Discrimination, hatred, bigotry are alive and well in the USA.

Posted on 04/30/2009 10:59 am by Kay

http://www.bengco.com/KayBlog/?p=121

As I watched the coverage for the Hate Crimes bill in the US House of Representatives, I was struck by the speeches of the conservatives. There was one after another saying that the legislation was not needed or that the legislation would damage the American way of life or that there is not a shred of evidence that hate crimes exist. They used outright lies and scare tactics to add weight to an argument that held no water.

Something was very familiar in what they said. Later that day, I happened to watch a documentary on President Lindon Johnson. It dealt with the fact that this southern politician who gave speeches totally against civil rights, was THE force behind passing the first Civil Rights law. He had to battle against opposition from his own party, particularly from the southern Democrats. It is now believed that his actions to pass civil rights legislation was the reason that the Democrats lost the south to the Republicans.

I've heard a lot of arguments against hate crimes bills that say a crime is a crime and should be punished as such.  We don't need to add hate to the equation.

What they fail to acknowledge is this type of legislation is necessary because some people just won't get it until they are hit over the head with a sledge hammer.  The pendulum had swung to a point where hate crimes were being ignored and even justified ("They had it coming").  In order for the boneheads to get it, the pendulum has to swing far to the other side until people understand there is no justification for ANY crime.

When the violence stops we can let the pendulum swing back to center.

Julie