Web Sites by Topic 

Hate Crimes/Bias Incidents and Teaching Tolerance

In New Jersey, bias crime statistics are compiled by the State Dept. of Law and Public Safety.  Bias crimes are defined by the NJ State Police as actions taken against people or property based on their beliefs or based on inherent traits such as race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicity (Asbury Park Press, July 24, 2005, pp. AA1-2; New York Times, Metro Section, 1).  Physical attacks include assault, murder, rape, robbery, and other physical crimes against individuals.  Offenders typically single out anonymous victims.  NJ State Police report that Mondays in November to be the most common time for a bias incident (Asbury Park Press, July 24, 2005, pp. AA1-2). 

In 2004, Monmouth, Ocean, and Camden counties led in reported incidents and this may be attributed to the proactive stance of and strict enforcement by local municipalities.  Towns reporting the most bias incidents, in descending order, are Lakewood, Cherry Hill, Bridgewater, Manalapan, Howell, Middletown, Voorhees, Manchester, Jackson, Union City, and Deptford (Asbury Park Press, July 24, 2005, pp. AA1-2).

Hate Crimes Research Network (HCRN) links academic research in diverse disciplines on bias-motivated crime with the goal of creating a common pool of research and data to understand the phenomenon of hate crimes.  A hate crimes map highlights states with laws addressing hate crimes.  Its library features books on a wide variety of related topics (http://www.hatecrime.net/).

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance Project provides free curriculum guides, activity kits, and handbooks for classroom exercises, web resources, grants for anti-bias projects, a magazine, and a monthly e-newsletter that promote respect for differences and appreciation of diversity in schools.  Many resources are easy-to-use, searchable by grade, academic subject, or topic, and adaptable for classroom needs.  The magazine, Teaching Tolerance, is published twice a year and profiles schools and programs promoting diversity and equity.  The Mix It Up Initiative is a nationwide campaign on November 15 to help students identify, question, and cross the boundaries that separate them from other students (http://www.tolerance.org/teach/index.jsp).

Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee educates about Arab culture, religion, and history.  Lesson plans are available on discrimination in schools, Islam, and stereotyping, among other topics (http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=203).

Educators for Social Responsibility assists educators in talking about countering discrimination.  The “Online Teacher Center” provides teaching resources on social responsibility and other violence-related issues.  Its “Making a Difference” resources are age-appropriate from early childhood through high school(http://www.esrnational.org/otc/).

Anti-Defamation League offers anti-bias lesson plans to assist students in K-12 to combat bias and hate crimes and assists educators to integrate multicultural, anti-bias, and social justice themes into the curriculum.  Each issue is topic- or theme-based and distributed via e-mail 3 or 4 times per school year with a free subscription (http://www.adl.org/education/curriculum_connections/).  It’s a World of Difference Institute recommends multicultural and anti-bias books appropriate for student and classroom use (http://www.adl.org/bibliography/).  The Blueprint for Action is a compilation of ADL programs and initiatives (http://www.adl.org/combating_hate/), including 101 ways to beat prejudice and how children learn and unlearn prejudice (http://www.adl.org/ctboh/default.asp).  

GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) works to make schools safe and affirming places by offering its Teach Respect campaign to educate and inform Americans to address problems of anti-LGBT name calling, bullying, and harassment  (http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/1784.html).