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Hate Crimes in the United States
Despite the fact that the United States has grown generally more tolerant and more accepting, hate crimes have been on the rise in many cities in the United States, particularly in California, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Massachusetts (Partners against Hate, 2003). This does not necessarily reflect an overall increase in crime. In fact, it may not even reflect an increase in actual hate crimes, but might reflect a greater awareness and reporting of crimes. This is because hate crimes are based upon regular crimes. In fact, a hate crime is a "traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias" (FBI, 2013). These crimes can include petty crimes like vandalism to violent crimes like rape and murder. Therefore, these crimes have long been being committed with bias as a motive, but only being reported as the underlying offense. In other words, society has grown more tolerant of those people who are generally targeted as victims of hate crimes. In addition, society has become less tolerant of crimes where bias is a motivation and more willing to explore...
Therefore, the increase in reporting may be due to greater awareness and not to an actual increase in bias-motivated crimes.
In order to reduce the number of hate crimes, it is important to understand some basic information about hate crimes. Almost any crime can be a hate crime, as long as the motivation to commit the crime is the underlying bias. Hate crimes occur because of bias, therefore understanding what causes bias is important. "Hate crimes often occur as a result of prejudice and ignorance. A lack of understanding about differences among people and their traditions contributes to fear and intolerance. Left unaddressed, these sentiments may often lead to acts of intimidation and ultimately hate-motivated violence" (Partners against Hate, 2003). Furthermore, hate crimes impact more than just the specific victim of the crime, because they can cause fear that impacts the entire spirit of a community.
While those who commit hate crimes are driven by a common motivator, any person can commit…
References
The Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2013). Hate crime- overview. Retrieved February 1,
2013 from: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/hate_crimes/overview
Partners against Hate . (2003). Frequently asked questions about hate crimes and hate on the internet. Retrieved February 1, 2013 from Partners against Hate website:
http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/about_hate_crimes/faq-html.html
from Federal Bureau of Investigation website: http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2009/victims.html
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