A typical individual who commits who commits hate crimes whether it is against or aimed at the Gay/lesbian community , the persons of color or the Jewish community, ( I mention these three because they are the most published crimes of our times), are : typically white, ( though there are some persons of the three who also commit hate crimes but are very few and most times it is in retaliation), male, between the ages of 17 and 30, they come from a working class community, ( blue collar), with a limited education, (high school dropout or a trade school graduate), lives in a community that conforms to their views or socializes with those of a like mind set, they have a low self-esteem and can be easily influenced by the group or strong individual, believe someone in these groups has taken something from them, (job, taken advantage of a family member or friend or cheated them out of their money), though most of the jobs they complain about being taken away are jobs they would not take because of low pay or the job is menial and dirty and they family member or friend they are talking about they are not even close to. They live all across the United States. They cannot be recognized by physical appearance alone. The exceptions are those who live in a White Anglo Saxon Protestant, (WASP), and neighborhoods and want to keep it that way. Hate groups are no longer just in the southern portion of the U.S. they live everywhere. With the economy the way it is and job lose being what it is people whodid not believe they hated arefinding out they do have prejudices and can be brought to hate.
The most targeted groups are Gay/Lesbian community, (life style), persons of color, (skin tone and those who speak with an accent), Jewish community, (religion), homeless, (circumstance) and the disabled, (physical impairments). There are several more groups that are subject to hate crimes. The hate groups at one time or another had the law on their side. The law enforcement
community turned away from these crimes and did not investigate or charge any one with the crimes. Even today prosecutors are reluctant to invoke the hate crime law. This sends a message that it's all right committing these acts because the law won't do anything about it. (Are victims falling through America's hate crime data gap, N, Krasavage, S. Bronstein, March 2013?).
Some of the reasons that hate crimes are still prevalent is that law enforcement are reluctant to prosecute the crime, haters believe that some groups are getting a free ride from the Government at their expense, (welfare, housing and medical) , lack of education and misconception about these groups. However, there are many textbooks written about the accomplishments of these groups, this information is just glossed overand seldom discussed in detail in our classrooms. This leads some to believe that these people are just parasites feeding off the fat of the land for free and doing nothing to better our country.
Their misconceptions are that these groups will rape and take advantage of their children, all they do is drugs, sell drugs, commit crimes to fuel their habits, lay around and sleep all day and have babies to get on welfare to get a free ride and that they are paying for it all, these groups are ignorant and incapable of learning, they morally corrupt children, their life styles are their own doing and they should getwhattheydeserve , these people are always looking for ways to cheat them out of their money. These misconceptions are reinforced by TV programming, documentaries and the motion picture and music industry.
Education and dissemination of information are the keys of minimizing the occurrence of hatecrimes. Just as we teach and expand on such persons as George Washington, Samuel Adams, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and many others who made a contribution tour country, we should do the same for those who subjected to hate crimes. If you asked whothe first black U.S.
Senator was elected by popular vote to the U.S. Senate, very few people would. It was Sen. Edward Brooke of Mass, Carol Moseley Braun, Richard Spikes, (inventor, automatic gearshift), Charles Drew, (the plasma bag), Henry T. Sampson, (cellphone) and many more but left unknown to the American public and our schools. These hated groups have been, or are CEO's of major companies or who have created successful companies but these facts are hidden from the public. Improve the quality of public schools, educate them young and maybe they will not become crime or criminal statistics. Teach a person that being different is not a negative thing but can be positive and knowledgeable. Stop the stereo typing of those that are different.
References:
Retrieved from the internet on December 1, 2013
https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/15/justice/hate-crime-statistics/
Retrieved from the internet on December 1, 2013
https://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-hate-crimes