A Nation of Tolerance
November 22nd, 2004 11:06 pm

Reported U.S. Hate Crimes in 2003: 7,489

And while President Bush would have you believe all crimes are hate crimes, the true definition of a hate crime is one that violates a person’s civil rights and is motivated by hostility to the victim’s race, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender. (Besides, anyone who’s been robbed knows that when a guy steals your wallet, it’s not because he hates you. It’s because he wants your money.)

So despite the reporting of nearly 7,500 accurately defined hate crimes last year, House Republicans this month decided against expanding federal hate crime protection. Why? Because it doesn’t directly affect them and because they’re worried their buddies could be charged with a hate crime for railing against and, some say, encouraging hatred of homosexuals. So, let’s help the right help its buddies. Eliminate hate crime legislation altogether and charge those who commit such crimes with terrorism.

Isn’t burning a cross on someone’s lawn or painting an epithet on their home an unlawful threat of violence with intent to intimidate or coerce? Isn’t setting a person’s home on fire because the occupant is black akin to blowing up a building because its occupants are Americans? It’s small scale terrorism. Right here at home. And the government will do nothing to stop it. At least until there’s a string of hate crimes against old, wealthy white guys.

Posted in General, Personal Musings, Politics by James
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Charles
November 23rd, 2004 7:13 am

It’s funny how the word “tolerance” on one hand means respecting others and their beliefs - but on the other hand may mean one’s capacity to endure hardship and pain.
So would one be promoting tolerance if he or she contributed to another’s hardship and pain? Wouldn’t galvanizing someone’s ability to endure pain, in effect, be contributing to our nation’s position on tolerance?
Maybe your headline should read, “A nation of middle-aged, white, homo-phobic,hate-mongers…”
But of course, that wouldn’t be very tolerant, would it? :)

Mark
November 23rd, 2004 8:18 am

A few years ago someone painted a swastica on the stop sign in front of my house (yes, I’m jewish). I wrote it off as dumb kids doing a dumb thing, plus I doubted anyone in the ‘hood knew we were actually jewish. But now I guess if it happened to someone for real, they’d be stuck with a vandalism charge instead of a hate crime charge.

Let’s not forget the other nice things the Republicans did. They changed the rules so if Tom Delay gets charged with a felony (which he may very soon), he doesn’t have to step down. That was a rule the republicans put in place during the Clinton impeachment as a way to show they were morally better than those dirty democrats. But of course, now that one of them got caught, time to change that pesky rule.

akasha
November 30th, 2004 2:12 pm

I have a question. I’m a racial minority and my neighbor has a Confederate flag flying in front of his house. Is that to intimidate or scare minorities, or am I overreacting?

James
November 30th, 2004 5:15 pm

This may not help, but I think it depends on the neighbor.

I’m fairly certain that most people (99%)who fly the Confederate flag know it bothers U.S. minorities. However, I’m not so sure that all those flyers of the flag do it to bother U.S. minorities. Many fly it because they have some sort of connection with the South, in spite of knowing how others often feel about it.

Others do it just to piss off those who are bothered by it.

Regardless of your neighbor’s reason for flying the flag, however, I don’t think you’re overreacting. To U.S. minorities, the flag is a symbol of hate, war, racism, lynchings, and numerous other wrongs committed not so long ago, and, sadly, still being committed. (As we know, Alabama wouldn’t remove racist language from its constitution and a woman in Oklahoma recently had racial epithets painted on her home.) So, when you consider it in the vein, I don’t see how it couldn’t bother you in some way.

Unfortunately, since U.S. minorities must also embrace freedom of speech, unless your neighbor is actually doing it to intimidate or frighten you, I’m not sure there’s much you - or I - can do about it except fly our own more positive flags and promote a world with far more civility and far less willful ignorance.

akasha
November 30th, 2004 8:39 pm

Thanks so much for the reassurances. That did help. :) I’m a total advocate for freedom of speech, but being from Toronto where I have never seen the ol’ General Lee’s paintjob, now living in California, I wasn’t sure whether I should worry. I probably overreacted a tad. There’s no ’strange fruit’ or burning crosses in my town. It’s just a stupid flag and I shouldn’t let it upset me. Oh well, I guess it’s my neighbors’ loss –would’ve baked them one of my kickass apple pies for Thanksgiving as a gesture of goodwill, but the flag made me reconsider. Anyway, I’ll try not to let it bother me.