Hate Crime?

Sometimes you have to wonder if human nature is to be cooperative and kind or selfish and cruel.

My sister-in-law has a grandson that lives in a "socially integrated" neighborhood... okay, people with different ethnic and racial backgrounds. It happens to be near a "not so socially integrated" neighborhood with "economically and ethically challenged" people.

The other night, some of the "not so socially integrated" were busily breaking a few "social rules of conduct" when they were chased off by the "social rules of conduct enforcers" and hid in the "socially integrated" neighborhood. Unfortunately, they happened to hide near my sister-in-law's grandson's home. He was returning late with his girl friend who was driving. She dropped him off and drove to a turn about at the end of the street. By the time she returned to his home going in the opposite direction, she saw he was being beaten by 4 to 6 of the "not so socially integrated" people. She acted quickly to call 911 and the operator directed her call to police who were just a couple of blocks away looking for this particular "band of brothers." Then they began to approach her car so she sounded the horn and brought out some neighbors who chased off the attackers.

The beaten young man was taken to the hospital where, fortunately, he was determined to have a lot of painful bruises and a bad concussion, but nothing more serious. If the young woman had not needed to turn around her car and return, the young man could have been killed without anyone knowing.

So the question still remains: is it human nature to be cooperative and kind or selfish and cruel? Don't be too fast here. Remember, the young woman was in danger herself and she stayed to be sure that the young man received help. And the neighbor primarily responsible for chasing off the "not so socially integrated" attackers happened to be of the same racial background as the attackers.

Was this a hate crime as the government likes to define it? The "not so socially integrated" attackers were a different racial group than the young man who was attacked. Had the racial backgrounds been reversed, there would be no question in the minds of government prosecutors.

So what does this tell us? 1) the idea of a "hate crime" above and beyond an assault is probably stupid because an attack on another person is always hateful at its core and 2) because such a definition is not consistently applied, it is stupid... oh, I said that.

But oddly, the results of this incident were most revealing about human nature. The young man's grandmother and great-grandmother both had similar reactions to the attack: extreme anger... despite their personal and deep Christian faith. Would it be enough anger to retaliate? Probably not. But it is enough anger not to forget or forgive.

So what does this tell us? Simply this: we can put all of the labels we want on people and actions and beliefs, but when it something affects us very personally, we will forget those "higher" attitudes and react with our deepest feelings. We are human, after all.

In the middle east, the Israelis and Palestinians continue to fight.