President Clinton
announced a hate crime conference to be held in early November in Washington D.C. Although the conference is not directly tied to the President's Initiative on Race it is part of the President's effort to focus on finding
ways to improve intergroup relations. According to White House staff, approximately 250 people will be invited to participate in the sessions. Participants will be divided among seven or eight workshops consisting of
30 participants or less. Each workshop will be given the task of considering specific national initiatives and making recommendations.
The President is expected to use the occasion to announce new federal initiatives to be
launched by the Justice Department to address hate crimes. The President is also being lobbied by civil rights advocacy groups in Washington to support legislation to expand the jurisdiction of federal agencies over
hate crimes and to broaden the definition to include gender, and sexual orientation.
The Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, seeking to capitalize on the attention focused on hate crimes will be
sponsoring a local "Hate Crime Summit" to address its impact locally. CAHRO is currently discussing the feasibility of encouraging additional communities to follow the lead offered by Los Angeles with White House staff.
