Specifically Targeted Crimes

The setting and mindset plays a major role in the long and short term effects of tragic events. Laramie, Wyoming is a large, scarcely populated area and the influx of reporters turned the hate crime into an even bigger deal. When the group of reporters arrived in Laramie and met with the local Drama teacher she states that she wanted to say 'why are you doing this to me?' (Unplanned Events). The growing popularity of this town caused the residence to resent the crime for all the wrong reasons. People were no longer mad that it happened they were more offended by the attention. Media coverage on tragic events can cause even more damage to the town and people involved. Ms. Menough shared a personal story when introducing the book, a couple from Laramie came into her work and immediately shut down when the Laramie Project was brought into the conversation. The huge amount of media coverage allowed for a margin of error; the news stories were blaming the town. People living in Laramie were now being held to new stereotypes based on this tragedy, they felt they were being viewed as a noun, or a street sign. (Laramie Project) As if the name of their residence said more about them than their ideas and morals. Laramie was not used to this amount of recognition, and this caused more blame to be placed on the town than on the incident itself. 

Hate crimes are often more appalling and offensive than random crimes. Criminal acts done to deliberately produce a message to a specific social group are classified as hate crimes. These groups can be based on ethnicity, gender identity, language, nationality, physical appearance, religion, or sexual orientation. Countless crimes committed in order to make a certain group feel inferior every year. Race has been a topic of conflict in this country, during the Civil Rights Movement African American's were targeted based on their skin color.  The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) flourished in the 1960's. This specific hate group performed violent acts in order to prevent progress in the Civil Rights Movement. Also during the Civil Rights Movement, many specific murders were committed. In 1998, James Byrd was savagely beaten and killed. This crime was committed by three white males against a black male, purely because of his race; there were no other suspected reasons for the crime. For this reason, the murder was considered a hate crime. Crimes can also be unintentionally be a ete crime. Even if the reasoning was subconscious they can still single out a group of people. In February of 2012, a seventeen year old black boy was shot and killed by a neighborhood watchman. The shooter's defense was that Trayvon was 'threatening' but he was only carrying a pack of skittles and tea. The only 'threatening' thing about Trayvon was his race so it is considered a hate crime. The singling out of a specific social group is considered a hate crime.

   

Tragedy Leads to Success

Tommy Land by Tommy  Lee was presented this past week. Tommy is Motley Creu's drummer. Being in this band only added to his drug problem. He was known  for his large drug problem which he acquired during his years with the band. The band was notorious for their party attitude; they lived to party and drugs were easily accessible. Tommy is a big guy with an even bigger temper. This often got him in trouble with the law. On numerous times Tommy was accused of throwing paparazzi. Tommy was also accused of spousal abuse when he allegedly kicked Pamela Anderson who was holding their child. Tommy eventually was able to sober up. Since he has been clean he has helped other celebrities on their way to sobriety. Tommy has clearly learned from his experiences.

Malala Yousafzai's memoir I am Malala showed her struggle and success growing up as a Pakistani woman. She values knowledge enough to risk her safety to pursue it. Growing up in male-dominate Pakistan education was not guaranteed for girls. Her father awakened her thirst for knowledge and she risked everything to fight for it. She wrote a blog in an area that was controlled by the Taliban, whose members feared education for women. They feared it would make them more powerful. At the age of 15, Malala was shot in the face by members of the Taliban. This tragedy further addressed her goal. The incident helped motivate her to continue to fight for her rights and others. She continues to fight for equality of gender and race, now backed up by the accomplishment of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala was faced with severe violence but continued to fight without a step backward.

Memoir Observations

Having listened to dozens of memoir presentations this past week, I have realized how similar most memoirs are. Each presentation, while with different details has one of two or three plots. One of which is the classic 'comeback sports' memoir. Jose Conseco's memoir, for example tells his story of baseball while using steroids. Sports memoirs usually tell the story of the athletes young career, their struggle, and finally their resolution. RA Dickey's memoir goes through his troubled childhood, into his early baseball career, to his missing ucl, and ends with his resolution. Ironically, many professional athletes have struggled with drug abuse. The athletes put so much into their game that every set back is near death in their minds, and eventually the pressure proves too much. Maradonna was  a short tempered soccer player was addicted to cocaine. Sports memoirs while similar, describe different events and athletes.

The other memoirs seemed to describe some strange childhood occurrence. The stories were never the same, but they were all equally as 'out there'. For example, Kacey Dugard's A Stolen Life tells of her experience of being kidnapped and contained for 18 years. Kacey had opportunities to escape but she never tried; she was so brainwashed that she actually started to enjoy her kidnappers' company. The other memoirs were not quite as dark as this one, but they had events that seemed fiction. The Liars Club was about a family where the kids had to raise themselves while taking care of their crazy parents. Mary Karr's parents were both alcoholics, and her mother tried to kill herself and the family multiple times. While this story is also depressing, there were other memoirs that were just crazy. For example, Running With Scissors was about a boy who is adopted by his mother's therapist who was equally as crazy as she was. The events were so strange that at first I thought there was no way it could be a memoir.