When we look at the spread of Asian American populations across America, we tend to see them clustered around the West Coast and a few other major cities, such as NYC. Their prominence on the West Coast is heavily linked to their history of immigration during the California Gold Rush, and the establishment of ethnic enclaves only attracted further immigration to these regions. Indeed, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, and Seattle, along with its neighboring city of Bellevue, are home to some of the largest Asian populations in the US. San Francisco is over 30% Asian, Bellevue over 40%, and LA’s San Gabriel Valley is the largest ethnic enclave of Asian Americans in the US. Along the West Coast, Washington and California have substantial Asian populations, but why is Oregon left out?
While California and Washington have multiple cities that have a substantial Asian population, even majority Asian regions, Oregon’s most Asian-populated county is Washington County, which is less than 15% Asian. Its neighboring Multnomah County is the only other county with an Asian population in the double digits at just over 10%. The city seat of Multnomah County is Portland, Oregon’s largest city, which has just over 40,000 Asian residents, totaling to 8.5% of the city’s population. Oregon as a whole has an Asian population less than 5% of its total population, almost half of Washington’s 9.5% and 1/3rd California’s 15%. The disparity between Oregon and its neighboring states is quite large, which begs the question: why are there so few Asians in Oregon?
Oregon’s Gold Rush history is not too indifferent from San Francisco or Los Angeles–indeed, there were many similarities related to the use of Asian immigrant labor. Chinese migrants worked in mines for lower wages than their White counterparts, leading to discrimination and local opposition to their presence. One key difference is the lack of railroad work in Oregon, as the First Transcontinental Railroad connected Sacramento instead, leading to a notable lack of jobs compared to North California. Once the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882, the local Chinese population dwindled and relocated to larger cities–where there were 634 Chinese residents in Jackson County in 1870, only 43 remained 30 years later, stifling growth of ethnic enclaves that could attract new immigrants. Oregon as a whole saw an 80% decrease in Chinese population from 1900 to 1940
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