Every Source Tells a Story

Portland FRINQ
African Americans and Housing
The Oregonian clipping published on
September 30, 1942 shows the actions many
neighborhoods would take in order to keep the
African American Community out of their
neighborhoods. In this particular news clipping we
can see the community coming together in a
meeting to protest anymore African Americans in
the Albina district with the assumptions that they
would bring more crime into the community and
lower the value of the homes in the neighborhood.
Figure 1 Oregonian News Article
September 30, 1942

Events like this show the hostility that many

neighborhoods had toward the African American community and the discrimination they faced
when moving into new communities.
African Americans faced discrimination not only in day to day activities, but especially
with housing. African Americans struggled to find places to live during the 1940s.
Discriminatory policies created a barrier as to where African Americans were able to live. The
reasons that some members in the community gave were that if more Blacks moved into the
neighborhoods, crime would increase and property values would depreciate (Pearson 171). The
claims made were just excuses to try to keep Blacks segregated because there were no real facts
to back those claims up. When in reality most of the crime came not from African American but

from Whites, between July 1, 1943 and June 30, 1944 1,176 Whites and 244 Blacks were
arrested in Vanport (Pearson 174). The city and its residents were not so much worried about
property value but more worried about keeping their neighborhoods as they were accustomed to
with meant keeping them segregated.
Blacks were limited as to where they were able to live and were kept in restrictive areas.
The African American population was primarily limited to places in the Vanport, Williams
Avenue, and the Albina district. Vanport was federal housing projects created due to the demand
in housing with the increase in population and became the Negro project. Albina was also a
place with a dense population of Blacks it became the term for where the majority of the blacks
lived (Mcelderry 143). Blacks were limited to housing in Albina, the most rundown area of
the city, or to hastily build federal public housing outside the city limits (Pearson 165). When
the African Americans were able to get someone to rent them a place to live they usually
reserved for them the most rundown and overcrowded structure in the area (Mcelderry 138).
The places they were able to live in were usually over crowded, overpriced, and in rundown
conditions.
The wartime brought many an increase in the population and that especially included the African
American population something the city was not ready for. The increase in population meant an
increase in the need for housing. It toke the city officials a while to take action and try to find a
solution to this problem, they created the Housing Authority of Portland. But the Housing
Authority of Portland didnt really try to do much to better the situation with the housing
shortage their goal was to develop a simple program that would impose the least impact on the
community socially and economically (Pearson 166). The federal housing projects were not the
best of solutions because of the urgent need for housing during the wartime they were built to

low standers the housing units were poorly constructed, and wartime rationing had forced
builders to use inferior materials. The apartments were small and cramped (Pearson 167). But
they had no other options because either that was all they could afford or they were limited by
the real estate.
Realtors exercised restrictive and discriminatory housing practices going out of their way to
make sure that blacks stayed confound to a certain area. The racial discrimination in the housing
industry wasnt enforcedas far as law was concerned, but, certainly by realtors it got
enforced (Mcelderry 143). By prohibiting its members from selling property in White
neighborhoods to African Americans and placing new guidelines prevented blacks from
moving beyond the east side neighborhood they already occupied (Pearson 160, Mcelderry
137). Members had to abide by this rules because those who dared to sell homes in white
neighborhoods to blacks faced expulsion from the Portland Realty Board (Mcelderry 142).
When blacks looked for homes they were not shown housing in white neighborhoods not only
because they werent welcomed there but also because of the fact that some realtors feared the
consequences of doing so. Facts like discriminatory real-estate industry practices, white
homeowner hostility, and public housing policies continued to limit black residential choices
(Mcelderry 139).
In situation were African Americans were able to get around the realtors and deal directly with
the homeowners they still faced challenges with their neighbors. They were not welcomed in the
white neighborhoods and the white community made sure to let them know. White neighbors
harassed, stoned, and terrorized the newcomers, burned crosses, and tried to torch their homes
(Mohl 17). Even when an African American had the means to live in better housing conditions
the color of their skin restricted their options. All the money in the world couldnt buy Blacks a

home in a white neighborhood without having some kind of hate act toward them. But the Black
community eventually got tired of all the hatred and segregation against them and come together
to fight for their rights.
Organizations like the Urban League fought for change by lobbying and challenging segregation
policies. The group was compost of mostly White and a few Blacks in the fight to demand civil
rights. Their goal was to eliminate the segregation against African Americans in the housing
department. They called for change from the city and its officials. They wanted assistance from
the city to help eliminate segregation by encouraging construction of private low-cost housing,
clearing slums, and building permanent public units (Mcelderry 141). In January 1948, some
progress was made with the help of civil right groups HAP was convinced to eliminate
segregation at Vanport and Guilds Lake, thereby opening units for black tenants (Mcelderry
142). But the victory was short lived because of the 1948 Vanport flood which destroyed the
town leaving thousands without homes.
African American faced many obstacles throughout history because of the color of their skin,
even though they were the labor hands that built the city of Portland. The black community was
isolated as much passible, keeping them in the as far away from the rest of the population as if
they were a disease. When all the Black community wanted to do was to work and provide for
their families but because of their color they were treated like inferiors. The discriminatory
housing practices added to their already complicated situation. With the help of civil right
movement groups they fought for improvement and got some of the things they demanded. But
still today we see minorities isolated in certain parts of the city not because of discriminatory
practices but because of their economic situation they are limited as to where they can afford to
live. There has been change throughout history but there is still room for improvements.

Author: Karen Sayago Sanchez

Works Cited
Mcelderry, Stuart. "Building a West Coast Ghetto: African-American Housing in Portland, 19101960." The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 92.3 (2001): 137-48. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov.
2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/40492659?ref=no-xroute:7a5f6ff3d8b326e68b77b80b53ca600d>.
Mohl, Raymond A. "Race and Housing in the Postwar City: An Explosive History." Journal of
the Illinois State Historical Society (1998-) 94.1, Race and Housing in Post WWII
Chicago (2001): 8-30. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/40193532?ref=no-xroute:6253e3619ee6cdaf761d8344b3b9b19f>.
Pearson, Rudy. ""A Menace to the Neighborhood": Housing and African Americans in Portland,
1941-1945." Oregon Historical Quarterly 102.2 (2001): 158-79. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov.
2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/20615135?ref=no-xroute:602af3518a691a94ce47711a5bde6865>.