Bill Text: IL HR0116 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Commends and supports 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.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-02-19 - Resolution Adopted [HR0116 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2019-HR0116-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Members of religious, racial, and ethnic minority | ||||||
3 | groups throughout Illinois are suffering from a continuing | ||||||
4 | series of attacks and desecrations fueled by hate and | ||||||
5 | intolerance; and
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6 | WHEREAS, The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reported a | ||||||
7 | frightening 17 percent increase in hate crimes, a 37 percent | ||||||
8 | increase in anti-Jewish offenses, and a 23 percent increase in | ||||||
9 | overall religious-based crimes, resulting in the worse climate | ||||||
10 | for religious-based crimes since the immediate period post | ||||||
11 | September 11, 2001; and
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12 | WHEREAS, 59.6 percent of hate crimes target their victims | ||||||
13 | based on race, ethnicity, or ancestry with the FBI reporting a | ||||||
14 | 16 percent increase in hate crimes targeting African Americans; | ||||||
15 | and
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16 | WHEREAS, Hate crimes have increased nationally each of the | ||||||
17 | past three years, and every region of Illinois has experienced | ||||||
18 | hate crimes and hate-fueled vandalism, including Sunset Hill | ||||||
19 | Cemetery in Glen Carbon, where over 200 headstones and | ||||||
20 | monuments were desecrated with spray-painted swastikas, the | ||||||
21 | anti-Semitic swastika graffiti that targeted the Loop | ||||||
22 | Synagogue in Chicago, the horrific, racist graffiti at Oak Park |
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1 | River Forest High School, and the racist and white supremacist | ||||||
2 | notes targeting students at Southern Illinois University | ||||||
3 | Edwardsville; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Half of the hate crimes reported occur in Chicago, | ||||||
5 | and 50 percent are reported elsewhere in the State; the | ||||||
6 | Southern Poverty Law Center reports that there are 34 active | ||||||
7 | hate groups in Illinois, throughout all regions, targeting | ||||||
8 | nearly every race, religion, and sexual orientation; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Latino, immigrant, Asian-American, and Muslim | ||||||
10 | communities throughout Illinois are reporting incidents of | ||||||
11 | prejudice and intolerance; and
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12 | WHEREAS, State and local law enforcement in Illinois report | ||||||
13 | a surge in racial and religious vandalism and acts of violence | ||||||
14 | in recent months; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Educators agree that tolerance and acceptance | ||||||
16 | must be taught at an early age; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Illinois communities targeted by hatred have | ||||||
18 | worked together throughout our State's history to help each | ||||||
19 | other overcome intolerance; and
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20 | WHEREAS, Examples include Illinois residents of all |
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1 | backgrounds and regions who joined the abolition movement in | ||||||
2 | the 1800s, Jewish, Latino, and Asian-American community | ||||||
3 | leaders who worked with African-American leaders during | ||||||
4 | Chicago's civil rights and open housing movements, and leaders | ||||||
5 | of diverse groups who stood in solidarity with Jewish leaders | ||||||
6 | at Chicago's DuSable Museum of African American History | ||||||
7 | following the killing of 11 people at the Tree of Life | ||||||
8 | Synagogue in 2018; and
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9 | WHEREAS, The Simon Wiesenthal Center is a | ||||||
10 | globally-recognized human rights organization that teaches the | ||||||
11 | importance of tolerance and working in diverse Illinois | ||||||
12 | communities; the center is named for Simon Wiesenthal, a | ||||||
13 | holocaust survivor who had over 80 members of his family | ||||||
14 | murdered by the Nazis, who went on to lead the global movement | ||||||
15 | to hold Nazis accountable for their crimes; and
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16 | WHEREAS, The Simon Wiesenthal Center runs the acclaimed | ||||||
17 | Museum of Tolerance, which has educated millions of students | ||||||
18 | about the importance of fighting prejudice, as well as a | ||||||
19 | successful mobile tolerance center, which brings these lessons | ||||||
20 | to schools and other community locations; therefore, be it
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21 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
22 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
23 | we commend and support the Simon Wiesenthal Center on its |
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1 | efforts to bring mobile tolerance education to communities | ||||||
2 | throughout Illinois to help prevent further incidents of hate | ||||||
3 | and discrimination.
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