The Effects of Hate Crime and Solutions
             Every day in the United States someone is a victim of a hate crime. These attacks often take the form of verbal harassment but some end in violent assault or death. Recent studies indicate a rise in the number of "bias" or "hate" crimes since 1985. With this increase the issue of hate crime has come into the spotlight all over America. These crimes have been plaguing America for centuries, tearing at the very foundation of this country and destroying neighborhoods and communities. With pressure from the people of the United States, in particular the African American and the gay and lesbian communities, the US government has taken action. In 1990, Congress passed the Hate Crime Statistic Act and the reauthorization of it in 1996. This act requires the Department of justice to compile data on hate crimes. This law helps local, state, and national law enforcement authorities to combine and coordinate their efforts against hate crimes. Congress has defined a hate crime as "a crim!
             e in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person" (Hate 1). Examples of these crimes range from the burning of the predominantly African American Macedonian Baptist church in South Carolina to assault and murder of gay youth Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. These hate crimes have had a negative effect on American society as a whole and the effects of a hate crime upon the victim are staggering. Many Americans are not affected by hate crimes individually and therefore do not see the huge problem they are. To stop hate crimes from happening, all of America needs to work together. This paper will analyze the effects of and solutions to hate crime and its effects on the American ind...