Charlie says, “To the left, there is no higher crime than intolerance.” And indeed, there are no people MORE intolerant than the Left. Their intolerance is on display every day.

While laws against “hate crimes” may be misused, and while they can be taken to absurd extremes (as can any line of thinking), still, there’s a case to be made for them.

If you bash somebody over the head, of course that’s a crime. At the very least, it’s a violent crime. Whatever you were thinking at the time, the fact that somebody’s head is now out of shape remains.

But if you bash somebody over the head to “send a message”, that’s may be adding another dimension to the crime. Because sometimes such a “message” is sent to (e.g.) reinforce institutional racism. That’s a second crime not against the guy with the smashed head, but against his family. Or against his peers. Or against a whole people. It’s a crime against what I consider to be American principles, that nobody need live in fear. Not that kind of fear, anyway.

Should raping a woman be considered a hate crime? Not necessarily.

Should raping a woman in order to silence her family or her community be considered a hate crime? Maybe. I think, at least, that a case can be made for it.

Just a thought.

This is a great blog La Shawn and don’t let them get you down. I am a white male who is tired of hearing that appointing a black person or hispanic is just a political trick. At some point many people will need to stop asking for handouts and get over the past. The past will drag you down. It will keep a divide amongst races whatever their creed or color is. America is not perfect, it has committed atrocities in the past as has every other country out there from Japan to Germany, from France To Spain To England. There comes a point where you have to move on. I constantly read about what have the republicans done for black.. Well the question should be.. what have the democrats done for blacks.. pay some lip service. It is time to put the past to rest and move on. Blacks sold Blacks into slavery. Whites bought the enslaved blacks. Eventually we all got smart enough and slavery is no longer considered acceptable in any way, shape or form. I think its a shame we have this stain upon our history but there is nothing we can do about the past except learn and grow in our thinking. How dare someone pull Condi down by suggesting she did not EARN her position in the White House! The same for those calling Powell an Uncle Tom. Just because a black person is successfull in their career and life does NOT mean they were given their position because of their color. How about applauding their achievements!

As for the AIDS issues.. I don’t know the statistics whether your white, black, walk on all fours or have 4 eyeballs. People don’t know these statistics because if it is not in our sphere of life we are unconcerned with it.

Its very refreshing to read your opinions La Shawn and while I don’t agree with everything you say I certainly agree with your positions regarding taking ownership of what happens in your life!

I’m not a lawyer, but my small understanding of US law indicates that the idea behind hate crimes law is to add a level of oversite to what crimes are prosecuted. It gives people an option to override the local sheriff & DA.

Sad to say, the right to not be beaten to death has not always been supported in all localities.

Review the Emmitt Till case:
http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/emmett.html

Example: In the cases of James Byrd being chained and dragged to death, or that kid in Colorado (or was it Wyoming? I’m sure it was one of those square states, but I forget which) who was beaten & chained to a fence & left in the winter to die, the decision to try & convict the evil people who would do such a thing should be obvious. However, a bigoted court/jury/DA/police could just refuse to punish someone because the victim was ‘of a class’ they disliked. The Hate Laws are a back-up to local enforcement of laws that apply to us all.

That’s the plus; the minus is that these laws are a drag on respectable people opperating in good faith and are easily abused.