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Vol 1 No. 7 December 16, 2004 Oregon
Nazis Strike Again Nazis have been leafleting Oregon, again. The Tualatin Valley Skins (and perhaps Volksfront) have been leafleting Eugene neighborhoods. Racist flyers
have been appearing in Eugene driveways, according to the
REGISTER-GUARD. The flyers are, in many cases, identical to those
available for download on the Tualatin Valley Skins’ website, the
appealingly-named “nukeisrael.com.” The site carries this
comforting disclaimer: “This site is for
educational use only... It should not be considered legal advice,
always consult a lawyer about any specific case. The information
should not be considered an endorsement of violent or criminal
acts.” It also specifically refers to a Eugene leafleting project, and gives instructions on the flyers that is identical to the Register-Guard’s report of racist hate flyers “found in driveways wrapped in plastic bags that also contained gravel -- a method of distribution recommended on the Web site.” The Skinhead site gives instructions on leafleting:
And it gives the rationale for the campaign:“
This is an initiation ceremony and a recruitment drive. Twice in the past year -- once in January and again in May -- Portland reported similar incidents, both of which were followed by “unity” rallies -- preferably far away from the Skinheads. The stated reason being that they didn’t want any “trouble.” On International Human Rights Day, Saturday, December 11th, at an event at LCC, the R-G reported “Moments before civic leaders announced plans for an anti-racism awareness campaign Saturday, a young man walked around the room at Lane Community College and handed out fliers charging that various federal policies are causing the white race to be exterminated. Attendees of the human rights celebration looked at the fliers, then at each other, in stunned silence. The man yelled, "White power!" and walked out.” What, inquiring minds want to know, was IN the flyer? The R-G minced words thusly: “The flier handed out Saturday amounted to an indictment of the federal government and its policies leading to the alleged "genocide" of white people. The flier had the name of a different Portland-based white power group on the bottom but listed a Eugene post office box.” The group in question may well be Volksfront, who have a Eugene P.O. Box and leafleted Springfield last year. According to the Salem Statesman Journal (March 21, 2003): “A white supremacist presence still lurks in the Pacific Northwest. Someone distributed leaflets on cars in Springfield attacking Martin Luther King Jr. The fliers, which may have been connected with the group Volksfront, called for repeal of the national holiday honoring King.” Thus far, only leaflets have appeared, but violence has reared its ugly head in the past. The traditional media approach to such groups invariably characterizes the speech without reproducing it. This long-term suppression (seen in David Duke’s bizarre Republican candidacy for president in 1988) never allows any quotation of the literature in question, and the argument can be made that this is a wrong-headed and counter-productive approach. Duke was NEVER quoted during that entire campaign, which reinforced a point that I made about his dis-invited non-appearance at Texas Christian University, in the TCU DAILY SKIFF, some 30 years ago: we need to let them hang themselves with their own words. Needlessly censoring this garbage only builds in potential recruits a certain perverse “sympathy.” The R-G articles faithfully follow this precept, but this is what they are saying (from the Skinheads’ website and flyers):
And this:
There is plenty more where that came from. But refutation comes directly from merely quoting the material. Instead, we hold “anti-hate rallies” and the barbarians at our gates openly sneer at us. For some reason, they don’t take our rallies seriously. --30-- Hart Williams is a member of the National Writers Union.
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