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Imagine being hated by numerous people just because of your gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or any other factor that is incontrollable in your every day life. Many times it doesn’t end at hatred, some people take it to the next level... violence.
Each year in the United States there are thousands of hate crimes reported. In the year of 2006 alone, there were nearly 8000 hate-crime incidents reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A gang of teenagers stabbed a man from Patchogue, NY, to death last Saturday. Shortly before midnight, this man and a friend were attacked.
There didn’t seem to be any real reason as to why the victims were attacked. According to the suspects, the two men were attacked because of their perceived ethnicity.
The man that died was named Marcello Lucero (he received stabs to the chest). Lucero was an Ecuadorian man. The gang was apparently trying to find Latinos and assault them. That’s what they went out to do that night and they succeeded.
A direct quote from one of the youths in court was, “lets go find some Mexicans and f--- them up.” All seven of the teens pleaded not guilty up arraignment, although, when they were arrested, they all admitted their involvement and roles in the crime. According to a Suffolk County executive, Steve Levy, “the suspects will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Every time I hear about a hate crime in the news, I simply shake my head with disgust. It is unbelievable the things people will do to other people because of incontrollable factors. Each year that goes by, the number of hate crimes seems to increase...
I thought they would be decreasing with time. The numbers are in the thousands and apparently those are only the ones that are reported.
On Nov. 7, there was actually a concert called, “Stop The Hate,” here on the UNCC campus. It was a concert remembering the legacy of Matthew Shepard. Shepard was a 21-year-old gay college student who was brutally beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead in 1998 in Wyoming.
Two men were the suspects in this violent and unnecessary hate crime. There is now a foundation set up in his name to replace hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance.
So what can we do to stop hate crimes? It’s really hard to get up and magically change people’s thoughts about others.
The only way I know to start preventing hate crimes would be to start with yourself. Education is the key, educate yourself and share with others; teens as well as adults around you. Understanding other people’s cultures and backgrounds will lead to a respect for those people.
There are many great ideas out there that will allow for understanding of others and hopefully lead to a decrease in hate crimes. What will you do to stop the hate?
