HR0116 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Members of religious, racial, and ethnic minority groups throughout Illinois are suffering from a continuing series of attacks and desecrations fueled by hate and intolerance; and

WHEREAS, The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reported a frightening 17 percent increase in hate crimes, a 37 percent increase in anti-Jewish offenses, and a 23 percent increase in overall religious-based crimes, resulting in the worse climate for religious-based crimes since the immediate period post September 11, 2001; and

WHEREAS, 59.6 percent of hate crimes target their victims based on race, ethnicity, or ancestry with the FBI reporting a 16 percent increase in hate crimes targeting African Americans; and

WHEREAS, Hate crimes have increased nationally each of the past three years, and every region of Illinois has experienced hate crimes and hate-fueled vandalism, including Sunset Hill Cemetery in Glen Carbon, where over 200 headstones and monuments were desecrated with spray-painted swastikas, the anti-Semitic swastika graffiti that targeted the Loop Synagogue in Chicago, the horrific, racist graffiti at Oak Park River Forest High School, and the racist and white supremacist notes targeting students at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; and

WHEREAS, Half of the hate crimes reported occur in Chicago, and 50 percent are reported elsewhere in the State; the Southern Poverty Law Center reports that there are 34 active hate groups in Illinois, throughout all regions, targeting nearly every race, religion, and sexual orientation; and

WHEREAS, Latino, immigrant, Asian-American, and Muslim communities throughout Illinois are reporting incidents of prejudice and intolerance; and

WHEREAS, State and local law enforcement in Illinois report a surge in racial and religious vandalism and acts of violence in recent months; and

WHEREAS, Educators agree that tolerance and acceptance must be taught at an early age; and

WHEREAS, Illinois communities targeted by hatred have worked together throughout our State's history to help each other overcome intolerance; and

WHEREAS, Examples include Illinois residents of all backgrounds and regions who joined the abolition movement in the 1800s, Jewish, Latino, and Asian-American community leaders who worked with African-American leaders during Chicago's civil rights and open housing movements, and leaders of diverse groups who stood in solidarity with Jewish leaders at Chicago's DuSable Museum of African American History following the killing of 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018; and

WHEREAS, The Simon Wiesenthal Center is a globally-recognized human rights organization that teaches the importance of tolerance and working in diverse Illinois communities; the center is named for Simon Wiesenthal, a holocaust survivor who had over 80 members of his family murdered by the Nazis, who went on to lead the global movement to hold Nazis accountable for their crimes; and

WHEREAS, The Simon Wiesenthal Center runs the acclaimed Museum of Tolerance, which has educated millions of students about the importance of fighting prejudice, as well as a successful mobile tolerance center, which brings these lessons to schools and other community locations; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we commend and support the Simon Wiesenthal Center on its efforts to bring mobile tolerance education to communities throughout Illinois to help prevent further incidents of hate and discrimination.