Reports of racial harassment in Oregon and Southwest Washington

In the days since the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, stories of racism and bullying have surfaced around the country. As of Nov. 18, the Southern Poverty Law Center had received more than 700 reports of “hateful harassment and intimidation.”

In this post, we will catalog reports of this nature in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Are we missing a verified incident in Oregon or Southwest Washington? Please send us an email at trendingoregonian.com.

• Oregon City, Ore., Dec. 16: Two Oregon City High School students face possible expulsion after a video emerged of them on social media using a racial epithet to refer to African Americans at their school and the school principal.

• Pasco Nov. 30: The Tri-City Herald reports that an argument about Donald Trump turned violent when a 29-year-old Trump supporter, Raymond Williams, called 40-year-old Alvaro Campos-Hernandez a racial slur in a Pasco bar. Pasco police told the Herald both men had knives and that, “The two men struggled, and the fight ended with Williams suffering a 1-inch wound to his windpipe. He was taken to Lourdes Medical Center.”

• Oregon City, Ore., (roughly) Nov. 15 and Nov. 21: A 15-year-old student at the Clackamas Academy of Industrial Sciences (CAIS) in Oregon City told KATU she has received racist notes, written in her notebook, twice in November. Joy Simmons, a freshman studying engineering, said the notes contained the N-word. Simmons, her mother and Teressa Raiford, organizer of Don’t Shoot Portland, are asking for an outside investigation into this incident and other reports of racism in Oregon City School District.

• Tigard, Ore., Nov. 20: Several swastikas, as well as “derogatory messages” about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were discovered at Alberta Rider Elementary School, KATU reports.

• Salem, Ore., Nov. 17: Salem City Councilor Daniel Benjamin shared a “violent, racially charged” video on Facebook, according to KATU. The video showed African Americans being run over by vehicles and included a description from conservative blogger, Ron Dwyer, which said, “As this video shows people are starting to get tired of the Black Lives Matter bullies blocking the roadways.” Benjamin told KATU the post has nothing to do with race and, “To infer I’m a racist is actually racist.”

• Happy Valley, Ore., Nov. 16: A Happy Valley woman said her garage was vandalized with a large swastika Wednesday afternoon after she said she had a run-in with men chanting racist slogans on her way home from a nearby grocery store.

• Vancouver, Nov. 15: A custodian at Skyview High School found “hate graffiti” on two walls at the school early on Nov. 15, reported The Columbian. The graffiti covered “a number of subjects, including race, religion and gender.” The Clark County Sheriff’s Office is aware of the incident.

• Portland, Nov. 13: In an email sent out to Portland Village School “Families and Friends” on Nov. 14, Principal Paul Berg wrote, “This weekend our school was hit hard by one, or more graffiti vandals, and there was damage to property, as well as some very hateful language painted on our campus.” The school has not yet responded to a request for a comment.

• Portland, Nov. 12: Racist, pro-Trump, anti-Semitic and homophobic graffiti was found written on bathroom walls at Reed College, KATU reports.

• Silverton, Ore., Nov. 9: Two students were suspended from Silverton High School for intimidating classmates. Witnesses reported they were part of a crowd yelling, “Pack your bags, you’re leaving tomorrow” and “Tell your family good-bye” at Hispanic students.

• Eugene, Ore., Nov. 9: Three people were seen wearing blackface on the University of Oregon campus.

• North Bend, Ore., Nov. 9: In North Bend, “students shouted and chanted ‘Go back to Mexico’ at an 11-year-old student from Colombia who is an American citizen,” wrote The World, “while racist jokes reportedly were told throughout the school.”

• Bend, Ore., Nov. 9: At High Desert Middle School in Bend, several Hispanic students said they were targeted by classmates after the election. “They said that we’re dumb, we’re rapists, we’re retarded, we have no jobs,” student Brian Zendejas told NewsChannel 21.