Friday, December 03, 2004

FBI Reports More Than 7,400 Hate Crimes

How far does this society have left to go to achieve the dream of equality? That is a good subject for debate. Affirmative action remains a hot topic, and the direction of the civil rights movement decades after its major achievements is unclear. However this news item should give us some poise. According to an article by the Associated Press:
Over 7,400 hate crime incidents occurred nationwide last year, more than half of
them motivated by racial prejudice most often against black people, the FBI
reported Monday.
Hate crimes motivated by anti-black racial bias totaled 2,548 in 2003, more than double such crimes against all other racial groups combined. There were 3,150 black victims in these cases, including four who were murdered, according to the annual FBI report.
Some other information included in the article shows that African-Americans are not the only targets:
The report shows that crimes categorized as anti-Islamic remained at the about
same level in 2003 - 149 crimes - as the year before. There had been a spike in
such crimes immediately after the 2001 terror attacks, helping drive the overall
hate crime number much higher that year.
By far the most hate crimes based on religion were directed at Jews, with 927 incidents in 2003, about the same as in 2002. The report also found more than 1,200 hate crimes based on sexual orientation, including 783 against male homosexuals. That included six murders.
You can read this article at the following link:
http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/a/w/1152/11-22-2004/20041122084503_13.html

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

All the hate crimes are over reacting to a situation. People are always going to have negative fealings toward eachother but the question is: how are we as individuals and a society going to deal with it. At this point in my mental process I start thinking about how valuable a WTP program is. People need to focus on how they may express their opinion without being devient. If people were more educated about their rights, they may not be so quick to act violently. The first amendment allows them to peacefully assemble in for a cause as crazy as hating on another rate. If they do not support the homosexual movement, one may write articles about why they do not like it. One thing I have noticed through reading all the ideas of John Lock or the federalist papers is that ideas are powerful. People wanting to make an impact need to band together get the word out. This way the discruntled party may feal listened to but racial and discrimiatory idea may be checked by society its self and always stay a peacable minority unless a logical complaint is brought up.
- April Peter

Anonymous said...

Just think how many don't even go reported. I'm sure these numbers are just a part of the overall picture.

-Keith Isbell