A Look at Hate Crimes: Past, Present and Future

All individuals have characteristics that aid in describing who he or she is: Caucasian, African-American, Asian, lesbian, gay, bisexual, male female, Christian, Hindu, or Muslim. What if because of these characteristic individuals were targeted to be victims of crimes, regardless of the relationship (if any) to the offender? This is how hate crimes work. Hate crimes as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for the purpose of Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) are a "criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offenders bias against race, religion, sexual orientation group, or ethnicity/national origin" (http://www.apa.org.publicinfo/hate/).

Hate crimes have existed as far as we can look back in history, all the way from the murders spoke of in the Bible, American Indians, African-American slavery, to present day. However, it wasn't until the early 1990's that the federal government began to collect data on how many and what kind of hate crimes are being committed and by whom (Espejo). Also it is just within the last few decades that society has begun to call them hate crimes and realize the seriousness of these crimes. Not only do hate crimes sometimes end in murder or serious injury to the person but hate crimes also induce fear. There is not one person that is more likely to become a victim than another. People of all nationalities, races, and sex are targets for hate crimes. As long as there are differences within a population anyone and everyone could be a victim. This concept is hard for many individuals to swallow. There are individuals and groups in the world who practice hate for others, for example the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), neo-nazis, and other terrorist organizations. Along with these groups there are also individuals who harbor hate for a specific group without being associated with the KKK or any other hate group. According to statistics it is actually more likely for an individual, not associated with a hate group, to be the perpetrator of hate crimes.