In the discussion you formulate, you should not reflect anyone else’s belief.
The professor does not grade you on whether or not she is in agreement; only on how logically and reasonably you discuss the issues. Read through and incorporate your answers to questions in your discussion. Most of the examples are taken from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report.
On Feb. 19, 1999 Billy Jack, a 19-year-old, was participating in a local pool tournament when two acquaintances asked him to go for a ride. After driving him to a secluded boat ramp they beat Billy Jack and crammed his body into the trunk of his own car. They drove to a nearby creek, where area churches once performed baptisms. The two of them placed two tires on a concrete platform overlooking the water, doused the tires with kerosene and set them on fire. Removing Billy Jack’s body from the trunk and beating it with a hammer they tossed his body onto the flame.
These two men, Mullins and Butler, admitted to killing Billy Jack because they were tired of him “talking queer stuff.” Billy Jack’s murder came on the heels of two other hate-driven killings in 1998: the brutal slaying of Matthew Shepard near Laramie, Wyo., and the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas.
Because this was in Alabama and Alabama does not consider crimes of sexual orientation hate crimes, (a State power) the killing of Billy Jack was not treated as a hate crime. Seven years later a bill to expand the law to include sexual orientation still failed to pass in the Alabama Legislature.
From the Orlando Sentinel, July 7, 2015: “A day after a predominantly black church was vandalized for the third time in six months, Melbourne (Florida) police described the actions as a hate crime. . .” They called this a hate crime because, “. . . it was the latest case in which someone ransacked a portion of New Shiloh Christian Church and left the “SS Charleston 2” scrawled on the side of a pickup truck with a smashed window.” The police think the reference.
. “. ..may be alluding to the massacre of nine churchgoers at Emanuel AME in Charleston, S.C. (in June)”
In Idaho during the early part of 2015 a local official wrote an article in the group’s newsletter that Muslims were infiltrating the state. “They had been taught to rise up and kill those of other faiths.” She went on to say that they pretended to be friendly while plotting violence. It is important to note that an article about the affair in the Idaho Statesman noted that a recent Gallup poll found, in fact, that Muslims and Mormons had “the most positive view of religions not their own. Yet, it stirred feelings among many living in Idaho.
A flood of such rhetoric this last year has given strength to a number of everyday citizens to,
openly, begin a verbal barrage of Muslim-bashing.
There is no teacher alive that has not witnessed the “teasing” or “bullying” of a student that is different in some way from the mainstream. Those differences may be economic, clothing, athletics, academics, physical appearance, religious or just not being in the “right group.” Is this where hatred might begin? Could these be the “seeds” for potential hate crimes? Are we teaching our children to have empathy for others?
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU ADDRESS ALL THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS!
After reading the above scenario include the following answers in your discussion:
Was killing Billy Jack a hate crime? Explain your conclusion. Can communities or institutions perpetrate the attitude, and sometimes the actions, exemplified in the hatred as expressed in the above? Can empathy be taught? What of those States that did not allow marriage or adoption for the gay community (prior to the recent Supreme Court Decision). Those Justices who disagreed claimed the rights of the States were violated in the decision. Remember, under Federalism, the National Government has only powers constitutionally mandated to it. All other powers belong to the States. (Tenth Amendment, Reserved Powers of the States)
These are inclusive of education, hunting, marriage, traffic, licenses and legal age for adulthood, etc. What of the very heart of faith; Churches, Synagogues, Mosques, etc. that refuse to recognize the validity of a gay or lesbian serving as a priest, minister, rabbi or imam? Not intending to do so, is religion ever responsible for the prejudice that helps create hate? Finally, no matter how you personally feel, (remember your opinion is valid for you) link that feeling into the fact that under the Constitution all persons, may not be of equal birth, but they are guaranteed the equality of opportunity and equality of treatment under the law.

In the discussion you formulate, you should not reflect anyone else’s belief.
The professor does not grade you on whether or not she is in agreement; only on how logically and reasonably you discuss the issues. Read through and incorporate your answers to questions in your discussion. Most of the examples are taken from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report.
On Feb. 19, 1999 Billy Jack, a 19-year-old, was participating in a local pool tournament when two acquaintances asked him to go for a ride. After driving him to a secluded boat ramp they beat Billy Jack and crammed his body into the trunk of his own car. They drove to a nearby creek, where area churches once performed baptisms. The two of them placed two tires on a concrete platform overlooking the water, doused the tires with kerosene and set them on fire. Removing Billy Jack’s body from the trunk and beating it with a hammer they tossed his body onto the flame.
These two men, Mullins and Butler, admitted to killing Billy Jack because they were tired of him “talking queer stuff.” Billy Jack’s murder came on the heels of two other hate-driven killings in 1998: the brutal slaying of Matthew Shepard near Laramie, Wyo., and the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas.
Because this was in Alabama and Alabama does not consider crimes of sexual orientation hate crimes, (a State power) the killing of Billy Jack was not treated as a hate crime. Seven years later a bill to expand the law to include sexual orientation still failed to pass in the Alabama Legislature.
From the Orlando Sentinel, July 7, 2015: “A day after a predominantly black church was vandalized for the third time in six months, Melbourne (Florida) police described the actions as a hate crime. . .” They called this a hate crime because, “. . . it was the latest case in which someone ransacked a portion of New Shiloh Christian Church and left the “SS Charleston 2” scrawled on the side of a pickup truck with a smashed window.” The police think the reference.
. “. ..may be alluding to the massacre of nine churchgoers at Emanuel AME in Charleston, S.C. (in June)”
In Idaho during the early part of 2015 a local official wrote an article in the group’s newsletter that Muslims were infiltrating the state. “They had been taught to rise up and kill those of other faiths.” She went on to say that they pretended to be friendly while plotting violence. It is important to note that an article about the affair in the Idaho Statesman noted that a recent Gallup poll found, in fact, that Muslims and Mormons had “the most positive view of religions not their own. Yet, it stirred feelings among many living in Idaho.
A flood of such rhetoric this last year has given strength to a number of everyday citizens to,
openly, begin a verbal barrage of Muslim-bashing.
There is no teacher alive that has not witnessed the “teasing” or “bullying” of a student that is different in some way from the mainstream. Those differences may be economic, clothing, athletics, academics, physical appearance, religious or just not being in the “right group.” Is this where hatred might begin? Could these be the “seeds” for potential hate crimes? Are we teaching our children to have empathy for others?
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU ADDRESS ALL THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS!
After reading the above scenario include the following answers in your discussion:
Was killing Billy Jack a hate crime? Explain your conclusion. Can communities or institutions perpetrate the attitude, and sometimes the actions, exemplified in the hatred as expressed in the above? Can empathy be taught? What of those States that did not allow marriage or adoption for the gay community (prior to the recent Supreme Court Decision). Those Justices who disagreed claimed the rights of the States were violated in the decision. Remember, under Federalism, the National Government has only powers constitutionally mandated to it. All other powers belong to the States. (Tenth Amendment, Reserved Powers of the States)
These are inclusive of education, hunting, marriage, traffic, licenses and legal age for adulthood, etc. What of the very heart of faith; Churches, Synagogues, Mosques, etc. that refuse to recognize the validity of a gay or lesbian serving as a priest, minister, rabbi or imam? Not intending to do so, is religion ever responsible for the prejudice that helps create hate? Finally, no matter how you personally feel, (remember your opinion is valid for you) link that feeling into the fact that under the Constitution all persons, may not be of equal birth, but they are guaranteed the equality of opportunity and equality of treatment under the law.