Lise Nelson
Assistant Professor, Department of Geology University of Oregon
"Contested boundaries of race, place, and belonging: the struggle over farmworker housing in Woodburn, Oregon"
Students discuss the IDEAS MATTER brochure before the lecture.
Dennis Dugan whistles "Pennies From Heaven" and Cara Glennon smiles as they eagerly await the lecture.
Dr. Courtney Campbell introduces this year's IDEAS MATTER Lecture series with a rumination on the words "borders, boundaries and frontiers," how we might perceive our worlds through different lenses depending upon which word we choose to focus on.
Lise Nelson, the first lecturer of the IDEAS MATTER Lecture Series for Winter 2006, describes Woodburn, Oregon, as the city with the state's largest shopping outlet mall and as a city described as "Little Mexico." While presently, this "nickname" is used affectionately, it was once used in a derogatory way by others.
Dr. Nelson described the tensions surrounding, the resistance to and the final acceptance of the Hispance population of Woodburn, Oregon.
Dr. Nelson explains that during WWII, the US government created the Bracero Project to recruit laborers from Mexico to work in the fields up along the Pacific Northwest. The project ran officially from 1942 - 1947, but recruitment continued through the 1960's. After the Bracero Project, Latinos became part of the fabric of Woodburn as they passed through doing seasonal work and staying in labor campus outside the city center. This "spacial segregation" was fine with the white citizens of Woodburn. By 1980, 11% of the Woodburn population was Hispanic. It became an important and central place in Oregon for Hispanics. However, the "power struggle" in Woodburn remained overwhelmingly white.
In 1982, Mexico experienced a "debt crisis" as the Mexican economy was inserted into the global economy. This resulted in the displacement of Mexicans and migration to the US increased. Also, there were changes in the US economy. Service sector jobs created low-wage jobs that were (and are) easily filled with powerless and marginalized people. These broad economical changes also brought changes to the local level.
In Marion County, for instance, new industries were created such as nursery and greenhouse crops which are labor intensive with an all-year round schedule for workers. Since labor camps were in decline and workers could not use them unless working for a particular owner, a housing crisis emerged in Woodburn, Oregon.
Al Nuñez, as Dr. Nelso explained, was the Director of Salud Medical Center in Woodburn, and created in 1991 the Farmworker Housing Development Corporation (FHDC) with the local community. It was initially created to provide a contact point for Hispanics in the community as well as a place to learn English and to learn about computers. Through the dedication of Dr. Nuñez and other smart activists in the community, they were able to round up money from many places for their projects.
Meanwhile, a HUD housing project in Woodburn named Grace Village was stopped due to the bankruptcy of the company hired to build it. At this point, Woodburn was in debt and should have been eager to unload the property since work could not be completed on it. However, the local citizens resisted selling the property to the FHDC by using delaying tactics and refusing to meet with the board members of the FHDC. Forty-six citizens of Woodburn signed a petition demanding that Marion County NOT turn the property over to the state for sale.
The FHDC were well-connected and worked hard to put pressure on the state of Oregon to get Woodburn to turn over the property. On June 19, 1992, the Oregon Economic Development agency demanded Woodburn to turn over the Grace Village property to the state. Tension throughout Woodburn erupted over this project. Six days before the inaugeration of the site to begin work on the FHDC's new low-income housing project, Nuevo Amanecer (New Dawn), a sign was anonymously posted that read: "Future Home of the Salud Slum." These kinds of remarks and other, more racist attitudes, were expressed in the editorial seciton of the city's paper throughout the building of Nuevo Amanecer.
Nuevo Amanecer, said Dr. Nelson, turned out to be a success. It was a clean, safe place that won numerous awards for low-income housing. Fears from local citizens that this housing project would turn out to be a slum area within their city was totally unfounded.
The FHDC began a second housing project called Esperanza (Hope) Court.
Unlike Nuevo Amanecer, Esperanza Court would be located across the street from Woodburn's city hall. Again, the project met with resistance, but this time, the struggle was different. For one thing, FHDC now had a paid professional staff enabling them to work strategically and quickly. For instance, FHDC bought the land before announcing the project pubically. Although the lot had sat empty for years, and Nuevo Amanecer was a complete success, the resistance to FHDC's purchase aroused resistance even more swiftly than with the first project. For one thing, the new housing structures would not be on the outside of the city, but in its very center. A "deep spacial transgression" had been committed; people perceived to be outsiders living in labor camps outside of city limits were now going to live right in the middle of things, visible and unavoidable.
Planning for this project went on for 10 months. The city planning commission brought up every possible reason why things needed to be changed or modified; the plans were altered to meet the specs and finally, a planning commissioner said, "If I could find a reason to vote against it, I would."
The planning commission's decision was passed on to the city council for review. Meanwhile, incidents between the Hispanic population and the white population of Woodville became more vociferous and spontaneous. One time, a white person yelled at a Latino "Go home!" The Latino replied, "I am home!" The white community's perception of "home" and the Hispanic community's perception of "home" were one and the same, and this created anxiety within the white community.
Also, Professor Lise Nelson explained how the local, white population and the local, Hispanic population had competing visions of the "spaciality of race." Since the economic basis in Woodburn was (and is) Hispanic, the business owners in Woodburn began to advocate for more inclusive policies. Local banks, for instance, recognized that most of their business was with the Hispanic population of Woodburn. In order to thrive, it was in their best interests to help this population to settle down and feel at home, to put down roots and invest in their community. Now, local politicians are repackaging "Little Mexico" in a positive light as a tourist attraction. No longer perceived as a degrading element in Woodburn, the Hispanic community is being courted as an asset in the city's future.
Professor Joseph Orosco asks Dr. Nelson a question after the lecture.
Dr. Michael Scanlan listening to Dr. Nelson's reply.
This student can't believe he learned so many interesting things at a philosophy lecture.
John Frohnmayer, Affiliate Professor of Liberal Arts, Oregon State University
"The Doomed Pursuit of Aesthetics and its Turbo-charged Afterlife"