Japan Posted December 16, 2003 Share Posted December 16, 2003 Matthew Shepard, people killed in the Columbine shooting, and many others died because of hate crimes. I think that Matthew, who was killed because he was gay, and Rachel that got shot for believing in God in the Columbine shooting is really sad. I think that hate crimes are very bad, and it hurts many people. What about James Bryd Jr.? He was brutally beaten and dragged behind a car because he was black. What is this world coming too? What do you think about hate crimes? Do you think hat they are getting out of control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted December 16, 2003 Share Posted December 16, 2003 [color=#707875]Unfortunately, there will always be some level of intolerance around. And even more unfortunate is the fact that some people will actually be prepared to kill based on some stupid sense of superiority or a warped sense of morality. I don't know what else to say. I'd say that hate crimes are probably lower now than they used to be...and they will probably always decrease steadily, but still, they won't ever disappear completely. I'm not sure how a topic like this can really progress, though. It's sort of like saying "crime is bad, isn't it?" You know? I'm not entirely sure what the discussion is here, other than discussing whether or not hate crimes are getting more numerous and stuff. But we'll see how it goes.[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxmagentaxX Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 I really hate how stupid alot of people today are. There are alot of people who have this idea that they have to play god and rid the world of all of it's evils. It's really sick and twisted. Hopefully, as time goes by people will finally realize that you can't judge other people because they look different or live a different lifestyle, but just because they are human like all of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cloricus Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 I know I'm normally the one to make this link but all of those incidences you mentioned were in America and are only [i]some[/i] of the major ones, we did semester in SOSE on social problems with America, UK (inc England) and Australia. Bowling for columbine looked into this a bit but in Michel Moore style left the answer open to interpretation, if only in a small scope. Also in the UK and a few others seem to have a problem. Though here you hardly hear any thing like this, every so often there will be a bad shooting where around five people will die normally over drugs but that?s about it. There was a large shooting at Port Arthur by a mentally unstable man who took out a few people, after that high powered rifles, semi's and up were banned but that was a few years ago. What interests me is why is it only a few select countries that seem to have this problem? [quote]They have to play god and rid the world of all of it's evils.[/quote]Maybe they get the idea from the highest man in the country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrist cutter Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Japan_86 [/i] [B]What is this world coming too? [/B][/QUOTE] You say that like hate crimes are a new thing. The world has gotten much more tolerant over the last few decades and I assume it will continue to become moreso. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathBug Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by cloricus [/i] [B] Maybe they get the idea from the highest man in the country? [/B][/QUOTE] Yep, you are so totally right; why, I bet Columbine was Bush's fault! Sure, he wasn't the US president at the time, but that's no excuse! Why stop there? I'll bet the KKK was founded by him, too! What? He was'nt born yet? So what! Or maybe, perhaps, you're trying to pin one of the most disgusting aspects of human society on a single man? Maybe that doesn't quite gel with common sense? "Hate crime", as the buizz-word is defined, has been around for the entirity of human existance, brought on by a violent reaction to xenophobia. It makes the headlines nowadays because it is actually becoming more unusual. (However, the phrase "hate crime" is really stupid; if I beat a man to death, and he's the same race as me, it sure wasn't because I loved the guy.) Not to go on a tangent, but while I agree that "Hate crimes" are horrible, US hate crime legislation is an affront to our civil liberties. The idea is that if, say, a white man kills a black man, and the prosecution can prove that the motive was pure rascism, then the law goes much harder on him. While I don't mind seeimng violent bigots get prosecuted for all they're worth, it is an affront to the judicial system to take race into account. Justice is supposed to blind, including color blind. I believe that the acknowledgement of race within the court system is an affront to the 14th Amendment of the US constitution. Yet, on the other hand, I usually support the law being carried out to the fullest possible extent. This issue is rather thorny, to say the least, as well as being personally conflicting for myself. And that's my two cents on the legal side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Shin Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 All of your responses, except for wrist cutter, has been hateful and negative towards those actions. I myself don't agree with hate crimes (I'm chinese/american) but I do understand why this happens to some extent. First, I think that the living conditions since you were young affect your attitude towards those different from you. All of you are lucky that you dont live in a hateful state or country, or even if you do, were raised towards a positive attitude from your parents. If you were born, say Mississippi, and you were raised towards feeling superior to other races, then obviously, it will affect your mind until you die. Worse yet is the fact that it passes down to your children and generations after that. It is a weakness in humans in general. Yes, humans are the most intelligent beings on Earth, but we still have a limitations. The problem is that people can't think open-minded enough to accept others differences. There are also people who abuse their heritage, and purposely accuse someone of a hate crime. Once again, a weakness in people, like the saying "What do all men(women) with power want? More power." Also, people who don't understand something is automatically afraid or hostile to it, same thing applies to culture(Thats why we have social studies classes). On the positive note, I do believe that society as a whole has advanced towards the acceptance of everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy J. Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 I've been the victim of hate crimes before, this is because I used to live bear a gang of skinheads who would just pick on anyoine black, and they used a weird form of >>"religion"<< to support their claims too, I think they were members of the Ku Klux Klan. We got out of that neighbourhood when thigbns started getting really rough, and for a while I used to be scared of white people, I though they all wanted to kick the black community out, my father reckoned that's what they're up to, and I listened to him alot, it happened when I was 12 (about 2 years ago), and for a while, I couldn't even pass soemone who was white without feeling a little afraid, until I grew out of it, and realized that we are all individuals, I since have had best friends who are white. I feel alot of hate crimes, could also stem from the musgivings due to an incident involving a hate crime committed towards them, I'm ashamed to say I almost became racist and prejudice aganst whites for what the minority wackos did to me, now I've matured and grown alot in the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathKnight Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 [color=crimson]I can see myself performing hate crimes based on religion. But, whenever it drifts into something like skin color or sexual preference it becomes quite stupid. I can see some insane or overtly zealous individual performing specific crimes based on religion, polotical ideals and things where you form a decided stance or opinon- but when you don't have much choice in the matter [skin color, sexual preference, etc.] then really- why? Seems like a waste of time, then.[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 [COLOR=blue] In school, kids would always harrass me about my religion and other stuff..... What I never understood is why they never ever picked on my brother, who is a year younger than me (and seems to be popular 0.o) [/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChibiHorsewoman Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by lea2385 [/i] [B][COLOR=blue] In school, kids would always harrass me about my religion and other stuff..... What I never understood is why they never ever picked on my brother, who is a year younger than me (and seems to be popular 0.o) [/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=violet]It could be the way he presents himself, or maybe the way he looks. What can I say? People are cruel no matter what. Sometimes people outgrow childish tendancies, but other times they never outgrow it. Which is sad. I got picked on for my weight and when I dyed my hair strange colors. But I didn't really care too much about it because those kids don't know you, they just know who they think you are. I'm not gonna lie, it pissed me off a few times and I got a few detentions and a suspension for fighting because some girl wouldn't lay off me, but hey. Violence is everywhere and hate is everywhere. Maybe the point isn't to look at it, but to figure out why people still hate.[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven's Cloud Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by lea2385 [/i] [B][COLOR=blue] In school, kids would always harrass me about my religion and other stuff..... What I never understood is why they never ever picked on my brother, who is a year younger than me (and seems to be popular 0.o) [/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=indigo]I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but most of the time kids pick on other kids for general harassment. Sure they might tease you about your religion or your skin color, but they would probably tease you the same if you had different religious views, skin colors, ect. People just tend to harass other people, and if they find a particular subject or difference about their target that tends to tick off said person, they are going to focus on it. As far as hate crimes go, I guess (like James) I really don?t see where this topic is headed. Crime sucks, hate sucks, so obviously crime that involves hate sucks. If you get into the legislative side of it I guess you could argue that hate crimes are worse than plain crimes, however you could also argue that most crimes are based on the hatred of some principle or another? [/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drix D'Zanth Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 James, CB Shin, and Heaven's Cloud really put it best here, kids. Take their advice. Considering the fact that this thread really can't go anywhere.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts