A hate crime is an assault or any other crime directed at a person of another race or religion. Hate crimes are usually very brutal and harmful, and victims are not only hurt physically but also are emotionally traumatized and terrified (Fritsch et al, 2015). For others in the community who have similar victim’s characteristic, they may also feel victimized and vulnerable, posing a possible increase in an attempt to retaliate for the original offense. The legislation does not allow individuals to be prosecuted for their hateful thoughts, but instead allows them to be punished for their hateful acts. Thus, willfully inflicting…
Threats of homicide or suicide should be taken very seriously and the individual rendering the threats should be considered dangerous or potentially dangerous (Meadows, 2007). If an individual makes a threat it should be taken seriously. In cases such as the Columbine High School shootings, there were reports of threats being made. The word “kill” has become an extreme exaggeration in our society, people often say “oh I could kill him or her” when agitated; however when a true threat is directed at an individual person or group of people action should be taken for the safety of others.…
2. Anti-gay hate crimes and discrimination lead teenagers to commit suicide (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide, Volume 3: Prevention and Interventions in Youth Suicide", Rockville, MD, 1989)…
Who are the victims in a hate crime? Victimization does not end with the primary person that was attacked. The Laramie Project demonstrated how the entire community, and eventually the nation, of a little town in Wyoming was affected by the death of 22 year old Matthew Shepard in October, 1998. Secondary victims, who do not bear the physical pain, but endure the after effects and emotional pain, included Matthew’s parents, Deputy Sheriff Reggie Fluty (who was called to the crime scene and tended to Matthew), and Doctor Cantway (who treated both Matthew and one of his attackers, Aaron McKinney) (Karmen, 2013). The effects of this hate crime saturated a society and called more than morals into question. Incidents like these force humanity to look at itself and criticize its core beliefs. Laramie’s motto of “Live and Let Live” applied to most…
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1988). Report to the nation on crime and justice (2nd Ed.). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.…
Issues involving the police can clearly be seen by the American citizens on news channels and on social media. These issues bring about a great amount of debate and conflict of two opposing ideas about what is perceived as right and wrong as well as good and bad. However, if one is to look at the issue of police brutality and compare it to other issues that America is facing, he or she can see a reoccurring pattern of human behavior among them.…
In most cases, committing suicides the choice of lunatic, short-sighted people that don’t have the means or courage to solve their own problems. People commit suicide when they face a problem they consider unsolvable, but such a problem does not exist. All problems have a solution, therefore no one should commit suicide. “Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death overall; third among 15- to 24-year-olds and fourth among 25- to 44-year-olds.” Some of the main causes of suicide are bullying, cyberbullying, financial difficulties, and the death of close ones.…
On October 6, 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was beaten, tortured, tied to a fence, and left to die. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to his severe injuries 6 days later. A young man, who still had his whole life ahead of him, lost the chance to experience it because he was gay. Hate crimes, such as this case, still happen today and at an increasing rate, according to the statistics gathered by the U.S Department of Justice. A hate crime is a criminal offense against a person or property motivated by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. Harsher punishments must accompany hate crimes because of their unique characteristics such as the impact it has on the American society, their high possibility of recidivism, and the immense amount of psychological trauma these cases can create.…
The problem behind rising rates of hate crimes has created a very controversial subject. Rising rates has brought to our attention the dangerous problems we as a society could potentially face. Over the course of the last couple years hate crimes have created a devastating impact on families and communities, but also because groups that preach hatred and intolerance could plant the seed of terrorism here in our country. Trans activists should focus our resources and attention on winning inclusion, legal equality frameworks such as, anti-discrimination laws and hate crime laws that will provide relief from the life-shortening conditions trans populations are facing. While crime is a problem already, what is even worse is that hate crimes…
Lifeless bodies with slashed throats were found in the mountains of Virginia nearly six years ago. This is quite a disturbing image; the unfortunate result of a hate crime. What exactly is a hate crime? The American Psychological Association defines hate crimes as "violent acts against people, property, or organizations because of the group to which they belong or identify with" (1). The different groups usually involved include homosexuals, ethnic groups, and religion affiliations.…
The United States of America has a long dark history in terms of racism, from the civil war to World War II minority groups have been the target of crimes of hatred and prejudice. From public lynching, cross burning, arson to vandalism are just some of the tactics used by hate groups to display their prejudice. According to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) the term hate crime was not used until the 1980s, however investigations conducted by the FBI on hate related crime stretches far back to the First World War, on the group called the Ku Klux Klan attracted their attention. The department of justice defines a hate crime as “Hate crime is the violence of intolerance and bigotry, intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious, sexual orientation, or disability. The purveyors of hate use explosives, arson, weapons, vandalism, physical violence, and verbal threats of violence to instill fear in their victims, leaving them vulnerable to more attacks and feeling alienated, helpless, suspicious and fearful.” Communities such as people of color and LGBT are two groups that had been overwhelming impacted from white supremacist groups and anti-gay group. Crimes motivated by hatred have led to legislation that requires the tracking of statistical data to gather information and…
Hate crimes have increased over the past few years. According to Deepa Bharath’s article, the hate crimes in the Los Angeles County has leaped to 24 percent since 2015. Hate crimes are defined as a criminal action acted upon on a specific person from a protected class. These acts can be either an assault or vandalism or the use of a dangerous weapon which causes bodily harm to an individual. On August 10, 1999, Joseph Ileto, a Filipino-American was murdered cold-heartedly by a white supremacist. Joseph Ileto was covering a shift for another co-worker consequently, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Sadly, this isn’t the first time an innocent person was murdered because of someone’s bias towards a specific member of a protected…
Hate crimes have and always will be an appalling flaw to society. Yet many people are unaware of the characteristics of a hate crime. Hate crimes are any traditional crime such as arson, murder, invasion of privacy, or vandalism that the victim was selected because of their race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion. Over human beings history, hate crimes have been heavily targeted at several groups, yet the effect on society is always the same, and that is that it changes nothing and is fueled by ignorance and arrogance. We as a society must stop this pattern.…
For many years America has encountered different hate crimes. During the twentieth-century the law changed and evolved into a mechanism to protect civil rights. When race protection became the primary focus, the direction of the law changed to protect all races from discrimination. African-Americans were the primary race that was affected by racial violence from the Ku Klux Klan (Perry, 2009). This issue was very devastating and this drew a lot of attention to the Supreme Court. The changes that were made were based off the hate crimes that were present at the moment, so the Supreme Court enhanced the punishments involving hate crimes. This protected many people from being discriminated against and from any acts of racial violence. Restrictions…
1990, violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act 1994 and the Church Arson Prevention Act. Each act serves as a pillar in overcoming hate crimes in America.…