Ten years ago today, the world was just learning about a horrific hate crime in the East Texas town of Jasper. Three white men, two of whom were known white supremacists, had chained James Byrd Jr., an African-American, to the back of a truck and dragged him three miles to his death. Then, as now, it is hard to comprehend how prejudice and hate could prompt such action.

Of course, we have made some progress since schools were ordered desegregated and our nation's population became more diverse. Texas has a stronger hate crime law, named in honor of Byrd. The Texas Department of Public Safety directs every Texas law enforcement agency to track and report hate crimes.

But some hate crime victims are reluctant to come forward. Law enforcement officials have a responsibility to help these victims feel secure and comfortable reporting these crimes. Last year's statistics indicate 245 hate crimes affected 217 people in Texas. We believe one hate crime in this state is one too many.

Sadly, there are still too many examples of hate crimes and their victims. The Anti-Defamation League has worked with African-Americans who have had crosses burned on their lawns. We've logged hundreds of anti-Semitic incidents, including assaults and arsons. We've dealt with backlash crimes against Muslims, Arabs and Sikhs after the terrorist attacks of September 11. We've seen the effects of cyber-bullying and people using new technologies to spread hate. We agonized over the death of David Ritcheson, the courageous Hispanic teen from Spring who traveled to Washington to testify about the impact of surviving a brutal, bias-motivated attack by fellow teenagers, only to later take his own life.

While Texas' hate crime law has been strengthened since James Byrd Jr.'s murder, proposed improvements to federal hate crime laws have been stalled for the past 10 years. After David Ritcheson testified in support of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2007, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate passed versions of the bill.

In the end, however, conservative opposition and the threat of a presidential veto doomed efforts to secure final passage. The bill would give local law enforcement officials important tools to combat violent, bias-motivated crime and facilitate federal investigations and prosecutions when local authorities are unwilling or unable to act.

This is unfinished business, and Texans should urge their U.S. representatives and senators to enact this important initiative into law.

There are other ways individuals and organizations can combat prejudice. For 13 years, Jewish, Christian and Muslim clergy have heightened interfaith understanding through congregational exchanges coordinated by ADL's Coalition for Mutual Respect. This year, nearly 200 schools across southern Texas became ADL No Place for Hate® schools by signing a Resolution of Respect, completing at least three anti-bias activities, and documenting those activities. No Place for Hate® materials and participation are free to schools interested in the designation, and evidence indicates participation helps reinforce the importance of respect and diversity on campuses. We hope more schools will include anti-bias education on their campuses through this initiative.

We even invite businesses, organizations and houses of worship to stand up for respect in the same way schools have through our Community of Respect initiative.

We may never completely conquer hatred. When we squash it temporarily, we always know it can spring back to life, and it can spread very quickly when we're not pushing back. Programs like No Place for Hate® and Community of Respect can help us in our never-ending fight to keep hateful thoughts from evolving into hateful words and eventually, turning to violence.

The 10th anniversary of James Byrd Jr.'s murder provides us with an excellent opportunity to remind ourselves of hate's dangers, and to rededicate ourselves to the battle against them.

__________

Meyerson is the board chair of ADL's Southwest Region, and Cominsky is ADL's Southwest regional director. Since James Byrd Jr.'s murder, ADL has helped Byrd's family and the city of Jasper deal with the aftereffects of the crime.