Hate Crimes

Hate crimes refers to crimes motivated by an offender's dislike of a victim's belonging to a “socially undesirable” group. Many scholars, politicians, and law enforcement officials have argued, however, that using the term hate crimes is inaccurate as such crimes are often motivated more by the offender's biases than by hatred. Therefore, hate crimes are also frequently referred to as bias crimes, civil rights crimes, or ethnic intimidation. Although the definition of hate crime offending can include crimes against a variety of groups, race and religion are consistently embraced in the definition. Other group categories sometimes included are sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, gender, political affiliation, age, and national origin. Consistent, however, is the assumption of the existence of a predicate offense, or an underlying crime. Predicate offenses to hate crimes can include a range of crimes, from property destruction to homicide.

Although hate crimes have only come to the American public's attention in recent years, hate and intolerance are not strangers to the United States. From the beginning days of America's nationhood, hate crimes have existed in numerous forms. Slavery is often considered by many scholars to be one of the largest instances of hate crimes in U.S. history. Additionally, instances of racially motivated lynchings and cross burnings have occurred, but they were not labeled as hate crimes because the definition as we now know it now did not exist men. However, since the late 1970s and early 1980s, a flurry of attention has been given by the media, police, and legislators to crimes motivated by the hatred or bias of individuals based on tbeir identification witb a “socially undesirable” group. Much of this attention stems from several celebrated cases of hate crimes mat occurred during the 1990s. One particularly vicious example occurred on June 7,1998, in Jasper, Texas when tbree White supremacists chained James Byrd, an African American man, to the back of their pick-up truck and fatally dragged him by his ankles. James Byrd's deatb by White supremacists further exposed the gravity of such hatred and intolerance and prompted many to ask questions as to why such brutal acts of hatred are committed against minorities in America.

[Page 340]Although there are numerous issues worthy of discussion regarding hate crimes, this entry aims to provide an introductory overview of the topic. Included are relevant discussions of hate crime victims, offenders, and the debate surrounding hate crimes legislation.