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Copyright 1995 The Houston Chronicle Publishing
Company
The Houston Chronicle
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October 12, 1995, Thursday, 3 STAR
Edition
SECTION: a; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 913 words
HEADLINE: Hate crimes on the increase
in Houston
BYLINE: KATHY WALT, Houston Chronicle
Austin Bureau; Staff
DATELINE: AUSTIN
BODY:
AUSTIN - Hung
Truong, a 15-year-old Vietnamese immigrant,
met his death on
the streets of Houston in 1990, kicked in
the head by a
17-year-old skinhead. And in so doing he
became one of the
earliest reported victims of hate crime in
Houston.
The following year, Paul Broussard,
a gay banker, was stabbed
to death outside a Montrose nightclub, and
Tarron Dixon, a
black Persian Gulf veteran, was shot to death
on the street
where he grew up - both victims of hate crimes.
Last year, the incidences of hate violence
grew even more,
including a bombing at the Congregation Emanu
El, which did
minor damage to the synagogue, and the murder
of Michael
Burzinski, a 29-year-old gay businessman
who was shot to death
in Montrose and was one of eight gay men
murdered in Texas
that year.
While hate crimes are leveling off in some
urban areas of
Texas, the number of minorities, gays and
lesbians targeted
for assaults in Houston is on the rise, according
to a
statewide survey of such crimes. In Houston,
too, the number
of whites attacked because of their race
increased
dramatically during the past three years.
There were 14 incidents of hate crimes against
whites last
year, compared with 13 against gays, 12 against
blacks and
eight against Hispanics. Reports of attacks
on all four groups
increased significantly from two years earlier.
""Hate crimes continue to be a very pervasive
problem in
Texas,''said James C. Harrington, legal director
of the Texas
Civil Rights Project, which conducted the
survey.
The study, released Wednesday, maps the number
of hate crimes
reported by various law enforcement agencies
to the Texas
Department of Public Safety for 1992, 1993
and 1994.
Historically, Harrington said, blacks and
Hispanics have
suffered the most, being subjected to ""murders,
lynchings,
killings'' and even shootings by some law
enforcement
agencies.
""Our hate crime problem is a legacy of that
tragic history,''
he added.
As a group, African-Americans have suffered
the brunt of hate
crime, being victims in 42 percent of the
1,286 hate crimes
reported in Texas between 1992 and 1994,
the study found.
Statewide, the overall number of hate crimes
dropped 8 percent
in the three-year period, but most of that
drop was attributed
to an overall decrease in violence against
whites and a
significant decrease in the number of black
victims in the
Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Increased awareness and training by police
and prosecutors in
that area accounted for a 41 percent drop
in the numbers of
hate crimes there, Harrington said.
Crimes reported against Hispanics and Jews
dropped between
1993 and 1994 across the state, but they
increased
dramatically against Asian Pacific Americans
and against gays
and lesbians.
While Harrington said the number of reported
hate crimes
likely represents only a small percentage
of those that
actually occur, there is some thought that
the increased
number of crimes recorded in Houston reflects
only an
increased awareness and reporting of hate
crimes.
""Some (of the crimes) have been so heinous
it has raised
people's awareness, and perhaps more are
being reported,'' said
Keith Stewart, vice president of the Houston
Gay-Lesbian
Politcal Caucus.
Although Broussard was murdered four years
ago, Stewart said,
his death ""shocked people out of their denial.
It's still a
poignant issue. ''
Harrington also acknowledged, however, that
because reporting
of hate crimes is relatively new, there is
no way of
discerning whether the numbers reflect actual
increases in the
number of incidents or increased reporting.
He said hate crimes against Hispanics and
Asian-Americans is
likely to continue to rise as anti-immigration
sentiment grows
stronger.
The federal government began collecting data
on hate crimes in
1990. In 1993 the Texas Legislature amended
the penal code to
allow stiffer sentencing of those convicted
of hate crimes.
Efforts to strengthen that bill in the 1995
session, however,
were killed in the House.
The Texas Civil Rights Project recommended
36 courses of
action to curb such violence, including:
Increased training for police and prosecutors
on recognizing
and prosecuting hate crimes.
Imposition of community service requirements
or other ""more
creative sentences'' that teach those convicted
of hate crimes
to be more tolerant.
Mandated curricula in public schools to curb
intolerance of
minorities, gays and lesbians.
Stewart said Houston police, aware of the
potential for
gay-bashing, are doing a better job of policing
Montrose. And
while the murder cases are most likely to
get all the
attention, he said, most of the problem gays
and lesbians
suffer is with harassment.
""Mostly what we get are people who drive
around and look at
the queers,'' he said. ""If they get brave,
they might yell at
you, and if they get really brave they might
chunk something
at you. ''
He sees the problem - at least in hate crimes
against gays and
lesbians - as stemming from social tolerance.
""It's not acceptable to use the 'N' word,''
he said, ""but it's
still OK to harass queers. ''
___________
Reported hate crimes.
______________Houston______Texas.
____________'92___'94___'92___'94.
Gays/Lesbians__9___13_____59___64.
Blacks________5___12____214__166.
Whites________1___14____129___73.
Hispanics_____2_____8____22____37.
Jews_________2_____2____34____24.
Asian-Americans 3___2_____14___18.
_
GRAPHIC: Graph: Reported hate crimes
(text) (p. 12); Houston Chronicle, Source: Texas Department of Public
Safety
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1995
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