Good Hate Crimes Committed By White Against African American Essay Example

This paper seeks to examine the importance of hate crimes in the United States as well as statistics as offered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Department in the year 2012. The paper explores the legislation that anchors the reporting and collation of hate crimes in the US namely, the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act(HCPA) so as to provide further understanding about hate crimes and annual reports. The paper argues that the importance of hate crimes and statistics as compiled by the UCR is meant to address the issue of criminal activities that are motivated by bias or hate. A hate crime refers to any crime that is motivated by bias that may be on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability. The paper simply defines hate crimes as crimes where a perpetrator intentionally selects a victim of violence because of a particular bias or prejudice. The paper argues that the hate crime statistics in the US as availed by the FBI play an important role in highlighting the state of affairs in regard to hate crimes and enables the relevant agencies to take appropriate measures. For instance, the year 2012 shows a decline in the number of hate crimes that were reported. However, it need be noted that the same could have been as a result of underreporting of such hate related crimes to the law enforcement agency. In conclusion, the paper makes the case that there is a need for measures to be put in place to encourage the reporting of crimes and address instances of perpetration of such crimes.
A case scenario of an event relating to hate crime will suffice at this juncture. In November 2013, four students at the San Jose State University in California of the white descent were suspended from school and charged with the offenses of misdemeanor battery and hate crimes against African American student in their dorm suite. According to police, the white students subjected the African American student to harassment by displaying a Confederate flag and other white supremacist symbols, as well as a bicycle lock around his neck. It was reported that they also referred to the student as a “fraction”, a derogatory term that was historically used by the United States government in referring to African Americans as slaves. This is a classic example of racial basis or hate crime. The topic on hate crimes is related to the policy against sexual harassment, racial discrimination and prevention of youth crime.