Page 12
March 6, 2019
O PINION
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Real Hate Crimes, Harassment on the Rise
I’ve lived
through it
myself
g ray n Diaye
Jussie Smol-
lett, a popular
actor and sing-
e r- s o n g w r i t e r,
was recently ar-
rested and charged with filing a
false police report.
Smollett alleged that he was
attacked in late January by two
white men who spewed racist and
homophobic slurs as they assault-
ed him.
A standout detail was his claim
that the assailants said, “This is
MAGA country.” Smollett has
been very critical of the Trump
administration and said he be-
lieved this was some sort of re-
taliation.
Originally viewed as the vic-
tim, Smollett is now accused of
orchestrating his own attack.
This has created an uproar.
Smollett’s attack was a major
news story, and a plethora of pub-
lic figures expressed support for
him. The public isn’t only shocked
but also outraged by the latest ac-
cusations — especially survivors
by
of hate crimes.
This situation hits close to
home. Though I was never physi-
cally assaulted, I’ve been targeted
for harassment due to my sex-
uality.
It’s been a challenging jour-
ney navigating between two
crucial factors of my identity;
I am both black and gay. In the
spring of 2015, a fake advertise-
ment looking for sex. My class-
mate who lived in my complex
saw the ad and let me know.
It was embarrassing because
other students had seen the ad. I
contacted both campus security
and the police. Nothing happened.
I still have no closure on this in-
cident.
In the fall of 2015, I was leaving
class with a friend. A car followed
bashing, they didn’t think it was a
real threat (never mind my being
chased by a car).
It was a Christian university.
Since then, I’ve always wondered
what they would do if I were a
straight, white male who was ver-
bally bashed and chased with evi-
dence on tape.
Though both of these events left
an impact, I’m lucky that it was no
Hatred is still prevalent. Whether verbal
or physical, these attacks are very real
and can carry fatal outcomes. The Jussie
Smollett episode shouldn’t distract us from
this. One man may have lied, but the real
story is how many lives are still threatened.
ment was posted on a college so-
cial app. The advertisement listed
my college apartment number and
was advertising for men to come
over.
It was written as if it were a
woman. I was gone at the time, but
men began coming to my apart-
us while its passengers yelled ho-
mophobic slurs at me, chasing me
into a corner. This was caught on
tape by security cameras.
I alerted campus security, and
although they saw the clear vi-
suals on the tape, nothing hap-
pened. Since it was a verbal
worse. Due to the current divisive
state of our country, hate crimes
have been on the rise across most
categories.
In particular, there’s been a
spike in hate crimes regarding
race, religion, sexual orientation,
and gender identity. The Human
Rights Campaign reported that in
2017, 29 transgender individuals
were brutally killed. This is the
highest ever recorded — though
the 26 transgender individuals
murdered last year comes close.
In fact, hate crimes have been
on the rise for three consecutive
years, according to the FBI. As
a black man and a gay man —
a member of two marginalized
groups often targeted — this is a
source of constant fear and anx-
iety.
Unlike Smollett’s case, which
was an extremely rare case of pos-
sible false reporting, rights groups
estimate that far more real inci-
dents go unreported.
Hatred is still prevalent. Wheth-
er verbal or physical, these attacks
are very real and can carry fatal
outcomes. The Jussie Smollett
episode shouldn’t distract us from
this. One man may have lied, but
the real story is how many lives
are still threatened.
Please don’t stop supporting
victims of hate crimes or advocat-
ing for justice.
Gray Ndiaye is a modern-day
griot (musician and storyteller)
who resides in Southern Califor-
nia. He’s on Twitter and Insta-
gram at @graythegriot. Distribut-
ed by OtherWords.org.
Further Proof on what we know about Trump
Editor’s
note:
NAACP President and
Chief Executive Officer
Derrick Johnson issued
the following statement
regarding Michael Co-
hen’s testimony last
week before the U.S.
House of Representa-
tives Committee on Oversight been an
and Reform:
When someone shows
you who they are, be-
lieve them the first time.
Donald Trump has been
showing us his true col-
ors for decades.
Trump’s presidency
and entire career has
affront to civil rights so
nothing in Michael Cohen’s tes-
timony is surprising for a person
that has historically racialized
and stigmatized those around
him.
From his racist housing prac-
tices, to his villainization of the
Central Park 5, to his birther
accusations against President
Obama, to creating safe havens
for white supremacists – all of
this maps out the actions and per-
sonality of a liar and a racist who
is wholly uninterested in advanc-
ing the cause of civil rights.
This testimony just further
proves what we already knew:
we have a sitting president, who
is a co-conspirator to a potential
crime of a foreign nation that
meddled in our election, prompt-
ed voter suppression tactics and
ultimately subverted our demo-
cratic process.
Trump has proven in his
words, in his deeds and in his
policies that he’s not worthy of
his position as the leader of the
free world and Cohen’s testimony
only cements this.
Letter to the Editor More Lanes, More Gridlock
After sitting in traffic for
over an hour on my way back to
Portland from my job substitute
teaching in Hillsboro, I’m al-
most tempted to believe that the
Oregon Department of Transpor-
tation’s (ODOT) plan to invest
$450 million in a 1.8 mile lane
highway expansion sounds like
a good idea. Luckily, I spent the
day teaching students about the
importance of research and data
and how our notions of what is
“common sense” are not always
rooted in reality.
More lanes, it seems, should ease
the flow of traffic. In reality, however,
highway expansion has never
improved traffic conditions - what we
see every time, instead, is an influx
of vehicles on the road, all stuck in
the same mind-numbing, infuriating
gridlock.
Highway expansion, it turns
out, is one of those instances.
More lanes, it seems, should
ease the flow of traffic. In reali-
ty, however, highway expansion
has never improved traffic con-
ditions - what we see every time,
instead, is an influx of vehicles
on the road, all stuck in the same
mind-numbing, infuriating grid-
lock.
With 40 percent of Portland’s
carbon emissions flowing from
transportation, fueling an in-
crease that has been proven inef-
fective to remedy traffic woes in
the midst of a full blow climate
crisis seems like a monumen-
tally bad idea. ODOT should be
investing in ramping up public
transportation and other green in-
frastructure - this is Portland, not
L.A. Head over to nomorefree-
wayspdx.com before April 1 to
leave a public comment and tell
ODOT to oppose the Rose Quar-
ter highway expansion and invest
the money where it’s needed.
Suzie Kassouf
Southeast Portland