The ADL also defines hate crimes as those that may intimidate, isolate or make persons in the community feel unprotected by the law. But, every crime makes society fearful and unprotected. When I hear that a horrible crime has been committed I think of life, not race. Hate crimes supposedly leave minority groups fearful, angry and suspicious of other groups. A hate crime, just like a regular old crime-crime, makes all individuals in a community fearful, angry and suspicious of just about everybody.
Crime is an undeniable fact of life.
Sad but true, we live in an imperfect world with crime that comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. Yet, this is true of all crime. If crime goes so far as to destroy our faith in each other, as a society we will be better off united, not divided. To avoid division we must accept and respect our differences as individuals. Maybe it is necessary to remind one another that we are all equally priceless.