In the ideal America, our celebrated, ethnically diverse populous would overlook
and not even recognize such socially developed stigmas such as race, sex, color,
and religion. The ideal American would not even look at another and classify
that person as black, white, Asian, Indian, Mexican, Irish, Jewish, Catholic,
Jewish or; well, my point is made. But America is far from ideal. The ignorance
that reigns in this country is unfortunately passed on from generation to
generation with little regard for what effect it may render on its audience.
Sadly, fear is created from ignorance. Sadder still is that hate spawns from
fear, and as represented by the staggering domestic abuse rate, violence is
handed down from previous generations as well. The probability and means to
cultivate hate crimes is now present and the formula is potent enough to
guarantee that they will happen. Hate crimes are happening in America at a
disturbing frequency. That being a given, it is time we as a society look to the
roots of hate crimes in America. I believe these roots lie in our society`s
notion and practice of family structure. More so in the way we pass down our
ignorance, fear, unacceptance, and intolerance to future generations. A hate
crime in itself is defined as a criminal act with intent to defame and slander
another person. At further introspection though, I think that we will find that
there is more underlying issues than just committing a crime with malice towards
someone different than ourselves. The human mind at the time of birth has no
prejudice. A baby does not look at another human being and feel afraid or angry
with that other individual. The human infant has no predators in these times,
therefore there should be no fear instilled naturally. I would like to think
that these minds could be viewed as clean slates. So where does the fear and
hatred needed to commit a hate crime, and dirty that slate, come from? All
social science research has come to a solid conclusion that parents, or the
primary caretakers, of a child are the single most influential stimulus on that
child`s development. The answer is that we as a society, both internationally
and in America, have found ways to continually and regeneratively brainwash and
condition our children. We teach them to classify humans with titles that have
no real biological worth such as Asian, American, Latin, African, and European
among others. One fairly publicized hateful incident involved some Texaco
executives who were caught slandering black and Jewish employees and making
derogatory references and actions towards them. One remark an executive made was
I`m still struggling with Chanukah, and now we have Kwanzaa... Poor Saint
Nicholas, they have sh-tted all over his beard. What caused this person to have
these points of views? How long has this idea been in his head? Where does this
idea develop if it is not genetically created? The answers lie with the majority
of all non-biological dysfunction present today; the individuals upbringing.
These same questions and same answers can be applied to almost any incidence of
hate and violence today. Especially prevalent is the incidence of the dragging
murder in Jasper, Texas in which a black man was beaten, and dragged, and
decapitated. This was perpetrated by two white supremacists, making it a violent
hate crime. How does a person`s inner frustrations become so great that they can
control behavior to the point of making that person take another life? It is
directly related to the perpetrator`s upbringing and the views and ideals that
were passed on to him since day 1 in his life. In many of these scenarios,
justice has been dealt to the assailants or perpetrators by our federal law
system. But it seems that in just as many instances justice was not dealt to
all, or it was too little too late. In any case though, the legal system has
taken a reactive approach. Justice in itself is reactive in nature, and
consequently that may be why hate crimes and crime in general continue to happen
with great frequency. America has taken a reactive approach to hate crimes. As a
country and as a world we need to take a proactive approach to prevent hate
crimes. Prevention is the key to stopping further hate crimes in America and
around the world, and it can be done. People just need to stop the influential
modeling and passive teaching to their children and future generations that
certain people are inferior, unwanted, or scary. Until we can become more
complete and open to the human experience and start to see the big picture of
life, and realize that we need to shed the old and primitive assumption that one
group is better than the next, we will continue passing on the hurting, fear,
and hate to our offspring. We are all the same species on this planet, we just
need to realize it. It may sound like too much to ask for a evolution in the
world`s upbringing of their youth. But as with any evolution, it only needs to
start with one person. One person breaking this chain of labeling and
classifying people as anything else, will spawn generations that will carry the
same ideal. The process is a gradual one, but a neccesary process that needs to
start now.