The presence of certain natural human rights lies at the core of the establishment and the Constitution of the United States of America. There is no better means with which to state this than what is already enshrined in the Declaration of Independence with its ‘self-evident’ truths of man’s equality, particularly that“(…) they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Such ideals were essential to the establishment of the American Republic, with its violation tantamount to just cause for a revolution. The same document states that for any government that violates or even fails to uphold such rights, “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.”
Such a sentiment is shared by most of the nation’s Founding Fathers. In his Rights of Man, Thomas Paine calls the protection of inherent and inalienable human rights as “the only principle on which [governments] have a right to exist.” In the same book, he argues for a similar conclusion in the context of the French Revolution—that political revolution is justified when the violation of natural human rights is encouraged or even simply allowed by the government.
And yet, much of American history has been occupied by the struggle to define the degree with which these rights apply. From the events of the American Frontier Wars, the fight for women’s suffrage, the ongoing crackdown on immigration, and the continuing struggle of Black Americans with their history of slavery, abolition, the civil rights movement, and continuing cases of systemic racism and inequality, it is apparent that America remains in constant flux regarding the protection of these sacred rights. In a way, the history of America is a history of its different minorities vying for the right to define and reassert their own inalienable rights in the face of a comfortable white majority.
In his recent #1 best selling non-fiction book Black People in Oregon? author Prxscott seeks to relay his experiences and struggles as a Black man growing up and living in the increasingly white neighborhood of Northeast Portland, Oregon. Once a state with a small but significant Black American population, Oregon has experienced a continuing systematic displacement and gentrification of its Black community backed up by public policy. Today, only 3% of its population is made up of Black Americans, with the percentage promising to only shrink further in the future.
Written in the height of the George Floyd protests and the Black Lives Matter movement, Black People in Oregon? combines a personal Black experience with broader research and analysis in order to pick apart the root causes of state racism and inequality. From his experience as a Black Oregonian, Prxscott draws parallels with the experiences of Black Americans from all over the United States, as well as hard data that confirm these experiences. In doing so, Prxscott reveals a troubling trend of transition, one of subtle but systematic gentrification that threatens to slowly erode Black American culture.
In the crossroads of American race relations, Black People in Oregon? is a sobering and humanizing look that can help non-Blacks understand the day-to-day struggles of Black Americans living in what remains as a predominantly white America. For fellow Black Americans, Prxscott hopes that his book will serve as a warning that will highlight the importance of preserving and investing in Black neighborhoods in order to defend Black culture.
Black People in Oregon? is currently available on Amazon, with Prxscott working to put the books on a wider variety of shelves in spite of the ongoing pandemic. You can find out more about the book or its author, Prxscott, by visiting his blog.
