Essay on The Laramie Project

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

Life is an amazing, wonderful, beautiful adventure that we are blessed with every day. But, we are greeted many times throughout those days with choices we have to make. Most of those choices we make are built by the structure and beliefs that our parents and loved ones have passed onto us. Looking into how we were brought up can we really say what’s right or wrong? Can we positively determine that everyone thinks the same? While watching “The Laramie Project” you see and hear two-hundred different opinions towards the Matthew Shepard’s case. Two-hundred … that’s two-hundred people from Laramie, friends of the victim and attackers, and loved ones fighting for what they believe is right. This case not only caught the whole town’s attention but was recognized on a national level. Labeled as a hate crime you learn so much more about the people’s identity like Matthew Shepard as a homosexual, the tragedy of a man/son/friend that struck a town, and how people see Laramie, Wyoming as their home built by a community.

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.

Moses Kaufman is the producer of the successful play “The Laramie Project” after a horrific incident that occurred in Laramie. Members of the artistic group of Kaufman 's, traveled to Laramie to find out more about the horrific incidence. The main aim of the whole project was to find the emotions, reactions, and reflections that the people of Laramie manifested concerning the beating and subsequent death of a twenty-three-year-old college student (Gale, 2016). A lot of questions were raised concerning the death as people had different point of views. Some thought it was a hate crime, others thought it was just a brutal assault or a form of robbery. Four hundred interviews were conducted so as to come up with the reasons behind the brutal murder straight from the town folks. The main issue was how homosexuality was defined in the crime. The Laramie Project, questioned the rights of the LGBT+ group. For example, why were Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgenders discriminated by the community and the society as a whole even though their rights were constitutional?

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” (Martin Luther King Jr). Hate crimes are a big problem in the world today and need to be stopped. To end hate crimes people need to learn to look past what is on the outside of a person and learn to love what it on the inside. In the selection, Why We Need to Tolerate Hate by Wendy Kaminer, Kaminer emphasizes what hate crimes are and how they are treated differently than other crimes. Since hate crimes are a problem in the world today, we need to understand if hate crime prosecution is prosecution of thought and belief, the change of hate crime laws over time, and the way that the prosecution of hate crimes has changed over time.

The topic of hate crime is so controversial because there can be different perspectives on the whole issue, which can eventually cause a massive huge debate on the entire matter. In Ben Gillis article called Understanding Hate Crime Statutes and Building Towards a Better System in Texas, the author separates his points in a way that can give the reader a better way of understanding the Hate Crime laws and the effects of it. Gillis’s way of dissecting the article is extremely effective due to the fact that not only he explains what exactly a hate crime is in its basic form but he also explains hate crime in its entirety, and he also shows how some states adapt to the whole issue. People may ask in what way does it make it in a sense “illegal”

In Moises Kaufman's, The Laramie Project the under lying theme of the novel is people are afraid of change. This can be proved from the novel with the character Cathy Connolly and the struggle that homosexuals have to live in there own society. The juxtaposition of anti-gay demonstrations sparked by religion at a homosexual's funeral, and even the physical setting is related to why people are afraid of change. Whether it is start by homophobia, religion, or opression, people are not just afraid of change in general but change for a free society where homosexuals can express and just be themselves.

The Laramie Project is a play written by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project by interviewing the residents of Laramie Wyoming about the murder of a gay student, Matthew Shepard. The play raises controversy revolving around homosexuality, hate crimes and acceptance. In addition to the various themes suggested by the play, the author wanted to present the varying perspectives toward homosexuality in the Laramie Community at the time of Shepard death. The three main perspectives towards homosexuality were hatred, tolerance and acceptance. The author also wanted to explore how these perspectives may have changed as the result of Shepard’s death.

The Laramie Project, written by Moisés Kaufman, is a compilation of interviews by The Tectonic Theater Project, news publications, and journal entries. After the brutal murder of Mathew Sheppard in 1998. Kaufman along with his theater troupe made six visits to Laramie, Wyoming, where the murder took place, to interview people about what happened and how they felt about the crime in their community. They interviewed about two hundred people, of which about sixty were included in the play. The play showcases a small town in America in a historical time of tragedy. The production of The Laramie Project was simple. The stage setting was minimal and the the actors consisted of eight people portraying more than sixty. Through the patchwork of

Within the play, there are a variety of ways that the people of Laramie and those outside of Laramie frame Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, the murderers of Matthew Shepard. I find the fact that the play is able to present how the American people were able to frame them as outliers from society, yet still, acknowledge that the two were manifestations of society surprising. In most texts aimed at the public, the perpetrators of the Matthew Shepard murder are framed as being outliers, not connected with the majority of society. The Laramie Project is able to demonstrate that the pair are a reflection of societal prejudices through the use of contradictions of characters. The playwrights would present a character that used language suggesting that the behavior and attitudes of McKinney and Henderson were abnormal, then contradict those statements using members of Laramie who were either scrutinized by these prejudices or experienced similar ones. In creating these opposing narratives, the play is able to share all the perceptions of Laramie, while still holding the town of Laramie and the audience accountable for the murder.

The Laramie project captured the audience's attention by utilizing different design methods on stage. This included sound, stage and hand properties, light, and music. With an ensemble of 10 actors playing over 30 roles, this proved to be an amazing play to experience. The playwright was constructed in a clear manner, which eliminated the confusion of "who is who." Through the usage of the stage elements as well as the dynamics of each character, this brought about an effective plot.

Hate crimes are difficult to fathom, primarily because they involve the unprovoked physical attacking and, sometimes, murder of people based on race and ethnicity. A more formal definition of hate crimes is presented by Shepard (2017, p. 285). As he writes, “a hate crime is a criminal act that is motivated by extreme prejudice,” This is a very good, concise and accurate definition, nevertheless, hate crimes are not the outcome of unimaginable heights of discrimination. Most people have prejudices and many have stereotypes regarding others, whether it be racial or class stereotypes. Nobody is completely lacking in any form, shape or type of prejudice but, the much greater percentage does not physically attack, beat or murder those whom they

¨A hate crimes in any crime committed which is motivated by bias or based on the victim’s perceived membership in a specific group.¨(“Hate Crimes”). Hate crimes are the outcome when someone targets a victim based on their race, sexual orientation, religion, and etc… The question that should be asked is why people support it. Hate crimes are inhumane. Even the constitution states that all men are created equal, so what steps have we taken to stop hate crimes and how do we show everyone why it’s wrong. “The FBI investigated what are now called hate crimes

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,