Family & Society - Cultural Diversity - By Mara Hurwitt


"When the dust settles and the pages of history are written, it will not be the angry defenders of intolerance who have made the difference. The reward will go to those who dared to step outside the safety of their privacy in order to expose and rout the prevailing prejudices."
                                       - Bishop John Shelby Spong
From Hatred to Hate Crimes
Left unchecked, bigotry and hatred frequently lead to acts of aggression. Powerful, persuasive messages of hate can incite violence against innocent victims. Despite its many positive aspects (such as this web site!), the internet has become a major vehicle for spreading hate. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has found that,
"The hate we see expressed on the Internet today is more pervasive, more virulent, more insidious and more threatening than anything extremists of past decades could have imagined. The Internet allows bigots to reach millions of people at little or no cost. Thousands of pages of hateful propaganda, frequently produced by groups with histories of violence, are now available at the click of a mouse."
These hate sites include:

• Stormfront, established in 1995 by Don Black, an ardent racist, anti-Semite, and ex-leader of the Ku Klux Klan;

• The website of the National Alliance, the largest and most active neo-Nazi organization in the United States;

• Dozens of sites attributed to the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC), whose self-proclaimed goal is "making this an all-white nation and ultimately an all-white world";

• Various "gay bashing" websites.

HateWatch is another organization that actively monitors hate groups on the internet. Incorporated in 1996, it provides a web-based educational resource to combat the growing threat of on-line bigotry. HateWatch claims to maintain the most up-to-date catalog of hate groups using the web to recruit and organize followers.

Although, the opinions expressed on these groups' web sites are protected by the First Amendment, a writer who posts explicit threats against a specific person may be subject to criminal prosecution as well as civil penalties. Nonetheless, the link between hatred and violence is well documented, and these extremist groups can play a significant and dangerous role in influencing some people to commit acts of violence.

Hate-motivated incidents and hate crimes are now receiving greater attention, and the latter are, in many instances, classified as a special category of criminal behavior.

Hate-motivated incidents are expressions of hostility motivated by bias against the victim's race, religion, ethnic/national origin, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation. They are generally defined as behaviors that do not constitute criminal acts and may include non-threatening name-calling, racial/ethnic slurs, hateful speech, or disseminating racist leaflets. These activities become crimes only when they put a potential victim in reasonable fear of physical harm or directly incite perpetrators to commit violence against persons or property.

A hate crime is a criminal offense committed against persons or property that is motivated, in whole or in part, by bias against an individual's or a group's race, religion, ethnic/national origin, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation. These include threatening phone calls, hate mail, physical assaults, fire bombings, and cross burning, as well as property crimes such as arson or vandalism, particularly those targeting community centers or houses of worship.

According the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), as of 1999, 41 states and the District of Columbia had adopted hate crime statutes providing enhanced penalties for crimes in which victims are selected because of a perpetrator's bias against a victim's perceived race, religion or ethnicity. Some of these laws also cover those crimes in which a victim is selected based on a perception of his/her sexual orientation.

Hate crimes differ from other crimes in their impact on the victims and their community. These crimes are often particularly brutal, leaving victims and their families feeling traumatized, frightened and powerless. Community members who share the characteristics that made the victims targets of hate (race, religion, ethnic/national origin, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation) may feel victimized or vulnerable, as well. Hate-motivated incidents and hate crimes can also lead to retaliatory action and create community-wide unrest.

Recognizing the severity of this problem, the IACP held a Hate Crime in America Summit in 1998. The summit addressed methods to prevent hate crime, respond to hate crime, and measure the effectiveness of those prevention and response efforts. These are some of the participants' recommendations to help prevent bias-motivated incidents and hate crime:

• Increase Public Awareness. An informed citizenry is the cornerstone of our democratic society. Citizen involvement is essential to the success of any program to reduce prejudice and prevent bias-related crimes;

• Create local Human Rights Commissions or other forums to promote community harmony and stability;

• Focus public attention on issues of prejudice, intolerance, and the ways that hate crime affects community vitality and safety;

• Develop public information to promote values of tolerance and social equality.

• Raise awareness of the goals and activities of organized hate groups. Hate groups are less effective in sowing seeds of social unrest and conflict when their activities (including Internet hate sites) are brought to light. Their messages of bigotry and intolerance can be countered by community leaders, schools, and justice agencies with truthful information that promotes mutual understanding and honors diversity.

• Intervene with students who express discriminatory beliefs before their behavior escalates.

• Educate Children and Young Adults. Teaching our children to respect differences and celebrate diversity is essential to prevent development of prejudiced attitudes that can lead to hate crime. Because conflict is a fact of human life, children must also be given tools to deal with conflict constructively, to become "peacemakers."


Teach Your Children Well >>

Want To Add An Article? Be Notified Of New Kind Planet Content? Communicate With Us? Contact
Kind Planet is created at The Sanctuary. Lost? Go to the Site Map or Search Our Site