Hate crimes have different charges for their crimes. Awhile ago hate crimes were not even a category in the justice system. There is a lot of belief that there should not be charges for hate crimes. As a whole whites commit most of the hate crimes and blacks are the minority target. "But blacks do commit hate crimes, and as it turns out are committing lots more of them than generally known. According to the 2004 FBI Hate Crimes report, blacks committed slightly more than 20 percent of the hate crimes in America" (Hutchinson,2006,p.8). This could be due to the fact that blacks still at times feel oppressed as a people in America.
I do not condone any violence, but when people feel threatened they will act violent out of rage. There used to be light always heavily shedded on antisemitism crimes, but however the FBI notices that that is not on the rise. "Greg Smith, a senior researcher at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, said recent polls show that many Americans view Judaism as being close to their own faith, an indicator of a favorable approach toward Jews. "We haven't picked up any backlash against Jews in our polling in recent years," Smith said" (Guttman,2009,p.1). I believe that as we enter the future years we are going to see more hate crimes on people with gender issues since that is coming more the rise of people being open about their identities.
Hate crimes have grabbed the attention of America and some feel there needs to be stricter consequences for committing such crimes. "Overall, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported nearly 8,000 hate crimes in 1998, including more than half that were motivated by racial bias. This rate is higher than annual averages during the past 12 years. By comparison, national data showed an average of 5,000 hate crimes a year" (Dervarics,2000,p.7). Hopefully with acts like the Hate Crimes Prevention Act that was enacted will make people think twice about committing such hanous crimes and bring some tolerance to our country.
References:
Guttman, N. (2009). What's behind the fbi's hate crime report?. Federal Bureau of Investigation--FBI, 113(31786), 1.
Dervarics, C. (2000). Congress takes on hate crimes. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 17(11), 7.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
African-American Hate Crimes
In America there has always been animosity towards African-Americans ever since slavery and America had become more tolerant of accepting African-Americans in the early 1970s. However, African-Americans still experience hate crimes today. For instance there is still racism prevalent on universities. This is ironic, because in college you are supposed to learn to interact with a diverse population.
So I ask why is there still a lot of hate on universities today? "They found that racism is still rampant on college campuses but that racism has undergone a transformation since the civil rights era and the advent of more racially integrated higher education" (Anonymous,2007,p.90). This suprised me, because I thought that in the society we are in today we would not still be stuck in this ignorant mind. There was an incident where a African-American female who mixed with Korean was attacked. "Daisy Lundy, a student of African American and Korean background, reported being assaulted early on the morning of Feb. 27 by a heavyset White male who told her, "No one wants a nigger to be president." " (Hamilton, p.12,2003). Daisy had been runnng for president of her student council at University of Virginia. She was assaulted by the male who snuck behind her while she was in the car searching for her cell, where he repeatedly beat her head in the steering wheel.
This is an atrocity that society is still stuck in the past on our acceptance of different races especially when America is such a big melting pot as it is. There is said to be a "material threat that minority proportions pose to the majority group in environments with limited political and economic resources" (Lyons, p.3,2008). This is not an excuse, but it does explain the tension that can occur between minorities and whites. It is just how long will we allow our intolerance of different races affect the ethical justice of America.
References:
The persistence of racism among white college students. (2007). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, (56), 90.
Hamilton, K. (2003). Diverse issues in higher education. UVA student victim of campus hate crime, 20(3), 12.
Lyons, C. (2008). Defending turf: racial demographics and hate crime against blacks and whites. Social Forces, 87(1), 3.
So I ask why is there still a lot of hate on universities today? "They found that racism is still rampant on college campuses but that racism has undergone a transformation since the civil rights era and the advent of more racially integrated higher education" (Anonymous,2007,p.90). This suprised me, because I thought that in the society we are in today we would not still be stuck in this ignorant mind. There was an incident where a African-American female who mixed with Korean was attacked. "Daisy Lundy, a student of African American and Korean background, reported being assaulted early on the morning of Feb. 27 by a heavyset White male who told her, "No one wants a nigger to be president." " (Hamilton, p.12,2003). Daisy had been runnng for president of her student council at University of Virginia. She was assaulted by the male who snuck behind her while she was in the car searching for her cell, where he repeatedly beat her head in the steering wheel.
This is an atrocity that society is still stuck in the past on our acceptance of different races especially when America is such a big melting pot as it is. There is said to be a "material threat that minority proportions pose to the majority group in environments with limited political and economic resources" (Lyons, p.3,2008). This is not an excuse, but it does explain the tension that can occur between minorities and whites. It is just how long will we allow our intolerance of different races affect the ethical justice of America.
References:
The persistence of racism among white college students. (2007). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, (56), 90.
Hamilton, K. (2003). Diverse issues in higher education. UVA student victim of campus hate crime, 20(3), 12.
Lyons, C. (2008). Defending turf: racial demographics and hate crime against blacks and whites. Social Forces, 87(1), 3.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Gay Hate Crimes
There are many hate crimes that occur within the gay community to in America. This can occur in not only homosexuals, but also in the lesbian community. Most people associate lesbians with a "positive connotation", more so than seeing men together it is more acceptable, but they go through scrunity to. For example "I was sitting at a traffic light, blocked in, and there was this guy in a pickup truck behind me and he got out of his truck with a shotgun and put it in the crack of the window, stuck it in and yelled "You're gonna die, queer." It scared me half to death. I didn't know what to do. I had nowhere to run, so I put the car in park and tried to crawl under the driver's seat." (Lesser, 1993, p. 39). This violent threat was coming from a male which is suprising to me, because I would probably expect this more from a woman.
It is said that their are more gay hate crimes than with other minorities. "Homosexuals are far more likely to be victims of a violent hate crimes than any other minority group in the United States, according to a new analysis of federal hate crime statistics in the latest issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report, released Nov. 22." (Anonymous, 2010, p.18). So, despite the fact that as a nation we are getting more tolerant of this lifestyle there are still many people opposed to gays being open and out their in the public. This sometimes has to do deal with Godly issues and the clique of Adam and Eve not "Adam and Steve".
Men are probably the most upset when they see any type of male affection towards another male that invokes anger in them. "Most men will admit that publicly demonstrating affection toward another man- even platonic affection - can incite from fellow men "the look." Often enough, that look precedes threats or much worse, as in the cases of Jose Sucuzhanay (murdered for walking arm-in-arm with his biological brother)" (Tapley,2010,p.8). This is sad that America is resorting to this type of hatred towards someone that has done no harm to them.
References:
Tapley , B. (2010). The male straitjacket. 8.
It is said that their are more gay hate crimes than with other minorities. "Homosexuals are far more likely to be victims of a violent hate crimes than any other minority group in the United States, according to a new analysis of federal hate crime statistics in the latest issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report, released Nov. 22." (Anonymous, 2010, p.18). So, despite the fact that as a nation we are getting more tolerant of this lifestyle there are still many people opposed to gays being open and out their in the public. This sometimes has to do deal with Godly issues and the clique of Adam and Eve not "Adam and Steve".
Men are probably the most upset when they see any type of male affection towards another male that invokes anger in them. "Most men will admit that publicly demonstrating affection toward another man- even platonic affection - can incite from fellow men "the look." Often enough, that look precedes threats or much worse, as in the cases of Jose Sucuzhanay (murdered for walking arm-in-arm with his biological brother)" (Tapley,2010,p.8). This is sad that America is resorting to this type of hatred towards someone that has done no harm to them.
References:
Lesser, S. (1993). Violence against lesbians. 13(1), 39.
Ncavp anti-violence report shows decrease. (2010). 1847(689), 18.Tapley , B. (2010). The male straitjacket. 8.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
What is a Hate Crime?
Many people have somewhat of an idea of what a hate crime is. A hate crime is a criminal offense commited agaisnt a person, property, or society that is motivated by the offenders bias agaisnt a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. "Most hate crimes consist of intimidation, although vandalism, simple assault, and aggravated assault also account for a number of hate-crime offenses" (Schmalleger,2011,p.63). The first hate-crime laws were made in 1870. Sections 241. 242. and 18 which was the deprivation of freedom for blacks and equal rights for the 13th and 14th ammendment.
There are many different new guidelines added for hate-crimesFor instance on October 28,2009 Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. "This law adds sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories in federally defined hate crimes"(Larner,2010,p.74). In the year 2011, sexual orientation is very big, because more people our coming out of the "closet" per se and claiming themselves as homosexuals which is rather different from the earlier days when homosexuality was not spoken of. It was somewhat of a taboo that our country knew existed, but rather not speak of.
Hate crimes affect many groups of people, but for the most part hate crimes are directed towards different minorities. This could be African-American, Hispanic, Chinese, etc. "Traditional racial threat theories view racial composition, particulary minority size, as an indirect indicator of economic and political threat, and they predict
that interracial conflict is porportional" (Lyons,2008,p.359). With this being said usually it is tension between two races that create the hostile act.Hate crimes take on my different forms from minor to major criminal acts.
References:
Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal justice today. Upper Saddle River,NY: Prentice Hall.
Lyons, C. (2008). Defending turf: racial demographics and hate crime. Social Forces, 87, 359.
Larner, J. (2010). Hate crime/thought crime. 74.
References:
Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal justice today. Upper Saddle River,NY: Prentice Hall.
Lyons, C. (2008). Defending turf: racial demographics and hate crime. Social Forces, 87, 359.
Larner, J. (2010). Hate crime/thought crime. 74.
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