Hate Crimes

With regard to the first article:



As if skinheads ever need a reason--it's disgusting to think that they use this tragedy for a pretext for hateful, murderous crimes which they would attempt with or without that reason . . .

The FBI article should not necessarily be used as evidence that the incidence of hate crimes is rising. I think that this sort of thing has always been with us. It is only gradually over the last twenty years that states has instituted legislation regarding hate crimes, and the statistics undoubtedly reflect increased reporting--whether or not there is an increase or decrease in such activity simply cannot yet be determined, lacking a reliable statistical sample.

I doubt that much can be done to prevent such crimes by law-enforcement--they have too much on their plates already. There are organizations which do track the activities of known groups and individuals, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, and those are, perhaps, the best bet--given the limited resources of law enforcement agencies.

In the long term, the only way to battle hatred is education.

Hate crimes against Muslims are unforgivable, but understandable. People are feeling threatened, and are lashing out at whom they believe are the cause of their fears.

The only way to stop this (besides arresting the perps), is through education. Children need to be taught in school and by their parents. that the terrorists are only a small, radical group of criminals, that have nothing to do with the average Muslim. Mainstream Muslims need to become more visible as loyal Americans, by become active in neighborhood activities.

Walter, the Southern Poverty Law Center that Setanta mentioned can be reached at: http://www.splcenter.org. One of their finest programs is Teaching Tolerance which is used in schools and other educational forums. Their address is: www.teachingtoleranc.org.

Starting early, helping children learn how destructive prejudice is will help more than anything else I can think of.

Also, if the media would report more success stories about the defeat of prejudice, it would go a long way toward showing that it really is possible. There was a town I read about in one of the Dakotas (I think) where vandals were throwing rocks into the windows of people who had Hanuka (sp) decorations up. Soon after the vandalism, many people started to put up the same decorations whether they were Jewish or not. Before long, there were so many homes with these decorations, that it was impossible to tell who was Jewish and who was just a friend.

If there were more positive stories showing how people work together to stop this ugliness, I think it would go a long way toward minimizing the hatred and showing how base and pathetic prejudice really is.

Thank you for posting those links, Madame D--your story puts me in mind of the old, octegenarian King of Denmark in WWII. When the Nazis ordered all Jews to wear a yellow Star of David on their coats, the old King, who rode out through the streets of Copenhagen each morning, appeared on a white horse the next morning, in his military dress uniform, with a huge yellow Star of David sewn on the uniform jacket. The next morning, virtually every adult in Copenhagen was wearing the same decoration--so much for the Nazis' plan.

When a community decides to unite courageously, hatred returns to it's reptilian form, and slithers away.

Diane & Sentana- Two beautiful stories!

Most crimes are 'understandable'.

Thanks for the links - a worked profesionally on this subject myself (ages ago).



Setanta

Your story really is beautiful - but a well known "urban legend":

http://www.urbanlegends.com/politics/king_of_denmark_and_yellow_stars.html

Thanks, Boss--my source was not Assimov, but Leon Uris, but an incorrect "fact" is not improved by a more "reliable" source . . . and i always wish to know this sort of thing when it comes up . . .

Hmmm.. Well Walter, I'm not sure that there is a whole lot that can be done in an "organized" way for a few reasons. The first, and most important in my mind, is that there is some misguided thinking amongst large portions of the general polulation as to what "hate crimes" are and what "Hate Crime Laws" do.

It isn't uncommon to see remarks after a member of any minorty group gets charged with violating the hate crimes laws that the laws are "supposed to protect us not be used against us" as if the laws don't apply to their group just like everyone else. (If you look at the Stats on the FBI link for Murders where the offenders are broken out by race and age the percentage attributed to whites is 33% of the total yet whites are considered the "majority race" in the US.) There is another portion of the population that wants to use the laws as a way to enforce their own brand of censorship - i.e. Any view that they don't hold should be considered "hateful". But speech itself generally isn't a crime and the general basis for all Hate crimes Laws is that an actual crime has to be committed for anything to be prosecuted. I think this whole issue can be addressed through education but it doesn't seem to be sinking in with many so far.

The 2nd issue is in how many of these crimes are reported/covered by media. Right-wing hate groups are well know in law enforcement to be fragmented and isolated into much smaller groups than left-wing groups (that is a world-wide phenomena btw..). That makes the criminal intent of the right-wing groups harder for law enforcement to determine so there is less they can do to intervene before the crime takes place. As a result the right-wing groups are able to pull off their crimes when many from the left-wing are picked up and charged with lesser crimes that don't get as much press coverage. Law enforcement has had good luck penetrating the left-wing groups over time because they are larger and have more moving parts to slip through. A cop can get in because they are a "friend of a friend" and once they are in they know what hundreds of people are up to. With the right-wing they may get in but it is a lot harder and they are only going to know 20 or 30 others at most so they don't make as much progress on that side.

Hate crimes against Arabs is bigger
Since September 11, so I figger'
We must stop and take note
For it won't stop at scapegoat
And Muslims will become the new ... whipping boy?

Fishin',your points are valid and prove that morality can't be legislated, yet even though the laws are sometimes abused, they are vital in order to provide protection for those who are victims of hate related violence.

I am certain that the laws do very little to change anyone's thinking--that's where education comes in and where the media can make a real difference.

Education takes a long time. A child's most important teachers are his parents, but sometimes the lesson does make inroads, especially if children are exposed to religious and ethnic diversity. That's why organizations like the SPLC are such a valuable resource.

Watching these stories on television turns the crimes into something impersonal and effectively takes the responsibility out of our hands, making it a problem for the police or the government.

Crimes make headlines, yet if the media would report more success stories like the one I mentioned, more people would be inspired to take some action of their own.

Change comes one person at a time, one neighborhood at a time. Instead of reading about a nasty crime and wringing our hands saying--how awful, what's the world coming to--it would become apparent that we are all capable of making a difference by taking a small step and not allowing ourselves to become overwhelmed by the big picture.

In answer to your question Walter, I think the minimization of hate crimes almost has to come through education until citizens begin to feel they have the power and the responsibility to make sure that kind of behavior will not be tolerated. I don't think it will ever happen through yet another government sponsored program.

I'm exactly your opinion, Diane! (And fishin', your response is most valuable as well.)

I do fear that this education will last quite a long time.
I do fear more that things become worse, if not more is done this way.

As long as people say "I've nothing against ..., but ...", hate crime still founds a good soil to develop.

The website www.tolerance.org is also from the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is very pertinent to the discussion here.

Diane, the last time I taught was a year and a half ago - so very long, it seems. But you reminded me that I had found a great booklet about teaching children about Hate crimes and racism with practical exercises and lessons that would be meaningful on their level. I then went to the website and copied out a 6 class unit provided and it went over terrific with my group aged 5 to 12! As a teacher, I find that children are very interested in discussing such things and asking questions. Often this is not something that really "comes up" with one's parents. School can be avery good place, in particular, to think through some complex issues and where children's common optimism and idealism can shine brightly, for however long it will last. Who knows how the 'childhood lessons' will impact on them as adults down the line!

Be sure to read

Random Acts of Anonymity by Me.

Muslims Should Contribute
I think that Muslims have to contribute to fighting the hate crimes. They should openly condemn terrorists. But this is not enough. If they give to the common human values a higher priority to the tribal values and start cooperating with the law enforcers in hunting down the terror conspirators and Al Qaeda agents infiltrated into their communities, this will show to all the people that Muslims are not a source of danger, and this will sufficiently decrease the rate of hate crimes against them. Unfortunately, tribal solidarity prevents majority of them from doing this; they have to choose: either to cooperate with law enforcers in fighting terror or to be hated by the majority of their neighbors.
I do not justify any hate crimes, but I cannot call a person that donates money to the different Jihad funds and providing refuge to the terrorists an innocent victim, when such a person gets one day bashed. The innocent victims in this case are Sikh immigrants that were confused to Muslims and got erroneously assaulted.
I want to remind that Muslims in many countries worldwide celebrated both 9/11 and its anniversary with joy, singing and dancing in the streets .

Hate crimes are not just perpetrated because of individual thinking -- it's a mob mentality problem. So it's the same as having laws aimed at any mob activity, including those aimed at street gangs. It's the same as having laws that are more severe for using a firearm in a crime (also a way of thinking and mob mentality). There are laws and should be laws to curtail a collusion to commit a hate crime, not because of some individual thought. All this fear about making laws specfically for hate crimes because it is construed to be "the thought police" is either a rationalization or a denial of the entire picture. The motive to commit a crime in this case is deserving of harsher sentencing for the overall advancement of society -- parents aren't always raising their children to observe tolerance.
Laws are meant to provide punishment for a crime that's been committed and the motive to commit it should always be considered on a guage of the severity of the crime. There's no difference in laws providing stiffer sentences for using a firearm in commiting the crime and laws providing stiffer sentences for commiting it for no other reason than hating another group of people.

steissd- Two words in your post hit me, and I believe that it represents the crux of the problem. The words are, TRIBAL SOLIDARITY. If you look at any of the problems amongst countries, religions, etc. what we are dealing with is a tribal mentality. Us against them.

When people begin to relate to one another one on one, and throw off this tribal mentality, that is the only time that we will have lasting peace on this earth. Unfortunately, I don't think that human beings have reached that evolutionary stage yet!

You are definitely correct and religions aren't really moving us forward.