Guns and Tears, Part 2

What occurs to me in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin killing is that there is a long trail of death caused by those willing to use violence against those who are different.  As painful as it is for this kid's family, as difficult as it is for people to come to grips with the inaction of authorities, and as inexcusable as the action itself is, it is enlightening to look more closely at the plethora of "hate" crimes, not just in America, but through the world.  What is most important in looking at the history is finding the complicity of authority in the continuance of crimes of murder, assault, and other forms of terrorizing.

There appear to be two kinds of activity that can be called "hate crimes".  The first type is individual or group on individual;  the second is actually more deadly, government sponsored and protected murder.  In recent times, according to the American Psychological Association, "Most hate crimes are carried out by otherwise law-abiding young people who see little wrong with their actions. Alcohol and drugs sometimes help fuel these crimes, but the main determinant appears to be personal prejudice, a situation that colors people's judgment, blinding the aggressors to the immorality of what they are doing. Such prejudice is most likely rooted in an environment that disdains someone who is "different" or sees that difference as threatening. One expression of this prejudice is the perception that society sanctions attacks on certain groups."  "Extreme hate crimes tend to be committed by people with a history of antisocial behavior. One of the most heinous examples took place in June 1998 in Jasper, Texas. Three men with jail records offered a ride to a black man who walked with a limp. After beating the victim to death, they dragged him behind their truck until his body was partially dismembered."

In France, last week, an attack was made on a Jewish school, killing 3 children and a rabbi.   Three white men in Mississippi pleaded guilty last week for killing a black man, beating him to death last year.  A woman in California was beaten to death with a tire iron.  She was an Iraqi Muslim and was found with a note saying "Go back to your own country, you terrorist."

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, in 2011, the number of hate groups in the United States exceeded 1000 for the first time. 

This is not new, folks, but is ingrained in American history.  Starting with white settlement in the 17th century, systematic killing of those who are "different" is a part of our national DNA.  We all know about slavery, the abuses of immigrants, Jim Crow laws and lynch mobs, the KKK, the neo-Nazi "skinheads", the militia groups.  We also know about the varied abuses either overlooked by police or direct police participation.  Rodney King?  What about the gay kid at Rutgers University? or the one in Wyoming a few years ago?

Then we can add those crimes which have been condoned by or caused by the governments world wide.  Shia versus Sunni throughout the Middle East.  Protestant versus Catholic in Ireland, and throughout history.  How about "niggers", "spics", "gooks", "kikes".  And there's plenty more, just pick a group.  How about Nazi Germany?  or the gulags of the Soviet Union?  What about the tribal conflicts, murder, maimings, rapes, in a variety of African countries?  All these are because people are "different".

What is the common thread?  Weapons and power.  The power of a government over the people it controls acting outside of moral law is heinous.  So is the power of a group to attack, terrorize, and kill.  Add to the mix available weapons, and murder is an expected outcome.  It hasn't had a reason to stop, because "good" people don't raise their voices.  In my opinion, this is the reason that the Trayvon Martin case has been so visible.  A kid walking home from a store, talking on the phone with his girlfriend.  Dead.  Some good people have said, "ENOUGH".  Weapons, power, and a government structure willing to look the other way, outside of the law.

I don't know how to stop hate, not a clue.  But I do know that if we continue to allow the worst to happen to anyone, randomly, we are in danger of more widespread and dangerous times.  And the problem is that we have so much more in common than we have differences, but are unable to get beyond what we have absorbed for so many years.  It is naive to think that there are not those who benefit from the continuation of social hatred.

I don't want to think that when I am walking the dog that I need a gun to go around the block.  No one should.

Thanks for stopping by.