Tolerance Class as a Requirement for Graduation - by Cho Walpole

The proliferation of hate crimes in the United States in the past years is evidence that people still lack education on social tolerance. In today’s world, we are promoting so much on equality and justice. Surprisingly, despite the promotion of equality, we are experiencing an increase in hate crimes. Education is very important in every aspect of our life. It improves people’s chances for better lives. It helps decrease poverty and hunger. Moreover, education helps people become good members of society. The best method for combating racism and discrimination is education where people learn about equality, humanity, privilege, diversity, and race.

A hate crime is a crime motivated by prejudice. The offender targets the victims by their ethnicity, disability, language, nationality, physical appearance, age, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation (Wikipedia contributors). The FBI’s statistic shows that the victims of hate crime incidents were mostly targeted by race and ancestry. The number has raised 11% from 7,103 cases in 2019 to 8,052 cases in 2020, which impacted 11,126 victims. The percentage of each bias motivation category is 61.8 percent by race/ethnicity/ancestry, 20 percent by sexual orientation, 13.3 percent by religion, 2.7 percent by gender identity, 1.4 percent by disability, and 0.7 percent by gender. Most hate crimes are against the person(69.6%) as well as against the property (28.2%) (“Hate Crime Statistics”). That said, there are many hate crimes that are not reported and very few hate crimes result in an arrest.

The shooting that left 49 people dead at a gay Latino nightclub in Orlando, Florida in 2016 (Stein) and the beating of a Black man by White nationalists at a public rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2018 (Domonoske) are examples of what has grown into a national trend of hate violence against minority groups in our society that are perceived by some people as different. Asians and Asian Americans also have historically been excluded from society in the US since the late 1700s, but the COVID-19 pandemic has enabled the spread of racism and fear of foreigners (Gover et al.). The propaganda blaming Asians for the origin of COVID-19 appeared to have spread throughout the United States. Racial harassment, discrimination, and physical violence against Asians and Asian Americans increased after the outbreak. Bias is cultivated by fear which frequently leads to a risk of people blaming someone outside their own country or social network. Minority groups are frequently wrongly accused of spreading viruses. Insecurity and fear of immigrants have all increased as a result of the pandemic.

I personally experienced racism when I travel to the United Kingdom in 2015. I was queuing in line to purchase a ticket from Bath to London. An elderly woman approached me from behind and asked if I know what time the next train leaves. I turned around and before I begin to talk, she suddenly said “Oh, you can’t speak English” and turned away from me. My friend in Australia also got harassed by children near her place. The kids threw eggs at her while she was walking to school. Racisms are everywhere not only in the US. Hate crime is like a disease that is spreading everywhere, and we urgently need to find a cure to treat it.

Hate crime results in a wide range of psychological consequences for the victims and others. In general, victims experience poor mental health, which includes depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts and actions. The negative effects on health include physical damage, stress, and trouble getting medical care. Victimization is linked to harmful coping mechanisms like emotion suppression as well as unhealthy health habits like alcohol and drug usage. Those witnessing these hate crimes from afar can potentially fall into victim blaming and a decrease in empathy for other victims (Cramer et al.). There is a long list of the effect of hate crimes on victims such as feeling isolated, vulnerable, hated by others, or loss of faith which many times lead to long-term mental and physical health problems.

In elementary school, middle school, and high school, students have four common core courses which are math, science, social studies, and language. The coursework within the social studies core includes geography, anthropology, economics, history, sociology, politics, and civics. Race and ethnicity tolerance need to be added to the coursework. Children begin to notice the difference in physical characteristics at the age of three. They become aware of the social construct of race by the age of four and start to distinguish between members of their own race. At nine years old, children begin to understand how their racial group status exists within a greater society (Roth). This is the reason why it is important to start teaching tolerance at a very young age because children develop views on race when they are young.

Education has a positive impact on dismissing inequality and rejecting discrimination. It is a powerful tool to counter all crimes. A good education helps people become more civilized. Studying the concept of tolerance will help students succeed in this increasingly global, multilingual, and multicultural world. Teaching tolerance will reduce any crime that has bias or prejudice as a driving factor. It is very important that students learn about tolerance, equality, and social justice to have a better understanding of diversity and incorporate different social norms they encounter in their daily lives. Teaching about tolerance is essential for a healthy society. It is a key to unlocking the diverse world and helping people become free from bias.

Works Cited

Cramer, Robert J., et al. “Hate-Motivated Behavior: Impacts, Risk Factors, and Interventions.” Health Policy Brief, 9 Nov. 2020, www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hpb20200929.601434/full.

Domonoske, Camila. “White Man Convicted of Beating Black Man at Charlottesville White Nationalist Rally.” NPR.org, 2 May 2018, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/02/607663487/white-man-convicted-of-beating-black-man-at-charlottesville-white-nationalist-ra.

Gover, Angela R et al. “Anti-Asian Hate Crime During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Reproduction of Inequality.” American journal of criminal justice : AJCJ vol. 45,4 (2020): 647-667. doi:10.1007/s12103-020-09545-1

“Hate Crime Statistics.” HATECRIMES | Department of Justice, 26 Sept. 2022, www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/hate-crime-statistics.

Roth, Abbie. “How And When Do Children Become Aware of the Construct of ‘Race’?”

Pediatrics Nationwide, 22 Mar. 2021, pediatricsnationwide.org/2019/10/10/how-and-when-do-children-become-aware-of-the-construct-of-race.

Stein, Letitia Fiona Ortiz. “Hispanics Shaken by Heavy Toll at Orlando Club Massacre.” U.S., 14 June 2016, www.reuters.com/article/us-florida-shooting-latinos/hispanics-shaken-by-heavy-toll-at-orlando-club-massacre-idUSKCN0YZ2GH.

Wikipedia contributors. “Hate Crime.” Wikipedia, 4 Oct. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime.