The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate Spiral-Bound | August 15, 2023

An incredible true story of a Black man convicted and exiled from Oregon under the Exclusion Law in 1851—and a contemporary White woman wrestling with racism, faith, and privilege after discovering she’s related to two men who contributed to the exile.

Summer 1851. Jacob Vanderpool was exiled from the Oregon Territory under an exclusion law that banned people of African descent from living within its borders. To this day, he remains the only person in the United States to ever have been tried, convicted, and punished solely for the “crime” of being Black.

More than a century and a half later, Sarah L. Sanderson made the shocking discovery that she was related to not just one but two of the White men who played a role in Jacob’s exile. This discovery started an investigative journey to consider four men involved in Jacob’s case—Oregon City’s founder, the case judge, Jacob’s accuser, and a local pastor—and the cultural and theological fallout of the decisions they made. Along the way, Sarah took a hard look at her own tendencies, both unconscious and deliberate, to ignore the possibility of bias in her heart.

Brave, compassionate, and filled with transformative realizations, this stunning work of research and reflection is an exploration into the flawed but endlessly redeemable human heart, and an invitation to the holy work of self-examination to guide you to better understand, care for, and love the people and places you call home.Table of Contents
 
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1 — The Founder: John McLoughlin
Chapter 2 — Repenting of Not Knowing
Chapter 3 — The Treasure Hunter: Theophilus Magruder
Chapter 4 — Repenting of Ill-Gotten Gain
Chapter 5 — The Judge: Thomas Nelson
Chapter 6 — Repenting of White Supremacy
Chapter 7 — The Pastor: Ezra Fisher
Chapter 8 — Repenting of Silence and Complicity
Chapter 9 — The Exile: Jacob Vanderpool
Chapter 10 — Repenting of Fractured Community