Origins of a Civil Rights Movement, by William Toll

Just as Portland's commercial and entertainment foundations began to shift, so too did its population. The influx of war workers, including unprecedented number of Blacks, turned the white population’s indifference to a tiny minority into fear of a new “race problem.” The meaning of race relations shifted rapidly in Portland, as in Seattle, Oakland, and Los Angeles. What had been a cultural and legal resistance by white Americans to a feared invasion by Asians was superseded by the more familiar effort by white Americans to segregate and demean African Americans. As Richard Neuberger again noted, “Jittery police officers, untrained in race relations, shot at Negroes for mere misdemeanors, and for the first time Portland found itself clutched by racial tensions.”

African Americans had a long history of challenging denials of their civil rights. In Portland, the civil rights struggle was led by Dr. DeNorval Unthank, Edwin C. “Bill” Berry of the Urban League, several ministers, and members of the Sleeping Car Porter’s union. These leaders and their struggles would parallel the larger national struggle for access to public accommodations, private housing, a respite from police intimidation, and basic human rights.

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