When women, people of color, or LGBT folks are the victims of a crime, the mainstream media and the political establishment are often quick to label it as a “hate crime” — which means it is somehow worse than a regular crime. In this unique instance, intent is deeply important.
Picture this: a caucasian male walking home from a bar at 2:00 AM is attacked by four other men. He is beaten, robbed, and left to bleed out in some back alley. That’s a crime, right? Of course it is — even the most radical of radicals would have trouble disputing that. Now, let’s make that a black transgender female (that is, a black man), and change nothing else about the scenario. Now, it’s a hate crime.
If you’re thinking to yourself that the victim’s identity shouldn’t matter at all, and that the perpetrators should be punished to the full extent of the law regardless of the surrounding circumstances, stop — you’re making way too much sense.
Thankfully, a “hate crime” has no legal definition in the United States. However, it does in other countries, including the United Kingdom. While adding such stipulations probably came from a good place, it certainly didn’t end in one. Now, individuals who make their contrarian views publicly known can expect a knock on their door from local authorities.
The very concept of a “hate crime” is a dystopian nightmare.
~ Facts Not Memes
