Before I start this post, just the usual disclaimer -- no slurs, no insults, no threats, no calling this reporter "honey" or making any sexual remarks, no expressing a desire that she get mugged or worse by diversity. Definitely no home address BS. Keep it totally professional. We have been insulted, we will complain to her, her bosses, and her advertisers, in a polite but firm manner.

Here's the offending article:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index...ortland_r.html

By Betsy Hammond

Quote:As the nation's first African American president prepares to take office this week, metro Portland -- with its overwhelmingly white population and leadership -- is demographically out of step with 2009 America.

Among the nation's 40 largest metro areas, only four -- none of them in the West -- are whiter than Portland, new census figures show.

The upshot is that the Portland metro area is startlingly white viewed against the national landscape -- even whiter than Salt Lake City, according to the latest Census Bureau estimates. Metro Portland includes Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Clark counties.

But in metro Portland, public policy still is controlled from a white point of view

I called Betsy Hammond Hammond, Betsy POLITICS & ACCOUNTABILITY: Oregon Schools 503-294-7623 betsyhammond@news.oregonian.com and politely expressed how insulted I was at her article. I asked her if she would call Detroit "startlingly black" and she said she would if she was covering Detroit. I told her a lot of us out here are offended at her negative characterization of Portland based on it's high percentage of White population.

Please e-mail and/or call Betsy and her bosses but ONLY if you are capable of being totally civil. Here's her bosses contact info. The more of you that can call and be civil but let them know how offended you are, the better. This works, we've done it before. An editor at a Maine newspaper called us "pasty" once and he had to write another article making a non-apology apology afterward.

http://biz.oregonian.com/newsroom/?act=cntc