1998 story: Legacy of a hate crime: Mulugeta Seraw's death a decade ago avenged - The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
13, 1998, the 10th anniversary of Mulugeta Seraw's murder at the hands of three racist Skinheads. Ten years ago today, three men who shared a racist version of the American dream clashed with an African student with a different vision of America. They came together by chance -- a carload of neo-Nazi Skinheads and a 27-year-old Ethiopian named Mulugeta Seraw -- at the Southeast Portland corner of 31st Avenue and Pine Street. There, amid racial slurs, one of the Skinheads raised that most American of symbols, a baseball bat, and clubbed Seraw to death. The killing sent three of Portland's sons to prison. It launched a war among Skinheads. And it led to a landmark trial that pitted a famous civil rights lawyer against the West's most notorious neo-Nazi. The specter of white American racists waging war against African immigrants -- after centuries of terrorizing black Americans -- drew international attention. "We were called the Skinhead Capitol of the country by B'nai B'rith," said Loren Christensen, a former Portland police officer and author of "Skinhead Street Gangs. The number of people taking part in organized hate groups has declined in America since the Seraw murder. But human rights watchdogs warn that the number of such. Source: www.oregonlive.com
