Hateful acts occur in every community. The strongest action to combat the mean-spiritedness of those few who perpetuate this behavior is a community that commits itself by loudly and publicly denouncing such acts. Each member of the community must do his/her part to bring an end to these indignities.

Miami University provides an annual report of hate crimes, reported to campus security authorities in accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Campus Security Act). Hate crimes included in the report are crimes committed against "a person or property which are motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic/national origin, gender, or sexual-orientation group."

Action Steps

You are encouraged to take the following action:

• Speak out when jokes or comments are made that are hateful or demean others because of race, religion, disability, ethnic/national origin, gender, or sexual orientation.
  
  
• Ask yourself if you use derogatory, degrading, or offensive terms in describing others and if you avoid people who are different from yourself.
  
  
• If you are the victim of a harassing or nuisance phone call, save the e-mail message or voice mail message. Report the incident to police immediately.
  
  
• Educate yourself on the psychology of hate. Statistics indicate that most hate callers are white males under the age of 22 with low self-esteem. The motivation is typically a feeling of disenfranchisement.
  
  
• Wear or display the anti-hate logo.

Remember that hate crimes and incidents can and do occur everywhere, but the difference is how communities respond. And in this community, silence about such situations is not acceptable.