Two leading experts on hate crime reassess the threat of violence based on difference--whether in sexual orientation, race, gender, ethnicity, or citizenship-- to help us better understand and ultimately prevent such acts from occurring in the future.

Are we born with a propensity to hate, or is it something we learn? Both enlightening and insightful, this momentous and timely work offers hope that civilized human beings can come to grips with an age-old problem.

Hate crime in the United States is on the rise. The FBI has reported that hate crimes rose by 17 percent in 2017, increasing for the third straight year, and the trend continued into 2018 and 2019. The crimes are most commonly motivated by hatred related to race, ethnicity, or country of origin. Many crimes are also motivated by bias against sexual orientation or gender identity. Students will learn why hate crime is on the rise and how they can help combat it.

Hate crimes can take many forms. Assaulting someone, vandalizing their property, or simply making them feel threatened are all considered hate crimes when they are motivated by animosity for a particular group. Readers learn that these offenses often take place because the perpetrator has a fundamental misunderstanding or fear of the people in that targeted group. Informative charts and discussion questions for each chapter encourage readers to think critically about the way people’s biases can dictate their behavior in ways that harm others.

In 2015, approximately 5,818 hate crime incidents were reported, and 59.2 percent of those reported hate crimes were race or ethnicity based. Hate crimes fall under federal jurisdiction and can include gender identity bias, disability bias, gender bias, sexual orientation bias, religious bias, and race or ethnicity bias. According to the FBI, fighting hate crimes is a number one priority under the civil rights program. This thought-provoking resource investigates and analyzes issues surrounding hate crimes. A thorough and balanced examination of related topics such as the scope of hate crimes, the types of perpetrators, and how to fight hate crimes provides readers with an expansive view of the issue at hand.

This is a collection of readings that approach hate crimes from a variety of perspectives. Part 1 provides an introduction and a comparison of both historic and modern-era hate crimes. Part 2 discuss legal developments, and some of the complexities associated with legislation and judicial interpretation. Part 3 focuses on the complex public policy issues raised in creating laws to define hate crimes, and shows how public policy development reflects both political and practical considerations. Readings in the next section examine the perpetrators, showing that these crimes relate to diverse theoretical perspectives and a wide range of methods. Part 5 examines and discusses organized hate groups and the central role they play in extremism. This is followed by a section of historical and contemporary examples of the ways in which members of targeted groups have been victimized, as well as the social processes by which people come to be characterized as "others" outside the mainstream of society. Part 7 examines different strategies for fighting hate through changing attitudes which serve as precursors to hate crimes, and for responding to the emotional needs of victims when dealing with the aftermath of hate crimes. The last section presents international perspectives.