Howard Beach! The Central Park Jogger! The Assassination of Alan Berg! Vincent Chin's Murder! The Portland Skinhead Slaying! Headlines scream of the latest in a wave of hate crime attacks. Hate crime-violence aimed at individuals because they are members of a particular group - were once considered the rare illegal actions of a small but vocal assortment of extremists who thrived on hating minorities. No more. Hate crimes have been sweeping the nation - as well as the world. They are happening in even the most unlikely of places. Whereas college campuses at one time epitomized the lofty principles of tolerance, diversity, and idealism, they have now become the repositories of hatred and division. Hate is hip on campus, as evidenced not only by the popularity of racist and misogynistic music, but by the recent rash of attacks against blacks, women, Asians, Latinos, Jews, and gays. These perceptive authors step back to reveal how the campus of hate has become a microcosm for the world at large.
This expose by Jack Levin, one of America's leading sociologists and co-author of Mass Murder: America's Growing Menace, and Jack McDevitt, America's foremost authority on hate crimes, explores the spreading venom of prejudice and bigotry in our society and the world. They proclaim that political correctness - as in tolerance of diversity - is no longer deemed fashionable but, rather, obsolete. Organized hate groups have been taking our alienated youth by storm. But beyond bemoaning our present crisis, Levin and McDevitt set forth practical guidelines on how to stem the rising tide of hate. These experts persuasively argue that as the economic pie shrinks, a new type of terrorism is leaving a trail of bloodshed and destruction in its wake. For anyone who is different, the message of this new brand of terrorism is unmistakable: Either flee or be killed. These courageous and provocative a nalysts force us to face a spiraling problem around us as well as the prejudices within
Industry Reviews
A compassionate, thoughtful analysis of an alarming and increasingly frequent phenomenon in our rapidly diversifying society. Northeastern University professors Levin (Sociology) and McDevitt (Associate Director of the Center for Applied Research) explain that attacks on people because of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation often share certain characteristics: They are unusually vicious, excessively brutal, and frequently perpetrated at random on total strangers by multiple offenders. The authors show how easily commonplace sexual, racial, or ethnic stereotypes - circulated widely by popular culture and fueled by economic hard times (the authors talk hauntingly of a "culture of hate," familiar to anyone who has heard rap lyrics or seen MTV) - can dehumanize their targets and justify the commission of hate crimes. We've created an environment, they contend, in which organized hate groups, on a mission to "rid the world of evil," methodically pursue the destruction of segments of society, and a world in which less ideological "thrill-seeking" criminals commit random crimes against members of target groups. Other hate crimes are "reactive" - hatemongers seizing on a precipitating incident to justify targeting groups they consider economic threats. What to do? Levin and McDevitt point out that police are often part of the problem, and so they advocate the creation of special units skilled in investigating hate crimes (a step already taken by a few departments). They also argue that legislatures and judges must become more active in punishing hate crimes as a distinct type of crime. The authors make a number of sensible suggestions about the rehabilitation of the "thrill-seeking" type of hate criminal, who is often more educable than his reactive or mission-oriented counterpart. Finally, they predict that, unless stemmed, hate violence will result in crisis, as economic decline is accompanied by an increase in cultural diversity. A sobering and much needed call to action. (Kirkus Reviews)
