Hate Crimes Essay

In America Many people perceive people that commit hate crimes as crazed, hate-filled neo-Nazis or \\"skinheads\\". But in all actually these crimes are committed by people like you and me in some senses it could be your next door neighbor or your best friend but research by Dr. Edward Dunbar, a clinical psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, reveals that of 1,459 hate crimes committed in the Los Angeles area in the period 1994 to

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” (Martin Luther King Jr). Hate crimes are a big problem in the world today and need to be stopped. To end hate crimes people need to learn to look past what is on the outside of a person and learn to love what it on the inside. In the selection, Why We Need to Tolerate Hate by Wendy Kaminer, Kaminer emphasizes what hate crimes are and how they are treated differently than other crimes. Since hate crimes are a problem in the world today, we need to understand if hate crime prosecution is prosecution of thought and belief, the change of hate crime laws over time, and the way that the prosecution of hate crimes has changed over time.

In 2009, 6,604 hate crime incidents were reported to the FBI, 48.8% of which were motivated by race, 19.7% by religious prejudice, 18.5%by sexual orientation, 11.8% by ethnicity, and 1.5% by disability bias (Hate Crime Statistics, 2009). Recently, the FBI released the 2010 statistics that unfortunately reveal a slight increase in the number of hate crime incidents: 6,628 incidents were reported in 2010, 47.3% of which were motivated by race, 20% by religious prejudice, 19.3% by sexual orientation, 12.8% by ethnicity, and .6% by disability bias (Hate Crime Statistics, 2010). While racially-motivated and disability-motivated crimes appear to have decreased, hate crime motivated by religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity has risen in the last year. Improvements in hate crime laws and punishments are necessary in order for these statistics to decrease.

Crimes based off of hate is a crime that is caused based off a bias towards a person or race. These crimes are called hate crimes and effect people all around of all ages and is a bais that is not easily forgotten. There are laws specifically for this crime that one can be persecuted for just for people who have disagreement about another person’s religion and race , and why we need them in our society. Hate crimes in my opinion are wrong and not needed in this world but can not be forgotten because of history between people. If the history between the people of this world was different then maybe these laws would be unnecessary but we need them to protect the good people in the world who didn’t ask to be different.

The phrase “hate crime” is generally referred to as a criminal act against a person, a group, or property because of one’s race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation (Civil Rights- Hate Crimes- Overview). A person who experiences a hate crime may be threatened, harassed,

Underestimating hate crimes were a result of past experiences of humans. The first occurrence, even though not reported as a hate crime, happened in 64AD by the Romans. During the reign of the Roman Empire, various religions other than Christianity were introduced. The Romans did not tolerate something other than their beliefs, so they exiled, tortured, and killed the believers of the new faiths. This is a clear example of a hate crime. The Romans are prejudice to other religions, thus they committed other crimes against that group of people. Since there was not any laws against hate crimes back then, it seemed okay to persecute people because of their differences. This planted a seed in everyone’s mind, prosecutors and victims, that bias-related crimes were a normal thing. The

There are currently laws in place in the United States that affect how hate crimes are punished. In 1981, Oregon and Washington became the first states to ratify a law preventing and penalizing hate crimes (Nat. Institute of Justice). The first act against hate crimes was put into action by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 (US Department of Justice). In 2009, the United States passed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which changed some of the laws previously put in place, so that they would cover additional minorities. This act also required data to be kept in regards to crimes committed and reported.

Hate crimes are many different criminal acts such as vandalism, arson, assault, and even murder. Many hate crimes are based on an individual’s race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disabilities. Everyone can be potential victims of hate crimes. Anyone from any social class can be considered targets for hate crimes. If you or a group believes in a different religion or speaks a different language and the offenders do not approve, then they will target you. No one can be really safe and overcome hate crimes if they are being targeted. It is a cruel and depressing world. With help as a community can stop hate crimes.

Critical preface: I choose to explore the hate crime problem in society. The reason I choose this topic is because hate crime is a brutal act against people, property, or society because of the group to which they are members or associate with. The hate crime is one of the most notorious crimes which leads to violent acts causing death and disaster. We need to stop these horrible acts and the solution would be to seek advice from an anti-hate organization which help us reduce hate crimes and factual information can then be spread to the society.

Hate crimes are difficult to fathom, primarily because they involve the unprovoked physical attacking and, sometimes, murder of people based on race and ethnicity. A more formal definition of hate crimes is presented by Shepard (2017, p. 285). As he writes, “a hate crime is a criminal act that is motivated by extreme prejudice,” This is a very good, concise and accurate definition, nevertheless, hate crimes are not the outcome of unimaginable heights of discrimination. Most people have prejudices and many have stereotypes regarding others, whether it be racial or class stereotypes. Nobody is completely lacking in any form, shape or type of prejudice but, the much greater percentage does not physically attack, beat or murder those whom they

What is a hate crime? Although the definition can vary based on what groups are included (Cogan, 2006, p. 174) the simplest definition would be, violence against a person or group of people based on their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, race or disability (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). Hate Crimes do not just effect the victim but also the community. Those who become victims of hate crime are not chosen at random, it is because of the group they identify with or belong too (Cogan, 2006, p. 174) Hate speech, “defined as words used as weapons to ambush, terrorize, wound, humiliate and degrade” (Burgess et al., 2013, p. 480) another person. Violence is seriously damaging to a victim and the community, but

A hate crime is a crime directed to an individual or group of individuals due to their age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. Hate crimes are caused by a feeling of being threatened by a certain group of people which causes the perpetrator to act on angrily. Ever since the concept emerged in the late 1970s, laws were passed in numerous U.S. states mandating penalties for malicious crimes motivated by bias or bigotry against a particular group. Crimes motivated by bias or hate, are committed to send out a message to both the immediate victim, and as well as the group the individual identifies himself/herself as (Legislation, 2012). Some perpetrators commit hate crimes with their peers as a thrill or under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol; some as a reaction against a received threat; and some out of resentment over the growing economic power of particular racial or ethnic group scapegoating. Of all crimes, hate crimes are most likely to create tensions, which can trigger larger community-wide racial conflict, civil disturbances, and even riots. Hate crimes put cities at-risk of serious social and economic consequence. The costs of racial conflicts and civil disturbance are police, fire, and medical personnel overtime, injury or death, business and property loss, and damage to vehicles and equipment. Penalties for the U.S. Federal Law Hate Crime Convictions in the United States. The penalty is a prison term up to ten years if the hate

A hate crime is an illegal act that is specifically done to a type of group and for this instance, race and gender. The top two races that had the highest rate of victims were between blacks and white. The black race defeated every other race in victims by over 1,000 and having a total of 2,022 victims. Of anti-black or African American bias, 62.7 percent were victims of crimes motivated by their offenders. Second was the white race with a total of 734 casualties from hate crime. It is to no surprise that these two parties have the highest number of victims, because they are the ones who are most populated and have the most minorities within them.

Hate crimes are not a new concept for society, because hate crimes have always been around. While the study of hate crimes and the laws that have been passed because of hate crimes is relatively new, hate crimes have always been around. Hate crimes were committed as far back as the 1800’s and even back to The Civil War. Hate crimes are prevalent in society today just like they were in the past; because whether the crimes are aimed towards Muslims, the gay community, or any other minority group; they are fueled by something that every person has come into contact with- prejudice. Prejudice is defined as a preconceived thought or opinion about someone. While prejudice can be positive, in the concept of hate crimes they are negative feelings,

Christianity is the most prevalent religion in the United States. Many people belong to this religion. However, what happens when you don’t belong to Christianity. One of the most ancient religions that still are very much provident is the Jewish Religion. However, this religion isn’t a respected religion even after the time of Holocaust. Even today Jews continue to be the victims of many hate crimes. Donald Altschiller book, Hate Crimes: a Reference Handbook, states that, “anti-Semitism has had a pernicious history throughout the ages and around the world” (6). Anti-Jewish hatred and violence has always been one of the highest of hate crimes and Altschiller reinforces this by commenting that “the majority of attacks upon individuals or institutions because of their religion—averaging 85 percent have been targeted at Jewish Americans” (16). You would think that after the Holocaust the Jewish people would get some remorse and peace and yet these people are still victims and to make maters worse one of the highest statistics for hate crimes. Jewish religion has suffered so much pain and chaos even after the Holocaust that they need to have some peace because these people endeavor so many assaults. For example, in