Hate is an emotion we’re all familiar with.  Everyone’s said ‘I hate that teacher’ or ‘I hate math’ or ‘I hate my brother’ at some point in time.  We all know what it’s like to hate something or someone, but we generally don’t act on that hatred.  You sit in class with the teacher you don’t like and refuse to participate, or you unhappily do your math homework.  You fight with your brother, but you don’t actually hurt each other (well not intentionally anyway).  It’s a normal part of life; you won’t love everything all the time.

But when hate is acted on and becomes violent, that’s NOT ok.  No one has the right to harm another person or their property.  Unfortunately, hate crimes are committed around the country with increasing frequency.  These are crimes that are committed against someone because of a group they belong to, such as their race or religion.  These are crimes based on prejudices!

When someone is a victim of a hate crime, no matter what has happened to them, they often feel vulnerable and violated.  They often think, Why me?  Why does that person hate African Americans, or Muslims, or homosexuals?  Why did they attack me for something I have no control over?  Why?

Unfortunately there are no good answers to those questions.  People who have deep-rooted prejudices often think that they can take them out on people or property. That’s simply NOT ok.  It’s up to everyone else to let them know that.  If hate happens in your community, don’t pretend nothing happened.  Confronting hate isn’t easy, but it’s the right thing to do.  And the more people do so, the less likely it is that hate is going to happen again.