Educate To Stop The Hate

America is a nation founded on the ideals of tolerance and justice and Americans simply cannot accept violence that is motivated by bias and hate. Yet hate crime on the grounds of race, religion, sexual orientation, political opinion or disability have been growing alarmingly in recent years. In an article published by the Christian Science Monitor, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reported the number of active hate groups in the U.S. has nearly doubled, increasing from 474 in 1997 to 762 in 2004 (Knickerbocker).

Many people believe that violence is basic to human nature, that violence has been deeply imbedded in the human brain since the beginning of time and that there is nothing that can be done to change people's tendency toward violence. According to Carol Miller Lieber and Jamala Rogers, conflict usually begins with a lack of information. People in conflict often do not know enough about each other to solve a shared problem. This lack of information leads to misunderstanding about differences in goal, values, and needs. Barriers of race, religion, language, age, and gender tend to increase suspicions and misunderstandings. Unfettered conflict evolves into "name calling" and verbal threats, eventually reaching a flashpoint where a physical attack occurs. Education can break the escalating cycle of misunderstanding and will result in tolerant communities who can prevent more violence and more hate by speaking out against it and destroying it.

Since one of the root causes of hate is ignorance, it is important to understand the deeper issues that underlie the hate. "When people don't know much about a group," wrote Tori DeAngelis, "they're likely to ascribe to them the notion of a cultural 'essence,' a sort of innate temperament they erroneously believe defines the entire culture." It is important to increase our knowledge of other cultures and religions and their traditions to enhance our understanding and sensitivity when interacting with each other.

Communities should establish ecumenical alliances; bring people of diverse faiths and cultures together for retreats, workshops or potluck dinners. They should welcome agnostics and atheists, too. Speaking to people of different beliefs as well as non-believers is an effective way of combating the ignorance and hatred.

Hate crime is behavior which is learned from family members or friends, from peer-groups, or the media. Hate attitudes and behavior are perpetuated by economic problems and unemployment; rapid immigration; and culture racial stereotyping. The presence of active extremist organizations magnifies the problem. Hate group messages can offer a sense of belonging and purpose for youth seeking a sense of belonging or identity.

Educators have a tremendous opportunity to reduce or eliminate hate motivated crime and violence. Civics should be reintroduced as part of the core curriculum of education. Beginning in primary schools, children should begin learning about different cultures and religions as well as their duties as responsible citizens in a society. Civics classes could integrate courses in tolerance through which students learn to examine the roots of prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination and hate crimes. Such classes could feature guest speakers on topics such as racism, domestic violence, homophobia, and religious differences as well as class projects and videos. The classes would promote tolerance, but many students would move beyond tolerance and into the realm of appreciation.

In an analysis of bias crimes in the city of Seattle, Ken Molsbery wrote, "Knowing about a problem is the first step in solving it" (Chansanchai). Yet many bias crimes go unreported. Brad Knickerbocker, reporter for the Christian Science Monitor established the magnitude of under reported hate crimes. "The FBI reports more than 9,000 hate crime victims in 2003," wrote Knickerbocker. "When an estimate of unreported crimes is added in, according to the SPLC, the total may be closer to 50,000 a year."

Hate crime is a crime in which the victim is intentionally selected because of his or her actual or perceived race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation ("Hate Crimes & the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA)"). Hate crimes send a message that certain groups are not welcome and are unsafe in a community. As a result, hate crimes have a more serious psychological effect on the victims; the victims of hate crimes often suffer greater emotional trauma than other crime victims.

The community as well as the victim, benefit when victims and witnesses of hate incidents get involved and report such crimes. Of all crimes, hate crimes are most likely to create community-wide racial conflict and civil disturbances. Hate crimes put communities at-risk of serious social and economic losses.

Many people argue in opposition to education, arguing instead in favor of stiffer penalties for hate crimes. But the legal system is not the real solution. Motivation for the crime is immaterial in our justice system, except for self-defense. Certainly motivation is used to establish guilt or innocence, but the sentence for the crime depends on the nature of the crime and the degree of premeditation. As much as one may despise the beliefs that lead to hate crimes, it is for the crime the perpetrator must be punished, not for their vile bigotry.

Hate expressed in any form is wrong and everyone in our society must be able to live free from fear and prejudice. Bias crime has no place in a modern society, and although hate crime will be confronted and punished by the government; the law is no real solution. The only solution is through education.

Children are not born with attitudes of hate and bigotry; they are learned. Working together through education and open communication, schools, families, law enforcement, and other community organizations can inhibit the development of the prejudiced attitudes and violent behaviors.

Silence in the face of bigotry, emboldens the bigots to pursue their agenda of hatred and allows them to think that they have an ally. Hate cannot, and should not, be made illegal in a democratic society such as ours. Hatred preys on those perceived as weak and isolated. Instead of trying to ban hatred, Americans must speak out against bigotry to prevent more violence and more hate. Now is the time to stand up and show the haters that, although not a majority, the open-minded are a force to be reckoned with. We should no longer be silent.

Works Cited

Chansanchai, Athima. "Bias Crimes Found in All Areas of City." 4 May 2006. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 4 May 2007. <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/268997_bias04.html?source=mypi>.

DeAngelis, Tori. "Understanding and Preventing Hate Crimes." 10 Nov. 2001. Monitor on Psychology. 4 May 2007. <http:///www.apa.org/monitor/nov01/hatecrimes.html>.

"Hate Crimes & the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA)." 1999. Stop Hate 2000 Website. 4 May 2007. <http://www.stophate.us/hcpa.html>.

Knickerbocker, Brad. "National Acrimony and a Rise in Hate Crimes." 3 June 2005. csmonitor.com. 4 May 2007. <http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0603/p03s01-ussc.html>.

Lieber, Carol Miller, and Jamala Rogers. "Slouching Towards Inclusion." 2002. Conflict Management in Higher Education Report. Wayne State University. 5 May 2007. <http://www.campus-adr.org/cmher/reportarticles/Edition2_3/Lieber2_3a.html>.