Look upon it: Hate crimes in our community

Last week Sampson, a Buddhist monk, was the victim of assault in Hood River.

It’s a shocking and disturbing development, that a double dose of ignorance would lead someone to such an action: in addition to acting out against someone they believed to be Muslim, deeply wrong in itself, the assailant was too ignorant to know his victim was a Buddhist.

You could say they are far different things, but in truth they are not: all people deserve respect, no matter what their faith, race, or class may be. That is another message of Sampson’s: people who hate “are not seeing everyone as a part of the human family. We need to find a kinder way to approach our differences and look at the rest of life.”

Did America’s growing atmosphere of intolerance lead someone to this illegal and ignorant act? That may be a stretch, but it would be no surprise if the arteries of antipathy seen in the national media bleed down into local capillaries, even in “enlightened Hood River.” Hate crimes are a long tradition in this country, unfortunately. While it may be a stretch to blame demagogues spouting racist agendas, suffice it to say that acts of hatred like this have no place anywhere in America. What happened to Sampson, as well as to two cab drivers who were verbally attacked, are hate crimes.

They happened in our neighborhood, and we cannot look away.

Friends of Kozen Sampson have announced a candlelight vigil for Friday at 6:30 p.m., “to support his belief in loving kindness,” said vigil organizer and friend, Laurie VanCott. The vigil will take place at the Overlook Memorial Fountain and Sampson will be present.

Flags Lowered: First Lady Nancy Reagan

Gov. Kate Brown on Monday ordered all flags at Oregon public institutions to be flown at half-staff immediately until sunset on the day of interment, March 11, in honor of former First Lady Nancy Reagan, who died on March 6.

“In her capacity as first Lady of the United States, Nancy Reagan played an important role in supporting the well-being of the President and working on behalf of civic causes she believed in,” Gov. Brown said. “I offer my deepest condolences to the Reagan family.”