Prejudice And Hate Crimes

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Hate Crimes are crimes done out of severe anger, ignorance, and lack of knowledge about other's ideas and beliefs. Racism is a belief that one or more races is superior to others. Prejudice is prejudging others. "Gordon Alport, a professor at Emeritus of Psychology at Harvard University and an expert at prejudism defines prejudice as... `a hostile attitude toward a person who belongs to a group, simply because he belong to that group, and therefore presumes to have the object able qualities ascribed to that group'(Lang)23"
The most common way prejudice works is by stereotyping people, that is putting everyone form the same ethnic group together and assuming they all have the same negative characteristics or behave in the same way. This does not only apply to ethnic groups but also applies to race, religion, and other minorities.
Hate crimes are so hard to count because it is not certain whether a crime is being committed out of hate.
In 1989-1991, a study done by Southern Poverty Law Center in Birmingham,
Alabama, recorded an increase of hate crimes in those three years. The number of murders went up 100%, Cross burnings went up 200%, and vandalism went up 50%.
These acts were said to be committed by a group of "skinheads" in the Ku Klux
Klan.
Ku Klux Klan started out as a secret club in 1866, just after the war, claiming "superiority of the southern white man." (Lang)20 Basically the KKK is a group of extremist individuals stalking, intimidating, hanging, and hurting anyone that was not a straight puritan white male. Many of nowadays extremists stemmed from these "Knights" of white terror. (Lang) 32.
Hate Crimes are not only against Races (Blacks, Whites, Hispanic,
Chinese...) they are also against religious beliefs, sexual pre...

... middle of paper ...

...litary magazines that are full of articles on survivalism, weapon use and guerilla tactics (Lang (69). Meanwhile paranoia is growing as the Budget Deficit skyrockets, A.I.D.S epidemic threatens health and health care systems. These times can cause fear, insecurities, frustration, and anger which in turn inflames scapegoating and racial stereotyping and in turn results in resurgence of racism.
Freedom of Speech is one of the most significant rights given to all
Americans but it is by far one of our biggest problems. The price we pay for
Freedom of Speech and the ability to talk our mind is that we have to tolerate other person's beliefs and opinions.
In the final analysis, one can frankly acknowledge that hate is taught.
If each new generation were more tolerant of those who are different, perhaps hatred and prejudice would someday disappear from our world. (Lang) 15

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