A little history

   I was impressed by the testimonies of people who attended the commemoration of Bloody Sunday this past weekend in Selma, Alabama. Especially moving were the stories of those who were actually there on the bridge that day 50 years ago, people like Rep. John Lewis. Politicians and religious leaders and ordinary citizens remembered together an event that for many people, marked a turning point in the understanding of race relations in the United States. I was 15 that year. I would like to relate my own reactions to the news that day but I don't remember anything about the day or the event which makes me feel disconnected to something very critical for the nation's history. People my age who were living in Alabama certainly remember it as do many non-whites living in other parts of the country. I can say I was aware of societal turbulence at the time; the war in Vietnam, the civil rights movement and the push for women's rights were all coming into my consciousness a bit at a time.
    My mom was especially vocal about politics, but she and dad were not ones to talk about racial issues. That is interesting given that my maternal grandmother was against their marriage due to my father being a brown eyed, dark skinned Italian! ( She considered him to be of another race.) My parents both grew up in Oregon which has historically had a very low number of African American citizens compared to the size of the population; just 2%. Once my mom told me that she used to say hello to the dark skinned men coming up and over the hill when she visited her grandmother who lived close to the river and rail traffic in northeast Portland. She told me this because she wanted to let me know she was not afraid of "them." She also told me that she used to have a "little black" friend. Yet, when I was in high school my mom was not open to my being friends with people who had friends who were black. It was strange. There were only two black students in my high school class of 600. Later in life my mom became more open minded and worked with an organization that helped young mothers who were struggling. Many of these young moms were black. Once I reminded my mom of the restrictions she gave me when I was in high school but she denied that she had ever said anything like that. The residents and staff where my mother lives these days are racially diverse. Mom can't really talk anymore but there seems to be sincere mutual affection regardless of race which please me.   
   Today my husband and I took a walk with our youngest granddaughter. We like to walk down the local pedestrian and bicycle pathway and head toward a little coffee stand. There we buy chai or hot chocolate made with soy. We were chatting as our order was being made by a man at least a generation or more younger than us. We brought our own cups except that the one for our granddaughter was a paper cup, clean but used. This led to a conversation about local regulations for using second hand cups which eventually moved into a discussion about local versus federal laws. The young man remarked that he preferred local to federal oversight. I said yes but, with some things like minority rights it took federal action to make needed change. He looked surprised and said he never saw any discrimination in Oregon. I remarked that the sundown laws had kept people of color out of Oregon, so really we are a pretty white state. He told me quite earnestly that those laws had ended in 1862. He was quite definite about the date.
   The truth is that the sundown laws and towns were not officially outlawed statewide in Oregon until 1957. Oregon entered the union in 1859 as a State with laws that were designed to keep Oregon white. These laws made it impossible for people of color to stay overnight since they could not rent housing, stay in a motel or hotel or eat in any restaurant. In addition they could not own property. It was the work of the Urban League, NAACP, and other groups along with Mark O. Hatfield that finally brought an end to the laws that discriminated. However, we still have a long way to go. I generally cringe when I hear the words of the Oregon State song which includes the lyrics "Land of the Empire Builders, Land of the Golden West; Conquered and held by free men, Fairest and the best." Just what does "fairest and the best" mean?
    Today it is hard to discover which towns were sundown towns because the laws have been erased from the books and there is a desire to pretend they never existed. I don't think it is possible to transition to a kinder more inclusive society if people are not taught, or willing to face up to the truth of the past. It is too easy to revise our memories or our history and forget the lessons that need to be taught in order to move forward.