@Arella Mae,
Quote:To me, this is true horror...................a human being that lacks any kind of conscience.
That lack of conscience is what makes him so dangerous to the community. It would justify putting him in prison for the rest of his life.
But it is also clear that he had to regard his victim, and all blacks, as being somewhat less than human, in order to laugh about and boast about this killing.
This teen also had a past history of bullying others, and, I think, homophobia, and the white pastor of a church had complained about him in the past because his son had been the target of some of the bullying. So, what was brewing inside of this young man had been simmering for a long time.
There are some other interesting issues with this case to think about....
It is interesting to consider whether the real motive in cases like this is a need for power, or a feeling of power, and it is that need which finds its expression in the beating and killing of a person regarded as an inferior, or, in the case of black on white hate crimes, a person regarded as a possible oppressor. A power motive is not really the same as a bias motive, although they might overlap.
These teens were very possibly intoxicated, and what might have begun and ended as a bias-related assault escalated to a murder because of the dis-inhibiting effects of alcohol on aggression and on judgment--and the dis-inhibiting effects of alcohol might have also affected the types of statements, and the emotions Dedmon displayed after the killing. I'm not offering this as an excuse, but simply as another element in this crime. With regard to Dodson's verbal statements, I do believe, "In vino veritas".
This crime took place in a parking lot outside a motel, and other people were in the area and did not intervene. I'm not sure that can be just chalked up to the effects of bystander apathy or diffusion of responsibility. I think one of the people in the area was a security guard for the motel. Why didn't that person, who should have had some sense of responsibility, act or intervene in some way when Anderson was getting beaten up?
The article you posted had this comment...
Quote:It's time to speak out against bigotry and to call out those in public life who encourage hate and violence with their words.
I agree with that.
In Suffolk County, N.Y., the strong anti-immigrant political rhetoric may have helped to fuel the hostility toward Latinos that led to the hate-crime killing of Marcelo Lucero. And, all across the country, anti-immigrant rhetoric directed toward Hispanics has increased hate crimes toward all Latinos.
Anti-Muslim political rhetoric has increased anger and hostility and suspicion toward all Muslims. including Muslim Americans, and this was overwhelmingly apparent in the political grandstanding, particularly from Republicans, that went on with the opposition to a proposed mosque/community center to be built near the WTC site, and opposition to the building of mosques in other parts of the country.
Political homophobic rhetoric often comes from social conservatives and those on the religious right, and the issue of same sex marriage has increased the ferocity of such rhetoric. It's one thing to simply express a religious viewpoint on same sex marriage, or even the matter of homosexuality, and quite another to demonize or incite hatred toward a group on the basis of sexual orientation.
I think we should put pressure on those who hold public office, or seek such office, to tone down the emotionally inflammatory nature of their rhetoric and their use of violence-tinged imagery, when it is encouraging hatred, and scapegoating, and possibly violence, toward any group. Resorting to that sort of political tactic is downright toxic and irresponsible and I think we in the public, as well as those in the media, have to stop enabling it.
