Hate Crimes

The crimes committed against Trayvon Martin and Chilean Daniel Zamudio have refocused attention on the moral and legal polemics surrounding the intolerance and prejudice that are based upon race, gender, religion and sexual orientation.

Statistics show that hate crimes occur in all countries regardless of their level of economic development. Members of homophobic, xenophobic or neo-Nazi groups, as well as death squads and gangs just as likely to murder women in Ciudad Juarez or Guatemala City, assault Jewish people in Buenos Aires, to discriminate against native groups in La Paz, to persecute gays and lesbians in Sao Paulo or to charge dissidents in Habana as they are likely to attack minority groups in New York or Los Angeles.

These crimes are the result of a climate of impunity, a lack of legal recourse, and certain police deficiencies (all of which make governments inefficient in the prosecution of those responsible for such crimes). In addition, these crimes are informed by a government’s public attacks on those citizens whose ideologies differ from their own. Taken together, these factors create a polarization and an environment of hatred and violence.

George Zimmerman, the volunteer neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Martin on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., claims to have acted in self-defense. Zimmerman took refuge under the "stand your ground' law, which allows individuals to use lethal force — even in public areas — to defend themselves when their life is threatened.

The public outcry was two-fold. First of all, the outcry was due to prejudice against the victim, a 17-year-old youth who, because of the color of his skin and the fact that he was wearing a hoodie at night, was assumed to be "probably looking for drugs," when he was actually only carrying candy and a can of ice tea as he talked to his girlfriend on his cell phone. Secondly, the outcry was due to the fact that the aggressor — who called the police — did not wait for law enforcement officers to arrive and, instead, took matters into his own hands and escaped arrest. The question on everyone’s mind was whether or not the police would have let the aggressor go free had he been a black man. The answer is obvious.

This crime also reignited the polemic over the general public’s right to bear arms and the self-defense law in effect in Florida since 2005. Similar laws are currently in effect in 25 of the U.S.’s 50 states, allowing many people to hide behind the regulation, killing people but preserving their innocence.

In Chile's case, the 24-year-old Daniel Zamudio died in a hospital on Mar. 27 from injuries sustained in a beating he received from a neo-Nazi group because he was gay. Upon his death, his body was marked with swastikas. This crime shocked Chileans and led President Sebastian Pinera to revive an anti-discrimination law that had idled in congress for the past six years. The law increased punishment for hate crimes.

Although both cases would seem to make the revision and creation of anti-violence laws imperative, we must also consider the fact that any extremes in legislation could affect other rights, such as the freedom of speech. This has happened in Bolivia, where an anti-discrimination law that had been in effect for two years was ended because it curtailed the public's right to information and expression.

Even so, laws should be severe for those who commit hate crimes or take matters into their own hands. Like the Black Panther Party, who, under their slogan "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," offered a $10 million reward for anyone who captures Zimmerman and hands him over to them. Or like Spike Lee, who released the Zimmerman family’s address on Twitter.*

Martin and Zamudio remind us that more adequate legal ordinances are necessary in many countries, not only to dissuade the harassment of minority groups or to protect those who feel vulnerable due to their actions or thoughts, but to create a culture of tolerance that neutralizes hate and discrimination.

*Editor’s note: The address that was tweeted by Spike Lee was that of the McClain family, who are not related to George Zimmerman.