What is an Oregonian? If you want to be governor, it means you can show proof that you have lived here for the past three years. Yesterday the Oregon Supreme Court issued the opinion that former New York Times columnist Nick Kristof — who was raised in Yamhill County, and owns property there — isn’t Oregonian enough to run for the top job.
I think this is going to be an even bigger topic going forward. (As a Montanan, the “how many generations your [white] family has been here” is a familiar refrain.) More and more people will try to see what they can get away with in the name of whatever the “realness” of their place they believe to be.
Brilliant. The author has captured so much about being a “Seasoned Oregonian”. As in Nick Kristof, we become protective of our credentials, or bona fides! This age-old, simmering pride dates back, for me, to when I became a college student at the University of Oregon, but more importantly, a California-to-Oregon transplant. There was a saying back then in 1967, “Don’t Californicate Oregon!” Fifty years later I have observed more deepening of division in Oregon, stirred mightily by the presidency of Donald Trump. And the sell-out of real estate, so that the state is no longer affordable for many. The moneyed Elite are taking over. Kind of like “Californicating” perhaps? We have some reckoning to do, Dear Oregonians. Income inequality and racism play a big part in this process.
I think this is going to be an even bigger topic going forward. (As a Montanan, the “how many generations your [white] family has been here” is a familiar refrain.) More and more people will try to see what they can get away with in the name of whatever the “realness” of their place they believe to be.
Brilliant. The author has captured so much about being a “Seasoned Oregonian”. As in Nick Kristof, we become protective of our credentials, or bona fides! This age-old, simmering pride dates back, for me, to when I became a college student at the University of Oregon, but more importantly, a California-to-Oregon transplant. There was a saying back then in 1967, “Don’t Californicate Oregon!” Fifty years later I have observed more deepening of division in Oregon, stirred mightily by the presidency of Donald Trump. And the sell-out of real estate, so that the state is no longer affordable for many. The moneyed Elite are taking over. Kind of like “Californicating” perhaps? We have some reckoning to do, Dear Oregonians. Income inequality and racism play a big part in this process.
Well stated, Leah.