Hate_Crimes

John Pope American InterContinental University Hate Crimes January 22, 2012 Hate Crimes I would say that hate crimes being on a rise is wrong. If we would look at our world history you will see many examples of hate crimes. There are people such as Vlad the Impaler, who was known for his practice of impaling victims on a wooden pole. The pole was inserted in their rectum. It would then be pushed through their body missing vital organs. It would end up coming out there jaw. Victims then would be hanging 5 feet off the ground. They would be alive for up to two days. Look at the Roman Empire; they slaughtered tens of thousands of Christens in less than 300 years. There was the witch hunt that hunted women. This is just a few good examples. If you look in our history hate crimes is lower on a whole. Hate crimes have been lower as far as numbers of victims are concerned. Hate crimes are still a deviant behavior and should be combated by society. With journalist making the society more aware of hate crimes they have made it a more recognize issue. What will look at is what types of person commits a hate crime'  Who are the targets of hate crimes'  What are the causes and effects of these crimes'  And finally, how can we work to eliminate or at least drastically reduce these types of crimes'  The earliest use of hate crimes and hate violence are found in the Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Racial, Ethnic, Religious and Minority Violence issued in April, 1986.  In this report, hate crimes are defined as, "Any act of intimidation, harassment, physical force or threat of physical force directed against any person, or gamely, or their property or advocate, motivated either in whole or in part by hostility to their real or perceived race, ethnic background, religious belief, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation, with the intention of causing fear or intimidation, or to deter the free exercise or enjoyment of any rights or privileges secured by the Constitution or the laws of the United State of California whether or not performed under color of law." According to FBI statistics for 2009 hate crimes as well as the number of victims are down compared to 2008.  The statistics show that race is the main motivation in hate crimes.  Victims of hate crimes are chosen because of their race (50%), their religion (18%), their sexual orientation (17%), their national origin (13%) or a specific disability (2%).  Hate crimes are directed more often at a person rather than at property by a difference of 60% to 40%.  In the cases where a hate crime was committed because of race, the offender's bias is against blacks. (71% of the time)  In cases where religion is the motivating factor, the offender's bias is against Jews. (72%)  A study of the perpetrators of hate crimes reveals that approximately 63% are white, 19% are black, 7% are groups of mixed races and the rest are accounted for or unknown.  (Investigation., 2009) So what are some of the causes and effects of hate crimes' There are many causes for hate crimes. The way you are raised plays a role of determining the biases of individuals. Everyone has feelings of angry are hatred, But these are natural. The problem is when the hatred is towards an individual because of race, religion, or nationality is learned behavior. The persons Environment that they are around plays a likelihood of them committing a hate crime. Education plays a role because most hate crimes been committed by people with less education. Lack of jobs and work can also play a role.  Hate groups and organizations, the media, role models and the entertainment industry also play a role in promoting or combating hate violence according to the California Association of Human Rights Organizations. (Investigation., 2009) The effects of hate crimes include many different things including: feelings of inferiority, terror, and futility. A community in whole the stressed is raised. This could cause retaliation of one or more groups. Then you have the cycle of distrust and fear to last even longer. So how could we reduce hate crimes' Since there are so many choices the hard part is agreeing on which solutions are most effective. Making education more available would be one way. Teaching our children that hate crimes are wrong would be a great way to start. Laws against hate crime would help some. One of the hardest ways but would be the most effective would be a society were behaviors of love or normal compared to hate. One of the main problems with combating hate crimes is having the correct role models for kids. Kids are watching television, playing games and listen to music that promotes hate and violence. They see actors like Mel Gibson use anti-Semitic and racist slurs (Schapiro, 2010) and comedians like Kathy Griffin target a 16 year old girl for abuse simply because of her family's last name. (Mckay, 2011) References Investigation., F. B. (2009). About Hate Crimes Statistics. Retrieved January 22, 2012, from http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2009/index.html Mckay, H. (2011). Is Kathy Griffin Going too Far Targeting 16 year old Willow. Retrieved January 22, 2012, from http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2009/index.html Schapiro, R. (2010). Part two of Mel Gibson's racist, sexist tirade against Oksana. Retrieved January 22, 2012, from http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/07/03/2010-07-03_more_to_mad_mels_ranting_tapes.html