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.

Late-Term Abortion: Legal or Not?

Have you ever wondered about Late-Term Abortions? Why people even think about Late-Term Abortion? Late-Term Abortion is actually one of, if not the most argued topics in society today. Many people believe that they should be legal and many people believe that they should be illegal. Below are three different paragraphs reviewing different articles with different opinions. This is your chance to get the knowledge you desire.

The article “Supreme Court to Look at Federal Ban of Late-Term Abortion” by Stephen Henderson of Knight Ridder Newspapers talks about the long time argument of Abortion: Legal or Not. The author’s purpose of writing this article is to inform his audience, which could be a wide variety of people, about the fight to ban Late-Term abortions. There is no indication of him showing his viewpoint in his paper as he just states the facts. He also shows no sign of a bias in his writing since he is just giving both sides of the argument. The author is informing about one side of the argument but occasionally he gives conflicting evidence about how some states are fighting against banning Late-Term Abortion. I believe that this is a credible source to get information about the topic of Late-Term Abortion.

In this article by Erik Eckholm of The New York Times he writes about how Late-Term Abortions should be legal due to the many women that use abortion when a problem shows up late in a woman’s pregnancy. I believe that the author’s purpose to writing this article is too show both sides of this heated argument about Late-Term Abortion, although he shows a little slant in his writing. His viewpoint is that Late-Term Abortions should be kept legal only under some circumstances, such as medical issues. There is some conflicting evidence due to the fact that he was trying to give both sides of the argument; while he did a good job of that, he showed little signs to hint that he was on one side more than the other. I believe that this is a credible source due to the fact that the author is writing for The New York Times, which is a very successful newspaper. He also has a link to all previous articles he has written with a short description for each one.

In this last article Lynda Waddington gives her opinion on President Barack Obama’s comments on Late-Term Abortions, and tells her audience how she had to get an abortion and Obama’s restrictions would have prevented her from doing that. Lynda viewpoint is that there should not be as many restrictions on Late-Term Abortions as there are right now, but that doesn’t mean she thinks that it should be completely legal. She agrees with many others who have voiced their opinions on this issue: That Late-Term Abortion should be legal under certain circumstances. There is plenty of conflicting evidence in this article, as she keeps referring to Obama’s comments on this topic. You can tell that this is a credible source due to many little things, but one major aspect is the author’s credentials. There is a link to a short description on the author and other recent articles she has written.

Bad Boy Movie Project

Authors Viewpoint: Walter Dean Myers opinon on racism and how he thinks whites own him and does not feel confident.

Casting: Eddie Murphy - Walter Dean Myers
Morgan Freeman - Dad
Queen Latifah - Mom
Adam Sandler - Eric
Sound & Music: Slow Music, Intense, Upbeat, Sad
Set/Costumes: A city (New York)
Worn Out Clothes
Run Down Houses
Littering
General: Teased in School
Lots of Lying
Lots of Surprising Moments

-Adam, Becca, Caleb