If You Want to Understand Americans, Understand Their Fears
In light of the rapidly changing account of what happened to actor Jussie Smollett in Chicago, and the contention of unnamed police sources to local media that what was initially reported as a hate crime was a hoax staged by the actor himself . . .Hate crimes happen. Sometimes you hear about them because of a high death toll, like in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. But a lot of times these are, with no irony intended, “local crime stories.” An assault on a Moroccan-American legal immigrant on a train in Massachusetts. A racially motivated murder with a sword near Times Square. The aggravated assault of a a Sikh man in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. A man who fatally shot an Indian in Olathe, Kan. A Jewish man attacked outside a restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio. An allegedly anti-gay attempted mass shooting at an Asian restaurant in San Diego. (Prosecutors are still deciding whether the evidence is conclusive that this was a “hate crime.”) (Except for the San Diego one, none of the events listed above represent mere allegations or claims; they are news accounts of individuals being convicted of crimes, with judges and juries concluding that they were primarily driven by hate and prejudice.)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment