HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/09/2002 Program An Inter-religious Response To Hate and Bigotry
Tuesday April 9th, 2002, 8:30 a.m.-noon
Maplewood City Hall
Since the tragic events of September 11th and their aftermath, what can we do to counter hate crimes,
scapegoating, stereotyping and harassment of Muslims and Mid-east citizens, and others such as Sikhs and
Jews, some of whom have also been victimized?
PROGRAM
8:30 a.m. Registration and coffee.
9:00 a.m. Welcome-Rev. Tom Duke-Executive Director, St. Paul Area Council of Churches and
Sonja Peterson-President, League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions.
9:05 a.m. Video on Hate Crimes. Examines six different kinds of hate crimes, and law enforcement and
community responses to them.
Introduced by Mort Ryweck-State Project Coordinator, League of Minnesota Human Rights
Commissions, and Compact Against Hate Coalition.
9:25 a.m. Speaker: Joan Humes, U.S. Attorney's Office, MN.
Topic: Minnesota and Federal Hate Crime Laws.
9:50 a.m. Break
10:00 a.m. Panel Discussion:
An Inter-religious Response to Hate and Bigotry.
Moderator: Christopher Leifeld, Executive Director, Minnesota Catholic Conference.
Speakers:
• Fr. Stephen Adrian, St. Matthew Catholic Church
• Prof. Amin Kader, President of Islamic Institute of Minnesota
• Rajender Singh, Sikh representative
• Rabbi Morris Allen, Beth Jacob Congregation, Mendota Heights
• Rev. Gary K. Olson, Lakeview Lutheran Church, Maplewood
11:00 a.m. Open discussion-comments, questions and program suggestions from conference participants,
directed to panelists and everyone present.
11:55 a.m. Concluding Remarks.
Noon Adjournment
Co-Sponsors: The St. Paul Area Council of Churches, The Minnesota Catholic Conference, The League of
Minnesota Human Rights Commissions, The Compact Against Hate Coalition (besides the above groups,
includes the Chicano-Latino Affairs Council, Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, Minnesota Indian Affairs
Council, Council on Black Minnesotans, Jewish Community Relations Council, Minnesota Council of
Churches, Outfront Minnesota, American Muslim Council, and the Attorney General's Office), the Maplewood
Human Relations Commission, and the Alliance for Racism Free Communities.
MAPLEWOOD HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION
PROCEDURAL RESPONSE TO
ACTS OF BIAS AND PREJUDICE
Action Steps:
1. A Coordinator, appointed from within the Commission on a yearly
basis, will handle any contact of reported acts of bias and prejudice
from the Commission membership or the general public.
2. The Chief of Police MI! mai! a cover letter from the Police
Department and also enclose a letter from the Commission with a
brochure outlining the victim's rights and resources that they might
want to contact for further assistance.
3. If a victim of a bias crime calls us, the Coordinator can offer to
make a visit with another Commission member to discuss, in detail,
any further options they may want to pursue. This visit, if
requested, should be arranged as soon as possible.
4. Subsequent information regarding the incident will be shared with
the Commission and the media if relevant and appropriate.
5. Follow up to the victim(s) in writing or contact will be made if
deemed necessary.
6. Relevant names, titles, and phone numbers of those persons who
may have to be involved include:
CHIEF OF POLICE . HRC STAFF LIAISON
Michael Ryan Sherrie Le
770-4532 770-4527
CITY MANAGER HRC CHAIR
Michael McGuire Carol Cude
770-4524 738-1671
1996 BIAS RESPONSE COORDINATOR
Carol Cude
738-1671
1997 BIAS RESPONSE COORDINATOR
Regina Laroche-Theune
773-0673
12/96
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