How Americans Hate Each Other

[questionmark]

Last week, a man yelled “Heil Hitler,” and shot three people in front of a Jewish community center in Kansas City. It was one of thousands of hate crimes that will occur in the United States this year -- most of which you won't hear about.

The U.S. Congress currently defines a "hate crime" as "a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.” While hate itself is not a crime, the FBI is "mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties"

In 2012 alone, the bureau’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program identified 6,705 hate-motivated offenses, which include incidents of destruction, vandalism, assault, and intimidation. We've broken down the biases for these crimes below:

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huh?

[spartan max2]

I personally think hate crimes should not be a law.

If you murder someone, you murder someone it should not make a difference if you killed him because you hate him or if you killed him because you hate his skin.

It is equally as wrong either way, so the law should reflect that and not act like a person is somehow less important ( making his murderer get a lesser punishment) because the person was murder due to the murderer hating him and not due to his race.

[Guest]

Most hate crimes do not end in Murder - but accepting the spread of messages of hate makes murder more likely in the end.

Br Cornelius

[Wickian]

I tend to agree that hate crimes shouldn't be in a unique category, but don't feel strongly enough to complain about them. I don't fully think that justice should be blind since the motivation behind some crimes do matter.

[aztek]

no sht. what is so surprising?

people hate each other, the more different they are the more they hate, usa is made up of peoples from diferent countries, thus america has many different people that hate\hated by other diferent people living in usa.

[xYlvax]

There are a lot of 'rednecks' that hate all the African Americans here.. I'm not really fond of most myself, but I don't really like people in general.

It is easier to find those you hate here, it's a melting pot.. We all just have to get along.

Edited April 22, 2014 by AliveInDeath7

[Mr.United_Nations]

the awkward moment all 3 were Christians.....

[Gromdor]

Ah, but the shooter was not, he worshipped Odin.

[Wendigo Wangs]

accepting the spread of messages of hate makes murder more likely in the end.

Where are the stats that support this?

[Rafterman]

People don't like each other - that's nothing new and certainly not unique to the United States. Frankly, many other nations have raised racial hatred and ethnic cleansing to an art form.

[+DieChecker]

Ah, but the shooter was not, he worshipped Odin.

Really?

[+DieChecker]

The problem I have with Hate Crimes is how they apply to middle class white people. Which in many cases is that they apply to offenses, and not as much to victims.

White person shot by ethnic person = Simple Murder/Manslaughter

Ethnic person shot by white person = Suspected Hate Crime

[No Censorship]

There are a lot of 'rednecks' that hate all the African Americans here.. I'm not really fond of most myself, but I don't really like people in general.

It is easier to find those you hate here, it's a melting pot.. We all just have to get along.

Not all rednecks are racists, and not all racists are rednecks. In the 1920s, you could find many educated professionals among the ranks of the Ku Klux Klan. Fortunately, that group has been relegated to the fringes of society now, but you can still find racists among the upper crust. They just whisper their views at cocktail parties and message forums while they go berserk at perceived racial slights when they're in the public eye.

[+DieChecker]

I grew up redneck and still have many redneck traits.....

I tend to agree with what my dad says.....

"I'm not a racist... I'm a bigot. But only against people who prove to me by their actions that they don't deserve respect." - DieChecker's Dad

I have had and still have many ethnic friends and associates. My best friends in the Army were a Chinese guy and a black guy. Yet I get very bias when I am confronted by elements of society that embrace destructive traits, like embracing gang culture, embracing violence, embracing excessive drug use and sales, embracing and riding the US entitlement system as a full time job.....

[Beany]

Where are the stats that support this?

There may not be stats re: murder, but I can't imagine how in any way it is good for society. I don't tolerate it myself, in any way, shape or form, and I am no longer silent in the presence of that kind of thinking, attitude, or behavior that causes so much harm and pain. Just as people have a right to spew their hatefulness, I have a right to protest it.

[Beany]

I grew up redneck and still have many redneck traits.....

I tend to agree with what my dad says.....

"I'm not a racist... I'm a bigot. But only against people who prove to me by their actions that they don't deserve respect." - DieChecker's Dad

I have had and still have many ethnic friends and associates. My best friends in the Army were a Chinese guy and a black guy. Yet I get very bias when I am confronted by elements of society that embrace destructive traits, like embracing gang culture, embracing violence, embracing excessive drug use and sales, embracing and riding the US entitlement system as a full time job.....

The problem I have with Hate Crimes is how they apply to middle class white people. Which in many cases is that they apply to offenses, and not as much to victims.

White person shot by ethnic person = Simple Murder/Manslaughter

Ethnic person shot by white person = Suspected Hate Crime

Unless you're last name is Zimmerman.

[Yamato]

Okay Hate Crimers, instead of just speaking in platitudes, swallow your whole wafer and tell us the difference in punishment between a hate-crime murder and a non-hate-crime murder. I'm interested in the greater hypothetical justice here, and hearing from people who support hate crimes legislation and their own opinions as to what they think the difference in sentencing should be. I don't really care for the statists to weigh in, because they agree with whatever the state does by default, and there isn't much brain power required in just parroting what's already been decided for you.

[Guest]

Okay Hate Crimers, instead of just speaking in platitudes, swallow your whole wafer and tell us the difference in punishment between a hate-crime murder and a non-hate-crime murder. I'm interested in the greater hypothetical justice here, and hearing from people who support hate crimes legislation and their own opinions as to what they think the difference in sentencing should be. I don't really care for the statists to weigh in, because they agree with whatever the state does by default, and there isn't much brain power required in just parroting what's already been decided for you.

As I already said, hate speech and general behaviour is a crime in of itself, the fact that only a few end in Murder or serious assault doesn't diminish that fact. Why this focus on Murder ?

Murder is murder, but motivation can effect the sentence, to see the magnitude you would have to look at case law.

To answer the question about acceptance of hate speech leading to more murders, I would point people to the general culture of early last century where hate speech was common - and race related murders were accepted as been part of the southern culture. The criminalization of hate speech has made this once common occurrence all but unheard of now.

Br Cornelius

Edited April 23, 2014 by Guest

[Rafterman]

As I already said, hate speech and general behaviour is a crime in of itself, the fact that only a few end in Murder or serious assault doesn't diminish that fact. Why this focus on Murder ?

Murder is murder, but motivation can effect the sentence, to see the magnitude you would have to look at case law.

To answer the question about acceptance of hate speech leading to more murders, I would point people to the general culture of early last century where hate speech was common - and race related murders were accepted as been part of the southern culture. The criminalization of hate speech has made this once common occurrence all but unheard of now.

Br Cornelius

But how does one balance Freedom of Speech with laws against hate speech?

In a free country, one should be free to hate anyone they wish, right?

[Lilly]

But how does one balance Freedom of Speech with laws against hate speech?

In a free country, one should be free to hate anyone they wish, right?

I'd say that one can hate whomever they choose to... privately. Yelling it out in public should be considered dangerous and inflammatory...a danger to public safety.

[Babe Ruth]

I grew up redneck and still have many redneck traits.....

I tend to agree with what my dad says.....

"I'm not a racist... I'm a bigot. But only against people who prove to me by their actions that they don't deserve respect." - DieChecker's Dad

I have had and still have many ethnic friends and associates. My best friends in the Army were a Chinese guy and a black guy. Yet I get very bias when I am confronted by elements of society that embrace destructive traits, like embracing gang culture, embracing violence, embracing excessive drug use and sales, embracing and riding the US entitlement system as a full time job.....

My, how things have changed. Remember when West Side Story was so popular? It romanticized gangs and their conflicts, putting it into song and dance.

I am riding that US entitlement system. I started contributing, under force of law, to the SS system in 1963, and am now getting my money back plus interest. Am I a pariah?

[questionmark]

My, how things have changed. Remember when West Side Story was so popular? It romanticized gangs and their conflicts, putting it into song and dance.

I am riding that US entitlement system. I started contributing, under force of law, to the SS system in 1963, and am now getting my money back plus interest. Am I a pariah?

You can't stop people from being green with envy 'cause you are getting something they are not. But the fact of the matter is, many people get something most are not... If you get it because all your life you paid into a social insurance you are ostracized, if you get it for exploiting others work you are popular and people cheer and applaud.... go figure...

[Bama13]

I'd say that one can hate whomever they choose to... privately. Yelling it out in public should be considered dangerous and inflammatory...a danger to public safety.

I disagree, but then I am a freedom loving person and therefore am in favor freedom of speech.

John Adams would have been considered dangerous and inflammatory, as would Thomas Paine and many other of our founding fathers.

"I may not agree with what you say..."

[spartan max2]

As I already said, hate speech and general behaviour is a crime in of itself, the fact that only a few end in Murder or serious assault doesn't diminish that fact. Why this focus on Murder ?

Murder is murder, but motivation can effect the sentence, to see the magnitude you would have to look at case law.

To answer the question about acceptance of hate speech leading to more murders, I would point people to the general culture of early last century where hate speech was common - and race related murders were accepted as been part of the southern culture. The criminalization of hate speech has made this once common occurrence all but unheard of now.

Br Cornelius

Im very certain that the cultural change had none thing to do with the law. The change of attitude on race was from alot of people working to spread the message.

[Rafterman]

I'd say that one can hate whomever they choose to... privately. Yelling it out in public should be considered dangerous and inflammatory...a danger to public safety.

But who gets to decide the parameters? So when my Governor said the following:

“Who are they? Right to life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay — if that’s who they are, they have no place in the state of New York because that’s not who New Yorkers are.” - Andrew Cuomo

Could that be interpreted as "hate speech"? What is some vigilante acted upon that and started killing Conservatives? What if Governor Brewer made a similar statement about Democrats living in Arizona?