Hate crimes are something that are carried out on a daily basis, and have been all throughout our history, even though the term “hate crime” was not established until the 1980s (The Federal Bureau of Investigation). Historically this has included bias crimes against Blacks, Jews, Native Americans and essentially every new immigrant group that has entered the United States in mass numbers. It is something that has no boarders and is happening all over the world. Hate crimes, are “acts of bigotry directed towards marginalized and vulnerable communities [which] are part of our historical fabric, rooted in the widespread and often culturally accepted demonization of the Other…”(Chakraborti 2010: 1). These acts can target or be motivated by an individual’s
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This is a slight decrease from the 2012 year. The majority was due to racial bias at 48.5% of the crimes; the next three highest are due to sexual orientation, religion and ethnicity; followed by disability, gender, and gender identity which constituted for a total of about 2% of the offenses (“Latest Hate Crime Statistics Report Released” 2014). One critique involving the Uniform Crime Report data is that it is all voluntary for the different police agencies to report their crimes, meaning the official report is not accurate. Studies have also shown that hate crime statistics tend to rise right after when huge events have occurred; for instance this happened post 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many bias motivated attacks swept the nation -as well as across the world- targeting the Muslim and Middle East community. We have also begun to see this after the recent November terrorist attacks in Paris, France. Even so closely after the attacks, there are many reports that indicate a spike in racially motivated crimes committed against the Muslim community, similar to 9/11. Even though this occurred in another country, reports have indicated that the Muslim community is facing a backlash in the United States with vandalism to the mosques and “hate filled phone and online messages and threats of violence” (“Muslims Report Backlash In United States After Paris Attacks” 2015). Professor Michael Hooper of Sonoma State University recalls that actually a number of hate crimes occur in places of higher class or privilege. This would include schools (college campuses) and workplaces. It is not just the disadvantaged or minority communities that see this type of crime. Even the Sonoma State campus has been subjected to a number of racially bias incidents. These crimes can happen in
This is a slight decrease from the 2012 year. The majority was due to racial bias at 48.5% of the crimes; the next three highest are due to sexual orientation, religion and ethnicity; followed by disability, gender, and gender identity which constituted for a total of about 2% of the offenses (“Latest Hate Crime Statistics Report Released” 2014). One critique involving the Uniform Crime Report data is that it is all voluntary for the different police agencies to report their crimes, meaning the official report is not accurate. Studies have also shown that hate crime statistics tend to rise right after when huge events have occurred; for instance this happened post 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many bias motivated attacks swept the nation -as well as across the world- targeting the Muslim and Middle East community. We have also begun to see this after the recent November terrorist attacks in Paris, France. Even so closely after the attacks, there are many reports that indicate a spike in racially motivated crimes committed against the Muslim community, similar to 9/11. Even though this occurred in another country, reports have indicated that the Muslim community is facing a backlash in the United States with vandalism to the mosques and “hate filled phone and online messages and threats of violence” (“Muslims Report Backlash In United States After Paris Attacks” 2015). Professor Michael Hooper of Sonoma State University recalls that actually a number of hate crimes occur in places of higher class or privilege. This would include schools (college campuses) and workplaces. It is not just the disadvantaged or minority communities that see this type of crime. Even the Sonoma State campus has been subjected to a number of racially bias incidents. These crimes can happen in