Hate Crimes Expert @ USM

A nationally recognized expert on hate crimes, Jack Levin, will give a free, public lecture on “The Violence of Hate: From Spectators to Hatemongers” at 7 p.m., Monday, October 16, in the University of Southern Maine’s Luther Bonney Auditorium, Portland.
For more information, call the USM Center for the Study and Prevention of Hate Violence at 780-4756, or The Jewish Community Alliance at 772-1959.

Levin’s visit is sponsored by the USM Center for the Study and Prevention of Hate Violence, and by The Cecelia Levine Lecture of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine.

Levin, director of Northeastern University’s Brudnick Center on Conflict and Violence, has authored or co-authored 20 books, including “Hate Crimes: The Rising Tide of Bigotry and Bloodshed,” and “The Functions of Prejudice.” Levin, a contributor to The Boston Globe, USA Today, and The New York Times, is a frequent guest on national TV programs, among them “The Today Show” and “Oprah.” Levin also was a featured speaker at the 1997 White House Conference on Hate Crimes.

Levin’s appearance comes at a time when the U.S. House of Representatives is considering extending current federal hate crime protection - which covers race, religion, color and national origin - to gender, sexual orientation and disability. Earlier this month (September 13) President Clinton released a U.S. Department of Justice study showing that hate crimes are greatly under-reported. Some 7,755 hate crimes were reported last year but, according to the study, 83 percent of the more than 10,000 agencies in the FBI's hate crime data collection program said none had taken place.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For help arranging interviews, please call Bob Caswell or Susan Swain of USM Media Relations at the numbers listed at the top of this release. A report on hate crimes, co-authored by Levin, is available at www.violence.neu.edu/publication4.html