3 Construction of whiteness and black exclusion in land ownership in Oregon

There are many ways that the construction of race in Oregon is tied to land ownership.  Click on the links below to learn about some of them:

• This Land, Oregon, by William G. Robbins, Oregon History Project Slide, A New Legal Landscape,
• Oregon History Project Slide,  Interracial Marriage Ban
• Black Exclusion Laws in Oregon, by Greg Nokes, Oregon Encyclopedia
• Japanese Americans in Oregon, by George Katagiri
• In this Great Land of Freedom: The japanese Pioneers of Oregon, Chapter 8 – Renewed Oppression and Final Struggle, Eiichiro Azima
• Chinese Americans in Oregon, by Douglass Lee
• Latinos in Oregon,  By Jerry Garcia

A few examples of the construction of race in relation to land ownership  include:

•  The Oregon Donation Land Law of 1850 of enabled settlers to claim up to 320 acres if they were single white men, and up to 640 acres if they were married.  Hawaiian was not defined as white and were barred from land claims.  A white person could not have any parents or grandparents who were African American or Hawaiian to be defined as white.  A white person could have one American Indian parent to be defined as white.  In order to “give” the land to white settlers,  American Indians who already lived on the land needed to be removed to reservations.
• 1857 Oregon Exclusion laws banning African Americans from living in the state and owning property.
• 1857 Oregon law banning Chinese immigrants from owning real estate or mining claims.
• 1866 Interracial marriage bans which would mean that land would be passed down to whites.
• 1882 Exclusion Act attempting to end immigration of Chinese laborers
• 1923 Alien Land Law banning immigrants ineligible for citizenship (Asian immigrants) from land ownership.
• Forced removal of Japanese Americans to internment camps during WWII
• Attempt to prevent Japanese Americans in Oregon from returning to their homes at the end of WWII in Hood River and Gresham.

Video Presentations:

• Wilida Imarisha’s slide show presentation presentation on Oregon Black History
• Oregon’s Early Chinese American Community and Portland’s Louie Chung
• Oregon’s Japanese Americans, Oregon Public Broadcasting

As you view the above links, consider ways that race was constructed in Oregon. What are the consequences of these constructions? How do these racial constructions tie into creating inequality in opportunity?  How might the forms of discrimination influenced the racial demographics of the state?

In what ways do you think that these histories have impacted the racial demographics for your census tract?

Clearly, race is not arbitrary in its construction.  Whiteness,  in these examples tied to opportunities to settle land and build wealth.