Reed College Latest Area School Roiled by Racism

Reed College became the latest area school to be roiled by racism as hate-filled graffiti was discovered in two bathrooms in the school's library over the weekend. The graffiti was discovered Saturday night and painted over within hours.

School administrators promptly sent a message to the Reed community saying such messages have no place at the school and are not acceptable.

"Anyone seeking to cause fear or harm to members of the Reed community should expect a vigorous response," the message said.

The messages were a combination of racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, and pro-Donald Trump.

"The white man is back in power," read one.

Another, told Black people - using an epithet - to die.

Reed is just one of several area schools to be forced to deal with issues of racism, anti-Semitism, and hatred in recent weeks.

Last week Patch told the story of recent incidents at Lake Oswego High School that forced letters from the principal and district superintendent as well as a special issue of the student newspaper.

There were also incidents last week at Silverton High School and the University of Oregon.

While Oregon, particularly Portland, has a reputation for being somewhat of a progressive utopia, the truth is a little more complicated. When it became a state, Oregon's constitution included a clause forcing Black people to leave the state within two years.

The Ku Klux Klan had a strong precense in the area through the 1930s and Portland didn't ban housing discrimination until the 1950s.