Of the 26,000 residents of Tillamook County, fewer than 1 percent are black.
More than 84 percent are white.
So recently, when someone spray-painted racist graffiti at the Nehalem community skate park, LaNicia Williams, as one of few black women in the community, found herself in a unique position to start a dialogue about race.
Nehalem, population 253, is so small, and so overwhelming white, that Williams feared a specific student had been the target of the slur.
"I was heartbroken because we don't know the intention behind why it was done, yet it was a 10-year-old child of color who discovered it," Williams said. "Although this was an isolated incident, there is an undercurrent of culture that needs to be addressed."
After a bitter city council election in Nehalem last November that included racial slurs directed at a biracial candidate, Williams founded the Oregon Coast Love Coalition with the goal of insuring that "anyone can visit or live here and be respected regardless of race, economic standing, faith or sexual identity."
In January, the Coalition organized a series of events, including a unity breakfast catered by Williams, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. After the skate park graffiti, a planning meeting for the 2018 celebration turned into a chance to talk about the vandalism and community attitudes about race.
"What I don't want this to be is a story about race with no resolution," she said. "I think there's going to be an ongoing story about how a community came together to create an inclusive, zero-tolerance community, and I hope we can continue to share the story of the progress we're going to make."
Three years ago, Williams, 39, gave up an office job in Seattle in search of a change of scenery and a slower pace. She found what she was searching for in the coastal communities around Nehalem, where she works primarily as chef and owner of Coastal Soul, a catering and cooking service.
"I wanted to be part of small community, I wanted to live by the water, I wanted to be a couple hours from the airport," she said. "I wanted to know my neighbors and to be able to live simply and well."
Williams feels the weight of her role as a black voice in her community, and over the past year, she's become more outspoken.
About Confederate flags. Kneeling players. Gentrification.
"When I was just frying chicken and singing Aretha Franklin, everybody was OK with me," she said.
Now there's a bit more push back.
"White people are tired of black people talking about race," Williams said. "But what I don't think people realize is that black people are just as if not more tired about talking about it. It's exhausting. It's exhausting."
How do you talk about race in a town that's almost exclusively white?
There's no easy answer. "It's a process," Williams said. But because this is a conversation among neighbors – not screen names – she's optimistic. She starts by sharing her own experiences.
"I had never been called a negro before until I moved to Tillamook County," she said, recounting that the comment didn't come from a place of malice, just ignorance.
When she works as a substitute in Tillamook schools, young children have asked to touch her black skin.
"I have had these babies look at me like they've seen Casper the Ghost," she said.
And she talks about how the same situation can be perceived differently from the life experiences of a black woman. When a friend drove her to Cape Falcon, pulled over, and without a second thought walked behind a cluster of houses for a view of the ocean, Williams didn't leave the car.
"Will people think I'm a black girl out here trying to break into houses?" she said. "In the back of my mind, I'm thinking someone is going to call the cops."
It's a white woman's privilege to explore a neighborhood without fear.
Williams thinks most of her neighbors are ready for these conversations.
"This offensive message has served to bring the people of Nehalem together to say that this will not be tolerated in our community," read a statement on the vandalism from the city of Nehalem. Members of the City Council and city staff were working with the Oregon Coast Love Coalition "to stop the spread of this message of hate and to make sure that we have a safe and inclusive community for everyone."
Community members have raised a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the graffiti case. Tillamook County Sheriff's Office is investigating and reviewing video surveillance footage from the scene.
"This is a small enough community that we're hoping that's enough to make a difference, that somebody will come forward," said David Wiegan, general manager of the North County Recreation District. "Somebody knows who did this, somebody's bragged about it, we suspect."
Williams doesn't want the vandal to serve time for the crime.
"I am not looking to demonize anybody in this," she said. "I believe it's a great time for education."
Since the presidential election, The Oregonian/Oregonlive has documented 46 hate crimes or bias incidents across the state. Nehalem's graffiti makes 47.
In response, the Oregon Coast Love Coalition will host a dialogue on race and cultural diversity at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Nehalem Bay Methodist Church.
How will Williams convince those who aren't interested in talking about race to attend?
The short answer, she says, is she can't.
"I am a person who is 100-percent of faith, they will know us by our fruit, so I'm tired of defending, I'm tired of proving a point," she said. "I'm just going to begin doing the work and people will see the effect of it."
There are those ready to have a conversation, and a small few who won't ever be ready. That's OK.
"It doesn't take everyone to make a difference, she said.
Correction: The percentage of the white population in Tillamook County has been updated to include whites not identifying as Hispanic or Latino.
-- Samantha Swindler
@editorswindler / 503-294-4031
sswindler@oregonian.com