The murder of Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw by neo-Nazi skinheads shocked Portland, but white supremacist violence had been roiling the city’s counterculture for years before the killing.
Courtesy of Richard Brown / Courtesy of Richard Brown
In the late 1980s, young anti-racists in Portland organized against white supremacists.
“I really felt we wanted vengeance for Mulugeta,” said China. “I remember feeling so angry for him.”
China, a moniker she uses due to concerns for her safety, was an ally of local chapters of groups like Anti Racist Action (ARA) and Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARPs).
“They’re not going to terrorize us,” she said. “I think that was a shift where we got, we’re like about to get organized and start looking for them.”
Anti-racist youth activists in the city were galvanized by the brutal murder of Mulugeta Seraw, a 28-year-old who moved here from his wartorn home of Ethiopia and studied at Portland State University.
In 1988, he was killed with a baseball bat in front of his apartment complex by three Neo Nazi’s. Last week, we shared his story — who he was, what he stood for and his American Dream.
In part two of our series, OPB producers Nora Colie and Dan Evans join us to tell the story of how white supremacy grew in Portland and how young people, like China, fought to push neo-Nazis out of the city.
Listen to all episodes of The Evergreen podcast here.
