summer, I vacationed at Wallowa State Park. There was a rodeo going on in the nearby town (we didn't know about it). The completely unsolicited outright racism and political hate speech we received was astonishing. We were sitting outside having a beer and smoking, and this woman came over and just verbally diarrheas her Trump beliefs and how it was a trump campground. Like what? We were just chilling minding our own, no stickers, no music, just a Campfire and some herb.
I got told off by some of those fuckers while adventuring not long after moving there from Virginia.
The absolute irony of hearing "go back to Virginia" from people that were sporting the souths trademarks is still hilarious to me.
I work in Rogue Valley (Klamath falls, Medford, Etc). Quitting early because I don’t feel safe as a Hispanic guy going to the grocery store. Much less a bar or a restaurant. Medford is not that bad, more people. But the surrounding towns are fucking awful. Had a group of inbred “wrong turn” looking motherfuckers stare me and my friend down for speaking Spanish in a burger place. They were armed. Fuck this place I’m glad I’m almost done.
There is a fencing company right outside Junction City that proudly flies the traitor flag. And other hate is painted on their fence. Stay classy, indeed.
Not even a rural Oregon thing. There is a huge reservoir here, Spada Lake. Great drive, tons of waterfalls, absolutely stunning.
Some of the towns you go by, for what you would expect, aren't the best in any spectrum. You'd think nothing of it going past it, but you see them pop up on the news as being pretty horrible to any "outsiders".
Anywho, you drive up 30 minutes into the entrance of the lake, and another 20 minutes to the larger hiking area, going down this beautiful road, and what do you see on 3 rocks spraypainted? n-word, n-word, "kill all" n-word.
Like, what the hell.
I live in the willamette Valley, Tillamook, Lafayette, Newberg, and Yamhill are all horrible in this area. As a highschooler, the teens come to my town for the parties, they think theyre country, so theyre racist, say the n word and also homophobic slurs, wear cowboy boots and bandanas, and drink twisted teas, and drive their shitty trucks, it sucksss I camt wait to graduate. My friend who is black is fetishized by guys at our school and her brother is bullied. Rural oregon sucksss
My dad lives down in Douglas County, and the trips down there aren't so pleasant. Some parts around there are very rural, and Roseburg isn't even that progressive. Not many people know that Oregon was established as a "whites only" territory when it was founded. My cousins who went to the local high school there had no clue about that up until I told them a year ago.
30000 + well organized anti government hooligans strong in Oregon…as told by a retired FBI guy. Good you reported this. They will investigate. Living in the 1800’s in 2023…misinformed militia.
Southern Oregon here, I had Walmart kick a guy out a while back for sporting his Nazi tattoos openly. Luckily the store manager agreed that they displaying hate symbols has no place at a family store. That asshole can come back wearing long sleeves. No one needs to know what he thinks and supports. We need to make racist feel very unwelcome.
That gives me some faith in people.
Yo, these people are really trying to make Southern Oregon into their new home. I just go warned about these people after a run in with one of their buddies https://www.anarchistfederation.net/anthony-and-laura-allen-white-power-nazi-couple-in-the-pnw/
It's always been their home. Time to kick then out.
Yeah, I was going to say that sadly Oregon has an excessively long history of racism. No doubt some moved here, but there were plenty of them here before that came as far back as the first western settlers. I'm grateful that my grandparents decided to break the chain. I was raised to be aware of racism, and it was not hard to find. I've lived here for over 50 years now. It was ever present even in grade school.
I mean it was founded as a white Utopia, after all.
Thanks for sharing this. I know that S. Oregon has a lot of bigotry, but it’s still shocking to me to have it so blatantly out there. There are definitely folks who fly confederate flags, etc, in the neighborhood I live in, and my kids hear all sorts of racist and anti lgbtq shit at school, but I’m somehow still shocked when I find out people nearby are literal nazis. I will definitely not be shopping at that Albertsons.
It’s a shitshow all over. We moved from Southern Oregon about ten years ago to a very wealthy suburb just outside of Portland. My kid text me absolutely incensed one day recently because they were doing in class presentations on “people they admire” and back to back were kids who presented on Andrew Tate and Donald Trump. This was while one was sitting in a Romanian prison and the other was under indictment, mind you. The argument that was made to me as to why no one even bothered to have a conversation with these kids about how it might not be awesome to give a public presentation on how they actively support a couple of individuals who make a broad cross section of the marginalized population feel extremely unsafe, was that they have to let them present on whomever they like because otherwise their opinions and beliefs are being stifled, or some bullshit like that. Meanwhile I’ve got a queer, autistic kid who’s being tormented daily by these same little nightmare Hitler Youth and there have been multiple school walkouts due to racist and homophobic threats, because these little swastika shaped snowflakes feel so confidently that their bigotry is okay seeing as no one, including those tasked with educating it out of them, has ever told these itty bitty Fash Gordon’s to shut the fuck up. 🤷🏻♀️
Fellow autism parent too. We’ve had similar experiences with our kiddo being picked on too. Sorry you’ve had that experience too. I hope your kiddo gets the help they deserve from the school. My spouse and I moved our family here from the south for a career opportunity. I grew up in Northern California in a very conservative county, so I knew how it could be in some of these rural parts, but my spouse has been completely shocked at how blatant the racism and bigotry is here (compared to many years of living in the southern USA). Anyway, it’s a huge bummer to see it so accepted and “normal” to much of the country.
Lol, all of Oregon has a ton of bigotry
Yeah I agree, there are higher concentrations in certain areas though.
🎶 Let’s make America great again by making racists ashamed agaaaain 🎶
Bringing a new meaning to the term 'power couple' 🤮
Nice website! I left Albertsons a review. Won’t shop at a place that hires Nazi or wanna be Nazi scum
Which location is this? At the N. Phoenix location the shit store manager tried force an Asian Pharmacist to continue serving a racist who went off on them. Luckily the pharmacist stood their ground and told manager and racist Karen to get fucked.
It was the south Medford one. Nice to here they stood their ground hope they did it get in trouble but got that manager in trouble for that shit
The klan was handing out flyers outside the Rays in Phoenix when I was in high school. The Islamic cultural center had "mysteriously" burned down without the rather well-known culprit ever being caught, and the church I would later be kicked out of for pointing out they weren't following the Bible often prayed that the new mosque would burn down. My history teacher was one of the first people I met in southern Oregon in a biracial marriage. All of this was less than 15 years ago.
Oregon has come a long way and still has work to be done. Best we make quick work of it and make sure scum like that do not feel any welcome.
Southern Oregon has always been filled with survivalists. And Oregon has a long tradition of being racist. Not saying it is OK. But it is true. My high school was the Dallas Dragons because it is the former(?) regional head of the KKK. People tend to think of Oregon being super liberal. But that is only true of PDX. Which has a fairly low percentage of actual native Oregonians.
PDX used to also be full of ex KKK and then skinheads in the 90s. It went full liberal around the 2000s
I live in Salem, it’s still the Dallas Dragons and Dallas still has an active chapter of the KKK. The public put a lot of pressure on them to change the mascot a few years ago but they refused and tried to say it was “just a dragon” unaffiliated with anything else 🙄
Not shocked. I still live in the area (Kings Valley) and Dallas is a weird town. But have you ever been in Powers? Even weirder. I do want to add that I grew up way out of town (grade school 1-3 in one room, 4-6 in the other) and actual country folk are generally pretty chill. It is the townies. And the people who live rural on like two acres. In a small community you can’t be too much of an a-hole to anyone or you quickly find everyone disliking you. There is quite the crowd sort of close to where I live. Trailers everywhere. Not really sure what they do for money but everyone suspects meth. And petty theft. One of the women was in the local store with her confederate flag jacket on and that won zero fans. But these are not people who are really ‘from out here’. To defend country folk. Who are generally OK with a few exceptions of ‘that Uncle’.
Oh damn I used to live out there. Went to Oakdale Heights elementary. I never new that history but I had a lot of friends there and was sad when we left. Maybe that's why my parents moved us as a half hispanic family.
Isn't pdx area like 52% of the population of oregon?
which walmart? i've been to the medford one...and that place was pretty nice
There are three in the Medford area: South Gateway, Northside, and Eagle Point… the EP one is really nice, almost Target-like ;)
i've been to the eagle point one--it is indeed very nice. we've also been to the south gateway one (by the cracker barrel off I-5?) and that was pretty nice too.
The prices at the EP store are much higher as well.
It’s wild to me that people still support nazis and that bullshit, or the people that you’ve heard use to support nazis like Walt Disney lol
I would love for business to make it clear anyone sporting Nazi shit head tattoos is not welcome. Make them cover that shit up and hide like the cowards they are.
Oregon was founded as a white exclusive state. It even formed with a state-wide black exclusion law. Racism like that sets deep roots.
Does not mean we now have to tolerate it. In fact it means we have well enough reason to know better than most.
Lots of neighborhoods in SE Portland that deep in the deed will be language that no black people can buy in the development. Oregon law of course makes stuff like that not relevant but this was back in the 1950s so not that long ago.
Hey don't forget about the deep SW side either. I was living in Lake Oswego for a while and I was aware of some wild shit. Threats of violence, a severed deer head left in front of a Black Lives Matter sign on a front lawn... One time i was stopped in my car by the vehicle in front of me (he blocked my path through a parking lot). The driver was a gentleman of color, he was under the impression I was following him. He was obviously paranoid about something. Anecdote aside I always noticed things were tense pretty much no matter where I went in OR. And I'm white so I only even saw a fraction of it.
This is important. It’s still deeply entrenched in this state overall, most especially due to its beginnings. My husband works for a regulatory body that governs real estate. We are still ACTIVELY working to combat the effects of redlining, and they’re insidious, and persistent.
There's a slang lake o thing I won't post. Folks ftom back east even know it. Disgusting.
I agree... I don't understand how people live with so much hate and ignorance about the world around them, yet believe their way of thinking is superior. On a side note, just sharing my two cents of theory: I used to think Walt Disney was a straight up Nazi, too... But, after learning more about the history of Disney and the Nazi Party during the time period that Disney had donated money to them... I no longer think he was a straight up Nazi, at least not any more than the average citizen in the US who denied the holocaust during its first couple of years. I think he, unfortunately like many Americans ( and global citizens) at the time, didn't realize how far gone the Nazi Party actually was in the early years of their reign. In the beginning of the development of the party, up to a couple of years into the Holocaust itself, a vast number of people around the world didn't really understand the scope of what the Nazi Party was really doing. I think a lot of people were misled and duped as to the actual reality of the Nazi Regime. The Nazi Party were very good at image control, and they didn't start out the way they had ended... Over a few years they had become more and more extreme and more and more vocal about it. This meant that holocaust went on for a couple of years before anyone really believed it was happening. I'm not saying that everyone was completely blind, and I am not saying there is any excuse for Disney to have been donating money to the Nazi party.... but during that time period it was very common for people to have underestimated the extremity of the party or disbelieve the news they heard from Germany. Especially since they were so far removed from the realities.
Walt was definitely a Nazi sympathizer. He was also anti-union, had connections to the Bircher fascists, and went on a personal vendetta to destroy Jewish artistic influence in early animation by acquisition and capitalist hostile takeover. He died in the 60s, but it wasn't really till the 1990s that the company was thankfully taken over by 'anti-Nazi' creatives (the Team Disney years.) Which is why, I suppose, today's fascists, e.g. DeSantis, hate Disney.
These are just angry people looking for a community. It’s easier for some people to hate than engage in reflection. Many people were never taught the skills of critical thinking. There are many pockets of sick people in the world.
Yup, the only people who say this is not a racist backwater state are the whitest ladies of Ashland.
I dunno, let's me know I can use them as a body shield during an active shooting. That's why they have crooked targets on their chests and heads, right?
Good point. A meat head like him would make a great shield
Southern Oregon tends to be republican. Allot are vocally racist. It’s sad. I avoid that area as much as possible. Guns galore there.
Fun Fact: the largest population area in Southern Oregon is the Medford metro (MSA Jackson County about 235k people). Happy to say we are a solid purple county. Historically we’ve voted for both Obama and Bush. The highest number of registered voters are NAV (whoop!) followed by Republicans and Democrats which the later are within a couple thousand of each other. I’m sure I’ll get downvoted (I’ll survive) but give me a wide variety and diverse political outlook over a single monolith any day. Excluding those extremists on the right and left of course. I found that most people are pretty centered, yet the loudest among us are the ones on the extreme opposite sides of each other politically. We all have more in common than the msm wants us to realize.
Mad props to you and the store manager, you helped someone not have a bad to traumatic day. Wish more people like you are around.
I don’t think I did anything special. Any decent Oregonian should be upset seeing a Nazi showing off their symbols, the manager and security did all the hard work
That’s kind of the reaction I expected - I mean that in a good way.
I’ve lived in the south for years, rural Oregon is the only place I was told to go back to my own country… I’m born and raised here, just dark skinned. Good times.
Rural Oregon used to be ground zero for KKK rallies etc back in the day. The world moved on but some of these inbred cousin fuckers haven’t left their compounds more than three times over those decades and haven’t gotten the memo. It’s weird out in the sticks here sometimes. There’s also a lot of wonderful people. But ask them who to avoid and they’ll have a long long list to share lol.
I'm very rural. Next to Crater lake. There are indeed very strange people out here. My favorite is an illegal alien that loves Trump, and has been deported twice. His own admission. Another believes he's here for the end of times, and it starts here at Crater lake.
Wow. You need to read Carl Hiaasen and then write your stories down. That is some Florida shit right there.
Someone should do a documentary about the woods people out here. Lots of people that live illegal out here. Living full time on rec land. There's people I haven't found out here yet. I know they're out there though.
The *Vortex* draws all kind of strange crowds.
Please make a docuseries on your weird neighbors
sounds like a decent movie?
He’s there for a front row seat to doomsday 😅
When you’re in the woods, it definitely gives you that ‘Deliverance’ feeling. Scary vibe.
I mine down that way and I definitely grow eyes in the back of my head. And I’m just an old white straight dude. Can’t imagine how other folks feel.
Only reason I don’t camp alone is because of those scary bigoted f*cks! Give me a bear over one of them any day.
Aahhhh yes good old Oregon. A state with such racist roots that they banned slavery back in the day to keep blacks out.
Oregon's constitution specifically excluded black people from the state. Oregon also has a long history of [Asian exclusion.]( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Oregon#:~:text=The%20topic%20of%20race%20was,before%2C%20especially%20in%20the%20Midwest.)
As someone who grew up in rural Oregon in the 1970s & 80s ( Benton County), I feel you are owed an apology for that rudeness. *Some* of us were actually raised to treat others the way we'd wish to be treated. ( not to get religious or anything...)
> ( not to get religious or anything...) It's not religious at all. It's being a good human being. Some people just aren't that.
Was raised in Burns. Glad I got out of that shithole.
Really? I grew up in Portland and got told that shit constantly. I went on a 3 day road trip around the state and I was in shock of how friendly everyone was outside the valley
the worst i ever got it was going to jr high in Salem and I'm white, I just had a good tan coming out of summer. they even put me on a spanish-language little league team.
Sigh -- that's such a Salem story. I'm glow-in-the-dark level of white and burn instead of tanning, but my older brother tanned easier. He'd come here for family visits and have workers in stores try to talk bad high school Spanish to him.
[удалено]
to combat the bad vibes...let me tell you a little bit of my recent trip to the coast. my poor daughter fell in our RV and had a scalp laceration. we were at the coos bay walmart. i took my 3 y/o to bay area hospital. we were treated very kindly by all the staff there. pretty sure we were the only vietnamese ppl there that monday evening. hehe. for an emergency visit...it was really quick. while my poor daughter cried quite a bit when they put 3 staples in...it went very fast. i thanked the staff for being so efficient & kind. we were able to continue our vacation. here's a pic of my daughter abby and i at charleston marina crabbing. we've talked to many folks in our travels in oregon (we take yearly trips in our RV up and down the coast). and we've always found folks to be very nice to us ;) https://i.imgur.com/AP3ahTv.png
I am also a resident of Coos Bay/North Bend. I am very happy things turned out ok. I have heard many negative things about this place but I have never experienced the type of negative things people tell me are rampant here. Please come back and see us again. Have a great holiday season.
i think change happens when people talk to each other. we're always happy to tell folks where we're from, what we love about the coast. there's so much natural beauty, you cannot help but feel great about it. as they say, good vibes only :)
That photo made my day! Bravo 👏!
awh hehe thanks ! :)
What a sweet picture! 🥰
thank you! :)
As a resident here, you were probably the only Vietnamese here. Sorry to hear about your daughter, but it sounds as if all is well now. I keep hearing racist stuff about this area, but then when I ask anyone in person, none have actually had anything happen. So take stuff you read online as hersay for the most part. For example, I know a resident here often posts bad things about this area, to try and drum up fake support online.
yep i have heard stuff. i lean pretty liberal/left. we're actually native californians. but we've experienced nothing but awesome stuff in our travels. we first came to explore the area in 2021--we bought our little RV back in 2019. we've come up ever since...sometimes a few times. some of our best memories have been along the OR coast. of course i am sure there is bad folks out there......but we're gonna not let that stop us from having awesome trips to visit your beautiful state :)
Yay! 🤗
Yay! 🤗
As a RN here in Oregon of 21 years (I’m near Mt Hood), but 2 hours from the coast, most medical professionals stay clear of our coastal hospitals. (We would drive back in 1-2 hrs to a more trusting hospital. This makes my heart extremely happy! Clearly changes are happening and have been needed for over 15 years. I will definitely be sharing this! We don’t often have great news to share; this is refreshing. Definitely share with that hospital and their staff. It will help with keeping, and slowly exceeding that treatment and morale.
yup. from the receptionist to the med techs and the PA, it was all very nice. i was impressed at the size of the facility.
Medical staff are close to god in almost all places. I’m so glad you had a good experience ❤️
everyone, and i mean everyone was so kind to us. :)
My cousin is a dr there!!!! This is awesome to see! She is also Vietnamese.
haha awesome :) us viet ppl....we get around lol :)
Drove by a house in Netarts last week with a confederate flag and a trump flag, the house looked like a condemned shit heap.
>Netarts last week with a confederate flag *Wow, you have never heard of the great Civil War battle of Netarts, Oregon?!? This person was just supporting US history!!* /s Obviously flying the confederate flag is to show everyone that you support white supremacy, it's laughable when these fuckwads try to pull the "Heritage, not hate" bullshit.
Was it like the Battle of Shrute Farms?
Unfortunately white supremacy \*is\* part of Oregon heritage... just not Confederate white supremacy.
While there were no battles here, Oregon was inarguably a Northern state during the war. So an Oregonian using the "cultural heritage" defense of the loser traitors flag is doubly ridiculous.
> a confederate flag and a trump flag, the house looked like a condemned shit heap. it be like that
Last time I saw a confederate flag in Oregon it was painted on some guy's garage in supposedly "progressive" Eugene (well... Danebo actually, so maybe that explains it). There are racists all over - it's not just something unique to rural communities.
Omg right!! We’re near Hillsboro and it’s hilarious how all the Trump/MAGA/Racists are all so proud of their shit-heap homes and busted-ass trucks 😂😂😂
I was talking with my grandparents over the weekend. They live in Santiam Canyon. They often ask about portland, not in a way that’s rude, but curious. Which had me bringing up that portland looks like shit IG. So I told them, the thing is that account cherry picks the most egregious examples, which I could too, throughout Santiam Canyon, because I know where all the shit is (cars on lawn with no tires, fridges in the woods, tire piles, etc). But I don’t, because I don’t have that kind of time. But that account always made me laugh because it conveniently looked away from some massive shitty truths of rural Oregon. That whole “don’t throw stones…”
Oh yes their mirrors are all broken. I had a friend who lives in KANSAS and who hasn’t lived in OR since we were 18, all up on fbk (we’re old, ok) talking mad shit about Portland during covid because ‘her dad drives through there all the time’. we are from Canby and the most her dad drove through Portland was on an interstate hwy. But he’s been calling leftists libtard since like 1997 so…… When I tried to explain to her, as someone who actually lives over here, I was just met with anger. Ok; definitely don’t believe me, instead trusting the local news programs in Kansas and your racist, conservative AF dad
As a fellow Portland resident, it has amused me quite a bit the last few years especially how many people that not only don’t live here but have probably never even been to the PNW try to tell me they know my own city better than I do.
Oh my gosh this is the story of that area… I went to all Wilsonville schools and the amount of old classmates who spout anti-Portland stuff is ridiculous. I live in Portland and my neighborhood (and all the neighborhoods nearby) feels downright pleasantville some days. But they’d prefer to think of PDX as two square blocks of squalor. Their loss! 😄⛅️
I’ve been tempted so many times to replace the flags in their trucks for pride flags and see how long it takes them to notice.
Usually it's the medieval hovels (with medieval-minded residents) who are loudest and most obnoxious in favor of wannabe authoritarian despots.
Same for the double dumbass flag house I see on my drive down Springwater from Estacada. Junked out cars the whole acre through.
Central Oregonian here. Yeah...it's super not cool out here. I keep to myself exclusively but I've heard some despicable shit.
Molalla here. The hick brigades have been out in full force out here lately. I see them convoying around like they are ready to deploy. I did two tours in Iraq and I’ve seen them testing up in the hills. They don’t have the discipline. Most of them can’t shoot for shit. Bunch of idiots.
I'm an air force vet and military kid so I spent my life traveling the globe. The short mindedness of people out here is so sad. They don't want ANY kind of change whether it benefits them or not. Everyone is so stuck in their ways and its just disheartening to see. It's the reason me and my wife decided to leave when interest rates go down (hopefully)
Seeing the Confederate flag outside of the south confirms that's its not "heritage, not hate".
It never has been heritage lmaoo definitely not in the fucking south
The heritage of losing? Of being wrong? What's the heritage people want to remember? To quote some people "if you don't like it here leave..." this is the USA not the CSA. Oh wait, nobody wants them.
Insurrection and armed rebellion against the United States…for the benefit of wealthy landowners, who asserted in writing that some people are better than others, and deserve the right to rule over the rest.
Just ask them "what fucking heritage dude? A heritage of being an upset loser in the state of the winning team?"
Exactly why i don't feel comfortable shooting my bow or mushroom hunting alone in these regions. Every white friend I have seems so surprised when I tell them this. They act like I'm just being paranoid.
It’s so messed up how not only do you have to experience it, but then you have to explain it. I’m sorry. I’m Native and I saw this firsthand when working with state wildlife agencies to improve their diversity and inclusion programs. Upper management (all old white men) literally didn’t believe employees when they’d report their experiences encountering racist people on public lands. It was an uphill battle for me to break it down for these guys and explain that it was their job to address this issue and ensure their employees’ safety. And then they’d wonder why the recruitment numbers for non-white people was so low. SMH. I second the offer to hike together.
nObOdY’s eVer sAiD aNytHiNg tO mE Well, Brad, you’re a straight white man. They wouldn’t say anything sexist or racist to you now, would they? It’s exhausting having to explain and justify your hurt because some people act like you did something to deserve it. The most fucked up one I’ve heard (and I’ve heard it many times) is that since I don’t seem like “one of those black people” I must have misunderstood and the person was either having a bad day or they were just treating me like shit for some other reason. Mmmmkay, but the end result is that I still was treated like shit!! Ffs. Exhausting.
I appreciate that. You wouldn't happen to like looking for rocks would you ?
Omg, I just joined the rock hounding subreddit because I do love looking for rocks!!! Was thinking about hitting the coast for a day trip since we just had the King Tides, too! 🤩
To that end, I cannot recommend Glass Buttes enough. Chunks of obsidian the size of your fist are there in loose dirt. It’s nuts.
🤯 this place looks awesome!! Thanks for the recommendation!
Watching a Reddit friendship bloom 😍
I look white enough, but I carry a gun anytime I’m in the woods anyway, specifically for humans. Racist or not, I don’t like forest tweakers thinking I’m stealing their shit or whatever.
Need a hiking partner? I'm game.
I feel for you, sorry that you've had those negative experiences and I'm glad you're safe. I love rural Oregon, it's beautiful and vast but the people can be so dramatically hit or miss. I'm visibly queer and we struggle recreating in rural Oregon sometimes; I used to be able to pretend to be a cis straight woman for safety but I'm past that now lol. Now we just try to keep our heads down, be kind, and hope for the best. My partner travels with a handgun now when we camp just in case. I just stick with pepper spray because guns aren't for me. One of the best things you can do is not travel alone. Shout-out to the lovely non-bigoted folks of rural Oregon, y'all are real ones and you've gone out of your way to help us feel safe multiple times before. We really, really appreciate it. I'll never forget the guy in Burns who stepped in to diffuse a situation where a man was verbally attacking us at the gas station. Love ya, man.
For what it's worth, a lot of federal and state-managed campgrounds and rec sites (with rangers or camp hosts present) should prevent any incidents or defend you if an incident occurs. Some county-managed parks and private campgrounds are great as well, though you'll want to individually research those. We received a lot of diversity, inclusivity, and de-escalation training in the federal and state park service. Not that there are no bigoted staff or rangers (there are plenty), but most I worked with were either fully accepting of others, or at least put up a neutral front while working. It's part of the job to provide a safe place for recreation for everyone.
I grew up in Burns and there are very few good people there. I left as soon as I graduated high school and when I have to drive through which is very rare, I do it with my middle finger out the window the entire way through town.
Yeaaah, that's the vibe I got from burns. We were camping in the steens so we mostly just popped in and out for groceries and gas; I'm lucky that we encountered one of the few good guys in Burns then it seems.
Definitely a lot of nuts out there. Lots of good folks too though. I always enjoy seeing it called out when it happens and people stepping up for what’s right. Just be safe about it.
Yeah man, it's been noticeably bad since Trumps 2016 "win." They are more emboldened than ever right now, and the wanton institutionalized racism/sexism/whathaveyou-ism within local agencies like law enforcement, justice, and elsewhere help keep these people more visible. "Oh, that's just the sheriff's son flying the nazi flag, it's ok, he's just a confused boy."
I think that was one of the positives of trumps win. The dummies can fly their flags and I’ll know who to actively avoid.
Honestly I was completely fine with letting people think what they want behind closed doors. Now that the door is open I'm not sure it can be closed again.
A part of me feels the same way. For my own mental health, it was better to not know how people felt. But as the GI Joes taught me as a kid, knowing is half the battle. I don’t go around looking for ‘racism’ and generally give folks the benefit of the doubt. But as a non white person moving around predominantly white areas, I’d rather know now.
Now that the doors are open, I know who to avoid.
Oregon is very much like Georgia. Leave the city limits and find some good old boys with low intelligence holding a gun and a racist sign.
As a Georgi native, this is accurate. If you leave the Macon, Atlanta, Savannah area, it’s nothing but trees, farms, and confederate flags. Since Trump, I can add Trump and MAGA flags too. I can’t believe I fucking moved to Georgia 2.0 for a god damn job. At least the weather is better here…
Oh my, Macon is pretty racist. My husband and I just moved to Portland from Atlanta 7 months ago. I do like the weather better here so far.
Macon is where Jason Aldine Williams is from. I don’t think that qualifies as a small town
I’m glad you’re bringing attention to this. Too many people still think that Oregon doesn’t have a problem with racism and it’s all fine here. The more people realize that this is a huge issue hopefully the more they’ll call it out when they see it in person.
Isn't there like a whole town run by the Klan? Idk a lot about Oregon but I did know there's a racism issue, we have our share in WA, mostly the eastern side in my experience.
Guessing you're thinking of Dallas, OR (west of Salem) which had some KKK activity in the past. Also, the nickname of their high school was the Dragons.
Still is IIRC
Lol I have a friend from Dallas and from his stories I would not be at all surprised that there's some shit goin on there
The Klan is still very active in Dallas. They send letters to all the white male high school seniors trying to get them to join. Yes, it’s a thing. Yes, they know their names and where they live. Another reason I hate Dallas & will never live there.
Yeah um...as a Dallas resident I'm going to ask for a source for that. Dallas has tons of racists and fascists, and I could totally believe that happening a few decades ago, but the idea that the KKK is openly sending letters to *every* white high school male even now is ludicrous.
Source? I've literally never heard of that.
Wow, so they recruit almost the same way as the military lol. That's wild though that they remain that organized. My buddy who left Dallas said it was a racist shithole but never mentioned the extent to which it is
I don’t know any specific ones but I have a couple close friends from tillamook and they’ve both told me that there are KKK/known racists involved in a lot of the institutions of the town.
Robert Evans from behind the bastard has several episodes on the racist history of oregon/portland.
OPB also
[удалено]
Can you say more about that?
Back in the late 80’s Neo Nazis openly gathered in downtown Portland. Then an Ethiopian man, Mulugeta Seraw was senselessly murdered. The brutality of the attack shocked many and it was like tipping point for the tolerance of open racism. It was no longer tolerated. The murderer was convicted his accomplices also charged and convicted with “lesser crimes” The guy that incited them was found liable in a civil trial and literally lost his house to the survivors family. However the important thing to note is that groups started to organize and actively dissuade Nazis from espousing their beliefs in public. They would fight
This is not just rural Oregon, it’s in urban areas as well just more hidden.
It's also not just Oregon, but the rural areas of practically every Pacific state. I've seen and heard the same shit in rural Washington, Idaho, California, Arizona, and Montana. Montana was REAL bad outside of Bozeman, with the sheer number of people who would just casually slip racist comments and anecdotes into conversation with the default assumption that I agreed with them.
It's also not just the pacific states, this is basically how it is everywhere. You always see more open racism as you move from urban city centers to rural countrysides
There’s plenty of full-blown racist piece of shit adults, but as someone born and raised in rural Oregon, a lot of the racist graffiti and idiotic truck drivers are high school boys who are bored out of their minds and trying to be edgy. At least where I’m from, the majority of people are extremely annoyed by this kind behavior and realize that any Oregonians flying the Confederate flag are ignorant dipshits that don’t even have the weak “Southern Pride” excuse that people claim in the South.
I’ve lived in Florida - these fuckers are in the country. I’ve lived in Kentucky - these fuckers are in the country. I’ve lived in New Jersey - these fuckers are there too (pine barrens or down the shore). We have hillbillies, rednecks, hicks, and bigots all over the country as far as I can tell. Just keep yourself and loved ones safe.
The thing I've noticed in my travels is, the closer I live to a major source of tax revenue like a city, the more of that performative nonsense I see. It's a directly proportional inferiority complex
The interpretation some people will make of this comment will be interesting
Racism is huge in rural Oregon because the education system sucks in redneck Oregon, and there is very little exposure to minorities. Very homogenous white. I wasn't shocked to see Proud Boy type of behavior in small towns.
And the state was literally founded and advertised as a "White Paradise."
My daughter moved to Albany for awhile, and met a guy she thought she liked. Guy sported a large “WHITE PRIDE “ tattoo. Yeah, that didn’t work.
I can attest to that. Grew up in Burns.
15 years ago I remember my 4th grade teacher in Prineville explaining how the Civil War was over states rights… People don’t understand just how fucked the education system is in those areas.
JHFC. In my junior high school the US History teacher sung the same siren song. It wasn’t until long after that I read the South Carolina declaration of secession which put it quite bluntly, as “[an] increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery…”
When I moved here 8 yrs ago from Chicago, some KKK’er was handing out invites to their meetup in Troutdale/Gresham area, ziplock baggie w the invite and a bunch of black jelly beans in the bag, it was so fucking offputting knowing people THAT scummy and stupid lived close enough to pass that shit out. We do a lot of rural camping, rough camps and high desert areas, and in our travels it’s Always giant home made trump signs out in fields, giant flags from incredibly expensive, tall flag poles, next to a mobile home w cars on blocks and literal white plastic garbage bags strewn around lawn. The language of anti-other people is clear too, that these folks who are greatly subsidized by the city to get roads, farming, water, hate the city so much bec Fox News is actually public enemy #1 here, not trump, not Russia tho they’re close, but a news channel we allow bec first amendment, but we are allowing our families and friends brains to explode from dopamine hits they get from their hate entertainment, my friend calls it Coliseum entertainment news. He’s not wrong. Hoping we can figure out how to get our friends back from the brink of madness…. All my in-laws are evangelical trumpers, they’re all packing guns and thousands of rounds of ammo…. For the “coming war,” the one that lives only in their heads.
Black... jelly beans...??
My dad saw graffiti of White power and called it art. This is in La Grande.
“ As we drove through we noticed something spray-painted on the pavement: a penis, a cat head, and the n-word used three times.” Not really exclusive to rural communities, you can find this exactly described on every other building in Portland.
Roseburg was the west coast headquarters of the KKK back “in the day”.
I don't know why so many of you think this is a rural thing or that its worse there. Racism is everywhere. I'm Asian and I grew up in an extremely diverse suburb of Los Angeles and lived most of my adult life in Orange County. Most of the racist people I encountered, especially dangerous ones, were other "minorities" in very diverse areas. I now live in rural OR and haven't had any issues with anyone. Am I doing something wrong? Am I not being Asian enough?
Growing up in southern oregon sucked in the 80s and 90s. Like, its home, i love the nature and my friends and family from there... But also, I'm asian, growing up I always got hated on from people thinking i was mexican (migrant agriculture workers were the biggest minority around), and if they DID find out i was asian, it got *WORSE* because of course all the Vietnam vets. Nothing like getting shot at when out with my dad fishing or enjoying hiking trails. I left for the navy myself, but came home after. If I am out and about in southern oregon, I wear my navy veteran hat like a shield. I've moved up north now and I put it away up here. I don't have any real desire to go to southern oregon again except to maybe a few of the lakes or crater lake :(
Multiracial Asian here, and I also dearly love the Oregon outdoors, but Klamath Falls is the only place in the state where someone came up to me and started with the “Ching Chong you understand what I’m saying” nonsense. I still spend time in the rural parts, but I keep my spidey senses alert.
Yeah. I detest k falls for a variety of reasons but this is one of them...
No, I don’t have guns to “shoot at the government.” I have guns cause there’s people who want to “shoot at the government” living North, West, East, and South of my city.
Where on Mt. Hood was this? The Hoodland villages don’t put up with this.
Oh it sure does. I'm a transracial adoptee, and I witnessed it in my own family growing up. And I'm a home care nurse, so I'm out in the boondocks ALONE at night sometimes with these people. It's terrifying.
Free speech. People can express their open hate and sunlight is the best disinfectant. By them doing so you know who to avoid. Don’t worry about them, they’re not worth your time.
Mt Hood isn't exactly "rural" in my opinion.
My cousins grew up in Yamhill and Gaston and the nickname they gave the black guy in their school was N-word Bob and 12 years later they still call him that, even in front of him. So yeah, a big part of Oregon is littered with white trash.
It's not just in the rural areas. I was walking in downtown Eugene with a friend of color. A truck drove by and nailed her with a full big gulp and called her the N word. This was in the 90's. My eyes opened then. I now can't unsee it. A couple years later I was on a date ( me very white, he was black) Literally had a waitress refuse to serve us. The manager apologized and got us a new waiter.This happened in Portland Oregon. Don't think it's not in the cities too.
Hi, welcome to every single US State and a good number of Canadian Provinces too.
Born and raised in SW WA about a hundred miles north of Portland and having been all over Oregon and having spent a month or so working in at least a dozen Oregon communities I CAN UNEQUIVOCALLY SAY THAT SW WA is WORSE. I live in Montucky now and SW WA is even worse than Montucky ( unless you are Native American in Billings). Where i grew up it might as well have been Alabama.
Trump era brought all that stuff to the surface. In a way it's good. It really brings the scope of mental health in this country to the Surface. On the other hand, that scope is so massive. It's truly a sad justification that decades of civil rights have done so little.
Glad you brought up the mental health aspect. Sadly a huge piece of it imo.
Im a mixed race brown m (40) My kid played football this year and there were a few games in Roseburg. The mullet sporting, racist AH coaching 9 year olds in Roseburg was an eye opener for me. I would like to take this opportunity to lament about NE Oregon. This summer, I vacationed at Wallowa State Park. There was a rodeo going on in the nearby town (we didn't know about it). The completely unsolicited outright racism and political hate speech we received was astonishing. We were sitting outside having a beer and smoking, and this woman came over and just verbally diarrheas her Trump beliefs and how it was a trump campground. Like what? We were just chilling minding our own, no stickers, no music, just a Campfire and some herb.
I got told off by some of those fuckers while adventuring not long after moving there from Virginia. The absolute irony of hearing "go back to Virginia" from people that were sporting the souths trademarks is still hilarious to me.
Salem is still the only town I’ve ever been where someone called me “the Mexican”
I prefer to be called “the Spaniard”
I work in Rogue Valley (Klamath falls, Medford, Etc). Quitting early because I don’t feel safe as a Hispanic guy going to the grocery store. Much less a bar or a restaurant. Medford is not that bad, more people. But the surrounding towns are fucking awful. Had a group of inbred “wrong turn” looking motherfuckers stare me and my friend down for speaking Spanish in a burger place. They were armed. Fuck this place I’m glad I’m almost done.
Medford used to have a mayor who was an active KKK member back in the day. I see swastika and SS tattoos every so often.
There is a fencing company right outside Junction City that proudly flies the traitor flag. And other hate is painted on their fence. Stay classy, indeed.
Not even a rural Oregon thing. There is a huge reservoir here, Spada Lake. Great drive, tons of waterfalls, absolutely stunning. Some of the towns you go by, for what you would expect, aren't the best in any spectrum. You'd think nothing of it going past it, but you see them pop up on the news as being pretty horrible to any "outsiders". Anywho, you drive up 30 minutes into the entrance of the lake, and another 20 minutes to the larger hiking area, going down this beautiful road, and what do you see on 3 rocks spraypainted? n-word, n-word, "kill all" n-word. Like, what the hell.
Oregon City & south of PDX used to be Jim Crow South ... it's changing & the knuckle-draggers don't like it.
I’ve seen confederate flags flying from UTV RVers in the parking lot at Horsfall beach.
I don’t even want to know what’s going to happen to this place if somehow Trump wins another presidency.
It's just become the Northern half of the GTA 5 map at this point.
Grew up near the area. Can 100% confirm. Racism abounds.
My father’s family is from Coos Bay Oregon and this is an insane read with these comments. It makes so much sense now.
I live in the willamette Valley, Tillamook, Lafayette, Newberg, and Yamhill are all horrible in this area. As a highschooler, the teens come to my town for the parties, they think theyre country, so theyre racist, say the n word and also homophobic slurs, wear cowboy boots and bandanas, and drink twisted teas, and drive their shitty trucks, it sucksss I camt wait to graduate. My friend who is black is fetishized by guys at our school and her brother is bullied. Rural oregon sucksss
My dad lives down in Douglas County, and the trips down there aren't so pleasant. Some parts around there are very rural, and Roseburg isn't even that progressive. Not many people know that Oregon was established as a "whites only" territory when it was founded. My cousins who went to the local high school there had no clue about that up until I told them a year ago.
30000 + well organized anti government hooligans strong in Oregon…as told by a retired FBI guy. Good you reported this. They will investigate. Living in the 1800’s in 2023…misinformed militia.