Looking Back: Anti Semitism in the 80's In Portland, Oregon

 Nadene Goldfoot                                            

During the 1980s, Portland experienced a visible rise in white supremacist and neo-Nazi activity, marked by the mainstreaming of racist skinhead groups, violent hate crimes, and deep-seated extremist organizing.  At the same time, Individual Israelis, such as Jewish educators and families, moved to Portland during the 1980s, while the city concurrently welcomed large waves of Southeast Asian, Soviet, and Ethiopian refugees.  

White Supremacist Networks: The Pacific Northwest and Portland became hubs for racist skinhead factions and organizations like White Aryan Resistance:  White Aryan Resistance (WAR) is a legacy white supremacist and neo-Nazi organization founded in 1983 by former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Tom Metzger. The group targeted young racist skinheads to promote neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic ideologies, eventually becoming inactive following a devastating $12.5 million civil rights lawsuit in 1990. (WAR). 
Shifting Housing: As economic pressures mounted, many Black
 families began moving outward toward East Portland and 
nearby Gresham in search of affordable homeownership.                                           

       Seraw was born October 21, 1960 In the early hours of Nov. 13, 1988, three white men brutally beat a young Black man. He died later that day.  
The Seraw Murder: In November 1988, Ethiopian student Mulugeta Seraw was beaten to death in Portland by members of a racist skinhead group called East Side White Pride, bringing national attention to the violent extremist pipeline active in the city. 
The murder of Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw by neo-Nazi skinheads shocked Portland, but white supremacist violence had been roiling the city’s counterculture for years before the killing.  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.
In the 1980s, Black people in Portland, Oregon, centered their lives heavily in the Northeast Albina district, facing systemic challenges like predatory lending, racist violence, and early displacement. At the same time, the community maintained a rich culture and strong political activism


Ideological Targeting: Local neo-Nazi and white nationalist networks frequently blended anti-Black racism with foundational anti-Semitism, blaming Jewish people and minorities for societal issues.

          Portland State U students of 1980's In the 1980s,
Portland State University grew as an urban leader, reaching an enrollment of 15,000 students, opening the College of Urban and Public Affairs, and achieving legendary athletic feats like the 1980 record-breaking football season. 


Specific academic archives or prominent public records do not document a high-profile pattern of distinct anti-Semitic acts or riots centered specifically on the Portland State University campus during the 1980s.  That will come later.  
Reed College:
  
Judaic Studies: Formally added to the religion department curriculum in 1980 through the appointment of professor Steven E. Aschheim, focusing on modern Jewish history. 
Campus Climate: The 1980s at Reed were largely defined by routine liberal arts academics, student political debates typical of the late Cold War era, and general campus life without the specific acute anti-Semitism flashpoints recorded in later eras. ,                                   



Highlighted on the VIEW today was The Lost Boys is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Jeffrey Boam, Janice Fischer, and James Jeremias. Based on a story by Fischer and Jeremias, it follows two teenage brothers who move with their divorced mother to the fictional California town of Santa Carla, which they discover is a haven for vampires.  I guess they had it harder than Jewish boys i fitting into society.  
Resource:
Jewish Federation of Portland
Moment magazine
https://jewishportland.org/jewishreview/jr-stories/antisemitic-violence-and-oregon-past-present-and-future