Hate Crimes: A Major Problem in Society

There have been many debates on whether there should be a new law on hate crimes, more specifically discrimination. There are many people of different races and religions that are getting picked on and some cases go to the extent of people killing themselves. Hate crimes became famous during the period of slavery. During this period of time many people threatened and killed many African Americans and people of other races such as Hispanics and Asians. This became the beginning of a series or crimes called hate crimes. Since then much has evolved, new technology, more rights for other races, and much more. One thing that has stayed the same is the discrimination against other people of not just races but religions and many other things too. Although it is not nearly as bad as it used to be there are still a lot of hate crimes going on in the America and many people believe that there should be new laws to help limit the about of crimes against a certain race or religion of people. Hate crimes are growing and affecting many different people of different cultures and they need to be stopped. Jesse Larner and Michael Lieberman argue about the much anticipated law against hate crimes. Both of these writers agree that hate crimes are big issues. Liebermen claims, “These crimes occur because of the perpetrator's bias or animus against the victim on the basis of actual or perceived status – the victim's race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability is the reason for the crime” (Lieberman).This is what makes hate crimes unique, these crimes are always intentional due to the discrimination against people they don’t even know. These hate crimes don’t just affect the victim; they affect the whole society of people that are alike in religion, race, gender and so on. According to Cohen, “To wit, if one gay man is mugged, other gays are intimidated. A whole class of people is affected” (Cohen). These are only a few of the many reasons why hate crimes can be so dangerous and ultimately lethal to many people. Many people were discriminated against in the days of western expansion. Of course there was slavery, and then when many immigrants from all over the world came to America looking for a better life, they were all “different” in the eyes of many white Americans that came from England. One of the big reasons is the fact that the Americans thought all these immigrants were going to take all the jobs in the U.S. but that doesn’t give them the right to make insulting advertisements about the Irish or Chinese. Or the Americans saying the Koreans aren’t good enough to do any other jobs beside build railroads and work on farms. Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi jumped off of George Washington Bridge after his roommate and a friend supposedly videotaped him having an intimate relationship with another man. No charges were pressed but the idea is still being tossed around (Cohen). This is another place where the new hat crime legislation would come into play. Another indication towards this law being a good idea. These are the things that ruin an individual’s life and what they have worked so hard to accomplish can be destroyed in a short period of time. This is why it is so hard to understand why anyone would want to make fun of someone who they could very well be friends with in the future. Some people don’t care about what is on the inside; in fact they only care about what is on the outside. Works Cited Cohen, Richard. "When Thoughts Become a Crime." Washington Post. 19 Oct 2010: A.15. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Feb 2012 "Hate Crime Law Unnecessary." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. 29 Apr 2011: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Feb 2012. Lieberman, Michael, and Jesse Larner. "Hate Crime Laws: Punishment to Fit the Crime." Dissent Vol. 57, No. 3. Summer 2010: 81+. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 27 Feb 2012.