Oregon was founded as a racist utopia.
When Oregon was granted statehood in 1859, it was the only state in the Union admitted with a constitution that forbade black people from living, working, or owning property there. It was illegal for black people even to move to the state until 1926. Oregon’s founding is part of the forgotten history of racism in the American west.
Waddles Coffee Shop in Portland, Oregon was a popular restaurant in the 1950s for both locals and travelers alike. The drive-in catered to America’s postwar obsession with car culture, allowing people to get coffee and a slice of pie without even leaving their vehicle. But if you happened to be black, the owners of Waddles implored you to keep on driving. The restaurant had a sign outside with a very clear message: “White Trade Only — Please.”
It’s the kind of scene from the 1950s that’s so hard for many Americans to imagine happening outside of the Jim Crow South. How could a progressive, northern city like Portland have allowed a restaurant to exclude non-white patrons? This had to be an anomaly, right? In reality it was far too common in Oregon, a state that was explicitly founded as a kind of white utopia.
America’s history of racial discrimination is most commonly taught as a southern issue. That’s certainly how I learned about it while going to Minnesota public schools in the 1980s and 90s. White people outside of the South seem to learn about the Civil War and civil rights movements from an incredibly safe (and often judgmental) distance.
http://gizmodo.com/oregon-was-founded-as-a-racist-utopia-1539567040?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
Some of these Y'all Qeada yahoos have a long generational history of right wing reactionary nonsense.
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They try to assert that "keep portland weird" really means "keep out the minorities". 
We also have legalized marijuana and even stronger free speech protections than the US constitution, both things that drive would-be authoritarians (not that we have any of those on our side, of course) positively bonkers. 
If you've ever been out to eastern Oregon, it's beautiful, but empty. To try to indict the very blue, very progressive state of 6 million because some wyoming ranchers and their yahoo pals took over a bird sanctuary in the middle of nowhere...
Silly.
Let me run it down. The year-old article is dug up and posted with blanket, broad-brush assertions about Oregon (I'm not the only one who noticed, BTW) along with some spurious linkage to the current situation in Burns, oblivious -either via deliberateness or ignorance- to the fact that the people driving the crazy train down there are coming in from out of state, specifically the Bundy Ranch clown show from Nevada.
While the historical stuff is interesting, to be sure, it's pretty indisputable that you can't dig back 150 years in ANY part of this country and not uncover some ugliness around racism.. where the piece jumps the shark, again, is by trying to connect it to modern day phenomena, like (as I said) the popular slogan "Keep Portland Weird"... somehow implying that it's really saying "Keep Portland White", an assertion which this LA-based author seems to have yanked whole cloth, magician-like, out of his own rectum.
As to whether .... whoever.. can use the laughs, of that I have no doubt. I suspect entertainment is pretty sparse and frikkin' hard to come by, in certain sectors. 
So obviously, there's a racism problem, duh.
And that's the undercurrent being promoted in this thread, from the earliest posts on; "and to think it has a reputation as progressive".
I mean, yes, there are right-wing fuckos in every state, but lets get real.
The linked article even tries to assert that "keep portland weird" contains embedded coded racism. So who is "babbling"?
Not to mention the fact that these are outside agitators responsible for this current ledger of shit.
who says "we," being the county govt and community of Harney County, agree with the principles exhorted by the occupiers. He doesn't sound particularly disturbed, though he says the tactics are wrong and he wants a peaceful resolution.
Hoo boy. 
Grasty added that his community often worries about “excessive government regulation,” but most people would like the outside militia groups to leave the area, especially given that “their very principles are that they think local control oughta take place. Our citizens are questioning why there’s an outside group like this, coming in and trying to put their values on top of ones that in many cases don’t line up with local values.”
While the local government has no communication with the militia groups, Grasty said that he and his colleagues would like to keep the situation “non-confrontational.”
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2016/01/04/armed-group-oregon-federal-land
You've glibly stereotyped an entire state.
Some of these Y'all Qeada yahoos have a long generational history of right wing reactionary nonsense.
What is your point? How are you connecting these things? Why am I even bothering at this point?
Im sure someone will try to spin that as a character flaw, too.
It would appear our side has its own little "family values" authoritarian coffee klatch.
The only possible reason for something like that is because Oregon is a "racist utopia". Right? Expect them to trot that one out when Bernie wins the primary here.
Look at the poor reception Obama received!
Seven recs, though. This is pretty high for her.
Eastern Oregon is, in many places, better characterized as Western Idaho.
But, then, as I note elsewhere in this thread, this pronounced blue/red urban/rural dichotomy is common to many, if not most, states, including many of the more traditionally "liberal" ones- Illinois, New York and California all spring immediately to mind.
Still, Portland Metro - specifically Multnomah county, with approx 750,000 residents--- and the Coastal/I-5 areas swing most of the Demographic weight in Oregon, which is why our politics are reliably blue.
