Hate Crime:

JUST Lincolnshire

chief hits back

Our blog of January 13th “Anti-hate campaign is crime against Boston's image” – has brought a swift response from Paul Elliott, the Chief Executive of JUST Lincolnshire.
In an e-mail to Boston Eye, he says: “Hate crime, like domestic violence, is a crime which we would prefer not to think about, or believe exists in our civilised and orderly society.
“Over recent years there have been great advances in recognition and support given to victims of domestic violence and to their families, but despite this what may not be commonly known is that an average victim of domestic violence has suffered more than 30 instances of abuse before he or she comes forward to the police or another agency to ask for help.
“There is anecdotal evidence that there may be a similar level of under reporting with hate crime, which may be due to the fact that people don’t know how to report it; don’t think they will be taken seriously by the authorities; or are scared and have been used to putting up with it and suffering in silence.
“A hate crime is any crime motivated by hatred or dislike of a person because of their race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender identity; or it could be just because of the way they look, their age or the lifestyle they follow.
“Examples may be when a person is assaulted because they are gay, a disabled person or someone with a learning disability is verbally abused, property is damaged because the owner is Muslim or is black, etc.
“The only difference between a hate crime and any other type of crime is the way it can be dealt with a court, in that the judge or magistrate may impose a greater sentence when it appears that the motivation for the crime was based upon hatred.
“It is believed that reported hate crime figures in Lincolnshire – not just Boston - do not reflect the true level offences that are being committed.
“The proactive hate crime campaign activity in Boston is part of a county wide initiative to improve awareness and encourage reporting of hate crime following the launch of the Lincolnshire Hate Crime Strategy in October 2010 and is in line with the Cross-Government Action Plan on Hate Crime of 2009.
“The campaign is certainly not a ‘crime against Boston’s image’, but an opportunity for people to become more aware of hate crime, know how to report it and be able to offer support to the small minority of people who are victims to make our already pleasant county an even better, safer and fairer place to live.
“More information about the strategy can be found at www.justlincolnshire.org.uk and hate crime can be reported, (anonymously if wished), through www.stophateuk.org .”
Boston Eye is grateful to Mr Elliott for his response.
But we re-emphasise what we said at the time. We agree that hate crime is a bad thing and do not condone it.
What we were criticising was the way that Boston so often over-eggs campaign puddings such as this.
Between now and September it would seem that the words “hate crime” and “Boston” will be frequently and inextricably linked, and the problem over emphasised in proportion to its incidence in the borough – even allowing for the greater figures that Mr Elliott claims may exist.
This has a deleterious effect on the borough’s image and reputation – which is something that we do not need. It may also generate allegations of crime where none exist.
Campaign and publicise by all means – but do not create a climate of excessive fear.
We are old-fashioned here at Boston Eye.
Our argument against excessive campaigning is one against the growing trend to try to standardise people and their behaviour.
It is supported by the lead story in yesterday's Daily Mail  headed "30,000 pupils branded as bigots: Teachers log 'racist' and 'homophobic' jibes in playground squabbles, even at nursery."
It reported: "More than 10,000 primary school pupils in a single year have been labelled racist or homophobic over minor squabbles. Even toddlers in nursery classes are being penalised for so-called hate crimes such as using the words ‘white trash’ or ‘gaylord’. Schools are forced to report their language to education authorities, which keep a register of incidents.
"This leads to at least 30,000 primary and secondary pupils per year being effectively classed as bigots because of anti-bullying rules.
"The school can also keep the pupil’s name and ‘offence’ on file. The record can be passed from primaries to secondaries or when a pupil moves between schools at the request of the new head. And if schools are asked for a pupil reference by a future employer or a university, the record could be used as the basis for it, meaning the pettiest of incidents has the potential to blight a child for life.
"Figures for the year 2008-9 were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the civil liberties group, the Manifesto Club.
"They show 29,659 racist incidents reported by schools to local education authorities in England and Wales. Of these, 10,436 were at primary schools and 41 at nursery schools."
Is this stupid - or is this STUPID?
"The Manifesto Club report’s author, Adrian Hart, said: ‘I feel that childhood itself is under attack. It’s absolutely the case that these policies misunderstand children quite profoundly. ‘Racist incident reporting generates the illusion of a problem with racism in Britain’s schools by trawling the everyday world of playground banter, teasing, childish insults – the sort of things that every teacher knows happens out there in the playground.’"
You can read more at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348089/30-000-pupils-branded-racist-homophobic-bigots-teachers-nursery.html#ixzz1BOdNnIpn

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