Hate crimes are an unfortunate part of life. This occurs when a crime is committed that is motivated by hate against race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity, class, disability, age, gender, gender identity or political affiliation. It is a very serious crime that still is not properly defined in all parts of the world, leaving many crimes not properly punished to the full extent. Hate crimes may extend to physical assault and injury, harassment, bullying, offensive graffiti or letters, as well as verbal abuse or insults. In the United States, the most common motive for hate crimes has always been religion and race. This has been the case as far back as the 16th century when colonies were just getting their feet wet. Native Americans were the targets of racial slurs and violence by xenophobic Europeans. In the past couple of centuries, the hate crimes have only increased in prominence; the Ku Klux Klan would burn crosses on the lawns of African-Americans from predominately white neighborhoods, assaulting a member of the LGBTQ community, or painting swastikas on the doors of Jewish synagogues. Minorities have not always been the ones affected either; for example, in predominately black neighborhoods, a white family may be harassed into leaving.
As previously stated, hate crimes have only increased in prominence. As such, they are still often committed in today's time. In February 2008, a fifteen year old openly gay junior high school student, Lawrence King, was killed by a younger classmate who was disgusted by his sexuality. In January 2007, there was a gang made up of Latino men who hunted down "any black person at all" to shoot. The first black person they came across was fourteen year old Cheryl Green; they followed through on their plan. Alia Ansari, a Muslim mother of six, was shot in the head in January 2006 due to the increasing suspicion and hatred of Muslims.
Several countries around the world have since been strengthening legislation in response to overwhelming demand. Belgium passed the Act of 15 February 1993 to provide a civil remedy in response to racism. Canada holds the most defense against hate crimes in the world; the Canadian Criminal Code conducts a penalty against those who commit crimes motivated by bias, hatred or prejudice against a person as described in the introductory paragraph.
The United States has failed a number of bills to fight against hate crime and over thirty states still give a company legal ground to fire a person based on their sexuality. However, a number of bills do pass in the fifty states. Nearly all states have a set definition of what a hate crime is and punishes offenders as such. This definition of hate crimes and legislation of such was based in 1969.
In 2009, however, President Obama made history when he signed the Matthew Shepard Act. This widened the spectrum of who is protected under the laws of hate crimes. A person can be punished with a hate crime for committing an act against someone based on either their actual or perceived gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. Other historical moments include Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s attempts and success with lessening racial discrimination. As such, today, blacks and whites are no longer segregated from one another and do not have to follow specific racial rules.
With the progress the world has made in combating against hate crimes, one may only hope that the progress will only increase. It is unfortunate that hate crimes have been increasing as well, but one may also hope that the new laws and regulations will come to silence hate crimes once and for all.
