For decades, the Albina district in Portland, Oregon, was the center of the city’s Black community. Local musicians transformed the neighborhoods into a hotspot for the West Coast’s jazz, blues, and soul music scenes, earning Albina the nickname “Jumptown” in the 1940s and ‘50s. Milestones in Oregon’s civil rights struggle emerged from meetings in Albina’s parks and gathering halls. It was residents of Albina who initiated a citywide tree-planting program, which is responsible for many of Portland’s now-famous blooming cherry trees.
However, by the 1970s, much of it had disappeared. Government officials had carved up the area in the name of urban renewal, displacing hundreds of Black families, Next City reports.
Cities nationwide have stories like those of Albina. But last month in Portland, community organizers helped write a new chapter, as the city became one of the first in the U.S. to resolve a legal claim holding public agencies accountable for the racist policies that displaced families decades ago. The settlement includes an $8.5 million payment to survivors and descendants, as well as other non-monetary support.
Even as the federal administration rolls back protections, the settlement sends a message about the power of community organizing and local elected officials to address racist harms, according to attorneys and plaintiffs.
“It’s important to [address] historical racist conduct, understand that it still lives and has impacts today, and that we can and should address it, regardless of what the federal government thinks,” says J. Ashlee Albies of Albies & Stark, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Twenty-six individual survivors and descendants of families displaced from the historic Central Albina neighborhood filed the federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Portland. The city’s development commission, called Portland Prosper, and a hospital were involved in an old scheme to redevelop the neighborhood in December 2022. The Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2 (EDPA2), an organization of survivors and descendants, was also a plaintiff.
Source: ‘We Opened A Door Nobody Knew Existed’: How Displaced Black Families Won Reparations In Portland
Recent Comments