Reading Reflection Ten

“The crimes targeted in the bill are particularly pernicious crimes that affect more than just their victims and their victim’s families. They inspire fear in those who have no connection to the victim other than a shared characteristic such as race or sexual orientation” (Statement of Sen. Patrick Leahy).

The article we were assigned was all about hate crime legislation with arguments both for and against the passing of such bills. Personally, I applauded Senator Leahy’s statement on The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2007. The quote above is such a powerful statement, and is why I completely agree with the passing of this bill. Hate crimes do no only affect the victim, but anyone with shared characteristics to said victim. When a gay man or a black man or a Middle Eastern man is killed or beaten because of nothing but their race or sexual orientation it instills fear in anyone who shares those characteristics. Hate motivated crime should be punished further than general violent crimes, if only to try and stop them by setting an example.

What really appalled me was the “gay conservative” and others who opposed hate crime legislation. Although I can see this view I cannot understand supporting it. First, many people are worried that the passing of this bill is a violation of our Bill of Rights, such as our first amendment freedom of speech. This infuriates me. Hate crime legislation is working to erase hate, and I really don’t see how anyone can oppose it, especially when referring to their rights as a citizen. Don’t all minorities and victims or hate crimes have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Not likely to happen when they are being victimized. Secondly, many people, the conservative in particular, think that making violent crimes worse when they are hate crimes will only create more groups and more gaps in our community. I can understand this view as well, but I don’t agree with it. I really believe that hate crime legislation needs to pass in order for hate crimes to be eliminated; ignoring the problem won’t change anything. I did like how this article had both viewpoints. It made the arguments more valid, and it made me feel more secure in my opinion.