Alright, this is gonna get serious. As we all know, humans are wild and emotional creatures with very strong opinions, as history has shown. As our world gets older and the longer we’re here, I feel we tend to make little progress in unity and peace, but of course, there are those people that just have to stand out and be heard even when the majority disagrees with how they feel.
As humans, yes we are allowed to have our own opinions, but the number of people that have these strong opinions about a group of people or community based on the color of their skin, their culture, where they come from, what they identify as, or even who the individual likes is honestly ridiculous.
Data specifically from the United States from statista shows that between 1999 and 2022, hate crime groups have risen from 445 groups to 1,225 groups, ranging from hate of race, religion, gender, or being part of the LQBTQ+ community. The FBI Crime Data Explorer shows that from 2012 to 2022 there have been 45,769 reports of hate crimes having to do with race/ethnicity, 12,990 due to sexual orientation, 14,446 religion, 1,969 Gender identity, 582 for gender, and 1,302 for people with disabilities. All reports in total come to 78,624.
Laura Ann Carleton, 66, was a business owner in a strip mall, and she was such a pleasant soul, but she would sometimes get complaints about a Pride flag she had in the front of the shop. Most of the complaints would come from a fellow shop owner in the strip mall named Travis Ikeguchi, 27 who is also the suspect in the murder. Los Angeles Times says the man made “several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside the store.”
When the paramedics arrived at the scene of the crime Carleton was pronounced dead. Ikeguchi was found a few miles away from the crime scene. He fled on foot, and he still had the handgun. He started a confrontation with the officers, and deputies shot and killed the suspect. The fact that this woman was senselessly killed for just being an ally of the LGBTQ+ community is scary because someone can still get hurt from the hate of the community just by associating themselves with the source of the hate.
Based on the statistics, hate crime is obviously at an all time high right now, especially with what’s going on outside of our country. So, that leaves me with one question: what has the U.S Government done to at least decrease hate crime?. The U.S Department of Justice has noticed the rise in hate crime and the U.S Attorney General Merrick B. Garland ordered the department to operate a 30-day expedited internal review to determine how they can use all the tools at their disposal to help with the rise in hate crime. As a of this review, the Attorney General’s office has expedited reviews on hate crimes,and has launched the United Against Hate program in all 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to help improve the reporting of hate crimes, putting
Assistant U.S Attorney and Deputy Associate Attorney General as coordinators of anti-hate and civil right based departments.
In October 2023, which is recent, Biden put out a statement addressing hate crime in 2023. He told Americans that “Last year’s data shows that overall hate crime levels remained steady, and hate crimes targeting Asian Americans fell by 38 percent after I signed legislation to combat anti-Asian hate. But, there’s more to do when it comes to ending hate-fueled violence. That means coming together and speaking out against hate and bigotry in all its forms. All Americans deserve to live their lives with dignity, respect, and safety.”
In this crazy world, mankind has accomplished so many things, but overcoming the ego and beliefs is something some of us still have to master, of course, because we’re not all perfect. All I have left to say to you is to love yourself, be considerate of others and their life choices, overcome your emotions on how you feel about others, don’t let your opinions and emotions turn into dangerous hate, and if you ever experienced, it report it and make sure that the situation is handled. The world has enough senseless violence in it.
