The Importance Of Hate Crimes In America

The law criminalizes violent acts (and attempts to commit violent acts undertaken with a dangerous weapon) when those acts occur because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person.” This article talked about a devastating

Today crime is no longer associated with murder, theft, and assault among other common offenses but rather the bracket encompassing crimes has increased. This is because in addition to these common offenses there are hate crimes and cyber crimes which are evolving as the world continues to change. The justice system has thus established crime laws that are meant to protect citizens in a nation against these crimes. The Mathew Sheppard and James Byrd act are hate crime laws designed to prevent hate offenses against individuals as a result factors such as gender, ethnicity, and culture (Mogul, Ritchie, and Whitlock, 2011).

The U.S. later legalized it in 2009. This act augmented penalties for crimes perpetrated against one’s ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, age, disability, sexual identity, or sexual preference. Today, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act is “effectively recognizing the importance of prosecuting violence motivated by racism or other bias-related crimes” (2). The act serves as evidence of progress towards equality. The government is saying that all men are created equal and should be treated in the same manner, and if one chooses to oppose this proposition, they will encounter strict

The teaching tolerance website was easy to explore and once you open the website you will find different hate crime-related subjects. Some of the couple subjects were bullying, civil rights, and immigration. There are not complete articles on the website but rather abstracts of stories that were written in books. Most of these curricula only give you an abstract of what the author wrote, they give you an idea of what the story is about and if you are interested in the story you must buy the book, CD, or DVD in order to listen or write the complete story. There are a few curricula on the website that gives you a PDF of the story, in some of these stories they also provide a video highlighting the story.

Social problems are described as a social condition that disrupts or damages a society. Racism is a social problem that has been about for centuries in America. It wasn’t until the late 20th century that racism and discrimination no longer became an acceptable way of thinking publicly. There is documentary on Netflix titled “Hate Crimes in the Heartland” this documentary shows just how prevalent racism is in the 21st century as it was in the 20th century. The documentary covered two hate crimes that took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma almost 90 years apart from one another.

Conversely, under hate crime legislation it is clear to see that the prosecution of hate crimes further divides society by reinforcing the marginalisation of minority groups. Advocates with ideologies akin to this state that all violent crimes are the result of the offender’s absolute contempt for the victim of the hate crime. In such cases like this, all crimes are hate crimes and if no alternate rationale for prosecuting some people more harshly than others for the same crime based on who the victim is, a situation arises where different offenders charged with the same offence are treated unequally under the law which inadvertently creates discrimination, prejudices and unfairness in society.

I have chosen to document and research African-American Hate Crimes during the eras of 2007 until 2015. With recent cases of Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and the crimes of San Jose University, I believe this research is more than needed. By researching several forms of accurate and up-to-date literature and research findings I will promote and compile the most accurate and efficient research of these factors as possible with the prevalent information found from over 20 different sources, direct and indirect. Subjects will include and will be limited to African Americans between the ages of 15 and 35, Law Enforcement Officials within Southern States v. Northern States, and Parental Figures of those who have lives lost. With approval

Diversity is a feature that is represented through respect and admiration of characteristics that are either similar or different. When diversity is not fully understood and people are unable to see past such external factors an attitude of intolerance can result and cause one to commit a hate crime amongst a certain group of people. A hate crime is simply “a crime, usually violent, motivated by prejudice or intolerance toward an individual’s national origin, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability” ( ). Hate crimes can happen anywhere and at any time, and can devastate the victims and families whom are involved. For example, a college fraternity hosts a “Mexican Border Party”, to gain entrance; students must crawl under a barbed wire barrier.

Hate Crime is a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” If an African American commits the same crime as an Caucasian it is more likely for the black person to be charged and arrested due to the racial issues we have today. There are many pros and cons towards the issue of racial crime, but hate crime is still a very difficult issue for our country to overcome. In order to overcome the issue of hate crime it would require changing legislation, public and police attitudes.

A criminal offense against a person or property motivated by a prejudice of race, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, or disability is defined as a hate crime. Imagine a person being killed in spite of the dislike for the color of the victim’s skin or their ethnicity. Or think about a criminal committing arson by setting a mosque on fire for the reason that they do not agree with the religious affiliations attached to the mosque. Both are clear examples of a hate crime, and hate crimes have been committed for hundreds of years dating back to, as Tom Strissguth (2003) identifies, 1649 (p. 104). Current hate crime laws that are in place have every good intention in mind to keep victims safe, but there are arguments from scholars

In the New York Times article “The Harm in Free Speech”, Stanley Fish argues that it would make no difference if Jeremy Waldron’s book, “The Harm in Hate Speech,” was titled “The Harm in Free Speech”. While providing an insightful review of the novel, Fish promotes the ideas depicted in the novel. Fish argues that American society is obsessed with using the First Amendment to say outwardly offensive statements. Fish asserts that “hate speech” is not simply expressing an opinion, but rather a way to belittle members of society a person deems unworthy. Americans hide behind the First Amendment and use it as a justification to spew hate speech.

Hate crime What distinguishes a hate crime from other crimes is an underlying motivation based on the victim’s group membership. There has been much debate over the constitutionality of hate crime laws and which groups (if any) should be protected by such legislation. Those against hate crime laws argue that it is a violation of First Amendment protections of free, association, and freedom of thought. The Supreme Court confirmed that freedom of thought is implied by the First Amendment in R.A.V. v. St. Paul which those against hate crime laws argue makes such laws unconstitutional.

According to the congress, a hate crime is a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.” (2015, January 07). Hate Crime—Overview. FBI. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov

It’s always easier to defend someone’s right to say something with which you agree. But in a free society, you also have a duty to defend speech to which you may strongly object”(mighty constitutional opposites). that is what separates the united states from a fascist country in that they protect all forms of speech. On the topic of hateful actions, only actions such as direct threats should be prosecuted and general hatred should be allowed. “The spectrum of hateful expression is broad, encompassing acts that are clearly illegal — such as firebombing a mosque

looks at how it ultimately affects society and targeted groups. There are a myriad of arguments for and against the allowance of hate speech. Some citing Democracy and the first amendment others stem from the fear of eroded freedoms of expression and have valid points, but ultimately, it corrodes society’s human rights and freedoms. The two fold issue being intolerance of the freedom of self-determination and the fact that some are born a color or culture and have no choice. Therefore, hate speech is anti-social and damaging to society as a whole.