Introduction:

Beverly Tatum has stated: “Racism, like other forms of oppression, is not only a personal ideology based on prejudice, but a system involving cultural messages and institutional policies and practices as well as the beliefs and actions of individuals”. Unfortunately, the Portland Police Department is an example of a system of racism. Racism is defined as prejudice plus power. Police have power and they consistently demonstrate prejudice. Statistics show that in Portland, Blacks are more likely to be stopped or searched by police than Whites.  Traffic stops of African Americans over five months in 2011 accounted for 11.8 percent of all Portland police traffic stops, a disproportionately high rate considering they make up about 6 percent of the city's population age 16 and over. "This is the only racial/ethnic group in this analysis that is consistently stopped in greater proportion than their driving population would indicate," bureau crime analyst Sgt. Greg Stewart wrote in the Portland Police Bureau report. The racism of the Portland Police force has led to many incidents of brutality that have occurred over the past 50 years. This exhibit traces the history of those incidents.


















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