Moving beyond hate

Q: Congress is expected to expand federal hate crimes laws to add "sexual orientation" to a list that already includes "race, color, religion or national origin." Is this necessary? Should there be special laws against crimes motivated by intolerance, bigotry and hatred? Isn't a crime a crime?

What we must first ask ourselves in order to address this issue is: "What constitutes a hate crime?" To define and confine hate crimes with the existing criteria and simply add sexual orientation to the list will ultimately solve little, although it will make some people think the problem of hate has been addressed.

Throughout the history of the U.S. as a nation, hate inspired crimes have been directed toward many groups. At first, the victims were Native Americans, then other religious groups, southern European immigrants, women, African slaves, Asian immigrants, the uneducated, etc. The list has changed over the years and has included virtually every minority group, be it ethnic, racial, national, religious, political, or economic.

As an Italian Catholic growing up in the Watts section of Los Angeles, I was definitely a minority and was keenly aware of it. I soon joined a youth gang (a perceived survival necessity at the time) and quickly learned who I, in turn, was supposed to hate. The list included those in other gangs, the police and all authority figures, people from outside Watts, those with more money than me, etc. For many of my peers, hating others was an integral part of everyday life. Fortunately, my mother was far wiser than my friends and helped me avoid buying into such a narrow world view.

Once I came to Hawai'i, I found a new list of groups that many people seemed comfortable in denigrating....and even hating. While there is a rich tradition of ethnic, religious, and cultural tolerance here that is adhered to much of the population, it exists along side of a great deal of prejudice as well. Here, the hate list for many includes haoles (Caucasians), rich people, tourists, etc. Among the college-age students with whom I interact, there is a different set of groups which it is politically correct to look down upon. Among these, the most apparent are conservative Christians, Republicans, those who are against marriage, and those who are pro-life. The rhetoric directed at them can be quite caustic and hate-filled.

There are religious groups that raise their children to hate those of other faiths or of none. At the same time, some who believe secularism is the "enlightened" way for society teach their children to resent or despise those who take their religious beliefs seriously. During the Vietnam War, many people hated those in the military. At other times, those who have been anti-war have been the object of defamation and hate.

In other places and communities, the list will be different, yet there will almost always be a group that is "acceptable" to hate. Additionally, those groups who are despised in one place are likely among the haters in other places, while the groups that contain perpetrators of hate crimes in one community will likely be the victims of hatred in another. As long as we have fear and resentment of each other, hate will never go away. Its victims will just change. Thus, making a list that simply identifies a specific list of groups, without addressing the broader issue of hate, will never solve the problem. Moreover, it suggests that violence against someone who does not fit into one of the current protected categories is less contemptible.

If we want to have a law specifically against hate crimes, we would have to identify them as any crimes committed against someone due to a resentment or hatred the perpetrator has toward the group with which the victim is identified. This identity may be real (such as racial, ethnic, national, etc.) or may be simply in the eyes of the person committing the crime. Obviously, for this to be workable law, we would have to be able to look into the minds and hearts of those who commit such crimes, an essentially impossible task in most cases.

In order to get some sense of how prevalent the problem is, we can look at our current political landscape. Our politicians openly display an increasing degree of intolerance, bigotry, and hatred toward those who disagree with them. Instead of criticizing different points of view, they denigrate the individuals who hold them. Members of all parties are guilty in this regards, which is why so many people have stopped voting. We elect them to be our leaders, but down what road are they leading us?

What we need to understand and do as a society is to address head on what causes such hatred. I see two issues: fear caused by ignorance and greed for power. Resentment, prejudice, and hatred are typically caused by fear, which is most often the product of ignorance. Most hate crimes are committed out of fear that the group with which the victim is identified is somehow a threat to the beliefs or way of life of the perpetrator. Hurting or killing that person will supposedly lessen the threat. We need to learn about each other, both the good and the bad, and realize that most of us have far more in common that we do that is different.

The second reason, which is far more difficult to solve, is the greed for power. It is often the stimulus behind leaders of ideological organizations and groups who promote violence against those with whom they disagree. They activate their followers with fear and hatred. Thus, one of the ways to lessen this kind of hate is to stop looking to leaders who use it to lead. We must look beyond their rhetoric to their actions. We must look for people who inspire us with truth and non-violence, who teach us to find goodness inside and see it in others. We need leaders who will unite us, not divide us. Only then can we begin to dream of a world without hate.

By Ramdas Lamb  |  October 21, 2009; 2:23 PM ET Save & Share:                 
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Posted by: THE-REVELATOR | October 24, 2009 12:12 PM
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