[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 165 (Thursday, November 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6425-S6427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY TO HEAL WOUNDS
Mr. REID. Mr. President, two days ago I came to the Senate floor and
called upon the President-elect to rise to the dignity of his office. I
called upon Mr. Trump to take responsibility for his rhetoric and his
actions and to work to heal the wounds that he created.
I am disappointed to say that our President-elect has chosen to do
none of those things to this point. Meanwhile, vile acts of hate and
intimidation continue to occur all across America.
On Tuesday, I said that the Southern Poverty Law Center had reported
315 hate crimes since the election. As of Wednesday, that number jumped
to 437. That is a 40-percent increase in 2 days. That is startling.
Here are just a few examples of the instances that have been
reported. In Michigan, a Latino family awoke to find that someone had
used boxes to form a wall blocking their driveway. The perpetrators
left behind vulgar graffiti that denigrated Mexican Americans and
praised Donald Trump for ``taking back America.''
In Tennessee, two men returned home to find a threatening homophobic
note. Using gay slurs, the message told the men to go back where they
came from. A folding knife with a picture of Donald Trump on the handle
was stabbed through the paper.
At a high school in Missouri, a 15-year-old African-American student
was burned with a hot glue gun and told he didn't belong in America.
Another African-American student at the same school was told by a White
student: ``Are you ready to get back on the boat now that Trump is
President?''
This morning the Washington Post editorial board related this story
of a student at Baylor:
The morning after Donald Trump's election as president, a
student at Baylor University had a nasty, hate-filled
encounter on her way to class. A native of Zambia, she was
called the n-word by another student, who shoved her off the
sidewalk and said he was ``just trying to make America great
again,'' the signature slogan of Mr. Trump's campaign. What
is perhaps most appalling about the incident is that it was
not isolated.
As I said, I picked just a few examples. There are hundreds of these
same kinds of things happening, as we speak, across the country. These
are sickening acts of hate, prejudice, and just simple meanness, and
they need to be stopped.
[[Page S6426]]
The Washington Post editorial board called on Donald Trump to do
everything he can to bring these acts to an end. They said:
Mr. Trump should pay heed. These hateful acts are the work
of . . . his supporters, but they have been emboldened by the
ugly rhetoric of his presidential campaign. It is his
responsibility--not, as his campaign manager has foolishly
suggested, President Obama's or Hillary Clinton's--to do as
much as he can to discourage such actions. Granted, his
appointment of media mogul Stephen K. Bannon to a top White
House job makes that all the more difficult. So does his mild
response when asked about the threats and slurs on Sunday's
``60 Minutes'' interview.
He didn't say much when he was pressed to do so.
Mr. Trump promised in his victory speech to be a president
for all Americans. His wife has said she wants to make
fighting hate and bullying her main priority as first lady.
They need not wait until Inauguration Day to start living up
to those promises.
I have several pages of hate-filled, awful incidents that have been
reported. There is only one person that can bring a stop to this
quickly, and that is the President-elect. Our Nation is looking at
Donald Trump. For the sake of the American people, I hope he will.
I ask unanimous consent that these pages be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Southern Poverty Law Center Hate Watch--Update: More Than 400 Incidents
of Hateful Harassment and Intimidation Since the Election
November 15, 2016
Between Wednesday, November 9, the day after the
presidential election, and the morning of Monday, November
14, the Southern Poverty Law Center collected 437 reports of
hateful intimidation and harassment.
The following reports were collected through news reports,
social media, and direct submissions via SPLC's #ReportHate
page. These incidents, aside from news reports, are largely
anecdotal. The SPLC did follow up with a majority of user
submissions in an effort to confirm reports. As we reported
earlier, many incidents involved direct references to the
Trump campaign and its slogans.
Here's the overview:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TS171116.001
Most of the reports involved anti-immigrant incidents
(136), followed by anti-black (89) and anti-LGBT (43). Some
reports (8) included multiple categories like anti-Muslim and
anti-immigrant. The ``Trump'' category (41) refers to
incidents where there was no clear defined target, like the
pro-Trump vandalism of a ``unity'' sign in Connecticut. We
also collected 20 reports of anti-Trump intimidation and
harassment.
Here are some examples from around the country:
In Oregon:
A Muslim woman was riding the Max to Beaverton in the early
afternoon and a group of teenagers went to the corner of the
car where she was sitting and got up in her face yelling at
her that she was a terrorist, that our new president was
going to deport her, that she can't wear her hijab anymore.
They got increasingly menacing, and my friend went over and
made them get off the train. When they were leaving through
the door they tried to spit on her.
A gay man in North Carolina:
My boyfriend and I were walking down the sidewalk in
Raleigh, North Carolina. It was 9:30 PM, and we were holding
hands and walking to a restaurant for dinner. A white car
passed us and a white male in the back passenger-side seat
leaned out the window and yelled, ``F* * * f* * *!'' at us.
A Latina woman in Texas reported:
I was walking my baby at my neighborhood park and a truck
drove by with a male driving and a female passenger. The
female yelled ``white power'' at us as they drove by and then
sped away.
[[Page S6427]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TS171116.002
Venues of harassment included K-12 schools (99), businesses
(76), and universities (67). Common also was vandalism and
leafleting on private property (40) and epithets and slurs
hurled from moving vehicles (38).
At an elementary school in Texas:
My 13 yo half Filipino daughter was approached by a child
she didn't know as she waited to board her bus after school.
The young man stated ``You're Asian, right? When they see
your eyes you are going to be deported'' and he walked away.
I reported this to my district Superintendent.
From a news report in Georgia:
A Gwinnett County high school teacher said she was left a
note in class Friday telling her that her Muslim headscarf
``isn't allowed anymore.'' ``Why don't you tie it around your
neck & hang yourself with it . . .,'' the note said, signed
``America!''
Vandalism involving swastikas (35) was also frequently
reported. In California:
A swastika was spray painted on a billboard for the movie
``Almost Christmas,'' which shows an African American cast.
It appears that incidents are subsiding, although earlier
incidents are still being reported:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TS171116.003
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I see no one on the floor. So I ask the
Chair to tell us the business of the day.
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