The names sound so ordinary, so all-American. Boy friends and girl friends. The double date ended in death. After they left Matthew, they went back into town and picked a fight with two Hispanic men who both suffered head injuries. We are together, one, or we are utterly alone.
Hate is on a journey, a crusade.
It knows no bounds. Our century, not yet over, reeks of it. Our history, still in the making, soars with discovery and progress and is soaked with the blood of hate. And the weapons we yield are racism, homophobia, sexism, and, God help us, religion. Our intent is not always malicious.