00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 19                                                                    
01 Relating to condemning a recent hate crime against Alaska Natives; calling for public                                   
02 and private agencies and citizens to speak out condemning racism and discrimination;                                    
03 and joining in a request for a formal investigation by the United States Commission on                                  
04 Civil Rights on racial discrimination and intolerance in Alaska.                                                        
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
06       WHEREAS the recent hate crime involving three teenagers driving around downtown                                 
07 Anchorage firing frozen paint balls at Alaska Natives was a brutal act that was racially                                
08 motivated; and                                                                                                          
09       WHEREAS this incident is not an isolated occurrence, but a symptom of a much                                    
10 greater problem reflected in statistics of homicides and rapes of Native women from rural                               
11 villages and other incidents of beatings of Alaska Natives on the city streets; and                                     
12       WHEREAS the Alaska Federation of Natives has called upon the United States                                      
13 Commission on Civil Rights, an independent, bipartisan agency established by Congress, to                               
14 conduct a formal investigation of this and similar incidents and to hold public hearings in                             
15 Alaska; and                                                                                                             

01       WHEREAS the educational leaders of this state must be active in eliminating                                     
02 discrimination in all its forms by providing a tolerant educational environment that is open                            
03 and accepting to all people; and                                                                                        
04       WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature recognizes its responsibility to take a                                    
05 leadership role in eliminating racial discrimination, and acknowledges its obligation to help                           
06 create a climate of tolerance in the state which will not condone any form of racism or                                 
07 discrimination;                                                                                                         
08       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature condemns all hate crimes and                                   
09 calls upon all public and private agencies and citizens of the state to speak out publicly,                             
10 forcefully, and clearly to condemn racism and discrimination in all its forms; and be it                                
11       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature joins in the Alaska                                          
12 Federation of Natives' request to the United States Commission on Civil Rights to conduct a                             
13 formal investigation into this and other incidents of racism and discrimination in Alaska.                              
14       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable John Ashcroft, Attorney                                
15 General of the United States; the Honorable Mary Frances Berry, Chair, United States                                    
16 Commission on Civil Rights; the members of the state Board of Education and Early                                       
17 Development; the chancellors of the University of Alaska; the superintendents of all Alaska                             
18 school systems; Julie Kitka, President, Alaska Federation of Natives; and to the Honorable                              
19 Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don                                     
20 Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.