Ha ha ha. It's true...Oregon is by far the whitest place I've ever seen. Portland is probably the whitest city on Earth outside of the former Soviet empire.

You know, people in this region chatter endlessly out of one side of their mouthes about "diversity," which most of the natives have never experienced, and out the other about the many evils of places called "The South" and "Texas"...

...and, interestingly enough, places like Texas are actually pretty "diverse" indeed...

Can't tell from the article much about what the spectacle must have been like for those who witnessed it in Corvallis, but it sure was entertaining when Improv Everywhere did it in Aspen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYJ9zOyzI4w

"Portland is the probably the whitest city on Earth outside of the former Soviet empire."

I guess you haven't visited Utah. Save yourself the air fare, and take my word for it - there are many cities (in the US) that ware "whiter" than Portland.

Oh, I've been through Utah...it's one of the weirdest places I've ever seen. One time, this paranoid looking woman with a beehive hairdo and plastic plants in the lobby straight-up refused to rent a motel room to my friend and I in Monticello...we had to drive hours and hours to the next town, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. Probably had something to do with the many tattoos visible on my friend's hands and neck.

The fact that Utah too is incredibly white does not change the fact that Oregon in general, and Portland in particular, are also far, far whiter than most of the rest of the US, especially the South and Southwest.

And so?.....the point is?....unclear on concept.

Cabbie, I guess you've never been to Hillsboro.

Portland is probably the whitest city on Earth outside of the former Soviet empire.

wrong, for several reasons. and, you might want to check into the over 200 ethnic groups that were part of the former USSR.

and imagine you saying "ha ha, Atlanta is probably the blackest city on earth outside of Africa."

D.C.'s been called chocolate city for as long as I can remember.

the world did not end as a result.

Portland bounces around the top 2-3 whitest cities of its size in the US. What's wrong with naming it?

D.C.'s been called chocolate city for as long as I can remember.

not by white people.

Portland bounces around the top 2-3 whitest cities of its size in the US.

no, it doesn't. actually. if you've got proof of that "list", i'd be grateful to see it.

What's wrong with naming it?

what's *useful* about it? it's not complimentary or even accurate--and at best it's a poor attempt at ironic superficiality; at worst, it's divisive and racist.

Actually, to those of us who have visited and lived in other cities in the US besides Portland, the truth about it's incredible whiteness is glaringly self-evident.

It's hilarious. Explains much of the behavior and mindset of it's subjects. Nothing racist about simply stating the obvious.

Actually, to those of us who have visited and lived in other cities in the US besides Portland, the truth about it's incredible whiteness is glaringly self-evident.

i've both visited and lived in several large US cities. Midwest, East. lived and went to school in a place where me and the Puerto Rican guy were the only "white" people. lived in the "south"--or at least what people on the West Coast call "the south."

yet it's not "glaringly self-evident" to me. guess i'm not one of the "us" you're talking about?

now, imagine instead that we spent all this time and energy focusing on what makes us all similar, instead of on how we look different, all for the sake of making a pithy comment about "whiteness"?

i've both visited and lived in several large US cities. Midwest, East.

Then don't play like you are ignorant, because I know that you aren't.

now, imagine instead that we spent all this time and energy focusing on what makes us all similar

Like the pathetically easy susceptibility of all people, including non-white ones, to things like bigotry, as part of the very definition of being human beings ?

Like the pathetically easy susceptibility of all people, including non-white ones, to things like bigotry, as part of the very definition of being human beings ?

we disagree--i don't believe susceptibility to bigotry is part of "the very definition of being human beings." i don't believe being "pathetically susceptible" is, either.

and, I don't believe a city being predominantly of one race or another is necessarily "bad". if it is, then many US cities (like Atlanta, for example) are, by your reasoning, bad.

again, I ask--why not instead focus on the 99% of us humans that's similar, instead of the 1% (skin color) that isn't?

I couldn't believe this when I heard it on Michael Feldman's show on NPR today...hysterical.

In 2006 the Washington Post listed Portland as the whitest city of its size (I'm guessing over 500,000 if they just meant the City versus metro region).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/18/AR2006061800605.html

I don't think there is anything wrong with stating this (if it is true, and I haven't done the research to say it is). But, there is history supporting why at least there wasn't (and isn't) a large African American population. But, obviously even in the two years since this article was written Portland has become a little more diverse.

I grew up in Corvallis but no longer spend anytime there. But when I was going to school back in the 80's you could count the number of black kids in my class on one hand (CVHS). The asian and latino kids far outnumbered them. I'm sure the population has grown since then but most likely not by a lot.

That being said, the only prejudice I witnessed was from 50+ crowd. Can't recall one incident of racism from the kids. They were to busy harrassing the fat kids, "retards", nerds, etc.

In 2006 the Washington Post listed Portland as the whitest city of its size

you do realize that "white" for Census purposes includes Italian, Lebanese, North African, Arab and often Latino?

again, more focus on the superficial--the difference in skin color (or predominance of one or the other) as some sort of problem or "defect".

as for the Post article, gentrification doesn't happen because of "white" people--it happens because we have an inherently hyper-consumptive and destructive way of life.

imagine focusing on commonalities instead of superficials. i think using skin color as a matter of pride does nothing but force others to consider doing the same.