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…
In The Roundhouse, a central portion of the novel surrounds the horrific rape of an innocent Native American mother, Geraldine, as well as the murder and abuse of Mayla, a young Native American woman. The theme of abuse of Native Americans, in particular, women, is essential to the plot. It is the painful reality of Native American life: that these peoples have been systematically and egregiously mishandled, attacked, and abused. I was interested to see how prevalent the violence against both Native American women and men was. I wanted to know the statistics surrounding the abuse as well as what kinds of abuse. In addition, I wanted to learn more about the kind of perpetrators of crimes against Native Americans. The violence against Native…
Hate crimes happens any and every where, in small and large cities, and every state. As long as hate crimes have been happening the actual name “hate crime” is new and so is the idea of special treatment of these offenses (Gerstenfeld 2010). The first hate crime law was not passed until 1980 and 3 decades later only 44 states, District of Columbia and the federal government have some form of hate crime legislation (Gerstenfeld 2010). In this day and time I find it hard to believe that not all 50 states have some type of hate crime law. Some people do not believe there should be special laws for hate crimes because they say all violent crimes are hateful regardless of race and sexual orientation. Those in favor of hate crime laws argue that there are hate crime laws because; the person who commits a hate crime deserve an increased punishment because these type of crimes are worse than ordinary; hate crime laws will deter the act; and that the laws will show that this type of crime is not allowed (Gerstenfeld 2010). In the US the most frequently reported hate crime is racism against blacks with 3,000 of the 8,000 hate crime reported to the FBI against black people (FBI 2009). In 1990 the Hate Crime Statistics Act was…
Chirinos, Katherine Professor Williams Sec 1018 Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014 Genocide of the Indigenous We all see the Holocaust as something that might have only happened in Europe. At times, we forget that only Jews were prosecuted and assassinated for their religion.…
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…
In today's society many hate crimes are not reported to the police, though we hear them more often than before. The most reported hate crimes are based on race. Although their are many other motives of hate crime race is the predominate. A hate crime should be taken seriously because if it's not taken seriously it makes it much easier for other criminals to commit these types of crimes because the punishment isn't severe. Media since it is a large gateway of information, should take initiative to promote diversity or inform viewers that hate crimes are at an all time…
Native Americans have three underlining issues; nonnative crime, terminology differences and systemic and institutional racism, in America since 1492 to present that continue to plague Native culture and society. Research will show America, has shown neglect, disregarded, and systematically eliminated native Americans from their home and culture. Native Americans in the Americas have pushed deeper and father into no man's land in such haste and with abhorrence that it have society has robbed Native of identity, home and has embedded a negative image of what was and still is a great peoples.…
One of the major “selling points” for mistreatment and the removal of Native Americans was that they were a alien like people who were uncivilized and simple. The dislike for the Native Americans was apparent well before the Indian Removal Act, many presidents before Jackson had talked of the importance of europeanizing the Native Americans. Settlers came to know this as the “Indian Problem,” and their solution for this “problem” was to civilize the Natives by teaching them european ways including, conversion to christianity, teaching them english, western farming and western gender roles. In relation to the Indian Removal Act, the “Indian Problem” was still just merely an excuse for settlers to remove Natives from land that they wanted. Around…
Given that our society has such a dense population of different races, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations, it is important to understand both the goals and challenges of policing and dealing with hate and bias crimes. Considering that since the beginning stages of immigration we have tried to support successful assimilation, hate and bias crimes create a huge barrier. Hate and bias crimes “occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain social group, usually defined by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation” (en.wikipedia.org). Not only is it difficult for our society to identify this sort of crime, but it is also extremely hard to enact comprehensive laws governing the way police and society as a whole should handle these crimes. An important problem associated with bias and hate crimes is distinguishing them from other “everyday” crimes; often, the terms are used interchangeably. Law enforcement as well as the general public should understand that bias and hate crimes are in many ways the same crimes that are committed everyday, but that hate and bias crimes are committed intentionally against a person because of a certain bias and are usually much more violent. Furthermore, deciding how offenders should be identified and punished is sometimes problematic “because motivation is subjective, [and] it is often difficult for police officers to determine whether an offense was motivated by bias” (Katz, pg 301)…
Body Paragraph One Topic Sentence: This paragraph is about racial hate crimes. Racial hate crimes are crimes committed because of somebody's color, or race. In one hate crime, A white-supremacist shot killed nine people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. He was only 21 years old, and had walked into a church and shot African-Americans that had ages range from 27 all the way to 87. He had made sure one person was left alive to tell the story (NewsCurrents). A notorious white-supremacist group called the Ku Klux Klan (or the KKK) has been around since 1865 (Southern Poverty Law Center). According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “Today, the Center estimates that there are between 5,000 and 8,000 Klan members, split among dozens of different - and often warring - organizations that use the Klan name”(SPLC). The final group that is the worst of the bunch is the Racist Skinheads. A skinhead is a person that has short, usually bald hair, black boots, and aggressive. Add racism into that, and you get a short tempered, racist, neo-nazi. According to Southern Poverty Law Center ¨Racist skinheads are among the most dangerous radical-right threats facing law enforcement today. The products of a frequently violent and criminal subculture, these men and women, typically imbued with neo-Nazi beliefs about Jews, blacks, LGBT people and…
Hate Crimes are a very cantankerous subject but as far back as many can deliberate they have been happening. Whether it be a bombing, a beating or maybe even just a verbal assault on someone because they are Jewish or racial assaults because they are African-American or of colored decent. Even because of sexual preference these things happen.…
The history of hate crimes against African-Americans can date back all the way until slavery. However, I will discuss those more recent within the last 50 years.…
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 are a distinct class of offenses committed towards individuals or groups as a result of their age, race, religion, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Although we tend to think hate crimes are only committed against, African Americans, during the civil rights era, many Latino/as were subjected to hate crimes as well. Hate crimes have unfavorable effects on the individuals who experience it. As a society, we should be learning more about hate crimes to prevent future hate crimes from taking place. Also, the education of hate crimes can reduce the predominance of the crimes as a result of society being aware of its effects and consequences.…
Hate crimes are not a criminal charge by themselves they are simply an enhancement. They can often be very hard to prove, and also an extremely vague crime…