Photo from Microsoft Office
When I moved to Oregon in 1975, the sentiment among “native” Oregonians at that time was for the most part a reflection of what then-Governor Tom McCall was preaching. His “come visit but don’t stay” attitude inflicted discrimination on those moving in from California and other parts of the U.S. Being one of those “Californians” who moved to Oregon, most Oregonians perhaps didn’t understand, then or now, what it felt like to be a newcomer to Oregon.
“Come visit us again and again. This is a state of excitement. But for heaven’s sake, don’t move here to live.” - Governor Tom McCall, 1971
I remember trying to be cheerful, upbeat and cracking jokes only to have those “natives” look at me as if I was an “alien” from another planet. My response always was, “Gee, I didn’t know I had to be a citizen of Oregon but that I had to be a citizen of the United States!” Most of “us” didn’t say where we were from because Oregon really was not a warm and inviting place. We would skirt around the issue and never admit to being a Californian.
Then during the 1980s when Oregon’s economy came to a halt along with the rest of the U.S., that attitude started to change. However, I thought all this was forgotten long ago. In fact, I had forgotten it as well. But recently, I happened to be traveling back East. When asked where I was from, my “new-found” traveling friends remarked; “oh, your State doesn’t like people from other places moving in.” I couldn’t believe that was the first thing that came to people’s minds when they thought of our beautiful Pacific Northwest. But then those same people thought we in Oregon still lived in log homes and that we didn’t have indoor plumbing (I’m not kidding, they really said that!).
Oregon is a friendly and wonderful place to live. It gets high marks and ranks “first” in lots of categories. In another blog I will tell you about Oregon’s great accomplishments and more about living here. But in the meantime, please come and visit. Consider this an invitation to stay, we’d love to have you! Oh, by the way, did I mention that Governor Tom McCall was from Massachusetts?
© Copyright 2008-2009 Betty Jung. All Rights Reserved. Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.
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Betty Jung
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August 25, 2009 at 9:19 am
Ronnie Gonzalez
This “Welcome to Oregon… Now Go Home” mentality is completely true. After over three years of attempting to live and find work in Oregon, I recently gave up completely and moved back East.
Things may have gotten someWHAT better in Oregon, but not by much: Now, as long as you have a means to support yourself financially AND you bring your own romantic relationship with you from outside — particularly if you’re a male, because apparently newcomer males are particularly frowned upon in Oregon, as they are in any typical primate society — then SOME people will actually be friendly to you. But, otherwise, “Welcome to Pariah-ville”.
As I said, I lived there (actually, in Portland) for over three years, and I made SOME friendly acquaintances — mostly by going to health food stores, karaoke bars, and taking some college classes — but, beyond that, the area simply refused to incorporate me as a human being: the smiles never stopped being guarded, the hospitality never stopped being a facade, and the minute I mentioned looking for local work as a means of sustaining myself to anyone, those facades of friendliness clammed up completely and turned to stone.
The fact that the state of Oregon wants to regard itself as part of the United States ONLY with respect to what it can get for itself, without ever having to really reciprocate where it really counts, is grounds, I think, for boycotting products and services originating in Oregon. After all, since they so despise, in real practice, the world outside their gloomy little “Garden of Eden”, it’s only right that they should also be treated in return as such.