Racist Hate Crimes

Racist Hate Crimes

A hate crime is one in which an individual targets victims because of their race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. Individuals who commit hate crimes are from diverse backgrounds. The term hate crime is used to differentiate criminal behavior caused by prejudice from criminal behavior caused by greed, jealousy, anger, and politics. There are diverse hate groups that differ on the basis of their ideology, activities, or other characteristics. However, there is one characteristic which is common among all these hate groups is the use of direct violence is towards and against groups of people they hate (Amnesty International, 2001).

When discussing hate crime, it is important to understand the concept of racism. Racism can be defined as words or practices which advantage of disadvantage certain people because of their color, culture, or ethnicity. Institutional racism is a term associated with racism. Institutional racism refers to the collective failure of an organization to provide appropriate services to people because of their color, culture, or ethnic origin.

Racist incidents are those which are perceived to be racist by victims. Racist incidents raise the issue of intentions of individuals rather than consequences. One individual might consider an event as racist while other might deny it. In this regard, it is important to pay attention to the accounts of victims and observers at the same time. However, it is not always possible to rely on the perception of individuals but clear procedures and rules of accountability are required (Anthias, 1999, pp. 2).

An important insight to the topic of hate crimes was made by Bowling (1999). According to Bowling (1999), violence is the 'white noise' of the society. Societies at both sides of the Atlantic are preoccupied with a higher rate of violence committed by ethnic minorities. The preoccupation of researchers and scholars with concepts such as black criminality and black-on-black crimes has tended to ignore the extent of white-on-white crimes or white-on-minority violence. The criminologists have also ignored the presence of racial violence which is targeted against ethnic minorities. These kinds of incidents are aggravated by racial prejudice and racism. In the recent years, the public concerns about racial crimes have increased. The areas where concerns have increased include North America, Continental Europe, and Britain. During the 1990s, a number of incidents highlighted the concerns of hate crimes and racial violence. In the early 1990s, there were arson attacks against people from different ethnic minorities.

In the United States of America, the murder of James Byrd is considered to be the epitome of a racist crime. In the year 1998, James Byrd was offered a lift from motorists who beat Byrd and dragged him until his head and right arm were ripped from the body. In the year 1993, an eighteen years old black man was stabled to death in South East London, England.

The focus on victims has tended to reduce the importance of conducting research on racist offenders. Furthermore, there has been a reluctance to examine racist ...