Why Do Hate Crimes Occur

Any attack or crime that is motivated by the victim’s culture, race, sexual orientation, or religion is considered a hate crime. These crimes happen all over the world and are inflicted because of different reasons; however the category of crime is the same in that it targets those not accepted by the perpetrator. Here we will discuss three motivations for hate crimes and see how irrational these motivations are.

One of the most common forms of hate crimes is attacks on someone because of the color of their skin. This type of hate crime, while unthinkable, has caused a lot of hurt and division among millions of people across the world over the centuries. It is not a new phenomenon and will probably carry on for many years to come because of narrow-mindedness and unrestrained hatred. People have a tendency to associate every person of a certain race with a type of person they cannot tolerate. This usually results in a race-related hate crime.

More people have been killed by other human beings in the name of religion than by any other means. Religiously motivated attacks are a painful part of our history, and a devastating reality of our present. How someone can kill in the name of their religion is a testament to how dark their religion actually is. Many of the terrorist attacks the world has experienced of late are due to a hatred for those who believe differently to what they do. Their motto seems to be, “If they cannot be converted, they must be killed instead.” Minor hate crimes are often committed because of intolerance for homosexuality.

People are harassed on the streets for being gay or lesbian and attacked by thoughtless individuals who think they can make a positive difference on the world by ‘punishing’ these people for their lifestyle choices. This kind of persecution can only have negative effects on our society. Whatever our opinions on homosexuality may be, hating someone for it to the extent that harm is inflicted is ill-conceived.

Hate crimes are only inflicted by those who are ignorant to their fellow human beings. When someone crosses the dangerous line of hating someone because of their race or lifestyle choice, they speak volumes to a narrow-mindedness that needs to be extinguished in the world we live in. Changing people’s mindsets to prevent such hate crimes is something that no one has yet figured out how to do.

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