“A small number of people can stain an entire community. Your silence is almost consent and if you don’t challenge it, it increases.”
— Azekah Jennings
“An entire community can be supportive. Even though they don’t know [the victim], they feel the same vulnerability.”
— Robert Trestan
“Deal with people as individuals…it may not always be a race issue. It can be an issue within itself.”
—Dr. James Edward Jones
Statements, personal situations, information, and possible solutions educated the visitors who attended “Hate Crimes: What Are They? What Are You Going To Do About It?” a forum held April 30 at the Groton Senior Center. The host, Civil Rights Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Kenneth B. Hunter, asked for a show of hands midway through the forum of those who had experienced a biased incident or hate crime. More than 50 percent of the attendees’ hands rose.
“Bias incidents transcend all colors, barriers, races, and religion…This is a beginning of a movement…let’s keep it moving,” Hunter said.
Hate crimes, sometimes confused with other terms such as “racism” or “bigotry,” has its own category within the community and within the law.
After much preparation, a group of concerned local residents and organizations banded together to address the topic head-on. The organizers consisted of Hunter, Betty Anne Ritter of the Groton Public Library, Jerry Fischer of the Jewish Federation of Eastern CT, retired Mystic pastor Ken Carpenter, Ivy R. Williams of PEERS (Parents Education for Eliminating Racism in Schools), Vivian Carpenter of the Islamic Center of New London, Mongi Dhaouadi of CAIR-CT (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Vernon Leftridge of NAACP, and Sami A. Yousuf of CAIR-CT.
On the panel sat Director of the Greenwood Institute of Masjid AL-Islam Dr. James Edward Jones, Robert Trestan of the Anti-Defamation League, Azekah Jennnings of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Williams who represented issues within school systems.
Hunter began by stating that the forum wasn’t to discuss recent or previous incidents that have occurred within the local communities but to begin a movement where future hate crimes will not be tolerated.
“We must use wisdom to keep this movement going,” he said. “We have the responsibility not for ourselves but for the generation afterward…this is not a presidential debate,” he continued.
Index cards were available at the back of the room for participants to use to write down questions that would later be asked of the panel. Hunter added that everyone should be respectful and that there shouldn’t be any name-calling.
Hunter asked the panel first to define the term “hate crime.”
Jennings said, first and foremost, it’s a crime. Williams added that it’s a physical or verbal abuse causing others to think less of themselves. She said it might not be done intentionally and that it may come from somewhere within someone, a place they didn’t even know existed. Trestan said every state has its own definition of a hate crime. He said when discussed in court, it can be hard to convict someone of a hate crime because it’s a process that involves getting into the perpetrator’s thoughts and figuring out why the crime was committed.
Jones said a hate crime is an action based on a bias, and he believes a hate crime goes through several different levels before it becomes a crime. He added that many hate crimes stem from love, explaining that love is the precondition of hate. He said when someone hates something, it’s usually because they are trying to protect something they love and that a hate crime is “how you make people [feel] fear.”
When asked how a hate crime can affect the community, Jennings said it can happen in several ways. After a hate crime incident, he said there are feelings of fear, anger, frustration, confusion, and, for many, it can affect finances and their jobs.
“They are concerned about safety,” he said.
He added that many communities don’t want to be identified as a hateful community and in response to a hate crime, many communities isolate, deny, and “down-play” the situation because they don’t want the bad publicity. When hate crimes occur, his department meets and talks about the issue, listening to both sides of the situation, to get the issue verbalized and discussed.
Williams said the Internet can be used to spread hate and that all adults and teachers should monitor teenagers closely as they browse the Web.
“We have to have dialogue with these kids,” she said. “They’re always going to have it here and here,” she added as she pointed to her head and heart. Trestan said the Anti-Defamation League is trying to pass an updated hate crime law that they’ve been trying to pass for decades, and he explained that once charged with a hate crime, the actual sentence is always harsher than the initial one. He said in many cases, people say, ‘You can’t punish me because of what I think.’ He explained that the courts base their decisions on actions and behavior and don’t extend special rights to special people.
Trestan said, “It’s important to remember that everyone in this room is entitled to the same protection.”
After many questions answered and different perspectives expressed, the program concluded with the announcement of the date and location of a future follow-up meeting held on May 7.
“This is the first of several meetings,” Hunter said.
For more information, contact the Groton Public Library at 860-441-6750.