Racism And Hate Crimes

Racist acts and hate crimes have always been around. There is always a cause or reason as to why these incidents occur. Whether it is discrimination to another race, or if it is caused by a popular trend, these actions are overall dreadful. People make their own opinions. These opinions sometimes will be made off of what they have experienced, but it is always followed by what they truly believe. Which leads exactly to the outcome, of the 2016 Presidential Election. There is a direct correlation between racist acts and hate crimes and the recent Presidential Election because of a rise in the numbers of these cases shortly after. After the election, there was an increase of the amount of racist and xenophobic harassment incidents as reported
by The Southern Poverty Law Center (Okeowo). Citizens become so caught up in their own thoughts, that they feel the only way to show their opinion, is by doing something terrible to hurt the opposers.
This past election, was one of the most controversial elections the United States has ever seen. It came down to being a complete disaster, where it was simply about making the other candidate look worse. Donald Trump winning the election caused a lot of commotion from both sides. Those that got the candidate that they wanted, still tried their hardest to hate on the opposers. And Clinton supporters, were doing anything they can to make being “Pro-Trump” a bad thing. There was a clear increase in these cases, “The Southern Poverty Law Center has reported that there were four hundred and thirty-seven incidents of intimidation between the election, on November 8th, and November 14th,” (Okeowo). This is a big event that many people have strong opinions about. Some may argue that the outcome of the election would not cause discrimination, but there is a clear connection between the candidate selected and the rise in the number of these cases produced.
Section 1: Acts of Racism
There is a clear increase in the number of cases after the election. Some may not know that it isn’t just cases of them being angry with the outcome that they just do something to harm others. It is more so that they target those that are fans of the other candidate. This is very bad, because you should not be hated based on your own opinion. There are specific cases of racism that indicate the harm that many people have suffered due to their own beliefs. According to a New York Police spokeswoman, “Swastikas and the word "Go Trump" were painted on playground equipment at Adam Yauch Park in Brooklyn,” (Yan). People are ruining property that is not their own, in order to make a statement that they are against a specific candidate. It is simply vandalism, and it is clearly targeting religions that are known to be against swastikas.
Sharing an opinion is completely acceptable. However, when that opinion is being expressed in a way, to harm another individual, it becomes harassment. When that happens, these actions are not tolerable. Another case in Greenville, South Carolina, was of a 12 year old. A middle schooler, was being harassed in by some of her classmates. This was a serious action, that shows it is not only adults that are experiencing these traumas. Younger generations are also having to deal with this. It came to the point where the kid had to stand up for herself to fight back in her own school, because of her race. These classmates were making her feel less of a person by saying they, “couldn’t wait to see her ugly face deported.” (Miller). It is discrimination, and it has been getting worse because of the outcome of the election.
There is a lot of places where these actions occur, one that stand out is New York City: “43 episodes have been deemed possible hate crimes by the Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force since Election Day, more than double the number reported for the same period last year.” Times are tough when this happens, and citizens become more opinionated at the time (Nir). Another prime example would be from a school in Texas, “Students from a small border town in northwest Texas say they were the target of ethnically charged slurs while warming up for a regional volleyball tournament.” A group of students was referencing Trumps idea of building a wall. By doing this, they are being racist towards the majority of students in the other schools, who are Hispanic. "When they were saying 'Build that wall' and holding the Trump sign, we knew it was for us," A student stated when asked after the game (Yan). This act is unacceptable, to be targeted in a public place, is a bad example of how some races are being treated after this past election.
Here, is another act of racism taking place; “On Sunday morning, the Rev.
Kelsey Hutto got the news that vandals had painted "Heil Trump," an anti-gay slur and a swastika on the side of her church,” Trumps effect has caused many people to not only support what he believes, but show what they believe by attacking a group that Trump has not mentioned (Yan). A good amount of these racist actions have been on public places. It seems like the people following through with these acts of racism, want the most attention possible in order to come out on top, compared to the supporters of the other candidate, “When the rector at the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Silver Spring, Maryland opened the church on Sunday morning, he found that a sign advertising Spanish services had been ripped and vandalized with the words, ‘TRUMP NATION WHITES ONLY.’” Maryland churches are being vandalized because of people's political views (Reilly). It is sad to think that average people have the power to bring down others, based off the fact that their belief turned out to be
reality.
An example of someone outside of the incident stating what has been happening after the election happens quite often.
Showing that even if someone is not a victim, they will still notice the change. A research fellow at The Bridge Initiative warned that, “It’s been hard up until now to say that Trump is the sole reason for this, what will be interesting is how often racist attacks are accompanied by explicit support for Donald Trump.” Essentially, the overall point being made was that other points can be made that Trump is not the direct reason for these cases, but Trump is definitely an influence on these racist attacks (Sidahmed). Donald Trump is also known for going against specific races. And when he does this, it leaves a mark that shows what type of person he is, and it also give his supporters a new way of acting towards people that do not agree with their beliefs: “During the 2016 campaign, Trump characterized many Latino immigrants as ‘criminals,’ ‘rapists’ and sources of ‘infectious disease.’ He called for banning Muslims from entering the U.S.” Trump has influenced many acts of racism. By him going against certain groups, it causes his supporters to do so as well. Even though they are pro-Trump for other reasons, they try to connect with Trump in everything he does (Neuhauser). Overall, it is straightforward that there is a correlation between acts of racism and the outcome of the past
election.