PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland City officials laid the groundwork for paying Black Portlanders millions of dollars for displacing them from an area their community once called home.
A last-minute amendment had Portland City Council unanimously vote to increase the settlement by more than $6 million, bumping up the total amount to an estimated $8.5 million, and drawing emotional reactions ranging from cheers to tears in City Hall.
During a meeting on Thursday afternoon, Portland City Council was slated to reach a settlement involving the December 2022 lawsuit from Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2. The association, representing 26 plaintiffs who live in the Albina district or descend from relatives who did, accused the officials of destroying Black people’s homes in the name of “urban renewal” in the mid-20th century.
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About two and a half years ago, KOIN 6 reported that several residents were displaced by the construction of Interstate 5 and Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the 1950s and 1960s…