Oregon Police chief ‘compared African-Americans to monkeys’

[struggle4progress]

By Will Armbruster
Published: September 6, 2015, 10:34 pm

CLATSKANIE, Ore. (KOIN) — A decorated former chief of police remains in the hotseat after his own police officers alleged he made offensive, racist remarks on the job.

Former Clatskanie Police Chief Marvin Hoover, 56, was placed on administrative leave in early August due to the incident ...

In an official report filed with the Oregon Department of Public Safety, two police officers claimed Chief Hoover made monkey sounds and moved around the room with his hands under his armpits in an offensive manner.

“As Chief Hoover was comparing African-Americans to monkeys, I began to become extremely uncomfortable,” Officer D. Alex Stone said in the complaint. “I have never been in a work environment where a manager, especially an executive officer, is openly racist” ...

http://wric.com/2015/09/06/documents-oregon-police-chief-compared-african-americans-to-monkeys/

[MADem]

1. I know next to nothing about the Pacific Northwest. I admit that.

I spent an hour in Seattle once....maybe twice.

What surprises me is how much racism I'm seeing come out of there lately.

Maybe because I didn't know much about the region, I didn't pay attention....?

I always had this half-baked idea that they were sorta-kinda "progressive" up that way.

I guess I was mistaken...?

[Lizzie Poppet]

2. There's a HUGE socio-political division up here...

...between urban and rural. Clatskanie is a town of about 1800 in the far northwest part of the state about midway between Portland and Astoria. Basically a wide spot in the road on State Hwy 30...

We tend to be quite progressive overall because the urban population is quite a bit larger, but like most every state, Oregon is a mixed bag.

[MADem]

5. I never realized that. I always thought the place was a bit more homogenous than it is. nt

[MADem]

25. Yeah, I would love to see them really do a representative map.

Using pin pricks as opposed to solid blocks of color, or something, to get an idea of population. That wall of red IS deceiving.

There are even red communities in MA, but they don't show up on the map. Ma has an over-abundance of independents, and they are often sexists, which is why we ended up with that asswipe Scott Brown, and why that backslapping moron Charlie "Empty Suit" Baker with the blank smile is the governor right now....ugh.

[MADem]

30. So he is appointed, then...? Ewww. nt

[MADem]

35. I had an "aunt" and "uncle" who lived up that way years ago.

Not real relatives-friends of my parents who were regarded as "just as good as" relatives. They lived out in the middle of the forest! They're long gone now. I only saw pics, but the scenery looked pretty nice.

[Lizzie Poppet]

3. Also, it should be pointed out some of his own officers reported the incident.

That's gratifying to see.

[Bluenorthwest]

23. He was reported by his subordinates and replaced by his superiors swiftly, the system in place

did not protect the bigot, nor did it allow the bigot's attitudes to become the policy of the department as happens in so many institutions. In many PDs, churches, companies when a person in power expresses bigotry that bigotry becomes the protocol and is passed down to the next generation of leadership.

[struggle4progress]

4. I expect it depends on where you are and who you know

Although I live in a very blue town, and expect there are some blatant racists around, I never run into them spouting their stuff: it's really not at all socially acceptable here

[MADem]

6. Well, that's good news. I was just surprised to learn there was any of that going on up that way.

I had a stereotypical impression of the place. As I said, I'm pretty clueless about that end of America.

One of these days I'll have to visit and get the lay of the land, I guess. I've never had much reason to go out that way. Just gotta find time and/or a reason and go check it out, I guess...!

[struggle4progress]

7. I should have said I live in NC so my comments about OR are abstract generalities

[Lizzie Poppet]

8. Your comments match my experience up here.

Not just in Portland, Eugene, or Ashland, where racist comments would make one a complete pariah, but in most of the rest of the state. There are parts, as I mention upthread, where there's a definite undercurrent, but it's not something most woudl ever say out loud. I suspect we're not much different from anywhere else in the country in this regard.

[MADem]

9. Ah, we're rowing the same boat, then~! nt

[grasswire]

10. well, Seattle has an anti-gentrification movement going on

I believe it may be coordinated with Black Lives Matter. Lotta angry people there about their neighborhoods being taken over.

Portland, interestingly enough, was very very white in its beginning, and has maintained that imbalance somewhat. However, it is largely progressive. I am sure that most Portlanders would be shocked by such an event....in fact, I have heard nothing about it on Portland TV or newspaper.

[PatrickforO]

12. Well, like many areas, the big cities are progressive.

The surrounding rural areas, not so much. Like in Colorado, we still have some Ku Kluxers on the rural plains east of the Rockies.

[MADem]

14. Regions can be surprisingly complex. I would imagine a lot of people think CO is

just full of happy stoners and skiiers!! KKK types in CO?

[PatrickforO]

15. The KKK ruled Colorado as recently as 1925-26.

Then, they pretty much lost credibility. But as a 'front range' (eastern slope of Rockies) resident, here's my take:

Ft. Collins - purple
Greeley - RED - these guys actually wanted to secede from Colorado in 2013...it was on their ballot
Boulder - BLUE - the 'people's republic' you know
Denver - Blue
Denver suburbs - north - purple
Denver suburbs - south - red
Denver suburbs - west - purple
Denver suburbs - east - that would be Aurora - blue
Castle Rock & Parker - red
Colorado Springs - RED
Pueblo - purple

Rural eastern plains - RED
Touristy parts along I-70 and US-85 - blue
Grand Junction - RED
Rural western slope - tends to red in north, more purple in south

But Colorado is a very purple state because the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood MSA combined with Boulder have about 60% of Colorado's population.

[MADem]

17. I wonder if the new legalization rules will cause a shift in the demographics?

I have friends who joke about moving there for "herbal" reasons, and they're all quite liberal.

[PatrickforO]

20. It might.

[tblue37]

19. Colorado Springs is fundie heaven, with Focus on the Family and

the United States Air Force Academy.

[MADem]

26. That's a real diff! nt

[hifiguy]

31. My friends who live in Philly described PA as

Philly and Pittsburgh, with Alabama/Mississippi in the middle.

[Generic Other]

27. Gerrymandering

5 miles outside Seattle-Tacoma metro area, you hit the Mason Dixon line that extends all the way east to the Mississippi where it meets up with the line through the south.

[L. Coyote]

11. The PNW has a racist history. It was illegal for black people to move to Oregon until 1926.

When you come here from many other parts of the country, it is surprisingly white except in several urban centers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/22/oregon-racist_n_6523544.html

[PatrickforO]

13. I did NOT know that. Not at all.

Illegal for black people to move there until 1926. Geez.

[MADem]

16. How horrible! nt

[PSPS]

18. Not exactly true

An exclusion clause was approved by voters in 1857. (The companion proposal to legalize slavery was soundly defeated.) This was before Oregon was admitted to the Union and it was the only free state ever admitted with an exclusion law on its books.

However, the clause was never enforced and was rendered meaningless anyway by the 14th Amendment. This never-enforced exclusion clause remained on the books until its repeal in 1926, the year you cite.

Nevertheless, Oregon does have a small minority population -- about 2% black. (For comparison, California = 6%, Washington = 4%, Idaho = 0.6%.)

[Lizzie Poppet]

24. Oregon racial demographics do indeed differ from much of the country.

The largest non-white racial group here are Asians. But that points up the complicity of race, in that Hispanics - the largest groups of whom are of Mexican origin - are about 2.5 times the number of Asians (and certainly most don't consider themselves "white," which is where they end up in the official data).

[Bluenorthwest]

28. The largest non-white group in Oregon is, as it is in CA, Latinos, followed by Asians.

Oregon, 12.3% Latino, 4.1% Asian. According to the official data. 2% African American, 1.8% Native American and so forth.
CA, 38.4% Latino, 14% Asian, 6.6% African American, 1.7% Native American and so forth.

Much of the country...US as a whole, Latino 17.1%, African American 13.2%, Asian 5.3%

The official data from the census counts Latinos as they identify, and offers data for 'Latino only' or 'also white'. This data also includes numbers for whites inclusive of and exclusive of 'also Latino' whites for those seeking the full breakdown you look for.
The official data in Oregon shows 3 times as many Latinos as Asians. This makes your point a bit difficult to put in context.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41000.html

[Eugene]

37. Former Oregon police chief investigated over racism accusations

Source: Reuters

US | Wed Sep 9, 2015 3:37pm EDT

Former Oregon police chief investigated over racism accusations

PORTLAND, ORE. | BY SHELBY SEBENS

The former police chief of a small town in Oregon is being investigated by the state over allegations from his own officers that he made racist remarks, including comparing African-Americans to monkeys, authorities said on Wednesday.

Clatskanie Police Chief Marvin Hoover retired last month following the accusations, which came after a black woman was arrested and threatened to sue his department for racism and discrimination, according to a complaint to the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST).

State officials confirmed that an investigation was underway but would not elaborate or release the complaint, which was published online by local broadcaster KOIN-TV.

"DPSST has an active investigation involving this individual. As such, we will not release any information regarding this case at this time pursuant to Oregon Revised Statute," Linsay Hale, professional standards division director, said in a statement.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/us-usa-police-oregon-idUSKCN0R92H720150909