{"id":773,"date":"2015-07-27T15:46:15","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T15:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=773"},"modified":"2015-10-13T18:56:42","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T18:56:42","slug":"hate-crime-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2015\/07\/27\/hate-crime-terrorism\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hate Crime By Any Other Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"A<\/a>
A message left at a memorial for Marcelo Lucero, a Hispanic victim of a hate crime on Long Island. Photo by Long Island Twins via Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Emmanuel AME shootings in Charleston, South Carolina have reignited public discussion of both terrorism and hate crimes. While the media often focuses on foreign religious extremism as a motivation for domestic attacks, data<\/a> show more radicalization<\/a> has taken place on the political far-right (independent of religion or race) than among Muslims in the United States. Since 9\/11, only 25 recorded attacks have been committed by Muslim extremists<\/a>, while 65 attacks were driven by right-wing extremists<\/a> at home. So what\u2019s the difference between terror and a hate crime? Is<\/em> there a difference? Sociological research shows how public discourse and community differences can change the story.<\/p>\n

Words like \u201cterrorism\u201d and \u201chate crime\u201d change across social contexts. In the U.S., acts of violence perpetrated by minority populations are more likely to be defined as acts of terrorism, whereas \u201chome-grown\u201d offenders are likely to be dismissed as crazy, deranged, or evil—\u201cbad apples\u201d rather than people motivated by hate or politics. For hate-crimes, the pattern is reversed. Hate crimes that involve majority perpetrators, particularly in interracial incidents, are linked to higher seriousness ratings. In both cases, the social position of both perpetrator and victim changes how we interpret the violence.<\/h5>\n