Hate Crimes

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Professor’s Name

Date

Hate Crimes

History

After visiting the Southern Poverty Law Center website, I found several groups that have received much hate on the internet. I will discuss Anti-Semitic hate groups. According to SPLC (2017), antisemitism is often regarded as the oldest kind of hate, having existed for about 2,000 years. The active anti-Semitic groups were first featured as a standalone ideology in 2021. Antisemitism refers to discrimination or prejudice against Jews as a group or as individuals (Lindermann & Levy, 2010). The total number of anti-Semitic hate organizations decreased from 74 in 2020 to 61 in 2021, with the majority of the decline attributable to hate groups that reject and obfuscate truths about the Holocaust and chapters of the Nation of Islam (SPLC, 2017).

Contemporary Targets

The contemporary targets of the anti-Semitic hate groups are the Jews, either as groups or as individuals. They target Jewish men, women, boys, and girls, along with individuals perceived to be Jewish.

Justifications for their Actions

Anti-Semitic hate groups strive to racialize Jews and demonize them as the ruthless masterminds behind an economic, political, and social plot to subjugate white people. Antisemitism is bigotry that targets Jews, their religious views and practices, and the Jewish state of Israel. This bigotry is founded on misconceptions and stereotypes (Lindermann & Levy, 2010). Besides, much of the extreme right is also based on antisemitism, which unites supporters of different radical ideologies to misrepresent the Holocaust and portray Jews as manipulative and self-serving.

Recruitment Strategies

According to Keneally (2018), many hate groups use the identical online recruiting strategies established by ISIS, al Qaeda, and similar foreign-based radical groups to expand their membership.

Place of Women and Children

The anti-Semitic hate groups exploit the anti-Semitic theme of “blood libel,” the notion that a Jewish conspiracy is responsible for the abduction and death of Christian children, to justify their hatred of Jews and other people of faith (SPLC, 2017).

Key Take Away

From this hate group website, I have learned that we should avoid antisemitism at all costs. This is because, from the website, I have learned that shootings at a Jewish market in Jersey City, Pennsylvania, and the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as a hostage situation at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, have all been traced back to antisemitism in recent years.

References

Keneally, M. (2018, March 6). Hate groups using similar online recruiting methods as ISIS, experts say. ABC News. Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://abcnews.go.com/US/hate-groups-similar-online-recruiting-methods-isis-experts/story?id=53528932Lindemann, A. S., & Levy, R. S. (Eds.). (2010). Antisemitism: A history. OUP Oxford.

SPLC (2017) Antisemitism, Southern Poverty Law Center. Available at: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/antisemitism (Accessed: November 16, 2022).

Hate crimes – Instructions

 

For this Assessment, you will examine four real life hate crime cases to determine what characteristics make each a hate crime. (Matthew Shepard; Charleston church shooting; Private Barry Winchell; Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, Deah Shaddy Barakat, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha) 

You will also examine the effects of hate crimes, potential community responses, and how criminal justice organizations can address the impact of hate crimes.

1. Analyze characteristics of hate crimes against protected race, religion, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender categories

Item 1

• Define hate crimes, generally. (1–2 paragraphs)

Response provides a succinct and accurate definition of hate crimes, as defined in the United States legal system.

 

Your Response

xxx

 

Item 2

• For each of the four hate crimes below, describe the specific factors in each case that made it a hate crime. (1–2 paragraphs each)
• Matthew Shepard
• Charleston church shooting
• Private Barry Winchell
• Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, Deah Shaddy Barakat, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha 

 

LO 1.2: Explain characteristics of specific hate crimes that make them fit the legal definition of the term.

 

Response contains an accurate and clear explanation of the specific factors that make each of the four cases a hate crime, as defined by the U.S. legal system.

 

Your Response

Xxx

 

1. Evaluate the impact of hate crimes on communities

 

Item 3

 

• Choose one of the four cases, and imagine it occurred in your community. Describe the impact this hate crime might have had on your community. In your response, consider other members of the protected class as well as the community as a whole. Then explain how the community should respond (e.g., with gatherings, town halls, educational programming, volunteer work) and why. (3–4 paragraphs)

 

LO 2.1: Evaluate the impact of hate crimes on communities

Response clearly describes potential impacts of the selected hate crime on the student’s community. Includes effects on members of the relevant protected class and the community as a whole.

 

• Explain how the community should respond (e.g., with gatherings, town halls, educational programming, volunteer work) and why. (1 paragraph)

LO 2.2: Propose community responses to hate crimes.

Response provides a succinct argument for appropriate community responses to the relevant hate crime.

Your Response

Xxx

 

 

1. Propose strategies to prevent hate crimes or address their impact

 

Item 4

 

• Still imagining the crime occurred in your community, how should the criminal justice organizations in your community address its impact? (2–4 paragraphs)

 

LO 3.1: Propose strategies for criminal justice organizations to address the effects of hate crimes

 

Response provides a succinct argument for appropriate criminal justice responses to the relevant hate crime.

Your Response

Xxx

 

 

Item 5

 

• Identify three specific action items that could be planned or done to prevent further hate crimes. (1–2 paragraphs)

 

LO 3.2: Propose strategies to prevent hate crimes. 

 

Response provides a concise explanation of three specific action items that could be planned or done to prevent further hate crimes in the community.

 

Your Response

Xxx

 

Submission Length: 5 items with responses ranging 1–3 paragraphs in length.