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.