The thing is that I think the problem with a "hate crime" definition is that we need to stop thinking of racism as something that only happens when someone actively tries to harm people who do not look like them. (like Deryl Dedmon (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57401922-504083/deryl-dedmon-white-teen-pleads-guilty-to-miss-hate-crime-murder-of-james-anderson/)).
I think that Zimmerman committed a crime that was borne out of institutional racism and the perpetuated stereotype of black men as criminals. I do not think he was actively thinking that he was going after Trayvon Martin because Trayvon Martin was black. The fact that he made racist statements whilst doing it is reflective of the fact that he was, but I suspect he wasn't even aware that that was playing into his thought process. His brain was wired to see "black" and think "suspicious." He does not think of himself as a racist, and his friends and family do not think of him as a racist, because they think the only racism is deliberate and not the result of what is essentially a mass pathological issue on the part of white society. The thing about hate crime legislation in general is that it targets active and deliberate hate, not people who are unaware of how much they hate. The latter, though, is more dangerous because they think all the while that they are good people.
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Date: 2012-03-26 04:14 pm (UTC)I think that Zimmerman committed a crime that was borne out of institutional racism and the perpetuated stereotype of black men as criminals. I do not think he was actively thinking that he was going after Trayvon Martin because Trayvon Martin was black. The fact that he made racist statements whilst doing it is reflective of the fact that he was, but I suspect he wasn't even aware that that was playing into his thought process. His brain was wired to see "black" and think "suspicious." He does not think of himself as a racist, and his friends and family do not think of him as a racist, because they think the only racism is deliberate and not the result of what is essentially a mass pathological issue on the part of white society. The thing about hate crime legislation in general is that it targets active and deliberate hate, not people who are unaware of how much they hate. The latter, though, is more dangerous because they think all the while that they are good people.