Social Problems Of Hate Crimes

One of the biggest social issues in America are hate crimes . These issues are growing and getting worse over time rather than getting better. Hate crimes are when a person does not agree with someone else’s differences such as sexuality and race, and they hurt others mentally or physically to show their anger toward them. A hate crime is motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence. People fail to realize how much harm they are causing someone physically and mentally. When they excessively use racial slurs or judge someone because of the color of their skin, sexuality or simply judging them because they are different. There are many different types of hate crime being committed in society today where

For instance, in schools there are hate crimes, also known as bullying. crimes like this are often committed by children do not know any better. Hate crimes are not only come committed by children, but also come from all types of people in different places. According to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Hate Crimes and Suicidality Among a Population-Based Sample of Sexual-Minority Adolescents in Boston, they state, “ data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation demonstrated that 17.4 % of the 88, 463 hate crimes between the years of 1995 and 2008 targeted sexual minorities” (Duncan, D.T., Hatzenbuehler, M.L., 2014). The percentage of hate crimes is more than what it looks like, which means thousands of people were being harassed between those

For instance, in the article it says, “ The lowest levels of prejudice are manifested by heterosexuals who have gay friends or family members, describe their relationships with those individuals as close, and report having directly discussed the gay or lesbian person’s sexual orientation with him or her” (Herek, G. M. (2000). This quote clearly shows that heterosexuals get along well with gay people because they know them personally. If heterosexuals did not know a gay person they would ridicule them. The reason why certain heterosexuals get along with homosexuals is because they have grown a connection with them. When they grow a connection with them they no longer see any differences just their personality. The reason why some heterosexuals ridicule certain homosexuals is because they only see what they look like on the outside and they do not connect to them in any way because they most likely did not grow up with them or have a gay family member. One of the most famous court cases about a gay person being victimized by a hate crime is the Matthew Shepard case. Matthew Shepard was a college student that was kidnapped, pistol whipped and left for dead tied to a fence in near freezing temperatures for 18 hours (Brooke, (1998). He was at a bar minding his business when two males came in a car and stopped