Violence In America Essay, Research Paper

In the ideal America, our celebrated, ethnically diverse populous would overlook

and not even recognize such socially developed stigmas such as race, sex, color,

and religion. The ideal American would not even look at another and classify

that person as black, white, Asian, Indian, Mexican, Irish, Jewish, Catholic,

Jewish or; well, my point is made. But America is far from ideal. The ignorance

that reigns in this country is unfortunately passed on from generation to

generation with little regard for what effect it may render on its audience.

Sadly, fear is created from ignorance. Sadder still is that hate spawns from

fear, and as represented by the staggering domestic abuse rate, violence is

handed down from previous generations as well. The probability and means to

cultivate hate crimes is now present and the formula is potent enough to

guarantee that they will happen. Hate crimes are happening in America at a

disturbing frequency. That being a given, it is time we as a society look to the

roots of hate crimes in America. I believe these roots lie in our society`s

notion and practice of family structure. More so in the way we pass down our

ignorance, fear, unacceptance, and intolerance to future generations. A hate

crime in itself is defined as a criminal act with intent to defame and slander

another person. At further introspection though, I think that we will find that

there is more underlying issues than just committing a crime with malice towards

someone different than ourselves. The human mind at the time of birth has no

prejudice. A baby does not look at another human being and feel afraid or angry

with that other individual. The human infant has no predators in these times,

therefore there should be no fear instilled naturally. I would like to think

that these minds could be viewed as clean slates. So where does the fear and

hatred needed to commit a hate crime, and dirty that slate, come from? All

social science research has come to a solid conclusion that parents, or the

primary caretakers, of a child are the single most influential stimulus on that

child`s development. The answer is that we as a society, both internationally

and in America, have found ways to continually and regeneratively brainwash and

condition our children. We teach them to classify humans with titles that have

no real biological worth such as Asian, American, Latin, African, and European

among others. One fairly publicized hateful incident involved some Texaco

executives who were caught slandering black and Jewish employees and making

derogatory references and actions towards them. One remark an executive made was

I`m still struggling with Chanukah, and now we have Kwanzaa… Poor Saint

Nicholas, they have sh-tted all over his beard. What caused this person to have

these points of views? How long has this idea been in his head? Where does this

idea develop if it is not genetically created? The answers lie with the majority

of all non-biological dysfunction present today; the individuals upbringing.

These same questions and same answers can be applied to almost any incidence of

hate and violence today. Especially prevalent is the incidence of the dragging

murder in Jasper, Texas in which a black man was beaten, and dragged, and

decapitated. This was perpetrated by two white supremacists, making it a violent

hate crime. How does a person`s inner frustrations become so great that they can

control behavior to the point of making that person take another life? It is

directly related to the perpetrator`s upbringing and the views and ideals that

were passed on to him since day 1 in his life. In many of these scenarios,

justice has been dealt to the assailants or perpetrators by our federal law

system. But it seems that in just as many instances justice was not dealt to

all, or it was too little too late. In any case though, the legal system has

taken a reactive approach. Justice in itself is reactive in nature, and

consequently that may be why hate crimes and crime in general continue to happen

with great frequency. America has taken a reactive approach to hate crimes. As a

country and as a world we need to take a proactive approach to prevent hate

crimes. Prevention is the key to stopping further hate crimes in America and

around the world, and it can be done. People just need to stop the influential

modeling and passive teaching to their children and future generations that

certain people are inferior, unwanted, or scary. Until we can become more

complete and open to the human experience and start to see the big picture of

life, and realize that we need to shed the old and primitive assumption that one

group is better than the next, we will continue passing on the hurting, fear,

and hate to our offspring. We are all the same species on this planet, we just

need to realize it. It may sound like too much to ask for a evolution in the

world`s upbringing of their youth. But as with any evolution, it only needs to

start with one person. One person breaking this chain of labeling and

classifying people as anything else, will spawn generations that will carry the

same ideal. The process is a gradual one, but a neccesary process that needs to

start now.

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