City of Portage Approves ‘Hate Has No Home’ Campaign, Report ‘Hateful Rhetoric & Hateful Acts’

Portage City officials have decided to combat hate with a video message, signs and posters.   Will it work?

The “Hate has no home” resolution was approved by Portage City Council and it stated:

As civic leaders, it is our duty to promote respect, inclusion, and a welcoming community for people of all races and national origins.

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MLive is reporting about this new effort by the City.  Portage Community Outreach and Diversity Coordinator Bobby Boyd stated:

At the time the issue was brought to me, I suggested; instead of making a resolution that just included a specific issue and race, to make it a more broad resolution that would include all races and ethnicities…I then brought it to the administration to put together a campaign of actionable items to show our dedication to this cause city-wide.

Mr. Boyd went on to say that posters “condemning of all hate crimes, hateful rhetoric, and hateful acts are will be displayed in parks and public spaces”.

The city has paid for a video describing their effort.  This video can be viewed on the City of Portage’s website.

What is interesting is a statement made by Portage Public Safety Chief Nicholas Armold in that video.  He said:

When you enter our community, just know that we will protect every one of our citizens…We encourage everyone to look after reach other and report incidents of hate crimes, hateful rhetoric and hateful acts. Hate has no home here.

Report “hateful rhetoric and hateful acts” to who?

Can he have you arrested for saying hateful things or committing hateful acts that are not criminal?

Do the Portage Police have enough time to investigate every hateful thing or non-criminal act reported to them?

Portage Mayor Patricia Randall stated:

We are trying to focus on inclusivity and embracing diversity in our community…We have hired an outside vendor to record messages, which are pushed out on a variety of social media platforms…The responses I have had are very positive. The world is changing, and so must we.

How much money has the city spent on this campaign?  Ultimately it comes down to will this work or is this a campaign paid for by taxpayer dollars to make people feel better?

Do they have hate crime, rhetoric and acts data in which to compare future numbers to determine if their campaign worked?

The city can make a proclamation that they are against hate, my thought is anyone in their right mind is against hate

Is it a little concerning that the Police Chief and the City Council are asking people to report “hateful rhetoric and hateful acts”.

I will take them up on their offer if anyone says anything hateful to me and are from the city of Portage.