FREE ESSAY ON RACISM & HATE CRIMES IN AMERICA

RACISM & HATE CRIMES IN AMERICA

Racism & Hate Crimes in America
Blacks were introduced to American soil during the 17th and 18th centuries via the
triangular trade route, and were welcomed by whips, chains, shackles, and all the horrors
of slavery. Slavery was legitimized by our government and continued for a few hundred
years, taking a civil war and sixteen presidents before it was abolished. To this day,
there is still much hatred between blacks and whites despite emancipation, desegregation,
and integration; some would argue that the condition of African Americans in the United
States is still one of a subservient nature. Federal law defines a hate crime as whenever
a victim is attacked on the basis of his or her race, ethnicity, religion, sexual
orientation, or gender; hate offenses are directed against members of a particular group
simply because of their membership in that group (Levin 4). Last year, a black man was
brutally murdered in east Texas by three young white males. There are over a hundred
homicides committed every year, but the manner in which this life was taken and the
apparent motive of his perpetrators leaves no doubt that this crime was one rooted in
hate. In this brutal murder, the motivation is obvious and clear-cut, the bigotry so
blatant that it virtually hits you in the face. James Byrd Jr.'s death is America's
shame: another man tortured for no reason- other than the color of his skin. This essay
will use the Byrd murder to explore the cause and effects of hate crimes, and attempt to
draw meaning from it so that a tragedy like this will not happen again.
In the early morning of June 7, 1998, a black man was walking down a road in Jasper,
Texas. James Byrd Jr. had just left a niece's bridal shower at his parents' house, and
was trying to hitch a ride home. Three men drove by and the owner of the vehicle, Shawn
Berry, offered Byrd a lift in the back of the pickup. Byrd, handicapped in one leg,
didn't hesitate to accept the apparently kind gesture; little did he suspect his fate
that was to follow. Angered, one of the passengers by the name of John King grabbed the
wheel and drove to a dark deserted road outside of town. What happened thereafter
undoubtedly has to be one of the most gruesome and horrifying crimes this country has
seen since the day's slavery was legal. King and the final member of the trio, Lawrence
Brewer, got out of the truck and began beating and kicking Byrd until he was nearly
unconscious. Afterward, they chained him by his ankles to the back of the truck and
dragged him so violently down the winding asphalt road, tearing off his head and right
arm from his body. Police found Byrd's dentures torn from his mouth, lying a few hundred
yards down the road from the rest of his body. Blood smeared a trail over a mile long.
Research strongly suggests that hate crimes reported to the police have certain
characteristics that distinguish them from other types of offenses. First, hate crimes
tend to be excessively brutal; the hatred in such crimes is expressed when force is
exercised beyond what is necessary to subdue victims or make them comply. Classifying the
murder of James Byrd as brutal is definitely an understatement. A second characteristic
of hate crimes is that they are often senseless or irrational crimes perpetrated at
random on strangers. Finding a random black man walking down the road late at night and
dragging him to death is not a common circumstance. Another characteristic of hate crimes
is that they are usually perpetrated by multiple offenders; it is a group crime
frequently carried out by young perpetrators operating together for the purpose of
attacking the members of another group (Levin 16). The murder of James Byrd Jr. satisfies
these characteristics, and unmistakably qualifies as a hate crime.
Byrd's hometown of Jasper is a racially mixed town of 8,000 people located in a rural
section of Texas; a Southern town with built in biases, but not racist. Despite of the
nature of Byrd's murder, you cannot stereotype a community because of the actions of a
few. According to the Mayor of Jasper, there had been no unusual racial problems in the
town in the past (Cropper A16). The kind of racial problems we had here were the kinds of
things where you wouldn't get the promotion or the right jobs, said Byrd's sister Mary
Verrett. In all the time I grew up, there was never any outright bigotry, and none of us
were afraid to walk the street. In fact, you could say we were pretty happy. Many people
seemed to believe the crime did not reflect a deeper problem.
On the other hand, Gary Bledsoe, president of the state chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said that the eastern part of Texas
surrounding Jasper has been considered a problem area and a hotbed of Klan activity for
years. Jasper lies 55 miles north of the town of Vidor, where a Klan group in 1993 tried
to prevent the integration of an all-white housing development, threatening the first
black residents as teen-agers dressed in sheets confronted black newcomers (Cropper A16).
Certainly, the racist environment that Byrd's perpetrators were forced to grow up in
contributed greatly to their bigoted ideology. 
Reporters say Byrd's perpetrators were three troubled men riding and drinking on a
Saturday night. John William King, 23, was the trio's unofficial leader, a foul-mouthed
convicted burglar whose prison nickname was Possum. Shawn Allen Berry, also 23, was
King's former high school classmate and partner in crime. Lawrence Russell Brewer, 31,
had served seven years on a cocaine conviction, released on condition he be treated for
an undisclosed mental illness. All three had tattoos or personal items with the special
markings of a white supremacist (Pressley A1). For all of his personal problems-
alcoholism, petty thievery, an inability to hold a job- James Byrd was well liked and had
never been involved in any kind of racial incident. What then set the three Jasper men
off and led them to commit a crime so violently atrocious? It may have been a case of
unfortunate circumstances, too much to drink, nothing to do, influence of Klan
propaganda, a lone black man on a dark street giving shape to all the thoughts the men
had absorbed in prison (Pressley A9). Without a doubt, these men were not transformed
into racists overnight.
In his book, Hate Crimes, Jack Levin proposes several factors that may cause one to
commit a crime rooted in hate. Levin writes, Learning to hate is almost as inescapable as
breathing. The hate crime offender grows up in a culture that distinguishes certain
people as righteous, while designating others as sleazy, immoral characters who deserve
to be mistreated (Levin 21). One cannot be disillusioned to think that we live in a
society free of stereotypes. The three men who murdered James Byrd grew up in an
environment that stamped all blacks as being inferior subordinates. So when they saw
James Byrd walking down the road on the night of his death, they weren't looking at James
Byrd the individual; all they saw was a black man that gave shape to the nasty
stereotypical images in their heads. All that mattered to them was that the person's skin
was black and different from theirs. Unfortunately, for James Byrd he was at the wrong
place at the wrong time.
Historically, economic hardship has inspired racial tension and violence, and may have
been a factor in the murder of James Byrd (Levin vii). The local economy around Jasper is
struggling, and young white men there see minorities competing against them for jobs with
what they perceive as unfair advantages, such as affirmative action and other government
programs. According to Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an
organization which tracks the activities of hate groups, the three men who murdered Byrd
match the stereotype of perpetrators of hate crimes. All three were going through tough
times struggling to stay afloat: King, Brewer, and Berry were high school dropouts unable
to hold a steady job, working variously as yard workers and lumber company employees, and
they were about to be evicted from the apartment they shared (Pressley A9). According to
the SPLC's Klanwatch Project, the number of organized hate groups has grown significantly
during the last few years, perhaps because of hard economic times. The particularly
depressed economic conditions in rural areas of the United States since the early 1980's
have provided a fertile breeding ground for organized hate groups, playing on a theme
that has special appeal to downtrodden farmers and small town residents (Levin 113).
Racist forces are appealing because they offer simplistic solutions for the problems of
our society by providing obvious scapegoats- blacks, immigrants, and other minorities
that threaten their well being. Dees points out, however, that perhaps most significant
in their downward spiral were the racist influences they encountered and embraced in
prison.
Larry Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said that
while all three men were serving time, they were suspected of belonging to white
supremacy groups, specifically the Confederate Knights of America, a prison gang aligned
with the Ku Klux Klan (Bragg 17). Likewise, King was disciplined in 1995 while in prison
for his involvement in a racial disturbance between whites and Hispanics (Pressley A9).
In his statement to police, Berry supplied a clue about the depth of King's racist
beliefs. While dragging Byrd's body behind the truck, King allegedly said, We're starting
the Turner Diaries' early. The Turner Diaries are a fictional account of race war in
America and antigovernment-conspiracy, and is seen as the bible of hate groups.
The murder of James Byrd Jr. was not a random act of violence. King, Berry, and Brewer
were on a mission, a mission they were brainwashed with after years of exposure to white
supremacist ideology: to rid the world of evil by disposing of all blacks (Levin 89). For
the past several years, white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the National
Association for the Advancement of White People have been claiming that they are not
racists. They say that they are not motivated by hate, but are simply proponents of white
rights, trying to redress what they claim is current discrimination against white people
(Novick 21). Members of the KKK believe the notion that they are biologically superior,
and justify their violent behavior toward innocent people as defense. In a recent issue
of a White Aryan Resistance newspaper, Tom Metzger asserts We have every right to use
force in self-defense, in retaliation, and in preemptive strikes against those who openly
threaten our freedom. Many white supremacists believe that their violence toward blacks
is defensive, aimed at protecting their American way of life or God-given Aryan
advantage.
Hate crimes represent one extreme on the continuum of prejudice and bigotry (Levin 97).
Whether it is for economic or psychological reasons, there are countless individuals who
feel resentful toward those of a certain group. They have suffered some loss in
self-esteem or status; rather than accepting responsibility for their hapless situation,
they are eager to place the blame elsewhere. Millions of people, however, have suffered a
decline in their quality of life or standard of living, and would never commit a criminal
act against those who are different from them (Novick 24). Fortunately, not every member
of society buys into the culture of hate; some have enough self-control to stop
themselves from behaving in a deviant or violent manner, no matter how great the appeal.
Still for some individuals, as in the case of John King, Shawn Berry, and Lawrence
Brewer, the desire to commit a hate crime is overpowering. A recent study indicated that
the number of white supremacists in America consist of just under fifty thousand people;
when compared to the population of our nation as a whole, that number is a relatively
small percentage. In a country founded in life, liberty, and equality, that is fifty
thousand too many.
In her book Trauma and Recovery, Judith Herman writes the ordinary response to atrocities
is to banish them from consciousness (Herman 1). With a crime as horrifying as the James
Byrd murder, society cannot afford to sweep this issue underneath the rug. Perhaps it
takes an event as traumatizing as the Byrd murder to bring society's problems to the
forefront. James Byrd Jr's death should be a wake-up call for America that sparks a
self-examination and reflection. While some may argue that it is an isolated incident,
the Byrd murder should serve as a stark reminder that racial hatred continues to be a
national problem. Those who track hate crimes say that while the incident here may be
isolated, the apparent thinking behind it is not. Joe Roy, directory of the Southern
Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, says Jasper is a reminder that no matter how
well we think we're handling our problems, there's always something out there (WSJ A8).
The murder of James Byrd Jr. was an act of barbarism, a crime that should be
incomprehensible. No one deserves to be treated that way no matter what the color of your
skin is. To kill a man for something he cannot help, such as the color of his skin, is
worse a motive that to kill him because he is rich, unsuccessful, or owes you money.
Our society must join together across racial lines to demonstrate that an act of evil
such as this one is not what America is all about. We must not retaliate with violence,
as the Black Muslims and Panthers urged in the wake of the murder (Bragg A17). Surprising
to many, the town of Jasper did not erupt in racial conflict after the murder; instead
blacks and whites joined together in prayer vigils, rallies, and discussion groups,
showing the world that what happened in Jasper hurt and outraged all the town's people,
not just its blacks (Bragg A8). A community forced to experience that kind of trauma must
not waste any time binding up the wounds caused by the crime. It is disheartening to note
that the Ku Klux Klan used the Byrd murder to talk about white pride and used the press
attention as a stage to explain their platform.
After nearly four centuries of violence between whites and blacks in America, race
remains this nation's most divisive and intractable problem. The fight against hate crime
demands the attention of every member of society. For legislators, it means refining laws
to address the serious threat of hate crime. For educators, it means developing ways to
open channels of cultural understanding among children. For police, it means increased
attention to acts of hate violence. For neighborhoods, it means strengthening the bonds
of community to embrace diversity and reject acts of bigotry (Levin viii). Society as a
whole must accept the fact that we are all a part of the problem, if we are not a part of
the solution.
Bibliography
Bragg, Richard. For Jasper, Just What It Didn't Want. New York Times 27 June 
1998: A8.
Bragg, Richard. In Wake of Texas Killing, Black Militants and Klan Trade Words. 
New York Times 28 June 1998: A17.
Cropper, Carol Marie. Black Man Fatally Dragged In a Possible Racial Killing. 
New York Times 10 June 1998: A16.
Levin, Jack, and Jack McDevitt. Hate Crimes: The Rising Tide of Bigotry and 
Bloodshed. New York: Plenum, 1993.
Novick, Michael. White Lies, White Power: The Fight Against White Supremacy 
and Reactionary Violence. Maine: Common Courage Press, 1995.
Pressley, Sue Anne. Down a Dark Road to Murder. Washington Post 12 June 
1998: A1.
Racist Murder Leads Texas Town to Probe Its Prejudices. Wall Street Journal 1 
October 1998: A8.