Remembering a victim of hate
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Racism; it’s an evil that maybe we not cure in our lifetime. And some of you think it can’t be cured. I disagree. We must believe it’s possible. What’s the alternative? People we love will suffer and die because of it.
Do you all remember the killing of Mulugeta Seraw in the 80’s? In particular I am speaking to Portlanders who may be the only people to remember this. I never knew Mr. Seraw. He was an Ethiopian immigrant to the USA. He came to America, like so many thousands of Ethiopians as political or economic refugees. He undoubtedly met many caring friendly Americans. Maybe he started to think of himself as an American. Just now I was browsing wikipedia. It led me to a reference to a tv show in 1988 which in turn led me to a reference to the incident on Geraldo in which his nose was broken. One of his guests was Tom Metzger, a white supremacist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_in_television Tom Metzger was not there when Mr. Seraw was killed, but he was the leader of those skinheads that did the dirty deed. Please let us not forget the evil nature of subtly racist humor, sarcastic racial putdowns, — if these get accepted, what follows is more open preaching of racial superiority. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulugeta_Seraw Most people in my city, Portland, Oregon, were saddened by Mr. Seraw’s death. It is really tragic to allow the preaching of racial hatred to reach boiling point. It continues today in many places — Malaysia, America, Germany, Russia. Will we ever learn? I have hope. |
