Hate Crime?
Man attacked on St. Louis train after Michael Brown question. A man was assaulted in a St. Louis, Mo. Light rail train on Monday after refusing to get into a conversation about the shooting of Michael Brown.
The fact that those arrested were not charged with a hate crime begs the question, “What exactly is a hate crime?” A hate crime is defined as a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence. As a black man I am appalled at this display of senseless violence visited upon an innocent man just trying to commute home or to work. I condemn it in the harshest terms and I feel that it has no place in our society.
I think the bigger question though is that there are some serious problems in St. Louis that go beyond Michael Brown, the police, and the political questions. I mean there have been a series of just random acts of violence perpetrated by young blacks all over the metro, but that’s not the appalling part. The appalling part and what makes folks want to segregate themselves is that during this and other such attacks the bystanders simple choose to ignore the pleas for help or they laugh and take videos and pictures. I wonder how many of them will be willing to testify? It is this callousness to victims (and not just white victims) that perpetuates the criminal behavior that engulfs our communities like a raging wildfire. It is one thing to not come to someone’s aid, but it is an altogether different story when you find humor in the victimization of another human being and then to add insult to injury refuse to identify the perpetrators. Have we completely lost our humanity and compassion?
“I think it was disgusting that no one [helped],” the victim said. “People were sort of laughing and smiling about it. No one offered to help and no one attempted to call 911.”
If we expect others to accept our claims of hate crimes and victimizations must also recognize the claims of others or be perceived as hypocrites. I do not believe that racism can only run in one direction. I believe that within us all lays the opportunity to be racists. It may not appear in the same form as others, but make no mistake there is no nobility to any race. We all have the capability to show and perpetrate evil on one another. This and many others like it are hate crimes and should be treated as such and our complicity in such behavior only damages what little credibility we have left. But just like the other similar crimes there will be condemnation, no protests, or political grandstanding on this one. This will just be counted as collateral damage or the perils of traveling through the “hood”. But we can do better and we must begin to do better. Not for the sake of others, but for our very own survival.
If we don’t begin to address this culture of violence and lawlessness whatever goodwill we may have will be lost. Nobody wants to keep feeding a dog that keeps biting them. I understand that we have some serious racial issues in America, but the solution is not to beat the hell of each other whenever we think we can get away with it. As Dr. King said, “We can either live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” We need investment, jobs, and infrastructure in our communities and if folks get the impression that we have lost the ability or the desire to respect our laws and reject the senseless violence that plagues our communities any chance of support will be lost.