About 60 people attended a protest vigil in the EMU Amphitheater Tuesday night in reaction to a string of recent hate crimes in Eugene.
The recent surge of hate crimes began May 8 when Spencer Butte Middle School was vandalized with racist and homophobic graffiti. A 59-year-old black man was beaten by three young white men June 9, and the Peter DeFazio Bridge was tagged with neo-Nazi symbols June 23.
The Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC) held the vigil during a lecture in the EMU Walnut room, hosted by the Pacifica Forum.
CALC Coordinator Sally Sheklow announced to the group of attendees: “We’re here in peaceful protest. We don’t have speakers. We’re just having a vigil.”
Protestor John Saemann said he has attended Pacifica Forum lectures in the past, but stopped in recent years because he believed the forum has “gone in the direction of bigotry.”
Sheklow said that CALC has been monitoring the Pacifica Forum, and the group has “an escalating message of hate.”
CALC members handed out fliers that protested the Pacifica Forum’s Tuesday night speaker, Dr. Tomislav Sunic.
Sunic, a former Croatian diplomat and former professor of political science at several U.S. universities, presented his most recent book, “Homo Americanus: Child of the Postmodern Age.” He told the group of about 30 lecture attendees that he resented being “categorized” and wasn’t going to talk about “controversial” issues, which he said was a euphemism for “things that shouldn’t be talked about.”
The Pacifica Forum has lost sponsorship in recent years because of “opposition” to the speakers, said Jimmy Marr, an organizer and participant of the Pacifica Forum. He said the group puts an emphasis on free speech and provides a forum for “politically incorrect” subjects. “As long as they’re peaceful, they don’t need to justify their views,” Marr said of Pacifica Forum’s speakers.
The Pacifica Forum makes its lectures “look academic,” but they bring speakers who are mostly anti-Zionist, anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish, said CALC advisory board member Irwin Noparstak. He is also a member of the CALC program and the Anti-Hate Task Force, which reunited about two years ago in reaction to controversial Pacifica Forum speakers.
Vigil attendee and ’06 alumna Maya Rios said she wanted to raise awareness that hate crimes affect the Eugene community. She said the Pacifica Forum is a group that supports white supremacy leaders, such as David Duke, known to be a Holocaust denier. “University campuses are a good way to build power for these groups,” Rios said. “It’s not something I want in my community.”
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