Hate Crimes on the Rise in USA

A 2005 study conducted by National Institute of Justice, found that the Federal Government and all but one state, Wyoming, have laws related to hate crimes. A consistent problem identified by this study is there in no consistency in defining what constitutes a hate crime. (Carrie F. Mulford, Ph.D., & Michael Shively, Ph.D., Hate Crime in America: The Debate Continues, 257, Nat’l Inst Just., (2007). “The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines hate crime—also called bias crime—as “a criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin.” ld.

While hate crime is a fairly new label for a crime, the existence of hate crimes has been present since the early days of the United States. Throughout US history, murders, assaults, and destruction of property has occurred against African Americans, American Indians, Irish immigrants, Asian Americans, Latino’s, gays, the mentally handicapped, and all other groups of minorities. Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, there has been an increase in racial based attacks against those of Middle Eastern descent, whether they are Muslim or not. Of all of these, African Americans are subjected to the highest number of hate crimes (Martin 1996), with Muslims, homosexuals, and transgendered people on

A hate crime is a crime of prejudice. The commitment of hate crimes is motivated by racial, sexual and even religious differences that often result to violence and death. America today is besieged by hate crimes. It seems that everywhere we turn, in the newspapers, on television and on social media, hate crimes are not only reported but are actually supported. It is unprecedented in American history how much bigotry is thrown out in our faces from the news and in social media. (Patillo, 2017) Behind every hate crime is a message. This is why the mainstream media and social media have become platforms for various groups to brag about their religious and racial biases and what they intend to do about those who against their beliefs. Hate crimes are espoused by religious and racial bigots to sow hate and dissension in order to convince people that their religious and racial prejudices are correct. Politicians, law enforcement units and the local community have to take firm steps to prevent such acts of violence from occurring in their locality.

In 2009, 6,604 hate crime incidents were reported to the FBI, 48.8% of which were motivated by race, 19.7% by religious prejudice, 18.5%by sexual orientation, 11.8% by ethnicity, and 1.5% by disability bias (Hate Crime Statistics, 2009). Recently, the FBI released the 2010 statistics that unfortunately reveal a slight increase in the number of hate crime incidents: 6,628 incidents were reported in 2010, 47.3% of which were motivated by race, 20% by religious prejudice, 19.3% by sexual orientation, 12.8% by ethnicity, and .6% by disability bias (Hate Crime Statistics, 2010). While racially-motivated and disability-motivated crimes appear to have decreased, hate crime motivated by religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity has risen in the last year. Improvements in hate crime laws and punishments are necessary in order for these statistics to decrease.

Many issues impacted by hate crimes can be informed by psychological research. For example, are hate crimes more harmful than other kinds of crime? Why do people commit hate crimes? What can be done to prevent or lessen the impact of hate and bias-motivated crimes? Social scientific research is beginning to yield information on the nature of crimes committed because of real or perceived differences in race, religion, ethnicity or national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender. Current federal law defines hate crimes as any felony or crime of violence that manifests prejudice based on “race, color, religion, or national origin”. Hate crimes can be understood as criminal conduct motivated in whole or in part by a negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons. Hate crimes involve a specific aspect of the victim’s identity. Hate crimes are not simply biases, they are dangerous actions motivated by biases.

The phrase “hate crime” is generally referred to as a criminal act against a person, a group, or property because of one’s race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation (Civil Rights- Hate Crimes- Overview). A person who experiences a hate crime may be threatened, harassed,

Blacks were introduced to American soil during the 17th and 18th centuries via the triangular trade route, and were welcomed by whips, chains, shackles, and all the horrors of slavery. Slavery was legitimized by our government and continued for a few hundred years, taking a civil war and sixteen presidents before it was abolished. To this day, there is still much hatred between blacks and whites despite emancipation, desegregation, and integration; some would argue that the condition of African Americans in the United States is still one of a subservient nature. Federal law defines a hate crime as whenever a victim is attacked on the basis of his or her race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or

Hate crimes are committed in all area, but particularly poor economic areas. Individuals in these areas tend to stereotype based on what is seen on television and movies. There have been occasions where hate crimes were committed by law-abiding people who feel they are doing the right thing for their community. And many times, drugs or alcohol encourages individuals to partake in activities they normally would not.

Critical preface: I choose to explore the hate crime problem in society. The reason I choose this topic is because hate crime is a brutal act against people, property, or society because of the group to which they are members or associate with. The hate crime is one of the most notorious crimes which leads to violent acts causing death and disaster. We need to stop these horrible acts and the solution would be to seek advice from an anti-hate organization which help us reduce hate crimes and factual information can then be spread to the society.

Throughout the country the people have seen a variety of problems with the justice system and how nothing is being done to fix the problems. For instance,The amount of hate crimes against foreign U.S citizens is at an all time high, there are too many innocent minorities are being killed by law enforcement, and the level of police abuse is at a record high. These crimes are causing major problems for the society and its people. The problems that have occurred within the crime and justice system are intolerable and the democrats are going to help by attempting to fix these problems to the best of their ability.

In today’s society the hate crime rate has dramatically boosted with the integration and diversity of various cultures. In fact, in 2012 over 5,000 hate crimes were reported in the United States. Statistics have concluded that out of the 5,000 hated crimes, the majority of them are related to racial discrimination, social discrimination, sexual discrimination, and economical discrimination. These crimes can range anywhere from physical and verbal assault, to vandalism, and robbery. Due to the inflation of these bias crimes, authorities are not able to demolish these immortalities from occurring. Out of the many bias crimes in America, I have narrowed my topic of research to the Wayne Community College massacre case.

UCR. The difference and changing definitions of hate crime across states is yet to be researched to determine any effects on the rates of reporting and unreporting. However, according to the FBI, the congress, for the purpose of national statistical collection, has decided to define hate crime as 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” (FBI.gov). It is suggested by a recent study (Harlow, 2005), that the criteria of a hate crime be uniform across the states. “Due to the difficulty of ascertaining the offender’s subjective motivation, bias is to reported only if investigation reveals sufficient objective facts to lead a reasonable and prudent person to conclude that the offender’s actions were motivated, in whole or in part, by bias” (Harlow, 2005). The two definitions should be similar if not uniform in order for an accurate data.

Everyone worldwide has experienced discrimination because of their race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. People who shows hate against another person's race, sexuality, and other prejudice are called bigots. Some bigots tend to take their hate to another level causing their temper and animosity to lead to violence. When a bigot uses violence to hate upon other individuals is known as a hate crime. According to Mark Potok, from the Southern Poverty Law Center, studies show that about 250,000 biased crimes happen yearly, and most of them are unreported. Hate crimes is a serious issue that seeks and demands more recognition from not only society, but from federal and state authority.

Profile of a Hate Crime Offender Sterilized from emotion, hate crime, also called bias crime, is those offenses motivated in part or singularly by personal prejudice against other because of a diversity-race, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity/national origin, or disability. Hate crimes are committed out of anger, ignorance, and lack of knowledge of another’s ideas and beliefs. There are many causes for an individual to commit a hate crime. Also, many different profiles fit the description of a hate crime offender. There are ways to prevent and control hate crimes, but they will always be present in society as long as every person has the right to express his or her opinion.

Throughout American history, violent criminal acts against a specific person or a group of individuals were just that, violent crimes. In the 1980’s, the term hate crime was born. The term hate crime was used by a group of advocates to describe a series of violent incidents targeting several minorities (Nij.gov, 2015). A hate crime is “a criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender 's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation,