EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
Our
VIEW
Forgotten
but not gone
Religious hate crimes
continue in Midwest
Is religious tolerance not a priority any
more?
While many high-profile hate crimes com
mand top political and media attention, anti
Semitism continues to breed almost unnoticed
in this state and nation.
As a daily newspaper, we often get propa
ganda in the form of letters, e-mail and adver
tisements espousing hatred toward Jews.
The offensive material sees our trash cans,
not our printed pages.
We fear, because hateful material from anti
Semitic groups is not printed for public discus
sion, some non-Jewish people could believe
such groups no longer exist or that they no
longer conduct orchestrated anti-Semitic cam
paigns.
It could seem that other acts of discrimina
tion are far more pertinent and, therefore, war
rant more action and attention.
Such acts include the Sigma Chi Fraternity
cross burning in January 1997 and the discov
ery of improperly handled American Indian
remains, both of which focused attention on
racial and cultural diversity issues.
They include charges of sexual harassment
on campus, which focused attention on gender
discrimination, and the recent murder of
Matthew Shepard, which has drawn an intense
national reaction to hate crimes against gays.
In each case, victims’ representatives used a
high-profile case as a political stump on which
vtastand apd actively demand the public-notice a
Lwidespreadyoftenoverlooked problem.'
Though no recent, high-profile case of anti
Semitism has surfaced, anti-Semitic groups
demand no less of our attention. They continue
to attack Jewish communities and to send
anonymous anti-Semitic letters, including one
eight-page monstrosity we received this week.
The letters often deny the Holocaust
occurred and include white supremacist lan
guage.
But the most recent one blamed Jews for
communism and the feminist movement.
It even proposed that Jewish people are
breeding to take over the world.
It couldn’t sound more ridiculous, yet some
Midwesterners must believe it. The evidence of
this insane belief lies in two separate hate crimes
that occurred in July.
In Council Bluffs, Iowa, a synagogue was
desecrated by vandals who wrote “bum Jew
burn” inside, stole religious articles and
scratched a swastika into woodwork.
In Papillion, vandals painted the words “Jew
die” and swastikas onto the sides of buildings.
It’s disgusting. All of it - the synagogue des
ecration, the hateful graffiti, the letters and the
e-mails.
And such acts are certainly deserving of a
public outcry, just like the Sigma Chi cross
burning or the mishandling of American Indian
remains. But an outcry is lacking.
When we advocate tolerance, civility and
diversity, we must include everyone.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Spring 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They
do not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its
employees, its student body or the
University of Nebraska Board of Regents.
A column is solely the opinion of its author.
The Board of Regents serves as publisher
of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The
UNL Publications Board, established by
the regents, supervises the production
of the paper. According to policy set by
the regents, responsibility for the editorial
content of the newspaper lies solely in
the hands of its student employees.
lattw Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief
letters to the editor and guest columns,
but does not guarantee their publication.
The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to
edit or reject any material submitted.
Submitted material becomes property of
the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be
returned. Anonymous submissions will
not be published. Those who submit
letters must identify themselves by name,
year in school, major and/or group
affiliation, if any.
Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34
Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln,
NE. 68588-0448. E-mail:
letters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
Mook’s
VIEW
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DN
LETTERS
No room for hate
The nation has been shocked by
the terrible torture and murder of a gay
student at the University of Wyoming,
apparently because of his sexual orien
tation. All Americans should rise to
condemn such acts and the hate that
lies behind them.
On our own campus, we too have
seen incidents reflecting intolerance
and hate, and this is a time to reaffirm
our commitment to a community that
values the dignity of all people,
regardless of gender, age, disability,
race, color, religion, marital status,
veteran status, national or ethnic ori
gin or sexual orientation. We recog
nize the need to help educate others
during National Gay and Lesbian
History Month.
Perhaps activities such as the Gay
and Lesbian Film Festival beginning
Oct. 22 at the Mary Riepma Ross Film
Theater can help in the education
process. The premiere of “The
Brandon Teena Story” - a documen
tary about a Nebraska woman who
was murdered because of her sexual
identity and orientation - shows us
that intolerance, lack of respect, and
raw hatred is a fatal problem in our
own state.
This is a time for all of us who are
committed to these values to speak up.
Respect can,
indeed, be
stronger
than
hate, but only if people who refuse to
hate come forward to express their
commitment to higher values.
Chancellor James Moeser
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Remembrance
I was glad to see Matthew
Eickman’s column on the atrocity that
happened in Wyoming. As he said, it
took the death of an innocent person to
bring to our attention to an issue
forced into the shadows. Yet sadly, that
magnitude of event is usually what we
require before we take action. We’ve
become complacent and reactionary.
Discussing sex is never an easy
task, and discussing sexual orientation
is even more of a social taboo. But we
have a moral obligation to honor all
the Matthew Shepards who have left
us far too soon because of the summa
ry judgment of myopic and ignorant
people. It is time to begin paying the
price for redemption and embrace our
differences, so Matthew’s death was
not in vain.
He is honored with green and yel
low ribbons, but let’s honor him too by
eliminating the ignorance surrounding
sexual preference through open and
constructive dialogues. It’s time to
stop talking about what WE know and
think, and really listen to the other
opinions and ideas. That shared under
barriers, is the best way to remember
Matthew Shepard.
Scott Brauer
senior
biological sciences/pre-medicine
Time to take a stand
I am a 40-year-old married father
of two young children. I am an Internet
Web master and content provider and
would like to make scone suggestions
to those UNL students who feel they
want to take a stand against such
hatred.
I wrote an e-mail to the upstream
Internet service provider of www.god
hatesfags.com, a Web site owned by
the Rev. Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kan.,
and expressed my views and concerns.
I am a Christian man with a very
different view of the Higher Power
then Mr. Fred Phelps. His direct ISP
1 STAMENDMENT.NET did not want
to do anything. I voiced my concerns to
this ISP’s upstream provider, and they
have blocked traffic to that site.
These are the type of stands we
need to take. Action against hate
requires research. There are ways to
put an end to the proliferation of
Internet hate groups. If we don’t, who
will?
Rex Mueller
Omaha
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