Transformation_v16.no2.2001.Spring.pdf
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- Transformation_v16.no2.2001.Spring.pdf
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Property of the Center
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Vol. 16 lssue 2
Spring 2001
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Yvonne Croston -NLR
Amy Edgington - Little Rock
Sarah Facen - Little Rock
Laura Miller - Little Rock
Sandra Mitchell - Little Rock
Tufara Wall er Muhammad - LR
Freddie Nixon - Little Rock
Brenda Olive - North Little Rock
Tammy Roberson - Little Rock
Annette Shead - Little Rock
Celia Wildroot - Hot Springs
Precious Williams - Ogden
STAFF
Felicia Davidson
Lynn Frost
Dee Dee Green
Judy Matsuoka
Pat Schuyler
Anne Shelley
Suzanne Pharr, Staff Emeritus
INSIDE
Hate-Free Arkansas!
Campaign
Dee Dee Green
Pe',n June 1, 2000, the Women's
~ Project's Watchcare Network
The campaign is a traveling exhibit
that includes 268 five feet long banlaunched a media campaign, Hateners, each containing an image of
Free Arkansas, commemorating the hate (i.e. racist and homophobic
lives of Arkansans who have been
slurs, a swastika, a burning church)
victimized by bias and violence.
and each a real-life story of an ArWe wanted to create a visual illuskansan who was victimized and/or
tration of the hate violence and bias killed as a result of hate. The camin Arkansas which has been docupaign also includes a press confermented in our annual edition of the ence that invites the media to come
Women's W atchcare Log in Trans- to hear and meet individuals and
formation from 1994 to 1999. Cre- organizations that speak out against
ated with the help of Young Artists, hate. So far, the exhibit has been
Young Aspirations (Ya Ya, Inc.)
viewed in Central (Little Rock) and
and media consultant Jane Wholey Northwest Arkansas (Fayetteville).
from New Orleans, the Peace Devel- We hope that by educating commuopment Fund in Amherst, Massanities about the incidence of hate
chusetts, and the Needmor Fund in across the state, we encourage peoLongmont, Colorado, the campaign ple to combat the type of violence
brings attention to the work that the that targets people based on bias.
Women's Project has been doing
around bias and hate since 1988.
Continued on page 2
Hate-Free Arkansas
Creating Safety for
All Citizens
-page3
Speaking Against
Hate
-page4
Hate Crimes
Legislation
-page 8
Hate-Free Arkansas Campaign kicks off at MacArthur Park in June 2000.
Continued from page 1...
was born in 1988 and led by
Women's Project founder Suzanne
Pharr and later by staff member
Kerry Lobel. The Women's Project
took a stand against the alarming
growth of hate groups in Arkansas.
According to Suzanne, we created
the Women's Watchcare Network
after realizing that while national
and regional groups were monitoring
the far right, no one in our state was
watching the buildup of hate groups
here in Arkansas such as the KKK,
the Posse Comitatus, and The Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord.
The first banner display draped the
lawn of McArthur Park last June.
Speakers included Little Rock Police
Chief Lawrence Johnson; Carolyn
Wagner, Vice President, P-FLAG
National Board of Directors; Tufara
Waller Muhammad, student and
Women's Project board member;
Cole Wakefield, student and AR-YU
Proud member, and members of the
Women's Project Staff.
In January 2001, Hate-Free Arkansas
traveled to Fayetteville and invited
the community to view the powerful
banner exhibit. St. Paul's Episcopal
Church hosted the display and key
community leaders were involved in
the event. Speakers included
ReShandra Strickland, education and
training coordinator for Northwest
Arkansas Rape Crisis; Reverend
Lowell Grisham, Rector of St. Paul's
Episcopal Church in Fayetteville;
Diana Shiell, director of the Multicultural Center of Northwest Arkansas; Mary Ann Copp, L.S.W. and
local human rights activist; and Reverend Linda Cooper-Igwebuike, Pastor of St. James United Methodist
Church in Fayetteville.
Challenging attitudes of hate and
Little Rock Police Chief Lawrence
Johnson speaks at the Women's
Project's June 2000 press conference.
We decided to track not only hate
groups but also individual acts of
biased violence against people of
violence is the daily routine of these color, lesbians and gay men, reliwonderful community leaders who
gious minorities and women. It was
spoke profoundly about topics rang- placing women in that group that put
ing from the racial profiling of Laus on the map because at that time no
tino youth and sexual violence
one considered women to be targets
against women to the persecution of of biased violence. We used our
monitoring efforts to do community
religious minorities. We hope that
the tour continues to find energetic
organizing by bringing together African Americans, Jews, women, and
people who are not afraid to take a
stand against hate and violence. The lesbians and gay men in small comsuccess of the campaign will help the munities across the state to talk about
Watchcare Network to recapture the the biased violence they and their
organizing and community involve- communities had experienced. Then
ment that is a part of its history.
these groups joined the monitoring
effort by gathering information in
The Women's W atchcare Network
their communities and working with
local people to oppose acts of violence.
News photographer covers June 2000 event.
The Hate-Free Arkansas campaign
hopes to reactivate its organizing
component and involve communities
across the state in monitoring acts of
hate and bias. The campaign has
three scheduled stops over the next
year including Texarkana, Jonesboro
and Monticello. It has received some
wonderful coverage from media
across the state and country including brief coverage in USA Today
(January 15, 2001). Ultimately, we
hope to have monitoring teams and
community organizations in each
region of the state building relationships and sharing resources to create
a Hate-Free Arkansas! I
www.womens-project.org *Page 2* Transformation
*
Spring 2001
Hate-Free Arkansas
Creating Safety for all Citizens
acts of violence.
In order to seek new attitudes,' communities must first recognize that
there is a problem. In the state of ArMelanie Dietzel kansas 300 acts of bias violence were
recorded between 1996 and 1999.
lished once a year in the Women's
Note: This article was originally
These are only the cases verified by
Project quarterly, Transformation.
named sources. It's difficult to figure
published in the Ozark Gazette on
January 22, 2001.
how many more occur that are never
Out of the Watchcare Network
reported. Yet, statistics are cold num"You have to be taught before its emerged Hate-Free Arkansas. Green bers. Being faced with a name, a
too late, before you are six or seven says, "We have a long term vision of voice, an image is what grabs attenor eight to hate all the people your W atchcare monitors in every region tion.
of the state to record and respond to
relatives hate . .. "
-Oscar Hammerstein, II
incidents of violence." Green states
On Saturday, January 13, the Hatethat "hate does not begin with the
~
Free Arkansas Banner Display Tour
spent a day in Fayetteville. 150 banhe ability to hate is not an innate most heinous of physical assaults."
characteristic of human beings. Rather, it "begins with an attitude, an ners were hung on walls and racks in
As lyricist Hammerstein points out in attitude of prejudice, prejudice based the parish hall of St. Paul's Episcopal
the musical South Pacific, "You have on nothing more than stereotypes
Church. Each banner depicts an act
to be carefully taught." So, can we be with no basis except for what is not of bias or bias-based violence comuntaught? Many believe
mitted because of the victhat it's possible.
tim's gender, color, ethnic
background, religion, sexual orientation, age, or disDeeDee Green believes it.
ability. As visitors entered
Vedisia (Dee Dee) Green is
the Women's Project
the hall and confronted the
maze of banners, it was as
Watchcare Network Lead
though they had stepped
Organizer. Begun in 1988
into a mortuary. Silently or
by author/activist Suzanne
Pharr, the Watchcare Netspeaking in hushed tones,
they moved from one banwork seeks to "Increase
ner to the next reading the
awareness of bigoted viopages of text glued to each
lence committed by indione. A Jewish student reviduals and hate groups in
ceives a swastika drawn on
Arkansas, affect policy
changes necessary to couna piece of notebook paper,
placed in her mailbox. A
teract hate, and organize
teen-age boy is beaten becommunities to change the
Staffer Dee Dee Green speaks with reporter at Hate-Free
Arkansas event in Fayetteville in January 2001.
cause he is gay. A 90-yearclimate of intolerance that
allows bigotry to thrive."
old woman and her 70-yearknown." The dragging death of
old daughter are beaten to death in
Green, who has a B.A. in anthropol- James Byrd, Jr. in Texas, and the
their home.
ogy, began volunteering for the
brutal murder of Matthew Shepherd
Women's Project during 1995 while in Wyoming did not occur in a vac- Small recording devices are attached
a student at the University of Arkan- uum. The seeds that burst into those to some of the banners. If you push a
sas, Little Rock. Later she was asked savage acts were planted long ago,
button on one, you will hear a voice:
to be on the board. Green became a nurtured in homes filled with racism, "Every day eight African Americans,
three Caucasians, three homosexuals,
staff member in 1999, and part of her fed by adults delivering messages,
responsibility is working with the
overt or subtle, that homosexuality is three Jewish people, and one HisWatchcare Network. Green produces wrong. Those involved in the Hate- panic become victims of hate crimes
the annual log that monitors hate vio- Free Arkansas program believe that in this country."
lence in the state. The log is pubchanging those attitudes can prevent
U
Continued on page 7
www.womens-project.org *Page 3* Transformation
*
Spring 2001
Speaking Against Hate: Women's Project Members
Lend Voices to Hate-Free Arkansas
Tufara Wall er Muhammad
Little Rock, June 1, 2000
In the Greeting Words of Peace, of
Islam my religion, I say to you, As
Salaam Alaikum, which means Peace
be unto you.
stances of biased and bigoted violence which occur daily in our country, our state, our city, and in and on
your's and my blocks.
From 1994-99 the Women's Watchcare Network had reported 171 inMy name is Tufara Waller Muham- stances of sexist murders of women
mad and I stand before you today as in Arkansas, women who are victima Muslim, a member of the African
ized because of their gender. These
American Community, and citizen of are not just women: these crimes
this great state of Arkansas. I am
were committed, and are being comrnitted against mothers, sisters, aunts,
here today to say that something
daughters, grandmothers and maybe
must be done.
even your sorority members. If not
With the presentation of Women's
your family members, then someProject Watchcare Network Log and one's family members. These are the
same kind of women you see in the
banners made by Ya Ya Inc., we
grocery store, when you go to pick
bring to your attention multiple inyour children up from school, and
maybe even when you go get your
tags for your car. The reality is this:
these are real people; there are farnilies and faces which go along with
every one of these banners. Something must be done because biased
violence is wrong!
...these crimes
were committed,
and are being
committed against
mothers,
sisters, aunts,
daughters,
grandmothers and
maybe even your
sorority members.
own personal religion? This nation's
foreparents traveled and founded the
United States of America so that individuals could have the right to
practice their own religion. Do we
live in a just society when people
aren't allowed to live in peace because of the way they pray or the
manner in which they speak to the
Creator? Think about it! Biased and
bigoted violence is wrong.
From 1994-99 the Women's Watch-
From 1994-99 the Women's Watchcare Network has reported three
Women's Project Board Member, Tufara
Waller Muhammad, speaks at Little Rock
press conference, June 2000.
care Network has reported 49 cases
of biased violence committed against
persons
with disabilities. As a person
cases of biased violence committed
against individuals because of their who works everyday with 12 adult
individuals with mental and physical
religious beliefs. Is this just? The
disabilities, I say to you that someFirst Amendment of the Constitution
of this country says, "Congress shall thing must be done! Persons with
disabilities have the right to live in
make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
this country and to function to the
height of their ability in peace. Think
practice or free exercise thereof ..."
about it! Biased and bigoted violence
Was our country not founded on an
is wrong.
individual's right to practice their
www.womens-project.org *Page 4* Transformation * Spring 2001
I could get up here before
grace of Islam my religion, As Salaam Alaikum.
you today and list all the
many times that I have
Mary Ann Copp,
been affected personally by
biased and bigoted vioFayetteville
lence. I could get up here
January 13, 2001
and list all the people, all
I'm here today because
of a promise to my parthe families that I have
known who have suffered
ents. During World War
as a result of biased vioII, my Japaneselence. But I won't. I won't
American family was
because the bottom line is
placed in an internment
each and every citizen of
camp in Jerome, Arkanthis community, this city,
sas. They made two
and this world is affected,
points very clear to me.
Women's Project member Mary Ann Copp speaks at
whether it be directly or indiOne, since they had reFayetteville press conference, January 2001.
rectly, by biased and bigoted
gained a sense of personal
violence. Take time and walk
safety and justice for me, I was exthrough the aisles of these banners,
must take a stand. You must take a
pected to work for the safety of othlook at the banners; read the banners. stand. If not for yourself, for your
ers until all felt safe. Two, that I
I dare you! I dare you to think about children, your families and this coun- would have to exercise democracy or
it.
try. As my mentor Mrs. LiHa B.
it will grow weak, like muscles or
Preyer would say, that means you,
faith. They believed that everyday
I want you to take into consideration you and you too! Let us use our col- folks, like you and me, could recrethat for every instance of violence
lective power as citizens of this deate a vision of safety for everyone.
that has been reported in the
mocracy to come together and do
something other than meet and eat.
Women's W atchcare Log there are
Contact
your congresspersons, your
persons who were afraid to report,
who didn't know who to tell or just
senators, your pastors, your Imam,
didn't believe that anyone cared. Do and your Rabbis and educate them
we live in a just society when cition what's happening. We must make
zens are slain, beaten, battered, shot, hate crime legislation a reality in our
shot at, threatened, intimidated,
state. Think about it! Biased and
abused, harassed, assaulted, terrorbigoted violence is wrong!
ized and not to mention crucified,
just because some folks think that
To paraphrase Fannie Lou Hammer,
they are different? I think not.
the Mississippi Civil Rights Activist However, in recent years, my sense
I would have
to exercise
democracy or it
will grow weak,
like muscles or
faith.
and Freedom Fighter, "It doesn't matThese crimes aren't just committed
ter whether you are from Morehouse,
against me and people who look like or No House; or whether you have a
me. Biased violence affects your
GED, a Ph.D. or no D, we are all in
sons, your daughters, your friends,
this bag together.
your neighbors and maybe even you.
As a member of what the media and I thank you for your time and your
this society calls Generation X, I say attention and I leave you as I came
that something must be done. We
before you in the greeting words of
of safety and justice is in question. I
wonder if, like me, you watched the
daily news in disbelief that footage
of hate-motivated violence actually
took away our shared vision of
schools and churches as places where
we always felt safe. I am still
haunted by images of Jewish chil-
Confinued on page 6
www.womens-project.org *Page 5* Transformation
* Spring 2001
Continued from page 5...
bear witness, create change.
Stop the invisibility of hate violence
dren, holding hands, fleeing, of the
that too often goes unreported.
danger of high school students with
Educate yourself and others: Read Work with your community to creguns, and of a Christian youth service the banners on display to understand ate change: With knowledge and
interrupted by gunfire. That is the
that bias-motivated violence does
stories, work with others to send a
happen in Arkansas. Learn that young clear message that the hate of others,
unique power of a bias-motivated
people are the perpetrators and the
crime ... it targets some individuals
for simply being who they are, will
but it sends a message of fear to
victims of most hate crimes. Hear the not be ignored and allowed to escalate
everyone in that community. When a words of Morris Dees, founder of the into violence. Make sure Arkansas is
church is burned down, every church Southern Poverty Law Center: "Hate no longer one of the seven remaining
goer wonders if their church is at risk. comes from the individual who seeks states that do not have hate crime legout somebody he can feel better than. islation. Support teaching our youth a
For me, those haunting images beg
Sometimes that causes him to go and healthy respect for our differences.
the question: What can I do?
do things to those people, hurtful
Admittedly, alone, in front of my TV, things."
The Women's Project invites you to
it was difficult to muster a hopeful
Bear witness: Join a monitoring
participate in making a Hate-Free Arresponse. But today the Women's
team to record acts of violence moti- kansas. My parents and I hope you
Project is sharing some very hopeful vated by bigotry or the hatred of an- will accept that invitation, especially
ideas. Put simply, Hate-Free Arkanother person's gender, race, sexual
if someone before you secured your
sas suggests three actions: educate,
orientation, religion, or disability.
sense of safety. ■
Start a Watchcare Monitoring Team in Your Town and Help ...
•
•
Monitor local media outlets for reports of incidents
of bias violence in your community.
•
Compile and provide local resources for aiding victims and families
of bias violence in your community.
• Work with community groups and local law enforcement to educate
them about bias violence.
In the long term, work with other monitoring teams and community organizations
across the state in a statewide anti-violence coalition.
Our goal is social change or, as the poet Adrienne Rich writes, "the transformation of the world." We believe
this world can be changed to become a place of peace and justice for all women.
We take risks in our work; we take unpopular stands. We work for all women and against all forms of discrimination and oppression. We believe that we cannot work for all women and against sexism unless we also work against racism, classism, ageism, anti-Semitism, heterosexism and homophobia. We see the connection among these oppressions as
the context for violence against women in this society.
We are concerned in particular about issues of importance to traditionally underrepresented women: poor
women, aged women, women of color, teenage mothers, women with disabilities, lesbians, women in prisons, etc. All are
women who experience discrimination and violence against their lives.
We are committed to working multi-culturally, multi-racially, and to making our work and cultural events accessible to low income women. We believe that women will not know equality until they know economic justice.
We believe that a few committed women working in coalition and in consensus with other women can make significant change in the quality of life for all women.
www.womens-project.org *Page 6* Transformation * Spring 2001
Property of the Center
Continued from page 3 ...
At 10:00 a.m. a press conference
begins. Green along with six others
who live in Northwest Arkansas
speak about changing the climate of
a community to one that does not
nurture bias. Mary Ann Copp, social
worker and human rights activist,
speaks about her Japanese American
family. During World War II, while
her father served in the army, her
mother and other family members
were held in internment camps.
Copp's promise to her parents was
that she would "work for the safety
of others until all were safe." Diana
Shiell is Director of the Multicultural Center of Northwest Arkansas. She talks to the group about the
changing demographics of the area,
allegations of racial profiling, and
harassment of Hispanic children in
the schools. Other speakers address
issues of rape, domestic violence,
and the responsibilities of faith
groups.
The Hate-Free Arkansas Banner
Tour will travel to three additional
regions of the state over the next
year, with displays in Texarkana,
Jonesboro and Monticello. When
Green is asked what she hopes will
....___._
___________
come out of the Banner Tour, she
responds, "Its main objective is to
bring voice and visibility to the incidents of hate as they occur in the
state of Arkansas. Many people are
isolated because it's a rural state;
they don't think that racism exists in
'our area.' [We want to] make people
aware that this is happening in 'our
community.' These acts of violence
are not against the individual victim,
but against every member of the
community the victims belong to."
The Women's Project challenges the
state's citizens to help build a HateFree Arkansas. Mary Ann Copp says
that her parents believed that
"everyday folks, like you and me,
could recreate a vision of safety for
everyone." How do we begin? We
educate ourselves and others about
bias-based acts of harassment or violence. We develop community-level
volunteer teams that will work with
law enforcement officials to monitor
and respond to hate violence. And,
we generate public support for hate
crime legislation; Arkansas is one of
only seven states currently lacking a
hate-crime law. One of the most basic and powerful steps we can take
to prevent hate crimes is to create an
atmosphere in our homes, schools,
work places, and faith centers in
which diversity is accepted, even
___. celebrated. I
Melanie Dietzel, reporter for Ozark Gazette, covers the Women's Project press
conference in Fayetteville in January 2001
Transformation ...
The Women's
Project
challenges the
state's citizens
to help build a
Hate-Free
Arkansas.
is published four times
every year. In each issue,
members receive analysis
of contemporary issues,
information about Women's
Project upcoming events
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www.womens-project.org *Page 7* Transformation * Spring 2001
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Hate Crimes Legislation:
What Happened this Legislative Session?
Anne Shelley
i
I Iate crimes targeting people because of their race, their gender,
their sexual orientation, their disability status, and their religion happen
in towns large and small across the
country and across Arkansas. Most
have heard of the vicious murder of
Matthew Shepard, the 21 year old
college student who was beaten, tied
to a fence, and left to die in subfreezing temperatures in Laramie,
Wyoming, simply because he was
gay. Most people know of James
Byrd, Jr., the African-American man
who was chained to a truck and
dragged to death until he slowly became dismembered, simply because
of the color of his skin. And there
were many stories on the news regarding the shooting of 8 school children at a Jewish day care
center in Los Angeles.
But how many folks have
heard of Willie Wagner, a
gay white sixteen year old
in Fayetteville, Arkansas,
who was brutally beaten by
a gang of kids yelling antigay epithets? How about
another Fayetteville resident, David Allen Parker, a
transgendered AfricanAmerican Arkansan who
was brutally beaten and
killed after being followed
home from a gay bar? Or
what about the Pruitts, the
African-American couple
from Newport whose life
savings went up in smoke
when their business was
burned to the ground and
"No Nigers" was written
on its charred remains? Or
the African Methodist
Episcopal Church that was burned to Against Hate Campaign, both
the ground near Monticello?
launched in June of 2000, are designed to increase public awareness
These are the stories many Arkanabout hate violence in our state and
sans haven't heard because, in spite educate folks about the need for hate
of the publication of the Women's
crimes legislation. This push for pubProject W atchcare Log for the past
lic awareness helped create a more
13 years, the problem of hate viopositive climate for the passage of
lence remains largely invisible to
hate crimes legislation in the 2001
most Arkansans. Without hate crimes Jegislative session.
legislation, Jaw enforcement officials
have no incentive to report crimes as While working this past year on both
hate crimes or to keep statistics on
campaigns, I heard story after story
the incidents of hate crimes in our
from hate crimes victims in Arkansas
state. And as Jong as folks don't
who have been the targets of hate
think it's a problem, justice will be
violence, simply because of who
denied to the individuals who are
they are. Many of these folks have
targeted. The Watchcare Network's
gone to the police seeking justice
Hate Free Arkansas Campaign and only to find that their pleas have
Arkansas Equality Network's Pledge been ignored, because law enforcement officials refused
••--------,n----.-.-."'";,l"7,I
to take the crimes seri1..
ously or were unable to
prosecute them as hate
crimes.
Ultimately hate crimes
leave a devastating legacy in the communities
where they occur.
When someone is the
target of a hate crime,
the entire community of
which they are a member is targeted. These
crimes are intended to
send a message to an
entire community of
people that they do not
have the right to exist,
simply because of who
they are. The perpetrators of these crimes
commit them with the
intent to intimidate an
entire group of people.
A Banner Bea .
~J.heBrutal Be;;g Witness to
agner in 1996 ~ngof Willie
C Hate-Free A is Pan of the
ampaign ,A,'- rkansas1
the tt • ""11enY,
•
Ab
u on on th B ou Press
ove Yo
e lack
of Willi~'s Hear a Record?X
a
e
i
Supponof H otherSpeak· '?9
er son a
mg,n
Us All Not to Ll nd Asking
r-iate.
www.womens-project.org *Page 8* Transformation
*
Spring 2001
For most of the 20th century, AfricanAmericans were lynched to keep
them from exercising voting rights
and from challenging Jim Crow segregation laws. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are often
beaten just for showing affection in
public or for "looking queer." Whatever the reason and whoever the target, hate crimes rob entire communities of their humanity and feelings of
self-worth; they tell people to live
their lives in shame and fear, rather
than openly and honestly.
state of Arkansas.
Arkansas is one of only six
states currently without a state
law providing for harsher penalties for crimes that target
someone just because of their
race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or gender. In
the recent legislative session,
there was a bill in the state legislature, Senate Bill 35, that
would have created enhanced
penalties for hate crimes committed because of a person's
actual or perceived race, color,
I believe, though, that through a
combination of community education national origin, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, or disefforts and legislative advocacy we
can stem hate violence in Arkansas. ability.
Through our diligent work to increase community education regard- In both 1997 and 1999, hate
crimes legislation was introing bias violence, the W atchcare
Network and Arkansas Equality Net- duced, only to be killed
work helped set the stage for the leg- instantly in the House. This
year, the outlook for hate
crimes legislation looked more Hate-Free Arkansas banner gives visibility to the
promising. For the first time,
problem of church burnings in Arkansas.
we had a state attorney general,
Mark Pryor, writing the legislation
category). For the first time, we had
and taking a key leadership role in
the Citizens' First Congress, a prospeaking out publicly against hate
gressive lobby coalition representing
violence and advocating for passage over 50 grassroots organizations, adof the bill. And for the first time, we vocating for the bill's passage. A
had leading state elected officials,
broad-based coalition of organizaincluding Speaker of the House
tions soon joined forces with the AtShane Broadway and President Pro
torney General's office to strategize
Tempore of the Senate Mike Beebe, on the bill's passage and to turn out
serving as the bill's lead co-sponsors, citizens from across the state to teswith Senator Bill Walker introducing tify at the legislature in favor of the
the bill.
bill. Community Action meetings
islative advocacy that occurred at the
were held across the state, generating
Community involvement in passing calls, letters and attendance at legiscapitol this year. Comprehensive
hate crimes legislation came closer to the legislation was stronger than ever lative committee meetings. Over 100
passing in Arkansas this last legisla- before as well. For the first time,
community leaders from across the
there was a statewide progressive
tive session than ever before in our
state signed a letter endorsing Senate
organization advocating for equal
Bill 35, including the Police Chief of
state. While we cannot legislate
rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and Little Rock and the Mayor of Hot
prejudice out of existence, hate
transgender people that was taking
crimes legislation is an important
Springs.
an active and visible role in educatstep in dealing with the problem of
On January 30, after accepting an
hate crimes. Hate crimes legislation ing folks about hate crimes legislation (past attempts at passing a hate amendment penned by the ACLU of
would insure that hate crimes are
crimes bill had been met with strong Arkansas guaranteeing that the bill
taken seriously by the criminal juswould not violate the First Amendtice system and send a message that arguments against the inclusion of
hate crimes won't be tolerated in the sexual orientation as a protected
Ultimately hate
crimes leave a
devastating
legacy on the
communities
where they
occur.
Continued on page 10
www.womens-project.org *Page 9* Transformation
* Spring 2001
Continued from page 9...
---------------
"I come from an
experience where
it was okay for me
to be attacked and
to be assaulted
daily, and the most
painful part of that
was not the person
attacking me, it
was the bystanders
who turned their
backs, to whom
this was not
meaningful,"
Eckford said in her
remarks supporting
the bill.
and political cartoons in the Arkansas
Democrat Gazette. Three hours of
debate on the bill followed. Folks
testifying for the passage of the hate
crimes bill included: Judge Wendell
Griffin who, as a Baptist Minister,
spoke with both legal and moral authority on the issue; Charles and
Sylvialene Pruitt of Newport who
tearfully recounted the burning of
their business in Newport; and Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock
Nine who broke the racial barrier at
Central High in 1957.
stronger over the next two years.
By 2003, it is my hope that no one
will be able to unthinkingly say,
"there are no hate crimes in Arkansas." Through efforts like Hate-Free
Arkansas and Pledge Against Hate,
the stories of Arkansans like Willie
Wagner and the Pruitts will not be
ignored, and crimes like those waged
against them will be fully punished
under a hate crimes bill in Arkansas.
Note: This month, Texas passed hate
crimes legislation making Arkansas
"I come from an experience where it one of only six states without a hate
was okay for me to be attacked and to crimes law instead of one of only
be assaulted daily, and the most pain- seven states as mentioned earlier in
ful part of that was not the person
this issue.
■
attacking me, it was the bystanders
who turned their backs, to whom this
was not meaningful," Eckford said in
her remarks supporting the bill.
At the end of the three-hour committee meeting, it was mis-information
that won out over truth. Citing beliefs that, "there are no hate crimes in
Arkansas," "the bill would punish
thought," or "the bill establishes particular groups for elevated status,"
eleven House Judiciary Committee
members voted to kill the bill. Five
voted for passage of the bill and four
members did not cast a vote. One of
the Representatives who abstained
told citizen lobbyists that he knew in
his heart that the bill was the right
thing to do, but he had gotten only
calls opposing the bill from his constituents at home.
-------------•
ment rights of perpetrators, the Senate
Judiciary Committee, in a vote of four
to one, passed Senate Bill 35 out of
committee and onto the full Senate
floor. Making history on February
5'\ the Arkansas State Senate passed
hate crimes legislation by a vote of 22
to 13, becoming the first full body of
the legislature to pass a hate crimes
bill and sending the bill to the House
Judiciary Committee for consideration. Historically, however, the House
Judiciary Committee had been a
deadly foe to such legislation. This
session would prove no different.
So, Arkansas continues to be one of
only six states without hate crimes
On February 20'\ the House Judiciary legislation. That said, it must also be
Committee met before a standingnoted that the climate regarding the
room-only audience, comprised
importance of hate crimes legislation
mostly of supporters of Senate Bill
has forever changed for the better.
35. Attorney General Mark Pryor
The momentum started this year for
gave an inspired introduction to the
Senate Bill 35 will continue to build
bill that strongly challenged the mis- into the next legislative session in
information campaign in opposition
2003. The foundation laid by the coato the bill spearheaded by the Family lition formed and the educational
Council and perpetuated by columns campaigns started in 2000 will grow
Transformation
Published four times a year
by the Women's Project,
2224 Main Street, Little Rock,
Arkansas 72206
Phone: 501-372-5113
Letters to the editor are welcome.
Editor
Production
Layout
Amy Edgington
Felicia Davidson
Staff
Women's Project Staff:
Felicia Davidson, Lynn Frost,
Judy Matsuoka, Dee Dee Green,
Pat Schuyler, Anne Shelley
Staff Emeritus:
Suzanne Pharr
* Printed on recycled paper.*
2001 The Women's Project
www.womens-project.org *Page 10* Transformation * Spring 2001
ii~
1
1
Univ1m11rr11l111r
I1l~
n1[1i11111i11111~r1~1l~d,
OK
M 001 111 350
Property of the Center
Join Us in Welcoming
Vendors
Back Former Staff Members:
20th Anniversary T-Shirts
Suzanne Pharr, Janet Perkins,
Visit Former Staff & Board Members
Kerry Lobel, Kelly Mitchell-Clark and Others!
9, 2001
4 m.-8
bratin 20 Years of SocialJustice
Women's Project
2224 Main Street Little Rock, AR 72206
(501) 372-5113 voice (501) 372-6853 TDD
(501) 372-0009 fax
wproject@aol.com
www.womens-project.org
Women's Project Watchcare Organizer .Job Opportunity
Seeking fulltime Community Organizer to work as lead organizer for Watchcare Network, a project of the Women's Project in
Little Rock. The Women's Project is a non-profit, grassroots social justice organization working to eliminate racism and sexism. The Watchcare Network is a broad-based project of public education and community organizing against bias violence in
Arkansas. The Watchcare Organizer's duties include: compiling annual anecdotal log of bias violence; coordinating our statewide Hate-Free Arkansas Campaign; organizing Watchcare community monitoring teams across the state; educating for policy
regarding hate crimes and bias violence; conducting anti-violence, anti-racism and anti-homophobia conferences and trainings;
and performing general administrative duties. Applicant should be self-motivated, computer literate, have good people skills,
reliable transportation and be able to travel. Young women and women of color encouraged to apply. Experience as a community organizer a plus. Spanish-speaking skills a plus.
Mail resume to: Women's Project, 2224 Main St., Little Rock, AR 72206; or fax it to 501-372-0009.
Women's Project
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Little Rock, Arkansas
Permit No. 448
2224 Main Street
Little Rock, AR 72206
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
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