The FBI in its November 2001 report on hate crimes documented disturbing evidence of violence directed at individuals, houses of worship and community institutions because of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin and disability (Hate Crime Statistics 2000). The overall number of crimes reported to the FBI in 2000 declined slightly (0.2%),but reported hate crimes increased 2.3%- from 7,876 in 1999 to 8,063 in 2000. Racial bias again represented the largest percentage of bias-motivated offenses (53.8%), followed by religious bias (18.3%), sexual orientation bias (16.1%), and ethnic/national origin bias (11.1%).
In the aftermath of the 2001 terrorism attacks, there has been a disturbing increase in attacks against its citizens and others who appear to be of Muslim, Middle Eastern and South Asian descent.
The U.S. Department of Justice launched more than 200 federal civil rights investigations and was on pace to bring a record number of federal hate crime indictments. Incidents under investigation included vandalism, intimidation, assaults and several deaths, occurring at places of worship, neighborhood centers, grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants and homes.
Administration officials—including President George Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Ralph Boyd, Jr.—spoke out against hate crimes and reached out to affected communities.
On Sept. 26, 2001, at a meeting with Sikh leaders at the White House, President Bush pledged that "our government will do everything we can not only to bring those people to justice, but also to treat every human life as dear, and to respect the values that made our country so different and so unique. We're all Americans, bound together by common ideals and common values."
The 107th Congress
In the current Congress, civil rights advocates sought to use re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA) to strengthen federal laws and policies against hate crimes.
The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was called the Better Education for Students and Teachers Act. It was introduced in the Senate by Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., as S. 1 on March 28, 2001 and in the House by Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, on March 22, 2001 as H.R. 1.
As originally enacted, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act contained a number of initiatives designed to help communities address bias, prejudice and hate crime. In part because of opposition by some conservative and right-wing organizations, the House reauthorization bill removed all reference to bias, prejudice and hate crime.
In one of the major accomplishments of the 107th Congress, despite significant opposition by some national conservative groups, Congress retained and President Bush signed into law ESEA's important anti-bias programming authority, including provisions that provide training and technical assistance for communities to address violence associated with prejudice and intolerance, and a specific hate crimes prevention initiative in Title IV of the Act that promotes curriculum development and training and development for teachers and administrators on the cause, effects, and resolutions of hate crimes or hate based conflicts.
On June 14, 2001, the Senate passed H.R. 1 after incorporating S. 1 as an amendment and it became Public Law 107-110 on January 8, 2002.
On March 27, 2001, S. 625 was introduced to the Senate by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. First proposed in the aftermath of the 1997 White House Conference on Hate Crimes, the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA) would permit federal investigations and prosecutions without having to prove that the victim was attacked because he or she was engaged in a federally protected activity. Second, the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act would provide expanded authority for federal officials to investigate and prosecute cases in which the bias violence occurs because of the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, or disability. In the 107th Congress, the measure attracted more than 200 co-sponsors in the House and 51 in the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill in July 2001.
In a disappointing loss for the civil rights community, on July 11, 2002, the U.S. Senate voted 54 to 43 to defeat an attempt to limit debate on the LLEEA, thus ending the possibility of a vote on the merits of the bill in the short term. While a majority of Senators support passage of the bill, it takes 60 votes to end debate. In response to the vote, Senator Daschle withdrew the bill from consideration.
In an attempt to block the bill's passage, opponents filed numerous amendments ranging from one sponsored by Senator Bob Smith, R-N.H., to add pregnant women to the class of individuals protected by the statute to amendments regarding defense issues and human cloning. Senators voted, largely along party lines, to allow for debate and consideration of the more than 19 amendments filed.
While four Republican Senators broke with their leadership to vote for an end to debate, supporters were surprised that two Republican co-sponsors of the bill—Senator Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Senator John Ensign, R-Nev.,—voted against ending debate. Also, several Republicans who hadsupported an identical bill in 2000 voted against ending debate, and thus against proceeding with a vote on the bill—Senator Conrad Burns, R-Mont., Senator Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, Senator Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Senator Ted Stevens, R-Ark., and Senator Voinovich, R-Ohio.
While this vote is a setback, supporters of the bill- including Senator Gordon Smith, R-Ore., Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and many in the civil rights community—have vowed to continue to fight to ensure that the federal hate crime laws are made more effective and inclusive.
Addressing the Cycle of Hate: The Need for Community Response
As the nation witnessed a series of disturbing attacks against individuals perceived to be Middle Eastern, Arab, or Muslim, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist incidents, we are reminded of the need to directly confront the prejudice and intolerance that can lead to hate crimes in our communities. Initiatives such as LCCREF's CommUNITY 2000 project,
www.community2000online.org (a HUD-funded project that is developing national and local programs to prevent and respond to housing-related community tensions) and Partners Against Hate program,
www.partnersagainsthate.org, (a program of outreach, public education, and training to counter youth-initiated hate violence, funded by the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention and the Department of Education), provide important resources, tools, and support for parents, teachers, law enforcement, and community leaders to help address the cycle of bias, hatred, distrust, and violence.
[Portions of this article previously appeared in "Federal Action to Confront Hate Violence in the Bush Administration: A Firm Foundation on Which to Build or a Struggle to Maintain the Status Quo?, " by Michael Lieberman, Ch. 13 of "Rights at Risk: Equality in an Age of Terrorism" (Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights 2002)]
