The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

While much is being done to promote respect for diversity and to combat crimes based on bias, much more is needed. Federal, state, and local governments, educational, religious, community, and business organizations, and individual citizens all should assume even more responsibility to make sure that no individuals in our country are injured because of who they are.

Here are some recommendations for action by every sector of society:

1) Exercise national leadership: National leaders from every sector of society - including government, business, labor, religion, and education - should use their prestige and influence to encourage efforts to promote tolerance and harmony and to combat bigotry. Although much progress toward reducing hate-crime violence and discrimination in American life has been achieved over the past 30 years, steps must be taken now to avoid losing ground. We strongly urge President Clinton to convene a White House conference in 1997 to focus on more effective ways of fighting ongoing discrimination, bigotry and intolerance, and to identify ways that all persons in this country, both citizens and immigrants, can live and work together in greater harmony.

2) Enforce existing laws: The nation must reprioritize the enforcement of federal and state civil rights laws. The recent revelations about pervasive discrimination and personal abuse against African-Americans at Texaco are another reminder that bias and bigotry are still part of American life. The fact that a tape leaked by a disgruntled former executive confirms earlier allegations by black employees is one more indication, if any were needed, that claims of discrimination should be thoroughly investigated, not casually dismissed.

Unfortunately, discrimination in employment, housing, and even public accommodations is still prevalent, as evidenced by similar incidents at companies ranging from the national restaurant chain, Denny's, to real estate agencies throughout the country. In August 1996, the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. settled a law-suit filed by eleven Hispanic men, all U.S. citizens, who were forced by Wal-Mart store personnel to leave a Wal-Mart store in Amory, Mississippi, and informed that it was the store's policy not to serve Mexicans.

Existing civil rights laws against all forms of discrimination are an important part of America's effort against bigotry, bias and hate crimes. These laws should be aggressively enforced. Moreover, significant increases in funding for all federal civil rights enforcement agencies is essential and should be included in the FY '98 budget. Offices such as the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the EEOC, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Fair Housing Enforcement Office, the Department of Agriculture's Office of Civil Rights are illustrative of those offices that need increased funding to address both the short and long-term problems associated with discrimination and with hate crime violence in the United States.

3) Renew America's commitment to vigorously combat hate crimes: Congress should renew the Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA) without a sunset provision, and expand its coverage to include gender. This will make an important statement that America will not tolerate hate crimes. It will also provide a continued mandate for law enforcement agencies at every level of government and communities and citizens all across the country to continue monitoring, preventing, prosecuting, and, in every way, combating hate crimes. In giving the HCSA a permanent mandate, Congress should provide more funding for training assistance and implementation. This will help all 16,000 law enforcement agencies throughout the nation participate in reporting hate crimes.

a) Reauthorize U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Congress should reauthorize the United States Commission on Civil Rights. The Commission identifies, analyzes, and reports on the major civil and human rights problems confronting the nation; including the persistence of bigotry and discrimination, tensions among different groups, and hate crimes motivated by bigotry and influence.

Since 1990, the Commission has been especially effective, holding hearings on racial and ethnic tensions in major metropolitan areas and in the Mississippi-Delta region. It has also been vigilant in response to the church fires. In fact, the recent findings of the Commission have sparked a renewed discussion about the persistence of racism in American society.

b) Restore funding for Community Relations Service. Congress should also restore funding for the Community Relations Service (CRS) of the Department of Justice, whose budget has been cut in half after some members of Congress sought to eliminate it entirely. CRS works to resolve group conflicts and racial tensions in communities across the country. It offers mediation and technical assistance to communities trying to address hate motivated incidents. It is an invaluable resource that must be preserved and strengthened.

c) Improve data collection. For the HCSA, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Community Relations Service and other efforts against discrimination and intolerance to succeed, the nation needs accurate and

up-to-date demographic information about the racial, ethnic, and religious composition of the population. The need for federal data is essential to effective enforcement of civil rights laws. That is why it is so important that Congress allow the Census Bureau to take all available steps to reduce the persistent, disproportionate undercount of racial minorities and the poor in the 2000 census. With guidance from state and local officials and business and community leaders, the bureau has developed a plan to make sure that every person is counted, including those who historically have been hardest to reach. Congress should approve, not impede this plan, including census efforts at "sampling" residents in low-income communities.

4) Expand coverage of federal criminal civil rights statutes: Federal criminal civil rights statutes should also be expanded to remove the requirement that victims be engaged in a federally protected activity at the time of the crime. Coverage of the law should be expanded to include gender, sexual orientation and immigration status. Law enforcement agencies should also consider identifying specific ethnic groups, such as Arab-Americans, who have been targets of hate violence. The coverage of state laws should also be expanded along these lines. Unless all hate-motivated incidents are identified, monitored, and documented, the full extent of the severity and prevalence of this violence cannot be adequately addressed.

Tougher hate crime laws should be enacted at both the state and local levels, including "penalty-enhancement" provisions that impose harsher punishments for criminal acts motivated by bigotry. While bigotry cannot be outlawed, if it leads to criminal conduct, that conduct can and should be punished. Hate crime statutes demonstrate an important community commitment to confront crimes prompted by prejudice. Police departments should be required to enforce these laws, and prosecutors should utilize them when appropriate.

5) Create hate crime units: Local police departments should create hate crime units, with specially trained officers and outreach efforts to minority communities. These units are indispensable for preventing, investigating, and prosecuting hate crimes, for convincing potential offenders and potential victims alike that communities are committed to combating hate crimes. There should also be victim assistance programs for those who suffer from hate crimes.

6) Encourage communities to participate: Congress and the Administration should encourage local law enforcement agencies to participate in the HCSA data collection effort. They can require that Department of Justice technical assistance grants be dependent on participation in the HCSA data collection effort. And they can also make such participation a requirement for receiving funds from the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Additional federal funding should be included to cover the costs of local law enforcement participation.

Linking community policing to the effort against bias-related crimes can be especially effective. Hate violence can be addressed effectively through a combination of presence, prevention, and outreach to the community that is the hallmark of community policing. Congress and the Administration should see that new officers hired and trained under the COPS initiative begin to receive training in how to identify, report, and respond to hate violence.

Communities should also encourage efforts by businesses, labor unions, civic groups and concerned citizens. The response by communities, companies, civic organizations, and ordinary citizens to the arsons of African-American churches is a model for how America should answer hate crimes. Schools, businesses,

congregations, and communities all across America should initiate or intensify efforts to promote respect for diversity and to discourage acts of intolerance. The projects described in this report, as well as other efforts by the NAACP, National Council of La Raza, the Anti-Defamation League, and National Urban League, among others, are all models for what can and must be done.

7) Debate the issues with reason, not rancor: In a democracy, there should be free and open debate about public issues. Political questions about immigration, abortion, affirmative action, and gay rights among others can and should be debated. But Americans of all backgrounds and viewpoints should find ways to debate these issues without demonizing one another. Public debate should be an appeal to reason, not an incitement to violence.

8) Prepare the next generation of Americans for a diverse society: The disturbingly large number of young people who commit hate crimes underscores the need for educational programs on the importance of civic responsibility, cultural diversity, and a respect of cultural differences in the United States. As the Citizens" Commission on Civil Rights has urged, the federal government should promote democracy-building and citizenship initiatives - efforts such as teaching about the Bill of Rights and the parts that many different groups have played in our national history. The Department of Education should make information available about successful prejudice-reduction and hate crime prevention programs and resources. Local communities and school systems should offer programs on prejudice awareness, religious tolerance, conflict resolution, and multicultural education.

9) Use the Internet to Educate: Like many persons in our society, we are increasingly concerned about the use of the Internet to promote doctrines espousing hatred and violence. We also appreciate, however, the importance of the First Amendment to our Constitution in protecting the speech of all in our pluralistic society. In that regard, the Internet is a marketplace of ideas and information - the public forum of the future. Moreover, the Internet has a growing utilization among young people, and therefore, must be considered in any serious public education campaign to address the problem of hate-related violence in America.

Recognizing the limitations of what government can or should do in addressing the problem of hate speech on the Internet, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund have proposed direct action. We will construct an Internet web-site devoted to civil rights and a greater understanding of the importance of civil rights laws in building the "more perfect union" which is our national promise. The LCCR/LCEF plan to develop what may be called "the definitive civil rights web-site," means that in addition to its own content, the new web-page will connect to the existing web-sites of LCCR members, thereby expanding its reach considerably.

10) Comply with International Law: Racism in America, and hate crimes as tangible evidence of racism, has attracted the attention of the international community. In 1994, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance came on mission to the United States and last year filed an extensive report citing a "pattern of increased racist violence" in the U.S. The report concludes that "racism and racial discrimination persist in American society," despite the fact that "knowledge of the extent of racist violence in the United States continues to suffer from the lack of a uniform and accurate source of information."

In its periodic reports to the U.N. treaty monitoring bodies, the government should fully detail the extent of the hate crime problem in America - not just cite to laws on the books that criminalize hate crimes - and outline steps it is taking to eliminate the causes of hate crimes through increased enforcement, expansion of existing law, and educational programs. The U.S. should file its delinquent report on compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and should actively seek the participation of civil rights groups in the U.S. in the preparation of this report.

These recommendations themselves are intended as a starting-point for a national discussion on how Americans can not only prevent hate crimes but promote positive relationships among people of every heritage. In this effort, the sponsors of this study are eager to work together with other Americans of goodwill.