2024 Social Science Standards Alignment

This section is aligned with the following standards:

2.G.HI.6 - Examine the group identities in a community and describe how a diversity of cultural elements can enrich it.
3.H.CE.4 - Describe how the inclusion or exclusion of individuals, social and ethnic groups, has shaped events and development of the local community and region.
8.H.CP.10 - Identify and explain the contributions and experiences of individuals from traditionally underrepresented identities in Oregon and the United States.
HS.G.MM.3 - Investigate and analyze how political and economic decisions determine the settlement patterns of human populations, including the removal and segregation of communities in the United States.

Essential Disciplinary Practice Alignment

This section is foundational for applying the following Essential Disciplinary Practices (EDPs):

EDP 1 - Developing questions for social science inquiry.
EDP 3 - Collecting, interpreting, evaluating and applying information from primary and secondary sources.
EDP 5 - Evaluate and assess how discrimination, racism and inequality shape historical narratives, individual perspectives, intersecting identities and diverse understanding.

In this section, you will explore how the cultural diversity, communities and identities represented in Oregon have been impacted by immigration policies, exclusionary laws and the creation and displacement of racial and ethnic enclaves. The activity in this section models the Essential Disciplinary Practice, developing questions for social science inquiry when analyzing data visualization and mapping tools. This activity also deepens your knowledge about the experiences of traditionally underrepresented groups in Oregon, as you add to your pedagogical toolkit.

Step 1: Explore

Please select a resource based on the grade level you teach in the drop-down menu below. As you read through and explore the provided resources, consider how immigration and migration policies, exclusionary laws and the creation and displacement of racial and ethnic enclaves shaped the human geography of Oregon communities.

K–5 Grade Topics

If you teach grades K–5, take a few minutes to peruse the Oregon Migration History Data Visualization webpage produced by the Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium at the University of Washington. Read over the summary of Oregon’s migration history from 1850–2022 written by Dr. James Gregory, then explore the Birthplace of Residents by Race and Decade and Foreign Birthplaces of Residents (map) by State and Decade tabs on the data visualization tool.

Webpage - Oregon Migration History Data Visualization

As you read and explore, please ask yourself the following questions:

What patterns do I notice and what questions arise for me based on these patterns?
Based on Dr. Gregory's summary and my prior knowledge (as applicable), how might Oregon's historical practices and policies have influenced the patterns I am observing?
What might this tool teach me, or reinforce for me, about the presence and role traditionally underrepresented groups have played in Oregon's history?

6–12 Grade Topics

If you teach grades 6–12, take a few minutes to peruse the Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America webpage produced by the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond. Read over the context offered on Portland’s history with redlining, then explore the interactive map by clicking different sections of the map and read the Selections tab of the area description (left side of your screen). The information is pulled directly from Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) sources from the 1940s. As such, please be aware that outdated racial classifications (for example, Orientals) are used, and the HOLC’s racist, classist and nativist motivations are explicitly named.

Webpage - Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America

What is redlining?

Redlining was a discriminatory practice in the 20th century that prevented Black people and other people of color from accessing financial services, like mortgages. Federal agencies created maps marking some areas as "hazardous” (indicated by the color red), which effectively excluded Black people and other people of color from receiving housing loans and building generational wealth. This restricted home ownership among Black families in particular and increased racial segregation in cities across the country. Though outlawed in 1968, redlining's legacy persists in housing inequality, educational inequity and resource disparities.

As you read and explore, please ask yourself the following questions:

What might this tool teach you, or reinforce for you, about how the racial, ethnic and socioeconomic demographics of Portland came to be? If you do not teach in Portland, how might this be similar or different in your own community?
What does this tool reveal about the history, economy and culture of Oregon, and why groups of people came to be spatially dispersed in the patterns we see today in Portland specifically and in Oregon more broadly?
On the map, the presence of traditionally underserved groups and racial, ethnic and socioeconomic class diversity are described as detriments of the red neighborhoods. Given what you know about community cultural wealth, cultural diversity, community and identity, what assets may be missing from the HOLC’s representation of the red neighborhoods?

Step 2: Try It Out!

Consider how you might use this instructional tool in your own classroom. We will practice creating questions for social science inquiry that spark students’ interest and critical thinking about Oregon’s communities. Questions for social science inquiry should be open-ended questions that generate discussion and require analysis, evidence and reasoning to answer.

K–5 Grade Topics

If you teach grades K–5, navigate to one visualization on the Oregon Migration History Data Visualization webpage and craft two questions for students that foster inquiry.

Webpage - Oregon Migration History Data Visualization

If it is helpful, select a question stem to assist you in crafting these questions:

What do you notice about _____?
Why do you think _____?
How does the map change when we _____ and why do you think that is?
What do you think _____ means?
How does _____ differ from _____?

6–12 Grade Topics

If you teach grades 6–12, navigate to the Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America webpage and craft two questions that foster student inquiry about the history of redlining and how these practices shaped the racial makeup of Portland's neighborhoods.

Webpage - Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America

Use what you know about your students to create developmentally appropriate questions. If it is helpful, select a question stem to assist you in crafting the questions:

How does this map relate to what we learned about _____?
Why do you think _____?
How does this map explain _____?
What is the relationship between _____ and _____?
Using this map, compare _____ and _____.

Step 3: Explore (Optional)

To learn more about how traditionally underrepresented groups contributed to Oregon’s history and its cultural fabric, you may want to review these resources:

Oregon Encyclopedia - Vanport
Oregon Encyclopedia - Black People in Oregon
Oregon Encyclopedia - Latinos in Oregon
Oregon Encyclopedia - Chinese Americans in Oregon