The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Remarks of Wade Henderson on Hate Crimes

Speech by Wade Henderson on July 19, 2000.

Good morning. I'm Wade Henderson, the Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. The Leadership Conference is the nation's oldest and largest civil and human rights coalition. Since its establishment in 1950, the Leadership Conference has promoted the passage and monitored the implementation of laws designed to achieve equality under law for all persons in the United States.

Hatred that leads to violence is a matter of fundamental concern to the Leadership Conference. Hatred of people because of who they are, where they worship, or the color of their skin, is the antithesis of what we stand for as a nation.

The issue of hate crime violence seized America's attention when James Byrd, Jr. was chained to a pick-up truck and dreagged to his death on a backwoods road in Jasper, Texas in a racially motivated attack. In October of that same year, Matthew Shepard, an openly gay 21 year-old university student was savagely beaten, tortured, tied to a wooden fence in a remote area in Laramie, Wyoming and left to die in freezing weather. Since these grisly events, our national conscience has been rubbed raw with shock after shock of hate-motivated violence. Some of the incidents have received widespread national attention while others have not.

Legislation known as The Hate Crimes Prevention Act has been introduced in Congress to strengthen the federal law. This important bill would remove unnecessary obstacles to federal prosecution and provide needed authority for federal involvement to solve crimes directed at individuals not only because of their race, religion or ethnicity, but also because of their gender, disability or sexual orientation. Last month, by a vote of 57-42, the Senate passed its version of this hate crimes bill in overwhelming bipartisan fashion. To date, however, the House of Representatives has refused to act. This is unconscionable; and it cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. We believe that while bigotry cannot be legislated out of existence, a forceful and moral response to hate-related violence is required of all of us.

Moreover, the inaction of the House of Representatives and its leadership seems increasingly out of step with the bipartisan momentum building in support of strong hate crime laws. For example, just last month the New York state legislature passed a hate crimes bill by a 48-12 margin, including the support of 24 of the 36 Republican senators. New York's governor, George Pataki, signed the legislation into law on July 10th. Also in June, Tennessee's Republican governor, Don Sundquist, signed into law an addition to the sentencing guidelines that allow for increased penalties in crimes motivated by hatred for the victim's actual or perceived race, color, nationality, handicap, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. The message from these events is clear: the time has come for the house to strengthen the federal hate crimes law.

Today, representatives of the Leadership Conference's Hate Crimes Task Force hav come to announce the launch of the civil rights community's "First of Its Kind" on-line grassroots campaign to press for the passage of a new and inclusive federal hate crimes law. The campaign is called "United Against Hate" and it represents the first time the borad civil and human rights community has collectively leveraged internet technology to mount a coordinated grassroots advocacy campaign.

In a few moments you will hear more about the campaign's far-reaching components, including its wonderful and innovative new web site at www.unitedagainsthate.org. However, for now there is only one thing to remember -- the House of Representatives should pass the Hate Crimes bill now. No equivocation; no excuses.

United Against Hate's most important aspect is its human dimension. This is a campaign that involves every segment of our diverse nation: young adults and student activists, older Americans, persons of color, women, gays and lesbians, persons with disabilities, labor organizations, major religious groups, human rights activists, and most importantly, ordinary Americans fed up with the escalation of hate-related violence.

I am joined today by a group of leaders of this effort. Several of them will be introduced at the time they give their remarks; however, others will not be giving formal presentations, but their presence here today reflects some of the breadth of our coalition. I want to acknowledge Hilary Shelton, Director of the NAACP's Washington Bureau; Elizabeth Toledo, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; William Spriggs, Director of the National Urban League's Office of Public Policy; Diane Gross, Public Policy Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Kirsten Kingdon, Executive Director of Parents and Families of Lesbians and Gays; and Richard Womack, Director of the AFL-CIO's Civil Rights Department. I want to personally thank the AFL for our wonderful signs.

But before hearing more about "United Against Hate," let us first put a human face on the problem of hate crime violence. To begin this process, I now call on Michael Lieberman, Washington Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League and Co-chair of the Leadership Conference's Hate Crimes Task Force.

To the extent that the members of the House fail to follow the Senate's lead and take action, they do so at their own peril. United Against Hate will be there every step of the way to remind the public who supports strengthening the federal hate crimes statute and who does not.