Social Change and My Community by Nelson Ishii

My Community Profile: Portland, OR

nelsonishii — 2025-09-27 00:37:05 UTC

This is the city of Portland, Oregon. Although I am a transplant to the city from my hometown, I still resonate and identify with the culture. This city has learned to adapt to a multitude of changes within its culture and environment. The city has become one of the most progressive in the nation. Today, governments and communities are implementing changes to become safer and more inclusive.

Historical

nelsonishii — 2025-09-27 00:49:58 UTC

This article provides a brief overview of Portland's history and the changes that occurred during the 19th century. An interesting thing I learned from this article is that in the early 19th century, the government of Oregon permitted cities to deny Japanese Americans the right to possess a business license or own land.

Cultural

nelsonishii — 2025-09-27 01:08:40 UTC

The cultural developments throughout the city have had a lasting impact on the local social change. Portland has long been considered a hub of creativity. While researching for this assignment, I came across a website that discusses specific pieces of street art. One of which I found particularly interesting is the "Black Pride Malcolm X Mural." The mural depicts a significant social transformation from the early 19th-century version of the city.

Environmental

nelsonishii — 2025-09-27 01:16:01 UTC

When considering how the environment has influenced social change in Portland, it's difficult to overlook the topic of nature. Communities within the city have established numerous local gardens featuring a variety of vegetables, fruits, and plants. These developments have also been reflected in government policies aimed at reducing their carbon footprint.

Inequality

nelsonishii — 2025-10-18 20:59:25 UTC

One of the major topics that the community of Portland is passionate about is inequality. Within the US, there are significant concerns over the inequalities related to race, gender, and sexual orientation. This affects our community because, although there has been much progress towards decreasing the gap between legal rights and income, there is still tension around the profiling that continues to occur. From the perspective of the police, there are benefits to profiling that allow them to understand criminal behavior.

Globalization

nelsonishii — 2025-10-18 21:13:37 UTC

Portland is located within the US, which is known to be a powerhouse in the globalization movement. Our community often reaps the benefits of the imports that come from different countries worldwide. While this may be true, we see the effects of some of the downsides of Western culture within our community as well. Some of the ideals that westernization promotes are freedom, cleanliness, and capitalism. Specifically, capitalism comes with its downsides. Within the community, many unhoused members struggle to make a living. One of the root causes could be that technology and capitalism have advanced to a point where we often leave people behind if they are struggling. This leads to a vicious cycle that slowly puts more people on the street with little to no hope for recovery.

Economic Systems

nelsonishii — 2025-10-30 02:46:01 UTC

This article offers insight into how Portland functions as a community. While the city is part of a capitalist country, social change is beginning to occur. There are concerns about the state of public affairs in the city. Capitalism has many pros, but some of the city's cons have left many people out on the streets, or worse. This has prompted the city to change, bringing more community-driven solutions to the issue. The democratic socialist chapter in the town has been vocal about concerns with the current approach. Voters within the city elected councilors from different geographic districts to set a variety of policies (Peel, 2025). Amongst those were four members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Economy

nelsonishii — 2025-12-01 22:31:52 UTC

One of the most notable things about Portland is the class and wealth inequality. Interestingly, the city of Portland has some of the lowest in the nation, but from a local perspective, the gap is significant. This article sheds some light on the current situation within the state of Oregon. I also found an article that explains how the Portland Business Alliance reports a decline in middle-wage job opportunities. This is concerning because the situation in the state is already at a point where the top three billionaires own more than double the income of the bottom half of the state. The book talks about how mental and physical stimulation are necessary for a well-rounded life. How are those middle-wage workers supposed to have a well-balanced life when they are being overworked?

Health, Safety, and the State

nelsonishii — 2025-12-01 22:42:43 UTC

The textbook explains that housing or shelter is not simply a commodity but a requirement for survival. This article, published by KOIN, examines growing concerns in the city about class disparity. It also includes information that shows that 46% of the unhoused population currently identifies as black, indigenous, or people of color. There are also a reported 2,594 people struggling with some mental illnesses within the unhoused community. This shows how the colonial conception of health is taking a toll on the community. Simply treating symptoms rather than addressing the root causes of issues has left some communities in the city in disarray.

Segregation

nelsonishii — 2025-12-01 22:54:53 UTC

The city of Portland struggled with the effects of racism throughout its history. The issues with segregated housing have left a lasting impact on housing developments that are designed to this day. Like most cities in the nation, Portland also had a systemic housing discrimination plan for reducing or straight-up denying access to wealth-building and home ownership for people of color. This article shares some perspectives on how people of color are still displaced today. Areas with larger populations of people of color have received multi-family zoning, while regions with larger populations of white people have remained single-family zones.

Religion

nelsonishii — 2025-12-01 23:08:02 UTC

According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, Portland stands out as the only place where nonreligious people outnumber religious people (Pew Research Study, 2024). This is interesting because there have obviously been some subtle social changes around decolonizing religion. The region's Christian affiliation has declined since 2007. This could be due to the variety of spiritual institutions. One could also view this from a movement perspective and see examples of retreats and places of congregation supported by the Buddhist Temple, Ananda, and New Thought Spiritual Living.

References

https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/

Social Movements

nelsonishii — 2025-12-01 23:18:16 UTC

The Portland community has seen many social movements. The people in this community have not been afraid to voice their opinions on contentious issues. Whether that be through climate strikes, demonstrations against logging industries, racial inequality, class inequality, education inequality, and the list goes on. Whether they be reform, revolutionary, resistance, or alternative, the community will take part if they believe in it. Some of the most notable examples include the protests against the Trump inauguration and the Black Lives Matter movement. There have also been examples of different methods of work, including the destruction of property and civil disobedience, as well as many peaceful protests. These movements have affected the city's regulations, social norms, and economy.

Summary

nelsonishii — 2025-12-01 23:45:51 UTC

The city of Portland, OR, has a wide range of subcommunities that set it apart. The social change I am focusing on is inequality within the community. This community has experienced inequalities from all directions. This is a community of movements, and its lack of fear in the face of globalization, colonization, and oppression is what makes it unique. People in this community experience social change differently because of their powerful beliefs in coming together to make an impact. If cultural lag becomes an issue, there will likely be a movement created within this community to expedite the process. The three topics I'd like to focus on are Health, Safety, and the State, Economy, and Social Movements.