Boulder – In a city known for embracing alternative lifestyles, three suspected hate crimes in the past month have triggered alarm.
Yet some Boulderites say the attacks don’t signal a new, lasting climate of intolerance in a university town known for freedom of thought and expression.
A variety of people who live, work and attend school in Boulder, interviewed last week, said they support clamping down on hate crimes. But most say they generally feel safe in the city and on the University of Colorado campus.
And authorities here say calling attention to the problem, even though it has put the city in a bad light, is an important part of overcoming hate crimes.
“One of the things Boulder tries to do is promote itself as an inclusive, progressive community that accepts diversity,” said Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner. “When you try to become a leader, you also become a target.”
After an alleged assault on a 23-year-old gay man early on March 11, two CU students were arrested and the university suspended the suspects.
The day before, a 19-year- old man was beaten and an 18-year-old injured in what police say was a race-based assault. And on Feb. 21, a 21-year-old woman was severely beaten after telling two men she was a lesbian. No suspects have been arrested in those cases.
The public outcry, which was swift and wide, included a joint statement by Boulder’s mayor and city manager condemning hate crimes. More than 300 people took part in a rally and march to support the 21-year-old beating victim.
And the groups Boulder Pride and Boulder Community United plan to ask the City Council on Tuesday to declare a future “safe day” to raise public awareness about what state law refers to as “bias- motivated crimes.”
Isolated incidents
Yet for the most part, Boulderites said in interviews that they view the recent attacks as isolated incidents.
“All the people around me are so friendly,” said Salaman Alfaresi, a 20-year-old CU student who comes from Kuwait. “If I need help, I ask, and they help me.”
Alfaresi has been in Boulder only a week but said he was encouraged to attend CU by several Kuwaiti friends who are also students. While Alfaresi has had no problems in his short time here, others can’t make the same claim.
Mildred Burgermeister, an African-American, is a former longtime Boulder resident who graduated from CU in 1979.
Burgermeister, who works for the university and moved to nearby Erie three years ago, said she’s been verbally harassed in Boulder several times over the years because of her race.
The harassment has been sporadic, Burgermeister said, but has left a deep and lasting impression on the 60-year-old.
“People who are not in the majority feel uncomfortable here, different and unaccepted,” she said.
Still, Burgermeister described most Boulderites as “really nice” and referred to those who have harassed her, and others, as “a few rotten apples.”
Colorado’s law against bias-motivated crimes provides for additional penalties for assaults and other offenses where prejudice is involved. It was extended to gays and lesbians in 2005.
In 2005, the most recent year for which FBI has compiled nationwide statistics, Boulder had 10 bias-motivated crimes. Only Denver, which had 12, had more hate crimes among Colorado cities in 2005. Boulder has 93,000 residents; Denver has nearly six times as many.
Colorado Springs, with 370,000 residents, also had 10 reports. Fort Collins – with 126,000 residents and, like Boulder, a college town – had only one hate crime reported in 2005.
Police and university officials say Boulder’s rate is higher than other Colorado cities’ partly because the city is so sensitive to diversity issues, leading to more bias-crime reports.
“We have such a heightened awareness throughout this community, it creates a big response when this type of thing happens,” Police Chief Beckner said.
Also, CU draws a wide array of students from various ethnic, racial, religious and social backgrounds from the U.S. and abroad, so police focus on diversity issues.
Issues with alcohol
Because of its large student population, Boulder is known as much for its party reputation as it is for diversity.
All three of the bias crimes this year happened in the early-morning hours and involved young adults, and investigators suspect that alcohol played a role in each.
“If you remove the issue of what may motivate people to assault someone, what we know at the national level is that in 90 percent of assaults, one or both parties have alcohol in their system,” said Bob Maust, chairman of CU’s standing committee on substance abuse.
The university has been working to combat alcohol abuse among students, including requiring parents to follow a CU-written guide in talking with their kids about the dangers of drinking before they start classes.
“When you mix lots of drinking with other issues and young adults, who are usually willing to take risks, you do these outlandish things and wind up saying, ‘What was I thinking?”‘ Maust said. “The problem was they weren’t thinking.”
Louise Knapp, a longtime Boulder resident, owns the Word Is Out bookstore.
Knapp, a lesbian, said she and her partner of 13 years have been comfortable with public displays of affection, like holding hands or kissing, but the recent assaults have them second-guessing whether they should do that.
Still, Knapp views Boulder as an accepting, progressive city.
“I think Boulder is more gay-friendly than most places in Colorado,” she said.
Yet last month’s assault on a lesbian, which happened just down the block from Knapp’s shop, has her asking questions.
“I just want to know why they did what they did,” Knapp said. “How did that threaten them?”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
