How to Combat Hate Crime with Education

The Anti-Defamation League and Facing History and Ourselves both have plenty of online resources for educators and provide ways of incorporating lessons about bias, stereotyping, and racism into the classroom. The ADL has lesson plans specific to age group for teachers of children K-12, including discussions of the words prejudice, bias, stereotype, and discrimination and what they mean. Facing History and Ourselves has guidelines and ideas for teaching books about subjects like the Holocaust, emphasizing the "sanctity of human life."

The good thing about this kind of education is that not only are kids exposed to ideas of equality, but the lessons also encourage students to think critically about things, consider more than one perspective, and see the causes and effects of events and ideas throughout history. This way of thinking is necessary when learning about anything, and help students later in life.

Free Speech or Hate Crime ?

A big issue when discussing hate crime and speech is the first amendment right to free speech. Should we allow white supremacists or neo-Nazis to openly insult and degrade other people because they have the right to free speech? There are many limits on free speech today that people sometimes ignore, like libel laws and privacy regulations. If someone makes the environment hostile and the rest of the people uncomfortable, should they continue to be able to say whatever they want? This issue of rights occurs between the person speaking and the open discussion this right represents to the rights of the person spoken to to be in an environment where they feel safe. But both sides are tricky because focusing only on extremely hateful speech or on the rights of the person speaking only serve to perpetuate racism and hinder diversity. An article on this issue: http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010196217&mode=view

The Culture of Hate

The main solution I'm proposing to end hate crime is prevention through education. Other people see this as a good solution as well. Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields met with a group of leaders in 2005 to talk about education. She said that "“Our children are not born to hate. They learn it. We can prevent them from learning to hate...The culture of hate is destroying our society." (http://www.indypressny.org/nycma/voices/183/series/stump_2/) Executive director of the Council of Peoples said that the most immediate way to prevent hate crimes would be to send a message to the criminals in this way, and that “We have to demonstrate that we are united, that we won’t tolerate these types of crimes and that we’re going to fight so that it doesn’t happen again." The Anti-Defamation League also has a list of programs that work toward educating people about hate crimes and why they happen so that they can be prevented. http://www.adl.org/education/default_combat_hc.asp

The APA also published an interesting article about the kind of people that commit hate crimes and why they do it. http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov01/hatecrimes.aspx People tend to see the "out-groups" they are not a part of as more homogenous and similar to each other. Oftentimes criminals aren't psychotic but are very troubled with a history of violence.

Education = Power

I found a charity, Facing History and Ourselves, that provides resources for educators that help open students' minds across the nation and aid people in recognizing prejudice in current events and throughout history so they can work to stop it. Education is a very empowering force that brings people out of ignorance and into a position where they can effectively help others. Recognizing bias in ourselves and the people around us is part of working toward a more equal society. Ignoring historical implications of racism and the often shameful ways we are all guilty of bias is dangerous and adds to the tension that eventually leads to violence like hate crime. This organization has a broad reach and various helpful online resources that examine the nature of sterotypes and racism and what we can do to stop these things. In addition, the federal government collects data each year on hate crimes and their prevalence in the U.S. and displays this information online, which could be a good resource.

Stop the Hate

The U.S. is always eager to jump toward  fighting bigotry and instilling civil rights in other countries, but this ignores our own history of racism and injustice. The U.S. is a developed, industrialized nation that has made some significant strides in civil rights, but we still have a long road ahead of us. Hate crimes seem to pop up every so often, but are forgotten about soon afterward and bias charges are rarely levied against the perpetrators. I think this reflects a sort of willful ignorance of the prejudices apparent in all of us that we don't want to face. Because there is still discrimination and a biased political climate in America, my cause will be the fight for civil rights and better race relations in America. This is a complex issue that doesn't have a clear solution, but it is one of the most important fights in achieving social equality. The issue of race-driven hatred is also at the root of other problems, so attacking this issue would help all of society, not just the underprivileged.

Causes to Think About

In July of 2010, major floods destroyed thousands of villages in Pakistan, affecting 20 million people. The damage it caused surpassed the scope of the 2004 tsunami, but the Pakistan floods received significantly less donations. People jump on certain isssues like the Earthquake in Haiti or recently Kony, but later on they forget about relief efforts because they lose their urgency in the media even though the problems are hardly solved. Because of this, I think it is important to bring issues that are serious to light and support them even if it stopped being "cool."

I am also interested in causes that are extremely complex and difficult to define to the public or effectively conquer, because these are often the most pressing issues. Human trafficking is a serious problem, but it is so widespread and underground that it can't be eliminated without far reaching new policies and diplomatic efforts beyond just your average $10 charity donation. Dire political situations also interest me because they affect every aspect of life in the country they take place in. The fighting in the DRC and the severe drought and famine in countries like Somalia are very complicated because they involve a delicate political climate that is not open to intruders. This makes it important to provide aid to people, therefore making the issue more significant and humanitarian aid more needed.

Racism/sexism in America really deeply bother me, especially recently with the birth control and abortion debates and cases like Trayvon Martin's. Sure, things seem better than they were before, but America has a long history of racism starting with the introduction of slavery soon after our conception. It's silly to think that such a deep societal construct has been nearly erased. I think that this is such a dire issue in America because white people, men and other socially privileged groups vastly underestimate the scope of this issue. Because of this, am interested in organizations like the Black and Missing Foundation, which brings to light cases about missing POC which are often forgotten in white-dominated media, and the various organizations devoted to LGBTQ rights and awareness.