Hate Crimes
Fear, anger and frustration. These are three themes that run throughout all
hate groups. Most hate groups form during times of economic hardship or social
change. Certain groups of people begin to blame another group for the reason of
a major social or economical change. After the Civil War, the South suffered
from both economic hardship and drastic social change. For centuries, the south
had relied on slaves to harvest crops at plantations. When the slaves were
freed, the plantations weren’t being worked on anymore, causing the owners to
loose a lot of money. When this happened, six former Confederate soldiers
started a hate group called the Ku Klux Klan. During the post-Civil War era, the
Klan was very popular among southern whites. Their ignorance was feeding the
fire that blacks were the root of their problem, when in reality the white’s
ignorance is the root of their own problems. The Klan has since died down and
risen numerous times with the start of many social changes such as the women’s
rights movement (1920’s) and the civil rights movement (1960’s). Another large
and devastating hate group is the neo-Nazis. These working-class people blame
all immigrants for taking jobs away from the whites. Their ignorance pushes them
so far as to violently attack and kill blacks, Jews, Hispanics, Asians, and
homosexuals. Hate crimes can happen anytime, anywhere. In a small Texas town of
Jasper, Texas, 3 white men are under heavy guard after being accused of a murder
of an innocent man. Shawn Berry,23, Lawrence Brewer,31, and John King, 23,
allegedly members of the extremist Aryan Brotherhood, dragged a black man to his
death behind a pick-up truck, ripping his body to pieces. James Byrd, Jr., a 49
year-old, former vacuum cleaner salesman disabled by an arm injury, was walking
home from a party celebrating the wedding of his niece, when he was picked up by
the three white men, who offered him a ride. According to Berry, who informed on
his two companions, they drove to an isolated wood, and King was alleged to have
said that he was “fixing to scare the s**t out of that n****r.” James Byrd was
beaten and kicked by the three white men. Seemingly unconscious, he was chained
by the ankles to a hook on the back of the truck, which then pulled him about
two miles along a narrow, winding asphalt road. His belongings, a wallet and
keys, were scattered in his wake, along with dentures and parts of his body.
The
torso was found in a creek. Close by, empty beer cans were scattered on the
grass. James Byrd’s head, neck and right arm were discovered a mile away. Hate
crimes are not always committed against minorities. In Las Vegas, two
Anti-Racist Action members were murdered. According to reports in the Las Vegas
Review-Journal and from Anti-Racist Action in Columbus, the bodies of Daniel Shersty, 20, and Lin Newborn, 25, were found in the desert 150 yards from each
other. The bodies were located in an area of the desert known for a place where
Nazis target shoot. The two men were murdered in execution style slayings.
Sometimes these horrible crimes occur within one’s own family. On the night of
March 5, David and Bryan Freeman decided it was time to act. Time to act on the
new beliefs they had learned. Time to prove to their new friends that they were
real soldiers of the racial war they were told was coming. On that Sunday night,
hate came to the Freeman house. The boys, ages 15 and 17, ambushed their mother
in the downstairs hallway, stabbing and clubbing her until she died. Then they
went upstairs and did the same to their dad while he lay in his bed. Their
little brother Erik, 11, was asleep when the older brothers entered his room and
beat him to death as well. What would make people commit such horrendous crimes
such as these? Why don’t you ask Mark Thomas, a fascist organizer who operates a
“ministry for racists” in eastern Pennsylvania. It was at this “Aryan Nations of
Pennsylvania” where the Freeman brothers were taught by Mark Thomas that it was
O.K. to hate. The brothers, along with hundreds of others attended a Hitler
Youth Festival last April where Mark Thomas taught them weapons skills on a
rifle range and other things of the sort. As a self declared reverend, Mark
Thomas teaches a twisted religious known as Christian Identity, which says that
anyone that disagrees with white supremacy is a traitor and must be destroyed.
Mark Thomas is a hatemonger who has encouraged the kind of violence that David
and Bryan Freeman displayed. The following is a quote from a recent Thomas
document entitled Statement of Purpose: “The abortionists are professional
murderers of children and will continue to ply their satanic trade until God’s
judgment is executed and their lives are taken. The homosexual movement is
immensely powerful and will continue to grow and corrupt our children unless its
leaders are put to death. Politicians who seek to disarm White Americans will
succeed unless courageous people who understand the meaning of the right to keep
and bear arms rise up and begin to shoot them. If nobody is willing to take up
arms against tyranny, then there is no purpose to even having a movement.”
Imagine the Freeman brothers sitting in a circle with other kids, very serious,
being taught this stuff. To understand the Freeman murders is to glimpse into
the future. There will be more like this. On the good side of things, there ARE
ways to fight racism and hate crimes. The easiest thing to do is to speak out.
Let yourself be heard. Don’t be afraid to express how you feel. Not speaking out
against racism and hate crimes is almost as bad as committing the crime
yourself. On July 17, in Brentwood, PA, the KKK tried to hold a rally. A total
of 13 Klan members, in full costume, stood on the street corners distributing
racist, anti-Semitic literature in an effort to reruit new members. A few
people, mostly teen took the handouts, but a much more common response during
the Klan’s 1-hour stay was what a woman who drove by and responded to their
chants of “white power” with “White trash is more like it.” Another female
motorist yelled, “Get out of here.
We don’t want you”. “Get a life” another man
screamed. A woman walking her daughter home from the community swimming pool
told them to take their robes off. “Your a bunch of freaks” she said as she
walked past them. In another incident about 200 anti-Nazi demonstrators gathered
outside of the home of Jonas Stelmokas, who was once a member of a Lithuanian
police force which helped Nazis kill Jews during World War II. The demonstration
marked the 67th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust. If you want to
get involved in the fight against racism and hate crimes you can contact STU
(Stand To Unite) or ARA (Anti-Racist Action). Both groups are essentially the
same thing with a few minor differences. STU is an organization whose goal is to
stop hatred and ignorance like racism, sexism, homophobia, ect. Wether their
actions be in the form of rallies or protests, educating ourselves and others,
uniting through social events, or by offering sympathy and support to those
affected by hate and hate crimes, their goal remains the same. ARA is about
taking direct action against the problems that lie in front of us today and
organizing to make a real change for tomorrow. Not changes that have the same
problems resurfacing with different people getting the short end of the stick,
but solutions in which people make the decisions that effect their lives and
help build “an anti-authoritarian egalitarian society”. Anti-Racist Action is a
multi-racial, anti-sexist, pro-gay organization dedicated to fighting oppression
in all it’s forms through direct action. ARA activists have been involved in
many struggles across the United States and Canada, ranging from shutting down
Ku Klux Klan rallies across the country; to developing civilian patrols, called
Copwatch (to fight police brutality); from working to free political prisoners;
to defending clinics from anti-choice attacks. ARA PRINCIPLES OF UNITY 1) Fight
against racism, sexism, homophobia, imperialism, and other forms of oppression.
2) No reliance on the cops or the courts. 3) Non-sectarian defense of arrested
anti-fascist organizations. 4) Same time, same place direct action against
fascist mobilizations. So don’t just sit there, do something. Exercise your
freedom of speech and contribute to the struggle against racism and hate crimes
in your community. To contact Stand To Unite write to: Stand To Unite PO Box
7382 Doylestown, PA 18901
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