An April 8, 2009, story in The Washington Post, “Some Link Economy With Spate Of Killings,” examines links between the recession and 57 killings in eight mass-murder crimes over the course of a single month last spring.

Several high-profile hate crimes have made headlines in 2009, confirming fears for some that bias attacks are on the rise. They include the April killing of three Pittsburgh policemen by a right-wing extremist and the shooting in June at the Holocaust Museum in Washington by an elderly white supremacist that left a security guard dead.

Leila R. Milani is senior international policy advocate at Futures Without Violence. She was co-chairwoman of the Working Group on Ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and NGO liaison for women’s issues for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is in the U.S.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights is an umbrella organization of more than 200 smaller organizations that works to promote human rights throughout the U.S. Wade Henderson is president and CEO, and Nancy Zirkin is the group’s policy director.

Rebecca M. Blank is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, specializing in economics and social policy. She is a past dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and former co-director of the National Poverty Center. Blank is co-author of Is the Market Moral?: A Dialogue on Religion, Economics […]

The National Jewish Democratic Council maximizes Jewish support for Democrats at the federal and state levels of government.

Rock the Vote tries to engage young voters in politics through music and outreach. It publishes Winning Young Voters: A Handbook for Campaigns, Candidates, Political Parties and Organizations. Contact Chrissy Faessen.

Mobilize.org works to educate and mobilize young people in civic engagement and political participation. Scott Stein is the executive director.

Black Youth Vote! (BYV!) is a national grassroots coalition of organizations and individuals committed to increasing political and civic engagement among black youth and young adults between the ages of 18-35. It is a part of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.