Good afternoon, I am State Representative Brenda Clack. I represent the 34th District of Flint, Michigan. I also serve as the Chairperson of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus. May I first thank all of my colleagues who have joined me for this most important press conference. Present also, are former legislators, educators, and community organizers.
We have gathered to address the recent incident at Central Michigan University where four nooses were discovered in a classroom on November 12, 2007. It was a student who found the nooses and made the report. The nooses were made from flexible compressed gas lines used in a laboratory. Not only did the culprit threaten the freedom of the targeted black students, but we can also consider it to be a case of vandalism.
This was a deliberate act of intimidation, a hate crime directed toward black students who attend CMU to advance themselves educationally and they should not have to encounter acts such as nooses hanging.
While it has been reported that a CMU student has come forth, admitting responsibility for the nooses, saying it was a Halloween prank. This action is intolerable and it should not have happened. The Attorney General of Michigan and the County Prosecutor must get involved. Hate crimes are on the rise in our country and also in our state. Michigan residents reported the third highest number of hate crimes nationwide. In 2006 statewide, the majority of the incidents were motivated by race. No student attending any of our institutions of higher learning should experience any threats of racial intimidation. We should not, and will not tolerate these actions. The clock of progress will not be turned back or any student sacrificed because of racial intimidation.
We, as the members of this legislative body demand that these types of actions are thoroughly investigated and swift action taken against those who have been ruled as the perpetrators.
We also demand that allegations of potential hate crime activity be immediately investigated.
We also encourage sensitivity training by those who have found to be guilty. Open dialogue with a diverse group of students who seek to better understand and communicate with one another is also encouraged.
Members of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus stand ready to assist the university if needed. Officers with vast knowledge stand with me today and are ready to assist if needed.
We also request that the FBI thoroughly investigate all incidents and move expeditiously to bring the accused to justice.
Finally, we must offer support to all students who seek to move themselves to a higher level by studying at our educational institutions. While I applaud the actions of Dr. Rao, CMU's President…much can be done. Students deserve nothing but a safe environment. Free of fear and intimidation….nothing less.
There is no room for HATE CRIMES in our STATE.
-Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith
While this incident occurred at CMU, not any of our institutions are beyond the potential for hate crimes taking place on the campuses, so this is the beginning of an alert to the campuses and to our k012 schools that they need to be aware of a growing number of hate crimes in the state of MI and they need to take preemptive steps w their student bodies. We are here using statistics from the FBI, but I would like to point out that the FBI stats. Are simply the tip of the iceberg, they take report5s fro local police est. that are pulled up from a book and published, local units have a tendency to uder report or to downplay incidents, and we need to be more serious about the indicents themselves and bringing them to the fore. I support rep. Clack and the black caucus in this call for greater vigilance in the state of MI, its time now, it’s a little past time, but this caucus stands ready to take action.
-Rep. Paul Condino
I am State Rep. Paul Condino from the 35th District, which includes Southfield, Lathrup Village, the Charter Township of Royal Oak, and a small portion of Oak Park, I am also chair of the House Judiciary Committee and will take up the mantle based on the Legislative Black Caucus bringing this to my attention, but also the Speaker of the House has directed me to work with the NAACP as it relates to hate crime legislation, because as a great American and a great African American, Dr. King said, "an injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere". We are going to start by working with our friends who are standing behind me representing much of the constituency across the state on the Democratic, as it relates to hate crime legislation, how we can better make it have more teeth in MI, and Rep. Clack if we don’t get some investigation and some work done by the prosecuting attorney in this case and I know they would say it’s only been two weeks, we stand ready on Judiciary Committee to take up this cause.
-Michael C. Murphy
Past President, Chair of the MI legislative Black Caucus. I too join with Rep. Clack, the Black Caucus, and legislators of conscience, to bring focus and attention and greater awareness to this issue of the rise of hate crimes here in the state of MI. Just down the road, in Mason, MI, about three weeks ago, one of the news outlets discovered a swastika that had been spray- painted on the side of a bridge, they discovered the n-word, they discovered some anti-gay words, and it was played off as vandalism. When these things occur it is not a matter of kids being kids or vandalism, they should be investigated it should be taken seriously, and in this case down in Mason, they came in, they cleaned up what had been spray-painted on the wall, as if nothing had ever happened. We need to have local prosecutors, the AG, and like our good friend Rep. Condino to bring awareness to this issue, and make sure that something like a hate crime is not just played off as vandalism or kids being kids, but it is taken seriously, because we have young people here visiting with us, and I’m glad they are able to see legislators standing together bringing attention to this issue of hate crimes, and I commend the MI legislative black caucus for this effort.
-Rep. Bert Johnson
I’m state Rep. Bert Johnson from the city of Detroit, and I represent the 5th district, which includes Hamtramck and Highland Park. As Chair of the Detroit Caucus, I wanted to note as I look at the number of children who line the wall in this corridor today in this state's most prestigious building, that education is the way that we free ourselves from any of the bondage that we deal with on an everyday basis, and if we would stand aside and allow people to intimidate us in our educational institutions and force people out, when they have made a conscious decision to come in and be educated, then we are failing our system. It should also be noted that this is not a standard press conference, that the MI Legislative Black Caucus, under the courageous leadership of our Chair, Brenda Clack, will in fact stand positioned to deal with this front and center, if no one else will stand to help us, we will deal with it on our own. This will not be tolerated, this is something we cannot stand in this state, and we have to all remember that no matter where we come from and no matter what we endeavor to do, that love and understanding must in fact be what we deal with each other in. So we in Detroit stand ready to assist in any way possible, and we appreciate your support as well.
I’m state Rep. John Espinoza from the 83rd MI house district. MI is a great place to live and it’s a great place to serve. It’s a place where they elected a former migrant farm worker to the MI House of Reps. And I mention that because, people when this type of incident occurs they say, well that doesn’t occur in MI look what we did in the 83rd district, we elected a Mexican American. But its precisely for that reason why we have to, these types of actions are like cancer you have to nip it in the bud very, very early on, otherwise we regress instead of progressing. And Michigan, is rightfully considered to be most of the time one of the most progressive states in the country, and it’s for that reason that we just do not tolerate this kind of action. I feel very, very honored to be also be a member of the MI legislative black caucus and to serve as one of its members, and its because of that reason that they invited myself and my colleague Rep. Lee Gonzales. Because they take the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, where a man truly is judged by his character rather than by the color of his skin. And I believe wholeheartedly that Michigan is rooted in that foundation and that belief, and that’s why I feel very, very strongly and stand with the MI legislative black caucus as these types of actions cannot be ignored, cannot be put aside and just looked at as an isolated incident, because if we allow this to progress, it does grow, and it will grow to other universities and we have some fine institutions, and it needs to stop and it needs to stop where it began very, very quickly.
- Sen. Martha G. Scott
I’m state Senator Martha G. Scott from the second district, which includes portions of Detroit, Highland Park, Hamtramck, Harper Woods and the Grosse Pointes, so I am sensitive to these issues at all times, because I represent a diverse population, and I find myself weekly working on these issues, I have a saying its you today and me tomorrow, and if we don’t deal with these issues early on they begin to escalate, so I am here I didn't see any other senators, but to say that the senate stands ready to work on these issues as well. This is what we are here to do, to work for the betterment of all people, and together we can eradicate these crimes, crimes that are so rampant all over this state now, and so people feel very free to hang nooses and do whatever, but unless the media and all of us stand up and oppose all of these issues, they will continue. So we must stand ready to work on these issues, so I am glad to see all of my colleagues from the House here representing and I am also the first Vice President of the Black Caucus, thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity.
-Jerome Reed, MI State Conference of the NAACP
We want to join with the MI Legislative Black Caucus, calling on all people of good-will and good-conscience in Michigan to oppose racial hatred, to oppose hate crimes, to oppose racial violence and to work to build diversity and brotherhood in the state of Michigan.
