Here’s the latest installment of “Where in the World is NIOT Now?” featuring notable news from Not In Our Town groups, and updates about “Not In Our Town” film screenings across the country.
Fort Collins, Colorado: Reflecting on the rise of hate speech in public discourse, Not In Our Town Alliance member Charlotte Miller wrote a letter to the editor of The Coloradoan, urging residents to stand up and speak out against intolerance:
“We must speak out against hateful speech and propaganda filled with untruths about people who are different in racial, ethnic, religious identity, as well as language use and political beliefs. If you hear someone saying discriminatory or derogatory things about those who differ from them, please speak up and let them know you disagree with them, and discrimination is not OK.”
Blog
September 1, 2009 - 12:00am
Press Conference Address from Tony Stewart, Kootenai County Task Force…Editor’s Note: Several weeks ago, Aryan Nations members left recruitment materials and racist pamphlets in neighborhoods in the Inland Northwest area of Washington and Idaho. In response, law enforcement, civic and community leaders from throughout the region held a press conference to speak out against racism and stand together against intolerance. Press Conference Address from Tony Stewart, Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations “As we meet here today, our Inland Northwest communities are once again experiencing the distribution of unwanted, vile hate materials. In recent weeks, there have also been incidents of harassment and violence directed at citizens in both Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.
August 20, 2009 - 9:00pm
After a reported hate incident against a Vietnamese-American student, a Portland, OR community is standing together for safe and inclusive neighborhoods.
On the morning of August 2, 2009, 22-year-old Portland State University student Bao Vuong reported that he was verbally assaulted by four white males in Portland’s Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood. Vuong said the young men shouted racial slurs at him, pelted his car with food, and punched the door of his vehicle while he was stopped at a stop light. Though Vuong gave descriptions of the four men to the police, no arrests have been made. [KATU Story]
August 16, 2009 - 9:00pm
The district office of Rep. David Scott (D-GA) was vandalized with a four-foot swastika.
Recent reports about conflict over the health care plan and attacks on President Obama are creating an alarming picture:
August 7, 2009 - 12:00am
This week, Walter Currie, Jr. had to face the young man who doused him with gas and set him on fire for the first time since the attack took place June 13, 2009, in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
The 16-year-old charged with the attack appeared in a preliminary juvenile court hearing August 5, 2009, presided over by Butler County’s Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth, who will decide if he will tried as an adult or a juvenile.
Winona Currie, Walter’s mother, seemed anxious as she and the family were getting ready for the hearing. Walter is 15 years old, and still has a youthful appearance. He smiles easily, but is soft spoken and shy. His face shows no signs of the attack, but heavy scarring and discoloration peak out from his collar and stretch up his neck.