Not in Our Town: Unity in Numbers, Oregon Community Counters a Neo-Nazi Threat

Repost from Not in Our Town.

Unity in Numbers: Oregon Community Counters a Neo-Nazi Threat
by Jim Willeford

Once again, the face and symbols of intolerance, hatred and violence threaten to become part of the social skyline of Jackson County, Oregon.

On April 22, the Mail Tribune, Medford, OR’s daily newspaper, featured a front-page headline story that pulled the covers off a homegrown group of Nazi skinheads and their organized efforts to become established. The skinheads’ home base is in Phoenix, OR, between Medford and Ashland.

On April 24th, a courageous and dedicated Polish/Cherokee woman, Nicole Strykowski, not yet connected to the variety of progressive organizations in The Valley, took it upon herself to connect with Anita Burke, a reporter for the Mail Tribune. On the 25th, the Tribune did a front page story announcing a counter-demonstration, to be held in Phoenix that Sunday.

Over the duration of the demonstration, the progressive side maintained anywhere from 100-125 people. The Nazis, in full regalia, positioned themselves across the street, where uniformed policemen maintained a degree of separation of about 45 feet from the skinheads. Those who opposed the Nazi agenda sent a powerful message in contrast to the hateful images of just 5 neo-Nazis. The imagery of the diverse cross section of nonviolent protesters was inspiring, as you can see in the Mail Tribune video below:



There were no incidents of violence. The Wagnerian imagery, however, was chilling! The Nazis were dressed in SS uniforms and had expensive, dramatic flags all too reminiscent of the Third Reich. One of the flags was a traditional American flag, and the others all had swastikas or other Nazi imagery, large in size, and of unusually high-quality production.

I invited Ms. Strykowski to a meeting of the Community Response Team, which was very well attended. We will be meeting again to finalize plans for ongoing community action, and follow-up education.

The Tribune’s April 30 edition has a new story about the recent arrest of neo-Nazi leader Andrew Lee Patterson and one of his chief lieutenants. But that’s another whole story, worthy of a blog post all its own.

—Jim Willeford is a NIOT Network leader and activist in Medford, Oregon.