By Matthew Cox
Staff Writer
The convocation, “Erasing Hate,” started out with an interesting video of Matthew Shepherd, a student in the United States, who was beaten to death because he was a gay male. His sexuality was something that many people in his community did not approve of. He was a person who enjoyed being in the fine arts at his high school, but he was unable to graduate because of being brutally beaten by people who disapproved of his lifestyle.
The Matthew Shepherd Foundation is not just about GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) rights; it is a foundation about getting equality for everyone. During our discussion, Thomas B. Howard gave evidence that hate crimes happen to other people besides those in the GLBT community. Mr. Howard presented the following facts to illustrate that hate crimes happen every day.
In 2009, there were a total of 926 hate groups here in the United States. These groups were formed because people were different from them. Just calling someone a degrading name is a type of hate crime. People usually say things just because they have been saying it out of habit. A simple phrase such as “That is so gay” is a type of hate crime.
To prove this point, Mr. Howard showed a video of a young man who got picked on in school. The other kids would call him names like “stupid” or “trash can.” The young man would record the things that were happening to him, and one day he grew tired of the teasing and murdered those around him. At the end of the video, the young man stated that he taped his life so that he would have proof of the things happening to him.
Hate crimes happen all of the time, and they can happen anywhere. It may not be a hate crime to joke around with someone, but just calling them names is in fact a hate crime. Be careful what you say to people, because you never know what could hurt them.
