hate crime | Not in Our Town

hate crime

The FBI relies on local law enforcement agencies to identify and report crimes motivated by bias, but many agencies fumble this task.
In the aftermath of hate... people commit to making their neighbors feel safe.
Hate crimes against LGBTQ people happen every single day in every state. 
"In the face of hate and violence, we will love one another."
This week, Charleston, SC grieves over the losses of nine worshippers from the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, after a gunman opened fire during a midweek prayer meeting. The suspect in this hate fueled attack in a historic Black church is now in custody. For Oak Creek, WI citizens, the tragedy in Charleston is particularly resonant. In 2012, a white supremacist walked into the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin and killed six worshippers and injured a police lieutenant, who was shot 15 times. Their story is featured in Not In Our Town documentary, Waking in Oak Creek. Today we share with you messages from Oak Creek to Charleston.
Just months after he was elected as Mayor of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Mayor Steve Scaffidi was faced with the challenge of leading a town that had just experienced one of the deadliest hate crime attacks in recent history. His new book "Six Months In August" profiles a community in crisis from the perspective of Mayor Scaffidi. Patrice O'Neill, Executive Producer and Director of Not In Our Town's "Waking In Oak Creek" sits down with Mayor Scaffidi to discuss his newly released book.
As the community of Charleston, SC continues to reel from a horrific hate crime, we feel it is important to take time to honor and remember those who lost their lives at “Mother Emmanuel” AME Church one week ago. Below are the names and a brief description of each of the nine church members killed by a 21-year-old white supremacist last Wednesday. Click here to see further messages of support and to leave your own.
On June 17, nine people lost their lives at a Bible study inside Charleston, SC’s historic "Mother Emanuel" AME Church, at the hands of a 21-year-old man, poisoned by racism and hate. People grieving and filled with outrage are asking: What can we do? The most effective way to respond to the hate attack in Charleston is to take action locally. Over the last 20 years, Not In Our Town, a movement of people across the country working to stop hate and bullying, has learned one indisputable thing: The solutions to hate violence and bigotry require each of us to participate. Here are three ways you can take immediate action and stand up to hate
Even as I go to Temple on the Jewish High Holidays each year, with a police officer or security guard outside protecting us while we pray, I had not been frightened that anti-Semitism would rise to those horrific proportions again. Only once in my life was I called a “dirty Jew.” Yet, recently, as we heard about Jews being targeted and murdered in both France and Denmark, a fear rose inside me. After all, it is only 70 years after Auschwitz, and I still have living relatives who have been in concentration camps.
If we’re looking for models for community response to hate, we might start with Richard Thomas’s own high school. After their fellow student was arrested, the Oakland High School community came together to break the silence and open up conversations within their classrooms.* They collected funds for Fleischman to help with medical costs and reached out to the family. Students participated with the larger community in a “Rainbow March” that proceeded along the bus route. They brought together Thomas’ friends in a restorative circle to listen to their feelings.