Racial Homogeneity in Portland, Oregon

This paper will explore the issue of the lack of racial

diversity in Portland, Oregon. First, it will describe
Portland's racial breakdown in the present and in the past,
using U.S. Census data, if available, for 1900, 1920,
1940, 1960, 1980, and the most recent data collected
in 1998. This paper will then go on to attempt to account
for why Portland's racial breakdown is what it is, looking
at possible explanatory factors such as geographical
location, economic activity, and social-cultural attitudes.

The primary research hypothesis is that Portland's relatively

low percentage of non-Caucasian residents can be explained
by a combination of factors, including the city's geographical
location on the Pacific Rim (a point of entry for Asians),
north of California (a port of entry for Hispanics); the
historical development of its economy from logging, railroad
building, fishing, and agriculture, to the present emphasis
on high-tech service-sector activities; the relative lack of
available job opportunities in industry calling for unskilled
labor; and a social and cultural environment that has
historically been conservative, white, Anglo-Saxon,
Protestant, and intolerant of racial and ethnic diversity
(Abbott 1983).

The methodology this research will employ includes a review

secondary sources about Portland's economic, social, and
cultural history; sources about the history of Asian, Hispanic,
and African-American immigrant; and sources about the history
of immigrants in certain sectors of the economy over time. An
examination of Census and other statistical data will provide
information regarding population rates and growth, employment,
and racial diversity.

References:
Abbott, Carl. 1983. Portland: Planning, Politics, and Growth
in A Twentieth-Century City. Lincoln, Nebr.: Univ. of
Nebraska Press.