An envelope containing a packet of information described as hate mail was sent to the ASUO office during spring break, to the attention of the “Student Body Government.” ASUO President Rachel Pilliod, who was not in the office during the last few days of the break, opened the mail on the morning of March 31 and immediately reported the incident to DPS.
“It was the most forward and disturbing letter I’ve received all year long,” she said, noting that she has received negative phone calls and other forms of communication at various points during the year.
The mail, which included an unsigned letter that referred to “we Christian students” and three double-sided, photocopied pages of text, makes specific derogatory comments toward black people, homosexual people and people of the Jewish faith. The letter quotes various religious references, including some attributed to the Bible and the Vatican.
“It was rather graphic and very hateful,” Pilliod said.
The mail included a poem titled “The Saddest Story Ever Told,” which described the “sins” of interracial marriage and the importance of finding “racial pride.” Another page, titled “What Homosexuals Do,” negatively described stereotypes of gay and lesbian people and offered statistics supporting the accusation that homosexuality sparked the AIDS epidemic.
The majority of the information in the packet attacked Jewish people, claiming they have a “stranglehold” on the American media and teach that “evil is good and good is evil.” On the backside of the letter, poorly photocopied images and an underlined article were accompanied by the statement, “Adolph Hitler and Robert E. Lee were the most morally pure historical figures in the last two centuries.”
Hal Applebaum, executive director of Oregon Hillel, the foundation for Jewish campus life, said such hateful
language is not new to him or to the Jewish community.
“There are thousands of hate groups that disseminate information through mail and the Web,” he said. “Regardless, we feel very comfortable and in no way threatened by our campus community.”
The only page of the packet with contact information said it was distributed by the Institute for Historical Review and discussed the role of the American government in causing the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Applebaum said the organization has been described as the “single most important outlet for Holocaust denial propaganda.”
Chicora Martin, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Educational and Support Services, said the Bias Response Team has not received a report from the ASUO. She was not surprised to hear of the incident, however, and called the reoccurrence of such hate crimes “a constant barrage.”
“Every spring, we get something like this directed against one group or another,” she said. “And I am familiar with the language used.”
Martin said students are always encouraged to report hate crimes to the BRT — even anonymously — and said the biggest challenge is making sure people get correct information instead of taking the derogatory claims as truth.
Despite the content of the hate mail, Pilliod said she is glad to be a part of a campus community where all religions, ethnicities and sexual orientations are openly accepted.
“I’m proud of the diversity of opinions on our campus,” she said, “and stopping this kind of hate is something we continue to do on a day-to-day basis.”