What Oregon Says About America

As we all know, the dominant explanation coming out of Oregon and Kentucky's differing Democratic primary results will go like this: Oregonians are wealthier, better-educated and racially homogeneous, and therefore free of the kind of racial politics we have seen in other states recently. Hence their support for Obama. Kentuckians, by contrast, are poorer, less well-educated and are in a state with legacies of racial difference. Hence their support for Clinton. But before this story congeals into the inevitable conclusion that white working class folks simply won't support Obama, It is worth remembering two things. First, as Sam Stein pointed out in a post two days ago, Oregon is indeed a working class state. Second, it is a mistake to imagine that Oregon is somehow free of the racial history that formed the nation more generally. Oregon's lack of diversity is not an accident -- it is itself a legacy of white supremacy. The territorial constitution of the 1850s barred the settlement of both slaves and free blacks, and patterns of racial exclusion continued at least through the mid 20th century. Even in liberal Eugene, the entire African American community dwelt in a shanty town at the edge of the city up into the 1940s, as housing covenants and racist renting practices kept black families out of the city proper. People of color routinely experience racism in Oregon today, be it personal anti-black sleights at the grocery store or on the street, or English-only political campaigns, as is the case in many states. But true as that fact is, the Oregon primary shows that even where racism is a personal or social phenomenon, it is not necessarily the case that race always triumphs politically. Indeed, Oregon voters are clearly not driven by racial animus. Perhaps that is more true than we might think elsewhere as well.

If we trace back the evolution of the so-called "lunch-pail" Democrat (as if working people of color don't also eat lunch) we come first to the Reagan Democrat, a species first discovered outside Detroit by pollster Stanley Greenberg in 1984. Go further still and you find Nixon's Silent Majority -- the first modern attempt to peel working class voters away from the Democratic party on the basis of race. But Nixon strategists knew that there was no Silent Majority out there to be found; it was a political concept in search of a constituency -- something Nixon strategists such as Kevin Phillips were quite clear about at the time. The result has kept us in the long shadow of Nixon and Reagan.

Clinton, with her southern, conservative Democratic Leadership Council background knows this strategy well. By talking about "hardworking Americans, white Americans" she claimed simply to be saying what pollsters were already showing. But by invoking a relationship between hard work and race, she helps conjure up resentments that may be mobilized politically under the right conditions. Racial political identifications start with appeals first, and become settled assumptions afterwards. Journalists and scholars should be wary of falling into the trap of confusing political strategy for demographic realities when analyzing this election. As Oregon shows, white working class people -- just like anyone else -- have the capacity to vote their concerns, interests and beliefs in terms other than race. Indeed, if Obama seriously addresses the problems of economically marginalized people, he may help find a way out of the racial machinations of the modern right.

Comments

[citadelgrrl05]

A Freaking MEN!!!

[dadw5boys]

AMEN!!!!

[Alessan]

I read the headline and I 'll tell what you what Oregon saids about America, Oregon where,
skin heads and neo-nazi still run their camps, Obama voters are going to college hopefully
they get out in cold November to lin the general elecnd tion. It also tells me, it's ' . It's a lot like
Iowa, they don't represent America, diversity. NY and California represent the US., Obama
has to win both states in November to win the general election.

[liseworks]

+Oregon where, skin heads and neo-nazi still run their camps+ .....

There are small pockets all over America, where small camps of fearful, lost souls congregate, ....
to absolutely No AVAIL. I don't think they read the News much, I doubt that they join Political discussions or contribute in any way - they just talk to other lost souls.
It's the land of the Free, it's America, let them.
They're now so much in the minority that they are irrelevant & cartoonish by now.
The rest of us are busy living more vibrant, happier lives.
Proud of you, OREGON !!

[GotRights]

Are you sure you're not thinking of Idaho?

[irishgawdess]

There’ve been numerous racial incidents here in Oregon, dating back to the 1850s when "Negroes" were not allowed to live in the Oregon Territory. The KKK were here in the 1920s, White Aryan Resistance in 1988 killed Mulageta Seraw, and in 1989, I was very surprised to learn about a Realty Corp. that was still redlining parts of North Portland where a large population of blacks live. Progressive politicians came in to office and laws were changed; murderers and crooks were “driven out of town on a rail.”

Sam Stein wrote yesterday that blacks make up fewer than 2% of the total population in Oregon. We're still rather "white bread" up here, and I mean that sarcastically because I wish our neighborhoods were more diverse and heterogeneous. People stick with those who are like them, whether it's ethnicity, religion, socio-economic similarities, etc. At work or school it's different (for me anyway.) A black woman with a PhD was one of my mentors, and I loved her so much for helping me get through college.

Sadly, racism does raise its ugly head during elections; it’s generally subtle and spoken in euphemisms. Hillary herself said, “Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.” No wonder blacks changed over to Obama. He recognizes how hard they work, and they know now that he’s a viable candidate.

[vippy]

California and Texas already said they wished they could have a vote today and vote for Obama!
Who trusts Hillary, who trusts the Clintons. The Clintons were centrists and pulled to the right.
No more Clinton's.

[KOisGod]

I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

[Flora]

thank you for the beautiful reminder. your timing is perfect.

[KOisGod]

I hear Martin Luther in Barack, and Jack Kennedy, and FDR, and Teddy Rossevelt, and Ghandi, and Jesus, and you and I.

Dr. Kings words are timeless, and need to be heard again and again. For across the divide he took us, if only for a brief few years, but he showed the way - and his courageous example challenges us all, to let freedom ring.

[in4success]

and they're wise enough to know the difference.

[Thunderbeach]

Comparing racial influence on voters in Oregon and Kentucky is absurd. Oregon has been consistently coming up democratic in national elections since Dukakis in 1988, but looking at the county breakdown, one will find that the state tilts democratic through its higher density counties along the coast. The rural interior counties have always tilted republican, meaning that although the state may appear homogeneous and completely democratic, a lot of the voters you claim can see past the racial boundaries of this election simply haven't voted yet. So the question for the national election is how many Hillary supporters will vote for McCain? Because of the sheer volume of democratic voters along Oregon's coast, it is unlikely that there will be enough defectors to swing the state to the republicans, but in many southern states, this is not the case at all.

[Oragone]

The democratic voters on the Oregon coast are generally displaced "blue collar" workers in the timber industry, who had been making living wages, and are now working two or three jobs in the always lucrative tourist industry(making minimum wage), and not centers of heavy population. A correction to your comment; the high volume of democratic voters do not come from the Oregon coast-The Oregon coast is seperated from the high volume democratic voters by the Coast Range of mountains, they live in the Willamette Valley, a bit of geography that is almost as distinct as the Appalachian Mountains, same with the Cascade Mountains and eastern Oregon. In fact, there is kind of a running joke that the rest of the state should secede from the Willamette Valley and form a state called Jefferson.

[GotRights]

Oregon even had a (short-lived) Klan movement, once upon a time.

[dadw5boys]

Don't be fooled the KKK don't die it goes underground.

Only when they want new members do you see it.

[GotRights]

Well, this was almost 90 years ago. I think they're dead now. ;-)

Since Oregon had so few blacks, they directed their hate mostly at Catholics.

[PHLSouthernJack]

You can't say Oregon is 'working class' like Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. You are comparing apples and oranges and trying to make cranberry juice!

[BillyT]

So what, SouthernJack?

WV and KY are going to GOP in the fall anyway.

The white racists are not going to determine who's my Democratic nominee.

[Aleka4]

Why can't you? Why is it apples to oranges? Do the ones in KY work harder? Make less? What?

It looks pretty baisc to me. White: check. Work hard: check Under 40k a yr: check.

What exactly is the difference?

[chiromamma]

I read somewhere yesterday that rather than race or income, it's literacy, which makes so much more sense.

[FogCityJohn]

And why can't we say Oregon is working class like KY, WV, OH, IN, and PA? Are Oregonians somehow different from working people in other parts of the country? Or is an actual explanation too much for you?

[JoeLib]

Because they voted for Obama, that's why! Don't you follow the Clinton logic? That is: Only those votes in those states from those voters in the voting manner in which votes were voted for Clinton, well only those votes and voters count, and therefore can be labeled in a manner most favorable to Clinton, because basically any voter who voted a vote for Obama isn't really a vote because those voters aren't really Americans, hard working Americans.­.. and they eat arugala, which means they're probably Communists and won't know how to answer a phone at 3am on Day One.

See? Easy to explain really. ;-)

[SuzieG]

On CNN while reporting on the exit polls what startled me the most was the question "are you affected by the bad economy and only 21% said yes! You cannot compare a wealthy state who is not suffering from this economy with Kentucky and West Virginia!

[RG986xx]

I'm not sure how CNN or anyone else could do an accurate exit poll since Oregon votes by mail. If they don't mail in their ballot, they drop it off at a designated drop box.

[RG986xx]

I'd like to see you say that to one of our Pacific Northwest loggers!

[rosal]

I have a lot of faith in the American people. Two states are not a majority. I am so glad about young people participating in record numbers. They are color blind. Good thing old people (I am one) are on the way out. Young voters, a young president, FRESH AIR!!!! Great things await our country.

[liseworks]

I am a fan of you, Rosal - You're a very cool lady - I hope you live to be 200+ ....!

[several]

Very good points made in the post, but why does everyone keep writing and talking as if all the democrats in WV and KY who voted for Hillary in the primary are then going to all vote for McCain in the Fall?

Even if some democratic voters in the primary did base their primary vote on skin color, is their racism really so overpowering that they'd rather vote for a bush 3rd term than a black democrat?

I think race is going to be far less of an issue in the fall than it has been in the last few primaries.

[Caringthinkingperson]

Thank you for representng the Northwest accurately. The fact that anyone thinks anyone in the country is exempt from the history of racism is absurd. But, it is important to recognize that the majority of us, no matter how we were raised, do not feel this way. Obama would not have so many votes if this were true. Isolated areas are more backwards in their leanings because they are isolated. Like Appalachia.

Higher education is not just from school, but an open and inquiring spirit that is not seen as a local abhorration. That is the difference between white peoples in different places with similar backgrounds and levels of income. It took a pioneer spirit of some sort for people to continue to go west. It takes a very depressed spirit to remain in a place where it is so tough to survive.

[liseworks]

What you describe shows a good sociological understanding -
People with limitations of lifestyle, who live in closed regions, tend to stick to their own ilk - the lack of flexibility & open mindedness simply betrays a fear & insecurity of what is unknown, outside the realm of their direct experience.
Those with roots of the pioneer spirit, have had that handed down to them, don't fear as easily, they seek knowledge & find a more diverse world, far more interesting.

[amanda85]

According to Hillary's logic (or lack thereof...­), Oregonians aren't "hard working" people...

[RabidRightRebel]

I am going to take a chance that this comment will not be edited and say what everybody is thinking. Less well educated hard working whites is nice way of saying stupid racists of the Archie Buncker sterotypes. We all know they exist and there are more than just a few of them. After all the Republican party is made up almost completely of rabid right fanatics who care little about competence and instead think wearing a label pin is more imortant than building a strong country.

[shothot]

Sadly, I think the dems are as guilty, and in many worse than the Repubs. This has only become clear to me during this election period. I'm learning that the term Democrat is synonmous with racism and anti-feminism as any Republican comparison. These labels mean abolutely nothing since they don't say how we truly feel. We only hide behind them. Sad someone could be judge by their skin color,or their gender. It says we deal with life on a superficial level. One has to live in a small world to function on that level. Fear is powerful.

[XCITIZEN]

OBAMA '08!

OBAMA '08!

OBAMA '08!

[applehead]

obama 2012!
clinton 2016!
clinton 2020!

applehead

[jimdog1954]

As a lifelong Democrat ( I embraced Bobby Kennedy's philosophy when I was 14 years old), and having lived in Alabama for many years, I am waiting for the day when white southerners, famous for knee-jerk emotional reactions to intellectual arguments, particularly concerning race relations, will learn to vote for the best interest of their families, their communities, and their country. In this election, that choice could not be more distinguishable. McCain represents more of the same self-destructive national behavior that has squandered everything we patriotic Americans hold dear, while Obama represents a true path into a future of enlightenment, where we, as a unified people, can march forward into a new era of peace and prosperity. I think the time has come for states such as Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia to finally move beyond the politics of rage and begin to accept the concept that when we are unified, everybody wins. Barack will take Alabama in November.

[WAstateliberal]

If your thesis is that Oregonians have a level of morality, if not intelligence, that, according to the exit polls, Kentuckians lack, you are right. Oregon is a great state. Kentucky, it would appear, has a ways to go.

21% of Kentuckians not only factored race in to their decision, but lacked the moral intelligence to at least lie about it to pollsters to whom they owed no duty of candor in the first place. In other words, they apparently have no shame.

[Caringthinkingperson]

or worse, their racism is something that they are proud of - I think that is more likely.

[Breni]

WAstateliberal - 'moral' intelligence to at least lie'? Now, you Obama followers are calling people who are ACTUALLY honest about how they feel dumb and immoral because they TOLD THE TRUTH? You Obama idol worshipper LIBERALS REALLY are scary!

[WAstateliberal]

You missed the point. Perhaps some remedial reading comprehension is in order. Refusing to vote for someone because they are Black is just as morally reprehensible as, say, stealing. If you steal something, typically you don't then run to the nearest cop and confess. And if you do, you typically land on some funny spoof show talking about the worlds' dumbest criminals. In other words, I was calling them stupid all around. Immoral and stupid. Admitting you are a racist is not a path to absolution. It doesn' t make you less immoral. You are just as much a piece of slime as those who would not admit it.

Get those stars out of your eyes for those who "told the truth." They are no better.