The Destroying Power Of Hatred

The Lack of Love: The Destroying Power of Hatred

The Black Eyed Peas began writing their song, “Where is the Love”, following the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. An Islamic extremist group known as Al Qaeda hijacked United States airplanes and crashed them into the twin towers killing about 2977 people (National September 11 Memorial & Museum). The anger and hatred that Al Qaeda felt towards the United States led them to believe that extreme violence was necessary. This was an extremely violent and tragic event, but the Black Eyed Peas knew that this was not the first or last tragic event triggered by hatred and discrimination. The Black Eyed Peas express a powerful message through their song, “Where is the Love”,

The Black Eyed Peas believe that, “if you only have love for your own race/Then you only leave space to discriminate” (9-10). Discrimination is a major cause of hatred; a person cannot respect other people if they only care about themselves. In 1968 a brave and innocent man named Martin Luther King was assassinated for standing up against racism and discrimination in a society that was surrounded by it (Keith, 1). African Americans are not the only people who deal with discrimination; after the terrorist attacks on September 11th, many people had a strong hatred for Muslim and Arab Americans. In only five months, about 1,700 harassment and vandalism crimes were committed against Muslim Americans (Monteith, Winters, 1). Although the United States has come a long way regarding the laws against racism and discrimination, these issues continue today. Racism and discrimination are the main initiators of the terrible hate crimes which have occurred throughout

The Black Eyed Peas are aware that “when you hate then you're bound to get irate” (9-12). Hatred causes aggression which leads to violence, crimes, and even deaths. A terrible hate crime was committed by three white men in Texas in 1998. The three men tied an innocent black man to the back of their truck and dragged him nearly three miles until he died due to severe injury (Keith, 1). The reason these men committed this awful crime was because they were a part of a white supremacy gang. Their hatred for African Americans caused them to become extremely violent. Also, in 1992 riots occurred in Las Angeles killing 55 people, injuring 1,032, and destroyed one billion dollars of property throughout the city. These riots began because white police officers brutally beat up an unarmed black man (Dreier, 1). The citizens began the riots because they were furious at the police officers behavior and the constant battle of racial discrimination. The Black Eyed Peas want people to realize that society is plagued with anger and hatred, and until people learn to love and respect one another, hate crimes and terrorism attacks are going to