Thirteen Orange County Black Indigenous Persons of Color (BIPOC) elected officials penned a letter of solidarity with Asian-American communities. The letter comes after continued harassment of the Asian-American community and in response to the shooting in Atlanta last Tuesday which left eight people dead.
State Senator for Orange County Valerie Foushee is one of the elected officials who signed the statement. She recently spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck about the letter which endorsed the Hate Crimes Prevention act recently filed in the N.C. Senate.
“It changes the current definition for what a hate crime is to include ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, disability, and sexual orientation,” Foushee said. “It also increases penalties for certain crimes and allows for victims of hate crimes to sue for damages in civil court, including litigation fees, actual damages to physical health, or property and emotional damages.”
Foushee said the current hate crime laws are defined as crimes against a person for his or her race, color, religion, nationality and country of origin. The current laws do not provide training for law enforcement on handling hate crimes. The new bill would provide the education needed for identifying, handling and prosecuting hate crimes in North Carolina. Foushee also mentioned this isn’t the first time they’ve tried to pass such legislation.
“This is a bill we have reintroduced,” Foushee said. “We have introduced this bill in 2017, and 2019, and the occurrences continue.”
Foushee said the bill may not be able to stop hate crimes from occurring but they can make it difficult for occurrences to continue. Recent experiences within the Orange County community help highlight the need for this legislation. In Chapel Hill, six years ago, three Muslim students were killed in Finley Forest. Another incident occurred this past summer at Binkley Baptist Church during a vigil when a African American young woman was punched in the face.
“I think we are geared to think that if it happens here it can happen anywhere,” Foushee said. “But we also have to remember if it happens anywhere it can happen here.”
In the letter by the Orange County BIPOC officials, they endorsed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and are encouraging the full legislature to pass the bill for North Carolinians safety and protection. In response to the recent hate crimes to Asian Americans, they said, “We mourn with those whose loved ones were brutally murdered and all who have been targets of violence and hatred because of their race.”
Joal Broun, a member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, drafted the letter. She spoke with 97.9 The Hill about reactions from the Asian American community during vigils held throughout Orange County.
“People have been very disparaging and very hurtful to people thinking that they brought the COVID if you will,” Broun said. “It’s so disappointing in my home town, my home county that people would make such statements to people who are actually helping people during this really rough and challenging time with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Broun said racism is often looked upon as just “black and white.”
“We wanted to break that sort of myth because racism just doesn’t affect Black people,” Broun said. “It affects Latinx people, it affects Asian people. It affects LGBT community. We want to have people understand that this America we’re on is one boat and there are no others. We don’t believe if you end racism against Black people only or people of color that’s alright. We believe that racism should be eradicated against everyone.”
Chair of the Orange County Commissioners Renee Price also signed the letter. She spoke with 97.9 The Hill and echoed Broun’s sentiments.
“Violence against whether its against African Americans, Indigenous People, Asian Americans, it’s wrong,” Price said. “And it hurts every time we hear of someone else being victimized by senseless acts of violence. And it needs to stop. We’ve been watching it for hundreds of years but it still it needs to stop.”
Lead photo Curtis Compton /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines