09-16-2014, 03:08 PM
Excellent article and thread -
There are not many black people in Oregon so Dread experiences this on a daily basis.
Before moving to Oregon I was living with Dread in South Central LA. I was the only white person in the area. Most white people were afraid to venture into that neighborhood. I did not go on walks there, it never felt all that safe. People just left me alone for the most part, but I was very careful.
I would drive to my sisters place in Marina Del Ray where I could walk for miles and feel perfectly safe. Dread didn't have the same feeling I did in the Marina. He had good reason. I would crawl around on the edges of peoples' yards taking pictures of flowers and think nothing of it.
I took Dread to my favorite Dahlia garden one day and some man came out of one of the huge houses on the walkway and started yelling at Dread to take his camera and leave. I told him we lived across the street (as I still had a room at my sisters) but that didn't matter. He came out and started video taping us - it was really insane - all we were doing was taking pictures of flowers!
I usually didn't feel racism in the hood - especially when I was alone. On occasion, I would pick up some angry stares by black woman when I was with Dread, but, I can guarantee he piked up a lot more stares when he was with me on the west side of town.
There are not many black people in Oregon so Dread experiences this on a daily basis.
Before moving to Oregon I was living with Dread in South Central LA. I was the only white person in the area. Most white people were afraid to venture into that neighborhood. I did not go on walks there, it never felt all that safe. People just left me alone for the most part, but I was very careful.
I would drive to my sisters place in Marina Del Ray where I could walk for miles and feel perfectly safe. Dread didn't have the same feeling I did in the Marina. He had good reason. I would crawl around on the edges of peoples' yards taking pictures of flowers and think nothing of it.
I took Dread to my favorite Dahlia garden one day and some man came out of one of the huge houses on the walkway and started yelling at Dread to take his camera and leave. I told him we lived across the street (as I still had a room at my sisters) but that didn't matter. He came out and started video taping us - it was really insane - all we were doing was taking pictures of flowers!
I usually didn't feel racism in the hood - especially when I was alone. On occasion, I would pick up some angry stares by black woman when I was with Dread, but, I can guarantee he piked up a lot more stares when he was with me on the west side of town.