January 21, 1987, Portland Observer, Page 3 Human Relations Specialist Says Racial Intolerance on Increase— route home from work Two white men were convicted of Reed's death A witness of the murder testified in court that the two defen dents wanted to "break in" the blade of a new hunting knife with the blood of a nigger • Ramiro Lojiez was gunned d o w n in C e da rto w n. GA, by an unemploy ed white construction worker in 198) His attacker allegedly told the Mexican immigrant, "You're the reason I don't have a job." • M ich ae l Donald, a 19 year o ld Black y o u th , w as killed by tw o Ku Klux K lansm en in M o b il, Alabam a, in 1981 A fte r killin g D onald, the y le ft his b o d y hangnrng fro m a tree O ne o f the de fe n d a n ts in vo lve d in the m u rd e r te s tifie d th a t D o na ld w as a b d u cte d at random and killed be cause he w as Black, to "s h o w Kian stre n g th in A labam a B o th de fe n d a n ts w ere fo u n d g u ilty o f m urd er, o n e received a sen tence o f life in prison, the o th e r received a death sentence • V in ce n t Chin a D e tro it m an o f C hinese descent, was beaten to de ath w ith a baseball bat in 1982 by tw o u n e m p lo ye d w h ite a u to w o rk e rs w h o th o u g h t he w as Japanese The tw o m en blam ed Jap an fo r pro blem s in A m erican au to in d u stry The Chin s case dre w na tio n a l a tte n tio n after the m en responsible for this de ath w e re c o n v ic te d in a state c o u rt but sentences on ly to p ro b a tio n The sentences w e re de n o u n co d by Chinese co m m u n itie s and civil rig h ts g ro u p s Later, one o f the m en w as c o n v ic te d in federal co u rt o f vio la tin g C h in' civil rig h ts But a federal appeals c o u rt ove rtu rn e d the c o n v ic tio n last S eptem ber G eorge H endrix, the n e w ly elected president o f the P o rtla n d B ran ch o f the N a tion al A sso cia tio n tor the A dva n ce m e n t o f C olored People (N A A C P I. also fa u lts th e Reagan a d m in istra tio n for the rise in racial ten sion and vio lence that is o c c u rrin g across the na tion H endrix said in .i recent in te rv ie w w ith the P ortland O bserver th a t "the Justir e D e p a rtm e n t has been d o in g thin gs to create a clim a te in w h ich racial in to le ra n c e can o ccu r He said w h a t ha pp en ed in H o w a rd Beach Dr D apo S o b o m e h in -' Racial intolerance and violence is on the increase," P h o to b y R ic h a rd J B r o w n by Je rry Garner The recent racial a tta ck upon three Black m en tn H o w a rd Beach N ew York, try a gang of w h ite youths, tha t resulted in the death o f one o f the m en, is an exam ple o f the rise o f racial violence th a t is o c c u rrin g across the c o u n try says Dr D apo S bo m eh in, a hum an relatio ns specialist w ith the M e tro p p o lita n H um an R elations C om m ission. In m y o p in io n , fro m m y o b se rva tio n and fro m th e cases tha t co m e to m y desk as a h u m ,in relations specialist, I w o u ld say racial in to le rance and vio len ce is on the increase said Dr S o b om e hin He a ttrib u te s som e o f the increase on the w o rd s and a c tio n * o f public- o ffic ia ls " I t s ta rts at th e to p w h e n A tto rn e y G eneral Ed M eese o p e n ly fig h ts against a ffirm a tiv e a c tio n W h ile o p p o s itio n to a ffirm a tiv e a ctio n ta n be p o rtra ye d as an e ffo rt to create a color b lind society, w h en translated in to the reality o f a race co n scio u s w o rld , it co n ve ys an a ttitu d e that the cu rre n t pro blem s o f m in o ritie s to act tho se ho stilitie s o u t Espei tally w h e n the social and e co n o m ic policies o f the g o ve rn m e n t are placin g m ore and m ore o f th e m in o rity p o p u la tio n in to e co n o m ic h a rdsh ip As alw ays w h e n the g o in g ge ts to u g h , as a scap eg oa t is so u g h t, and for m an y th e ta rg e ts are tho se m in o ritie s w h o , w ith a ffirm a tiv e actio n, are ta kin g scarce |obs, said Dr S o b o m e h in Dr. S o b o m e h in said even those w ith scarce jobsr appear fn teke th is in se n sitivity and the n h o s tility to heart "A lth o u g h no one r an say w h at exa ctly m o tiva te s th e m , I have received tw o re p o rts re ce n tly of s ch o o l tea chers a c tin g aggressively against A fric a n A m erican stu d e n ts O ne student was strapp ed to the b la ckb o a rd and another w as slapped in the far e F urthe rm o re, he said the atm osp he re created d u rin g the last six years of the Reagan a d m in is tra tio n give no am ple cause to p o n d e r on w h a t is tie r o m in g o f th is society and the strides w e have m ade in civil rig h ts and im (Moved h u m an relatio ns Dr S o b o m e h in said the u ltim a te q u e stio n is w h e re do w e go fro m here? Do w e take p u rp o s e fu l a ctio n to reverse th is da n g e ro u s trend , or do w e sit back and observe, w a itin g u n til th e situ a tio n w o rsen s, ro ts and