Dr. Martin Luther King Jr once said that “Darkness cannot drive the darkness away, only light can do that. In the same way, hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” These words are powerful in every sense as they talk about tolerating one another regardless of their racial, ethnic, or gender diversity and encouraging people to live in harmony with one another. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr made this statement to appeal to the Black minority to avoid using hate to respond to those who detest them. It is important to assess the reasons why the wealthy do not go to jail despite committing hate crimes.
Discrimination based on racial origin, gender identity, or disability is a violation of the principles of equality and is morally wrong. Equality principles dictate that racial origin or gender identity should never be considered in the treatment of fellow human beings. Furthermore, these principles seek to achieve full human dignity and give all people opportunities to achieve their full potential. Noteworthy is the fact that the equality principles have been reiterated in various international human rights documents. For instance, the first line of the United Nations Declaration of Human rights dictates the “recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” (Shapiro, 2017). This shows the seriousness with which equality is treated globally.
Most people use the words hate crimes but some of them do not know what they actually mean. They can be defined as acts that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or acts against people living with disabilities (Shapiro, 2017). Occasionally, these crimes negatively affect the cohesion and social stability of the neighborhoods and cities. Consequently, they may cause greater harm to an individual, such as psychological injury and increased feelings of vulnerability and marginalization (Steinberg, 2020). These negative effects of hate crimes affect the sustainable development of our societies in the long run.
Crimes that are associated with hate have been on the rise in the past few decades. According to the FBI annual Hate Crime statistics act report, there were 7,314 hate crimes last year (Isakjee & Lorne, 2019). This is an increase from 7,120 reported in 2019, and it is the highest number of hate crimes recorded in the US since the 7,738 hate crimes reported in 2008 (Shapiro, 2017). Consequently, the data showed a 7% increase in religious-based hate crimes with a 14% rise in hate crimes against the Jews and Jewish institutions (Isakjee & Lorne, 2019). Anti-Latino hate crimes rose to 8.7%, from 485 in 2019 to 527 last year (Steinberg, 2020, p.167). However, Black people were the most targeted, with hate crimes against African Americans being at 1,930 cases in last year only (Isakjee & Lorne, 2019, 8). This trend is worrying, and a vigorous response is needed for the sake of individual and communal safety.
While crimes are often associated with the underprivileged in society, crimes committed by the wealthy have in the past and recently gone under-punished. For example, in December 2013, a Texas judge acquitted a teenager after killing four people while driving drunk (Meadows-Fernandez, 2019). The acquittal follows the testimony of a psychologist who claimed that the sixteen-year-old boy suffered from a condition known as ‘affluenza.’ Apparently, affluenza is a psychological problem that afflicts children of privilege (Meadows-Fernandez, 2019). The ruling of the judge sparked outrage in most people in the country; however, it depicts what occasionally happens in the corridors of justice.
A hate crimes conviction is not different from these other convictions that have favored the wealthy and the privileged in society today. Several factors can be attributed to the biased conviction made on those who are wealthy in society. First is the cultural division that is apparent in society and is mostly perpetrated by the law enforcement officer. Law enforcement officers are more likely to downplay reports about hate crimes committed by wealthy white society members (Meadows-Fernandez, 2019). If the reporter moves to the trial, some law enforcement officials are ready to testify on the case to assure the court that it was only “a mistake.” This is one of the main reasons why wealthy people who have committed hate crimes are free despite the clear evidence.
Consequently, wealth is tantamount to power, and if you are wealthy, you convey power in whatever society you belong to. Wealth allows for the covering of the most heinous acts people do. Therefore, wealthy people can bribe those who threaten to report them to the authority and bribe law enforcement officials if they are reported. Furthermore, wealthy people can bully and threaten those who have reported them for hate crimes (Meadows-Fernandez, 2019). This may lead to the complaints withdrawing the lawsuit against them. Therefore, their chances of being convicted and sent to jail are minimal.
Finally, it is important to note that rich people have immense influence in various departments. They occasionally use their influence to make complaints against them go away without necessarily going to court. If the matter in one way or other ends in a court, these rich people, for the sake of their reputation, would try and ensure that they have an outside court settlement with the victims. Once a settlement out of court is successful, it means that they may not see the gates of the prison. Besides, prejudices are always on their sides as most of them tend to be viewed as fairly non-threatening. There exists a deep-rooted vice of racial biases in the criminal justice system of the United States, and the concerted efforts of all citizens will help end it.
References
Isakjee, A., & Lorne, C. (2019). Bad news from nowhere: Race, class and the ‘left behind. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 37(1), 7-12.
Meadows-Fernandez, A. R. (2019). Investigating institutional racism: (Racial literacy). Enslow Publishing.
Shapiro, T. M. (2017). Toxic Inequality: How America’s wealth gap destroys mobility, deepens the racial divide, and threatens our future. Hachette UK.
Steinberg, R. J. (2020). FLOTSAM in practice: Understanding the reawakening of hate in the Modern World. In R. J. Steinberg (Ed.), Perspective on hate: How it originates, develops, manifests, and spreads (pp. 161-174). American Psychological Association.