Portland Mayor Proclaims Commemoration of 100th Anniversary of Removal of Oregon's Black Exclusion Clause
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, has issued a proclamation commemorating the 100th anniversary of the removal of the Black exclusion clause from the Oregon Constitution; November 2, 2026 marks exactly 100 years since the repeal.
According to the proclamation text published on the City of Portland website, Oregon entered the Union in 1859 as the only state admitted with a constitutional provision excluding Black people, following exclusion laws of 1844 and 1849 meant to prevent Black settlement. The proclamation illustrates the laws' human impact through Jacob Vanderpool, a Black business owner in Oregon City who in 1851 became the only known person formally expelled under the 1849 law. On November 2, 1926, Oregon voters removed the clause with 62.52 percent of votes in favor, though nearly four in ten votes supported retaining it.
The proclamation also recalls the thousands of Black workers and families who came to the Portland area during World War II to support the shipbuilding industry, many settling in Vanport before the devastating 1948 flood, and the historic Albina neighborhood's role as a center of Black cultural, economic and civic life. The mayor asks all residents, businesses and community members to reflect on this history and commit to eliminating all forms of racism in the community.
(Source: City of Portland)
Source: City of Portland
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：波特兰市政厅。Another Believer 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Portland City Hall, Oregon. By Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
