Home Owners Association Calls for New Georgia Hate-Crime Legislation

JONESBORO, Ga., - The Clayton County Wide Home Owners Association, Inc., is calling for new statewide hate-crime legislation in the wake of the Cracker Barrel beating that took place earlier this month.

Troy Dale West Jr. was indicted last week on charges related to beating an African American woman in front of her 7-year-old daughter inside a Morrow Cracker Barrel restaurant. Police reports say West was shouting racial slurs at Tasha Hill until she fell unconscious, as her daughter watched on.

"No violence is acceptable, but racially motivated violence needs to carry stricter penalties for the greater good of our entire community," said Synamon Baldwin, president of the Clayton County Wide Home Owners Association, president. "We need a definitive law in place that sends a message that this sort of hatred will not be tolerated."

The Clayton County Wide Home Owners Association will begin lobbying state legislators, including State Sen. Vincent Fort, to sponsor the proposed "Cracker Barrel Hate-Crime Bill." Fort has sponsored Georgia hate-crime legislation unsuccessfully in the past.

"The time is now," Baldwin said. "This area's struggle with racism has come a long way, but clearly there is much more work to be done. When a black woman and her young daughter cannot safely walk into a Cracker Barrel restaurant merely because of her ethnicity, the system is broken."

SOURCE Falls Communications