page_title: Racism in Oregon
section_title: Further bans, Amendments and Chinese population increase: 1862–1920s
hierarchical_section_title: Racism in Oregon / History / Further bans, Amendments and Chinese population increase: 1862–1920s
caption_attribution_description: English: Chinese man and child in Oregon
context_page_description: There has been a history of racism in the U.S. state of Oregon, with the eastern part of the state notorious for hosting white supremacist hate groups.
context_section_description: An article in the Daily Oregonian decried the Chinese population as a racial menace who were polluting some of the city’s "best streets." Similar remarks were made about the Chinese residents in Baker City calling them "Celestials," "Mongolians," and "Yellow Horde." In 1862, all people of Black, Chinese, Hawaiian, and Mulatto descent were taxed $5 ($126 by today). Failure to pay this tax would result in the state being able to force them into jobs maintaining state designed roads for 50 cents a day ($12 in 2020.) Interracial marriage between black and white people was deemed illegal the same year with the law specifically stating that white people can not marry anyone one-fourth black or more. This distinction was later extended to prevent white people from marrying anyone who was one fourth or more Chinese or Hawaiian, and a half or more Native American.
  In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed granting citizenship to black people. The amendment would be revoked in 1868. In 1973 it would be once again ratified. In 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment which granted black men the right to vote, gained widespread ratification with Oregon being one of a couple of states to deny it. That the same year the federal law superseded a clause in the Oregon State Constitution banning black suffrage. It would not be until 1959 in which the Fifteenth Amendment would be officially ratified.
  From 1870 to 1885 anti-Chinese sentiment began to rise amongst Oregon citizens with labor and political leaders advocating for both the expulsion of Chinese residents and the exclusion of future Chinese from Oregon. In May 1873 the city council passed a resolution encouraging contractors to not hire Chinese workers out of fear of losing future contracts due to Chinese workers of time typically  working for low wages and then sending the funds to their families. This resolution was ultimately refused. In August of that same year a fire at Chinese laundry broke allegedly instigated by white "incendiaries" hoping to displace the Chinese population. In 1880 most Chinese men resided near Second and Oak Streets which was so segregated that no other ethnicity beside Chinese lived there.
  Sometime during the mid-1880s, Portland's Chinatown saw two of its buildings burn down and Chinese woodcutter camps raided by eighty masked men. Rallies in support of the anti-Chinese club also took shape. In 1883 an attempt to remove the ban on black suffrage failed due in part to the clause being null and void by the Fifteenth Amendment's inclusion in the U.S. Constitution. Further attempts to remove the clause were made in 1895, 1916, and 1927 with the clause finally being removed in 1927.
  In 1885, racial tensions were further exacerbated as about 500 Chinese residents were excluded from Tacoma, Washington, and sent to Portland. On February 22, 1886 a vote was held on the removal of the Chinese residents. Later that day a Chinese camp at Guild’s Lake was attacked by Local workers in East Portland who also drove out between 100 and 200 Chinese workers. Despite the state constitution banning Chinese people from mining some still performed it and the next year a massacre was caused by a group of white men resulting in the deaths of 34 Chinese miners.
  By 1890, 1,000 black people lived in Oregon with the number doubling by 1920. In 1893, the white citizens of La Grande burned down the city's Chinatown. This caused the residents of that area to become displaced with most leaving Oregon. Some however remained and attempt to resist the mob. They were ultimately forced to leave as well. That same year Baker City Mayor Charles Palmer called for the Baker City Chinatown to be overhauled to "sanitary and moral conditions," Palmer viewed the Chinese as "a class..that a community cannot afford to harbor or tolerate." Around this time, "sundown towns" started to appear.
  From 1900 to 1940 the Oregon Chinese population began to diminish due to laws such as the Page Act of 1875 and the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. From 1940 to 1970 the number would increase. This was during the Exclusion era 
caption: Chinese man and child in Oregon
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