Anti-Hate Crimes Vigil Aims to Boost Awareness

The Anti-Hate Crimes Vigil, part of Campus Y's Human Rights Week, featured three guest speakers and facilitated discussion among students about why hate crimes occur, as well as ways to combat them.

"I hope we can raise some awareness about the prevalence of hate crimes on a local, regional and national level," said Zach Comer, chairman of student government's Human Relations Committee, which organized the event.

Speakers included Reginald Hildebrand, associate professor in the African and Afro-American studies program, and Matt Ezell of the Orange County Rape Crisis Center.

"At the very same moment that we allow a hate crime to occur, we also begin to compromise our own humanity," Hildebrand said. He said that to keep the diversity of the nation, we cannot tolerate hate crimes. "We must, with our laws and our lives, say no."

Pointing out that sexual violence is associated with many hate crimes, Ezell said one in every four women is raped in their lifetime. "Survivors of sexual violence are overwhelmingly women," he said.

He added that men should do something about these statistics. "We have to understand that we are privileged (in that we are not targeted) and must do something about it."

Jesse Davidson, co-chairman of the Queer Network for Change, also pushed the need for activism in his address. "Apathy does not get us anywhere," he said as he urged students to contact their local governments in support of anti-hate crime legislation. "Hate crimes affect not only the group of people targeted but the entire community."

Tina Singh, co-chairwoman of GLOBE, the Campus Y committee that co-sponsored the event, said the vigil fit nicely into the overall theme of Human Rights Week. "The first part of this week has been focusing on education and giving students resources about human rights," she said. "Tonight is when you can get up and be proactive. We've been sitting all week, and now it's time to do something about it."

Smaller and more intimate group discussions about the issues surrounding hate crimes were interspersed throughout the speakers' messages.

"Information about hate crimes should be released in a more prominent way so that it's not just read about in some history book," said junior Marrin Rothstein to her group members.

Junior Rudy Kleysteuber, student body vice president-select, said he felt the vigil was very effective. "It's a great way to push people out of their comfort zone and to force people to listen."

Freshman Alexis Gines said the ceremony was beautiful. "It gave people a chance to stand up for what they believe in," she said. "It makes people stand up for one another, and in return, you start to stand up for yourself."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.