Symbols of white supremacy confront Redmond teen – OPB News
Posted By admin on January 26, 2021
Exterior view of the Farmer's Co-op Antique Mall in Redmond, Ore., on Dec. 18, 2020.
Emily Cureton / OPB
Editors note: This story contains descriptions of racist memorabilia and anti-Semitic items, some of which contain racial epithets.
Things with past lives filled every corner of the Farmers Co-op Antique Mall in Redmond. Decoy ducks nested among the rusty typewriters, musky clothes, and toys made for children who grew old long ago. The floorboards creaked as customers wandered through the maze of booths on a recent day. At first glance, one glass display case looked a lot like dozens of others: well-lit and full of knick knacks. But, something inside made 15-year-old Lily Gallentine do a double take.
Am I seeing that right? she remembered thinking. Then, she said, her heart began to race.
There were a bunch of different Nazi pins. There was a poster in the background, saying coon and monkey. There was a black doll in the background, which I thought was weird, that it was right there and not just with like, normal dolls, Lily said.
Before now, this store had been a refuge for the 10th grader from Redmond: Just to get out. We go to a few antique stores, poke around, and have some fun. She said she likes to see the stories behind certain things.
On the day described, Lily had been hunting for toy cars to give to her dad, who collects them. When she found the case of swastikas, the price tags were $36 each, the pins neatly lined up under an ashtray with a Blackface caricature from the now-defunct Coon Chicken Inn, a restaurant chain until 1957. More of the chains racist merchandise was on sale, like a poster marked down to $18.
Mass protests since the spring of 2020 have brought attention to racism in systems, actions and beliefs. But as Lily discovered, hate can also take the shape of material objects. Lilys mom, Andrea Utz, joined her daughter in front of the case that day. Utz said she felt stunned, then disappointed, and then just like, Ugh, here we go, again.
Again because last summer at least one person targeted the family with a racist action in their own Redmond neighborhood.
We put up a Black Lives Matter sign in our yard, and a day or two later it was stolen. It was gone, Lily said, describing how they responded by planting a new sign, this one a little closer to the house. And a day later, we were just sitting at the dinner table, and the doorbell rang.
Utz got up and answered. But, no one was there. On the porch, someone had left a watermelon the letters BLM carved into it with a permanent marker. The rind looked chiseled, because the letters had been rewritten so many times, and with such force. The newly-placed yard sign was gone.
The thought of not knowing what their intention was, or who it was, that was what was most frightening and unsettling, Lily said.
Watermelons have long been subverted as symbols of racism against Black Americans. The Deschutes County District Attorneys Office assigned an investigator to look into the incident as a possible hate crime. But neither prosecutors, nor Redmond police turned up any leads, according to District Attorney John Hummel.
Months later, Utz, who is white, was still shaken: Im not going to let my daughter, who is a person of color, walk around alone at night here, even with her friends.
The population of Redmond is 90% white a demographic rooted in Oregons legacy of systemic racism. The Oregon Constitution originally forbade Black settlers from moving to the state. Other laws prohibited Black people from owning property and making contracts. These exclusion laws were repealed almost a century ago, but more racist language in Oregons founding document wasnt removed by voters until 2002.
At the Old Farmer Co-op antique mall in Redmond, the symbols of white supremacy almost blend in.
At the Redmond Farmer's Co-op Antique Mall on Dec. 18, 2020, the case on the right offers for sale a number of Nazi symbols and caricatures promoting racist stereotypes among other kinds of memorabilia.
Emily Cureton / OPB
Well, yeah. Thats memorabilia that people buy, store owner Ike Abbas said when asked about the display. Ive been doing it for 37 years, and people enjoy it. Blacks even buy it. We got one gal in there that is Black and she sells a lot of stuff.
When pressed about the juxtaposition of swastikas with Black Americana and racist caricatures, he defended the vendors right to sell whatever they want in a space they have rented from Abbas for $55 per month.
Vendors can sell what they please, the antiques dealer said, as long as its legal, Abbas said. And we dont sell guns, just because people break in to get guns.
Selling Nazi and racist memorabilia isnt against the law in the U.S., but with national conversations about the countrys racist history ongoing, the purpose of such sales is in question particularly when the items are jumbled together with no historical context.
The only audience that is going to be into racist, Black Americana, as well as Nazi memorabilia, would presumably be a racist audience, said Mark Pitcavage, who monitors extremism for the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit that documents anti-Semitism and other types of bigotry.
Pitcavage said that there can be nuances to why people collect some offensive items. He said context is key such as if something is in a museum or for sale and that the motivations of the collector are important to consider.
On tours of the Jim Crow Museum Ferris State University in Michigan, like this one led by David Pilgrim on Aug. 8, 2018, visitors are often asked to describe what they see in the objects, and then to try and explain how it is they came to see things a certain way.
Courtesy of the Jim Crow Museum
David Pilgrim remembers being about 12 years old when he got his first racist artifact at a flea market. He thinks it was a so-called mammy salt shaker, which he bought, then destroyed in front of the vendor, as an act of defiance.
Growing up a multi-racial, Black identified kid in the Deep South in the last days of Jim Crow, I thought about race a lot, Pilgrim said.
Over the decades, he kept collecting racist objects, things that you would find in someones home, in their kitchen, in their restroom, in their living room.
Pilgrim eventually became a sociologist and a professor, and started using his collection as educational tools. He said he would often start with a simple question.
When you look at this, what is it you see? he said. And it will always amaze me how people reared in the same way, often the same hometowns, will have such divergence in the way they look at an object, especially one dealing with race.
David Pilgrim speaks to a high school class at the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia in Michigan on Jan. 21, 2015. Pilgrim said the museum's mandate is to "create an environment where people can not just talk about race, race relations, and racism in intelligent ways, but that we start from an accurate understanding of the past."
Emily Cureton
Pilgrim founded the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Michigan. He refers to the museums holdings, which include more than the 10,000 items on display, as propaganda, because when we show these racist depictions in cookie jars, in toys, in games, in everyday objects, its a very sneaky way to spread those ideas.
These depictions often stereotype Black people as subservient, foolish, evil, or less than human. And theyre still for sale.
Those Jim Crow ideas, those Jim Crow representations, those Jim Crow lies morphed into, and continue to exist in the present, Pilgrim said.
Among the newer items in the museums collection, President Barack Obama is portrayed as a monkey, a cannibal and a sexual predator.
Learning theres a market for hateful objects from both the past and the present reminded Lily, the Redmond teen, why she became an activist during the racial justice demonstrations of 2020.
I just try to remember like, Hey, this is the reason why Im going to protests and Im educating myself, and educating others, and raising my voice, Lily said.
Her family has put a new Black Lives Matter sign in their front yard, a visible marker that they havent been forced into silence. But her courage comes with a cost, too. In addition to the sign, the family installed a security camera.
Read the original:
Symbols of white supremacy confront Redmond teen - OPB News
- How hate and harassment in online gaming influence civic life - Brookings Institution - March 3rd, 2021
- Lowell School Board Member Who Used Anti-Semitic Slur on TV Resigns - NBC10 Boston - March 3rd, 2021
- Opinion | A Rise in Hate Crimes Against Asian-Americans and Others - The New York Times - March 3rd, 2021
- Why Have So Many Recent Extremist Events Involved Ohioans? - WVXU - March 3rd, 2021
- Democrats draft resolution to condemn Millers role in insurrection - WAVY.com - March 3rd, 2021
- The Ad Council's Love Has No Labels and StoryCorps' One Small Step Bring Americans Together One Conversation at a Time - PRNewswire - March 3rd, 2021
- NBC Pulls Controversial 'Nurses' Episode From Digital, Future Airings Amid Backlash Over Orthodox Jew Storylin - Hollywood Reporter - February 25th, 2021
- Gottheimer Announces New Steps to Combat Violent Extremist Groups, Calls for Proud Boys & Other International Extremist Groups to be Officially... - February 25th, 2021
- George Floyd-themed dance proposal sign sparks investigation, outrage - KABC-TV - February 23rd, 2021
- The Capitol Siege: The Arrested And Their Stories | NPR - Houston Public Media - February 23rd, 2021
- Sacha Baron Cohen: I created characters with the aim of infiltrating Trumps circle - The Irish Times - February 23rd, 2021
- Nick Trutanich on election integrity, unemployment fraud and what's next after two years as US attorney - The Nevada Independent - February 23rd, 2021
- More than $190000 awarded in Community Placemaking Grants - Metro newsfeed - February 19th, 2021
- Deadly inspirations - What their chosen reading says about America's far-right | United States - The Economist - February 19th, 2021
- La-Z-Boy Announces Kurt Darrow to Retire as CEO; Will Remain Chairman of the Board - GlobeNewswire - February 19th, 2021
- With Anti-Semitic Attacks Surging, the Writing of a Fifth-Grader in Prewar Poland Teaches Tolerance - NBC4 Washington - February 16th, 2021
- Fired Former Leader of Disaster Nonprofit Says He Was Let Go Over Diversity Efforts - The Chronicle of Philanthropy - February 16th, 2021
- Solano sheriffs staff accused of supporting anti-government militia group - East Bay Times - February 16th, 2021
- Veteran Sports CEO Ahron Cohen Joins the ADvantage Sports Tech Fund - Business Wire - February 16th, 2021
- Educators work against bigotry and racism in schools - WXYZ - February 9th, 2021
- Capitol Insurrection: More Than 200 People Charged And What We Know About Them - NPR - February 9th, 2021
- As Trump's impeachment trial begins, the Russian network that helped him in 2016 taps his supporters on Gab.com - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - February 9th, 2021
- Experts say numbers of extremists, hate groups falling even as threats remain in Arkansas - KLRT - FOX16.com - February 6th, 2021
- Capitol Protesters And Rioters From Mass. Vow To Increase Ranks - WBUR - February 6th, 2021
- Merck's CEO Kenneth Frazier to retire after ten years in the role - PMLiVE - February 6th, 2021
- Explained: Who are the far-right group Oath Keepers, members of which were involved in the Capitol Hill siege? - The Indian Express - February 6th, 2021
- Colorado man going to Washington to face riot charges - The Durango Herald - February 1st, 2021
- QACPS trains teachers on issues of race in literature - MyEasternShoreMD - February 1st, 2021
- Sacramento GOP call for resignation of member with ties to Proud Boys - ABC10.com KXTV - January 26th, 2021
- Story Jan. 22, 2021 Faculty voice: Gaming and toxicity - MSUToday - MSUToday - January 26th, 2021
- Jewish communities in New York City and across the country tighten security protocols as threats mount - SecurityInfoWatch - January 24th, 2021
- FBI and Huntsville Police Announce Reward and Billboard Campaign to Assist in Identifying Person of Interest in Vandalism of Jewish Synagogues FBI -... - January 24th, 2021
- Woodland Park man arrested for US Capitol insurrection - FOX21News.com - January 24th, 2021
- FBI and Huntsville police announce reward in Identifying person of interest in vandalism of Jewish Synagogues - WVTM13 - January 24th, 2021
- Parents outraged over students Confederate flag face mask demand action - WKRN News 2 - January 24th, 2021
- QAnon after Trump: Believers of the conspiracy theory at risk of further radicalization, experts warn - CTV News - January 24th, 2021
- Decoding the extremist symbols and groups at the Capitol Hill insurrection - ABC17News.com - January 12th, 2021
- Lawmakers Fear More Violence Ahead Of Inauguration Day : Insurrection At The Capitol: Live Updates - NPR - January 12th, 2021
- The Big Question: Can the U.S. Defuse Violent Right-Wing Extremism? - BloombergQuint - January 10th, 2021
- Opinion: We have to work together to protect democracy from threats - The Detroit News - January 10th, 2021
- Sacha Baron Cohen on Facebook, Twitter and Trump - Variety - January 10th, 2021
- Extremists intensify calls for violence ahead of Inauguration Day - WDJT - January 10th, 2021
- Trump Helped Take Extremist Views From The Fringes Of Society To A Mob Attacking The Capitol - FiveThirtyEight - January 10th, 2021
- US Capitol: Q-Anon, Confederate flag man, and Baked Alaska - here are the people who stormed the building - Sky News - January 10th, 2021
- Domestic terrorism and hate exploded in 2020. Here's what the Biden administration must do. - ABC News - January 1st, 2021
- Arizona hate crimes bounced back in 2019, experts fear a surge in 2020 - Cronkite News - January 1st, 2021
- Weeks-Old Statue of Breonna Taylor Is Battered in Oakland, Calif. - The New York Times - January 1st, 2021
- Hanover police need help identifying possible menorah vandals - The Union Leader - December 27th, 2020
- Boycott urged on firms that assist Israel's occupation - Triple Pundit - December 27th, 2020
- After Dartmouth menorah was vandalized, Hanover police seek more information - Concord Monitor - December 22nd, 2020
- New York bans display of Confederate flag and other hate symbols on state grounds - WDJT - December 22nd, 2020
- 'We're against everything they stand for': LGBTQ-owned clothing company Verillas pushes back after Proud Boys wear its kilts - USA TODAY - December 22nd, 2020
- Thomas O'Brien on Boston's Newest Luxury High-Rise Residential Tower, Bulfinch Crossing Development, Pandemic and 2021 - Boston Real Estate Times - December 22nd, 2020
- Hate groups receive millions of dollars in federal funds - WVTM13 - December 14th, 2020
- 'Is this what we're becoming?': Anne Frank memorial in Idaho, the only one in US, defaced with swastika stickers - USA TODAY - December 14th, 2020
- Opposition Mounts Against Proposed Appointment of Far-right Chairman to Israeli Holocaust Museum - Hyperallergic - December 14th, 2020
- Only yesterday - The Hudson Reporter - December 14th, 2020
- Chelsea FC launches exhibition about Jewish Athletes and the Holocaust - Chelsea FC - December 14th, 2020
- Evergreen Mill Elem. student named 'Kid of the Year' finalist - Loudoun Times-Mirror - December 14th, 2020
- Conservatives flocked to Parler after the election. But its explosive growth is over - KCTV Kansas City - December 14th, 2020
- Anti-Defamation League to honor health secretary Levine ... - December 5th, 2020
- The Anti-Defamation League Is Not What It Seems | Boston ... - December 5th, 2020
- Travel Fairness Now Hosts Webinar with Health Care, Consumer and Travel Experts to Improve Traveler Access to Vital Information During Covid-19 and a... - December 5th, 2020
- ADL and Aspen Institute Announce Two Civil Society Fellowship Classes in Response to the Heightened Need for Civil Discourse in a Divided America -... - November 17th, 2020
- Tens of thousands rally in DC to support outgoing President Trump; at least 20 arrested as protesters clash with counterprotesters - USA TODAY - November 17th, 2020
- White supremacist jailed for 2 years over plot to bomb Las Vegas synagogue, ADL - The Times of Israel - November 15th, 2020
- ADL webinar addresses election, extremes - Cleveland Jewish News - November 13th, 2020
- Jewish orgs. react to presumptive win of Dem. nominee Joe Biden - The Jerusalem Post - November 13th, 2020
- Sharon L. Klein Named to Working Mother's Top Wealth Advisor Moms 2020 - PRNewswire - November 13th, 2020
- Facebooks redoubled AI efforts wont stop the spread of harmful content - VentureBeat - November 13th, 2020
- Proceed with eyes open - Isthmus - November 13th, 2020
- Tip lines allow voters to report intimidation, extremism at the polls - Chicago Sun-Times - November 3rd, 2020
- Hate Speech on the Rise - PBS39.org - November 3rd, 2020
- 100-year-old Jewish cemetery in Michigan vandalized with red paint - New York Post - November 3rd, 2020
- Who are the 'Proud Boys'? Photos of Austin protesters circulating online - KIIITV.com - November 3rd, 2020
- In Texas, Jewish Republicans step in against lawsuit seeking to reject 127,000 drive-through votes - Haaretz.com - November 3rd, 2020
- Uncomfortable Conversations: Fighting racism against Asian Americans in wake of COVID - AdAge.com - November 3rd, 2020
- Suspect In Ithaca String Of Hate Crimes Arrested - WSKG.org - November 3rd, 2020
- The risk of violence and protests on Election Day - Vox.com - November 3rd, 2020
- The Color Of Water | Opinion | coronadonewsca.com - Coronado Eagle and Journal - November 3rd, 2020
Comments