The Making of a Ghetto

This was a 2-part mini-documentary I did on my old channel for Black History Month back in 2017. I wanted to delve into the racial element of Portland's history that so many today still want to sweep under the rug. And at the peak of that racial history in the history of the last 100 years of the Albina area in north/northeast Portland. When I was a child my parents and everyone else talked about how you never go into north Portland cause it's dangerous up there. And, in effect, I grew up being taught that the primarily black neighborhood was synonymous with gang activity, violence, drug use, theft, poverty, etc. But I never grew up hearing the stories of how places like Albina became so battered and run down by the 1980s and 90s (around when I was a child). In this video I did extensive research to discuss that history and how the Albina area got transformed into a ghetto over time. The first piece primarily focuses on Vanport, as with the flood there in 1948, the African American populace that lived there almost entirely had to be relocated to Albina, which was already becoming overpopulated. Along with overpopulation the citizens there had to face housing problems, underfunded education, economic strife, etc. in a city that largely ignored the problems going on there. Outsiders or uninformed locals in the Portland area today may look at the city as a welcoming, heartfelt oasis but the fact of the matter is much of what is discussed in the film in regards to the past are still preve