Portland State Vanguard Volume 76 Issue 35

VOLUME 76 • ISSUE 35 • FEBRUARY 9, 2022

INTERNATIONAL

ARTS & CULTURE

OPINION

Portland rallies to free Cuba P. 4

Typewriters are no longer just a collector’s item P. 11

Antisemitism is an invisible parasite P. 22-23

CONTENTS

EXTERIOR COVERS BY ANASTASIA PARGETT INTERIOR COVERS BY WHITNEY GRIFFITH

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY

P. 3

LOVE & SEX GUIDE

P. 7-18

INTERNATIONAL END THE CUBAN BLOCKADE RALLY JOINED BY PORTLAND

ARTS & CULTURE CHAINSAW GIRL EMBODIES PORTLAND’S DIY CREATIVE SPIRIT

P. 4

P. 19

THIS WEEK AROUND THE WORLD

P.5

SPORTS 106 POINT WIN FOR THE VIKS AGAINST NORTHERN COLORADO

P. 20-21

ARTS & CULTURE THE SURPRISING AFTERLIFE OF TYPEWRITERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

P. 6

OPINION WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ANTISEMITISM

P. 22-23

STAFF EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Béla Kurzenhauser

OPINION EDITOR Justin Cory

MANAGING EDITOR Karisa Yuasa

ONLINE EDITOR Lily Hennings

PHOTO EDITOR Sofie Brandt

COPY CHIEF Mackenzie Streissguth

SPORTS EDITOR Eric Shelby

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Olivia Lee

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Ryan McConnell

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Tanner Todd

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Tanner Todd

CONTRIBUTORS Whitney Griffith Stacey Horton Nova Johnson Milo Loza Jesse Ropers Carter Silago

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Alberto Alonso Pujazon Bogani

PRODUCTION & DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Shannon Steed

ADVISING & ACCOUNTING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood

DESIGNERS Leo Clark Whitney Griffith Fiona Hays Mia Levy Astrid Luong Anastasia Pargett

STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Maria Dominguez

TECHNOLOGY & WEBSITE TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANTS Kahela Fickle George Olson Kwanmanus Thardomrong

STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Vacant To contact Portland State Vanguard, email editor@psuvanguard.com

MISSION STATEMENT Vanguard ’s mission is to serve the Portland State community with timely, accurate, comprehensive and critical content while upholding high journalistic standards. In the process, we aim to enrich our staff with quality, hands-on journalism education and a number of skills highly valued in today’s job market.

ABOUT Vanguard, established in 1946, is published weekly as an independent student newspaper governed by the PSU Student Media Board. Views and editorial content expressed herein are those of the staff, contributors and readers and do not necessarily represent the PSU student body, faculty, staff or administration. Find us in print Wednesdays and online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.

THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY

RYAN MCCONNELL The video game industry is currently in a very unique point in its history. Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, Jan. 18. After Activision’s numerous lawsuits and struggles, Microsoft hopes to save the company from its own internal turmoil. The deal will “play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

While Microsoft says it plans to use its publishing expertise to accelerate growth in its gaming businesses across all gaming platforms, many are wondering what this means for Activision’s games across Playstation platforms. This acquisition could give Xbox better competition within its gaming libraries.

Sony has since followed suit in acquiring Bungie, the developers behind Destiny and Halo. This is, in part, to compete against games like Fortnite, owned by Epic Games.

It’s been a pretty big month in terms of gaming acquisitions, consolidating the industry to even fewer owners of AAA studios.

These acquisitions haven’t yet been set in stone, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently investigating Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard—during a time where the FTC is being far more aggressive against big tech’s unobstructed market powers. However, there seems to be little reason to assume the acquisition won’t be accepted.

Nintendo seemed to be the odd one out, promising fans that it won’t compete in the acquisitions arms race.

“Our brand was built upon products crafted with dedication by our employees,” explained Shuntaro Furukawa, president of Nintendo. “Having a large number of people who don’t possess Nintendo DNA in our group would not be a plus to the company.”

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

AN AUDIENCE AT XBOX'S ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO (E3) SHOWCASE IN 2014. COURTESY OF JOHN MCCARTHY This should come as no surprise, as Nintendo often sticks to the same intellectual properties—as it mostly has since its entrance to the industry in the ‘80s.

The video game industry is changing, and it’s changing fast.

Hardware is still plagued by supply chain woes, making consoles and PC hardware inaccessible. The avid gamer has felt the severe impacts, but video game developers are struggling to find the sweet spot between exclusivity in a much smaller market and catering towards last-gen hardware that significantly hinders development progress.

It’s not just hardware, but the nature of gaming itself that has been upended. Xbox Game Pass, known as the Netflix of gaming, changes how players can access video games. Instead of the standard premium business model—where a player purchases a video game for a one-time fee—players instead pay a subscription to have access to a library full of video games at their disposal, with new games constantly being added to the repertoire. Sony has a similar, though smaller, service known as Playstation Now. While Sony is by no means unsuccessful, their development model has become increasingly dated. The era of AAA titles flooded with millions—now billions—of dollars in development money to be sold for a $50–70 premium is increasingly unsustainable.

During the Playstation and Playstation 2 generations, games could be developed with a fraction of a team required to build graphic-intensive titles now, and $50 went a lot further then.

This can best be exemplified with Final Fantasy XIV’s success.

Square Enix was one of many companies that poured money

into games to be sold individually like books. Titles such as Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts propelled the company forward through their respective console generations.

However, as graphics became more demanding, more time and money was required to produce visually appealing games.

Quickly, Final Fantasy XIV soon became the darling that held Square Enix afloat with financial success—not because of graphics, but because of its subscription model as an online game. At a certain point, premium sales drop to near nothing, whereas subscriptions create a consistent income flow that can better fund more creative titles.

Both Activision and Bungie hold some of the most popular subscription-based video games in circulation. These games provide income flow that keep these companies alive in the market—and seems to be why these video game acquisitions are so important.

However, small, independent game studios and startups are often left with table scraps to produce quality games, if they can get the funding at all. While the premium model is falling apart, these indie studios have few choices, as they cannot afford rooms full of servers and the specialized teams to build online games— which may or may not succeed. Even New World, Amazon’s attempt at an online video game, has had a rocky start.

Ultimately, the AAA studio acquisitions may satisfy fans in the long run, but it is also indicative of a shift in the market that can make it even harder for the new creatives to bring something fun and unique out into the world.

Everyone needs to start somewhere, and if there isn’t a field to let that happen, what will that mean for the future of video games?

SCIENCE & TECH

3

END THE CUBAN BLOCKADE RALLY JOINED

BY PORTLAND PORTLAND AMONG OTHER CITIES PROTESTING THE CUBAN BLOCKADE BY THE U.S.

ALBERTO ALONSO PUJAZON BOGANI For 60 years, the United States has enacted and enforced a massive embargo on Cuba, essentially cutting the island off from all and any outside resources. The country’s docks are typically empty, with cruise ships, cultural exchanges and educational delegations banned by the United States.

All remittances are banned from Cuban firms, essentially barring separated families from sending each other monetary assistance that many families rely or depend on. The country faces a massive medical equipment and medicine shortage during a world-wrecking pandemic, due to the U.S. forbidding any export of medical technology with U.S. components.

Cubans are not allowed to use Zoom, Skype or Microsoft Teams to communicate with the outside world due to restrictions on internet access as well. Every single aspect of life on Cuba has been radically changed and affected, and is still felt today by the U.S. blockade on the island.

In July 2020, a Cuban American Bothell teacher, Carlos Lazo, biked from Seattle, Washington to Washington, D.C. with his two sons for recognition and attention from then-U.S. President Donald Trump to end the blockade, protesting the sanctions placed on the island. Lazo created a petition signed by 20,000 people which asked Trump to lift some sanctions, allowing food, medications and other resources to enter Cuba during the pandemic. Lazo also met with several Congress members to discuss these goals, as he said he hoped to bring together his country of origin and the country in which he lives.

Vanguard spoke with End the Cuban Blockade advocate and event organizer John Waller on Sunday, Jan. 30 at the site of Portland’s first End the Cuban blockade rally.

“For 60 years, the United States government has been mounting a Draconian economic blockade against Cuba,” Waller said.

Waller said that all the efforts by the U.S. government to stop other countries from trading with Cuba, including stopping payments from world banks coming into Cuba, was to “starve the Cuban people into submission” and make them rise up against their government.

According to Waller, protests by Cuban Americans began nearly two years ago, from Florida to Seattle. Waller is also the organizer for the annual Pastors for Peace Caravan to

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INTERNATIONAL

A PROTEST SIGN LEANING AGAINST PIONEER SQUARE COURTHOUSE. ALBERTO ALONSO PUJAZON BOGANI/PSU VANGUARD Cuba. Danny O’Brien, another event organizer, shared that many global organizations express their support for Cuba, including worker’s parties, socialist parties and women’s groups across the world.

A protest has been held on every last Sunday of the month across at least 20 U.S. cities and several cities in Canada and Europe.

The rally held at Pioneer Square on the corner of SW Broadway and SW Yamhill St on Jan. 30 was the first one held in Portland.

Waller listed the immediate demands of the protests to include allowing Cuban Americans to send money to their families, allowing normal travel to Cuba and allowing food and medicine to enter Cuba from the U.S. President Joe Biden faces harsh criticism for failing to take any action towards the blockade after using his promise of ending the blockade fully to bolster his campaign journey for presidency.

“Biden, as a candidate, said he was going to change the policies, to some degree,” Waller said. “As a president, he’s done nothing, he’s actually carried on with every single one of Trump’s policies.”

In 2021, Senator Jon Wyden from Portland, Oregon introduced a bill to completely eradicate the Cuban blockade.

“Our nation’s embargo on Cuba is an artifact from the 1960s,” said Wyden to the Senate on Feb. 4, 2021. “To continue this outdated, harmful policy of isolation would be a failure of American leadership.”

One year later, at the first End the Cuban blockade protest in Portland, Waller said that he has noticed the bill has few sponsors thus far, as he believes the Democratic Party is more concerned with voting rights and job issues. 114 members of the House, including the two Portland representatives, sent a letter to Biden requesting to fulfill the demands of the Cuban protestors, and have been met with no response.

The Portland End the Cuban Blockade Committee intends to hold a rally in different places in Portland on the last Sunday of every month, and encourages more people to learn about the issues at hand by engaging and participating in the protests.

Editor’s Note: One of the organizers mentioned in this article was formerly an editor for Portland State Vanguard.

PROTESTER DANNY O'BRIEN HOLDING A CUBAN FLAG AND A WORLD WORKERS PARTY SIGN. ALBERTO ALONSO PUJAZON BOGANI/PSU VANGUARD

PROTEST ORGANIZER JOHN WALLER AT THE JAN. 30 END THE CUBAN BLOCKADE EVENT. ALBERTO ALONSO PUJAZON BOGANI/PSU VANGUARD

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

THIS WEEK

around the

WORLD Jan. 30-Feb. 5

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1

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February 3

PORTO VELHO, BRAZIL

On Feb. 3, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Peruvian President Pedro Castillo met to discuss relations between the two countries, as reported by Reuters. Far-right Bolsonaro pressed Marxist-Leninist Castillo on the construction of a cross-border road, which would link Brazil’s Cruzeiro do Sul to the Peruvian city of Pucallpa—thus giving Brazil direct access to the Pacific Ocean.

The road would cut through 68 miles of untouched rainforest through the Serra do Divisor National Park in Brazil. The construction of the road would cost approximately $94 million (500 million reais). So far, Peru has shown little support for the cross-country road. Bolsonaro attempted to bolster support in a statement issued after his meeting with Castillo, stating that building the road would create “great potential to increase economic integration.” Brazil also faces internal opposition, with several environmentalist

groups and federal prosecutors opposing the disruption of the natural rainforest. Despite this, the Brazilian government has already authorized a lender to contract a company for the construction of the road. The two leaders did agree to facilitate trade between the two countries, with streamlined customs red-tape and ramped up border security.

2

February 3

ATMEH, SYRIA

During on ongoing U.S. raid on Syria, Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al Quraishi died from the detonation of a suicide bomb, which killed him and his family members before the U.S. raid team reached him, according to Reuters. The U.S. had been rehearsing the helicopter raid repeatedly for months. Quraishi’s predecessor, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, also died from a self-detonated bomb during a U.S. raid of Syria in 2019. The U.S. decided to invade the city with helicopters first, and evacuate citizens

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

afterwards. One unnamed woman recounted the U.S. loudspeaker warnings which said, “Men, women and children raise your hands.

You are in the safety of the American coalition that is surrounding the area. You will die if you don’t get out.” Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie, who oversees the U.S. forces in the area, said that the evacuation team evacuated six civilians, including four children. According to McKenzie, the blast was “more massive than expected.” According to Syrian rescue workers, at least 13 people died. Of the discrepancies between Syrian aid worker and U.S. governmental reports, an unnamed senior White House official said, “It’s very clear from reviewing the operation in real time that the massive explosion on the third floor is what really caused the casualties.” On the following morning, Biden said, “Last night’s operation took a major terrorist leader off the battlefield and has sent a strong message to terrorists around the world: we will come after you and find you.”

3

February 4

BEIJING, CHINA

On Feb. 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China to attend the Beijing Olympics. Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jingping, who hosted him as they discussed and declared a so-called no-limits partnership, backing each other over standoffs with Ukraine and Taiwan as well as promising to enact further collaboration against the west.

According to Reuters, Jingping expressed support for Russia’s demand that Ukraine should not be admitted into NATO, and in limiting growth of NATO altogether. In return, Putin expressed support for China’s assertion that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and opposed any form of independence for the island. The two countries also made a new gas deal worth approximately $117.5 billion, which will ramp up Russia’s far east exports. “Our oilmen have prepared very good new solutions on hydrocarbon supplies to the People’s Republic of China,” Putin said.

INTERNATIONAL

5

NOT JUST FOR COLLECTORS:

THE SURPRISING AFTERLIFE OF TYPEWRITERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY What kind of a person do you picture using a typewriter in the digital age? If you imagined hipster poets, novelists with day jobs or anyone who religiously collects vinyl, you might be partially correct. But you’d also be missing the whole picture.

Don Reed, the owner of Pacific Typewriter Company in Portland, Oregon, filled out the missing parts in the story of modern typewriter demand.

“Most of the customers that I have right now [are] cities, counties, banks, mortuaries…because they have forms they have to fill out,” Reed explained. “There’s twoor three-part forms. With the state of Oregon for example, they have to type those.”

Reed’s biggest clients aren’t collectors, hipsters or antiquarians at all, but modern business-oriented organizations and agencies. Which begs the question: in a world stocked with computers that are both powerful and cheap, why use typewriters at all? The answer, as in so many cases, boils down to a case of legal fine print.

Almost all businesses and government agencies are required to fill out reams of legal forms as part of their day-to-day operations, and in many cases, these legally-binding documents can’t be scanned because it represents an alteration of the original—and is therefore void. Reed cited an example of a recent client who tried to submit scanned legal documents to a law school, only to find them rejected because they weren’t the original forms she was supposed to fill out.

“They wouldn’t accept it,” Reed said. “It wasn’t their form…they just said no.” The client spent a hundred dollars and got a typewriter—a solution Reed could provide.

Stories like this one aren’t unique. In fact, their sheer commonality is what supplies Pacific Typewriter with a steady stream of business.

But for Reed, supplying typewriters to meet this demand is nothing new.

Reed started at Pacific Typewriter—then called Portland Typewriter—in 1966, when he was in his early twenties. He worked his way up in the company, eventually earning himself his own territory for the chance to earn his own commissions. With the extra money coming in, he reinvested his spare income into the business, gradually accumulating ownership until he and a few colleagues were able to take over the company when it was changing hands.

In those early years, before cheap desktop computers took over as word processors, business was fast, and competition was fierce. “Back in the ‘80s, if you didn’t answer the phone on the third ring, they’d call somebody else,” Reed said.

He described tooth-and-nail pricing competitions between rival typewriter retailers as they jostled for market shares—in showdowns that Reed compared to gas wars. Product moved fast, and Reed was sometimes selling upwards of twenty typewriters at a time to business offices.

Now, decades later, computers have taken over daily word-processing needs—but electronic typewriters are still in demand, despite the tech-savvy trend towards digital.

Reed recounted a conversation with several computer salesmen at a convention that underscored the 21st-century reliance on typewriters. They asked him who still used typewriters, and when Reed questioned in return if they had to ever fill out any forms, they said yes. And, of course, they used a typewriter to do it.

The two computer salesmen Reed remembered aren’t alone in their use of typewriters for legal forms, but for them and other businesses, there’s a problem: most decent electronic typewriters have been discontinued.

“Today you cannot buy a typewriter new that’s worth anything,” Reed said.

“They’re absolute garbage.”

Companies like Reed’s fill in the gap in supply by assembling large quantities of used IBM electric typewriters and refurbishing them for the commercial market. With few modern-day competitors, Pacific Typewriter is able to control much of the market.

“I don’t make any calls anymore,” Reed said of finding new clients. “I haven’t done that for years.”

Not all of Reed’s customers are businesses and government offices, however.

Some, per the established typewriter-owner stereotype, are vintage-loving collectors. Reed himself doesn’t share their antiquarian drive, but he’s happy to help them find what they’re looking for.

“I’m not a collector,” he said. “I buy and sell.”

The contrast between Reed’s commercial and retail customers highlights the fact that people buy things for very different reasons. Regardless of their motivations, Reed enjoys the business.

“It’s something I love to do,” Reed said.

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ARTS & CULTURE

SHANNON STEED

IN A DIGITAL AGE, TYPEWRITERS AREN'T JUST FOR HIPSTERS AND COLLECTORS PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

LOVE & SEX GUIDE

PLATONIC LOVE IS DEEPLY UNDERVALUED How we can learn we are already whole JUSTIN CORY From our first moments of cognitive consciousness, we are bombarded with stories and cues that imprint our culture’s values upon us. A very particular model of love is imprinted first through our parents and, following that, through our siblings and primary family members. As small children, we vivaciously consume all of the media and information made available to us from Disney cartoons, and onward in our teens to angsty teenage dramas. Finally, we meet the trite barrage of romantic comedies in our early adulthood.

Though it is changing, the models we are presented with for how to love—or what a loving relationship is—are overwhelmingly cisgendered and heterosexual.

Digging even deeper, we are saturated by omnipresent messaging directing all of us to believe that we are searching for another person to complete ourselves, as though before this union with the right person occurs we are fundamentally incomplete.

This is a corrosive idea. For starters, through the patriarchal conditioning of current models of masculinity, men are often less likely to form long-lasting bonds and friendships throughout their lives, leading to isolation and increased risks for mental illness and suicide later in life. This is especially problematic when the few intimate relationships in their life break down.

According to studies by the National Center for Health Statistics, the suicide rate for cis men was 3.5 times higher than that of women, and was highest among those aged 65 and older. Factors showed that these men were often more isolated after the breakdown of romantic relationships, had suppressed showing emotion due to cultural standards of masculinity, had undiagnosed depression that they self-described as stress, were more likely to use alcohol or drugs to self-treat their depression and used more lethal means in their suicide attempts than other categories of people studied.

Sexism and toxic masculinity are literally killing us. This is equally true for cis women.

The concept of the friend zone is an especially pernicious and dehumanizing force. It posits that the only purpose of bonding or of forging relationships between cisgendered, heterosexual men and women must be sexual and romantic in nature. Not only does this set the stage for the kind of skewed domination-over-the-other power-imbalance we see playing out across society at large, but it reduces women to objects of sexual desire devoid of agency and depth.

According to studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five women have experienced sexual violence or rape in their lifetimes. And we know that sexual assault is vastly underreported thanks to the shame, victim-blam-

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LOVE & SEX GUIDE

“When culture is based on a dominator model, not only will it be violent, but it will frame all relationships as power struggles.”—bell hooks ing and gaslighting of our patriarchal society as well.

Things are even more bleak when we look at the impact of these attitudes on the trans community. Dawn Ennis of Forbes wrote that “52% of all transgender and nonbinary young people in the U.S. seriously contemplated killing themselves in 2020.” Over half believed they “would be better to be dead” as opposed to living with “rejection, isolation, loneliness, bullying and being targeted by politicians and activists pushing anti-trans legislation.”

Add to this a report by the Human Rights Campaign that found that at least 50 trans and gender-nonconforming people were murdered in 2021, making it the deadliest year since they began this reporting. Patriarchy, misogyny, toxic masculinity, transphobia—they all have to go.

The good news is that there are other models for love and how to

be human. We can draw from the examples of past cultures who embraced wide-ranging forms of non-monogamous relationship networks, but more profoundly, we must deepen our understanding of just how important social and emotional bonds are to our total wellbeing.

Science has shown that physical touch is good for us because it floods our bodies with the bonding hormone oxytocin, which in turn lowers our levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Making consensual physical expressions of love a part of our friendships and relationships to our families—chosen and biological— has demonstrably positive impacts on our emotional and mental wellbeing.

The science also indicates that people who feel loved are much less likely to suffer from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression or anxiety. According to Sarah Fader at BetterHelp, platonic relationships also tend toward more openness, honesty, flexibility, longevity and a more unconditional kind of love. This is largely because we are less afraid of losing our friends in the same way that we fear being rejected by an intimate partner. Of course, our intimate sexual relationships should evolve to be more open, honest WHITNEY GRIFFITH and flexible if we want them to last—but that is a whole other discussion.

Our current paradigm tends to position us as atomized individuals in competition for the supposedly scarce resource of romantic love. The models all around us encourage aggressive courtship rituals, and place a premium on romantic and sexual love to the detriment of our other relationships.

It does not have to be this way—we are clearly hurt by these constructs. Men do psychological violence to themselves just by denying the expression of their own emotional being. Further, when we open to the beauty of connection with others based upon mutual expressions of appreciation, support, affection and camaraderie, everyone wins.

Women will no longer be diminished to mere sexual objects— rather, they will be realized as the subjects of their own volition and agency with immense assets to bring to their friendships.

Our transgender friends will no longer suffer from the isolation imposed upon them by these binary systems which deny them a place to exist through the upholding of rigid gender and relationship models—rather, they will be fully seen, appreciated, loved and cherished.

So this Valentine’s Day, hug your friends—with a mask on, as we are still in this cursed pandemic—and remember to continue to cultivate, fertilize and water your friendship gardens. There is no scarcity of love and they are more valuable than we can ever truly know.

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

GET DOWN AND DIRTY THIS VALENTINE’S WEEKEND AT PORTLAND’S ANNUAL MUD RUN My Muddy Valentine isn’t your average date

TANNER TODD What do you picture when you read the words, Valentine’s

Day date? Do you see a candlelit dinner? The tunnel of love?

Wine tasting? An afternoon on a gondola? The runners behind Portland’s My Muddy Valentine race would like to submit another option for your consideration: five kilometers of outdoor racetracks and obstacle courses, covered in a healthy layer of rich, thick, Pacific Northwest mud.

“It’s not the cliche Valentine’s Day idea,” said Molly Meiergerd, one of My Muddy Valentine’s event organizers. “It’s kind of a fun, adventurous date idea.”

For the last several years, lovers, runners and lovers of running have seemed to share Meiergerd’s perspective, and have congregated at the My Muddy Valentine’s race course at Lee Farms to run, jump, slip and slide in the mud, either on their own or with loved ones or friends.

At the risk of sounding punny, it's safe to say that there’s something down-to-earth about running through the mud with a

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

partner or significant other in tow.

Meiergerd described it as like a return to the glory days of childhood.

“It’s kind of nostalgic, in a little kid-like way,” she said. “So I kind of call it like an adult version of that.

It’s so fun to just be careless and stomp through the mud.”

Out on the course, lovers are free to run hand-in-hand and uninhibited as they traverse the slippery slopes of the terrain, without having to hold back for fear of getting dirty.

Besides being a lighthearted excuse to let go, the mud run is also a fun challenge for racers to tackle on Valentine’s weekend, whether it is as a team or solo.

“It’s always really satisfying and fun to accomplish something, and have fun doing it,” Meiergerd said.

While the obstacles certainly aren’t a cakewalk, Meiergerd was careful to emphasize that the difficulty level is placed so that determined people at most levels will be able to do it.

“It’s not just for very intense, Spartan-like people,” Meiergerd said. “We do have an elite wave that goes first if you are a little bit more on the competitive side…but I’ve seen every shape and size and age do this event, which is really cool to see.”

The event doesn’t stop at the finish line, however. After the run, tired and muddy runners can congregate at Lee Farm’s open event area, where they can expect a party waiting there for them.

“All of our races have that fun aspect, for that post-race party,” Meiergerd said. “You can have some free beer or cider afterwards and enjoy some live music.”

Add post-race camaraderie and a runner’s high to the mix and muddy Valentine’s couples can expect a lively after-party.

The My Muddy Valentine’s race has been running out of Lee Farm’s on an annual basis for at least half a decade as of 2022. Funnily enough, the event started out as a clever pun between two friends.

“I had a running buddy named Kyle, who is a pretty creative guy,” stated the event’s founder Aaron Montaglione. “We would do a lot of trail running together. We were up in Wildwood [Forest Park] one day and he said, ‘you should do a mud run called My Muddy Valentine based on My Bloody Valentine the movie.’”

The idea stuck like glue—or mud—and after a few years of percolating in Montagione’s head, he finally pulled the trigger and set up the race in Tualatin.

Now, years later, the race stands slightly apart from the usual gamut of traditional Valentine’s Day activities, offering an experience for slightly outside-the-box couples who aren’t afraid to get a little dirty this year.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A POST-RUN GROUP POSES FOR A PHOTO. A COUPLE SLIDES ON ONE OF THE MUD RUN COURSE'S MANY OBSTACLES. A COUPLE ENJOYS A POST-RACE BEER. COURTESY OF TERRAPINE EVENTS

LOVE & SEX GUIDE

9

ANASTASIA PARGETT

THE STRUGGLES AND SORROWS OF PANDEMIC SEXUALITY NAVIGATING A COLLEGE SEX LIFE DURING COVID-19 IS TOUGH CARTER SILAGO Stereotypically, college is known for partying, trying new things and hookup culture. But with students living the best years of their lives remotely and wandering the ghost town that is campus, how does one become intimate and have sex with other people without risking the transmission of COVID-19?

Personally, dating as a queer, nonbinary college student living in Portland during an apocalyptic event, I can honestly say that it’s been challenging.

With the endless texting, disastrous Zoom dates and countless rapid tests to go on a single outing, this pandemic has made being closer to someone more challenging now than it has ever been.

Typically, people used to worry about contracting sexually-transmitted infections, but condoms can be used to prevent that. Now, people are also worried about contracting COVID-19, resulting in protecting themselves and others by wearing a mask and showing proof of vaccinations.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, on-campus housing has drastically changed as a result of the pandemic, restricting the number of people in elevators and not allowing visitors in your room. Despite all of those restrictions, hooking up hasn’t stopped.

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LOVE & SEX GUIDE

We humans are biologically designed to respond to touch. It is touch that we associate with emotion, and the absence of it leaves a need to be touched. I once went a whole year not touching anyone. Not even a simple handshake—and I felt that distance between me and everyone growing each day.

Maybe that’s why college students are still hooking up during a pandemic. We all want to be closer to someone, even when the world feels like it is ending.

Engaging with someone outside of your social bubble is always a risk. But we are social creatures, and now we must navigate the fatigue of social distancing. Whenever I have hung out with friends and met new people, right when we go into their dorm—boom—the masks come off. There is this complete level of trust that no one is sick, and that we are safe—which is likely wishful thinking.

For example, let’s say my friend Alice just started hooking up with a guy from Blackstone, a dorm across campus whom he shares with three other guys. One of his roommates is a Starbucks barista who works with at least four other people every shift, and they serve hundreds of customers each

day. One of those people has a dad who is an antivaxxer who just caught the virus. With the average busy schedule of a college student, many still don’t have the booster shot—and the chain of transmission can be a very complex gamble.

With the end of winter break and school becoming fully remote, it can get lonely for students living on-campus who were promised a normal college experience. What I have personally learned during this pandemic is that dating and sexual encounters are possible if you set boundaries and make certain expectations clear from the beginning. Communication is key.

For college students in long-term relationships at the beginning of the pandemic, many may feel like they lucked out, and that they can ride this pandemic out together and don’t have to worry as much about getting sick or feeling alone.

A friend of mine who felt incredibly isolated during the pandemic said that she reached out to one of her exes and established a friends-withbenefits situation because she was alone after her cat died. She craved to be close with someone— masturbation only went so far—and he made her feel safe and somewhat loved in a way. This situation over months finally turned into them giving their relationship another chance.

When COVID-19 first hit, I was in a relationship with a guy in my building—whom I fooled myself into thinking I was in love with. He wasn’t a bad guy, just a guy who was overly critical. He made me cry when I pointed out Wes Anderson had no Black characters in his movies, and that Quentin Tarantino wasn’t the epitome of cinema. Film students, am I right?

I’ve endured the historic toilet paper shortage, Zoom burnout and COVID-19 coming out with a new variant every other week. But I got to the point that I would have stayed in a toxic relationship with someone that wasn’t healthiest for me.

I was willing to settle with just about anyone. I was lonely the first few days after I dumped him.

Then I did what any sane lonely spinster would have done in that moment.

I made a Tinder account.

During lockdown, everyone and their mother was on a dating app. It was the summer of love, and there were plenty of fish in Portland—and being queer, the pool of potential partners was okay. Throughout the entirety of the pandemic, I was in many short-lived relationships, went on countless boring dates and had endless text chains that weren’t going anywhere. Some were

kind, some a little strange and a few pushed past my level of comfort.

On one date in particular, I wanted to try and keep my mask for the entirety of the time unless I needed to eat. He told me the last date he was on was well over a year ago, and I was the first person he matched with. He was a nice guy, he also went to PSU, liked Brandon Sanderson’s books—and was a bit overly touchy, but I didn’t mind that.

It wasn’t till the end of the date, when he walked me home, that he took my mask off without my permission and kissed me. It felt like it was in slow motion as he smashed his lips against my face, grabbing my hair to hold my head in place.

I didn’t know how to react, but I kept thinking about whether I needed to take a rapid test or not.

After that night, I kept thinking, “Did I give him an indication I wanted him to kiss me?”

I explained to someone in my Medieval History class what had happened, and she replied that she noticed some guys she’s gone out with were leaning towards wanting to do more than what she was comfortable with—even a little more sexual aggressive.

Throughout my college experience, guys often seem to know how to skirt around the notion of consent to a point—and when you call them out, they make it seem like you’re overreacting.

I wondered if this instance was a byproduct of wanting to feel connected during an apocalyptic pandemic. Was it triggering arousal, or was it simply him being an asshole? I blocked him after that date.

Since that incident, I have asked many fellow college students how COVID-19 has impacted their sex lives. Collectively, one way or another, COVID-19 heavily impacted how they meet people—from meeting people solely on dating apps to private messaging those they find attractive during Zoom calls. People are also trying to develop deeper relationships nowadays with others, and doing it the old-fashioned way by getting to know someone for a while before sleeping with them.

For the people still hooking up, they are choosing to be physically vulnerable through risking exposure, and being emotionally vulnerable in trusting that their partner has not tested positive.

Even if you’re going to hook up, it’s always best to be safe because it’s not just your health you need to factor in. You are also responsible for the other person’s health. As my father would say, it’s always best to play it safe and don’t be stupid.

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LOVE AT THE CORNER OF ABILITY AND GENDER CAM AND KARISA HOLDING HANDS. SOFIE BRANDT/PSU VANGUARD

KARISA YUASA “I don’t know where to start.”

“Why don’t you just tell the story of my wrist dislocating?”

That’s a story for later. To start, I want to say that there are many factors that go into making any relationship work. Communication is definitely one of those factors, but to be frank, I suck at it. I do believe, however, that I am better at it than I was about a year and a half ago when I met my current partner—we’ll refer to him as Cam for the sake of this article.

Cam and I met in Sept. 2019 at a welcome week event. He was with some people I met at another event the day before, and when I went to introduce myself, he signed something in American Sign Language (ASL). Taken aback, I froze. Although he asked me what my name was, my brain did not know what to do with the fact that he signed to me.

There were definitely misconceptions and biases I had to check going into this relationship.

My lack of knowledge regarding gender, sexuality and ability—some of which I’ll talk about here—showed.

Cam identifies as disabled and transgender.

He’s hard of hearing and has PTSD, dyslexia, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and recently received an official diagnosis for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), along with having a few more mental illness

diagnoses. To keep up morale, sometimes we like to joke and say that he’s slowly working toward checking off every box of his disability bingo card.

Disability and relationships Coming into this relationship, I never thought about the ways in which disability affects relationships. “When we talk about disability, people don’t see disabled people as human,” Cam said. “They don’t see them as people capable of forming relationships.”

There are a lot of stereotypes—and both unconscious and conscious biases—that people from any marginalized group or identity face.

People often associate disability with people not wanting relationships or not being capable of being in a relationship.

“Also, a lot of times if a person’s disabled, the other person doesn’t necessarily become a caretaker, but in a way becomes a caretaker,” Cam said. “It is not meant to be that way, but it just kind of happens.”

Here’s where the wrist story comes into play.

The night before I was set to move out and head home last summer, Cam and I were hanging

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out and his wrist dislocated. Dislocations are common for people with EDS, but it had never happened to this extent while we were together. Fast forward through the hours in the emergency room, less-than-phenomenal care and COVID-19 guest restrictions, I walked away formally in OHSU’s database as his caretaker—a label I never expected as a college student.

Gender is a funny thing To be completely honest, from our first encounter, other than knowing about his fluency in ASL—and later, his hearing loss—I didn’t know too much about health concerns before we got together. My biggest concern, therefore, was possible misconceptions about gender.

“Gender is weird,” Cam said. “I get really dysphoric sometimes which I feel affects my relationships even though I don’t want it to.”

I’ve learned that, although I probably will never fully comprehend dysphoria, I need to be present and listen. I need to actively listen even in situations that I don’t truly understand or would typically get frustrated by.

As a cis person, I’m not going to sit here and complain about how hard it is to date a non-cis

person. It’s not a burden, and isn’t actually much different than any other relationship. Listen to them and see what they need.

Making it work “I think it’s important that people know that communication has to be stronger when you are dating someone with different identities,” Cam said. “That’s so that you can make sure you are not triggering or causing more harm. You need to make sure you know what is okay and what is not okay and how to make sure that if something were to happen, you kind of know the safety plan.”

Remember when I said my communication skills suck?

Just like any other relationship, consent and communication are key, so I am working on it. What people are okay with may change depending on the situation, so taking the time to check-in is incredibly important.

I’ve learned that the more you ask, the fewer awkward and potentially harmful situations you have to get into later. Sometimes it took us sitting in awkward silence for what felt like forever in order for me to get the words out to ask questions; however, taking that time was the best thing I could have done.

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MY LIFE AS A

SEX SHOP EMPLOYEE RYAN MCCONNELL A question I’m often asked when I say I’ve worked at a sex shop before is “What is it like?”—and it’s often a loaded question. It was an experience full of positives, some negatives and yes, there are definitely stories to tell. Ultimately, my experience is one that emphasizes the importance of communication.

One of the most fulfilling lessons of working at a sex shop—in addition to getting comfortable talking about sex—is understanding what sex positivity truly means in practice.

Oftentimes, I catch myself in public settings because it’s so easy to be desensitized to talking about sex, and I have to remember my colleagues aren’t always as forthcoming. Questions about what you’re into may be discussed more often online than inperson but, while working at a sex shop, it’s a necessary question that you need to ask every customer that walks through those doors. At the end of the day, you are an employee whose job is to sell people products they’ll enjoy.

This question can cause friction when a customer is looking to purchase a gift for someone else. Usually when a customer isn’t shopping for themselves, they can be divided into two classes of people: those who shop for what they want their partner to do, and those who think that we employees are sexual psychics who can magically identify what their partner is into for them.

A memorable experience was an individual approaching the counter to ask in a jovial tone, “So, uh, what do girls like? What can I get my girl, something she’d be into?”

My initial question is one I had come to repeat quite often during my tenure, “I don’t know, have you asked?” The look on his face was something of utter confusion and disappointment.

“But…but you guys work here right? Don’t you know what people like?”

The short answer is yes, we do. People like everything we sell in the store. That’s the point of a sex shop. The misconception is that there is a specific demographic for any particular interest. There is no single correlation nor statistic that can be brought up that links any particular product to any group of people or population.

This is where the world of kinks collides with the world of expectation. There’s a relevant phenomenon in psychology known as functional fixedness, a type of cognitive bias where people can see objects only working in one specific way.

When you work at a sex shop, you must throw this bias out

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the window.

Take lingerie, for example. It may seem to be common knowledge that only women wear lacy lingerie—but this is just not true.

Men of all shapes, sizes and ages may be attracted to wearing lingerie, or their partner may have an attraction to men wearing lingerie. Another misguided notion—often coming from typical heteronormative ilk—is that enjoying anal play, such as pegging or using butt plugs, somehow makes a male individual gay, or not straight. Many straight men can enjoy prostate stimulation; it has nothing to do with whom they are attracted to.

Language that differentiates between vulva and phallus becomes more important than dividing between products for women and men. In a sex shop, everyone is free to be themselves and get the help they need to find what suits them.

While Fox News anchors might fiercely disagree, there is a distinct difference between gender identity and anatomy. For sex shop workers, it’s not a political talking point, but a necessary fact that human diversity is real and that the needs of sexual satisfaction applies to one’s working anatomical parts, not their identity.

Trans and intersex folk aren’t a debate between party lines; they are real people who enjoy much the same things cisgender folk do.

Sex shops are oftentimes the only places that can sell tools that help support one’s transition, including external silicone breasts and packers which emulate a concealed penis. External breasts are also much more affordable than surgical implants, which is useful for those who have had mastectomies.

As a sex shop employee, there are many times where you feel as if you’re taking an active part in supporting people and getting to share historic moments for them. That is why all employees must come from a place of empathy and acceptance—because, for some, this is their only safe haven.

That is not to say that sex shop life doesn’t have its fair share of wild moments and giddy experiences, even amongst ourselves.

You learn—and learn quickly—that for some, entering a shop where sexual freedom reigns is an experience in and of itself.

Once, there was a couple with a submissive partner—adorned in a full gimp suit and leashed to their master—where I, as an employee, could not spur conversation with said sub because they required permission to speak from their master.

For them, it was part of the fun to be themselves without being judged. However, to us it became more of an inconvenience when we needed to ask the individual directly what they needed—and going through a proxy was more challenging than it was amusing.

Exhibitionism and voyeurism were also quite common kinks with rather unique ways to approach a situation. One distinct memory is of an exhibitionist and his girlfriend who— arriving so soon before closing time—were looking to have the man try on some of our risqué male underwear. It was a humbling experience, having only worked one week prior.

He was an undeniably attractive fellow, and during his stay, he made an effort to step outside the dressing room for advice on how the underwear looked from me and my colleague—both openly gay men. I stumbled on my words several times and my face became beet red, according to my colleague.

“Hey!” the man said, in a chillingly aggressive display of masculinity, “My eyes are up here!” My face froze, heart beating faster than a racehorse.

“Is this it?” I thought to myself. “Oh god, have I crossed a boundary? Am I going to get fired?”

“I’m just messin’ with ya!” he proclaimed. “It’s cute though right?”

That’s when it hit me: this scheme was intentional. Not only did he like to show off, but his female counterpart genuinely enjoyed us fawning over her partner, and struggling to conduct ourselves like impartial salesmen.

“Isn’t he hot?” she said. “We’re heading to this club later and I am so excited to see everyone’s faces when he wears this.”

Half of the fun for them was being able to show off and watch as the world around them crumbles like a scene out of Impractical Jokers.

Voyeurs, on the other hand, were a different experience.

Our shop had a bookshelf that emphasized education, providing a wide array of reading material from shibari tutorials to transition self-help guides. However, this did not stop the occasional onlooker from interpreting some materials as softcore porn that could be…enjoyed out in the open.

As if straight out of a scene from an animated sitcom, I can’t count how many times I had to kick out voyeurs for trying to masturbate on whatever they could get their hands on. Think of Dora

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the Explorer, but instead of finding treasure, you’re finding serial masturbators and yelling in the distance, “Swiper, no jacking off!”

Most of these instances occurred because we were a sex shop which strictly did not have arcades—a nonce word between shop workers for little rooms that individuals and couples can rent by the hour to do whatever their heart desires. They often have pornography available to rent inside to watch as the night unfolds.

Every body fluid has been spilt in such rooms. Yes, even the most gut-wrenching. Admittedly, this made my job experience much more positive to reflect on because those employees had to clean up the arcades after each use.

Sex work is real work—but the true breadth of what encompasses sex work is laid bare when working at a sex shop. This includes porn actors, porn directors, cam workers, masters and mistresses and, through unspoken but legitimate practice, escorts.

To be clear, it is a violation of federal law to solicit in-person sexual favors in exchange for monetary goods. Thus, at no point in time have I—nor any sex shop employee or institution—condoned nor permitted such acts.

That being said, the wide umbrella that sex work encompasses is a colorful one. Numerous pornstars and directors come in to purchase their equipment and you learn about all sorts of PornHub categories you would never have guessed existed—but would most likely clutch your pearls at.

Many cam workers also require specific tools of the trade to help them flourish at their job. If you’ve ever heard of toys that have wireless remote control or can connect over the internet—Lovense being the top brand—chances are it is a tool built for cam workers so that their onlookers can control the vibrations for a price.

Let’s not forget the importance of kink work as a master or mistress. Netflix’s own show Bonding is a melodramatic—but fairly accurate—portrayal of the life of sex workers as they navigate the trials and tribulations of the industry. Becoming a master or mistress sounds like an intriguing concept on paper. You, the master, command a willing and paying participant to be entirely under your control, performing whatever your client (or yourself ) is into.

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One customer at my shop had a client legitimately restrained in his dungeon as he ran out to shop for lube. Apparently, being unable to escape with no reassurance his master would arrive again was part of the thrill, albeit terrifying for the master who’s responsible for the person during their session. The reality, however, is that there are a million situations where something could go wrong or become dangerous.

There is no sex worker’s union. There are no worker’s rights in the BDSM (bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism) community. Almost all business conducted is underground using cash or Bitcoin. There are no protections for either the professional or the client—so if a session was scheduled and no one shows up, that’s an hour’s worth of work that will never be made back. If there’s an injury that occurred within the space, the professional is completely liable for the injury that happened. If the professional themselves were injured, there’s little recourse for the perpetrator.

There’s no healthcare benefits that come with any sex work job, unless the professional pays for it out of pocket. Because of the nature of the industry, murder is a very serious and real threat that practitioners face. The foundations of secrecy make any form of prosecution or investigation into a crime in this field exponentially harder. It is here where the sex industry mantra of playing safe carries the most weight.

Playing safe is a phrase we in these industries often use because there are right ways to do things—and wrong ways. Flogging, by using a whip or paddle, can permanently harm someone if hit in the wrong spots. There are specific techniques to restrain and/or suspend someone in the air using only rope so that the individual is in a vulnerable position, but not in a stressed position. The difference lies in the perceived stress that is put on the body. If the body is put under severe physical stress, it can cause irreparable damage that isn’t enjoyable for even the most diehard BDSM fans.

Playing safe doesn’t always involve wild, imaginative sex, but can be as simple as using the right lube for intercourse. Without my job as a sex shop worker, I wouldn’t have known why the different lube types were so important. Water-based is the most

flexible, and can be used with any toy while having the added benefit of being reactivated with water, including spit. Siliconbased and hybrid lubricants are the best quality for body-to-body contact, but will degrade and destroy silicone toys and condoms over time—glass toys, however, are fine. Oil-based is much harder to find, and is often not recommended for use because it can damage and irritate the body. This type is best used to put on latex clothing, but water-based lube is a sufficient alternative.

Finally, when discussing safe sex practices, it’s important to be aware of the risks of using products such as amyl nitrate. Poppers, the colloquial term, are inhalants that cause a rush of blood flow to the brain and can be used to open up an individual’s rear end for whatever needs to go inside. They are also illegal.

However, VHS cleaner, or head cleaner, is a product that sex shops are legally allowed to sell. So long as you, A) do not, under any circumstances, call it poppers and B) sell it with an intended use that is explicitly separate from its use as a drug, you’re fine.

What one does with it is up to them, but you will quickly learn that in sex shops, words do matter. My advice: don’t touch it. Taking your time and working towards whatever you’re trying to do is much healthier for you than chemically inducing your body to take it in. There are also plenty of side effects which reiterates that it’s simply not worth it.

The pandemic—like it has been for many—is what caused my job to turn from a form of steady income to a distant memory. It’s one that I will never forget. My closest friends are old co-workers of mine, and the experiences that I learned from so many individuals, both employees and customers, allowed me to fully experience the diversity of human nature and pleasure.

I recommend everyone to work at a sex shop at least once in their life—and not because of how fun it is. In the end, it felt like any other retail job. What’s fulfilling is learning how to be comfortable talking about sex. It’s the best opportunity to explore what appeals to you and how your body works. It also shows you how different people can be. You come to understand that there is no such thing as normal—only different.

And you learn that difference is something to be embraced.

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THE HISTORY OF

ROMANCE IN LANGUAGE

LOVE, FORTUNES AND OTHER DISASTERS BY KIMBERLY KARALIUS. SOFIE BRANDT/PSU VANGUARD

ALBERTO ALONSO PUJAZON BOGANI With Valentine’s Day around the corner, you want to be sure you have a variety of ways to woo your valentine. Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian are five major Romance languages—so if you only know English, I suggest you keep on reading.

The term Romance itself derives from the language’s connections with Rome. The Romance languages all derive from Vulgar Latin, a spoken form of non-Classical Latin. It was originally spoken by small groups of people living along the lower Tiber River, but spread with increased Roman political power— first through Italy and eventually through most of Europe and Mediterranean coastal regions of Africa. The Romance languages are considered some of the easiest languages to identify because they share a large portion of basic vocabulary, and can easily be traced back—with few breaks—to the Roman Empire.

Romance languages continue to spread throughout the world with 920 million speakers claiming a Romance language as their mother tongue—and 300 million claiming one as a second language at the beginning of the 21st century, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

Categorizing the Romance languages within their own family is more difficult than categorizing Romance languages themselves. The classifications are mostly based on historicogeographic categorizations—Spanish and Portuguese are IberoRomance, French is Gallo-Romance and so on. Classification of the languages are often in dispute on the basis of classification by history or phonetic similarities. Italian, for example, can be the least differentiated language when compared to traditional Latin, while French would be the most differentiated. Italian is considered a more central language because of its mutual intelligibility with other Romance languages.

You may be asking yourself, “all this history is interesting, but how can it apply to me?” Well, with Valentine’s day around the corner there’s no better time to learn some facts to back up your acts.

Now, here’s to learning how to say “I love you” in each Romance language to give you a head start on swooning your valentine.

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SPANISH:

In Spanish, “I love you” directly translates to “Te amo.”

However, “Te amo” is regarded as having heavier meaning than it does in English. “Te amo” is reserved directly for your significant other, and is only used to profess romantic, not platonic love. If you wish to communicate a more casual or platonic love between friends or family members in Spanish, say “Te quiero.”

PORTUGUESE:

In Portuguese, “I love you” directly translates to “Amo você.” “Amo você” in Portuguese can be used to express platonic casual love to friends and family members, as it is not exclusively romantic.

However, if you are trying to swoon someone in Portuguese say “Amo Demais,” which translates to “I love you so much” in English.

FRENCH:

In French, “I love you” directly translates to “Je t’aime.”

However, this can get confusing as “t’aime” both means “like” and “love” in French. If you wish to differentiate between the two easier, add the word “beaucoup” (a lot) to the end of the phrase—“Je t’aime beaucoup.”

ITALIAN:

In Italian, “I love you” directly translates to “Ti amo.” Similar to Spanish, “Ti amo” is reserved only for romantic love, and is something that would only be said to a romantic partner. “Ti voglio bene” is the appropriate phrase for telling a friend or family member that you love them in Italian.

BE PREPARED TO SAY "I LOVE YOU" IN MORE THAN ONE WAY

ROMANIAN:

In Romanian, “I love you” directly translates to “Te iubesc.”

“Te iubesc” is among many ways to express or confess love in Romanian, and like “I love you” in English, is the casual way of telling someone you love them.

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LOVE & SEX COMICS

WHITNEY GRIFFITH

MIA LEVY

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ANASTASIA PARGETT

ASTRID LUONG

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LEO CLARK

LEO CLARK

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SECTION

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MANNY AND CRICKET PLAYING A LIVE CONCERT. COURTESY OF CHAINSAW GIRL

L R I G W A S N I A H C S ’ D N A L T R O P S E I D O EMB EATIVE SPIRIT R C Y I D OMER C W E N E I W IT H IND E N E C S E H ENTERS T NDALONE EP FIRST STA

JESSE ROPERS Portland’s do-it-yourself music scene has been part of what makes the city special for decades. Chainsaw Girl embodies this ethos perfectly.

The group started when guitarists Manny and Kai met at a Yu-Gi-Oh conference in 2016. They began talking about their shared love of music, and considered forming a band together.

A few years later, Kai got a loud neighbor: future Chainsaw Girl vocalist Cricket. “[They were] really noisy,” Kai said. “They were really good at singing and [I] could hear them through the walls all the time.”

The two eventually began talking, and Cricket was brought on as the vocalist for the band. The trio dubbed themselves Dog Eat Dog World—but when COVID-19 struck, the pandemic put an end to any aspirations for the project.

With plenty of time to kill in quarantine, the three founding members decided to expand their project and rename the band. Manny and Kai pitched the name of a Yu-Gi-Oh card for their group name, but Cricket vetoed it.

In the end, they settled on the name Chainsaw Girl, an homage to the Number Girl song “Inizawa Chainsaw.” After choosing a name, they found drummer Sasha off a Craigslist ad, and Kai invited their friend Mei in as the bassist. With the final two additions, the group was complete and ready to play.

On July 4, 2021, Chainsaw Girl played their debut performance at a flag desecration extravaganza, hosted at Revolution Hall. The group wasn’t originally meant to perform that day, but after another band dropped out, they were called in as a replacement.

As the night progressed, their time kept getting pushed back further and further until they were the final performance of the night. Their set was a self-described mess.

Manny recounted taping their phones to their instruments as flashlights to see the strings, while Cricket was harassed the entire time by a man in the front row—who would come up between songs to let them know they sucked.

Despite the challenges, the group saw it as a great first show.

Kai remembered thinking that he played terribly right after, but looked back at it fondly. He described it as one of “the best first shows I’ve had with anybody.”

Cricket based their own judgment of that first show—and ones afterwards—from the audience’s reaction.

“You can evaluate your own performance if you want,” Cricket said. “But at the end of the day, if everyone seemed to have a good time, then it was a good show.”

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Since then, the group has performed at various venues across Portland, including cafes, drag shows, beaches and even the Portland State University campus.

To date, their biggest performance was opening for Destroy Boys at the Crystal Ballroom.

Manny said that they would like their shows to be a safe space where “weirdos and queers can go and be themselves away from oppressive spaces.”

Cricket agreed, adding that it’s always devastating to find out there are bad people in the community, and emphasized the need for barring predators from the scene.

“It’s our responsibility as artists to make sure that the people who come see us are safe,” they said.

After months of live performances, Chainsaw Girl released their self-titled EP. The project is a mix of various musical elements, with each member drawing inspiration from different backgrounds.

Sasha describes the driving, non-flashy drums of post-hardcore band Title Fight as his main influence for drums. Both Manny and Kai name several J-rock bands, such as Number Girl and Polka Dot Stingray, as inspirations along with the band Joyce Manor.

Mei draws from an eclectic mix of Bay Area DIY bands, like Plush and Harden. Finally, Cricket names Mitski, Hayley Williams and Caroline Polachek as their main inspirations for vocals.

The first track of their debut album Chainsaw Girl is an energetic intro that jumps straight into what the band is all about.

Kai describes the song as “an experiment in abstract character development through lyrics.”

Cut lines can be found on the song’s YouTube video, although the band disavowed the audio quality. Each bandmate wrote their part in separation, and brought them together to create a unique final product. In live performances, the band frequently plays it as the last song of the night, in order to leave their audience feeling riled up.

The second song on the EP “Late Stage” is the first song the group wrote together—it captures the band members’ experiences from the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. It depicts the strange mundaneness that occurs when getting tear gassed and brutalized by the Portland Police Bureau becomes routine—the cycle of staying up until 4 a.m. fighting for what is right, only to wake up the next day and do it all over again. During that period, the band didn’t produce much music, often marching on PSU campus itself.

The third song on the EP “Snow Bank” is the emotional core of the project. Cricket described the song as drawing inspiration

from the “cold and noncommutative state of mind before admitting [a] relationship is done.”

Just after finishing the lyrics, Cricket’s partner at the time called to tell them their relationship was over. When Cricket brought the song to the group, their fellow bandmates helped transform it from a brooding, bedroom ballad to a cathartic release of frustration and tension.

Anti-imperialist and anticapitalist politics are also strongly integrated into their art. The group’s art collective— Rottweiler1312—is an extension of this artistic philosophy, and serves as a platform for the group’s political activism. The collective started with Chainsaw Girl and fellow bands Common Girl and Purity, and serves as a space for artists in the DIY community to work together. Since then, other bands, photographers and even a Twitch streamer have joined the group. Besides their work in the collective, Chainsaw Girl embodies their values by performing at various charity and mutual aid events hosted throughout the city.

In their performance at Party in the Park this fall term, Manny publicly denounced Portland State University’s association with Boeing, demanding for the school to cut ties with the company.

“Boeing sells and distributes murder weapons that have been used to kill people in the Philippines, Somalia, Palestine and many other places across the globe,” they said.

Manny linked this onstage political activism with the sevenday protest carried out by PSU students in the ‘60s against the carpet bombing of Cambodia—and against the transportation of nerve gas through Oregon.

“In this way, what we did aligns with what has been a part of organizing inside PSU that has been around and strong for forever,” they said.

Chainsaw Girl collaborates with organizations both on and off campus, including Disarm PSU, Anakbayan, Oregon Coalition for Land and Peoples’ Rights and SUPER, a Palestinian PSU student group.

Since their inception, Chainsaw Girl has proven to be an everevolving project that embodies what the Portland DIY scene can be. The band marries a variety of different sounds into something new and fresh, aligning the music with their politics. The group anticipates several new releases on the horizon, along with an upcoming anticolonial and anti-imperialist showcase that would have them performing alongside speeches and booths from various organizations.

Curious listeners can find the group on Instagram @chainsawgirl.pdx.

ARTS & CULTURE

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FOOTBALL SIGNS 24 NEW ATHLETES FOR 2022-23 ERIC SHELBY

MEN’S BASKETBALL

106 POINT WIN FOR THE VIKS AGAINST NORTHERN COLORADO 20

SPORTS

The Portland State Vikings won in a close 79-76 game against the Northern Colorado Bears. The Viks had a comfortable 21-point lead going into the half, 51-30. A fastbreak by the Bears gave them a comeback—and the first tie of the second half, 67-67, with five minutes left in regulation. Unlike the Southern Utah game, the Viks did not let it go to overtime, and finished strong with a three-point edge over the Bears.

Ezekiel Alley, in his 28 minutes of play, dropped 22 points on the Bears. He shot 7-13, with three three-pointers and six rebounds to help give the Viks their second win in a row. Damion Squire stayed consistent with 19 points, going 7-18 and two three-pointers.

Marlon Ruffin had 15 minutes of play, and went 5-10 and 2-2 on three-pointers with 12 points for the Viks. Ian Burke has been an essential player for the Viks recently, 11 points and a perfect 3-3 on three-pointers which is a career season-high record for Burke.

The Viks traveled to Greely, Colorado for the Northern Colorado rematch, and the result of this game was nothing but NBA stats.

Portland State continued their streak with their third win in a row, scoring 106-99 in their third 100-point game this season. Portland State, in their past three wins, averaged a high of 94 points per game.

Alley, to no surprise, put up a season-high 23 points and four three-pointers on the Bears in the rematch. Ruffin put up 20 points with a perfect 3-3 on three-pointers and 3-3 on free throws. 15 points and two three-pointers came from Michael Carter III. Burke came with 14 points and two steals, also going a perfect 7-7 on free throws. Paris Dawson went 2-2 on three-pointers and 4-4 on the free throw line with 12 points. Khalid Thomas went 4-6 with a three-pointer under his belt against Northern Colorado. The team as a whole went 14-25 (56%) on three-pointers and 26-32 (81.3%) on the free throw line.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Viks kept it close with the Southern Utah Thunderbirds going 31-28 at the half. Portland State ultimately lost 77-53. Jada Lewis showed out, putting 16 points on the board and four three-pointers for the Vikings. Alaya Fitzgerald put up 10 points and two steals, going a perfect 4-4 on the free throw line—and five rebounds.

The Viks struggled offensively, with a 38% field goal percentage. Esmeralda Morales put up eight points with four turnovers. Mia ‘Uhila also had eight points and two steals.

‘Uhila led the Viks in scoring—putting up 12 points with two three-pointers in another heartbreaker against Northern Colorado, falling 59-51. Fitzgerald had seven rebounds, going 5-6 on the line and 11 points. The rebound master, Reilly Kelty, had eight rebounds and four blocks, leading in both categories. Savannah Dhaliwal had three turnovers, and shot 4-9 with

eight points. Two steals and two turnovers came from Morales, also putting up seven points. Even though it was a low-scoring game, the Viks struggled again on three-pointers, only making 3-21.

The game was tight until the end, with eight ties and twelve lead changes. Portland State went 2-8 on three-pointers in the fourth quarter, after going 1-13 the first three quarters.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

The Viks traveled to Ramona, California to face San Diego Christian College, and took a W against the Hawks, 4-1. In doubles, Majo Hernandez and Emily Rees almost swept, winning 6-1. Makoto Ohara and Nika Beukers also took a 6-1 win in doubles. Jacinta Milenkoski and Maddie Egan went unfinished, ending the match with 5-1.

In singles, Ohara won in three (6-2, 2-6, 7-5).

Rees fell to Liza Hinrich in two (5-7, 4-6). Both matches by Beukers and Egan went unfinished with Beukers going (6-0, 6-7, 2-3) and Egan going (3-6, 6-4, 4-1). Hernandez won quickly (6-1, 6-2)—and Milenkoski won (6-1, 6-3).

To end their California road trip, the Vikings played Point Loma in a close 4-3 loss overall.

In doubles, Hernandez and Rees won 6-4.

Beukers and Ohara won in a close one, 7-6 (7-3). Milenkoski and Egan fell, 7-5. In singles, Beukers won (4-6, 7-6, 6-3). Rees fell in three,(6-4, 5-7, 3-6). Ohara fell in two (46, 3-6). Hernandez fell (6-7, 6-2, 3-6), and Milenkoski also fell (6-7, 3-6). Egan was the first singles match to finish winning (6-4, 7-5).

The next match is a two-game home stretch when the Seattle University Redhawks come to town on Feb. 11 and University of California, Irvine on Feb. 13.

FOOTBALL: NATIONAL SIGNING DAY

The gridiron Vikings signed 24 new athletes to the program on national signing day on Feb. 2, as they get ready for the season opener at San Jose State on Sept. 3. The Viks picked up 12 new young players on defense including five defensive linemen, three linebackers and four defensive backs. The Viks also signed four offensive linemen, a pair of tight ends, two running backs, two quarterbacks and two wide receivers.

The Viks released their 2022-23 football season schedule recently, and will start with traveling to San Jose State and University of Washington. A to-be-determined home game will be played Sept. 17. They then travel to play Montana, and a two-game homestand will follow against Northern Arizona and Weber State. They will travel to Idaho and Eastern Washington, before playing the last two home games of the regular season versus Northern Colorado and Sacramento State. The last game of the regular season will be at Cal Poly.

Portland State finished their season 5-6 with a ranked win over #24 in the nation, Weber State. The Viks look to have their first winning season since 2015, going 9-3 with a playoff appearance.

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

NEW SIGNINGS Tanner Beaman TE/LB, Vancouver, WA Skyview HS Braylon Cornell OL, West Linn, OR West Linn HS Bryson Summers OL, El Dorado Hills, CA Oak Ridge HS EJ Ane DT, Fort Irwin, CA San Jose State Geri Theodore DE, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Uni. of Toledo Anthony Tena OL, Santa Ana, CA Orange Lutheran HS Peyton Wing LB, Sumner, WA Sumner HS Michael Hurst Jr. DB, Bellflower, CA Servite HS Joseph Nanai LB, Santa Barbara, CA Bishop Garcia Diego HS Duhron Goodman DB, Valencia, CA Patrick Henry HS Elijah Lux RB, San Diego, CA Patrick Henry HS Elijah Gipson DB, Westlake Village, CA Oaks Christian HS Logan Gonzalez QB, Orange, CA Orange Lutheran HS Ezriel Vasquez DB, Stockton, CA Lincoln HS Elias Sanders DL, Spanaway, WA Bethel HS Dino Kahaulelio DT, Santa Rosa, CA CC of San Francisco Brooks Ferguson QB, Monmouth, OR West Salem HS Mike MacNeil DL, Salinas, CA Salinas HS

PLAYER PROFILE: EZEKIEL ALLEY A senior out of Tucson, Arizona, Alley put up a season-high 23 points in the 106-point win over the Bears—and a season-high four three-pointers made.

The 6-1 guard is a transfer from Fullerton College and Northwest Nazarene in Idaho before becoming a Viking. He averages 9.5 points per game and a .445 field goal percentage along with a .350 three-point field goal percentage. In his last two games against Northern Colorado, he has scored a total of 45 points and 10 rebounds for the Vikings. He returns to the Pavillion Feb. 17 when the Viks take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

Charlie White TE, Banks, OR Banks HS Jake Cooper OL, Milwaukie, OR Milwaukie HS Elijah Mareko LB, Covington, WA Kentwood HS Quincy Craig RB, Garden Grove, CA Mater Dei HS Omar Hammond WR, San Diego, CA Patrick Henry HS Jaylen Lynch WR, Murrieta, CA Orange Lutheran HS

OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM TOP: EZEKIEL ALLEY WITH A LAYUP AGAINST EVERGREEN. THE VIKINGS OUTSIDE DURING PRACTICE. ERIC SELBY/PSU VANGUARD CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP: TYREESE SHAKIR AT PRACTICE. IAN BURKE AND PARIS DAWSON DEFENDING. JADA LEWIS DRIBBLES PAST NORTHERN COLORADO. EZEKIEL ALLEY RUNNING DOWN THE COURT. ERIC SELBY/PSU VANGUARD

SPORTS

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WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ANTISEMITISM JUSTIN CORY Various iterations of white nationalism—the belief that white people are a singular race, that this race is superior to all others and that they must develop and maintain a white, racial-national identity and ethnostate—have been promulgating and metastasizing both online and in the halls of power for a long time now. From the founding of the American colonies, this nation’s existence has explicitly depended upon the theft of lands through the settler-colonial genocide of Indigenous peoples from sea to shining sea and the expropriation of the forced labor of enslaved Africans.

When the scourge of slavery was finally abolished in 1865, the system shifted to relying upon the exploitation of marginalized groups by denying them complete access to the protections of full citizenship while continuing to expand the riches and power of the wealthy.

Many brilliant thinkers have deeply analyzed these historical factors and their direct connection to present conditions—the 1619 Project, Roxanne DunbarOrtiz’s An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States and Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow are a few that you should absolutely read.

A wider cultural understanding emerging from the devastating impacts of these intersecting systems of oppression and domination is encouraging.

However, it is appalling that it has taken so long for the many voices of the marginalized to reach this critical mass, and in many ways, it has been in reaction to ascendancing white nationalism as it animates the base of the right-wing in the United States.

Our culture tends to take very binary or dichotomous perspectives—things are good or evil, black or white, male or female, heterosexual or homosexual—and in doing so, we miss the complexities and nuances so crucial to understanding and evolving beyond our present maladies. This deficit has been especially pronounced when considering antisemitism.

Recently, The View host Whoopie Goldberg said that “the Holocaust isn’t about race. It’s not. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man, that’s what it’s about. These are two groups of white people.”

There was a swift backlash that has led to Goldberg being suspended from the show for two weeks, issuing of an apology that seemed to reinforce her original point of the Jewish people not being a race and calls for her to be fired.

Her statements in the discussion were predicated upon the recent decision by a Tennessee school board to ban the

There is incontestable evidence of the prevalence of systemic racism, as previously mentioned in this article. Where this conversation gets mired in complexity is in the nature of Goldberg’s statement.

She is a Black woman who has posited that race is about the color of one’s skin. This understanding of race is absolutely a component of systemic racism, however, it is not the whole picture. She misses the crucial component that race was constructed differently in Nazi Germany—Jewish and Roma people were racialized as inferior. Further, her remarks erased the fact that there are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) who are Jews.

For centuries, the Jewish people have been cast as an evil force within European society from the accusations of blood libel—that they sacrificed Christian children—through to the Spanish Inquisition and their subsequent expulsion from many medieval European nations.

In 1903, the Russian Czarist police published a now-infamous fabricated document called The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, purporting to be the meeting minutes of a Jewish cabal attempting to seize control of the entire world.

The aftermath of damage due to this document has been absolutely inconceivable. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party seized upon it as proof of the threat posed by the Jewish people to the German nation.

The Holocaust (also called the Shoah)—the genocidal slaughter of over six million Jewish people—would not have been possible without the systematic denigration and brutalization of Jewish people made possible through antisemitism. The myth of Jewish power was crucial to these atrocities. In it lies another nuanced contradiction, as they were seen as racially inferior while also wielding some sort of Protocols-style power to orchestrate global corruption and domination.

It is also important to mention that Holocaust denial has been the contemporary vanguard of antisemitism in both Europe and the U.S. ever since.

Prior to the rise of the Nazis in the U.S., Nazi-sympathizer, friend to Hitler and Mussolini and business magnate Henry Ford published half a million copies of The Protocols renamed

The struggle for human rights is intersectional and interconnected.

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OPINION

Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus, which recounts the experiences of Holocaust survivors.

This move is part of a wider strategy challenging the teaching of what has been termed Critical Race Theory (CRT) by rightwing officials across the U.S. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund defines CRT as “an academic and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of American society—from education and housing to employment and healthcare. Critical Race Theory recognizes that racism is more than the result of individual bias and prejudice. It is embedded in laws, policies and institutions that uphold and reproduce racial inequalities.”

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

CARTOONIST ART SPIEGELMAN SIGNING A COPY OF HIS GRAPHIC NOVEL MAUS. COURTESY OF ALBERTO AMANTE as The International Jew. As recently as 2004, Walmart had refused to stop selling copies of it. The dehumanizing, racist characterizations of the Jewish people within that document have gone on to influence many of the conspiracy theories in the U.S. past and present.

The contemporary iteration of these toxic ideologies is espoused by QAnon, who according to the American Jewish Committee, believe that “the world is controlled by a satanic cabal of pedophiles and cannibals, made up of politicians (mostly Democrats), mainstream media, journalists, and Hollywood entertainers. This cabal is accused of controlling a ‘deepstate’ government whose purpose is to undermine and attack [former] President Donald Trump and his supporters.”

QAnon hold wealthy Jewish people like George Soros and the success of some Jewish people in Hollywood as proof positive of their conspiracies, further adding the antisemitic links between their theories. They also directly plagiarize their ideas about pedophilia rings almost verbatim from the blood libel accusations leveled against Jewish people in the Middle Ages—and ever since.

There is an assumption among many in the U.S., including on the left, that Jewish people have assimilated into the constructed racial category of whiteness. They are assumed to benefit from white privilege—the societal privilege that gives social, political and/or economic benefits to white-skinned people while denying them to others—in spite of the fact that not all Jewish people even have white skin.

There are distinct ethnic Jewish identities from the Ashkenazim of Germany and Northern France, the Sephardim of the Iberian Peninsula, the Mizrahi of the Middle East/Central Asia and African Jews in Ethiopia, Morocco and beyond.

White skin or not, antisemitism has long been one of the bedrock foundational forces animating white nationalism in the U.S. In his phenomenal article “Skin in the Game: How Antisemitism Animates White Nationalism,” Eric K. Ward writes that white nationalists “claim that Jews are a race of their own, and that their ostensible position as white folks in the U.S. represents the greatest trick the devil ever played.”

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com

Ward further connects the dots between the Klu Klux Klan, the John Birch Society, the disgustingly antisemitic Turner Diaries by white nationalist author William Pierce, the aforementioned Prototocols forgery and more—and how they directly contributed to the Oklahoma City Bombing and the contemporary manifestations of antisemitic hatred and violence playing out today.

Only a few weeks ago, there was an antisemitic attack on the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, TX leading to a tense hostage standoff with the FBI. The assailant was animated by the antisemitic belief that Jewish people had the power to meet his extremist demands.

In 2018, there was the horrific mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogoue in Pittsburgh, PA which killed 11 people and wounded six others, some of whom were Holocaust survivors. The shooter was a prolific racist and antisemite, likely radicalized through engagement with the online white nationalist movement.

Recall also in 2017, when white nationalists in Charlottesville chanted “Jews will not replace us” in their tiki-torch march the night before the bloody rally that led to the murder of antiracist activist Heather Heyer—an explicitly antisemitic take on the “white genocide” talking point that white people are being replaced with other minorities in society by a cabal of so-called Jewish elites.

Make no mistake, there is a powerful revolutionary movement for white nationalism that has leveraged substantial power within the ranks of Trump’s former administration, and now the wider Republican Party.

The left has had its own antisemitic blindspots—including denying that Jewish people are targeted by white supremacists. One aspect of this has been the settler-colonial devastation that the state of Israel has imposed upon the people of Palestine, and the knee-jerk reaction by many on the left to blame all Jewish people within and outside of Israel for this.

A deeper analysis is necessary to unpack such a simplification of the Jewish people. It should go without saying that—like many of us who are not personally responsible for, and are repulsed by the actions of our own government, police and military—the Jewish people are not a monolith and are also not personally re-

sponsible for the actions of the state of Israel.

The threat of antisemitism casts a much wider net of harm than many realize. Ward points out that white nationalism is literally fueled by antisemitism—and just as we must be intersectional and nuanced in our understanding of how to fight racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and all interconnecting systems of oppression, we also have to fight to eliminate antisemitism. None of these systems of domination can be left intact if we are to realize a society based upon egalitarianism and human dignity for all.

The reality that Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews in the U.S. benefit from their proximity to whiteness is illustrative of the way that the myth of Jewish power is wielded in modern times. Leftists should be the first to recognize that the systemic power that some Jewish people benefit from is a product of whiteness—not of Jewishness—and that their Jewish identity still lands them directly in the crosshairs of white nationalist, racialized violence.

It is profoundly important to remember that privilege is not the same as power, and that the special status conferred through privilege can be revoked by those in power when they are threatened.

Whiteness as an identity is already based upon the shaky grounds of social constructs that have no scientific basis. The category of whiteness has also assimilated various formerly oppressed groups before including immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Eastern Europe and even religious groups like Catholics. These categories of identity are determined by systems of power—they determine who is within the idealized group and who is othered—and it is only through our resistance to all of these systems that we can topple them.

As the system of white supremacy seeks to reassert itself, to censor and reframe its own history, to deny the myriad expressions of human beauty and ingenuity—and to beat back the social and political gains made in these tumultuous decades of resistance—it is crucial that we think critically and deeply, and connect in solidarity. We are all denied our humanity as long as these structures remain in place.

Fighting antisemitism is part and parcel of the struggle for human rights—and against white supremacy.

OPINION

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