Looking Back: Anti-Semitism in the 70's in Portland, Oregon

Nadene Goldfoot                                              

In the 1970s, Portland’s Jewish community experienced a complex reality. Overt, violent acts of antisemitism were rare, but the community navigated systemic exclusion in exclusive social circles and the early rise of right-wing extremist groups in the broader Pacific Northwest While Portland had a long history of Jewish civic participation (including a Jewish mayor in the 19th century), social and athletic clubs maintained restrictive membership policies.  

Portland had a history of being welcoming to Jews at first.  Portland's first Jewish mayor in the 19th century was Bernard Goldsmith, who served as the city's 19th mayor from 1869 to 1871. He was an immigrant businessman originally from Bavaria. Goldsmith was succeeded two years later by another Jewish businessman and leader in the community, Philip Wasserman, who served as mayor from 1871 to 1873.  

So, While Portland itself was generally a safe haven, the broader Pacific Northwest became a targeted hub for white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizing in the 1970s and 80s. This era marked the transition of the White nationalist movement toward revolutionary ideologies that explicitly positioned Jews as the enemy. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and local watchdog groups like the Western States Center have documented how radical right-wing extremists used the era's cultural circles to freely spread their agendas across Oregon. 

Cars of the period that everyone wanted to drive:  

            1971 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible $21,298.  

The history of racism in Oregon began before the territory even became a U.S. state. The topic of race was heavily discussed during the convention where the Oregon Constitution was written in 1857. In 1859, Oregon became the only state to enter the Union with a black exclusion law, although there were many other states that had tried before, especially in the Midwest. 

By the same time that Jews experienced anti-Semitism, the Blacks  saw  organized white supremacy in Portland transitionizing from the overt Ku Klux Klan rallies of earlier decades into more localized, politically engaged, and anti-government paramilitary movements.  

Despite these subtle and creeping threats, the 1970s was a period of growth and advocacy for the Portland Jewish community.  Organizations like the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) helped facilitate the emigration of thousands of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union to Portland to escape religious discrimination, but at least Portland's wasn't as lethal as what was happening to Russian Jews.  

Israeli folk dance formally began at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center (MJCC) in 1972, but its roots go back to 1950s Portland.  At the same time, critical events were happening in Israel that affected Jews of Portland as well:  The 1970s in Israel was a defining decade marked by the conclusion of the War of Attrition, the devastating Yom Kippur War in 1973, and a major political shift in 1977 when the Likud party took power. The era also saw a rise in militant attacks and concluded with historic peace talks with Egypt with Sadat.

There is no exact census or demographic data available detailing how many Israelis entered Portland, OR in the 1970s. Historical records focus on the broader Jewish population, which hovered around 7,000 to 8,000 in the early 1970s and grew to 10,000 by the late 1970s. This demographic increase was largely driven by an influx of young, well-educated migrants from other parts of the United States who were drawn to Portland's progressiveness, rather than direct immigration from Israel. Nationwide, organized immigration from Israel to the U.S. was relatively small during this decade.

The primary figures and factions driving the hard-right and white supremacist scene in the area during this era included:

Walter Huss: A fundamentalist minister and vocal anti-communist who was actively tied to white nationalist groups. He maintained deep grassroots connections with the far-right in Oregon, ultimately serving as the chair of the Oregon Republican Party from 1978 to 1979.
The Posse Comitatus: A militant, anti-tax, and white supremacist organization that established roots in the Pacific Northwest during the 1970s. This group, which advocated for local vigilante justice and rejected federal authority, included former members of the pro-Nazi Silver Shirt movement. 
Christian Patriots: A network of religious extremists who advocated for white Christian supremacy and tied their ideology to anti-Semitism and anti-communism, often crossing paths with other far-right activist circles. 

The hard-right ecosystem in 1970s Oregon laid the groundwork for the violent neo-Nazi skinhead movements that became highly visible in Portland during the 1980s.

Resource:

Moment Magazine +4

Jewish Federation of Greater Portland +1