In two columns by John Kass (Metro) and an editorial (July 27), the Tribune has called its readers’ attention to a horrifying attack on an 8th-grade teacher by one of her students last February.
As satiated as Chicago’s public might seem to be with reports of criminal acts, even more occur than we actually ever hear about. Among the underreported incidents that are most troubling are hate crimes, in which offenders are motivated by various forms of prejudice. While the heinous attack on Lenard Clark dramatically drew the public’s attention to such acts, an analysis prepared by David Protess of Northwestern University for the Human Relations Foundation showed that only 5 of the 219 officially reported hate crimes carried out in the city in 1995 were written about by either the Tribune or the Sun-Times.
Statistics for the first six months of 1997, recently released by the Chicago Police Department, show an increase in hate crimes. This is attributed in part to the fact that the public has become more aware of hate crimes and more willing to report them to law enforcement.
Hate crimes are carried out in all parts of the city, against members of all sorts of groups. They are attacks not only upon their immediate victims but on the groups represented by these victims. In perpetuating bigotry and making Chicagoans suspicious and fearful of one another, hate crimes endanger not just the physical well-being of our citizens but the social fabric of our society.
A press that brings such acts to the attention of the public exposes the perpetrators, lets the victims know they are not ignored and helps all of us work together in forging a more tolerant and unified city.
