Yes..I’ve actually been to Richmond and was impressed with the beauty of the buildings and the history. And of course, a very different world from Portland.
For whatever reason we don’t seem to have a ton of racial problems here. In fact, the head of our dept at the well known Fortune 500 company where I work, is a black guy. My boss is a black guy. Their color does not matter to me.
There are a number of things I could say to your response. Apparently you must be under the age of about 40 because I cannot fathom how little you know of history.
Portland is one of the whitest cities in the US It is nothing like Richmond Virginia where not only are the demographics different but the history is vastly different.
The very fact that you would use the old ‘one of my best friends is...’ argument says you just don’t understand. There exists in this country (whether rightly or wrongly) a racial animus that O has stoked and fed. Portland Oregon is full of yuppified folks who wouldn’t recognize a problem if it hit them in the face. The drug use, anarchist action committees, and gang related crimes apparently end up in the trash can. The last time I was in Portland ( a little less than a year ago) it seemed more Like Portlandia than anything else.
Richmond Virginia on the other hand is over 50% African American. The income distribution follows unfortunately the patterns that exist in Washington DC. So you have race and economics playing into the situation.