“It’s Everything You Don’t Hear About Portland That Makes Me Hate It Here,” Says Portland Writer in Essay for The Washington Post

"A little more research may have shown me that Portland is the whitest large city in the country."

This white flag, which flew May 13 in downtown Portland, is a symbol of the Christian Identity movement, a white supremacist theology that has been associated with the Ku Klux Klan as well as right-wing “patriot” militia groups. (Sam Gehrke)
By Sophia June

Portland writer Masimbaashe Zvovushe, who also writes under the name Jagger Blaec, penned a Perspective essay for The Washington Post about her hatred of Portland. The essay, titled "I moved somewhere I hated for someone I love," tells the story of Zvovushe's decision to move to Portland, and what she found when she got here.

Zvovushe writes that her boyfriend wanted to move here. The couple had lived in Connecticut previously, where Zvovushe had lived for most of her life.

"When pondering the move, I couldn't stop Googling about Portland; I knew that any additional information could make it easier for me to find an excuse not to go," she writes. "In hindsight, I probably should've done even more research before uprooting my life."

Here's what Zvovushe says she should have researched about Portland: A major thing is the now often-cited fact that Portland is the whitest large city in the United States:

But there is more to life than trees.

As a Portlander, Zvovushe says she was not welcomed to practice weirdness the way white people do.

This is something other people of color have noted. It's something we heard from Portland Vegans of Color founder Emiko Badillo, who discussed the same topic with us a few years ago.

Zvovushe says things are different for her husband, who is white.

You can read the full essay here.

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