Re: When they came for the Jews...

[Kent Dahlgren <kent@trouble.WV.TEK.COM>]

On Wed, 10 Jan 1996, Duncan Frissell wrote:

> "I favor discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color sex, age,
> alienage, previous condition of servitude, recent interstate travel,
> handicap, sexual or affectional preference, marital status, Vietnam-era
> veteran status (or lack thereof), occupation, economic status, and anything
> else I can think of."
> 
I really wish I had the original newspaper clipping so I correctly quote 
the column, but it went something like this:
Here in Portland, Oregon, we used to have quite a problem with Nazi 
skinheads.  Not that they are not around now, but then they were 
everywhere.  Being that most of the city is white trash, you'd think it 
wouldn't have caused much of a ruckus if they were simply beating up 
minorities.  But its been my personal experience that they would prefer 
beating up "fellow" whites instead.  That, coupled with the murder of 
Saraw, seemed to stir things up against the skinheads.  Anyhow, that's my 
background to it.  The column didn't talk about that.  It was this guy 
writing about the Banai Brith (spelling?) in Los Angeles getting 
critisism about gathering and keeping records on suspected skinheads.  
Turns out they got alot of that stuff from Portland's own Multnomah 
County Sheriff, who releases thier police reports as public information.  
So this reporter decided to get some of these reports, and some of the 
records that the banai brith were keeping, and printed some.  Like I was 
saying, public opinion at the time was way against the skinheads, and I 
was more than a little irritated at the time at them because of the 
roving bands of punks that made life in MY city uncomfortable.  So I read 
through each police report, really eating it up.  "White male, (his name,) 
apprehended for distributing nazi literature."  "White female, (her 
name,) questioned.  Wearing a jacket with a swastika."  Stuff like that.  
Then the reporter lowered the boom.  He asked us in the reading audience 
to substitute "skinhead" and "nazi" with "hippy" or "communist," and see 
how we felt about that.  This was a very unpopular position at the time, 
in a city hell bent on getting rid of these skinheads, but he made a good 
point with me.  

Maybe someone could tell me how I could get a hold of the original.  The 
paper is the Oregonian.  I could probably figure out the reporter's 
name...if I only had a brain.  I'd love to post it.

Again, flames are always welcomed, as I am home sick and could use the abuse.

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