Harboring hatred for someone or something may not be illegal, however, committing a crime due to this bias is. Hate crimes are regular crimes committed where the motive is discrimination. Throughout history there have been many criminal acts which today would be classified as a hate crime. People have been victimized by hate crimes for a variety of reasons, such as religion, race, sexual preference or gender.
Religious hate crimes date back to ancient times. A fire that burned through Rome was blamed on Christians. Roman emperors persecuted Christians as a result unless they agreed to abandon their faith. Hitler’s Final Solution plan, The Holocaust, is perhaps on the most prominent example of a religious hate crime. Hitler called for the extermination, of all people of Jewish faith. This prejudice continues today as members of the Jewish community are subjected to the highest percentage of religious hate crimes. According to FBI reports, in the year 2014, 18.2% of hate crimes are religious in nature and 58.6% of these victims of religious hate crimes were Jewish. Attacks on Muslims are also significantly increasing as a result of terrorist attacks. …show more content…
In 2014 they accounted for 47% of all hate crimes. One example of a racial hate crime is the torture and murder of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper Texas in 1998 by men with ties to white supremacy groups. The men offered him a ride then beat him and dragged him by his ankles to his death. His passing prompted Texas to change its legislation. Texas enacted the James Byrd Hate Crimes Act which increases the punishment for crimes committed due to prejudice. A more recent example of a racial hate crime is the case of Dylann Roof. He is currently facing federal hate crime and state murder charges for shooting and killing nine worshippers at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. He sought out the victims because of their