2nd Annual Hate Crimes in Held East County
James McElroy, chair of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), served as keynote speaker at the second annual Hate Crimes Summit on October 1st at the Ronald Reagan Community Center in El Cajon.
The event was sponsored by United for a Hate Free San Diego (UFHFSD), a coalition of 70+ faith and community leaders and organizations, including EMPOWER San Diego. Formed in 2007, to counter a growing trend of hatemotivated crimes and behavior in San Diego communities, UFHFSD is chaired by EMPOWER board member, Estela De Los Rios.
East County was selected for this year's summit following the attack on several black teenagers in Jamul earlier this year. The theme of the conference, "Even One is Too Many," was explored by a panel representing San Diego law enforcement, courts, schools, parents, faith community and hate crime experts.
Keynote speaker Jim McElroy, a San Diego civil rights attorney, played a key role in the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) landmark case against Tom Metzger and his hate group, White Aryan Resistance (WAR) in the early 1990s. Widely recognized as a longtime crusader for human and civil rights, Mr. McElroy has received the Anti-Defamation League National Civil Rights Achievement Award in 1994, the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood in 1995 for his work on behalf of women's rights, and the San Diego County Bar Association's Outstanding Attorney of the Year in 2004.
Read more about the summit in the OB Rag.
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