{"id":9320,"date":"2019-01-31T00:13:59","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T08:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=9320"},"modified":"2019-01-31T00:15:26","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T08:15:26","slug":"western-community-rallies-against-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/western-community-rallies-against-hate\/","title":{"rendered":"Western community rallies against hate"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Bailey Thompson<\/strong> | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Back in November, an instance of hate speech graffiti was found in the Monmouth community which consisted of swastikas and the words \u201cProud Boys\u201d and \u201cMAGA.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The following day, organizations at Western began releasing statements that renounced the behavior and promised action.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe had two students \u2014 Logan Jackson and ZZ Braatz \u2014 suggested that we do a march in response to this. So, we started planning late November or early December, and it was a three-step process,\u201d said Kelsey Murray, Ackerman Hall Resident Director and one of the march\u2019s organizers. \u201cThe first part was that we put up \u2018End Hate\u2019 signs that link to the bias-motivated incident response form, we did tabling for a week where we advertised the campaign as well as the march and then the third part was the march.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leading up to the march, a committee was formed, and they tabled to spread awareness in the community for the upcoming event.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On the morning of the march, Jan. 26, members of the Monmouth and Western community came together to listen to speakers as they made signs.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"\u201cThe graffiti placed here is not only a manifestation of a larger act, but an escalation of hate that must be conquered,\u201d said Monmouth City Councilor Christopher Lopez. \u201cTo oppose bad things in this world, we must not only feel the good and embrace it, but act upon it. This togetherness, love, caring, openness, kindness and understanding only has power when it is paired with action.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Building off of this idea, Linda Williams read sentiments in a letter from Representative Paul Evans about how vital it is for people to combat hate that they see around them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cSomething has happened in our nation, state and community. Somehow, we have drifted into treacherous waters,\u201d wrote Evans. \u201cWe have tolerated a downward spiral in our basic civility and\u2026respect. We have allowed the fragile fabric of our union to unravel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moving forward, though, Evans also offered a message of hope.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cHate has no place in America, in Oregon or in our community\u2026we are one \u2014 together against bigotry, intolerance and racism. Together we can defeat hatred through compassion and empathy,\u201d said Evans.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The final speaker before the march was Nathan Soltz, ASWOU Senate President, who shared his perspective on the act of hate.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cI thought it was really difficult to put into words what my visceral reaction was because, as a Jew, when these events happen I feel compelled to remember the hatred that the generations before me faced,\u201d said Soltz. And while\u2026gross ignorance isn\u2019t really as noticeable today, the bigotry persists. And it can be seen really obviously in the graffiti, but it can also be a lot more subtle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Soltz then explain how this bigotry can take a number of forms.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt can take the form of someone crossing the street when they see a person of color walking towards them on the sidewalk,\u201d or \u201can unqualified man telling a qualified woman how to do her job … someone thinking that someone with a disability is somehow less important \u2026 not recognizing that someone\u2019s gender is what they say it is, not what you think it is,\u201d said Soltz.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rounding out his remarks, Soltz shared how disappointed he was that the Monmouth Police didn\u2019t acknowledge this incident of graffiti to be \u201cthreatening.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cI hate that we have to actually have a march against hate \u2014 that we have to stand up and say that being a Nazi is bad, because apparently today that\u2019s no longer a given,\u201d said Soltz.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At this point, the marchers practiced their chants and were ready to head out. The whole group marched through town and all the way to the site of the graffiti near Southgate Park, where city officials had agreed to let participants write countering messages in chalk on the sidewalk.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure that the incident of vandalism really made them feel isolated, and I hope that the community feels a little less alone,\u201d said Murray at the end of the march. \u201cAnd I hope that the people who attended the march feel more empowered to be the active bystander and to stand up to hate that they witness. Especially in our current political climate, I hope that they feel that they can make a difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bailey Thompson | News Editor Back in November, an instance of hate speech graffiti was found in the Monmouth community which consisted of swastikas and the words \u201cProud Boys\u201d and \u201cMAGA.\u201d The following day, organizations at Western began releasing statements that renounced the behavior and promised action. \u201cWe had two students \u2014 Logan Jackson and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":9336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"modified_by":"The Western Howl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}