Indianapolis – accessABILITY announced today that it is joining the Central Indiana Alliance Against Hate (CIAAH). CIAAH was formed by the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana as part of a $125,000 “Communities Against Hate” grant from the Open Society Foundations. The goal is to reduce the occurrence and combat the consequences of hate crimes and hate-based incidents occurring in Central Indiana.
According to the Central Indiana Alliance Against Hate, a “hate crime” is a criminal act against a person or property in which the perpetrator chooses the victim because of the victim’s real or perceived race, color, religion, national origin or ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender. Thought or speech would not qualify as a hate crime unless accompanied by criminal action.
As explained by the Anti-Defamation League, what makes hate crimes different from other criminal acts is whenever a bias-motivated crime is committed, often, the victim’s entire community is left feeling victimized, vulnerable, fearful, isolated, and unprotected by the law. Such crimes can also lead to reprisals and a dangerous spiral of escalating inter-group tension and violence. Thus, the impact of this type of bias-motivated crime is far greater than the already terrible impact on the individual.
A “hate-based incident” is non-criminal conduct or words motivated by bigotry, bias, or prejudice directed at an individual or group based upon the individual or group’s real or perceived race, color, religion, national origin or ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender.
A hate-based incident often involves a person or group making non-threatening bigoted, biased, or prejudiced comments to another individual or a group’s real or perceived race, color, religion, national origin or ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender. It also can involve a person displaying a non-threatening, bigoted, biased, or prejudiced message or image in certain contexts. Although deeply hurtful and offensive, hate-based incidents do not violate criminal or civil law. They are not hate crimes or acts of unlawful discrimination. Rather, such incidents are protected free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, if over an extended period of time a person directs numerous bigoted, biased, or prejudiced statements to the same person, such a pattern of conduct could rise to the level of unlawful criminal harassment or stalking under certain state laws.
Hate crimes damage the fabric of our society and fragment communities. When criminals target victims on the basis of the victim’s real or perceived race, color, religion, national origin or ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender, they not only harm the targeted victim, they threaten and traumatize the larger community of which the victim is a part.
Although lawful under the First Amendment, the CIAAH believes that hate-based incidents that are meant to target, divide, or intimidate individuals within a community due to their real or perceived race, color, religion, national origin or ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender, should be addressed by the community at large using its own First Amendment rights to combat and speak out against the hate-based incident. This can help alleviate the impact of the incident and unify the community.
The CIAAH will provide or assist with education, training, coordination, data collection, and support to federal, state, local, and community-based entities whose functions include preventing, investigating, prosecuting, or otherwise responding to hate crimes and hate-based incidents.
You can follow the Central Indiana Alliance against Hate on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cINaah/
For more information on supporting or joining the alliance, please contact:
Amy Nelson at 317-644-0673 Ext. 1001 or anelson@fhcci.org