Discriminating
against someone because of his or her race, religious background, or other qualities is wrong.
You can do something to stop violence and prejudice. You can work to change attitudes.
Set a good example by showing respect for others through actions, attitudes, and remarks.
Organize forums to examine possible sources of bigotry and hate violence in the community and
brainstorm preventive actions.
Encourage law enforcement to collect hate crime statistics and make them available to the public.
Raise public awareness that bias-motivated incidents are crimes and should be reported to law
enforcement.
Support training in identifying and responding to bias-motivated crime for police and sheriff's
departments.
After getting approval from the investigating law enforcement agency, immediately clean up any
bias-motivated graffiti. Paint a mural celebrating diversity in its place.
Work with schools, businesses, or community groups to sponsor poster or essay contests on "How
Bias-related Crimes Hurt Our Community."
Offer support to a co-worker or neighbor who has been a victim of a bias-motivated crime.
Young People Can...
Start a conflict resolution program in their school.
Say hello to, and have a conversation with, someone who may appear different from them.
Reject all stereotypes.
Report incidents of discrimination or hate crimes to parents and teachers.
Start a peer education program - to teach bias awareness to younger children.
Organize a community-wide Day of Respect or Day of Dialog, in which all members in your community
can share strategies to prevent hate crime.
Mentor a younger child. Use their creative talents-sing, -write, or paint to share positive anti-violence
messages.
Start a school or town crime watch program.
Advocate violence prevention by writing to their local government representative and sharing
their ideas.
Offer support to a classmate who has been a victim of a bias-motivated crime.
