Hate_Crime

Hate crime: Islamphobia The United States is one of the most successful examples when it comes to having a multicultural, multiracial, and multi religious nation in the world. However these differences in the population have also proved to have negative sentiments in the society leading to violence between residents, violence such as ant-Semitism, anti-black, xenophobic, homophobic, and recently Islamphobia. Hate crime as a term and as a legal category of crime is a product of increased race, gender, and sexual orientation awareness in modern American society and around the world. Hate crimes also called bias-motivated crimes occur when perpetrator targets a victim because of his her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender and political affiliation. American history is sadly filled with crimes of hatred against those who were different than the average JOE. From lynching to cross burnings to harm of synagogues and mosques, the term “hate crime” did not enter the nations vocabulary books until the 198s when emerging hate groups like the skinheads launched a wave of hate crimes. Hate crime, then was seen as a instrument of intimidation and control exercised against those who seem to have stepped outside the boxes that society has carefully constructed to keep the society in harmony. The U.S government passed hates crime laws in the 1980s because of various historical factors such as the civil rights movement and the following feat of identity politics. Since the middle of the twentieth century, racism based on race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation has been more and more condemned by American society, especially its political leaders (Jacobs and Potter 5). Hate crimes have existed long back but awareness of hate crimes is higher in recent times, especially after the resent growing of victims of the post 9/11 terrorist attacks who were killed just because they were either Arab, Muslim or because simply they looked Middle Eastern, and also attacks against illegal or even legal immigrants. 9/11 was a day of absolute heartbreak for everyone around the country despite of skin color, nationality, or religious beliefs. Regrettably, a few people thought that striking back against innocent people would some how present them with the fulfillment for the tragic events that had occurred. The victims shared the nationwide sorrow, anger and terror, but because of their look, they also became object of violence. Just after the result of September 11th, Arab American, Muslim Americans, Sikh Americans all became targets of backlash violence. Western medias on the other hand didn’t help the situation by the misinterpretation; misquotation and maltreatment of Islamic ideals have viewed Muslims as extremists and terrorists. Misunderstanding of Islam, Muslims, and labeling Muslims as fundamentalists have negatively impacted the peaceful Islamic community. The western medias injustice against Muslims has reduced their status in society and sparked a wave of Islamphobia in light of current terrorist attacks. False impression of Islam and its Holy Book, the Quran, has given the media propaganda to use against Muslims worldwide. Mass media and others who want to harm Muslims, when in reality no such verses exist in the text itself have misread numerous verses in the Quran. After 9/11 many harmless people have became the victims of unwise hate because of their look and beliefs. The U.S. government and local neighborhoods have come as one to support these victims and to show that the perpetrators of such aggression are in the minority. The American Dream Charity Inc along with the Arab American Institute Foundation established the Arab American Rebuilding Fund to assist victims of backlash violence (Washington watch). Local communities hosted diversity workshops, set-up control centers to monitor the needs of the community, held press conferences and condemned all forms of hate crimes (Washington watch). Also the federal government publicized that violent behavior would not be tolerated and all violent would be punished to full extent of the law. According to Carolyn Petrosino’s research article titled “Connecting the Past to the Future - Hate Crime in America” (1999), hate crimes are not a modern-day phenomenon, but extend throughout the history of the United States. By examining the conditions surrounding hate crime dynamics, Petrosino makes the following conclusions: racism is a primary judge of hate crime through time; the efficiency and degree of harm potential in hate crime is a function of opportunity and technology; hate crimes will occur more frequently and will be more difficult to prevent; apart the gross nature of hate crime, many Americans are becoming more sympathetic to the hate crime perpetrator's cause; and hate crime, on some levels, is becoming indistinguishable from domestic terrorism (Petrosino 1) Healing justice is today seen as a way to handle hate crime. The restorative justice vision requires the criminal justice system to delve beyond the surface of crime and to examine closely the harm it causes to real people. Victim-offender mediation is seen as a maximum healing process for hate crimes (Gerstenfeld and Grant 308). Thus, the only way to ensure that hate crimes do not continue into the future is to establish an effective method of prevention. This lies in a well-included system that provides for both the application of hate crimes legislation as well as the inclusion of the victim-offender mediation process. Work cited Gerstenfeld, B. Phyllis. Hate Crimes: Causes, Controls, and Controversies. Sage Publications. 2004. p. xii Jacobs, B. James and Potter, Kimberly (2001). Hate Crimes: Criminal Law & Identity Politics. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 2001. Petrosino, Carolyn (1999). Connecting the Past to the Future - Hate Crime in America. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 15, No. 1, 22-47 (1999) James Zogby. “Washington Watch.” November 24, 2003 <