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Historic Tours of Discrimination
The Fair Housing Council (FHCO) is proud to offer historic tours of housing discrimination - a moving and powerful community service.
Debuted in 2008 and dubbed "Fasten Your Seat Belts-It’s Been a Bumpy Ride," these unique events entail a lively guided bus tour that explores the area's hidden history of housing discrimination. The stops made and stories told will depend on the area toured but most include the ghosts of lost ethnic communities, the prominence of the KKK, reference to historical state laws that were blatantly racist, recent case law and more.
"If, as philosopher and poet George
Santayana says, “Those who cannot
remember the past are condemned to
repeat it,” then “Fasten Your Seat Belts—It’s Been a Bumpy Ride” is an excellent
vehicle for achieving a brighter future for
Portland," reads one review by Julie Stegeman for
The Asian Reporter.
Whenever possible, tours also feature on-site presentations by local experts who experienced pivotal moments in the community's history. We recommend the tour be followed by a debriefing session and update on current discrimination problems.
Sample a Tour!
We're pleased to offer you an auditory sampling of the tour. Enjoy these MP3 audio files of two local special guests!
FHCO Tours Make the News!
Peek Into A Live Tour:
- Scroll down this page for a sampling of pictures and stories from recent bus tours.
- Please also visit our Fair Housing Month 2009 page to see pictures from several subseqent bus tours.
- To learn about FHCO's first, inaugural tour in Portland in April 2008 and see several pictures from the event, visit our Fasten Your Seat Belt 2008 page.
Tours Offered:
Currently, the FHCO is prepared to do Portland tours. We are also researching in preparation for a Salem area tour.
We are interested in developing tours in other areas of Oregon and SW Washington. If you're interested in having a tour in another area, please contact us to discuss the possibilities!
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Tour Specifications:
Length of Tour Alone:
2.5 hours
Length of Tour Combined with Group Discussion / Presentation :
4 hours
# of Participants:
Typically one bus can accommodate about 40 - 50 people. One to two buses are ideal, although the FHCO has conducted four-bus tours simultaneously in the past.
Details:
The a verage cost runs $1500 for the tour alone; $1750 for tour plus post-tour presentation.
FHCO provides tour guides and expert presenters. Hosting organizations provide the venue, meals and refreshments, attendee registration and event promotion.
Costs depend on a number of factors including the anticipated number of participants, prep time needed to conduct the tour, travel time and expenses for areas outside the Portland metro area, etc.
At times there may be scholarships or pre-existing funding sources available, allowing for reduced costs; please inquire.
If you're interested in having a tour for your class, office, or association, please contact us for details and an estimate.
To Schedule a Historic Tour of Housing Discrimination:
We would be pleased to go on a tour of your own community with you and your class, organization, or office. If you have questions, please contact our Education and Outreach staff to check availability and expense details:
Select Pictures and Stories from Bus Tours:
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Mr. Washington, Former Metro Counselor, shares his memories of growing up in the City of Vanport, which was washed away by a massive flood in 1948. (04/19/09) |
Participants listen intently as Mr. Washington cries, "Mother Dear, here comes the water!" |
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A plaque was erected by Kaiser Permanente at the site of the Vanport flood in 2009. (05/14/09) |
A picture from the Vanport plague of a dike giving way as the City was destroyed. (05/14/09) |
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Participants from Portland's Human Rights Commission are shown here engrossed by the humor, humility, and tragedy of the Vanport story as they listen to Mr. Washington tell it. (05/14/09) |
A hardy group from Princeton Property Managment came prepared for Oregon's "liquid sunshine." "Come on!" It's back on the bus as we head to our second stop at the Expo Center. (04/28/09) |
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Artist, Valerie Otani explains the importance and symbolism of the traditional Japanese gates she designed at the Portland Expo Center. |
A close up of Ms. Otani's tribute to over 3,700 Japanese detained for over four months before being forcibly relocated from Oregon. |
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Ms. Otani explains to Housing Authority of Portland's (HAP) residents that the Portland Expo Center was the site of a 1942 Japanese interment camp. (04/19/09) |
Ed Washington and Valerie Otani take time for a picture during a bus tour with Lewis & Clark College law students. (04/24/09 |
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Mr. Washington steps off the bus
into a sunny afternoon. (09/02/09) |
...and tour attendees are right
behind him! (09/02/09) |
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Mr. Washington shares the story
of the Vanport Flood with
members of the Oregon State
Bar Assn. (08/21/09) |
Ms. Otani strides off the bus,
ready to share her story...
(09/02/09) |
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...with attorneys on a Campaign
for Equal Justice group
tour. (09/02/09) |
"Sometimes they are silent,
sometimes their cacophony is
utterly insistent," says Ms.
Otani of the symbolic metal
luggage tags behind her--one
for every individual held at
the Expo Center. (08/21/09) |
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Fifty of the Housing Authority of Portland's (HAP) staff, pictured here, gathered to attend a tour and post-tour discussion. (05/27/09) |
Over lunch, discussions were varied and lively. HAP coworkers listened with care, concern, and amazement. Many find the group discussions following the tour were the most powerful moments of the day. (05/27/09) |
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Old friends reunite... (08/21/09)
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Mr. Washington and Ms. Otani pose for a picture together. The two of them have found commonalities in their stories as they reflect on their experiences here in Oregon of yesteryear. |
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Mr Washington entertains George Fox students against the backdrop of a treed field at the site of the Vanport Flood. (12/12/09) |
Ms. Otani shares her stories and experiences with participants at today's Expo Center. (12/12/09) |
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A group of George Fox University's Theology Students braved the cold to enjoy an eye-opening tour followed by a riviting discussion. (12/12/09) |
It was a cold day in December when FHCO staff (Diane, Alyssa, and Nicol'e) gathered for the last bus tour of 2009 but luck held and the possibility of snow held off. (12/12/09) |
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FHCO staff and special guests pile on a bus with Multnomah Learning Center (MLC)high schoolers on March 1st, 2010. |
Here Valerie Otani shares a few more memories with MLC students after leaving the Expo Center. (03/01/10) |
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Ms. Otani also highlights some of the public artwork on display as the bus tours New Columbia. Pictured here is a salvaged tree that was debarked, preserved, and installed (upside down) in one of the community's open parks. (03/01/10) |
On this tour, we made an extra stop at New Columbia's Education Center. Here students gather around and take in several historical and informational displays. (03/01/10) |
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At the head of the pack, Ed Washington pinpoints Vanport-era landmarks out on a large photograph of the area while visiting New Columbia's Education Center. (03/01/10) |
"I think our house was just about here. The school was over there..." (03/01/10) |
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