The Phoenix

Issue date: 4/13/05 Section: News

In "The Laramie Project," 11 student actors take on multiple roles to represent the townspeople of Laramie, Wyo., where college student Matthew Shepard was murdered in 1998 because of his sexual orientation. [Click to enlarge]

To recognize and draw attention to those who have suffered from discrimination, Rainbow Connection is hosting the first ever Hate Crime Awareness Week. Junior Adam Cebulski, president of Rainbow Connection, said he thinks the Loyola community needs a "wake-up call" to incidents and words that alienate minority groups.

The week, which began with a concert Monday, April 11, seeks to draw attention to hate crimes and the effect they have on communities.

Cebulski decided to center the event around today's Day of Silence.

"This Wednesday ... is the Day of Silence, which is a nationally recognized student movement to promote awareness of hate crimes against LGBTQ individuals," Cebulski said. "The point of the Day of Silence is to remain silent. Their silence represents the silence [of] those who have fallen to violent discrimination and hate crimes ... [because] I think Loyola students are relatively oblivious to hate crimes."

Cebulski has reason to be concerned about hate crimes. Since 1992 the FBI began gathering statistics on hate crimes, the number of incidents has increased. In 2003, the FBI has concluded that more than 8,000 hate crimes were committed.

These include only the hate crimes that were reported to the police; undoubtedly many go unreported. The FBI's data only includes data on hate crimes gathered from those law enforcement agencies that submitted data; only 82.8 percent of the population is represented by this data.

Racial bias constituted the motivation for the overwhelming majority of hate crimes - approximately 53 percent of these incidents. Roughly 16 percent of the incidents were classified as religious or sexual orientation bias.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer individuals are not the only ones facing discrimination. In the fall, the Phoenix reported a fight between students during which racial slurs allegedly were uttered.

Continued...

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