A homosexual male is beaten to death because of the openness of his sexual orientation. A Jewish woman is assaulted while walking to her car in a Jewish temple parking lot. A white supremacy group shoots an African American teenager. Many would say that these people had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that these crimes were nothing different than what takes place all over the country everyday. However, it is not that simple. These crimes, along with thousands of others, were committed due to a bias on a certain group. There is much more thought that goes into these types of crimes. Offenders do not simply choose their victims randomly, but they choose them based on prejudices or specific characteristics. These crimes are happening everyday all over the world, and it is the goal of many individuals along with specialized organizations to stop the hatred. In order to encourage peace, one must understand the history of these crimes and dig deep into the minds of the offenders. Innocent people are being hurt or even killed everyday. This must not
             What are hate crimes? Crimes that are directed toward members of a certain group are called hate crimes. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a hate crime is a "criminal offense committed against a person or property that is motivated in whole or in part by the offender's bias against a race, religion, ethnic/national origin group or sexual orientation group" (Altschiller 2). Some violent hate crimes result in the most brutal murders (Altschiller 2). But hate crimes do not always result in violence; in fact forty percent of hate crimes are acts of intimidation ("Hate in America").
             A hate crime could be anything from a threatening phone call to an African American because of their race, or a swastika painted on a Jewish cemetery (Altschiller 2). Hate crimes are everywhere and it is amazing to realize what some offenders ha
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