In a country rich with racial diversity, it may be a surprise to some that racial and cultural intolerance still festers within the U.S. The rise of neo-fascist groups such as the Proud Boys has followed anti-immigration rhetoric. President Donald Trump vowed to send thoroughly-trained tactical border control agents to specific sanctuary cities on Feb. 15. – New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
However, other sanctuary cities such as Portland could be at risk of BORTAC deployment. BORTAC is an elite, well-armed border patrol unit, responsible for responding to high-risk threats both domestically and globally. With hate groups already drawn to Portland because of the local Antifa, minorities in Portland may feel even more nervous if BORTAC units arrive.
When called, BORTAC troops can deploy immediately. The unit’s training courses parallel those of the US Special Operations forces. The New York Times dubbed the unit the “SWAT team of the Border Patrol.”
Unfortunately, Eugene is not immune to this environment of hate. In fact, the city is fraught with multiple hate groups. In order to combat this, we must acknowledge that Eugene is rife with racial and cultural intolerance, and focus on promoting tolerance of minorities.
From 2013 to 2017, Eugene had a 380% surge in hate crimes. Sixty-three percent of the hate crimes were race-related. Given that only 25 to 42% of hate crimes are reported, the rise could have been much higher.
Although a deluge of fascists may be swarming Portland to confront Antifa, hate groups are also prevalent in Eugene. Organizations such as the American Front and the Daily Stormer are active in the city. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Daily Stormer’s Book Clubs consist of members who attend white supremacist events and spread racist propaganda. The skinhead gang known as The American Front is also in Eugene, from which a member was recently arrested.
Hateful rhetoric has also found its way to the University of Oregon. People have spread racist slogans around the university, such as “deport them all.” Much of the vandalism was anti-immigrant through various parts of the campus.
Some of these hate crimes are less out in the open or known. Last September, a UO employee and student logged a federal complaint stating the university did not report anti-Semitic crimes. In one instance, a white supremacist was found armed with a knife. The complaint alleged that UO failed to list up to 30 mostly anti-Semitic cases in its annual reports from 2017 to 2018. Regardless of whether these campus crimes occur daily or weekly, we must realize that they do occur and report and confront them.
To protect the multiculturalism and diversity of UO, we must vigilantly watch for hate crimes and rhetoric and spurn it. From 2018 to 2019, nearly a third of the university’s undergraduates and 19% of graduate students were people of color. In addition, 15.7% of employees were people of color. Unfortunately, as those numbers grow, white supremacist groups in Eugene will continue to spread their hate.
Eugene and UO are and have been areas contested with racists, which is why we must be intolerant of their intolerance. We must report, rebuke and rile the bigots who spread fear through propaganda or violence.
