Episode 24: Vanport & Mulugeta Seraw

When people think of Portland, they think of a loving, all-inclusive home to all walks of life. However, there is an iniquitous history behind the fact that Portland is the whitest major city in the United States.

To honor Black History Month, Alisha will share the story of Vanport, the lost city that, due to neglect and racism, cost the lives of at least fifteen residents.

Forty years later, the vicious murder of Mulugeta Seraw reminded Portland that there was still work to be done to defeat white supremacists and protect the people of color that reside here. 

Before and After the flood (Photos courtesy of Portland City Archives)

Residents of Vanport (Photo courtesy of Oregon Live)

Mulugeta Seraw (Courtesy of Southern Poverty Law Center)

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SOURCES

Washington Post - When Portland Banned Blacks | Oregon Encyclopedia - Peter Burnett | Oregon Encyclopedia - Exclusion Laws | OPB - Vanport | Public History PDX - Vanport Tragedy Conspiracy Post War Oregon | Oregon Live - Flood of 48  Wiped Out Vanport | Willamette Week - WWS Reporting on how Hate Spread Across Portland in 1988 | CBS News - Portland Hate Crime Mulugeta Seraw | KGW - 1988: Skinheads murder Mulugeta Seraw in Portland | New York Times - Three are Charged in Attack Attributed to Neo Nazi Gang | OPB - Mulugeta Seraw Portland Ethiopia Africa White Supremacist Murder | United Shades of America, Season 1, Episode 6