ju s t o u t ▼ Jan u ary 10. 1 0 0 6 ▼ 13
local news
Facing h ate
Groups around the country gathered to watch a video on hate
incidents—a group in Eugene got more than it bargained for
T
by Inga Sorensen
very once in a while, an alarming situa­
tion can prove fortuitous. At least that’s
what Michele Lefkowith is hoping.
“There were about 15 to 20 skinheads
who showed up to our screening of Not
in Our Town," says Lefkowith, who is involved with
Communities Against Hate, a five-year-old human
rights organization in Eugene. “We were not expect­
ing that to happen. Clearly they were there to intimi­
date others, and I think they were effective to some
degree.”
Not in Our Town, a half-hour documentary that
recently aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting, tells
the story about how residents in Billings, Mont.,
responded to white supremacists when hate inci­
dents were escalating in their community three years
ago. Fliers from the Ku Klux Klan had been distrib­
uted; the local Jewish cemetery was desecrated;
skinheads intimidated African American churchgo­
ers; and during Hanukkah, bricks were thrown
through windows displaying menorahs.
Billings Police Chief Wayne Inman— who was a
member o f the Portland Police Bureau when Ethio­
pian student Mulugeta Seraw was murdered by
skinheads in Portland in 1988— urged citizens to
take immediate action against the white suprema­
cists in Billings. And it was a plea they heeded: the
Painters Union formed a volunteer work force to
paint over racist graffiti; religious groups from mul­
tiple denominations sponsored marches and candle­
light vigils; and the local newspaper, the Billings
Gazette, printed full-page images of menorahs that
in turn were displayed in the windows of nearly
10,000 homes and businesses.
That story of community response was so inspir­
ing to filmmakers Patrice O ’Neill and Rhian Miller
o f the California Working Group that they decided to
make a documentary about the transforming event.
Not surprisingly, the Not in Our Town video has
been touted as an effective organizing tool to encour­
age average citizens to get involved in the fight to
combat hate crimes and harassment spawned from
prejudice. It is, in fact, the crown jewel o f a national
campaign that carries the same name and goals.
“We were aware of the Billings case and have
used it as a reference point about how to get everyday
folks involved in the effort to stem the rising tide of
intolerance and hate crimes,” says Kelley Weigel,
field network coordinator for the Rural Organizing
Project, which has helped launch dozens of local
human rights groups across small-town and rural
Oregon. “The story is so powerful because the whole
community got involved. It is an incredible ac­
count.”
The documentary aired throughout December
and January on public television stations nation­
wide. Educational events such as town halls and
community forums were held in conjunction with
those broadcasts.
In Oregon, the week of Jan. 1-7 was declared
“Not in Our Town W eek.” Community screenings
of the video were sponsored statewide, as activists
united to increase public
awareness about hate crimes
and to encourage communi- 5
ties to find solutions to the >
growing threat o f intoler- |
anee.
In Lane County, Lefko­
with and other activists
o rg an ized a com m unity
screening and discussion at
the Eugene W ater and Elec­
tric Building. Details of the
event were publicized be­
forehand in the local news­
paper, and organizers ex­
pected about 90 people to
attend.
Instead, says Lefkowith,
“well over 200” people ar­
rived, including several lo­
cal public figures such as
the mayor, police chief, and
O regon state law m akers
Cynthia Wooten and Peter
Sorenson. More than a dozen people who are be­
lieved to be associated with the Eugene-based racist
skinhead organization Aryan Pride and a national
neo-Nazi group called the Northern Hammerskins
also showed up.
“They came in looking pretty tough and stood
along the wall,” says Lefkowith, who was admit­
tedly shocked by their arrival. “I think it was unnerv­
ing to many o f us.”
She says the group stayed and watched the screen­
ing with the rest o f the audience, and participated in
the discussion afterward.
“They were saying things like they just wanted to
celebrate the white race,” says Lefkowith, adding
that while no physical violence occurred, it was “an
intense experience.”
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“What made it so intense is that all of these
people were forced to face the reality of the
skinheads,” she says. “It’s one thing to read about
skinheads or hate crimes, it’s another thing to come
face to face with them— especially if you’ve never
done that before or you’re not expecting it.”
Jonathan Mozzochi is the executive director of
the Portland-based Coalition for Human Dignity,
which monitors white supremacist and neo-Nazi
activity.
Though Mozzochi was not on hand in Eugene, he
says he has viewed a videotape of the happenings.
“Those were big guys who showed up,” he says.
“Part of skinheads’ power lies in their ability to strike
fear into people and create a threatening atmosphere.
Let’s face it, they know what reasonable people will
think when they see them. It will be very unsettling
at the very least. That’s their intent.”
Mozzochi adds that it is critical that the public
take skinheads and neo-Nazis seriously.
“I’ve been told that some people there were
saying that these were basically good young guys
who simply lacked a
recreational outlet.
I’m here to tell you
that not only are a lot
o f the guys not
young, they also
don’t grow out of it.”
According to fed­
eral crime statistics,
5,852 hate crime in­
cid en ts w ere re ­
ported during 1994.
However, hate crime
reporting is volun­
tary, with only a little
more than half of the
law en fo rc em en t
agencies in the coun­
try participating. In
addition, it is widely
believed that hate
crim es are vastly
underreported.
“ N ot in O ur
Town W eek” organizers released a rundown of
documented accounts of hate crimes in the United
States that occurred during the first two weeks of
November 1995 alone.
They include an incident at Penn State Univer­
sity in which swastikas and the letters “KKK” were
painted on the doors o f African American and Jew­
ish students’ rooms; an incident in Novato, Calif.,
where an Asian man was stabbed with a hunting
knife numerous times by an attacker who reportedly
said he singled out the victim because o f his race; and
a case where felony hate crime charges were filed
against a carpenter who admitted he raped an Amish
girl and fired gun shots at a horse and buggy out of
anger toward the Amish.
Closer to home, some in Oregon believe hate
played a crucial role in the December murders of
Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill, a lesbian couple
in Medford who were very visible in gay and lesbian
rights issues. And many blamed a hostile climate
created by the anti-gay Ballot Measure 9 for the 1992
fire-bombing deaths of an African American lesbian
and a disabled gay man in Salem who died after
skinheads tossed a Molotov cocktail through the
window of their home.
“These people are dangerous,” says Mozzochi.
“ If you think they are showing up at these types of
events just to talk— and will eventually change their
ways— you will be sorely disappointed.”
Nevertheless, Lefkowith hopes the experience
will act as a catalyst with respect to activating
average citizens.
“ I hope this experience will bring home to these
folks the reality that this community has a problem
with skinheads and hate activities. I hope they’ll now
get involved,” she says.
That too is the hope o f ROP’s Kelley Weigel.
“W e’d really like to make sure that this isn’t just
a splashy media event,” she says. “One of our goals
during these community gatherings was to talk about
where we go from here, about the steps we can
take.... One of the wonderful things about this
campaign is that it is directed at everyday folks rather
than activists. We have to try and sustain that interest
and involvement.”
Deirdre Atkinson, Oregon’s project coordinator
for “Not in OurTown Week,” estimates that as many
as 800 people actively participated in the week’s
events, while many more watched the documentary
from their homes.
She says that aside from Eugene, she has heard of
no other touchy situations occurring. Atkinson adds
she is extremely pleased by the response from people
o f all ages and backgrounds. She says several public
service announcements about Not in Our Town
activities aired on local radio stations including
Portland’s KNRK, an alternative music station that
caters to a twentysomething crowd.
“I was really excited by the fact that we got a lot
of positive calls from people who are Generation X
and younger who wanted to know how they could
get involved,” she says. “This has been a very
inspiring experience.”
She adds she had no problem getting members of
the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities to speak
at Not in Our Town forums and panels.
“I think we did so well in Oregon because we
have such an incredible network of human rights
activists already in place,” Atkinson says, crediting
organizations such as Rural Organizing Project and
Basic Rights Oregon, the successor organization to
the No on 13 campaign. “That’s something to be
proud of.”
Not in Our Town videos are available upon
request from the California Working Group at
(510) 547-8484. The cost to individuals is $25
(add $4 for shipping), which includes a 16-page
curriculum guide.
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