Hate Crimes

Hate Crimes In today’s society crimes are being committed all around us, but hate crimes are particularly hurtful crimes and are committed against people for things that they cannot change. Martin Luther King once said that “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” So why is it that these crimes are still tolerated in 2012? Racism has been a major contributor to hate crimes but as the years have gone by it is not the only factor involved. Gender, sexual preferences, disabilities, and religious beliefs also play a role in this type of bias. Hate crimes are criminal offenses committed against a person property or society which is solely motivated by the offenders’ bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.
Who, Why, What, When and Where? These crimes are usually committed out of fear, ignorance, prejudice, or just a general lack of understanding with the highest percentage (62.3%) being committed by our white society. The FBI Hate Crimes Statistic lists 6,624 documented cases for 2010 alone. Racial hate crimes contributed 47.3%, followed by religious hate crimes at 20%, sexual orientation at 19.3%, ethnic crimes at 12.8%, and crimes against people with disabilities at .6%. 32% of these crimes are committed on the victims own property, 28% across various locations, 19% on public roads, highways, and alleys, and the remaining 11% at our Public Schools and Colleges. Some things that are done during the commission of a hate crime include harassing or threatening the victim, destroying their property, actual physical contact and physical violence.
Extremist Groups Offenders are not always a single entity. There are groups known as Extremist groups which have hatred toward a specific type of person. The top three groups include racial hate groups, religious hate groups, and groups that oppose gays and lesbians. Racial hate groups such as the KKK are white, Anglo-Saxon, Christian Americans, who believe that their race and religion are superior to those of people of other colors and religions. They were founded in Pulaski, Tennessee by ex confederate soldiers between December of 1865 and August of 1866. These men were well educated and came from wealthy families. This society was originally founded as a source of entertainment but grew out of control. At the beginning they were out to tease and scare free black men but after the reconstruction of the South, diehard confederates joined the Klan as a way to defeat black suffrage. They believe that white Christians should have control of everything and they not only target African Americans but had a strong sense of hate toward anyone who is not of their faith. A second well known racial hate group is known as Skin Heads. These folks believe in expressing right-wing- and anti-communist views to anyone that will listen. Their ideologies overlap with the Klan and promote Christian Identity teachings. Christian hate groups such as Aryan Nation & Church of Christ’s Christians express distorted interpretation of the bible, and these people are also usually racists. They are in a race war between themselves and anyone that is not of their color. They fear that the white race faces extinction and that they must do something to preserve their own kind. There are also groups that are known as anti-gay and lesbian hate groups. These include the FRC and ATH which have similar views about homosexuality. The Family Research Council (FRC) calls themselves concerned citizens and works against anything that threatens the traditional American family. They are against abortion, stem cell research, pornography and homosexuality. Founded by James Dobson, FRC is considered to be the most powerful rights advocacy group in the United States.
Hate Crimes on the Internet Hate crimes and hate speech are not only encountered in the real world but also in cyberspace. These crimes are harder to prosecute due to the message being electronically sent and are even harder to police. Once a complaint has been made they are investigated just as a real-world crime and a determination is made as to whether the crime was motivated by bias or prejudice. Internet hate crimes can include anything from sending a threatening message via email, making biased remarks on a blog, chat room, or even creating racist video games. There are 2,300 reported hate speech sites on the Internet which include 500 extremist sites. Groups such as white supremacists and anarchists have created Web sites that advocate their points of view. Video games have also been created such as Doom and Castle Wolfenstein that make blacks, Jews, and homosexual’s targets of violence.
The First Amendment The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law preventing an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, and interfering with the right to peaceable assembly. On October 10th 2005, a group of 11 Christians gathered at a gay OUTFEST event in Pennsylvania and displayed banners with biblical messages. There was a confrontation between them and a crowd of homosexuals called the Pink Angels. The 11 Christians were arrested and jailed. They were charged with 8 felony counts including criminal conspiracy, possession of instruments of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, ethnic intimidation, riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways. When they went before a judge and he said that they had to stand trial and could face up to 47 years of imprisonment for these crimes. Hate speech is fully protected by the First Amendment and is not illegal under U.S. Federal law. The protesters say that they were simply exercising their First Amendment rights. They said that the only way to restore the freedom of speech for all people is to repeal the hate-crimes law that was passed in November 2002 which was an addition to the one passed in 1969.
Existing Hate Crime Laws The first hate crime law was established in 1969 and is known as the United States federal hate crime law. It is part of the 1964 Federal Civil Rights law. A recent law was signed by President Obama in 2009 which is known as the Matthew Sheppard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This law expanded the existing United States federal hate crime law and it applies to crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, and dropped the prerequisite that the victim has to be engaging in a federally protected activity. It was named after two young men that were victims of hate crimes. The first victim of was Matthew Shepard, a college student who was murdered for being gay. His killers were initially going to rob him but learned that he was gay and beat him to a bloody pulp leaving him to die alone at a ranch in Wyoming. This senseless murder was committed by several homophobic criminals and can definitely be considered a bias crime. The second murder was that of a young man named James Byrd, Jr. He was murder for being born black. Three white supremacists chained this young man to the back of their pickup truck and dragged him to his death on rural Jasper, Texas road in 1998. They wrapped a heavy logging chain around his ankles and drug his conscious body for 3 miles until his head finally hit the edge of a culvert which was what caused his death. They ruthlessly dumped his road-rash body in front of an African-American cemetery to show off their white supremacists views. Lawrence Russell Brewer was put to death by Jasper County by lethal injection thirteen years after the crime was committed. A second man got life in prison and the third mans case remains under appeal. Had it not been for Barack Obama signing this bill into law these men might have gotten away with a slap on the hand. Preventing Hate Crimes Anyone can be a victim of a hate crime but there are things that we can do to prevent this. As adults we should set a good example. We can accomplish this by showing respect through actions, attitudes, and positive remarks, even if someone is different or has different beliefs. We can also raise public awareness that bias motivated incidents are crimes and should be reported to law enforcement. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of a hate crime, report it to your local authorities as soon as possible. Documentation will come in handy if things get out of hand and proof is needed that you have been victimized. Your community can organize forums to determine the sources of bigotry and hate violence in your community and possible brainstorm preventative actions. We should teach our children to have morals, values, and love all people no matter what race, religion, or sexual orientation, or disability one may have. Conclusion Hate crimes have been around since the beginning of time but have not been labeled appropriately. Laws and regulations banning this type of behavior have cut down on some of these crimes but sometimes they are very difficult to prove. We as a nation should stand up to people that are ignorant and fear people because they are different. Silence is a major obstacle when fighting this type of crime and victims should voice their opinions in order to get them across. It is never okay to hurt, threaten, or even make someone feel bad because they believe in something that you don’t. These crimes are a major problem in our society and should be dealt with appropriately. We have seen way too much hatred in our country and we must stand together and put a stop to people hurting people. God said “Love Thy Neighbor” and this does not change no matter what religion you believe in.

Bibliography
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Research Supplement
Ethics is the practice of making principle-based choices between right and wrong. This paper relates to Ethics class in many ways. We covered what Ethics are and hate crimes are very unethical. In my opinion, people that commit hate crimes do not have any ethical principles or standards that they follow. They have no morals, values, or understanding. It is very unethical to harass people, physically harm them treat them badly because they are different. This paper also relates to some of the theories that we covered like “The Golden Rule” that you should do unto others as you want them to do unto you. Also when protecting the rights of minorities other conflicts can arise such as the right to freedom of speech. You have to weigh the right of one group’s freedom of speech against another group’s life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Extremist groups feel that they have the right to voice their opinion but should not be allowed to physically harm others because of their views. You also don’t inherently have the right to harass people or put them in a position to have to defend themselves.