Nate Whitley

Medford Oregon is not considered racially diverse by most of the people who live there. It is predominantly white, with nearly no population of color other than the large hispanic population. This is a trend which is easily explainable. Medford's economy is based largely off of farming. Seasonal workers came to work on the many pear orchards and vineyards that make up the farming industry around Medford. These seasonal workers eventually stopped being seasonal and became legal citizens in Medford, and many of their children now work at lower income jobs in Medford, although some still do work in the orchards or as day laborers. It is clear where redlining has occurred when a map of Medford outlining different people of color live. The gentrification of many of Medford's neighborhoods is obvious when you visit these redlined areas. There are cops patrolling the streets at all hours of the day and night, houses are deteriorating,  people are smoking on lawn couches, and theres a high school for troubled teens in the center of it all. This is the west side of Medford. My grandpa explained to me that the houses in these areas were once very nice, and that people actually chose to live in these neighborhoods. Now the rich have moved to the East side of Medford. There are private schools, doctors offices, and very little police presence on the East side. The East side is also being newly developed. It is clear to anyone watching how the rich moved from west to east as the poorer minorities moved into the West side of town. This is made even more clear when looking at things such as food stamps, household income, and employment status. The West side has less money, more food stamps, and less employed. It also has more hispanics. Why is this? Just as African Americans went north during the Great Migration in search of a better life, so too did hispanics go north from South America. The same results were sees as in the Great migration, the new minority was taken advantage of financially. This created an even greater disparity in wealth and eventually a physical divide between the poor and the rich.