LET TERS
ANARCHIST WEIGHS IN
In Kelly Kenoyer’s article “Activism
101”, an informative and helpful piece of
journalism, the author referred to non-
violent direct action as possibly sounding
like “some kind of anarchist crap.”
Although I appreciate and respect the
author’s point of view, it seems that if
any change is to be made in this or any
country there is a need for acceptance
and inclusion in our political movements.
Using phrases that exhibit a dismissive
attitude towards the thoughts and actions
of anarchists (or anyone really) doesn’t
really accomplish much in this direction.
Anarchism is an alternative to govern-
ment that is easy to demonize and easier
still to misunderstand. Let’s not forget that
things like feminism, the 40-hour work
week, employee owned business, the or-
ganic food movement, environmentalism
etc., sounded like anarchistic crap to many
ears once upon a time.
Respectfully,
Elijah Salazar
An anarchist
STOP THE NAZIS
The Nazi graffiti in the Whiteaker
neighborhood stops NOW.
Many local citizens are disgusted, and
some rightfully fearful of the rise of hate
groups nationwide that’s been fostered by
the racist President Trump. As with past lo-
cal hate crimes, locals reject this, but more
is needed this time.
I call upon all city councilors and
county commissioners to take a stance. I
call upon educators to create a history cur-
riculum that teaches about genocides, hate
groups, racial violence and Oregon’s own
inglorious history with each. I call upon
all local business owners, human rights
groups and interfaith alliances to create a
massive event: “The Anti-Nazi Stomp.”
With the creative genius and mockery
mastery that county residents have demon-
strated at the Oregon Country Fair, Eugene
Celebration and other noteworthy events,
coupled with the justice ninjas of our so-
cial service and human rights orgs, these
serious and satirical responses must put a
stop to the cowards promoting such hate
as thoroughly and loudly as we can muster.
Zero tolerance for hate.
Kevin Hayden
Springfield
LEARN TO PROMOTE RACIAL
JUSTICE
Thanks to Meera Powell for a provoca-
tive look at the experience of African-
4
Americans in Eugene (“Black by Unpopu-
lar Demand” Feb. 2).
If you’re like me, a well-meaning mem-
ber of the white majority, you squirmed a
bit in recognizing how uncomfortable is
the lived experience of our black neigh-
bors, despite past progress in addressing
the more overt forms of racism. However,
if you have the courage to move beyond
your unease, if you’re curious about how
to promote racial justice while gaining a
broader perspective, there are opportuni-
ties right here to learn how to become a
better ally to people of color.
SURJ Springfield-Eugene is the local
chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice,
a national group mobilizing white people
for anti-racism work. I attended the meet-
ing last Thursday along with more than 50
others of all ages, and we shared our ideas
for creating an action agenda.
Interested? The next orientation takes
place 5:30 pm, Thursday, March 2, at St.
Mary’s Episcopal Church, 13th and Pearl,
followed by the monthly general meeting
from 6:30 to 8:30. You’ll meet friendly,
well-informed, committed folks like your-
self and take a step towards a deeper in-
volvement in building a community that’s
supportive of all its residents.
Patricia Bryan
Eugene
WEAR BLACK
On Coronation Day and each subse-
quent Friday, I have worn black to protest
the Republican administration’s unhinged
leader being in power. I will continue to do
so until his reign of terror and hate ends.
A powerful statement would be made if
people around the world who oppose what
he stands for wore black every Friday.
Who’s with me?
Beckie Abbott
Eugene
UNIVERSAL CARE
Thanks to Stuart Henderson for an ex-
cellent letter appearing Feb. 2 — a clear
and succinct description of the medical and
monetary benefits of a health care system
that saves taxpayers millions and improves
the quality of care for all Americans.
Obamacare is only a step along the way
and should be replaced by a universal, pub-
licly supported system that leaves no one
out.
Medicare for All, a slogan understood
by everyone, is the way of the future.
Medical care for all Oregonians can be ac-
complished through a universal coverage
system — in which the present one, con-
trolled by the insurance industry, no longer
exists. We pay more and get less for our
February 16, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
health care dollars than almost all of the
other industrialized countries in the world.
With our new administration intent on
replacing our present system with an un-
known alternative, this may be the oppor-
tunity to move forward with single payer
through initiative action. There are mul-
tiple movements within the U.S. working
for single payer.
Health Care for All-Oregon (hcao.org)
welcomes your help. The film Now is the
Time: Healthcare for Everybody will be
presented noon Sunday, Feb. 19, at the
Unitarian Church at 13th and Chambers
in Eugene. With the producer and director
present, a panel will lead discussion; all are
welcome and admission free.
Patricia Bitner
Eugene
CUE THE CUCKOO
America is going coup-coup.
Vip Short
Eugene
LIVING WHILE BLACK IN
EUGENE
I want to thank both Meerah Powell
and Mark Harris for articulating to me, a
white man, what it means and feels like to
be black and/or culturally disenfranchised
in America, not just in “utopian”(?) Eu-
gene. It’s frustrating to see multiple letters
to EW by white people, myself included,
yet rarely by blacks within the community
regarding race. As with anyone, one can
never truly know the experience of being
“The Other,” as Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book
title alludes to, Between the World and Me.
Mark Harris “channels” Martin Luther
King Jr. in his “Riverside” commentary,
his last paragraph essentially paraphras-
ing a key portion of King’s speech at
New York’s Riverside church exactly one
year before he was murdered: “A nation
that continues year after year to spend
more money on military defense than on
programs of social uplift is approach-
ing spiritual doom.” Undeniably one of
his most moving and prophetic speeches.
Recently, I read a great article on Arif Gur-
sel, a black entrepreneur in hi-tech, where
he explained his own experiences of rac-
ism in an industry biased towards White
employment. He stated: “The Pan-African
community is damaged by years of insti-
tutional racism ... Post Traumatic Slavery
Disorder. Four hundred years of trauma,
and it’s never stopped.”
The mayor of Mill Valley, California,
Jessica Sloan, a human rights attorney, is
co-founder with Van Jones of #Cut50; its
goal is to reduce incarceration rates by 50
percent in 10 years. In her research, she
discovered that 50 percent of Marin Coun-
ty’s minuscule black population “lives” in
San Quentin prison!
To find out more about “living while
black” in America, read the recent damn-
ing expose by The Portland Tribune news-
paper. Go to UnequalJusticeOregon.org, or
the PT’s website.
Sean S. Doyle
Corvallis
FELLOW ANARCHISTS,
THUGS AND PAID
PROTESTERS
Great to see you all downtown. I guess
we better get used to seeing more of one
another.
Good news, though: our plan is work-
ing. Kellyanne Conway has disqualified
herself from being taken seriously about
anything. I thought “alternative facts” was
enough, but the Bowling Green Massacre
really put her over the top.
Sean Spicer will be gone in six months.
We even got the Oval Office guy to walk
right into our trap by making an executive
order that would involve thousands of U.S.
employees and throw tens of thousands of
lives into chaos without even running it by
a lawyer. Less than a month in office and
he’s in federal court already. All according
to plan.
We still have to work on the Nazi-in-
the-White-House thing. He couldn’t even
find a neo-Nazi; he had to go with a 1930s
Nazi. Everything he does is straight out of
the 30s playbook: vilify the press, produce
a flurry of confusing executive orders, di-
vide the opposition. This guy needs to go.
See you on the barricades.
Chico Schwall
Eugene
GRAMMAR POLICE
Re: Feb. 9 EW cover.
This is what Bryan Garner says in
the first entry of his lexicon Modern
American Usage (third edition): "The
indefinite article a is used before words
beginning with a consonant sound …
The other form, an, is used before words
beginning with a vowel sound. Since
the sound rather than the letter controls,
it’s not unusual to find a before a vowel
or an before a consonant. Hence a Eu-
ropean country … an FBI agent …
“People worry about whether the cor-
rect article is a or an with historian, his-
toric, and a few other words. Most au-
thorities have supported a over an. The
traditional rule is that if the h- is sounded,
then a is the proper form. So people who
aspirate their h’s and follow that rule
would say a historian or a historic …