Race Relations

Recently Congress dropped a bill that included gay individuals in hate crime laws.
Merriam-Webster’s defines hate as the following: Intense hostility and aversion. So I guess by this definition a hate crime is a crime whose motive is determined by hatred toward the victim as opposed to something else. For instance: If I killed someone because I disliked them it would be a hate crime, as opposed to killing them during the course of a random robbery.

Currently hate crime laws are set up to protect people from crimes based on race, religion, color or national origin. My question is why does this require separate legislation? If you kill someone you go to a trial for murder and the motive determines guilt and sentence time. Are people not all the same? These laws are out there saying that indeed they are not and I find that unacceptable.

This leads up to other things like affirmative action, where people are given jobs or admitted to universities based on race rather than performance. Does this not just create animosity? If we promote practices such as this are we not judging people based the color of their skin rather than the content of their character? Now had King said something along the lines of “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Except when it can work to their advantage such how white people currently use it to their advantage when finding jobs or seeking education.”, had he said that I think people would have called him a hypocrite and been right to do so. However he did not say that because he was seeking equality, not superiority.

In one of my previous posts I condemned the way things were being done in Jena, Louisiana and the racism directed at 6 black teenagers. However the street is by no means one way. Constantly non-white comedians, celebrities, and politician’s belittle white people by using slang terms like cracker and honky, claim that white people are responsible for all the problems that everyone else faces, and demand things like reparations from the US government.

Now while I disagree with the use of a racial terminology for insults (If you can think of nothing better to insult than a persons skin color, you need to shut your mouth), I do not think under any condition people should face repercussions for use of such terminology whether it be the word cracker or n*gger. Do I agree with the use of either of these terms? No, but then again our freedom of speech does not just protect the majority opinion, as a matter of fact it is in place to protect the estranged minority from prosecution, be they the Black Panthers or the Ku Klux Klan.

As far as white people being responsible for all of the world’s problems, I find that contempt undeserved. War and conflicts have raged between every tribe, clan, and country on this planet since the beginning of time. Native Americans fought each other for land but when Europeans enter the mix they are vilified. Africans enslaved each other as part of warfare and waged war on Europe (Hannibal & Tariq), but when Europeans gain the upper hand and colonize Africa and enslave people it is no longer war but a moral abomination. While I disagree with slavery for any reason I think that all parties should be judged the same. It is this ridiculous double standard that best describes modern race relations.

On the subject of reparations by the United States government or even the notion that the United States owes some debt to people of any race is ridiculous. The United States had existed for less than 100 years before the civil war and emancipation and I find that the blood of about a million casualties more than pays for 86 years of slavery in the United States, all other debts can be taken up with Great Britain. On top of that the mass immigration to the United State from Europe began around the civil war and went on into the early 1900’s. It is this group of people to whom most modern Americans can trace their lineage and seeing as these people hold no responsibility for slavery they should owe no debt.

All in all, in the end being white no more means that you are a racist slave holder than being black means you’re a salve. Skin color means nothing in the long run and only ignorant people would use it as a basis for their assumptions. I say we treat people all the same, every one should be judged by the same set of laws (no hate crime legislation) and everyone should be hired based on their abilities (no affirmative action or segregation). We are all the same, let us start acting like it and eliminate any and all double standards regardless of who they favor.