Argumentative Essay On Hate Crimes

606 Words2 Pages

A hate crime is a crime motivated by several reasons that include religion, sexual orientation, race, nationality, gender etc. It typically involves physical violence, intimidation, threats and other means against the individual that is being targeted. It is a crime against the person and it can have a devastating impact on the victim. Several argue that hate crimes should be punished more severely. However, it is not a crime to hate someone or something if it does not lead to some sort of criminal offense. There are many who believe hate crime should be punished more severely since it ‘’has the potential to cause greater harm.’’ (Hate Crime Laws, 2014) Hate crimes, like racial discrimination, have unfortunately been a part of this country
Hate crime is still being committed today and many believe that it would benefit victims and communities if hate crimes were punished more severely. However, hate crimes should not be punished more severely than other crimes that are motivated for other reasons; although the motivation (personal belief) and violence that constitute a hate crime are horrendous, criminals should be prosecuted for their wrongdoing, not for their beliefs. The idea that criminals should be punished more severely than crimes that are motivated by greed, anger, revenge is not acceptable. The potential motivations that were just given can constitute several crimes, like, murder. The issue (which, in my opinion, makes a good argument) is that it ‘’creates complicated moral problems by making it appear as if a murder is "worse" when committed because of the victim's race, religion, or sexual orientation.’’ (Hate crime laws, 2014) Murder is one the worst crimes that can be committed and it can have several motives and reasons behind it. Allowing hate crimes to be punished more severely or stating that hate crime is more ‘’aggressive’’ and ‘’brutal’’ is not fair to other victims and treats them

Show More
Related

  • Hate Crime Ethos Pathos Logos

    244 Words  | 1 Pages

    Hate crimes are terrible things that are becoming more and more common in America because people don’t like the way they look or feel. The purpose of the “ Debate: What is a Hate Crime” is to teach people of a crime that is becoming quite important in the society.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Hate Crime Laws

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    . Spaid argues that hate crime laws, sometimes referred to as “reform laws,” are ultimately ineffective, harmful, and maintain an oppressive and violent system in which it claims to resist. These laws “include crimes motivated by the gender identity and/or expression of the victim,” (79) implicated in seven states across the country, such as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, created after the hate murders of these two men fueled by bigotry and hate. Proponents of these laws argue that they would work as “preventative messages,” and increase the regard in which these crimes are considered, under the terms of preserving the humanity of these victims, often trans women, while increasing their visibility. These

    Read More

  • Hate Crimes in Canada

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Petrosino (2003: 10) hate crimes can be defined as "..the victimisation of minorities due to their racial or ethnic identity by members of the majority. " (p. 4) Hate crimes are also known as bias-motivated crimes because the crimes are motivated by a bias towards a person or persons including but not limited to those of a different gender, ethnic background, religion, or sexual orientation. Hate crimes are quite serious and have severe and long lasting-effects for the targeted victims. Due to the severe nature of the crimes many countries have strict laws in place to punish offenders. Hate crime is not widely discussed in Canadian society because it has not been a prominent issue until now. “..The extent of the problem in Canada was limited to a small number of persons, such activity could create a climate of malice and destructiveness to the values of our society (Cohen Report, 1966:24). As a result of the committee’s efforts, Parliament amended the Criminal Code in 1970, thus rendering hate propaganda as a punishable offence (Law Reform Commission of Canada, 1986:7)

    Read More

  • Against Hate Speech

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hate crimes are done too frequently in the United States. Although we have laws that supposedly regulate them, many people still feel the need to commit acts of violence on people that are different than them. Many of these crimes originate with some sort of hate speech. People get ideas from other people, passed down from previous generations.

    Read More

  • Profile of a Hate Crime Offender

    1606 Words  | 4 Pages

    Profile of a Hate Crime Offender Sterilized from emotion, hate crime, also called bias crime, is those offenses motivated in part or singularly by personal prejudice against other because of a diversity-race, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity/national origin, or disability. Hate crimes are committed out of anger, ignorance, and lack of knowledge of another’s ideas and beliefs. There are many causes for an individual to commit a hate crime. Also, many different profiles fit the description of a hate crime offender. There are ways to prevent and control hate crimes, but they will always be present in society as long as every person has the right to express his or her opinion.

    Read More

  • The Problems with Hate Crime Legislation

    1649 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, Heidi Hurd did a passable job in explaining both parts of the discussion. Based on her article I have come to the conclusion that this is a topic not easily solved. With every argument that the people in favor of hate crime legislation those against are able to oppose it with their own. It is simple not possible to generalize case because although they may be similar they are never the same. Discrimination, hate, and prejudice has always been and will continue to be a topic discussed for many years.

    Read More

  • Hate Crime Laws

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the increase in hate crimes in America, minority groups are starting to become the prey of the beasts who commit these awful crimes. So the minority groups (Asians, African Americans, Jewish people, Homosexuals, and others) have been pushing to have hate crime laws passed to protect them from violence and ridicule. The laws that are in affect now are only slightly protective of the minorities in hate crimes. The laws that are in state right now say that a hate crime offender can only be prosocuted for their crimes if they are prohibiting the minority or victum of the hate crime from a “federally protected right”. Such as attending school, voting and etc. The victums of hate crimes do not think that these laws are very strict. The victoms are demanding newer stricter laws. The victoms or minorities want these newer stricter laws because basically they have no protection from violence. The old laws basically just state that if you are prohibiting the person from doing something you are at fault. Well the minorities want these stiffened and they want them to be harsher. An example of what the minorities want is any act done against anyone with intent to cause bodily harm or death because the person was part of a minority group will carry the fine of being federally prosecuted and with that there is the chance of the death penalty.

    Read More

  • Summary Of What's So Bad About Hate By Andrew Sullivan

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The punishment of a crime should not be determined by the motivation for the crime, yet that is exactly what hate crime legislation does. It places emphasis on a crime for the wrong reasons. Hate crimes victimize more than just the victims, and this is why the punishments are more severe, but Sullivan argues that any crime victimizes more than the victims. He suggests that random crimes with no prejudice in place can be perceived as something even more frightening, as the entire community feels threatened instead of just a group. Proven in Sullivan’s article is the worthlessness of the “hate” label. I would agree that it only serves to further discriminate, instead of achieving the peace and equality that it pretends to stand

    Read More

  • Hate Crime: The General Theory Of Crime

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hate crime can also be called a bias crime, which means that someone commits a crime against someone based solely on their particular characteristic that they cannot or do not want to change such as religion or gender (Hate Crimes, n.d.). Sadly, hate crimes occur often and can have a lasting effect on the victim. The definition of what constitutes a hate crime has broadened over the years, as the FBI has changed it to address those who are victimized by disability or gender identity as society has continued to grow more diverse and change substantially (Hate Crimes, n.d.). It is crucial that the United States understands how many people are victims of hate crimes and how often it occurs to better understand the scope of the problem. According to the FBI, the most frequent hate crimes are racially motivated at almost fifty percent (Latest Hate Crime Statistics, 2015). This means that there are many people that are victimized because of their race, which is unchangeable and pre-determined. Religious hate crime and sexual orientation hate crimes were tied for the second most prevalent in the United States (Latest Hate Crime Statistics, 2015). These people are victims because of who they are and how these offenders see

    Read More

  • Extra Penalties for Hate Crimes are Justified

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    Any crime motivated by a bias against a person or group based on their ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, religion or another characteristic is a hate crime. These crimes can either be committed against the people themselves or their property. When someone commits a hate crime they are targeting a group of people not just one individual. That’s why hate crimes have extra punishment. The punishment for hate crimes are very insignificant considering the deviant who committed a hate crime targeted an entire group of people. Hate crimes are very serious offensive but determining where to draw the line can be difficult. Hate crimes are very serious and can have lasting effects on victims.

    Read More

  • Hate Crimes Must Be Punished

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hate crimes are like messages to members of a certain group that they are unwelcome in a particular neighborhood, community, school, or workplace. Hate crimes are criminal offenses, usually involving violence, intimidation or vandalism, in which the victim is targeted because of race, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, sex or political affiliation. Hate crimes can occur at home, at school, at places of worship, at work, on the street - virtually anywhere. A hate crime has many victims as it not only victimizes the immediate victim, but also impacts the larger community by creating fear and insecurity among all members of the group that the victim represents. Many people perceive hate crime perpetrators as crazed hate-filled neo-Nazis or "skinheads".

    Read More

  • What is a Hate Crime?

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    Like I’ve said before, those with similarities of people victimized by hate crime are also affected, showing us that these crimes are an issue in our world. Hate crimes are violent actions motivated by a bias. They have almost always been apart of history, but that doesn’t make them okay. Hate crime rates have risen and lowered, but it doesn’t guarantee that it’s going away. Hate crimes don’t just affect one person- they can affect anyone with similar qualities of the victim. So please, don’t go setting your neighbor’s house on fire because you don’t like their skin color or religion, you could affect more people than you think.

    Read More

  • Hate Crimes Should NOT be Punished Differently than Other Crimes

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    Again, the actual crime should be punished not the reasoning behind it. Murder is murder, robbery is robbery, rape is rape, regardless of motive. For example, Person A and Person B both assault innocent people. But while beating the life out of his victim, Person B calls him a "Nigger." His crime is considered a hate crime. Consequently, his crime will receive harsher punishment. Despite why the crime took place, the point is that a crime took place. No matter why the victim is chosen, he or she was still harmed, the family is still going to grieve, and someone must be punished. Whether a person is killed for money or drugs or out of hate or prejudice, the fact still remains that he or she has been killed. With hate crime laws, the hate is being looked at, more so than the crime itself. Even though hate is a terrible thing to have in your heart, all Americans have the right to hate whatever or who ever they want. Besides, if officials start punishing hate or unholy thoughts, they might as well make a new category of crime— thought crime. If this line of thinking were acted upon, then half of America would be behind bars.

    Read More

  • Hate Crimes

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    When people bully or target a specific person for their race or different, that is a hate crime. Hate crimes occurs around the world. Hate crimes nowadays aren’t recognized as a real threat as murder, but leaders and the peoples voices are reaching out to the world. Although these hate crimes and groups could get out of hands, we need to alleviate these problem.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech: We Must Take a Stand Against Hate Crimes

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    The current laws in effect regarding hate crimes are limited. Additionally, victims who experience a hate crime suffer much more traumatically than victims of other crimes do. Hate Crimes not only affect the individual, but their entire community as well.

    Read More

More about Argumentative Essay On Hate Crimes

Open Document