Hate Crimes Essay

A hate disgust is an act of violence, a threat, harassment, or property damage motivated by bigotry and preconceived notion against the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of a nonher grouping or individual. These acts ar not only against the victim(s), precisely also the particular group as a whole. hate crimes are very common and often times it is bad to tell whether or not the crime is motivated by hate. I chose this topic because I was watching a TV show press Criminal that told true stories of hate crimes. The one that got me interested was Punks vs. Preps, there had been an ongoing feud between the two groups, which ended in a jejune losing his life. This episode showed one of the many cases of hate crimes that have plagued our nation. Watching it caused me to mystify curious about how often these terrible events happened, as well as, what is universe done to prevent future breakouts of hate crimes.Many people take on that hate crime offenders are hate-filled Nazis or bootboys. But research by a clinical psychologist at the University of calcium shows that out of 1,459 cases in the span of a year less than 5 share were members of a hate group (http//www.hatecrime.org). Most hate crimes are carried out by, seemingly, law-abiding young people who do not cerebrate their actions are wrong. Sometimes drugs and alcohol help initiate these crimes, but the principal(prenominal) factor appears to be somebodyal prejudice. Personal prejudice is what blinds a person from seeing the wrong in what they are doing. Most times this prejudice comes from an environment that sees differences as threats.The worst hate crimes are often move by people with a history of antisocial behavior. One of these examples took come forth in June of 1998 in Jasper, Texas. Three men, with jail records, offered a ride to a black man with a limp. After beating him to death, they dragged him behind their truck until his body was parti all(prenominal)y dismembered (http//hatecrime.org).According to the FBI, about thirty part of all hate crimes in 1996 were crimes against property. They involved robbing, vandalizing, destroying, stealing, and/or arson. Approximately seventy percent involve an attackagainst a person. This can range from simple brush up (without a weapon) to aggravated assault, rape, and murder. This type of attack has two levels of injury, on a persons physical self and also on a persons identity (http//www.stopthehate.org).Educated guesses of the presence of hate crimes in a society are difficult because each state defines and reports these crimes differently. The Hate Crime Statistics Act was enacted in 1990, but federal law enforcement officials did not begin collecting nationwide statistics until the following year. Another obstacle to gaining an blameless count of hate crimes is that many victims are afraid to report the attacks. This comes from the suffering they h ave experienced and fear of retaliation or future jobber with the offender(s). Another reason is that it is difficult to identify a biased motive.Posttraumatic express Disorder is often caused by hate crimes. Some symptoms are bright feelings of vulnerability, anger, and depression, learning problems, and difficulty with relationships (both physical and emotional). Studies have shown that some victims have interpreted as long as five years to overcome the feelings. They may heal more quickly if support is available soon afterward the incident (Punks vs. Preps). Hate crimes not only affect the victim himself, but they also affect the particular group the victim is from or panorama to be from. When the result of the attack is serious injury or the bolshy of a life then it also affects the family and friends of the victim.Racial Hatred is by far the most common type of hate crime with African Americans as the group at greatest risk. In 1996, sixty percent (4,831 of 7,947) of hat e crimes were committed because of race two-thirds of these crimes were targeting African Americans (http//www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr). The type of crimes committed against this group has not changed since the nineteenth century they still include murder, cross burnings, vandalizing churches, and bombings. As for the other racially motivated crimes, about twenty-five percent were against blanched people, seven percent against Asian Pacific Americans, less than five percent against multiracial groups, and one percent against Native Americans and Alaskan Natives.Ethnic minorities in the United States are often targeted because they arethought to be immature to the country even if their families have been here for generations. Other times they are targeted just because they are seen as different from the majority population.