Published: August 07, 2008 11:49 pm         

City Council considering resolution on hate crime law

TERRE HAUTE — The Terre Haute City Council is widely expected next week to pass a resolution urging the State of Indiana to adopt hate crimes legislation.

At its Thursday night “sunshine” meeting, councilmen and members of the public discussed the proposed hate crimes resolution, which calls on the state to “prohibit crimes that are committed against individuals or groups on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, and to prosecute those who are engaged in or encourage such harmful activity …”

The resolution, which is sponsored by all nine city councilmen, is set to be voted on at next Thursday night’s regular council meeting.

“This has been a hard battle,” said Muriel Ryan, political action chairwoman of the Greater Terre Haute branch of the NAACP. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she told the councilmen.

Efforts to bring about a statewide hate crimes law have been under way for several years, but recent racially motivated incidents prompted the push for the City Council resolution, said A. Theressa Bynum, president of the Terre Haute NAACP, who spoke at the council meeting.

The recent painting by vandals of swastikas – one at the Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal church and one at a local Thai restaurant, the appearance of a noose in a tree at Indiana State University and the burning of the letters KKK in a Terre Haute lawn, all helped spur efforts toward a city resolution, Bynum said. Recent acts of violence against individuals that appeared racially motivated also contributed to the need for a resolution, she said.

Bynum hopes Terre Haute’s resolution will encourage other cities around the state to do the same, she said. “We’re going to let them know what’s going on here and encourage them,” she said.

“I do not think a resolution will stop hate or hate crimes,” said Councilman Turk Roman, D-2nd, during the meeting. However, this may be an opportunity for the council to take a leadership role in a statewide matter, he said.

Another member of the Terre Haute National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Earle Harvey, invited the councilmen to a rally next Thursday evening at 6 p.m. on the steps of the courthouse in support of a hate crimes law. “This is a very important activity,” he said.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.