APD arrests two in hate crime against Native man

From the Anchorage Daily News:

With their video camera rolling, a young white couple threw eggs at an Alaska Native man and kicked him, slinging slurs in what appears to have been a racially motivated assault, police said Thursday. During the attack, the victim held his hand out trying to shake the hands of his aggressors, police said...

The pair threatened the man, threw things at him and used racial slurs, police said. They pushed and kicked the man, police said. He didn't fight back, just asked to be left alone.

I honestly don't understand that level of hate.

And, "He... just asked to be left alone."

I'm having a problem grappling with the mindset of people who approach a man who has his handout in friendship, and then treat him so sub-humanly.

One of the first posts I did on Alaska Real was my own experience with hatred while walking downtown, and why I hate going downtown, being fairly obviously Native. My experiences were certainly nothing compared to this man, but I avoid downtown because I have a very reasonable fear something exactly like this could happen, for no other reason than I look the way I look.

I often wonder just how much of this is going on - the physical attacks anyways - and not getting reported. This man certainly didn't, and it sounds like police have reason to believe there is more from this couple. This isn't the first attack on Native people downtown caught on video, nor is it the most heinous.

The irony is when I keep hearing the refrain that "racism isn't a problem in this town."