Oregon, in 1963, was not unlike the rest of the United States at the time: intentionally segregated. But while other states separated Black people from white people within a city and state, Oregon had declared the entire state white. In 1857, white people who had colonized the territory approved a constitution that barred Black people from moving to the area. They also made it illegal for Black people already living in the territory to vote, own real estate, make contracts, or use the legal system. When Oregon became the thirty-third state two years later, it was admitted to the union as the
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