Hidden Histories, Open Wounds: Racism's Legacy in Eugene, Oregon

Ashley Jones sat at one of the wooden picnic tables outside Morning Glory Cafe. Sipping her coffee, she gazed past the train station towards Skinner’s Butte. Motioning to the green Victorian manor on the hillside, she broke the silence, “That building used to host KKK rallies.”

In 1921, Skinner’s Butte was marked with a large, white “KKK” overlooking downtown Eugene. During this time, “One in 20 Oregonians was a card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan," according to a 2021 National Geographic article. A large cross erected by the Klan remained on top of the butte until it was removed in 1997.

This is the history that looms over Jones, a Black woman, and other people of color who live in Eugene. For Jones, it is not only a reminder of the city’s racist past, but of a hateful sentiment that is still present in her daily life.

 People yell racist slurs from their cars as she walks down the street, she said. Discrimination reaches all boundaries in her life, including her work. In early 2020, Jones went to audition at the Silver Dollar Club. As she walked in, she was met by a bouncer with visible Nazi tattoos. “That’s the person who is supposed to walk me out to my car after my shift and protect me while I’m working,” she said.

Jones went through with the audition anyway and was hired. Other dancers warned her that she would only be offered a restricted schedule. Both the owner and manager told her they only allowed one Black girl to work per shift. She said that was the case for Latin dancers too. “We were told that if you want to make money, those are the choices you have to make as a person of color."

In 1957, Oregon entered the union as the only state with a constitution that blocked Black Americans from working, owning property or settling anywhere in the state, according to the Oregon Encyclopedia. And based on the 2021 U.S. Census, it is estimated that only 2.3% of the Oregon population is Black.

Most people she has talked to don’t know about the racist history of Eugene or its lasting effects, said Jones, “I’m not surprised, I only know most of this because of a class I took as sophomore in high school.” That class was the Lane Community College Rites of Passage academic program. “It was an African-American studies class. It taught us about our history, about this town, about how to prepare for college and all these other small things we needed to know,” said Jones of her experience.

The LCC website describes Rites of Passage as a curriculum “designed to inform and inspire high school and middle school students of color in Lane County,” through cultural immersion programs that are “based on an academic framework that promotes positive self-image and self-esteem.” Jones said much of the information she learned in Rites of Passage was missing from her public education experience.

At the University of Oregon, Black students and staff have fought for recognition and support on campus. 

After decades of requests from Black student organizations, former UO President Michael Schill made a formal proposal to build a Black cultural center in 2017. This proposal was a direct response to a list of demands submitted by the Black Student Task Force. In 2019, the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center opened its doors.

The LRP Black Cultural Center provides a space for Black students to organize and equips them with strategies to advocate for their specific needs at a predominantly white institution, said Aris Hall, the coordinator at the BCC.

 The LRP BCC also hosts events, provides resources and creates a safe space for Black students and staff to connect, relax and get work done, said center assistant Fayola Beck, a UO first-year.“It’s really important because there’s not a lot of Black people on campus to begin with, so it’s nice that there’s a space just for us, it makes me feel like I really have a place on campus,” she said.

 In recent years, lawmakers in many states have banned or restricted public schools from teaching students about racism or systemic inequality. Since 2021, 44 states have introduced such restrictions, according to an analysis by Education Week, though only 18 are currently in effect.