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Hate Crimes Laws And Hate Crime

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Hate Crimes
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 …show more content…

He was targeted simply because he was gay. After his death, gay males and lesbians around the world felt victimized and feared for their safety. (Cogan, 2006). If it could happen to Matthew, it could happen to anyone.
James Byrd Jr
James Byrd Jr, a man who live in Jasper, Texas who was walking home when he was picked up on the side of the road by three white men. Byrd, a man who was no stranger to taking rides from people, did not know they were not going to take him home. Instead, they beat him, chained him to their truck and dragged him for three miles before eventually being decapitated. Two of the three men had ties to a white supremacy group (Rosenblatt, 2013)
Both deaths were nothing short of a tragedy. Both deaths effected their families and their communities. Their death effected the community so much that the effects reached the White House. Former President, Barrack Obama, heard the voices of those effected by Hate Crime. He signed into law the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Former President George W. Busch had threated in the past to veto this bill, but Obama brought a reversal and in October 2009 signed this act into law ("Cnn.com," 2009). Former President Obama said after he signed the law into effect “Today, I’m pleased to prove that change is possible” ("Cnn.com," 2009, para. 25). Without a doubt, change is possible, and this proves just that because it was named for Matthew Shepard and James Byrd

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