One hundred years ago this week, Oregon voters took a definitive stand against a century of state-sanctioned bigotry. On Monday, November 2, 2026, the Oregon Black Pioneers (OBP) gathered at the North Portland Library to mark the centennial of the repeal of the state’s infamous Black exclusion laws. While the afternoon offered a moment for reflection, music, and community connection, it served as a sobering reminder of a period when Oregon stood alone in its constitutional hostility toward Black residents.
The event highlighted a constitutional stain that began in 1859, when Oregon entered the Union as the only state with a clause in its constitution explicitly banning Black people from living, working, or owning property within its borders. According to OBP, this was not merely a historical footnote but a persistent legislative effort; in every iteration of the state’s government, some form of exclusion remained in effect until the final repeal of Article I, Section 35 of the Bill of Rights in 1926.
The Mechanics of Exclusion and Reform
The path to repeal was neither accidental nor easy. It required a sustained, multi-year coalition involving Black community organizers working alongside the NAACP and the League of Women Voters. By the mid-1920s, these groups succeeded in convincing the voting public that the state’s exclusionary stance was untenable. As Zachary Stocks, the Executive Director of Oregon Black Pioneers, noted during the event, the history of these laws is a lesson in the power of the ballot box.
It was voting which created the Black exclusion laws, and it was voting which got rid of the Black exclusion laws. Everybody’s vote matters.
The commemoration drew officials from across the region, including Oregon City Mayor Denyse McGriff and representatives from Beaverton, Portland, Wilsonville, Ashland, Gold Beach, and Tualatin. For many attendees, the gravity of the history—and the reality that such laws existed in living memory—remains a vital part of the state’s ongoing civic education. Mayor McGriff, a long-term resident of Oregon, emphasized that many citizens still lack a foundational understanding of the significant contributions made by African Americans to the state’s development.
Reckoning with a Persistent Legacy
While the event featured celebrations like the musical performance of Arietta Ward & Friends and a communal singing of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day,” the tone remained grounded in the reality of the past. The exclusion laws were not simply paper mandates; they were instruments of economic and social displacement that shaped the demographics of the Pacific Northwest for generations.
For some, the centennial feels less like a distant milestone and more like a contemporary warning. MaryEtta Callier, a performer at the celebration, articulated the sentiment that the work of equality is never truly finished. “Even though a hundred is a large number, it still seems like it’s brand new because of what we are experiencing right now,” Callier observed. “Whatever has been learned can be unlearned. So we’re here to plant some new seeds today.”
The Ongoing Civic Dialogue
The OBP event serves as a bridge between the historical record and current efforts to address systemic inequality. By organizing these commemorations, the pioneers are ensuring that the state’s exclusionary past is not relegated to obscurity. The question that remains for many in Oregon is how the state will reconcile this history with its current civic identity. While the legal barriers were dismantled a century ago, the social and economic architecture built during those decades of exclusion continues to pose questions about equity and inclusion that have yet to be fully answered.
For those looking to explore the deeper context of this history, the Oregon Black Pioneers maintain extensive resources on the lives of Black settlers who arrived in the region long before statehood.
